What is apparently termed a “flat white” these days is the way I’ve always preferred my coffee since well before fashion dictated.
I recall as a youngster rather enjoying the cafe con leche on family holidays to Spain. (I’d be about 11 or so I reckon and this was very early 80’s) It was a large espresso and steamed smooth milk (very similar to a microfoam style) in a small-ish cup
It proved difficult to find a similar style for many year until I finally had my own full control of coffee making when I bought my own house. Through experimentation I recreated that style and it has stood me well for the last 25 years.
I like it because I want to get a good strong hit of coffee that isn’t overwhelmed by milk but that has some of the bitterness rounded off by the sweetness of the milk. I also want it to be the right size Stupidly large cups of coffee aren’t for me. I want to be able to drink it all in less than 10 minutes. Anything larger is a waste and once it drops below optimum temperature I don’t want to drink it.
But my way is not your way, So find what you like and ignore what anyone else thinks. Anyone who sneers at another’s choice of coffee serving style is a bit of a dick, and yes, that includes the Italians (much as I love their country, people, food and drink). There is no single right way because personal taste is never an absolute.
I second this. I once had a black-coffee-drinking cow-orker who saw me adding cream and sugar to mine and remarked (quite haughtily IMO) “You must not like coffee.” Bullshit. I like coffee with cream and sugar. He liked black coffee. So what? We all like what we like.
Somewhat tangentially, I recently discovered affogatos.
Heaven in a cup.
What espresso machine or pot do you use? And what beans? I am wanting to get decent espresso and have decided it will have to be made by me but don’t know where to begin. Advice?
Oh yes. Yes, yes, yes. I really do have to get an espresso machine. And a gelato machine. Or move to Italy.
I’ve been pretty happy of late with my low-budget at-home “cappuchinish”. Costco beans, Cuisinart grinder, Aeropress, microwave a jamjar of milk and shake it up til foamy. Delish and costs very little.
My machine is a Rancilio Silvia, modified with a precise temperature controller. My grinder is a Rancilio Rocky, and I use the “5” setting out of 1-55, so I use a very light tamp (“grind finer, tamp lighter” is the motto of better baristas). My beans are from a local roaster, Colectivo. Their standard espresso beans, bought 5 lbs at a time, which lasts about a month.
I slowly worked my way up in terms of machine used. I burnt out machines on a yearly basis for too long, because I make espresso nearly daily. So finally I invested in the top of the line for home machines, Silvia, which I got in 2009 and has only needed servicing once since. Silvia is expensive, but to me she’s worth every penny.
Thanks Qadop. I could see getting up to that level of investment but first I have to learn how to make espresso before I try to learn how to make better espresso, I think. I wonder if you have any recommendations for baby steps? In Italy I saw people make espresso in a pot on the stove and I wonder about starting there?
Sorry to have hijacked your thread, Belrix. And no, it’s not gauche to put cream in espresso. Gauche is remarking on anything anyone does as being gauche.
That’s a moka pot. It makes a beverage that’s almost completely unlike espresso, but is good in its own right, more a very strong cup of coffee. More commentary on it here.
I’d not consider it the place to start if you want to advance to espresso. The attached link contains some basic info on the entry into the world of espresso.
