Preflight Coffee for Established Gentlemen Aviators

[Oscar Avalle]

Nespresso.  But off brand pods, many of which are better than the oem pods.

What brands do you use?


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[Oscar Avalle]

Nespresso every morning. I am the only coffee consumer at home.


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[aviatoreb]

16 hours ago, Ross Taylor said:

We happen to own a restaurant with a nice espresso machine...and I make cold brew here, too.  So a heavy cream latte or a cold brew with heavy cream is a daily luxury.  At home, we have a plain old drip machine and we use the Seattle's Best #4 in that.

@aviatoreb - tell me more about the better Nespresso pods!  We have a Nespresso Pixie in our camper rig and we're always looking for good pod options for that.

 

There are many many off brand nespresso style coffees that fit your machine, and are much cheaper and also better, or much much cheaper and almost as good.  You choose.

In the much cheaper and as good or better category, try https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081RPS7Z5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In the much much cheaper and almost as good category try, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y2ZW78H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[aviatoreb]

9 minutes ago, Oscar Avalle said:

What brands do you use?


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See just posted.

[McMooney]

I have a Keurig, i'm not qualified to comment on good coffee 8(.

[mike_elliott]

19 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

I never really knew about good coffee until I moved to Australia for a few years. You can not get a better cup of coffee anywhere in the world, than in Melbourne. And the thing I learned, is that like high quality food, and even top shelf liquor and wine, the better the quality, the less you need of it.

flat white or tall?

[N201MKTurbo]

Our neighbor had one of those fancy Italian espresso machines. It broke, so they sent it to the factory for repair. They sent them a new machine and then sent them the broken one back. He knew I could fix anything so he gave me the broken one. It took about 15 minuets to find the resettable thermal circuit breakers on the main heater were tripped. Over the years I've gotten very proficient at maintaining this beast. The machine work on the grinder section looks like something good enough to go in a space craft. Maintaining this thing makes working on a Mooney seem like Childs play. 

Anyway, it is still going strong. I set it for a double shot (actually 4 espresso's) and set the water control to just fill my to go cup. My wife buys whatever Trader Joe's has this week for beans. It really does make a fine cup of coffee.

 

 

[gsxrpilot]

1 hour ago, mike_elliott said:

flat white or tall?

Strong flat white.

[Bolter]

4 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

There are many many off brand nespresso style coffees that fit your machine, and are much cheaper and also better, or much much cheaper and almost as good.  You choose.

In the much cheaper and as good or better category, try https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081RPS7Z5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In the much much cheaper and almost as good category try, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y2ZW78H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good referrals.  I had not seen or tried either of those.  I have been using a Nespresso machine for years.   Saw it in Europe, and fell in love, and bought one when I got home.  Every day necessity for me, now.  I think it is the best compromise on cost-quality-convenience of them all.  I have pour over, french press, drip and moka pot, and the no-clean up instant shot of liquid joy from Nespresso always wins.

I have been happy with Peet's capsules at Costco in the cheaper and as good or better category.  Until then it was Nespresso branded or I would stock pile on store brand when I was in Europe and bring them home.  They know coffee there, and even their store brands are awesome.  

[tigers2007]

I’m a Keurig and Run type of guy. I have a 70 min commute to work so I don’t have time fumbling with these fancy machines and artisan java libations (as much as I want to...)
What I really miss is having Shafi, my “personal” club lounge steward when I worked in the UAE. The moment Shafi saw me walking into the club lounge every morning he’d get my cappuccino ready in a specific type of latte glass that I preferred; along with an assortment of my favorite cookies. The brew was always phenomenal.
Side note: the coffee snob chatter I’ve read is that 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of your brewing center is what you should pay for a quality grinder. I believe Breville has a fancy 0.2 AMU “smart” grinder.

[gsxrpilot]

Yes, the grinder is the most important component. So being a CB and refusing to pay retail... I bought a very nice, high quality, but single serving, hand crank, and therefore relatively cheap, burr grinder. Then adapted it to run off my cordless drill so it grinds a serving of beans in about 20 seconds. Instead of 5 minutes of hand cranking. Or spending 1+ AMU on a proper grinder.

 

[aviatoreb]

Well as a math professor - I always loved this quote by the great Paul Erdos: A Mathematician is a Machine for Turning Coffee into Theorems.

https://onartandaesthetics.com/2016/10/13/a-machine-for-turning-coffee-into-theorems/

[Ibra]

13 hours ago, aviatoreb said:

A Mathematician is a Machine for Turning Coffee into Theorems.

Same but less brilliant than Erdos, programmer = an organism that converts caffeine into code 

Although this guy did the reverse:
https://github.com/NARKOZ/hacker-scripts

The code is not just making coffee but it sends automated text message "late at work" to wife (picks random reason from an array of strings), randomly dealing with coworkers/clients emails and sends excuses when missing social life events, I may need this integrated with ForeFlight at some point 

[BorealOne]

When it comes to coffee, I'm all about steam gauges.

Profitec 500 w/ PID, Baraza Sette 270i grinder, and Lavazza Crema e Aroma beans. 18g in a double porta-filter at 9 bar for 30s to distill 50g of delicious espresso elixir, straight up. Sure, you can pay more for fancy artisanal beans, but I've learned to never challenge the Italians when espresso is on the line.  

[aviatoreb]

38 minutes ago, BorealOne said:

When it comes to coffee, I'm all about steam gauges.

Profitec 500 w/ PID, Baraza Sette 270i grinder, and Lavazza Crema e Aroma beans. 18g in a double porta-filter at 9 bar for 30s to distill 50g of delicious espresso elixir, straight up. Sure, you can pay more for fancy artisanal beans, but I've learned to never challenge the Italians when espresso is on the line.  

Have you ever had your expresso steam gauges go bad in imc?  Do you have a backup expresso machine just in case, maybe a little Nespresso.

[BorealOne]

1 hour ago, aviatoreb said:

Have you ever had your expresso steam gauges go bad in imc?  Do you have a backup expresso machine just in case, maybe a little Nespresso.

Damn. I don't. The emergency checklist currently requires diversion to the nearest cafe...less optimal, but there's only so much room on the countertop. I can see the argument for the Nespresso backup though - those little machines make some quality coffee.

[Ibra]

2 hours ago, BorealOne said:

When it comes to coffee, I'm all about steam gauges.Profitec 500 w/ PID

There are more knobs on than in a Silver Mustang P51 or Silver Spitfire MK5

"25h of difference training" applies before touching that one 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Ibra

[aviatoreb]

1 hour ago, BorealOne said:

Damn. I don't. The emergency checklist currently requires diversion to the nearest cafe...less optimal, but there's only so much room on the countertop. I can see the argument for the Nespresso backup though - those little machines make some quality coffee.

I am not sure if reliance on a local expresso bar counts as a sufficient backup plan.  I mean what if either a) you get too sleepy to get there and in which case you simply fall asleep in your car before you get out of the driveway, or b) there is a pandemic and the cafe is closed and yet you are still expected to wake up and be ready to resume normal work functions at 7am for a 7:15 zoom call to the company advisory board?  And without caffeine that would be an embarrassing experience either way. I highly recommend a backup plan.

And of course any backup coffee making plan should also include backup battery source such as batteries, and backup water source in case the municple water fails, such as a water cooler tank.  And finally - don't forget to stockpile lots of beans along with the toilet paper to survive the duration.  

Stay safe and stay awake my friends.
E

[Nick Pilotte]

5 hours ago, BorealOne said:

When it comes to coffee, I'm all about steam gauges.

Profitec 500 w/ PID, Baraza Sette 270i grinder, and Lavazza Crema e Aroma beans. 18g in a double porta-filter at 9 bar for 30s to distill 50g of delicious espresso elixir, straight up. Sure, you can pay more for fancy artisanal beans, but I've learned to never challenge the Italians when espresso is on the line.  

That’s a Bad A$$ machine. Do you ever get glass panel envy and wish for a data logging PID so you can track performance and address issues before you have to declare a caffeine emergency?

Edited April 28, 2020 by Nick Pilotte

[Ricky_231]

On 4/24/2020 at 8:00 AM, Nick Pilotte said:

I have a regular drip machine on a timer.  I add fresh grounds the night before and water. That way I can wake up and get my Joe before anyone else gets near me.  

+1 - best purchase i've made in a long long time (not including the mighty mooney of course). The smell of fresh ground coffee goes up the HVAC ducts and out the vents in my bedroom - the best way to wake up.

[Nick Pilotte]

2 hours ago, Ibra said:

There are more knobs on than in a Silver Mustang P51 or Silver Spitfire MK5

"25h of difference training" applies before touching that one 

I can just imagine the transition training from a Nespresso to that. Like going from an M600 to a 421...... way more involvement in component management. 

[Nick Pilotte]

Just now, Ricky_231 said:

+1 - best purchase i've made in a long long time (not including the mighty mooney of course). The smell of fresh ground coffee goes up the HVAC ducts and out the vents in my bedroom - the best way to wake up.

I know it’s going to be a bad day when I don’t smell my coffee when I walk out of my bedroom in the morning. 

[aviatoreb]

24 minutes ago, Nick Pilotte said:

I know it’s going to be a bad day when I don’t smell my coffee when I walk out of my bedroom in the morning. 

My wife likes candles.

She once bought a yankee candle for me that smelled of coffee when she burned it.

...Ummm...I said that wasn't the point.  Doh!

[Nick Pilotte]

Erik, that is just cruel..... the candle that is.  

[bradp]

I go between pour over method or aero press (from the the inventor of the aerobie!).  
 

local roasted beans end up being mostly yirgacheffe alternating with some Central American varieties.  
 

I typically do an 18:1 at 200 F with filtered H2O.  
 

drink swill at work- good stuff at home.  
 

try the aero press.  It’s the best of filtered + French press with a more “normal” grind and less sediment. It’s about $30, you can take it with you, and makes some damned good coffe 
 

brad