Fresh espresso...Mmmmmmmmm!

As my previous post mentioned, we just got back from Italia. Did I sample several espressos while we were there? You bet I did! Well, to be honest, I really only had 2-3 since I typically drink my coffee with milk. The pure untouched (other than sugar, of course) nature of espresso is much too bold for me, therefore I must blend my coffee with milk. In Italia I consistenly ordered a Latte Macchiato and this drink was just excellent. In the states in my house I usually just use a high quality stove top coffee maker (like the Bialetti Class; 6cup) and then warm up some milk (whole is the best kind, but I'll suffer with skim if I must) and that does it for me. I occassionaly use a liquid form of Coffee-Mate to lighten up the brew, but I am pretty selective about which ones because I just want the subtle hint of flavor and not an overpowering effect in the coffee.

Today was nice because I only had a little bit of Yaucono left from the package I opened two weeks ago. By the way, Puerto Rican coffee does not get much national pub, but it is an excellent brew and should be sampled by those of you who like to venture out into different flavors/intensities of coffee. This should roll into another post, but I cannot help myself...When we were in Puerto Rico earlier this year for my grandfather's surprise 80th birthday party, I was truly amazed at the Costco in Puerto Rico. It had so much local products. Yaucono was there, of course. Also, one of my personal favorite coffee blends was there--Alto Grande
. I highly recommend sampling this roast. Mmmmmmm. The following exerpt comes from the site: "Puerto Rican coffee was one of the favorites of the Vatican and European Royal Courts. "Caracolillo"-type beans were the "creme de la creme" of Puerto Rican coffee." Interesting. Wow...I am somewhat off track from my point here.....Blogs are great.....Ok, back on track. So, I decided to open up a bag of a Starbucks roast. I would much rather grind and brew Starbucks beans at home rather than cut off my left arm and sell it on the black market to have enough cash to consistently buy coffee from an actual Starbucks location. Well, it is not that bad, but I would rather brew it at home. Anyway, I had a bag of Caffe Verona and I ground some beans and brewed on the stovetop. Oh....It was excellent! The funny thing about my reality with coffee is I drink it strictly for the taste. I do not rely on caffeine for anything. I cannot drink coffee in the morning either! Yuck! 99% of the time I will have just one cup after dinner and that's it, but it is such a great experience for the senses. Anyway....until next time.....