Re: economical espresso machine

On Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:42:48 -0500, "James"
<jgreene@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Don't know what to expect.

Maybe around a $100???

James,

To make a decent espresso, you'll need two pieces of equipment: a
decent espresso maker and a decent coffee grinder. You can get each
for around $100 USD. Total outlay: $200.

The whirlybird grinders you can get at the supermarket for $10-20,
just don't do a good enough job for the fine and uniform grinding
that's necessary for espresso. And the steam espresso machines for
$40-50 don't have the consistency to extract coffee's aromatic flavors
fully and accurately.

The reason you need a grinder is that coffee stales and loses its
flavors quasi instantaneously. Preground coffee is totally dead after
a couple of days (or less!). To make espresso, you use fresh whole
beans ground up at the time you're ready to brew the coffee.

I think you'll find Coffee Geek, http://www.coffeegeek.com/ , to be a
excellent reference. It includes articles for beginners as well as
experts, reviews of equipment, and extensive user forums that cover
jus about everything.

--
Regards,
Dan
.

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