Espresso

So you want to buy an espresso machine?

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. ...

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. ...