Gourmet Coffee: What would professional chefs use to prepare it ??

[juliareyes]

i started drinking folgers instant coffee black without cream or milk with some white sugar and fairly strong. to me this was the finesse of coffee, coffee heaven, ive died and gone to heaven and was drinking coffee in heaven up there with god! does anyone know what i mean??? when i drank my folgers instant coffee without cream or milk, fairly strong with some sugar it was like ive died and gone to coffee heaven......... and this is just the beginning. one of my dads friends who is a neurosurgeon and was making well over 400k was a member of country club and he told us that they had the very best coffee in the world there!!!!! what would the very best professional gourmet chefs around the world use if they wanted to serve coffee where only rich people cater to assuming they wanted to serve GOURMET COFFEE?????????? drip, espresso, ect.... machines???? i want to have an idea of what they would use to serve this kind of coffee to the most snickery consumers at such prestigious places???? fancy country clubs, fancy five star hotels, some airports, ect.... what would professional chefs who prepare gourmet cuisine use in this case???? rsvp

 

[PinkRose]

i started drinking folgers instant coffee black without cream or milk with some white sugar and fairly strong. to me this was the finesse of coffee, coffee heaven, ive died and gone to heaven and was drinking coffee in heaven up there with god! does anyone know what i mean??? when i drank my folgers instant coffee without cream or milk, fairly strong with some sugar it was like ive died and gone to coffee heaven......... and this is just the beginning. one of my dads friends who is a neurosurgeon and was making well over 400k was a member of country club and he told us that they had the very best coffee in the world there!!!!! what would the very best professional gourmet chefs around the world use if they wanted to serve coffee where only rich people cater to assuming they wanted to serve GOURMET COFFEE?????????? drip, espresso, ect.... machines???? i want to have an idea of what they would use to serve this kind of coffee to the most snickery consumers at such prestigious places???? fancy country clubs, fancy five star hotels, some airports, ect.... what would professional chefs who prepare gourmet cuisine use in this case???? rsvp

If you could find out the name of the county club, it would be helpful. Then you could call them and ask what kind of coffee they use and what kind of professional equipment they use to make the coffee.
Making the "best coffee in the world" includes several factors. It takes a good blend of quality beans that are roasted perfectly, a good grinder, a good coffee machine, and a skilled barista. The coffee machine is only one part of the equation.

~ Rose

 

[MntnMan62]

After 30+ years working in the private banking industry catering to the wealthiest people on the planet I can tell you that as Rose has said, there is a lot more to making coffee than just what beans or machine you are using. You can have the most expensive La Marzocco espresso machine there is but if you don't know how to grind the espresso beans exactly right and if you don't know how to steam and froth the milk and know how to pull a shot properly, all that expensive machinery and beans won't mean doodly squat. And what's the infatuation with rich people? Just because someone has more money than god doesn't mean they know coffee. In fact, just because someone has more money than god doesn't mean they know anything about anything. Many people have inherited their wealth and literally did nothing to acquire that money other than to be spit out of their mother's womb. After working in that industry for so long I am no longer simply impressed with money for money's sake. What impresses me is what people actually accomplish in their lives and how they live their lives. And if they happen to have lots of money, it can be impressive what people do with that money. Some people just live high on the hog and do nothing for anyone other than themselves. That's not impressive. Anyway, besides drinking Folgers, what can you tell us about your understanding of coffee? How do you make yours? Process? Equipment?

 

[juliareyes]

so then what youre telling me is that having the very best equipment isnt good enough? i need to hire a barista to pull it all off???? i thought that delonghi and krups were the very best but not sure if they make professional line equipment???? rsvp

 

[MntnMan62]

Correct. The best equipment is useless unless you know how to use it and know what you are doing. That doesn't mean you need to hire a barista. Learn it yourself. That's what's so great about this hobby. You don't need insanely expensive equipment to produce great espresso or coffee. You just need to be a bit of a chemist and take the time to understand coffee to water ratios, grind settings, timing of shots and proper temperature management. And believe it or not, the most important piece of equipment is the grinder, especially when it comes to espresso. Consistency in the grind and being able to fine tune the settings will help to dial in the quality of the shots. And of course you need to use freshly roasted beans. I can't really speak to espresso machines from personal experience but I've done a fair amount of research and have identified the equipment I am contemplating buying. Apparently you can make very good espresso with a manual lever machine like the Cafelat Robot paired with a Niche Zero grinder. And if I had the money, I would get a Lelit Bianca double boiler semi-automatic espresso machine. You don't need, or even want a professional espresso machine since they are not meant for use in the home. Look up the Lelit Bianca. La Marzocco is another high end brand that makes both commercial and high end home machines. Expensive stuff. I'm not really sure that Delonghi or Krups is considered the very best. I don't want to knock those brands. In the right hands, I suppose they could produce decent espresso. But there is much better stuff available. The sky is the limit. If you like lever machines, La Pavoni makes a couple models that get rave reviews from people. Their Europiccola and Professional models are highly thought of. There are just oo many to name. Since you don't sound like you know much about making espresso, you do a bunch of research before to figure out whether being a home barista is for you.

 

[shadow745]

Yeah spot on MntnMan62... some tend to think that the more you spend the better the end result, but that's far from reality. Skill/effort/patience followed by good quality/fresh coffee then grinder and machine is what I consider the order of importance. Also don't see why people think 'professional chefs' are the do all/end all for cooking when the term professional simply means you get paid to do something, never a guarantee general public will think you excel at it.

 

[gediso]

I like coffee with a slice of lemon and ginger.

 

[PinkRose]

ha ha ha. on the side?!

True story:

A couple of months ago, when I was working in the café, a man came up to the counter and asked me for a cup of coffee and asked me to put two slices of lemon in it. I can't imagine anyone wanting to do that, but obviously it happens.

 

[Duffyjr]

OP, go out and buy some Folgers Black Silk and the biggest coffee maker you can find and tell them it's the best money can buy and 99 out of 100 of those country clubbers won't know any better.

 

[shadow745]

True story:

A couple of months ago, when I was working in the café, a man came up to the counter and asked me for a cup of coffee and asked me to put two slices of lemon in it. I can't imagine anyone wanting to do that, but obviously it happens.

Could very well be that the lemon offsets what could possibly be very bitter coffee they are used to. Same as when some put salt in soda to reduce carbonation, etc.

 

[MntnMan62]

Could very well be that the lemon offsets what could possibly be very bitter coffee they are used to. Same as when some put salt in soda to reduce carbonation, etc.

You took the words right out of my mouth. As a lover of good coffee I would never adulterate my coffee with anything other than milk. If someone feels the need to put lemon in their coffee, either they don't like coffee or they are trying to cover something up that doesn't taste good. I suppose someone might say the same of milk, especially someone who drinks their coffee black. But I find the skim milk that I use melds and enhances the taste of the coffee ever so slightly. Anyway. I don't have a monopoly on how to drink coffee so if someone wants to put lemons of pineapples in their coffee, I guess that's their prerogative.

 

[PinkRose]

You took the words right out of my mouth. As a lover of good coffee I would never adulterate my coffee with anything other than milk. If someone feels the need to put lemon in their coffee, either they don't like coffee or they are trying to cover something up that doesn't taste good. I suppose someone might say the same of milk, especially someone who drinks their coffee black. But I find the skim milk that I use melds and enhances the taste of the coffee ever so slightly. Anyway. I don't have a monopoly on how to drink coffee so if someone wants to put lemons of pineapples in their coffee, I guess that's their prerogative.

The next time someone asks me to put lemon slices in their coffee, I'll make a point to watch and see if they add milk and sugar to it, too.

Some coffees naturally have subtle citric notes in the flavor - I wonder if people use the lemon slices to add a citric tang to whatever coffee they're drinking.

 

[topher]

Fine dining used to serve espresso with a lemon rind. It was said to take away from bitterness. People would rim their demi. I haven't seen it in a while...maybe because coffee has improved over the years?

 

[MntnMan62]

Fine dining used to serve espresso with a lemon rind. It was said to take away from bitterness. People would rim their demi. I haven't seen it in a while...maybe because coffee has improved over the years?

You are so correct. I can't believe I didn't remember that. I used to serve so called "espresso" in those glorified pour over thingies for each person who ordered it and I would put down a small espresso cup and a lemon rind back in the 80's when I was a waiter in my college days. How could I forget that? I stand corrected. Now I know I'm getting old. My memory is going.