Wednesday 11 April 2012

Fresh Ground

MugshotBob is a real coffee snob – it may be his Belgian heritage, I am not sure. He will only drink fresh ground coffee- never instant. The other week, when he declined coffee and asked for tea after church, our witty friend Andy called out “Quick everyone, Bob’s stopped drinking coffee, sell your shares!”

Over the years he has amassed a vast collection of coffee making paraphernalia.

We have an electric filter machine, a cafetiére, an electric espresso maker, a stovetop espresso maker, a small grinder, a fancy burr grinder, espresso cups, regular coffee cups, large coffee mugs, huge latte mugs, tiny coffee spoons, various storage tins…

Nobody needs all that – and particularly we do not need two espresso gadgets. So the ancient stove-top one is going to Steph and Mark. It really is ancient – Bob had it at Oxford in the early 70’s. I felt it ought to have a good clean before it went to Putney though.

denture tabs

The pot is made of aluminium, and I wanted to clean it without using anything too harsh, too soapy, or scratchy [so no Brillo pads!]

I dissolved a cheap denture tablet in half a glass of water, then carefully rubbed over the pot with a microfibre cloth. There were a few determined bits of crud stuck on, and I eased them off gently with a green nylon sponge.

Being a perverse soul, I did half the top just to show how grubby it was! Here it is – left side clean, and right grubby.

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Once I had finished, I gave it a good rinse, and I am really pleased with the way it looks now [are we sure we want to give it away, Bob?]

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Steph can collect it when she is home in a few week’s time.

7 comments:

  1. Hey every Kiwi knows good coffee is important. Go Bob

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  2. I love the story of Bob and his coffee. It reminded me of my son-in-law, our resident family coffee expert. I just recently heard on the news, that coffee is good for the heart. Pass that on to Bob....

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  3. Oh, yes. I've been having coffee problems. Sounds like Bob IS a pro!

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  4. I'm with Bob. Our coffee jug broke, so I held up the lever with a wooden spoon whilst the coffee drip, drip ,dripped into a measuring jug. I have to have my coffee!
    Jane x

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  5. We have that same exact expresso maker! Dan is a coffee snob too though I tell him he is not a true connoisseur since he loads up with sugar and cream. :-)

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  6. :-) I have a son-in-law a lot like Bob. He puts fresh beans in a machine, adds water, and the machine grinds the beans, heats and drips the water and voila! ~ great coffee! Don't know what kind of machine it is! So, what's Bob's favourite coffee??

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  7. I'm married to a coffee snob too. He hankers after a roaster - the ne plus ultra of coffee snob equipment - and thinks a bowl is by far the coolest vessel for morning coffee. (It probably IS cool - all that surface area and the coffee loses its heat immediately.)

    Instant coffee? Away with such a product from the earth!

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