As my name suggests, I'm especially fond of that black liquid many of us consume during breakfast and after meals. Recently, I've been looking into espresso machines and am considering buying one to make my home coffee experience better. I've gone through a lot of websites talking about coffee (www.coffeegeek.com, www.coffeekid.com, etc). While they are informative, they usually talk about many machines that are not available locally. The espresso machines I see in Rustans, for example, are not true espresso machines (not enough pressure, water not hot enough, etc). Does anyone know of stores selling good (and reasonable priced) home espresso machines? Has anybody have good or bad experiences with espresso machines bought locally in the Philippines? Please share your experiences. Also, do you know of any good local source of imported coffee beans? I mean, aside from the overpriced beans available at starbucks. Thanks! [Edited on 11-10-2004 by coffeelover]
wow... cool.. if anyone sends you an offline msg or if you find what you are looking for pls share.. id be interested in that too.. http://www.pbase.com/patmartires/coffee
I'm a coffee lover myself. Double espresso for me, no sugar. I'm using an old Solis (now known as Saeco) turbotwin. It's a fully automatic all-in-one home machine. I'm sure you've seen it in some restaurants. It's got a built-in grinder, a pump and a steam wand. It's not as good as traditional machines, but it gets the job done nonetheless. This specific model has been discontinued long ago. There are more similar, but more advanced versions available today. You can find them in Santis (best to go to the Yakal street branch) and in CAFEX. Cafex (Continental Coffee) has a showroom in Tropical Palms in Legazpi Village. gove them a call for more details. I must warn you though that these things don't come cheap. If you are looking for a super affordable alternative, I recommend the traditional stovetop expresso maker. I've seen some in Figaro and Cook's Exchange. EDIT: My beans as usually from CAFEX also. I usually go for full-bodied, high acidity, dark roasts. Yup, the heavy stuff. What's nice about Cafex is that it's the closest thing to roasting your own. I'd ask for stock that's less than one week old (freshly roasted). For imported, I prefer Lavazza Qualita Oro. Illy is probably the best around, but it's ridiculously expensive. [Edited on 11-11-2004 by elbertc]
yup, both my brothers use a bialetti moka express, noot really sure where they got them but really simple , affordable, good coffee! The Saeco machines are great too but come with a heavy price tag. Santi's sells them locally! As for beans, I always liked Figaro Barako Gold Blend, though i think you can get imported beans from Santi's as well. Hope this helps!
i picked up my expresso pot from Gourdo's at the fort. i like using Lavazza Qualita Oro which is distributed locally by Bacchus International. you can get them at their shop at 6750 Ayala or at their main office at Alexander House on Amorsolo St. in Legaspi Village. if you go there you can try a cup from the holy grail of espresso machines, the ECM Michelangelo. when i win the lotto i will buy one of those coffin size babies and overdose myself with caffeine.
If you've got someone in the US who can repack the machine for you, then have it sent here door-to-door by balikbayan box, I'd recommend buying a Rancilio Silvia and a Rocky grinder. This setup is the standard which serious aficionados use in the US. There will be loads of support and archives you can look up in alt.coffeee and coffeegeek.com regarding this setup. Here, Cafe Appasionato might still be selling the Isomac Tea. Superautos, except the most costly ones, don't have high enough brew temps. Semi autos like i've mentioned, will pull espressos at the right temp and pressure. Moka pots will brew strong coffee but will emphasize roast/dark flavors. For varietal flavors, a simple press will be better. Varietals are inherent flavors in good arabica beans. A good espresso setup will extract at much more intense levels. Shameless plug: I import green (unroasted) beans from sweetmarias.com which i blend with our own Cordillera arabica. I roast weekly and deliver to the Makati area on weekends. My prices are above Figaro's and way below Starbucks. Coffee flavors diminish 2-3 weeks after roasting, so try to get fresh roasted.
Before you make your choice, try the coffee at Cafe Amici of Don Bosco, Makati !! They're close to the corner of Pasay Rd (?) and Pasong Tamo. Imported Italian Roast at its best, Espresso & otherwise. 300 pesos for half a kilo. Fr. Columbo used to sell the machines also, not sure if he still does. It is the best coffee at 30 bucks a cup !! Cheers,
Wow. That's literally like five minutes' walk from where I work. I should try that one out some time. Thankfully we have a new coffee machine installed in our cafeteria right now ... our office coffee is finally much much much better than the (insert brand name of multinational food company based in Vevey, Switzerland here) sludge that our canteen used to dispense.
Sorry PipoyG :beer: Still ain't changing my opinion though. But if it makes you feel any better, I happily do the music for a LOT of (still unnamed company)'s ads! Hehe ... [Edited on 11-11-2004 by vicicasas]
and to think that brand 'nestled' by the lake in Vevey had the temerity/'chutzpuh' to start a 'blued' coffee outlet ala Starbucks and pala they were using 'instant' powder for their coffee !! They got the money to throw away and throw away they did !! It closed !!! :lol::lol: If there are any MUGgers 'consorting'/nestled with that brand, excuse na lang, "but that's the truth !! BTW, I have 2 brothers-in-law, one a Swiss ex-pat that worked w/ Johnny S. at Filipro (!) and one Pinoy (ex-San Miguel-Magnolia) now working in Sales... so I've had a lot of experiences (+ & -) with that company, and the only coffee of theirs, I have to tolerate is their so called deCaf, specially when I run out of my deCaf coffee grounds !!! My biggest gripe is that they killed the yummy taste of the orig Magnolia Vanilla !! Now it tastes just like any Vanilla ice cream anywhere in the world !!! Big deal !!! :dry: so there ... :lol::lol:
What great reviews on coffee, everyone! Must look at your recommendations. Has anyone seen any Moka pot with a glass upper half for sale anywhere in Manila? Would be great to see the coffee coming up than wondering if the darn thing's getting ready to explode. I have spotted cute little steel single or double spout Swiss-branded stovetop espresso makers in the basement of the Podium. It's in the shop that sells paella fixings, cookers and gourmet food. - - - - - C9, I use a Moka pot and like roast/dark flavors, either Figaro Barako Gold or French Roast. I rather like the idea of giving money to support the local barako industry so they can keep growing our coffee. Do you sell your coffee in small amounts? When can we have a taste so we can order from you? Isn't Cordillera arabica more chocolatey in flavor? Do you have that pure/as is or is it darker/tastier with the blend you mentioned? Where can we meet? Cherrie [Edited on 11-11-2004 by weremermaid]
its true, these guys can help you out. the rogationist priest and the bosconian friars make damn good coffee. the tricky part is the hours. go between 10am - 4 PM because thats when they're open. i think they still sell because i do trips to the province quite often and in one of the places i go to (a rogationist school run by fr. carmelo), he says that he buys his stuff (espresso machine, filters and beans) from Amici. i just forgot how much.
Hi Cherrie. The present crops from Bauko and Tuba in the Cordillera are more malt than choc, it makes a good base for other bean varieties. If roasted a bit darker a bit of bittersweet choc comes out. I blend it with ethiopian sidamo which adds dark choc, fruit and subtle spice notes. By itself sidamo is potent, earthy and has dried apricot flavors (but costly)! Another blend is with sumatran lintong which adds zest, bit of lemon, and earthy spice notes. I roast weekly and sell in 200gram bags. Macliing - blend of Cordillera beans, P125 Sid Vicious - Cordillera with sidamo. P155 Balintong - bauko/tuba with lintong. P135 I deliver to Makati/Greenbelt area on weekends. Minimum 2 bags. Lumiere beside Greenbelt 3 serves my coffee. Neil Oshima found a bean that's fruity, flowery/fragrant which i blend and roast for their resto. That blend is exclusive to them though. By the way, we've met eons ago . I was with Joel climbing in the Karakoram, Pakistan! with another MUGer Albert Labrador. Which reminds me, i still owe Albert coffee for pointing out this site when i was looking for a Pbook! When getting beans from Figaro, try to bug the manager about getting their freshest batches. Roast (carbony) flavors last long, but the varietals (choc, fruit, etc) diminish in a few weeks and you get a less complex brew.
I had a bad experience buying an espresso machine from the dept. store (Anson's). It never produced good espresso. You may want to call Harry Chua of PFESCORP (Tel. 531-3075). He sells espresso machines for both home and restaurant use. Range is not too big but you may find one that fits your budget. Try Alex Dumayag of TECHNOLUX (Tel. 896-4941, 899-4531). He also sells for home and restaurant use. Pricy but good quality espresso machines. If you want it for home use, Saeco is good enough and range is fairly wide. Santi's (or Werdenberg) Yakal is the cheapest source for Saeco. I use a moka stove top espresso brewer like elbertc's picture. It produces very good coffee. Like him and C9, I prefer dark roasted coffee with lots of body. You can get the moka from Boyd's (call Robert Francisco Tel 887-0985).
Has anyone tried brewing or tasting some of the locally prepared "Civet" coffee? I've seen it before being "picked" from the ground, and I heard it was featured a couple of weeks daw in a TV show. I just dont know what makes it special, except for the fact that it passed thru the systems of a civet (?musang?). Im just curious lang.
Tommyv that was Cherrie's preference (dark roasted). Roast levels depend on specific beans; Tarrazu, Yirgacheffe, Antigua, etc are much better if light to mid roasted. Dark roasts suit other varieties, but it's also used often by big roasters since dark roast flavors last longer, and so it won't be too noticable even if they're selling stale beans. A friend is bringing some of the civet beans for me to try, but from what i saw on TV it was wok (pan) roasted, which often results in uneven and faster roasts compared to drum roasts. They're trying to copy Indonesia's civet crapped kopi lowak, the world's most expensive coffee. Even here the local version sells for P250 for 100gms, according to my friend. [Edited on 11-12-2004 by C9]
C9, I like bittersweet chocolate and anything with that flavor. Ok, 2 bags of your most vicious dark roast - Balintong and Sid Vicious (neat choice for names, BTW), ha ha! If only I could be attached to a coffee drip then I can have coffee nonestop. Neal Oshima and Susan are friends, can I pick up the coffee from you or at Lumiere? Where will you be tomorrow afternoon so I can waylay you for the coffee? Lumiere is a hotspot BTW, PhilMUG coffee-meet in there some time? Ah, met you with Mr. J? Sheesh! That was a zillion years back alright. Thought civet coffee originated in and has gone bigtime in Vietnam. Here's a hilarious commentary on extreme baristas but do read the comments on civet coffee also.
Just tried Alamid coffee (civet crapped), brought to me by a friend. It cost P450/100gms. Wasn't that fresh anymore, crema was thin, but as espresso it was sweet and citrusy, with bright fruit notes. Surprising, since it was a dark roast. As cappuccino, the flavors still punched through the milk, the citrus turned to hints of orange. Overpriced but very good coffee, similar to a Huehuetenango or other good central american, but more potent. Cherrie, sent you a u2u.
