Serving coffee to guests is one of the few old traditions in international hospitality that managed to travel over deserts and seas, and adapt to different cultures, all sorts of preparation methods, climate changes and social statuses, always adjusting to its consumer preference. Coffee and tea are a language that everybody understands, a gate opener, which facilitates human interaction.
Coffee lovers like myself do not only enjoy drinking coffee, but also experimenting with different bean types, different grinding sizes, as well as various preparation and serving styles. For such a person, who likes these sorts of coffee experiments, serving a few cups of bean juice when you have people over is always a bonus. Being proud of the coffee you make and always getting amazed reactions when you serve it is pretty nice and strangely gratifying.
If you know your beans and do’s and don’ts, so if you’re coffee-educated, making great coffee is never a challenge. Add to that a good, reliable coffee machine, and it really becomes a piece of cake. Of course, it’s always nice to have options. For me, those options are… well, basically all the espresso-based coffee drinks out there. Flavored coffee drinks such as café miel, café mocha, or melya are not actually my “cup of tea”, but everything else from café bonbon, flat white and cappuccino, to latte macchiato, iced coffee or Irish coffee, remains on the hypothetical table. Having these options on a constant basis, for you as well as for your guests, doesn’t mean that you have to own a coffee shop, it just means that you need an above average automatic coffee machine. Overwhelmed with the choices? Wikipedia has this great virtual library on espresso drinks.
If you are a cappuccino fan, an espresso and cappuccino machine would be the first thing to go for, but a cappuccino maker is an even better idea. For the last twenty years now, cappuccino has become a pretty popular drink, very appreciated by those who crave that caffeine infusion but don’t want to exaggerate with strong coffee. Having a cappuccino maker at home is a great alternative to have. On top of your normal, basic cappuccino, serving a Cappuccino Freddo, all nice and cold, can really make someone’s day. Not sure if you can afford it?
You push a couple of buttons on your coffee machine or you turn the stove on, making coffee is never a chore. Some people don’t even think about the process, for others it’s all in the process. Whichever the case, the end result is the one that matters. And that end result should be a good coffee, the perfect way of making someone feel comfortable in your home, a pleasant way to be socially active, something that has been transmitted from generation to generation as a way of showing hospitality and good intentions.
