Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Equipment is far from everything

This weekend I got quite surprised when I entered a bar in Trondheim and found they had a shiny Elektra Belle Epoque espresso machine. Seeing this, I had to invite my friends, sitting outside, for a espresso with the view of that classic masterpiece.

The Belle Epoque

We had high expectations when we were served our espresso. Perhaps this is one of the reasons we were a bit disappointed as the expectations were set to high. To be honest the espresso had similarities with the dispenser-espresso at work.

We observed that the grinder had around 1-2 kg of roasted beans in the hopper. As this was not a dedicated coffee shop these beans have probably stayed in that hopper for several days. I also deem it likely that the beans were roasted weeks ago. We did at least not smell the pleasant scent of a fresh roast in the bar.

My conclusion is that with enough money you can purchase any fancy coffee machine. Though no fancy coffee machine can make good coffee out of bad beans. Usually its better to put your money where it matters most. In this case it would be in the raw materials.

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