Coffee bar overkill?
Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 1:22 am
My wife controlled most of the decisions in our kitchen remodel, but she did permit an area off the kitchen dedicated to coffee and tea. (She and our contractor had multiple conversations about why anyone needed so much space for coffee equipment.) The first picture below shows view toward the coffee area from the kitchen (most of kitchen is off to the left, not shown). Picture 2 shows the coffee/tea bar (where you can almost see a Chemex pot at home in a Krups duo-thek, right in front of the Maestro grinder). Opposite that bar, shown in picture 3, is the espresso bar with Cimbali Jr. and 4-week-old Mini II in their own little pantry underneath a stairway. I got the Mini II because a plumbed-in machine was vetoed, but the large reservoir makes refilling only an occasional chore. My spouse would have preferred a smaller, sexier, all-stainless espresso machine, but I'm having a very good time with the Spaz. It's an upgrade from a Solis S-70 that I used for a couple of years with pretty good results (the Cimbali grinder helped), but there's no question the Mini II is in a different league.
. You can tell your wife that I think the S1 matches your modern kitchen and black counter tops a