In
no way do I pretend to be a coffee expert. I just happen to love the
machine in the photo.
My personal taste in coffee has been
based on years of testing. First, I went through dozens of national
origin coffees, in double blind testing, and found that coffee from
Yemen, sometimes called Mocha and Sanini was the one I preferred. I
have many Yemeni friends so I know that this coffee is picked by hand by
the same men who climb up the mountains to carry it down. Mountains
range from the plain of Sana the capitol at 6,000 feet up to 12,000
feet. All this is high for coffee. About twice as high as all the
other coffee regions in the world. People in Yemen live on Qat, a
chewable leaf. They walk up the mountain pick and dry the beans and
carry them back down. No donkeys or mules, just qat. Also no fertilizer
or pesticide. No vacuum sealing the beans in Yemen either.
There is much focus on roasting in the San Francisco coffee fanatic world I live in. But, again, it is a matter of taste. There are a number of different roasting machines and degrees of roasting. That difference I can taste, but I'm happy as long as the beans aren't burned and are quickly vacuum sealed until I bring them home within a few days. Again, open the bean bag and grind for use. No storage and certainly not in the freezer.
The last big difference in taste that I can detect is in brewing. I don't like French press because of the grit that gets through. I do love the AreoPress. It looks like a bong. The temperature of the water makes a noticeable difference. Coffee is important to taste in the AreoPress and from an espresso machine.
The machine photographed on this page is the Slayer. Made in Seattle. I went to the factory to see the details. The main advantage is that the operator can set the exact temperature of the water and it remains at that temperature through heavy use. The coffee grounds get a low pressure stream of water to wet them, then the steam is applied in a short burst. The machine in the photos is used in the Intelligencia coffee shop in Venice California. That is where I got to compare the traditional espresso machine with the Slayer. Again, a noticeable difference, so taste matters at this point in the process.In summary: I can taste
national origin difference in coffee, roasting machine difference and
brewing machine difference. Each has an effect on the coffee.
No, I'm not the handsome Mike Phillips who won the 2010 barista
championship.