How Much Equipment Do You Really Need To Make Good Coffee?
Any coffee lover knows that the time which elapses between the coffee beans being roasted and ground affects its quality. They also know that a good cup of coffee often depends on the equipment brewing it. Gone are the days when a pot of coffee is cooked in a tin pot over an open fire in the open range.
Freshness is key to quality! Essentially even if you select a lesser quality coffee and grind it to brew fresh, you will get a better cup of coffee out of it than if the coffee beans are roasted, ground and allowed to sit around and go stale. While it may not be that feasible to have a coffee roaster in your home, it is not hard to find freshly roasted beans and grind them at home.
The basic piece of coffee equipment you, as a coffee lover, require is a good grinder. Grinders are available in all kinds of makes and models. They also come in different sizes, but no one really needs an industrial sized coffee grinder at home. Remember you want to grind the coffee fresh every time you need it; this is how you maintain the quality of the brew. A coveted piece of coffee equipment is the espresso machine.
This is a must have for all coffee addicts! A shot of properly prepared espresso is an excellent way to enjoy the richness that coffee has to offer. There is an art to making a good espresso, it takes timing and just a little bit of skill, but it cannot be done without an espresso machine. The recommended time for making a single espresso is supposedly 23 seconds to cut a shot.
Espresso needs to be made within a certain time frame; this is not easily achieved with the semi-automatic type machine; however they are adequate. The automatic espresso machine is the most preferable type of coffee equipment to use as it is simple to program in the time required to cut off a good shot of espresso. Cutting off a shot is the terminology used for making a cup of espresso as aficionados refer to it. The best espresso machines have all the bells and whistles; these are the “super automatic” machines which do everything for you.
The semi- automatic machine is okay, but if you want to pull out all the stops, and price is no object then the super automatic espresso machine is the thing for you.
Always buy a machine that is easy to have serviced locally and has parts available. It is easy to get drawn into the glamor of “looks” but when your espresso coffee equipment breaks down, you need to be able to get repairs done as quickly as possible, preferably before the withdrawal symptoms start!
Choosing a home coffee machine can be difficult. It is not a choice that you should be making without doing many research. Not all coffee machines are correct for everyone many people may like coffee pods many may not.
