I now grind my own coffee

we use a filter press. Coffee tastes coffeeish. Keeps the aroma and is good to the last mililiter. (Maybe theres a motto in there)

Like it should. So, perfect.

Thanks for the laugh max. Considering you actually like Starbucks, you can't expect anybody to value your opinions on Keurig.

I don't use garbage like pods because of the disastrous consequences to the landscape. Keurig and most pods are plastic and metal, near impossible to recycle.

An Italian perspective: 1) an expresso at a bar nearby will typically surpass anything you can do at home; 2) Illy makes the best grinded coffee, far superior to Lavazza; 3) if you grind it yourself, you can do better than Illy, but you need a fine grind and good beans of course; 4) always use the Bialetti, on a low fire.

I was always certain that Charbucks use to filter their coffee through a Gooch mat that was made of old cigarette butts. They imparted a disagreeable taste to their coffees so Its almost a necessity that it must have its minimal coffee flavor muted by turning their beverages into caffeinated MILK SHAKES.

Never could understand the popularity of this crap. It must have been the marketing and timing. Most mom-n-pop coffee bars produce better tasting coffee than Charbucks. My test of quality is to have them serve me their house blnd. If that **** turns out to b a tarry tasting espresso, I usually tell them I that its too dark for me , please give me a Ginger ale.

Charbucks and a couple of others will serve an "Americana" which is their tarry tatsing esspresso diluted with water from the filter tap (if they even have one)

I still bought a bunch of stock in Starbucks in the early days and did quite well. MY Liking their coffee or not is not my measure of whether I can make some money in the market "betting on thir growth"

All of my big legal clients have coffee kitchens where they have a waitstaff to serve pastries and stuff. MAny, (I mean most) have turned to the Keurig commercial size bars. They are , not as bad as Starbucks **** but the only half ecent ones are the "Flavored cups". Loaded up with sugar and anything else they have on the table helps a lot.

One law firm in Denver has a real Barrista and a well equipped coffee and snack bar. Their stuff was really excellent. Some of the best coffee I ever had was in a giant bookstore in Denver called "The Tattered Cover". I do not know whether they are even in business anymore. The last Time I was to Denver was in 2006 or 7.

About 2010 or earlier somebody at work brought in Starbucks for us on a single occasion. Mine was lukewarm, full of sugar, and something I couldn't identify. I like my coffee really hot. Plain. It was my sole experience with it. I just didn't consider it was worth going out of my way to spend that kind of money.

I dated a woman from Europe that had one of these wonderful machines. I approve heartily (although after the relationship ended, I couldn't bring myself to buy one).

The Bialetti are a bit expensive but they are the best. The only thing is: don't let it on a full fire unattended or the coffee will boil, and ultimately the rubber joint will burn (it's easy to replace). Hence it's better used on a low fire, which limits the above problems and also makes for better coffee.

Machine coffee in Italy is something I can drink; in fact I used to drink quite a lot of it before teleworking. The reason is that many Italian coffee machines, including the one down my corridor, fine-grind actual coffee beans and then send vapor through the stuff to make your coffee, juste like a human barista would do.

Is it possible you mean the new name for high fructose corn syrup? If so, FDA allowed it be changed to corn sugar.

yowser

Au contraire, I bought a large SS one for under $20 on Amazon. Unfortunately, the company is going out of business, I use the French press for my folks and lazy Sundays and the Bialetti for super powers.

The grinder is important. I bought a restaurant quality and it holds a pound of beans. That was not cheap. But well worth it, been using it for 10 years or more.

Bialetti is going out of business?

https://cremacoffeegarage.com.au/blog/italian-icon-bialetti-company-facing-bankruptcy


Bialetti, Maker of the Iconic Aluminium Moka Express Stovetop, Confronts an Uncertain Future Ahead as the Company Navigates Massive Debts & Possible Bankruptcy

For many coffee lovers, the Bialetti Moka Express Pot, also known casually as a Stovetop, has become an iconic piece of coffee equipment.

Patented by Alfonso Bialetti in 1933, the Moka Express is considered to encapsulate Italian coffee drinking culture and has become a fixture in homes across the globe. It is even displayed at the London Science Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The Bialetti stovetop is an eight-sided aluminium coffee pot that forces pressurised boiling water up through a layer of ground coffee to produce an espresso-like coffee brew. The aluminium is the traditional model, but the company also makes a variety of stainless steel models for inductions stovetop, and all models come in a wide range of sizes to suit any household.

Inside a moka pot by how it works magazine

However, with the rise of competitive coffee pod machines and a difficult Italian economy, the Bialetti group has been struggling against potential bankruptcy and announced on 26th October 2018 they would be taking measures to address a £60 million ($108 million) debt and "doubts over its continuity".

As reported in The Age, experts have weighed in on Bialetti’s circumstances citing the rise in capsule and coffee pod machines as a critical turning point for coffee culture in Italy. These machines have gained significant popularity since superstar George Clooney became a Nespresso spokesperson. According to Nielsen analysts, the ground coffee market in Italy lost 6% in volume while capsule sales grew 23% from 2016 to 2017.

"When it comes to large-scale distribution, sales of the capsules are growing rapidly, while sales of ground coffee for the moka are declining, even here in Italy where 70% of families have a moka in their home," Francesca Arcuri, of Filicori Zecchini, one of Italy's oldest coffee companies, was quoted.

Renato Bialetti and the Bialetti mascot based on Alfonso Bialetti

The financial downfall of Bialetti is especially bittersweet considering the Bialetti family’s struggles to build the company up. After WWI, Alfonso Bialetti spent the better part of a decade producing the Moka Express prototype and finally launched the product in 1933. He managed to sell 10,000 units per year from a stall he would set up at markets or in the street, but struggled to market his product properly. It wasn’t until his son, Renato, took over the company that the product took off.

After returning from a German POW camp, Renato found himself at the helm of the Bialetti company and made marketing his mission. He ceased production of all products except the Moka Express pot, focusing all his energy and resources on promoting that one product. He splashed the Moka Express across billboards, radio campaigns, newspapers and magazines. He even went so far as to erect this giant Moka Express sculpture at the 1956 Milan trade show, Fiera di Milano. Renato’s efforts paid off: the company has sold over 300,000,000 since 1950!

Milan Fair 1956

The Bialetti group is currently exploring avenues to keep the company in production.

What the article doesn’t mention is that they have opened franchised shops all over. That was an odd move for a company with basically one product, and it must have cost them a lot.

They may have over grown themselves in a saturated market. I think the Mako looks a little dated. I bought my first ones in thrift shops. The fist new model I found and it was round was a camping model about thirty years ago. I hadn't seen a new product since until I read they were in trouble and I looked for a SS one. I bought it last year. I probably should get another even though they are bullet proof. I've replace maybe one valve and only a couple of gaskets since the sixties. That's pretty amazing.



I got my brand new one for $20 shipped off of E-Bay.

we had on of them. It blew gaskets and shot boiling coffee all over the room like an exploding brown neutron star.

I used to get esspresso at outside cafes in Trecate when we were doing work in the oil fields of Italy. They would drink it with a layer of sugar that remained in the cup after you were done. I noticed thats how they drank it down in Naples too. Was that a regional thing really really sweet esspresso.?

I actually liked it.
Now I drink the filtered covfefee (the weak stuff) with one bag of SPlenda, Im not particular, I just dont like perked or boiled coffee, too sour tasting for me.
If I need caffeine, Ill seek out a cuppa Llapsang Souchong tea. The smokiness goes well with so many pastries.

Shocked and amazed. I've blown steam when a valve blew, and I did bend a an internal plate when a valve didn't blow ( I think either I over filled the reservoir or over packed the coffee - both no-no's) but never got coffee blown out of one. They're pretty fail-safe and I intentionally and unintentionally gorilla test every thing I own. My wife is only occasionally amused.