(Steve Pope) wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
> >No matter how much you spend nothing will perform better than this:
> >http://www.amazon.com/Bialetti-Moka-...000CF3Q6/ref=p....
>
> Heh. *The apartment we just stayed in, in Rome, had a similar
> unit in its kitchen and it worked quite well.

Read the cutomer reviews.

Of course if you have more dollars than brain cells you can go for one
of the *machines*, all useless bells and whistles, and there is no
limit to how much jewelry can be hung on to achieve *the look*,
remember, it's only appearance, serves no function whatsoever.

> >Next you need good water (coffee is 99.999pct H20) without good water
> >no matter how much you spend on coffee it will taste like crap.
>
> Have a Brita filter unit.

Better than nothing, but a reverse osmosis filter is best... and never
set up any coffee brewer the night before, the water will go stale
(will lose oxygen, and oxygen is what permits you to taste.

> >You need a decent burr mill, how much you spend depends on your
> >budget... after a point (about $150) they don't get noticably better
> >no matter how much more you spend.
>
> Right, the burr grinder is on my list. *Anything in particular
> I should look for?

I have a Solis Maestro, wasn't expensive (about $140) and works like a
charm... been used every day since 2000, still works like new, and
requires very little attention, just clean the burr every few months.
All burr grinders are kinda messy (static electricity), some say
adding a few drops of water with the beans is a remedy, don't you
believe it... best to have a small brush handy to sweep up the stray
grounds. Don't buy any coffee brewer with a built in mill, not unless
you don't mind spending your life cleaning... plus none of those
contain a very good mill, and when any part of a combo unit dies it's
all trash.

You can spend a lot more if you're into *the look* but then when it
dies you'll just have a much more expensive pile of junk.

http://www.aabreecoffee.com/Solis.cf...oogleAAB-Solis

Sheldon