A Good Cup of Kimbo

It's been a while since we've actually talked about the daily staple near and dear to our hearts, namely espresso - ever since we discovered the Illy pods our carefree experimentation and variety-filled days have fallen into a routine and a steady supply of Illy Black. However, we were pleased to discover a box of Kimbo pods at Lina's Italian Market. Rushing back to the office, we set our Nancy a-go and soon were sipping back delightful cups of espresso. Full-bodied and robust, with a slight hint of bitterness (reminiscent of dark chocolate) it reminded us of Sophia Loren, who was recently featured as the covergirl of the Pirelli calender at the tender age of 72, along with the likes of Penelope Cruz and Naomi Watts.

The appearance of the Kimbo pods made us wonder where were the Lavazza pods? Typically, as one of the highest sellers of espresso by volume, Lavazza leads the way in technical developments, even going so far as inventing the frozen espresso - named by Time as one of the inventions of the year for 2006. A quick search on the web found them, along with a description of the Lavazza pods as being a blend of South American beans, with a hint of Asian varieties for fragrance, as well as some African beans.

While this hardly amounts to a full disclosure on the sourcing of the beans, it nevertheless intrigued us. We would like to see coffee producers/marketers label the area of origin of their beans, in much the same way wineries do. Our perfect label would not only denote whether the coffee is Fair Trade, Organic, Clean Hands, etc., but would also go beyond simply listing the country of origin of beans (this in and of itself would be a big step for some producers/marketers).

Podtastic!

No, this isn't a posting about podcasting, though it is something the boys and girls here at The Daily Wenzel are considering adding in the New Year. Instead, we are testing out Illy's P.O.D. system of espresso delivery. The results are, quite frankly, amazing. Yes, it does take some of the artisanal flair out of coaxing the perfect cup of coffee from your machine, but boy it tastes good.

In deciding to try the new system out (which only works well with Nancy, our Rancillio - it's a horrible mess with Guido, our Gran Gaggia), the office quickly became a buzz with the art vs. science debate of espresso making. As we have said in earlier posts, making the perfect cup of espresso requires the correct proportioning of coffee grounds, water, pressure, temperature, and for some, sugar. Dissolved substances in your water can affect taste, as can freshness of the beans or fineness of grinds. To get all of these variables consistently correct takes quite a bit of craftsmanship, and some people justifiably take a small degree of pride in doing so. However, as our science camp argues, surely there must be a way to make the process simpler and easier to accomplish. Better engineering and better understanding of the physics and chemistry of coffee-making ought to take some of the luck out of it. The creation of the pod seems to move in this direction.

As good as the pod is though, we have not found a way to use it to make double espressos, or multiple cups, a common occurrence at The Daily Wenzel, but this is a step in the right direction!