reganmagor wrote:I just turned some flame-sterilized bean product from Starb... cough... a nearby chain that you've never heard of... that some marketing genius insists on calling coffee into an eyebrow-raisingly palatable espresso. In my very own kitchen! I think I'm sold.

Now to see if the Giotto and Strega will fight on my countertop like wasps in a mason jar.

Nice, you took the plunge! Keep us posted about your dance with the Strega. With my upgrade on the horizon, I, too, will be heading to idrinkcoffee soon to eyeball some equipment

Btw, if it can turn charred beans into something drinkable, imagine the potential. Enjoy!

Congratulations on the Strega. Lovely machine.

I purchased my Strega from IDrinkCoffee too. USA was out of Strega's at the time, and they gave me a great deal on a TOP model. Shipping to California from Ontario, Canada was 7 days even through customs.

IDrinkCoffee also has some good beans available too. Hope you don't have to drink those *$ beans very long, as there are far better choices to put through your machine.

I started my Strega with a couple pounds of a good espresso blend for the first 2 weeks. Then I ordered 7 SO varieties in 1 pound packs from Bodka, let them all age 7 days past roast and put them in the freezer for longer storage. (I pull out small amounts into 1 cup cans, and keep the bags in the freezer at -10F.) Started testing all of these origins individually for the first week+, then started blending the origins to my liking. WOW! I love blending my own beans to make a great shot, and learning about building the flavors.

Tonight if the UPS man makes it over here I should be getting my naked PF for the Strega. Not sure if I need one, but I sure wanted one.

Fellow 'nuck, I'm enjoying it at an unhealthy level, so far. You may want to give it a look when you're at idrinkcoffee. They have nothing but good stuff to see there; it's very nearly overwhelming. The sales associate I dealt with, Richard, was very helpful... and patient. I think he spent about two hours in total putting up with me and he threw in a naked PF with my purchase. That said, I probably could have pressed for more free stuff but who really knows how far you can push that kind of thing. I think you'll like using yours, Dano. If not just for the photo-ops.

They definitely have some great coffee choices there. I picked up two pounds of their Daterra Yellow and I'm nearly through one of them. I just roasted some Yirg, too. I can't wait to give that a taste!

All in all, I'm very happy with my new purchase and I only get a tiny, wee bit nauseated (not full blown flu symptoms) when I reflect on how much it cost. I consider that a good sign.

reganmagor wrote:All in all, I'm very happy with my new purchase and I only get a tiny, wee bit nauseated (not full blown flu symptoms) when I reflect on how much it cost. I consider that a good sign.

Yeah I understand that feeling! It goes away quickly with each pull of the lever I think. Don't even regret one penny of my purchase now.

Just got the naked PF from Stefano tonight via UPS. I'll play with it later when I have some time. On my Oscar I did all my pulls with a naked PF, and the wife was commenting tonight how she missed looking at those and is looking forward to the pulls. Looks aside, they are good for checking your pulls anyway so I do like 'em.