200 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
200 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
foodanddrink
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8330437
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# Tried and tested: coffee machines
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## Our weekly column sources the best gadgets, shops and food. Today: coffee
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machines
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![Crema vs. crema: De Longhi?s Prima Donna espresso machine is self-cleaning
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and endlessly adjustable ? but at a cost
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][1]
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Crema vs. crema: De Longhi?s Prima Donna espresso machine is self-cleaning and
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endlessly adjustable ? but at a cost
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[![Rose Prince][2]][3]
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By [Rose Prince][4] 8:00AM GMT 18 Feb 2011
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[Follow Rose Prince on Twitter][5]
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[Comments][6]
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From sloshing down endless cups of Nescafe as a school-leaver, I have grown to
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feel the same way about coffee as the buff does about his wine. I put it down
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to a week spent in Palermo, Sicily, during which I must have drunk a dangerous
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quantity of delicious espresso. Wandering through the scruffy streets of the
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old city, I became fixated on the machinery.
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The flavour of the beans, I realised, plays only a part in the best cups of
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Italian coffee. Equipment, and knowing how to use and care for it, is as
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essential. For several years I used a Fifties repro La Pavoni Europiccola - a
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cast-brass, lever-operated classic for purists. It could make good coffee, yet
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my lack of knowledge of its maintenance could also produce cups that tasted
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dirty, bitter and flat.
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In matters of food and drink I'd always put artisan before mechanical means,
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but modern automatic machines are tempting, especially those that have a
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computerised barista and a ''nanny'' to remind them to wash behind their ears,
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so to speak.
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DeLonghi's automatic Prima Donna ''bean to cup'' machine is designed to look
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after itself, rinsing as it is switched on, and off, then issuing clear
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instructions on a lit screen should it need refills of coffee or water; or the
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waste containers to be emptied, or descaling. This last process, essential if
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you have hard mains water and want good espresso, is very important because it
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is key to the machine's long life.
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It makes divine, powerful yet smooth-flavoured coffee, quickly. There is a
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deep, tan crema on the espresso. You can add whole beans and it grinds just
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enough for each cup (you can also use ready ground). It has a memory and you
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can set the strength of the coffee, the amount in a cup and the temperature,
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which I set quite low so the flavour of the coffee is clearer (warm the cups
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on top of the machine first.)
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## Related Articles
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* [Rose Prince: The power of parenting forums][7]
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12 Feb 2011
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* [Tried and tested: fresh pasta][8]
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10 Feb 2011
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* [Tried and tested: flowers in food][9]
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04 Feb 2011
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* [Spirit Lifters: Rose Prince's February recipes][10]
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03 Feb 2011
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* [Rose Prince: On marriage, bacon and France][11]
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29 Jan 2011
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* [Tried and tested: British cheeses][12]
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28 Jan 2011
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To make the various types of coffee - macchiato, espresso, cappuccino, latte,
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long black and so on - you push buttons; the milk is placed in a purpose-made
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jug to keep in the fridge and is pumped into the heater. In this respect only,
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I would have preferred a simple tube to dangle in the milk jug and attach to a
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pump. Prima Donna costs £1,195, is guaranteed for two years and DeLonghi
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promises over-the-phone advice.
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I spent an hour testing machines in Selfridges, where over a dozen are ready
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to use. A price drop from computerised models brings you to the good-value
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£300 Gaggia Classic, from the inventors of the piston-driven (levered)
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machine. This does not buy a brain like that in the Prima Donna, but you get a
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traditional-looking, pump-action coffee maker. It has a hot shelf for cups on
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top and makes very good coffee, if slightly hot (for me); and it has an
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excellent steamer for frothing milk. It takes ground coffee and coffee
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capsules.
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Selfridges also sells a baby machine by Lavazza, called A Modo Mio (£125) that
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takes coffee capsules (from Sainsburys and Waitrose; £4.50, 16 caps).
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Selfridges offers a 12-month guarantee and specialist advice.
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* Coffee roasters: a new discovery is Square Mile, based in the East End of
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London. Its Espresso blend and Single Estate espresso coffees are special;
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**[www.squaremilecoffee.com][13]**
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* **[www.delonghi.co.uk][14]** Contact for stockists
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* **[www.selfridges.com][15]**
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[X][16] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][17]
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* Share: [Share][16] [ ][18] [ ][19]
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[Tweet][20]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8330437/Tried-and-tested-coffee-
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machines.html
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Telegraph
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## [Food and Drink][21]
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* ### [Lifestyle »][22]
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* ### [Rose Prince »][3]
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[![Disparity by Christopher Boffoli: everyday scenes created using food and
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toy figures][23] ][24]
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### [Tiny people in your food][24]
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[![Pancake Day recipe: cinnamon, banana and chocolate crepes, Five Minute
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Food][25] ][26]
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### [Pancake Day: how to make perfect crepes][26]
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[![Alan Sailer's high-speed pictures of the moment pellets fired from an air
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gun hit objects][27] ][28]
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### [Faster than a bullet][28]
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[![][29] ][30]
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### [Meals on your fingers][30]
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[X][16] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][17]
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Share:
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* [ ][16]
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* [ ][18]
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* [ ][19]
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* [Tweet][20]
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* Advertisement
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![][31]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][32] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][33]
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[![wineshop_v2][34]][35]
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Advertisement
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sponsored features
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Wine Offers
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* [OFFERS][36]
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* [RED WINE][37]
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* [WHITE WINE][38]
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