Let me start by saying that coffee drinking is supposed to be a sensory experience, it starts with the music that starts with the sound of the espresso machine, the hissing melody as the wand touches the milk, the tamping of the portafilter, highly trained baristas who are coffee lovers themselves, the aroma of the coffee and finally the first sip as liquid gold touches your tongue…it is passion, it is art. So many stores have this huge sign hanging from every corner of their store shouting, best tasting coffee in the world or best espresso in the universe! and then you order one, and you get this stale tasting black thing in a styrofoam cup with no crema! What is this thing? Did i just pay 150 pesos for this?? But of course there are those experience wherein you order from a unknown coffee shop like perhaps a Bo’s coffee or some startup coffee nook, then your eyes pop and you get what Mark Prince describes as "the epiphany moment" and when you have that, its like you have this singular moment in time wherein you say to yourself, this is it..this is what I have imagine how it would be…this is espresso, this is the pinnacle, the apogee of what coffee should be. Remember the four M’s of an Italian espresso?; the heart and soul of real espresso is broken down to 4 important parts; Machine ( espresso machine), Macinzaione (grinder), Miscela (coffee) and Mano (the person making the shot). Without these four important components, there is no espresso, there is no coffee, all you have in your hands is a cup of high-priced sludge with a brandname on it. That is why I have this utter disdain over push-button machines which requires no skill, no interaction between person and machine.
Anyways! on to the geek stuff:
I have been thinking about getting a new espresso machine since my old one for some reason or another stopped working, well I could still hear the pump working but well no water is coming out of my portafilter, I think its clogged or something but anyway I’ve kept dreaming about that new Rancilio Silvia, it cost around 500 bucks in the States and in some storeds I heard its getting a bit higher. Its the best amongst the consumer level machines our there and very much touted amongst baristas and at the coffeegeek website. Now that Starbucks is very much out of my rulebook, its hightime to start looking for another coffee shop that sells real coffee or if you have enought moolah to spare, just get yourself your own espresso machine, get some barista training whether from some training centre or online and with a lot of practice, believe me you’re gotte be better than some of of the baristas at starbucks. Start with some basic coffee training, which includes coffee tasting if you’re really into being a real coffee connoisseur. I guess this is really all about counter culture, for some of us its not just about hanging out and just being seen on some wickedly fashionable cafe but really we are about how the coffee taste, we use words like clarity, complexity, balance or sweetness, we care about the body and the acidity of the coffee, and yes we know whether the coffee taste too damned burned and too roasted. Now going back to the Rancilio, its just beyond my reach as of this time but well who knows I’m just too geeky to pass off a good deal if I find a nicely priced Silvia, the thought of a nice shiny chromed espresso machine at home and the taste of real espresso is just the stuff wetdreams are made of. By the way, if you’re looking for a place to get a nice cup’o joe, try Bo’s Coffee, they’re not too crowded if you’re looking for a place to converse or just plunge into a good book, their coffee is a mixture of locally grown robustas and imported arabicas, their frapps are also quite good if you’re into that stuff. And yeah, I believe they still use old fashion espresso machines, that means they still manually check temperatures and do the tamping by hand which requires the skill of a correctly trained barista. That’s it for our coffee/geek talk for today. By the way, congrats to the Philippine wooshoo team for baggin’ the gold, I know I know it’s supposed to be an exhibition sport only, but its far better than getting no medals at all, cuz that really sulks you know. Oh well, umaasa pa kasi tayo. haha
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