1 shot of espresso has pretty much the same amount of caffeine a 1 6 oz cup of coffee. Regular drip coffee used to have more caffeine back in the days when all the major coffee producers (Folgers, Cain, etc) used Robusta. Robusta has twice the caffeine as arabica. Espresso is typically made with mostly arabica beans. However, nowdays arabica is so cheap all the major coffee producers use 100% arabica in most of their products. Many espresso blends have started using up to 10-15% robusta beans, so the trend is reversing.

The two processes are very different. Drip coffee uses a very course grind. Espresso uses an extremely fine grind. For drip coffee, the water merely passes through the grinds via gravity. For espresso the water gets injected into the grounds at extremely high pressure. The time spend during extraction may be shorter, but the process is much more efficient.

Funny when I read your post I thought, just get a cup hold that will clamp on the your handle bar and here it is...

The Rancilio Silvia is an excellent machine. You made a good choice. I've gone to a semi-commercial heat exchanger machine.

I also roast my own beans, which is kind of the ultimate in coffee obsession. However if you have a Costco in your area, they are an excellent source for fresh roast. The one in my area roasts 5 days per week. I can also buy unroasted coffee beans from them for $1 per lb.

I'm not a coffee drinker but I have a coffee maker at the office I use to make herbal tea. It's a nice reward for commuting through the cold.

another issue it the roast - darker roasted coffee (like espresso roast) is done to concentrate flavor but has the side effect of breaking down more of the caffine in the bean, leaving the coffe you brew from it (by any method) with a stonger flavor but less kick (which i why i order and brew by the gallon )

Espresso doesn't have to be dark! True, it generally is, but the reason many equate espresso with dark, oily beans is because that is what Starbucks, Peets, etc. produce. Why does Starbucks do this? Cuts through milk better than a lighter roast, and milk-based drinks (e.g. lattes, cappucinos) are Starbucks' sweet spot.

Try the Code Brown mentioned above or Taste of Milan (even lighter). No milk needed. In fact, I like shots of those straight.

Bottom line: espresso isn't necessarily a dark roast.

I don't stop, but I detest my work coffee. So I bring coffee in the .6 liter size flask. It fits perfectly in a normal bottle cage. It gets cold, but I don't mind.

Lighter roasts are better for espresso and that's what I always use. Roasting dark causes the oils (and flavor) of the coffee bean to come to the surface and much of it is lost to evaporation during the roasting process. For drip coffee, this is OK because when the oils are released from the bean, more can be extracted during the drip extraction process. The espresso process has the ability to extract the oils from within the bean, so dark roasting is unnecessary and counterproductive.

I just have to speak up on all of the Starbucks bashing. I used to work for them when they hadn't even finished their domination of Seattle, let alone the world. Back in the day it was a great company to work for, we pulled espresso using real machines and I had tons of training before I was ever allowed to make a drink. Starbucks had great benefits, plus a free pound of coffee a week.

I don't even know what those robot espresso machines they have now are. Let alone that they expect me to tip the barrista for pushing a button. Still, when I'm travelling and it's a choice between 7-11 coffee or starbucks I'll have to go with the starbucks.

Interesting thread. I am a coffee lover but have never entertained drinking a hot beverage while actually on the bike. I do occasionally include coffee shops or restaurants on my route in order to stop for a coffee though. Before and after ride coffees are great too.

Superautomatics. It means they don't trust their employees to do it right. (They sell more flavored milk than coffee, anyway) We have one in our galley at work. Should I tip myself?

And I bet they charge you for the mud at work. They do where I am. $1.35 for 16oz of sludge. We make our own in my work area.

I love coffee! We have free coffee at work, so I don't make any or stop anywhere to get any on my way in. But usually once on the weekend I'll ride over to Starbucks and have something a little fancier.

I'm considering that one too. They pollute our espresso machine at work with horrible cheap beans, and I can't take it anymore! $400 is damn cheap for a good espresso machine, but don't forget to budget $200 for a quality grinder.

Back in those days there may have been a sincere attempt by *$ to make a quality espresso. However, it doesn't really matter what type of machine you have, what type of coffee you use, or how much training the barrista has, if you serve espresso in a paper cup, it's crap. Perhaps when you worked for them, they used porcelain cups, I don't know. I don't blame them for what they do. Most people that go to them want something that doesn't even taste like coffee.

You can find them on ebay, both new and used. Just make sure you get a good quality burr grinder to go with it. Plan on budgetting at least $100 for the grinder.

I engage in Starbucks bashing whenever the opportunity presents itself. Truthfully, their coffee ain't half bad. But everything else about it rubs me the wrong way. Like the time I went in and said "I'd like a double shot, please." Now, at any Peets or Coffee People or your own favorite LCS, the guy goes over to the machine, pulls two shots of espresso, hands you a cup, takes your money and you're on your way. At S'bucks (at least the ones around here), they look at you blankly for a second and then say "Oh, you want a doppio!"

So, just to play along, I usually say "Si! Prego!" And I get another blank look.

Or the time I was in the John Wayne Airport and S'bucks was my only coffee option. I asked for a double machiato. That's two shots of espresso and foam. It's the simplest thing you can ask for other than espresso. So why did it take ten minutes for me to explain to Mr. Barista that No, I don't want steamed milk in it, and No, I don't want vanilla syrup, and No, I don't want whipped cream on it. "Well, what size? Grande or vente?"

I don't know! It's two shots and a dollop of foam! Whatever frickin' size cup that fits into would just be fine!

I guess it's because 90% of their clientele is ordering crap that I don't even consider to be coffee but coffee-flavored milk and sugar beverage.

Ah, heck! DFW beat me to it. And much more succinctly too.

since we are talkin coffee let me plug my local bean pusher....

https://www.geocities.com/caffefresco/

tony is a great guy, a biker, and makes some DAMN tasty coffee beans

AND all his profits this month go to help out those affected by hurricane katrina. this guy has a BIG heart.

Didn't mean to dump on Starbucks if I did. The coffee's fine, but the price adds up over time for a regular like myself. I still drop in from time to time when I'm too lazy to brew my own, or when I just want to be seen (I am a beautiful man).

My old favorite was a double shot with a small dollop of whip cream, in a porcelain cup of course.

And yes, Starbucks is the premier place to pose and be seen, the curse of being beautiful. I wonder how we stand it.

I function on the premise that Starbucks isn't that bad because I surmise that the success of Starbucks probably led to the prevalence of coffee shops and restaurants that now serve espresso. It's a heck of a lot easier to get a triple shot nowadays...I used to only find the stuff at Italian restaurants.

Anyway, that's just my guess...or perhaps rationalization...I admit to stopping by the place occasionally. But I prefer Coffee People and they aren't hard to find in this town.

I dunno, I have to say I like Starbuckies, there's one about 100 yards from here lol. Easy to tell people Let's just meet there, it's easy to find. I can ask for "a small drip" and they know what that is, or a double shot, etc. I know they have that veni vidi venti language for everything but they speak regular coffee talk too. I just get regular things there, drip or espresso or a bottle of that Giant Peach tea. Their Madeleins (sp?) are good, if expensive, and seem made for jersey pockets now that I think about it.

Just a personal peeve: I was in Los Gatos and craving some of that Giant Peach, so I asked if they had a Starbucks downtown, No, I got a frosty reply to that, "We keep them out". How about Peet's then? No, "We keep them out, too, too commercial, we like family businesses here." So I ride around a bit and it's High-End-Consumerville, all Gaps and Crate & Barrel and so on, huge chain high-end consumerist stores, and right smack downtown, a SHARPER IMAGE!! The ultimate in chain, overprices, flashy junk. Sheesh!!

Sounds like whoever you're talking to needs a fat dose of reality. Personally I stay out of downtown LG for precisely that reason. There's a peet's at LG Blvd (aka Bascom) and Blossom Hill, right next to the lovely Vasona park.

ahpook, reppin' for Campbell