Worst espresso!

[bruceb]

Oh, sorry! Valentino is fine, a bit wobbly yet, but eating well. He had to have his teeth cleaned and a tooth reconstruction...cats sometimes have autoimmune antibodies to their own teeth. Weird that. It only affected the one tooth thank goodness.

[CakeBoy]

I wonder if people don't realise or are so conditioned to bad coffee that they just don't say anything. His private stash certainly sounds very tasty and it's nice that he knows the difference.

Charlie Cat had a similar experience some time ago and had to be put out for a while in order for the vet to clean his teeth (fortunately nothing more serious). He sends his best wishes to Valentino and muttered something about "not forgetting to work the sympathy thing because there is probably some nice fish in it if you look all pitiful at your humans" . Hey, I'm just the messenger

[bruceb]

Oh, no problem with Valentino. He rolls over, lies on his back with all four in the air and blinks his beautiful green eyes, looking like Little Miss Innocence, whereup everyone who sees him gives him the shirt off their backs which he then proceeds to barter for cans of tuna an/or chunks of cooked chicken.

He sends greetings to Charlie and asks if they shouldn't get together for a (halibut) roasting weekend.

[CakeBoy]

Charlie is a real charmer too ...... he knows how to turn it on. Charlie says that would be absolutely lovely and he will have his humans produce some lightly poached cod flakes to compliment the roasted halibut. "Fat cats unite" he purred, before falling into an exhausted sleep having had to remain awake for at least five minutes, and actually move in order to reposition himself in the shaft of sunlight coming in through the window

[zapty]

My dogs love pussycats....

[CakeBoy]

Charlie is a tad nervous now .................

[zapty]

Well him to settle down, they do really like cats. The last cat I had stayed with me for 25 years. It was a half wild Canadian kitten that I rescued from the big bad outdoors as it was abandoned somehow. It's name was Toughy and he ruled the neighborhood.

[CakeBoy]

Oh he sounds lovely ....... did you feed him coffee and maple syrup being the wild Canadian that he was?

[zapty]

He used to often fetch his own food, mice, voles, squirrels, rabbits etc and drag them up on the roof and in to the open bedroom doors (sometimes as a gift to me) but he loved Canadian back bacon and Polish sausages too.

[DC]

I wonder if people don't realise or are so conditioned to bad coffee that they just don't say anything. His private stash certainly sounds very tasty and it's nice that he knows the difference.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. I think you're spot on Cakeboy, but you can't fault 'the people,' if they've never been given anything better and don't have the inclination to go out and find better, then there's no demand for improvement. My girlf's parents came round the other day, and I showed them my shiny new Silvia, and made them a couple of cappuccinos with some Cachoeira. They were surprised I served them in 6oz cups for a start but were even more surprised when they drank them at how different and tasty it was compared to costa / *$. They don't buy from there so often any more but have become interested in fresh coffee themselves!

This isn't me boasting about my coffee, it just goes to show the difference it can make to people's expectations when you don't drown a blonde shot of stale coffee in 10oz milk.

Another amusing thing I saw recently was at a smart hotel in Peebles. A French couple next to us spent forever going through all the wines, tasting different ones discussing them with the sommelier, trying out lots of different cheeses after the meal, met the chef etc. Then they ordered a pot of French press coffee which I can tell you was pre-ground, stale, and plunged within a minute of seeing the water. They drank it like they drank their expensive wines. You'd think people who have good taste in food and wine would be able to tell good from bad coffee.

Maybe they should bring round a cupping table after the meal to try out all the coffees you might want after dinner

[bruceb]

Hi DC. Found any good coffee in Brum? I had to go 40 miles or so north of there, but it was definitely worth it!

The problem I have here is that I have all-too-often gone to an effort to serve really excellent coffee to people who just didn't appreciate or even like it. Be thankful if her parents appreciated it. I served a near-perfect cappuccino to a friend of my wife and she put 4 packets of sugar in it and talked the next 15 minutes about a new variety of instant that is the best coffee she has ever had.

On the other hand guests from California this last weekend asked for a double espresso, knew from the taste that it was a Columbian SO and said it was the best coffee they've had in Europe, just returning from a week in Italy. They licked out the cups! I begged them never to leave!

I'm really beginning to think that some people have a sense of what good coffee can be and others just don't have.

[DC]

No, never found a good coffee around here! If you know of any good places in the midlands or north west, any chance you could pass the details on please? A friend (in manchester) and I have been pretty much teaching each other espresso with the help of the internet, it'd be nice to have a benchmark that we know other people consider good

I served a near-perfect cappuccino to a friend of my wife and she put 4 packets of sugar in it and talked the next 15 minutes about a new variety of instant that is the best coffee she has ever had

I feel your pain! If I serve straight espresso to people, they invariably turn it into a cubano-esque shot . Something I hear a lot is that people think espresso is 'bitter.' I had put this down to burnt, watery cafe espresso, but I've served up drinks I know to be nicely balanced, still to be called bitter. This makes me wonder whether people don't understand what bitter really is, and mistake 'strong,' 'rich,' or 'complex' for bitter because it doesn't taste like Nescafe instant 'espresso.'

On the other hand guests from California this last weekend asked for a double espresso, knew from the taste that it was a Columbian SO and said it was the best coffee they've had in Europe, just returning from a week in Italy. They licked out the cups! I begged them never to leave!

I long for that day to come! Better yet, someone who knows a lot more than me and can tell me how to do it better

Dave

[Gouezeri]

A French couple next to us spent forever going through all the wines, tasting different ones discussing them with the sommelier, trying out lots of different cheeses after the meal, met the chef etc. Then they ordered a pot of French press coffee which I can tell you was pre-ground, stale, and plunged within a minute of seeing the water. They drank it like they drank their expensive wines. You'd think people who have good taste in food and wine would be able to tell good from bad coffee.

Not going to make any friends here.... but the idea of the French being a nation of coffee lovers, is not based on the standard of coffee they serve, nor on what is generally available, if anything, freeze dried and pods seem to be gaining in popularity and high street roasters are very much a dying breed, tending to serve more tea than anything else.

[bruceb]

Sorry, I meant Stafford where you can get a right proper espresso and some other amazing things if you know the password, bribe the guards and can get past the crocodiles, mastiffs and pit bulls.

I once asked 20 people for an example of something they eat and drink that they consider bitter. Some said beer, some said olives, but 19 out of 20 said coffee. I think most people really experience coffee as bitter no matter what kind or how good it is.

I used to serve anyone an espresso who asked for it, but after being accused of wanting to give someone a heart attack or poison them I now ask if they really know what an espresso is and how it tastes. If they say, "It's coffee in one of those cute little cups" I usually ask they wouldn't rather have a caffé latte or a cappuccino.

I've found that many people think that pressing the "longo" button on a Saeco bean-to-cup machine, pumping 200ml of water through 7 g of coffee, delivers them an espresso. A lady recently told me that she loved the espresso her son makes: "He puts 2 tablespoons of sugar in a mug and fills it with delicious espresso and puts whipped cream and chocolate pearls on top." There really isn't any use in trying to convince folks like that of anything else.

[CakeBoy]

A lady recently told me that she loved the espresso her son makes: "He puts 2 tablespoons of sugar in a mug and fills it with delicious espresso and puts whipped cream and chocolate pearls on top."

Holy cow