Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
Is Espresso Really 'Good' Coffee?
mike837go:
In the WCDT the issue of the correct spelling of esprresso has been batted about.
That got me to thinking about how much I hate the stuff. It is the distilled essence of everything that is bad about coffee. Cheep beans. Overroasted. The bitterness, over-strong taste and very oily. :-P
A good quality South American or Middle Eastern bean lightly to moderatly roasted (cinimon-colored roast). Ground fine. Brewed using a continous flow of water not over 195F and a paper filter.
Served over a spash of milk and no sugar.
Now, that's good coffee!
Nibble a bit a good chocolate on the side. Heaven!
Boomslang:
I'm actually quite fond of Americano, for some reason.
It just tastes closer to what I expect coffee to taste than actual coffee. Still, I don't drink espresso by itself.
Tiogyr:
Best comparison I can come up with is to tell you to think of espresso like the hard liquor of coffee, while regular coffee is like your given beer of choice (it's even referred to and/or served as a "shot"). I'm sure someone can come up with a flaw in that comparison, but I think it works rather well (espresso tastes best when served in a "mixed drink" of the shot + milk/cream/whatever, etc.).
The Seldom Killer:
--- Quote from: mike837go on 26 May 2011, 09:55 ---Brewed using a continous flow of water not over 195F and a paper filter.
--- End quote ---
Paper filter = fail. Paper absorbs the oils that basically holds a big part of the coffee flavour. If you're going to filter coffee, you'll get far better results using a gold filter, preferably in a ceramic housing.
Still, you're description of espresso is kind of off the mark. Kind of, because what you're describing there is what I've experienced from Starbucks. However, I've been to some places where the espresso is a luxurious, smooth delight and hardly described as bitter, easily as desirable as any filtered coffee. There is, after all, a reason why espresso based drinks are so prevalant on the continent. Worth bearing in mind that not all espresso uses cheap beans and they can be roasted for a range of time and/or temperatures.
So yes, espresso can be good coffee, the same way filtered coffee can be bad. It all comes down to that grey area of taste. For instance, my preference tends towards cafetiere coffee in the morning, espresso based coffee during the day and filtered coffee of an evening.
pwhodges:
Paper filters remove oils which are implicated in raising blood cholesterol levels. Taste vs health, eh?
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