We broke down and bought the Black Gold Movie, which I mentioned in my previous post. I recorded PBS’s airing of it, but I’d like to have a higher quality DVD to show with some friends if I ever have a French Press party. You can buy it here from California Newsreel.
Yesterday my Grindenstein knockbox arrived. I’ve been looking for a replacement for my old Starbucks knockbox that lost it’s rubber about six months ago. For awhile I’ve had to bang metal portafilter against chewed rubber, or scoop out the grounds with a plastic scoop. I finally resorted to using a roll of electrical tape to replace the rubber on the metal bar that spans the knockbox. Well, that worked for two days, when I realized that electrical tape doesn’t quite bounce like rubber. CoffeeGeek gave the Grindenstein good reviews, so I broke down and forked $29 for the Grindenstein, direct from Australia.
Anyway, back to beans from Ethiopia. I checked my bag of espresso beans from Starbucks. Lo and behold, none of the beans come from Africa, period.
I don’t know if perhaps the often floral taste of the African beans wouldn’t go too well with the caramel taste of espresso. I so far know of two particular Ethiopian coffees: Ethiopian Sidamo and Ethiopian Yergacheff. There might be some others.
Lord willing, on my next post, I’ll look into more details on coffees from Ethiopia and Africa in general. I’ll also try to post some related links.