About a month ago, I was walking from Union Station to Eastern Market to meet some friends for coffee, and I passed a freebie sitting on the sidewalk with a note: "FREE! IT WORKS!" Well, this was an espresso machine--Cafe Roma by Breville. I thought one of my friends might like this, as she doesn't have an espresso machine or a coffee maker, either. So I picked it up and lugged it along. After about 3 blocks (with 10 more to go), it was feeling very heavy, so I began asking people I met if they wanted a free espresso machine. Ha. No, they didn't. And my friends didn't want it, either. Then followed the usual circus in which one friend offered to put it in her car so I wouldn't have to carry it home, then two items got lost in her car, then found, then delivered.
So.....fast forward to this morning when I decided to see if it would make a better cup of espresso than my little stovetop pot. I had to look up the manual online to see how to proceed, but I managed to get all the pieces together, loaded the little 2-cup filter with my favorite (cheap, tasty) Cafe Bustelo, added cold filtered water to the tank, plugged it in, and turned it on. It makes a buzzing noise--BZZZZZZT!--which is weird, but soon I had a nice big cup of espresso!
Results:
The machine espresso has CREMA--unlike the stovetop.Well. Do I need another machine in my kitchen? No room, but I did like the taste. There's also the possibility of making designs in the crema, though I haven't figured that out yet.
The machine version tastes a little better--not so rough.
BUT the stovetop version is HOTTER--and the heat stays longer.
Cooooooool! I'm too impatient for that.
ReplyDeletehopefully you can find one on the sidewalk, too!!
ReplyDeletealso, they make designs with the whopped milk or wotever. not the crema.
ReplyDeletewhipped milk, that is
ReplyDeleteWe bought a Nespresso and never looked back.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool find!And a great story to go with it! And best of all, it really does work -- now you have to find a place for it, unless you plan to pass it forward some day :-))
ReplyDeleteLinda: Pass it forward? I spent the first two weeks of ownership of this thing trying to give it away! Now I'm becoming attached to the lovely espresso it produces. It's not the best or the fanciest machine, and certainly not the best or fanciest coffee, but I LIKE IT, and i'm keeping it. It's doing just fine on the little table in the kitchen, even at a slant. I suppose I'll give it away sooner or later, but not yet.....:)
ReplyDelete