Hasta La Ideas

Simple design, fresh color and clean lines meet just in time for breakfast

We recently checked out the colorful new line of appliances from DeLonghi first hand. A nostalgic feel combined with the bold hues of today initially brought the kMix Collection to our attention; the intuitive controls and ease of use kept us interested. Adding to the appeal, each die-cast aluminum appliance comes in eight colors—including our favored green—for an unbelievably cute look.

Fun colors aside, the size and minimalism of the controls are the real selling points for the five-cup drip coffeemaker. The compact silhouette and one-button design make for unobtrusive presence not often found in counter-top makers. Plus, it has all the usual features that ensure proper brewing temperature and keep your coffee hot once brewed—everything you need and nothing you don’t.

All-metal, the two-slice toaster is both basic and functional. To prevent burning your breakfast, the “peek and view” function lifts the toast to check without canceling the timer, and variable browning control ensures a consistent toast each time. We also really appreciate the bun warmer and toast rack, a clever addition that sits atop the toaster and does just what its name implies.

Both the toaster and coffeemaker are available now from Bloomingdales for $125 and $165, respectively. Check Broadway Panhanndler for the electric kettle ($80), and espresso-maker ($300), as well as the other products in the collection.

Also on Cool Hunting: The DeLonghi Gran Dama

Bottled New Orleans-style cold brew for super-charged iced coffee anywhere

Until the recent meteoric rise of the cold brew concept, the average consumer was resigned to hot-brewed coffee that had been chilled—condensing all the bitter acids and oils that come from heated preparation. Now that grassroots cafes are cold brewing and price-points of high end models aren’t too prohibitive for at-home adventurers, most have access to the delicious black nectar. For those who don’t have the time or patience for the slow cold drip, Grady’s Cold Brew, a Brooklyn coffee-brewer, recently came out with their delicious cold brew by the bottle.

Hand-brewed daily, Grady’s Cold Brew is New Orleans iced coffee concentrate, guaranteeing a super smooth taste and bold flavors. Each bottle has a “born” on sticker on top so you know exactly when the batch was produced, and Grady steeps a special blend of coffee, ground chicory and spices overnight, followed by a double filtration to remove grounds.

Being a concentrate the brew needs to be diluted—recommended one to one ratio with milk or water—but once doused over ice, the taste is fantastic. Super rich, smooth and slightly sweet, Grady’s brew is delicious and packs a serious punch, delivering all the must-have elements of a successful caffeine experience.

At $15 a bottle and an average of eight cups per bottle, Grady’s is also a reasonable splurge ($1.90/cup), while easily standing up against any barista-prepared cold brew out there. If the money isn’t a motivator, the time you save walking to the fridge instead of waiting in line, strolling to the store or cranking out your own brew should be enough to try a bottle of this convenient and tasty beverage.

Grady’s sells from The Brooklyn Kitchen and Rustic in Brooklyn, NY or directly from Grady’s online store.

Avec cette vidéo colorée et en technique stop-motion, l’artiste Wan-Tzu nous montre son amour du café et le plaisir que son arôme peut donner. Jouant avec les formes et les couleurs, cette vidéo rafraîchissante est à découvrir dans la suite de l’article.

Previously on Fubiz

• Joy of Destruction
• Paper Letters
• Electronic Paper Tablet

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All the tools you need to pull the best shot at home every time

Whether you’re a daily dripper or a post-dinner sipper, your preferred roast does play an important role in the espresso. But in the end the most important key to a great shot is the consistency. How do you maintain a perfect balance every time? The short answer is solid gear and attention to detail—good coffee is a science after all.

I recently set out to source the top gear for making the perfect shot of espresso, soon realizing the daunting variety of machines, tampers and grinders on the market, so I turned to Chris Nachtrieb of Chris Coffee for help. Over the past 30 years, Nachtrieb has cultivated relationships with some of the industry’s best espresso machine producers and has become known for his extensive mechanical knowledge about how machines work. A huge proponent for improving espresso, Nachtrieb happily customizes machines to customer specifications.

I was first drawn to the good looks of Quick Mill’s Vetrano machine, and after a few pulls was very pleased with the results. With further research, I realized in many high-end home espresso makers—the Vetrano included—a single boiler both heats the steam for milk and the water for espresso. These machines use heat exchange, meaning that inside the boiler 255° water surrounds a chamber and when water passes through this chamber it is flash heated before being run through the coffee grounds. While this is an acceptable system, it can’t guarantee proper temperature control. If the machine sits idle for awhile, the water stagnates inside the heated chamber and becomes too hot, corrupting the flavor of the espresso.

Based on this slight frustration with the Vetrano, Nachtrieb told me about Izzo’s Duetto II (above), a dual-boiler machine that has a smaller boiler for heating water for coffee and a larger boiler dedicated to producing steam. Ideally coffee should be brewed between 199° and 205° and the Duetto II has built-in digital controls that allow you to set exact temperatures. This also means true coffee nerds can experiment with developing different temperatures for particular blends to achieve the most desirable taste.

Beyond its ability to provide consistent results, the Duetto II also contains an E61 commercial set up, a 15 or 20 amp circuit (allowing you to choose between running both boilers simultaneously or individually to save energy), the option for direct or indirect plumbing and the ability to install a drain into the drip tray. This machine is extremely versatile and provides what is most important, according to Nachtrieb, repeatability.

Armed with a machine that can press out some of the tastiest espresso this side of Naples, now you need the right accessories to compliment your consistent flavor. Second in hierarchical importance to the machine is the grinder. As with temperature preference, the grind is all about the user’s desires and prosumer tools allow for a totally customizable experience. The Baratza Vario is a commercial grinder that packs tons of features into a small package, making it a great choice for home use. This powerful grinder has 54mm ceramic flat burrs and a throughput of 1.9 grams per second. There are also over 230 programmable grind settings and three grind time buttons, so you can calibrate it once and it will deliver the same results every time.

Finally every set-up needs a solid knock box, tamper, tamping stand and porta filter. One of Italy’s premier stainless steel manufacturers, Motta’s knock box is stamped out of 18/10 stainless and has no welds for a completely smooth interior. Reinforced on the bottom with durable rubber, this knock box can absorb shock while appearing sleek and elegant. Espro produces a calibrated tamper that looks ordinary but actually gives you a feedback click when you have reached the optimum 30 pounds of pressure.To prevent stray grounds from ending up in your coffee, try Cafelat‘s beautiful tamping stand, a stainless steel frame coated in durable food grade rubber.

Another essential for making sure you maintain a perfect shot is a bottomless portafilter. These resemble a classic portafilter but without the spout-like protrusion, revealing the flat underside where the coffee will emerge. The bottomless portafilters are handy for anyone, ranging from barista trainees to at home professionals. By removing the spout you can watch exactly how the coffee emerges, letting you watch for channeling (when water sneaks through cracks or inconsistencies in the tamped coffee). This gives insight into the quality of your grind, the evenness of your tamp or if you used the right amount of coffee. Nachtrieb recommends the Rancilio Bottomless Portafilter since it works with all E61 set ups, including the Duetto II.

The tools for making great coffee are like any other, and need to be properly maintained. Full Circle offers a comprehensive line of cleaning products for your machine, counter surface and any other accessories you use.

Consistent, delicious espresso requires extreme attention to detail, an experimental spirit and the right tools. Once you lock your sights on the perfect combination of temperature, grind and tamp, the machines above will help you reproduce the perfect shot every time.

Hand-pull a great shot with the elegant design of this eco-friendly espresso maker

With arachnid looks and elegant design, the Presso makes a morning espresso in less time that it takes most electric machines to warm up. Reflecting a growing demand, Presso joins the crop of machine-free methods of coffee brewing that—like other popular coffee tools Chemex and AeroPress—is smaller, easier to clean, gentler on the environment and generally less fussy then automated coffeemakers.

The device requires just two steps to pull a great shot of espresso with the requisite crema. Tighten the chrome filter containing grinds into the bottom of the Presso, add boiling water and press down on the levers for a single or double. Strength varies according to how firmly you apply pressure to the levers—a more forceful push yields a stronger cup. Artfully-crafted from polished recyclable aluminum, the energy-saving Presso will please coffee purists as much for its spare and stylish design as it will for its no-frills mechanics.

Each Presso comes with a milk frother and a two-cup adapter, and sells online from Holstee or Presso for $150.