Reader Questions

Given the questions we receive, we thought it would be fun (and interesting) to start posting a "Reader Question of the Week." Each week we will answer a question, sent in by YOU, on this blog. They can be serious, funny, about espresso, machines...whatever floats your boat. Then on each Friday we will post one question and answer it.

To submit a question, click on the EMAIL link on the right hand side of the page, and ask away! Or just CLICK HERE.

Coffee filled chocolates...MANA on Earth!

Or at least I hoped they would be. Don't get me wrong, they're not bad...the chocolate is decent and the filling isn't too shabby, yet it's not necessarily AS good as I had anticipated. Not only am I an espresso "snob" I am also a chocolate "snob." This is the result of working in a small candy store from the time I was 15 until the ripe adult age of 18 when I headed off to college. They are still around to this day, although the name has changed...long story. But, their chocolate is excellent and it made me into sort of a connoisseur. Truth be told, I have a penchant for Belgian chocolates and could often be found at Chocolat et Gateaux in downtown Bend. They just so happen to serve espresso there too. Unfortunately I always forgot about that part and hence never had the chance to review them. When I come back to visit I will do this, though.

So back to the coffee filled chocolates. This particular brand was by Anthon Berg, who apparently has made "his" mark in this world by filling chocolate shells with various forms of liquid. Google "him" and you will be awed and inspired at products such as liqueur bottle shaped chocolates filled with Malibu Rum. Maybe awed and inspired aren't the right words for that. But whatever...they ARE the Purveyors to the Royal Danish court. I am assuming that means they supply chocolates to the King and Queen, but then I could be wrong. Does Denmark even have a Royal Court anymore?? As for the coffee filled ones, first I should point out that while I'm not completely stupid I do have a tendency not to read things all the way through. Instructions, recipes, ingredients, etc. I'm not sure why this is but it just is. So when I bit into the "latte cup shaped" chocolate and spilled coffee liquid on to my shirt I was surprised. Had I read the packaging a tad more closely I would've realized that it was coffee (the liquid kind) filled...not coffee CREAM filled or any other such nonsense. Reading. It's good for you.

Taste-wise I would say that obviously you wouldn't want to drink a whole cup of the liquid center. I also didn't notice much of a difference between the "Cappuccino" style or the "Vanilla Frappe" style, or the "Espresso" version versus the "Toffee Macchiato" one. They all tasted the same to me. For the price (about $7 for 5 candies), I can't say that I would buy them again. If someone gave me one I'd eat it. Because that's how I roll. But I think I'll spend my hard earned dollars on fine chocolate! mmmmmm...chocolate.

Eau de Cafe

If there is one thing I would wish for my home to smell like, it would be a cafe. Warm, inviting, and richly scented of the finest espresso beans. One that made you instantly want to plop down on the sofa, sip a cuppa, and relax. Maybe read Tolstoy. Or Harry Potter. Whatever floats your boat. Everyday, for the briefest of moments, after I make a cappuccino I get a taste of what life would be like living in a home that smells of freshly ground and brewed coffee. Unfortunately it doesn't last long enough. Buzzkill. As far as I know they don't make coffee scented Plug-Ins, but they should. They sooo should. I think it would triple their business sales. Or not. But if the coffee Gods are listening, please make the fine people at Glade have an epiphany and create the Plug-In to end all Plug-In's--namely one that smells like coffee. I can't brew all day like a real cafe does. So that leaves candles. Self-admittedly I am a candle hoor. I love them like I love mugs. Personally, I think one can never have too many candles. Unless you have hoarding issues. Then maybe you could have too many. Therefore I have several. Some are there for looks and get lit every now and then. Like when company comes over. Or I feel all romantic and stuff. Others are "working" candles. By that I mean these are the ones I light to make the house smell good. They have to be heavily scented as we have a large, open floorplan and thus it takes a lot to fill up the area. Sadly, most candles fall short of this requirement and get relegated to a smaller room instead. Now, I know that my house isn't going to be satiated with the smell of roasted beans no matter how hard I try. And that's okay. There is something to be said for not smelling like a walking cup of joe as soon as you walk out of a cafe...or in this case your house, if your house actually did smell like a cafe. I would prefer something in the middle of "COFFEE" and "coffee."

Finding this happy medium is more difficult than one might think. Or at least it has been for me. Many of the candles I saw online were poured into glass mugs topped with whipped cream ...and sometimes a cherry. (Who the hell puts cherries in their coffee?) THIS one is interesting, though. Bonus points for the bag 'o beans. The ones that I was actually able to smell in person did not smell like coffee. They smelled like s'mores, or hot chocolate. I somewhat gave up on finding one I truly liked via shopping at the mall and instead turned to the internets. As Christmas was approaching my dad asked for a list of things we wanted, so I added a few different coffee-scented candles that I figured would make a good gift.

I got not one, not two, but THREE different coffee/cappuccino scented candles. Bring on the testing!! I have burned all three of them thus far, yet the only one I feel I can fairly review at this time is the Old Virginia Candle Company's Coffee scented Soy candle. I adore their Woodwick candles and would advise you to RUN, not walk, to your nearest store that carries these and buy one. They are hard to find but well worth the money. Sadly, there are no coffee scented ones. I also noticed that they don't seem to have the one I received for Christmas (the Farm Grown Coffee scented one) listed on their website. You can still get it through Amazon (or just click on the "coffee scented soy candle" link above) if you so desire.

Smell-wise it has a rich, nutty, scent that does fill the air quite nicely after it has burned for about an hour or so. I did notice after I had it lit for about 2 hours, blew it out, left, and came back that upon walking into the house you could distinctly smell coffee. While it's nowhere near as wonderful as sticking your nose directly into a bag of Stumptown beans, it has thus far made me happy.

More reviews on the other two coming soon!

Merry Christmas to us!

For Christmas this year my dad asked us to make him a list of items we wanted so that he could purchase stuff rather than give us money--as he normally does. We're always down for some money, yet thought it would be fun to have gifts to unwrap for a change. So I headed over to Chris' Coffee Service and sent the links to a few things we've been needing and wanting to get, just never have. Come Christmas day we opened the following items thus making us that much closer to being true home baristas. Or whatever.

First, the Bumper Tamper Stand:


This bad boy is a major step up from what we were using...a folded up bar towel. Okay, so it wasn't high-tech by any stretch of the imagination, it was a tad messy, and I'm sure it screwed up our tamping "skills" but it worked. Needless to say, this item was looooong overdue in our repertoire. It has taken some getting used to, however we're quite glad to no longer be using the towel.

Second, a REAL tamper!


I'm torn on this one. We need it, we so need it, I need it. I need to grow up and stop using the Espro tamper and learn how to tamp like a true espresso brewer. But damn it's tough. I honestly can't tell if I'm applying enough pressure, too much, or not enough. Of course "he" has had no issues with the shots he's pulled. They've been awesome, actually. I know over time I'll adjust and get the hang of things. In the meantime, don't be surprised if I sneak an Espro tamp in here and there.

And, here's a close up of the tamper stand/bumper thingamabob:


Last, but certainly not least, cappuccino cups from Italy in the size they should be! Ours are the 025 ones, although I thought they would be the 020 ones.


Yes, yes, ladies and gents we have been using cups that are much too big. I believe they hold 8 ozs. total...gasp...for shame! The problem is that I have diligently been trying to find stylish, whimsical, fun cups rather than plain brown or white. This is easier said than done, unfortunately. Finally I got tired of milky cappuccino's and gave in. I like brown but I really like my cappuccinos to taste as they should.

There's been a lot of changes now, a lot of realizing that I need classes. Badly. But it's all been in good fun! So, thanks dad!! We are mucho appreciative!

For Ebohling - Questions about machines

Before the holidays we received a comment on the "Our Machine" post and felt it was worthy of giving it its own entry. The question was:

"Still like your S1? I've been trying to figure out my next machine (upgrade from Rancilio Silvia/Rocky duo). Been looking at everything such as Andreja, Domobar, Brewtus II, and of course La Spaz Vivaldi II. Such a hard decision...don't want to have any buyer's remorse when forking over that much money! I am bummed that Chris Coffee screwed up my last order and instead of getting my order in a couple of days it took over a week...they said they would reimburse me for the slower shipping, but that's not at all the point. Obviously when someone pays almost as much for expedited shipping as the item they purchased, they want it fast."

To answer the first question..."YES!" A big fat resounding YES! When we first started looking we decided we wanted a machine that had a double boiler, a rotary pump, and could be directly plumbed. The two main ones we (read "he" as he's the researcher) looked at were the Brewtus II and the S1. While the Brewtus II is a more aesthetically pleasing model, we think the S1 is slightly more capable. We would highly recommend getting a machine that has a double boiler as the temperature is much more stable for brewing and you get more steam for frothing. Both of us agree that buying the S1 has been one of the best purchases, albeit most expensive purchases, we have ever made. We use it everyday and thus far have had no complaints. It's always nice knowing that if you have a crappy cup of cappuccino while you're out, you can come home and have a good one.

We didn't have any issues with Chris' Coffee so hopefully, and unfortunately, you just had a one-time bad delivery. In fact, Chris' threw in a free naked portafilter which we still use with every pull. I would give them another shot although we totally understand your disappointment. When we ordered our S1 we had been having issues with UPS for other deliveries and had pretty much resigned ourselves to thinking that our beloved espresso machine would not arrive when it was scheduled to. The hours ticked by, the sun started to set, and even "he" started to get pissy. Amazingly enough the UPS driver pulled through and arrived fairly late in the evening to deliver the big brown box. We would've been highly annoyed if it had not come as we too were very excited to hook it up and start brewing. But, as I said I would still order from Chris'. We've read a lot of good reviews and he truly does seem to want to please his customers. And please do check back in and let us know which machine you got and how it works for you!

All The Perks

On the hunt for more cafe's serving different brands of beans, we came across a small shop in a strip mall near Albertsons in Happy Valley that serves Longbottom Coffee and Tea. We have passed by this place several times going back and forth between home and New Seasons, yet wasn't sure if it was indeed All The Perks or another cafe given there are two signs on the front of the facade. One is quite large and says, "Coffee House," or something to that effect, while the other reads, "All The Perks" yet it is very small and impossible to read from the road. Given there aren't many coffee places in Happy Valley we figured it was a safe assumption that we had found the place we were looking for and finally stopped in yesterday to check it out.

The inside was quite surprising and impressive. The coffee bar is gorgeous and we really liked the booths they have. Pastries appeared fresh and tasty, although we behaved ourselves and didn't order any. The barista was very nice yet asked the dreaded question..."Would you like that more 'wet' or 'dry'?" This came after the fact that I had to order a 12 ozs. cappuccino as it was the smallest size they offered...and it was put into a paper cup. 3 strikes and you're out, baby. We were a tad crushed. Neither of us has ever had Longbottom Coffee but in reading about their espresso beans on their website, they seemed like a good one to try. Plus, we were hoping to find a cafe closer to home that we could hang out in from time to time and enjoy a cappuccino made by someone other than me. Okay, maybe I wish for that more than "he" does given I'm the one that always makes the cappuccinos in this house. Unfortunately, my cappuccino was obviously a latte and there was no way to even get a sense of how the beans tasted. We didn't think to ask if All The Perks sells the Longbottom espresso beans so I may swing back by there and find out. I also forgot that Longbottom offers several blends of espresso and am unsure as to which one was served in our drinks.

Sadly, when we arrived home I dumped mine out and had to make our own.

Ristretto Roasters

Ristretto Roasters is one of the few coffee shops in Portland that does not serve Stumptown beans. And while we love Stumptown, we also love variety. In trying to find a cafe that served a different brand of espresso, we came across Ristretto's. They roast their own beans right in the cafe. Thus this was next on our list of places to try. We stopped in at the cozy shop, situated right across the street from a really old schoolhouse, on a Saturday afternoon. Like many coffee houses this one bears the typical decor of eclectic furniture and art, however behind a wall in the back lies the roasting room. This is where the magic happens. Albeit stinky magic...or so I'm told.

We placed our order, two cappuccinos and a muffin for me. The girl working the register asked me what size I wanted. That definitely caught me off guard as I'm not used to being asked this question in the more "serious" coffee houses. I had to think for a moment and answered, "The smallest size you have." Then we specified that it was "for here," paid, and grabbed a table. It seemed to take awhile for our cappuccinos to be made, especially given there was no one else in there. Finally one of the gals told us our coffees were up so "he" headed to the counter to get them. Unfortunately they were in paper cups. Nooooooooooooooo. Que disappointing. I think we all know how I feel about paper cups both for taste reasons and size reasons. That big 'ole cup meant there was no way to truly sample the taste of their espresso. Sigh. What we could taste was nice. Sadly it wasn't enough to get all the complexities and flavors like we should have.

So once again we'll have to put off a real review until we can try a proper cappuccino from Ristretto's. I guess it gives us a good excuse to make the trek back up there, yet we'd prefer to make it again because we loved what we were served...not because we didn't get to sample it the way we should have.