The online coffee/espresso culture mirrors the subjectivist audio crowd.

[Snarfie]

Looks like WAF rules also buying a coffee Maschine. Did got many years ago a E61 Vibiemme Maschine great coffee but was not practical so we bought a Melitta Caffeo Solo automate yes that is cursing in the coffee high end market. To my surprise it brews close to the same coffee as the Vibiemme already for 14 years now Maintenance inside & outside for both machines is key an can be done by your self.

Visit some years ago Bambino in Paris. Love coffee an Audio.

https://imgur.com/nc7xmlF

 

[GGroch]

Call me a snob if you like, but powdered instant coffee.... is not.

Until it objectively is... but then in the end it is still not.

I just learned about Intelligentsia's experimenting with an advanced high tech instant in their California Illumination Bar that speaks directly to the similarity of coffee and audio cultures, and the central role of expectation bias in human experience. After several years they ended the experiment in January 2025.

In this YouTube Video Bailey Manson, Intelligentsia's Innovation Officer explain's they experimented with an advanced instant coffee system in their California Illumination Bar for several years. IT'S a very long detailed video... you can jump to the experiment's commercial failure and the central role of expectation bias here. Long story short, the benefits their new instant brewing method objectively had in blind tests were overwhelmed by customer pushback when they learned how it was being brewed. There was similar pushback from some Illuminations barista's who saw their roles changing from craftsman to fast food server.

In viewing this I was struck by the similarity between bespoke coffee bar and the vinyl record experience. The ritual is the benefit.

This video originally accompanied a fascinating article by Garrett Oden in Fresh Cup, link here.

 

[antcollinet]

In viewing this I was struck by the similarity between bespoke coffee bar and the vinyl record experience. The ritual is the benefit.

The difference is there is no instant coffee I can buy that comes anywhere close to equalling what I can pull from my E61 group coffee machine. Let alone improving on it. Blind tasted or not.

 

[xray]

The very nature of instant coffee precludes the ability to capture the volatile compounds (aroma) that contribute greatly to how coffee should taste.

 

[xray]

Part of the instant coffee production process is to capture the aroma during brewing and inject it into the jar during packaging to fake you into thinking the instant coffee smells good.

 

[OldHvyMec]

Lets face it, instant is a pure buzz thing. I'll take caffeine tabs before instant.

Regards

 

[FrantzM]

Hi
Revisiting this thread after my Breville Coffee Grinder went kaput and ... The Gaggia is still churning along. I am still looking for a CSR. Lance Hedrick is good to a point but his video are too long and lose in the coffee-nerdy parts, that are too similar to High ENd Audiophiles. Yes, he retains a modicum of science in his videos/review but for the most part, the "body", and entire complications of "flavors" from the coffee is to me the same as what I woudl read in S'Phile or TAS, IOW: THese means, whatever the reader or viewer may want to make of these words.
On that I did recant
I did in a post recant a little bit my impression on Hofmann... I watched him a lot more . My conclusions aligned with some part of @Keith_W post, some part I am quoting here: :

I watch Hoffman videos and I marvel at his sensitive tastebuds. If you ask me, I can't taste hints of bergamot, madagascar vanilla, dark stone fruit or whatever else he is using to describe the coffee. ..<snip>.

And I now more than ever see him as an equivalent of S'Phile or TAS writers. What is worse is that Science is infused (pun intended) in all of this, to derive conclusions that, in most cases are that I can taste (hear) better than you because I have better (ears/taste buds) and more expensive gears (Coffee Machine/grinders/Amplifiers/speakers).
ASR has changed my mindset profoundly: Before ASR, I was throwing money at Audio dissatisfaction. I was ready to invest >$30 K in a pair of speakers and about the same in an amp!!! I wnet and acquired several headphones including vastly expensive ones.. and their amps... That was around 2012~2014
In 2018, I am today immensely satisfied by a speaker-based system system that can be acquired today on Amazon for less $2500 and it is full range (20 Hz to 20,000 Hz) and accurate. measurably so.
Going forward: I had this morning my coffee fix from a pressurized portafilter.. Truly not the same .. I will go ahead and acquire a Hibrew G5 Coffee Grinder or equivalent, use the Gaggia until it die0 or perhaps acquire a Breville Bamabino Plus.. End (of the coffee) game . Not entirely satisfactory but in the absence of an ASR for coffee, a CSR if you will ... I'll save my money...



Peace

 

[egellings]

Lets face it, instant is a pure buzz thing. I'll take caffeine tabs before instant.

Regards

In the morning, any dark hot black liquid that slaps me awake will git 'er done. Once I have gained consciousness, then the taste will definitely matter.

 

[Jokke]

The coffee machine does matter. I upgraded to a new Delonghi, and the coffee taste was night and day different from my old, in the good sense.
However, it does not need to be the most expensive espresso machine to get a good taste. And of course, the quality of the coffee beans matter the most.

I have the Delonghi Magnifica Evo and very happy with it.

 

[Palladium]

I mostly drink instant coffee. It's audio equivalent must be a boom box, LOL.

Hell, I take my Indonesian-made Indocafe instant over Starbucks/McCafe etc. Of course there's better coffee (or booze for the matter) out there but at least I don't pretend its a massive life-changing experience that Big Marketing wants me to believe.

 

[Oddball]

Jura E8 - serious stuff. Had many machines and luckily don't need to spend thousands any more to get some seriously good coffee. Grinds and does all the usual tricks.

E8 - JURA

us.jura.com