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Question - Drip versus Espresso

"I have a machine at the office that grinds up the beans and spits out coffee. Is that automatically espresso? i dont really understand the diff. btwn espresso and drip.

Update: Thanks yolevins for the info! It could really be either espresso or drip coffee, as bean-to-cup machines exist for both types. See below for more info on espresso vs. drip.

The basic difference between drip coffee and espresso is the amount of pressure placed on the coffee grinds during extraction. Instead of water dripping through the coffee grinds with gravity alone, espresso machines quickly force water at 9 bars of pressure through the coffee grinds, producing a much stronger extraction. An ounce of espresso contains far more coffee oils and caffeine than an ounce of drip coffee.

Because it is so strong and rich, a serving of espresso is only a shot, as opposed to a cup of drip coffee.

You can bet that it's espresso :) I've never seen a drip coffee machine that employed the bean-to-cup system, perhaps mainly because espresso is affected far more by the freshness of the coffee. Espresso made from coffee that has sat around for more than a few days will be considerably less likely to have that layer of crema on top, the sign of a fresh shot, and its taste will be sorely lacking.

This is a an office drip machine. The water drips through the cone filter containing coffee grinds, and into the pot. mmmm

Question - Drip Coffee in Europe/Israel

"I like drinking normal drip coffee, which you can't seem to get in the standard Israeli coffee joint. I've tried espresso since it's the only thing that seems cheap and strong, but I don't really like it."

I agree with you about the appeal of drip coffee- it's something you can nurse, like beer - not too strong, and you can keep it going for a while. But drip is really not popular in Europe/Israel, which is a shame. In Europe, the Americano is the most similar to drip coffee. It's a shot of espresso topped up with hot water, and it tastes similar, but not nearly as good -which makes sense, since it's the European take on the quintessential American drink.

You can usually order filter coffee in some form or another, but unfortunately none of these are quite as good as a freshly-brewed cup of drip (though that doesn't sound appetizing). I'm talking about French Presses and the single-serve Rombouts filters that they put on top of your cup. The issue with the French Press is that, like the old percolator, the coffee continues to steep unless you pour it right away.

You know what else we're missing here? Coffee Bars.

In Italian coffee shops, you don't sit and consume espresso (well you can, but it costs more). You get an espresso while standing at the bar - and if the place isn't too packed, you can small talk with the barista as well. It's hard to describe the appeal, but it's there.

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Julia Roberts in Lavazza's A Modo Mio ads

10 points goes to anyone who can figure out what the heck is going on in this ad. At the beginning of this month, Lavazza signed Julia Roberts to be the new face of their capsule system, A Modo Mio, for the price of $1.4 million (and no speaking required!). As you can see in this ad, she does have a lovely smile, but we'll see how she stacks up against Nespresso's George Clooney.

Anyone heard of this system?

Airline Coffee

On our flight home from Switzerland, my girlfriend and I were impressed that Easyjet offered freshly-brewed Starbucks coffee on the plane.

However, on my trip to the bathroom, I discovered a shiny, small, familiar, brown wrapper next to the paper cups. Starbucks VIA Ready Brew. Quite misleading.

Turns out they weren't actually brewing the coffee there. They were just providing hot water and Starbucks's bold attempt at instant coffee - their VIA Ready Brew single-serve coffee packets. This is a gimmick. Coffee drinkers will probably not appreciate the substitution of basically decent drip coffee with instant coffee spiked with finely-ground coffee beans (which is basically what the VIA Ready Brew is).

Drip coffee does come with one serious drawback though, especially on an airplane: It sits and loses its freshness. There is a perfect solution, and that is the capsule espresso solution. While generally considered second-best to professional espresso machines, some capsule systems produce a genuinely tasty shot, and for an airplane, the ease of use and freshness of a Nespresso machine, for instance, makes it a prime choice.

It's clear that Starbucks has stronger brand recognition than Nespresso, so I do understand why Easy jet would opt to sell Starbucks's (inferior) product. However several airlines have realized the appeal of Nespresso over drip or instant, and have begun offering it as the airline coffee, at least for first-class passengers. Latvian airline airBaltic today began offering first-class fliers four different Nespresso choices - Espresso, Lungo and Decafeinato, as well as Cappucino Classic (which is espresso and foamed milk), and they plan to evaluate offering it as a paid service to economy class passengers as well, similar to EasyJet's offering of Starbucks's Ready Brew coffee. Apparently first-class passengers have already been privy to Nespresso on flights by Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, British Airways Cathay Pacific, Malaysian Airlines, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airway, according to Nespresso's business website.

Espresso and the Women's Petition Against Coffee (1674)

Coffee brewing has come a long way since the cave-man method of sticking raw coffee cherries in hot water and turning on the heat, to the "sock" filter of the 1780s, to 20th century espresso and the rest of the methods in use by world cultures today.

Espresso is only a centenarian - the first machine was patented in 1901 by Luigi Bezzera, in Milan. Bezzera noticed that his employees were taking too much time with their coffee breaks. [Side note - Apparently this was not a new issue - in 1674 English women tried to outlaw coffee drinking entirely because their men were spending too much time in the coffee houses. Note that these were not pubs - they were places with strict social ettiquette, where men of all social classes would come together to discuss and debate current events and politics.]

The Steam System

In any event, after tinkering in his factory looking for a solution, Bezzera realized that coffee would brew much faster if trapped steam was forced through the coffee grinds. The final product was stronger and thicker, although its taste was bitter, almost burnt. Bezzera's machine was basically a giant Moka pot. Water was heated to produce steam, and because it was under pressure, the steam had no where else to go but through the coffee, quickly extracting the grinds.

The burnt taste issue was really only fixed 50 years later, when heating the water was dissociated from the actual extraction. Espresso had now graduated from the steam system to the piston system. The piston system allowed the barista to pull a lever (hence "pull a shot"), producing pressure which would force the heated water through the grinds. The water was heated completely seperately, in a boiler. No hot steam ruining the taste. Some piston systems work by the lever directly moving the water (direct lever), and some work by having the lever compress a spring, which then applies constant high pressure to produce a consistent extraction (spring lever), such as this shiny one:

Interesting fact: you can tell a spring-lever machine from a direct-lever machine by looking at the resting position of the lever. Up = spring-lever. You pull the lever down ("cock it"), then let the calibrated spring do its job.

This site has a great time-line of the development of different brewing techniques, and this one discusses the difference between the two lever machine types.

Nespresso Comes to Soho

Get ready for some explicit images

of coffee.

Nespresso opened a new boutique in New York's Soho neighborhood, which includes a luxurious sitting area to sip Nespresso's selection of Grands Crus. Appatrently this is a Boutique/Cafe where you can browse Nespresso products and order espresso to drink as well, meaning that - as opposed to the classic boutiques - here drinks are not on the house :(

Even Taylor Swift stopped on her Euro tour to get some Nespresso at a Paris boutique. And though we all know that world-class espresso can be found in Paris, I have to agree with Taylor: Nespresso boutiques are a truly fun experience.

Can a plant survive on love alone?

Check out my new desk plant! It really adds life to my desk.
The store was mostly little bamboo plants, but to me that's like having another piece of wood on my desk. But this plant - this one needs me.

Nespresso in Fight for Survival

Nespresso owns 1,700 patents relating to its coffee capsule system, and most are set to expire in 2012. Until then, Nespresso is aggresively asserting its intellectual property rights against Sara Lee and the Ethical Coffee Company, a business started by ex-Nespresso executive Jean-Paul Gaillard. In a court battle which could begin next month in Paris, both competitors will claim that their capsules, though they are compatible only with Nespresso machines, are sufficiently unique so as not to infringe on Nespresso's intellectual property.

If Nespresso loses, its image as proprietor of an exclusive, closed coffee club stands to be tarnished with the entry of low-cost alternative capsules.

Sara Lee L'or Capsules

Ethical Coffee Company's Casino Capsules

BLU+Vodka in a Can - Is This Even Legal?

On my way to work this morning, I noticed a billboard advertising a new energy drink. Energy drinks taste weird to me, and sometimes I feel chest pains drinking them. But this one had VODKA featured on its lable. BLU (competitor to Red Bull) is now selling cans of energy drinks with vodka already included. Very clever indeed.



Vodka and Red Bull is a really popular drink in Israel, and the obvious advantage of this product is that you no longer need to buy a whole bottle of vodka to spike a can of Red bull. The alcohol level is 4.9%, and Vodka on its own is supposed to have 37.5% alcohol. That means that given the total volume of 335 mL, there is a total of 16.416 mL of alcohol, or 43 mL of vodka - or 1 part energy drink to 7 parts vodka. Is that a good ratio? I have no idea.

The Israeli energy drink market has gotten really crowded. Red bull was the first here in 1999, establishing its own Israeli distributor in 2007, and then nosediving to the bottom of the market. In 2004, Polish XL entered the market and bit a giant chunk out of Red bull's market share. With an explosive advertising budget, startegic partnerships with nightclubs, and an established distribution chain to convenience stores across the country, XL positioned itself as Israel's number one energy drink, holding 70% of the market share in 2007. SFS (Shamshoun Fouzi & Sons, Elit's chocolate distributor to the Palestinian territories founded in the 70s) was so successful with XL that Israel now comprises 75% of XL's entire global sales. With a bitter legal battle, XL revoked the distribution license of SFS in September 2008 and gave it to Sides, which lost the license one year later to Tempo. SFS went on to produce its own successful energy drink, which it called BLU, and which now commands 25% of the market. XL has fallen to 56% market share, and Red bull has entirely lost its lead with a dismal market share of 8%.

Still more companies have tried to capitalize off the drink's popularity. Jaffora, distributor of such brands as RC and Spring, as well as two competing bottled water companies, brought Red Rain from Canada in May 2009. Tempo itself, before investing in XL, tried to produce its own energy drink called Xi, which was a complete flop.

Combining Vodka with an energy drink is risky. One known consequence is that drinkers experience inebriation without being aware that they are drunk. A University of Florida study found that consumers of this combo were more likely to drive home drunk because of this effect. Red Bull itself makes your blood stickier, with the consumption of a single can giving a person a heart profile similar to a heart disease sufferer. Add alcohol, and your body is being put through a lot. I hope BLU Energy Vodka is certified as safe by the Ministry of Health.

In any event this new product is a clever, if irresponsible, move by SFS to rise above the increasing competition in the Israeli energy drink market. I'll bet that the rest will quickly follow suit, producing Vodka+Energy Drinks of their own.

Expert Nespresso vs. illyEspresso Comparison

Nespresso and iperEspresso capsules underwent rigorous testing at Kenneth Davids's 'Coffee Review'. Conclusion: They both produce really good espresso, but Nespresso's cheaper and offers more variety. I think I'll stick with Nespresso for my capsule needs.

Also I have a feeling Illy's cheating with their crema production - LAME.

Celebrity Food Combo #1 - Brie and Olive Oil

You know what tastes really good together? Brie spread on a halved Ciabatta, with extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top.

Brie has so much character by itself, even though it's nuanced. Together these two ingredients make one unbelievable sandwhich.

Right now my Ciabatta dough is ageing in the fridge, as per the legendary No-Knead Crusty White Bread recipe gratiously referred to me by Leah from the Bread from a Novice Baker blog. This recipe is supposed to produce a Sourdough taste without needing a starter. Sounds intriguing.

Illy's Capsule Offering - iperEspresso

Capsule-based espresso systems are hot. Instead of needing to shell out over $1000 and spend time grinding and pulling quality shots from traditional machines, many people are happy to see a quicker alternative which better fits their clean and streamlined lives.

Capsules store ground espresso, and keep it fresh with an airtight seal. Instead of reconstituting old coffee like the instant approach, capsule machines pull a new shot of espresso right away - true instant. I don't know who was the first to do it, but it seems to me that Nespresso wears the capsule crown right now. Their popularity has exploded. You can see George Clooney's face drinking a crema-rich shot in virtually all major cities around the world.

More companies have recognized the capsule trend, and have tried to capitalize on it. Lavazza and Illy are two major coffee suppliers with capsule systems, Illy beginning in 2008, and it now looks like Nespresso has substantial competition - which is probably good for consumers. However only Illy counts as real competition in the home coffee drinkers arena, since only Illy and Nespresso sell wildly affordable coffee machines. Lavazza's Espresso Point Matinee - the small version - retails for over $650, which is probably beyond what home drinkers would spend on a pod system. Lavazza's real target seems to be offices.
Illy's newest offering is the FrancisFrancis! Y1. Since the SingleServeCoffee review of the machine reads like an Illy marketing pamphlet, I decided to write about the new iperEspresso machine myself, and give some background to the debate between Illy's capsule system and the longtime champion of espresso capsules, Nespresso.

FrancisFrancis! Y1

I don't think I could differentiate between the espresso of Illy, Lavazza, and Segafredo, but having enjoyed an especially unearthly cup at the Illy Caffe in Rome's Termini Station (manned solely by female baristas - a unique place), I couldn't ignore Illy's attempt at a capsule system. Their coffee just tastes so good. Whereas Nespresso is owned by Nestle, known for its plebian Nescafe brand of instant coffee, Illy's iperEspresso system can count on its illustrious parentage as the source of Arabica coffee to a large chunk of espresso houses in the world - for the last 80 years. At the very least, we know that the ground espresso going into their capsules is of high quality.

The systems are very similar - so similar that I'm confident that one served as an inspiration for the other. Nespresso has been around since the late 1980s, and has really mastered the art of marketing coffee to yuppies. Their capsules are regal, with ten capsules packaged in a long, richly-colored box, giving the impression of a box of truffles. Their machines are tasteful and conservative, and embrace the trend towards artistic kitchen appliances. Finally, they innovated the idea of "coffee flavours", something previously uncommon with respect to espresso, offering drinkers the choice of 16 distinct origins and types of espresso. Starbucks has taken a cue from Nespersso as well, now marketing their own luxury single-serve coffee system, 'VIA Ready Brew' packets.

The Illy iperEspresso system has only 4 flavours, or to be more precise, two different roast levels (medium and dark), a decaf, and a lungo. Four types may actually be an improvement over the Nespresso model. To me, offfering 16 flavours seems like it must have been a gamble for Nespresso. Too much choice can dilute the impression of exclusivity and quality, making each flavour seem less prestigious. It gives the impression that Nespresso was unable to predict which flavour would be best loved, and therefore provided all of them. Perhaps Illy took a cue from Apple in their iPhone production, believeing that they understood the desires of consumers well enough to make choices for them, and produce a single excellent product, while their competitor Android promoted choice by consumers.

Still it's funny comparing Nespresso to iPhone's nerdy competitor Android, given Nespresso's obvious sex appeal. Just check out Nespresso's competition for best 'Nespresso Moment.' Each picture has a pretty girl drinking coffee in a revealing state - in the bathtub, in bed, or in her morning gown. Every Nespresso boutique I've been to has the Nespresso charm. Employees dress like first-class stewardesses, giving shoppers the feeling that they are exclusive guests, there to be served and indulged. In Israel, the lady who served me was wearing a black tunic with a minimalist gold belt. As far as marketing is concerned, Nespresso is a classy lable.

Illy's iperEspresso machines are manufactured under its own FrancisFrancis! lable, which produced respected espresso machines before the introduction of the iperEspresso system. This reputation is another strong-point for Illy. Their machines, designed by Italian architect and designer Lucca Trazzi, properly compete with the modern appeal of the Nespresso machines. They currently offer 4 machines - the X1, X7, X8, and the Y1, their newest offering. The first three used the standard FrancisFranis! design (which is anything but standard), while the Y1 was entirely redesigned. Without seeing it in person, I can't say whether or not it's an improvement, but at least it did away with the traditional espresso-holder, which was only there to reassure drinkers that what came out of the machine was pure espresso extraction, and not instant coffee.

FrancisFrancis! X7

At the heart of the comparison, both systems have their strengths. Cost-wise, Illy's capsules are minimally more expensive. I'm currently loving the Nespresso coffees, but I would really like to try the illy system to see how it compares.

Thoughts of on Addict

I woke up this morning at 6 am to a mystery beep from my phone. Still asleep, I groped at the nightstand for the phone and peeked at the screen, scanning for answers. Only the usual icons, the time. I put the phone back and tried to fall asleep. Minutes went by. I then resigned myself to starting my day, and got up to take a hot shower. This process was all the more sluggish because of yesterday's decision.

I am experiencing major coffee withdrawal right now. I had the runs yesterday, so I decided to skip my daily coffee ration - which had recently increased from 2 cups per day to 3. This decision had painful consequences, and even my caffeine-laced pain pills couldn't get rid of my headache. I left work early feeling achy and nauseous.

This painful experience has put fear into me with respect to coffee. I wonder now whether I should have my daily cup, or try to wean myself off - at least to a level where I'm no longer dependant.

Turkish Coffee

In preparing a cup of Turkish today, I decided to investigate the subject and learn a little bit more about a drink that has kept me alert during many lunch-hour meetings. Unfortunately my cup is on the weak side today, and I can't tell if it's lacking in sugar or coffee. Lately I've been reticent to consume too much sugar, given the warnings of the health-aware. But Turkish coffee needs sugar.

Turkish coffee feels natural to prepare. It's how mother nature wanted me to get my caffeine. There's no intermediary - you put ground coffee in hot water, and consume. No espresso machines, no filters, no presses. And most importantly - no freeze-drying conveyor belt touching my coffee and imparting its trademark grossness.

The fact that I began to feel this way since Elit's Turkish coffee advertising campaign is besides the point. Actually I loved this campaign so much that I'm going to post one of the billboards here:


The word translates to "Morning", and you really feel the effect of the coffee on the morning with that one word. For some reason this campaign really did it for me. It was probably the red colour, attracting me like a fruit fly to a melon. But I think the fact that the coffee was advertised alone made it appealing to me. Until now I thought of it as an outdated Israeli drink which no one would want to invest money promoting. But seeing this advertisement on billboards around Tel Aviv made me feel like this was a modern drink - even an alternative to espresso!

Elit recently received a complaint from local consumers who demanded that Elit stop referring to their product as "Turkish" coffee in light of Turkey's recent malevolence towards Israel. Elit (Strauss Group's coffee and candy lable) responded that "Turkish" merely refers to the bean-grinding method, one invented during the Ottoman empire, and well before Erdogan and his foreign policy. The coffee is made in Israel by Israelis, and they have no intention on changing a well-known name.

Elit's Turkish Coffee is coffee ground extremely fine. Finer than espresso. Israelis make it by adding a heaping tablespoon to a cup, adding sugar, and then pouring in hot water. It's known locally as "Kaffe Botz" or Mud Coffee, because you need to wait for the coffee grinds to settle at the bottom, which form a sludgy black layer. Same preparation as instant, but here your coffee is much fresher.

The Turkish put in more effort, and use specialized hardware for their coffee preparation. Their method involves adding ground coffee and sugar to an Ibric (pictured on the right) filled with cold water; heating it over a low flame until a few bubbles appear; and then pouring it into a Finjan, a small coffee cup.

Is Turkish coffee known at all in the US/Canada? Here in Israel you can find Turkish coffee at all convenience stores, as well as in coffee shops and offices. As a morning drink, American drip-brew seems more sensible to me. It's less of an electric jolt to your waking body, and more of a slow wakeup massage. But there are some moments where it seems to work quite well. When you need a drink to nurse over a period of time, and the jolt of espresso to keep you alert - Turkish is just right.

Yemeni Flatbread - Lahoh

I digress from coffee for a moment. Lahoh was Friday's baking project. I wanted to bake some sort of bread, and this just seemed simpler. Only one rising, and you don't need a baking tray. I've only been out of college a few months, so I'm still lacking basic human equipment, such as a baking tray.

Lahoh are shaped like over-sized pancakes, but they are bread in essence. They begin as a yeasted batter and are left to rise for one hour, after which they are poured into a non-stick frying pan and left to cook for one minute and a half. Their preparation is simple. Still, they are a special flatbread to behold. Ripping a piece of Lahoh is like ripping a soft pancake. They are spongy on the inside, with a crisp underside. Eating them feels decadent, my girlfriend pointed out, and we agreed that the cause was the feeling of eating a fried food. Eating white Pita feels simple in contrast.

The most unique property of Lahoh is its many surface holes. It looks as though a machine has perforated the flatbreads in one hundred different spots. And until I made it myself, their source was sheer mystery to me. The solution was much simpler, and related to the high water content in the dough. Lahoh dough is a wet batter, and when heated in the pan, its moisture escapes in the form of bubbles, leaving behind bubble imprints.

You can see the formation of bubble-holes taking place over the short cooking time:











Lahoh Recipe

1¼ hours | 1 hour prep
SERVES 16

* 1 kg flour
* 1 tablespoon dry yeast
* 1 tablespoon fine salt
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1 1/2 liters lukewarm water

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix until you get a smooth batter without lumps.
2. Place the bowl, covered with aluminum foil, in a warm place for about an hour, and allow the batter to rise.
3. Choose a good Teflon frying pan.
4. The frying pan must be cold. 5. Oil very lightly, you can use a spray, place on a high flame and pour in a ladleful of the batter.
6. When the batter begins to bubble (after a minute or a minute and a half), turn the frying pan over onto a dry towel.
7. Keep the lahoh in a pile, back-to-back, face-to-face.
Cool the bottom of the frying pan with tap water, and put back on the stove.

Instant Coffee Revolution?

Starbucks VIA Ready Brew
Single-Serving Instant Coffee packs

Taste: 6/10 (Not quite Turkish Coffee, but markedly better than instant.)
Marketing: 11/10

"Coffee should be black as Hell, strong as death, and sweet as love."

(Turkish Proverb)

Starbucks' new-ish single-serving instant coffee known as 'VIA' has 3 gum-stick-size packets in one slim package. Opening the top reveals three shiny packets. These packets are sexy, and possess a clear urban chic. They are designed using colors which one would associate with coffee culture - luxurious brown, white, gold. Holding one between your fingers feels like holding a cigarette or a condom case. You need to hold it to believe it.

The VIA package itself easily belongs in the room of a luxury business hotel. In fact, behind the middle packet is a little mug logo and the phrase "Hotel stay," indicating that the product was at least partially intended for this purpose. On the cover is a cutout of a takeout cardboard coffee cup, with details of the brew indicated with little X's, as they would be indicated on a real cup of coffee to-go. Here again Starbucks paid attention to the little things. The colours feel modern, and again, bold. But they are calming as well, as coffee products should be.

It should be clear by now that taste is not my main focus with this product.

Starbucks is trying to milk the instant coffee cow. They came up with an idea that would elevate their instant above the competition. The idea was to add pure ground coffee to their freeze-dried granules, giving a taste more closely resembling a freshly-brewed cup. And it sort of worked. Of course this solution has already been in use for hundreds of years by the Turks. Turkish coffee (more like the Israeli version of Turkish Coffee) is just finely ground coffee which is added to hot water. And then consumed. It is fantastic. It is strong, bold, sweet, and it doesn't need to pose as a different product - because it is much loved on its own merits.

Ready Brew does take some of the grossness out of instant, but not all of it. To me it tastes like 3 ingredients were loosely mixed together - drip coffee, instant coffee, and ground coffee.

I've read lots of reviews saying that this coffee is midway between classic instant and freshly-brewed coffee. That's not a bad description. But if you have the option, go for the real deal - and make an intense cup of Turkish coffee. It's just as portable, twice as strong, and doesn't involve any compromises.

3 Office Drinks

(Photo taken with the Retro Camera app on Android)

I get my work espresso from an industrial Lavazza machine. It's a pod machine, using one of five Lavazza pod flavours (Green, Brown, Blue, and Decaf (not sure what colour it is, but who cares, right?)). I do appreciate having a decent machine, but unless we live with variation, we're all just drinking Victory coffee, aren't we?

Ice Coffee

Not all offices have ice. My floor doesn't, so I sometimes climb to the 12th floor to take some from their freezer. If yours doesn't - no matter. I had a great Ice Coffee from Caffenetto which was sans glace, and it was perfect. Don't bother using instant coffee for this, because it won't make ice coffee. And if you only have instant, then you can make a decent Ice Instant Coffee, but that should probably be filed in a section other than Ice Coffee.

Use the strongest espresso you can find, because the more espresso you put in - the harder it will be to cool it. If you have ice, then you can bypass that instruction.

Without Ice: Fill a glass with a shot of espresso. Mix in 2 heaping mini-spoons of sugar (sorry, but that's what we've got at the office). Top up with milk.

With Ice: Fill a glass with a shot of espresso. Mix in 2 heaping mini-spoons of sugar. Add lots of ice, and then top up with milk.

Chai Latte

You need a milk steamer for the next 2. Sorry to people working in smaller offices who are mal-equipped.

Fill up a glass with 1/3 hot water. Add a Chai tea bag. Add sugar - don't skimp. Remove tea bag and top up with frothed milk. Mix, and powder the top with cinammon and chocolate shavings. Just kidding.

Hot Chocolate

Add 3 or 4 spoons of chocolate powder (less if you're sensitive to sugar) to a glass. Top up with frothed milk.

Chocolate powder seems to be unusually common in Israeli offices. And I've never seen anyone else drinking it.

Caffeine Content

Which has more caffeine - espresso or drip coffee? Ounce for ounce, espresso has 2.5 times the caffeine content. Per serving, drip coffee has 3.25 times more caffeine.

Per Serving:
1 serving of drip coffee (8 oz.) contains 130 mg caffeine.
1 serving of espresso (1 oz.) contains 40 mg caffeine.

Per Ounce:
1 oz. of drip coffee contains 16.25 mg caffeine while 1 oz. of espresso contains 40 mg.

An interesting result for this is that an Americano (one espresso shot and hot water) has far less caffeine than a drip cup - 3.25 times less, contrary to the popular belief that Americanos are "stronger" than typical American coffee. Although they may taste stronger due to the fact that espresso coffee is generally roasted darker, they contain less caffeine.


Source: Center for Science in the Public Interest

Lavazza Espresso Point

What kind of coffee I'd be drinking for the next year(s) was one of the big unknowns coming to work. I figured I would be spending countless hours at the firm, since it's my articling year, and I was hoping that they had invested in a real espresso machine. Turns out I was right and wrong.

The machine is the Lavazza Espresso Point (pictured here).

Notice that the machine is both completely automatic (always at the right temperature, no pumping required, espresso shot size pre-determined), yet still has a steaming wand. It runs on Lavazza pods, similar to Nespresso, Illy, and all the rest of the pod systems. Also, mugs are stored and heated on top of the machine - something nice which I hadn't encountered before. The espresso itself is ok. I did not fall in love, and it was definitely not as good as the rich Nespresso taste I've grown used to. But the machine itself is definitely pro level, and the wide range of espresso drinks it can produce makes up for its flaws.

The machine can heat milk automatically without the need to use the steam wand. Clearly this is a bad idea since it allows the workers to be lazy and subsist on merely heated milk, as opposed to frothed milk. I'm still working on that learning process, using primarily Youtube videos and CoffeeGeek's guide to frothing for newbs.

An interesting thing I found on this Q&A is that water initially comes out of the steam wand in order to clean out old milk. This is good to know, since you don't want gross old milk-water in your coffee. Therefore it suggests you first turn on the wand while it's pointed at the grill, then, while it is still emitting steam, turn it (holding the sleeve so that you don't burn yourself) and quickly plunge it into the cold milk.