Espresso

I hate coffee. I really do. I have zero appreciation for coffee and I don't understand how people can pay double digits for a cup of bitter tasting liquid. Yucks. Hubby loves coffee so I've resorted to making his coffee by judging the colour of the liquid. No way in hell would I ever make it to taste. (And no way in hell would I be able to tell too!) This girl, is very much a Milo Ais gal :p

This year, Hubby cultivated two new interests - good coffee, and cigars. He now devotes a good part of his weekend at the gazebo, sipping his coffee over a cigar. And I'll stay far far away from those sessions cos I hate coffee, and the smell of cigar gives me a migraine.

I digress. Anyway, it's that time of the year again when I have to crack my head for a birthday present for Hubby. Given his new interests, it was a toss up between a coffee machine and a box of cigars. The former won hands down because I would hate to watch Hubby burn my money with the latter - literally.

Since I have zero knowledge in coffee, I couldn't just buy any coffee machine as a surprise. So I gave him the opportunity to choose his own machine. He spent a whole night researching for the best (within my budget, mind you). Hence last weekend, all I heard about was ground coffee beans, grinders, filters, thermoblocks, double shots.. you get the gist. He even gave me a crash course about the difference between espresso, cappuccino, latte, flat white and mocha! (Everything is merely called coffee to me.)

Red (drool) versus silver.

So in the end, he settled for the machine of his dreams (I wanted red to match my KitchenAid, but he wanted silver... so I relented) and we finally brought home his baby - an entire month before his birthday.

Meet the new addition to our dry kitchen counter top! Although Hubby complained endlessly about the compact size (he prefers bulky in-your-face machines), I actually love the fact that it doesn't conquer the table top.

Hubby's first cup of coffee.

Hubby even made me a cup of mocha. Check out that milk froth!

Anyway, I wanted to give him the complete experience, so I offered to buy him the barista accessories too. Boy, I was taken by surprise by how big this whole coffee affair is to the rest of the world. Malls actually have specific coffee/tea sections within their home-living department! I found fancy double walled mugs, and am now on a hunt for the perfect stainless steel milk pitcher. Exciting times!

Double walled mugs for the complete coffee experience. Bodum is quite pricey, hence we settled for La Gourmet for the glass version, but found a good deal for Bodum outdoor plastic mugs in One Utama (not in picture). Snatched them all in a heartbeat!

Couldn't believe my eyes when I found this stainless steel pitcher at Robinsons, The Gardens, going for RM100. Settled for the Lazada version instead.

Anyway, now that the pressure is off for Hubby's birthday present, I'm wondering what he has in store for me for mine. I sure hope it isn't a coffee grinder. I wouldn't put it past him to do such a maneuver! *chuckles*