Coffee culture in your kitchen.
(Credit: Williams-Sonoma)The corner café may be a symbol of coffee culture, but that doesn't mean it's necessary to frequent one to get your coffee fix. Any coffee aficionado is familiar with the abundance of options that exist for home brewing the magic elixir. From stovetop configurations to press pot models, if you have a preferred method, rest assured there is a way to brew it at home. For espresso fanatics, this means an espresso machine.
The Breville Programmable Espresso Maker with Integrated Burr Grinder combines all the features one would expect from any café machine. With a gauge to help find favorable extraction pressure, the espresso maker mimics coffeehouse quality. An integrated grinder prepares grounds on-demand for fresh tasting coffee, while the easily removable water filter facilitates easy brewing. An attached 360-degree swiveling steam wand froths milk for specialty coffees.
Designed for experts and novices alike, the home brewing system offers features that any coffee lover will appreciate. Shipped with both a single-wall filter and one made with double-wall construction, the espresso machine encourages experimentation. With the inclusion of customizable grind settings and an integrated tamper with pressure guide, the machine allows users of all skill levels the ability to find their perfect blend.
Many of us make a trip to the local Starbucks first thing in the morning because we don't want to have to mess with making our own espresso. There's a process to making good espresso, and sometimes it's just easier to leave it up to an expert. But with the Automatic Espresso Machine XP7225 from Krups, it's possible to put an expert on your kitchen counter.
This espresso machine is fully automatic: all you need to do is add the necessary ingredients and it will brew a cup to your specifications. Even cleaning it requires minimal work; you only need to clean the machine once a year. The system is controlled through a digital menu that allows you to easily select options and offers features like a water filtration system and a steam nozzle for frothing milk.
The Automatic Espresso Machine XP7225 is a small unit, sized to fit in even the most compact kitchens. It's 12.5 inches long, 9.5 inches wide, and 14.25 inches tall. It's priced at $999.99. Krups also offers several other models of its Automatic Espresso Machines, with varying features. All of them, however, offer fully automatic services and high-quality espresso.
If you need an espresso to start your day, Espressi had you in mind when the company designed the Mypressi Twist. The Mypressi Twist is a portable espresso maker that ensures you have a fresh espresso any time you want one, without having to lug around a full-size espresso machine. To use it, you place fresh espresso or an ESE pod in the holder, add water, and pull your shot. The Mypressi Twist uses a pressurized cylinder, rather than pumping, to power a shot through the extraction cycle with constant pressure. The CO2 cartridge used to create that pressure will last for approximately eight shots of espresso. After that, you'll need to swap in a new cartridge. The Mypressi Twist does not need any external power.
The Mypressi Twist isn't quite pocket-size, but it will fit in a briefcase or purse easily. While a brief rinse is generally enough to clean off the Mypressi Twist before you put it back in your bag, the whole thing is dishwasher safe, making it easy to keep clean. Leftover residue won't be spoiling your next shot of espresso. The Mypressi Twist is priced at $129, but with the minimal cost of making your own espresso, that price is worth it.
As a means of saving money, I've started to make my own coffee at home as often as possible. I've made enough pots in my French press to know how to get the brew just like the corner store does it, extra thick and black without being too bitter. This works out to the mutual benefit of my roommates, since I usually make a whole pot and don't drink all of it (although I've been known to do it every once in a while).
But sometimes, a girl's just got to get something a little bit more fancy. But buying an espresso machine for my apartment frightens me: if it took me two years to settle into a perfectly French-pressed pot, how can I possibly go back to square one with a gargantuan, steaming, spurting frappe factory?
"Buy your fancy drinks from coffee shops," you say...but when I'm out and about and the craving for an Americano hits, it always seems to be in the neighborhoods that sell them for 4 bucks a pop. Even if the barista behind the counter is smiling, friendly, and always knows how to make my drink just right, that's quite a hefty price to pay for an afternoon pick-me-up.
But now, I can have a fancy drink right at home, without worrying about following a complicated instruction book. The Gaggia Baby Dose espresso machine is one of the new additions to Gaggia's family of espresso-makers. Available in red or silver, it's a beautiful way to get your morning motivation or evening dessert accompaniment.
What makes the Baby Dose really stand out, however, are its memorization skills. According to Gaggia's Web site, the Dose uses an "innovative Dosing System, letting you set the exact amount of coffee in the cup. All you have to do is press the 'Coffee' button and your Baby Dose will memorize the dose you like." As someone whose been scared to take the espresso plunge for several years, this is music to my ears. It can also make two cups at once, so your friends, family or roommates don't have to worry about feeling left out.
You can find more information about the Baby Dose and the rest of Gaggia's line on their Web site.
(Credit:
MoMA Store)
This numerical color-standardization system is called the Pantone Color Matching System, introduced in 1963 by the Pantone Company. The company's main product is a series of cardboard strips, printed with closely matched colors and bound as tiny books. These booklets have made color matching a more straightforward task for painters, print companies, and graphic designers.
Not to be confused with the CMYK system, which identifies colors as combinations of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black in specific amounts, the Pantone Color Matching System uses number identifiers. Each color has an RBG (red, blue, green) value as well as a LAB value, which denotes the lightness and color-opposition. This system makes it possible to standardize more unusual colors like metallics and fluorescents.
The Pantone Color Matching System has become so widely recognized that it's no surprise the MoMA Design Store is celebrating it in the form of this cute set of espresso cups. Designed by Victoria Whitbread and Jackie Piper Wilkinson in 2008, the cups feature the Pantone colors 179 C, 3272 C, 130 C, and 520 C. The accompanying saucers are a simple solid white.
The cups are available as a set at the MoMA Design Store for $60.00.
Because I married the greatest guy in the world, he understands my need for coffee. So for my birthday, he upgraded my Nespresso C190 to a fire-engine red D290 Concept machine. And I am in love. With the machine and my husband.
Nespresso machines use proprietary capsules (pods), which means you can make espresso drinks in moments, without the mess and effort involved in grinding and tamping beans. And the most shocking part of these nontraditional coffee makers is that you're not sacrificing quality for a cleaner kitchen. In fact, loyal Nespresso drinkers wind up preferring their brew to more complex solutions.
Ever since our first Nespresso machine joined the family, about four years ago, my Starbucks jaunts have been limited to airports in foreign countries. For 55 cents a cup, I can make my own cappuccinos, lattes, and even caramel macchiatos right in my own home. It's my 5-minute morning ritual at this point, and it can be yours, too.
The D290 features a 19-bar high-pressure pump, one button operation, and super-easy clean up. And you don't even have to take my word for it -- reviews for this particular machine are great at Amazon. And if that crazy high price has you shaking your head at my foolishness, do yourself a favor and check out Nespresso's own refurbished outlet at eBay. That's where mine came from, at half the retail price.
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OTTO espresso)
It wasn't long before I found out that shopping for an espresso machine is about as overwhelming as looking for an apartment in New York City. I gave up when I couldn't push through the intimidatingly long list of potential candidates and the series of troubling reviews. As a result, I've continued to fork out the cash for store-made espresso when I'm tired of my french press.
I did try buying an inexpensive stovetop percolator for making espresso, but its construction was so shoddy that it started to come apart at the seams before I had used it through one cold-weather season. And I won't mention how gross the coffee tasted.
But, when I saw a picture of the OTTO espresso machine, I fell in love with it. It's beautifully designed, and it's a far cry from the stovetop percolator you've probably used before. Built entirely out of equally durable and elegant stainless steel, the OTTO won the Australian Design Mark at the 2008 Australian International Design Awards.
The boiler pot has a locking lid that can be unlocked with the top handle, so you can unscrew it even if there is boiling water inside it. After you fill it with water, you place it on the stove and wait for the water to boil through the top espresso cup. While you're waiting, you can steam milk with the attached steaming handle.
It's too bad that the OTTO is only set to be available in Australia starting in January, 2009. For now, I'm going to have to be satisfied watching the video.
Nescafe Dolce Gusto
(Credit: Nescafe)It's a bird, it's a plane...well, no...it's not a plane. Nor does this coffee maker resemble in any way, shape, or form Superman. However, the Nescafe Dolce Gusto certainly does look like a bird. Whether it's a hummingbird or one of those novelty drinking bird doo-dads, there is no denying the interesting design of this machine.
Weird bubble alien, or one of our more familiar avian friends, this coffee maker is all about the art of coffee...or at least the art of variety. The maker is being marketed as a system in which eight different Capsules of prepackaged flavors are available: Caffe Lungo, Caffe Lungo Mild, Caffe Lungo Decaf, Espresso, Cappuccino (with milk capsule), Latte Macchiato (with milk capsule), Chococino (with milk capsule), Iced Cappuccino (with milk capsule). Unfortunately, only preapproved (meaning manufactured by Nescafe) capsules will work in the machine.
Despite the fact that the Dolce Gusto utilizes proprietary coffee inserts, this $169.99 machine promises high quality results. High pressure is essential for delicious espresso-based drinks, and this coffee maker delivers with 15-bar pressure. Granted the specialized capsules are a drawback, but may be offset by the ease of clean up that the system offers. As long as they keep making the capsules that is.
via Appliancist
My mother-in-law has been visiting for nearly seven weeks. (Why, yes, I am the world's greatest wife, thank you!) And every morning she watches me prepare my cappuccino and winces as I fill my cup with boiling water and dump it out. It makes her crazy to see me waste my 6 ounces of water, but it makes me crazier to put my lovely espresso into an unheated cup.
Although family harmony may not have been Haier's goal with the HPE20SS Espresso/Cappuccino Maker, it could work wonders in my home. The machine has a dome-covered warming and storage area where you can place the included cups to properly heat them before you make your drink. Why, you ask? Well, once espresso has been pulled, i has a short life span. It's best served piping hot, and if you pour it into a cold cup, you've shortened the drink's life by a few moments. And that's just mean.
Haier's machine uses a 15-bar pump system, which means it pumps water through the ground espresso at high pressure, and a motor does the work for you. This, in turn, translates to better tasting espresso with a delicious crema (that's the tan-colored foam) on top.
This espresso/cappuccino maker also has a large 20-cup water reservoir, so you can make shots for your friends without having to stop and refill the water every third cup. The steam nozzle is easy to position properly, which lets you maneuver in tight kitchen spaces, and you can also adjust the steam output for more or less froth in your milk.
If your Starbucks habit is bankrupting you, but you can't imagine life without your daily cup o' goodness, Haier's machine is an affordable option that doesn't compromise on features.
