The title says it all....and Im devastated!! I love my sunbeam cafe series coffee machine, but the heating element is busted and shorted out the electricity in our house! sadly is just out of the warranty period.
So instead of my morning latte hit, I had to get creative, pulled out the plunger, put the kettle on and did some research....I discovered a coffee snobs forum with some great info, that led me to almost getting the right milk consistency (without my steamer) in the microwave and then the blender, OMG the lengths I will go to for a decent cup of coffee!
I dont trust the cafes around here, you can pay up to $5 for a cup of coffee and its not guaranteed that it will even be drinkable...sad, sad, I know, I think I have to put my hand up and say I definatley am a coffee snob.
anyone else out there?
Oh that sucks...We have a sunbeam one too they rock, it's turned us into such snobs. The other day we were in the coffee isle at the Woolies and there was a sales rep for some coffee brand giving out free samples...she saw us and said 'hi do you guys drink instant coffee?' We looked in her direction and must have had such looks of disgust on our faces she smiled and said 'oh you only drink the good stuff' she admitted her own stuff was crap!
It is terrible when you get addicted, improve your palate then get stranded isn't it!!
There is a big movement in the coffee world to other methods of brewing coffee apart from espresso. You are on the right track with the plunger - if you get some good beans, freshly roasted and designed for a plunger, syphon or other gentler method of brewing, you can get incredible flavours. Coffee Snobs is an excellent site... they even sell green beans and give advice on home roasting - now that is a whole new world!!
Are you anywhere near Glen Osmond Rd in Adelaide? Bar Nine in Eastwood is an excellent place to get a coffee. The guy behind it is a really passionate member of the Coffee Geek community and he has a number of brewing methods he uses. You could chat to him about other options if you are looking for a local paid up member of the coffee geek club!
We have a coffee shop in Melb and we were very impressed with Bar Nine when we visited earlier this year. Other options in Adelaide were pretty disappointing... I think he may have even featured some of our coffee at one time...
So yes, coffee snob (or I prefer the term 'coffee geek' ) here!
ETA: Just remembered the Australian just published a list of the best Coffee houses in Australia a few weeks ago. Bar Nine was the only Adelaide one to get on the list!
OH NO! the same thing happened to us a couple months ago.. Thank goodness it was payweek so we went out and bought a new one lol.. Dh still blames me (in a joking way) as I usually don't make the coffees and the day I did it died
My machine was broken and went in for repair and I was so grumpy, I am addicted to the stuff! It was just awful. Thankgoodness it is all better now but I feel your pain! I have a Saeco and it is pretty good. Though sometimes I'd love to get it tasting stronger! Maybe it's the beans!
I used to work in a coffee shop, thats where my addiction took hold.
I have a grinder too, the sunbeam one, but what I REALLY want is the delonghi diva, the one that does it all at a press of a button, although, in my opinion, steaming the milk is half the fun!
Id really love to have industrial coffee maker, it can get pretty tedious only making two coffees at a time, especially when all the rellies come over and then everyone wants a "real one".
Oh no! Stick to the sunbeam!! It is such a good machine and having control over the final product is worth its weight in gold!
Which sunbeam did you have? The 6910 is an awesome machine, it really has power behind it and is the next best thing to an industrial machine. Although the Rancilio Silvia is another great model! Sorry I am a very keen home coffee machine pusher, and I am absolutely sold on manual. I really worry about the fully auto machines, if you need to alter some of the way the coffee is made - every different bean needs some tweaking and then as beans get more and more stale, there is more tweaking required - be it grind adjustments, shot length... then there is the worry if something goes wrong with the actual machine
I know that these details don't matter for everyone - but I have admitted I am a coffee geek so that should explain things! (Plus we did have an industrial machine plumbed at home for a bit!!) I think if you have the passion, have the grinder etc, you might as well keep challenging yourself. Just make sure you make friends with a good local roaster and buy freshly roasted beans!!!! Rio coffee in Adelaide are good for that! Or check out the Coffee Snobs/Coffee Geek forums for other suggestions.
But seriously... the next step is home roasting... it is not that hard and can be done as simply as with a popcorn machine! The flavour of freshly roasted coffee is just sublime. It was an absolutely magical discovery and a real awakening for me when my husband began roasting at home. WOW!
Oh, I could talk about this for hours... and I am not even drinking the real stuff at the moment due to the pg! Lucky me gets freshly roasted decaf though!
Hope you get your coffee production up and running again very soon...
jackrose- I want your hubbie!! LOL!
MMMmmmm...freshly roasted beans, wow, I may just have to try that.
On a sad note, DP has pulled the machine apart thinking we could probably just replace the heating element (he has an electrician "friend") but after tonights research on that make and model, it looks like its impossible and we will have to buy a new one.
Sunbeam no longer make the model we have, the new one is similar but im not sure how different it is.
oh, and I have pretty much perfected getting the milk really nice! microwave for 2 mins, then put into my 2 cup plunger and plunge, plunge, plunge! not quite the same but as close as I can get.
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my coffee machine died!
she admitted her own stuff was crap!
coffee snob (or I prefer the term 'coffee geek'
) here!
Woohooo!! more coffee snobs! (sorry, geeks!)
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