I'm enjoying a cup of Viennese roast coffee this morning. It's black as the line to the milk pavilion was too long this morning. The only time I normally drink black coffee is when I get a professionally made espresso based drink like an Americano. An Americano is basically a few shots of fresh expresso dumped into a cup of hot filtered water. In the case of an Americano the water was run through the espresso grinds so quickly that there is absolutely no bitterness in the drink and I don't feel the need to put milk in it to try and subdue any bitterness that might otherwise have been present.
Most of the time, regular coffee steeps in the grinds for so long the bitterness is drawn out like a snake charmed by a skilled flutist. I wrote about this a bit before.
This morning, though, the Viennese roast is surprisingly free of bitterness and I find myself glad that I didn't pollute it with milk.
Posted by Nick Codignotto at November 19, 2004 09:27 AM | TrackBack