espresso, Recipes, & Food News

Happy National Espresso Day!

by Alexa Weibel, Posted Nov 23rd 2009 @ 1:15PM

Banana cake with caramel espresso frosting.
Photo: Fresh from the Oven 606, Flickr.

Happy National Espresso Day!

Patented in Milan, Italy, in 1901 by Luigi Bezzera, the concentrated coffee drink has been endlessly expanded upon in a plethora of creative culinary delights. Chances are those of you who include the beverage in your daily routine have already gotten your fix today, but may we instead suggest you toy with the idea of getting your fix (or supplementing it!) from a different source -- ice cream, chocolate or a baked good, perhaps?

Or for seriously committed bean fiends, take our Coffee Meister's advice and research home espresso machines for at-home consumption. So perk up and drink (or eat) up!

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

Filed under: Did you know?, Food News, Drink Recipes, Holidays

Home Espresso Machines with the CoffeeMeister

COMMENTS 11

by Erin Meister, Posted Sep 15th 2009 @ 2:00PM

A Rancilio Silvia
home espresso machine.
Photo: Jay Ritmista, Flickr

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

Hooked on espresso? Yeah, me too. But not because we need it, right? It's because we love it. It isn't just a caffeine fix -- it's an act of passion. It's a foodie's delight.

Brewing espresso at home is a luxury enjoyed by few but might be more accessible than you think: Decent equipment starts at a basic splurge level before moving into "coffee has taken control of my life" exorbitance -- I swear!

Here's a guide to finding a machine that fits your needs (and your bank account).

Filed under: Raves & Reviews, Drink Recipes

Best Instant Coffee: Our Taste Test Results

COMMENTS 1

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Sep 1st 2009 @ 4:46PM

We chugged our way through more than two dozen different blends so you'll know which brands are worth sipping -- or skipping. After our jitters subsided, one clear winner emerged. Click on to see how your favorites fared.

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Instant Coffee Taste Test

We're not coffee snobs, but we're hard pressed to think of a single instance where we'd pick the stir-in stuff over some java that's hot from a freshly-brewed pot. Still, sometimes we need a caffeine fix on the go or in a jiffy, and there's not a bean to be seen.

We chugged our way through more than two dozen different blends so you'll know which brands are worth sipping -- and skipping. Keep clicking to see our reviews from the deepest dregs to the creme de la cafe.

Rachel Been, AOL

Getty Images North America

Instant Coffee Taste Test

We're not coffee snobs, but we're hard pressed to think of a single instance where we'd pick the stir-in stuff over some java that's hot from a freshly-brewed pot. Still, sometimes we need a caffeine fix on the go or in a jiffy, and there's not a bean to be seen.

We chugged our way through more than two dozen different blends so you'll know which brands are worth sipping -- and skipping. Keep clicking to see our reviews from the deepest dregs to the creme de la cafe.

Rachel Been, AOL

Chock Full O'Nuts

Sip or skip? Skip. Skip very, VERY far away.

Pass for brewed? No

Tasting Notes: Wow, what a tease. We were beckoned in by a yummy smell, but the flavor -- ugh. It's cruelly sour with an undertone of rotting veggies and chock full o' yuck.

Rachel Been, AOL

Nescafe Clasico

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? Never

Tasting Notes: This barely even passes for instant java, and packs a bitter, chemical afterburn that took forever to get off our tongues. No mas, por favor.

Rachel Been, AOL

Folgers Coffee Singles Classic Roast

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? No way

Tasting Notes: It smells okay, but has no flavor whatsover. Sure, the pack's convenient -- if you have an on-the-go hankering for the taste of brown water.

Rachel Been, AOL

Folgers Coffee Singles Classic Decaf

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? No

Tasting Notes: No aroma, no flavor, no caffeine -- not a single reason to bother.

Rachel Been, AOL

Rocket Fuel

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? As the worst gas station coffee you've ever had

Tasting Notes: It smells like dust, and while it's billed as "rich, dark, powerful coffee," all we're getting is a seismic blast of bitterness.

Rachel Been, AOL

Sanka

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? Really bad, burned decaf

Tasting Notes: We're really feeling the burn on this one. The flavor is oddly reminiscent of scorched cheese -- not something we're looking to encounter first thing in the a.m.

Rachel Been, AOL

Brown Gold

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? Perhaps for metallic conference room coffee

Tasting Notes: It's got a strange dusty, papery smell and a tinny taste -- is that the "gold" part? And what the heck is an Excelsio bean?

Rachel Been, AOL

Folgers Classic Roast

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? No

Tasting Notes: If this odor-free, sour, bitter blend is indeed the best part of waking up, we suggest you just stay tucked in bed.

Rachel Been, AOL

White Rose Original Blend

Sip or skip? Skip

Pass for brewed? Maybe at Homer Simpson's nuclear plant.

Tasting Notes: Savor the taste and aroma of cardboard dunked in hot water? Have we got the brew for you!

Rachel Been, AOL

Filed under: Taste Test

Affogatos with the CoffeeMeister

COMMENTS 4

by Erin Meister, Posted Aug 4th 2009 @ 1:00PM

Affogato al caffé. Photo: Erin Meister

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

Picture this: New York City, August, 2009. It's hot -- I mean really hot. Like, stick to the seats on the subway hot. You're feeling mighty low and mighty steamed, and all you want is a belt of something quick and cool to keep you moving. Something that'll put the spring back into your step.

You know what you need, buddy? A caffeinated dessert. An affogato al caffé.

When you finally get one and it does the trick, turn your re-energized self toward Italy and give 'em a salute: Not only did our friends on the boot give us both the espresso and gelato that make up this icy indulgence, but they did us one better by putting them together. The resulting dessert, often shortened to simply affogato -- literally "drowned" in Italian -- is heavenly in its traditional form (a scoop of vanilla gelato topped with freshly brewed espresso), so even tiny tweaks (chocolate ice cream) or additions (Frangelico) can make it sublime.

Filed under: Drink Recipes, How To

A multitude of McFails

COMMENTS 5

by Annie Scott, Posted Oct 8th 2008 @ 2:30PM

a napkin with an Americano diagram on it

So, as a followup to my story on unsnobbycoffee.com, the new campaign by McDonald's, I hit a McDonald's on New York's Upper West Side to try out some unsnobby coffee. I intended to write this there, but unfortunately, the free McWifi was a McMyth.

If you've never been to a NYC McDonald's, well, it's an experience. The low prices really throw off the normal-person-to-crazy-person ratio. There was one man in a security guard uniform (not a McDonald's employee) camped out by the soda machine, drinking various sodas one inch at a time, and then refilling. Well, that's one way to kill your lunch break.

Filed under: Raves & Reviews, Drink Recipes, Chefs & Restaurants, Fast Food, Restaurants