Coffee

Most recently, I have deemed myself as a wannabe coffee connoisseur, visiting Coffee Beanery, Peet’s , Starbucks, Seattle's Best, espresso houses in Italy, Blue Bottle in SF (the best Organic I've tasted), and exploring other sorts, like Vietnamese and Cuban coffee. Then there is the option of Milk, Skim, Soy, Heavy Cream which makes all the difference in the world. I highly suggest Heavy Cream once in awhile and foaming it using a mini frother is always a fun time. I was told that the purest coffee comes from measuring out the grains exactly. If you are doing this at home, for a 14 cup maker, measure 71 grams which equates to 2.5 oz or 8 tablespoons of ground beans. This should give you a nice, consistent, round, smooth texture with no bitters. The coffee brand of choice is up to you.

Carly, whose background is Cuban, always make this coffee concoction since I have know her. I never paid attention until last week due to my new obsession. Pretty interesting, she starts off using a stovetop express coffee maker and uses café bustelo beans. She fills the top with ground beans and water and 5 minutes later, it’s done. I am assuming the water filters through extremely quickly. The next part is tricky as she stirs in or what we cooks call creams the sugar into the coffee. The result, very strong coffee, almost espresso tasting and of course, effective. Any others I should try?