Saturday, January 10, 2015

Aeropress makes a bloody good cup if cofee if you do it right!

How many of you have spent a lot of money on an expensive coffee machine, maybe over $1000? Then you have to get it serviced quite regularly or it just doesn't do the right stuff. Maybe you brought one of those cheap ones from a discount store an sure---its makes good coffee for a while, but then gives up the ghost after a year or so. Perhaps you just get sick of cleaning it all the time and keeping it in good order. I have an Italian model and I no longer use it. I am going to sell it on Trade Me for a very small reserve. WHY?---that's easy ---I brought a Aeropress for about $70.There is nothing inherently wrong with my flash machine, it's just that the cheep AP one does the job just as well, with of course the addition of a frothing machine for those lovely 'Flat Whites' or Cappuccinos. Wanna know more abut an Aeropress?---just Google it. You can buy them at Cafes or get one off the net. You can also check out how to use one by watching the sites on the Net, but I have been taught by a friendly barista, how to get the best out of the machine. Firstly---the AP only has a few moving parts and it is all plastic, apart from the paper filters or the permanent mesh ones, if you choose that. It is simple and easy to use. People say they cannot get a 'crema' using it. Well that is wrong. I can! Not having a crema does not affect the flavour anyway! Here's how to get the best coffee. Heat water to just under boiling point. Place your espresso ground coffee (note--it is not a plunger that uses a coarser grade--it must be fine!) in the 'Press' not the actual container that has the filter. Drip the hot water in and slowly add the rest of the water--to the strength you want the coffee--single or double and only make one cup at a time---better result. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, while the milk is frothing in the machine of you want the milk. Then--pout the coffee into the container and push slowly down with the plunger-pod. This replicates the action of an espresso machine. You will see a think crema coming out at the end. Sure it dissipates quite quickly, but a crema it is! Add the milk and the result is as good as and often better than many coffees from cafes and it is a lot cheaper. If you like a 'long Black,' just add more water. I bet this post pisses off some of the manufacturers of the flash coffee machines. That's OK, they don't live in NZ! I love my little Aeropress machine. Easy cleaning, easy storage and bloody good coffee. Make sure you use good beans though. I get mine form Eden Coffee and Tranz Café in Onehunga. www.authorneilcoleman.com

France represents a pivotal time in the history of this endagered planet.

France has been deeply affected by the events of the last few days. The murder of the employees from the magazine and of other hostages taken as terrorists 'make their point,' is not going to cower the French people. Whether their reactions are totally based on a just cause will no doubt be debated, in many countries, most of whom are watching closely as the French respond to the attack on their country. France sees itself as being at war. They see their cause as just and will push aside some of the contributing factors as to why things have come to this sad state. French Muslims will be feeling particularly uncomfortable as they hide away, in the vast suburbs they inhabit, ones full of despair---one reason for the tension that France feels. However most the 'underlying causes will be put aside as France unites, to try to understand, but above all, rally to a clarion call from the very base from which their 'Republic' was formed. 'Freedom, Fraternity and Liberty,' will be the cries, albeit in French. The terrorist have not gathered support they would have hoped for, for their cause; indeed they have 'pricked' something very basic in the French Psyche, something just as powerful as any dogma promoted by the killers of innocent people. That is not how the terrorists and their supporters see things of course. They hark back to the 'insult to the prophet,' and to the murder of innocent peoples in the countries from whence they arose; countries or parts of countries equally under the collective 'yoke' of despots, criminals, clerical fools and big corrupt business and Royal families. Sadly, we are going to witness more, not less, war or peace, more destruction, retribution and the lessening of freedom within the countries under attack, as Governments try to find a away forward, to identify the terrorists, using means that affect the freedom of other dissent voices. We are all the losers in this epic battle. It is about greed, control, perverted religious dogma, capitalist underpinnings and human failings---the biggest of which is the 'lack of tolerance---on both sides. Is this a negative and overly pessimistic posting?---YES IT IS! I fear for the future of human kind and that does not even bring other environmental battles that are being lost. It seems that humans are concentrating their failings in massive ways; violence,repression and ignorance being the weapons of choice! If there was ever a more pivotal time in our collective history, then this must be right up there. www.authorneilcoleman.com