Coffee

So you want to buy an espresso machine?

The office has resumed its working mode since January. Since the takeaway breakfast price has increased, I prepare oatmeal every morning to save money. On the other hand, I make milk-based drinks like caffè lattes and matcha lattes every night for my latte art daily drill. My daily milk consumption has increased. The problem is milk contains fat. High milk consumption leads to high fat intake and may harm my health. ...

Kung Hei Fat Choy! According to the Chinese zodiac, this year is the Year of the Rabbit. In Hong Kong, rabbit-related decorations are everywhere in shopping malls and commercial and residential buildings. Can the rabbit appear on the milk-based coffee as well? Of course. Recently my girlfriend challenged me about whether I could make a rabbit latte art. I have been making rosettas and rippled hearts for more than 2 months. I wanted to try something new, so I accepted the challenge. ...

One day, I met two friends. We went to a coffee shop, bought two cups of coffee, and chatted. One of the topics was whether to buy an espresso machine. “Think twice before you buy it,” I said, “it’s not as easy to brew an espresso as you might think.” In fact, this wasn’t the first time I faced this question. Imagine that you are sitting at a cafe with your friends. You enjoy chatting with them and having an egg benedict. A moment later, you receive a cup of caffe latte topping with pretty latte art. How cosy it is. ...

Brewing coffee with Kompresso for 2 weeks, I enjoyed drinking this sweet espresso-like coffee. With a cheap Ikea milk frother, I sometimes made a caffè latte. However, the brewing process was over-complicated. I needed many tools to brew one cup of caffè latte. If I wanted to brew more, I had to clean all the tools and redo the same process, which is troublesome and time-consuming. An espresso machine was essential to simplify the brewing process. Therefore, I started searching for my ideal espresso machine. ...

Since I bought Kompresso in April, my major coffee drinks were made by Kompresso. With a cheap Ikea milk frother, I sometimes made a caffè latte. My office has been under an “A/B Team” policy since this year. When I was working from home, I used Kompresso. How about the week working at the office? Kompresso is small too, and it’s easy to make an espresso-like coffee. However, coffee residues are usually spread over the table during brewing. I hate making my working table dirty. Therefore, I decided not to drink Kompresso at the office. Instead, I brewed drip coffee. ...

Almost every coffeeholic wishes he could make of making a caffè Latte at home. However, it seems impossible to make it without the aid of an espresso machine. This was the question I faced a couple of days after I bought the Kompresso. Many products are claimed to froth the milk for Caffè Latte easily. The most famous one is Subminimal NanoFormer, which costs more than HKD 300. At that time, I was still unsure whether I would buy an espresso machine. If I bought one, the steam wand in the espresso machine would replace a milk frother. NanoFormer would then become a waste. ...

I had been drinking Nespresso for 9 years, but I hadn’t investigated what actually inside the capsule is. One day, I tore the capsule and weighed the content. The capsule consists of about 5 g of coffee. Nespresso suggests using one capsule to brew a shot of 40 mL espresso. The 1:8 ratio is inauthentic to espresso brewing. Increasing the dose to about 1:2 will cost us 4 capsules. This is much more expensive than buying speciality coffee beans. Nevertheless, Nespresso doesn’t mention the origin and roast date of the coffee beans. The capsules sold in markets in Hong Kong are usually stale. ...

In August last year, a coffeeholic, Kin, named himself Barista Gor Friend (friend of a barista), started his business by teaching basic coffee knowledge in various aspects. He advertised in an online broadcast channel I’ve been listening to. I wanted to learn more about coffee and meet new friends sharing the same interest. Therefore, I attended his class. Kin earned a couple of certifications from Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), a non-profit trade organisation for the specialty coffee industry. The coffee class he organises is not just for teaching, but to meet with other coffeholics and people who want to learn more the basic knowledge. People often start learning about coffee without rich resources. After spending lots of time and money, they still can’t determine if something is good or bad or distinguish the general difference between coffee beans from Africa and South America. ...

Regarding the original blog post about my coffee journey earlier this year, I’d like to talk more and share the updates in recent months. I began the journey by drinking instant coffee and canned coffee. It’s said that caffeine excites our brains. Drinking coffee helps wake people up. Although it was ineffective to me, the mixing of bitterness and sweetness makes me feel good. I consumed instant coffee and canned coffee a few times a week. ...