icd

This may sound (is) very superficial compared to recent threads concerning ethical and human rights issues - however I want to discuss coffee makers.

I am currently in the process of coming to Sydney - will be there in a few weeks - and am surrounded by boxes and piles of books at the moment.

As a coffee addict I was surprised to find that I was unable to locate on any Oz websites the price of a drip coffee maker (which I believe are called Dripolaters)- I am currently working on advice left by another member here who said that it was best to buy new electrical items when you arrive.

So my question is, to those already in situ, can you buy a coffee machine - of the drip variety in Sydney?

Off for a brew -

Ian

FluffyTheCampfireSlayer

Do you not mean a 'percolator'??

Being a fully trained Barista and having worked within the cawffee industry, (yes, another feather to my cap)!!, I have never heard of a Dripolator!

paul30

Thought it would be a percolator myself but just done a search on some Aussie sites and what they call a Percolator I would call an urn/Boiler and a dripolator is what we'd class as a percolator

FluffyTheCampfireSlayer

Bloody wierdo's!!!!

icd

Well I too was surpised at the term 'dripolater' but on the Sydeny Starbucks (we are not worthy) site they refer to a drip machine as such - perculator I think of as something that boils rather than drips!

paul30

Think we can let them off

NickyC

The great bulk of coffee makers sold nowadays are espresso machines.

I guess that when you talk about Dripolater you mean the old-style maker with a water tank on one side and a jug on the other. You put the coffee in a paper filter on the top of the jug and the water drips through? You can still buy them but they're not really the most common type of coffee machines sold now.

By the way, they're not called percolaters. A percolator is like a big metal jug in two parts. Water goes in the bottom, coffee goes in the top. When the water heats it rises up through the coffee rather than dripping down onto it.

If you want real coffee at work (and there's not a cafe nearby) the easiest way to make it, is with a plunger.

FluffyTheCampfireSlayer

I disagree - are you talking about the stove top espresso maker type thingys? If so, they are not percolators - trust me!

In a 'proper' percolator, which operates on a principal of rising bubbles forcing liquid up a tube, the hot water is distributed at the top over the perforated lid of the coffee chamber. This water then seeps through the coffee grounds and leaves the coffee chamber through the bottom, dropping back into the lower half of the pot. The rest of the colder water at the bottom is meanwhile also forced up the tube, causing this whole cycle to repeat continually.

As the brew continually drips through the grounds, the overall temperature of the liquid approaches boiling point, at which stage the "perking" action (the characteristic spurting sound the pot makes) stops, and the coffee is ready for drinking.

icd

Thanks Nicky - yes you are exactly right this is the coffee maker I mean the one you use with a filter - and knowing that they are a rarity means I will bring mine with me.

Didnt mean to start a contentious thread ... Fluffy I think you and NIcky are describing the same machine as a perculator without a filter and Italian in origin.

perhaps filter or non filter would be a safer definition

Thnaks for your time and the good information all of you

haggis supper

Ian,

As a fellow coffee addict I've discovered several things whilst living in Melbourne...

1) Starbucks sells crap coffee (and this is from a former Starbucks junkie)
2) Melbourne is awash with cafes - the coffee scene here is astonishing
3) Melbourne has its own coffee language - long blacks, flat whites, baby cinnos for the kids etc
4) I recently bought a coffee maker from Nespresso - it does awesome espressos and flat whites. See link below. Ours is the Essenza Automatic as I can't be arsed messing around too much.

https://secure.nespresso.com/precom/...ays=au&lang=en

5) I'm now addicted to Large Flat Whites

Good luck with the move.
Col

datamile

You mean like these ?

http://www.breville.com.au/products_...at=1&subcat=32

http://www.buyquick.com.au/shop/defa...p?parentid=189

mooncat

Fear not. You can indeed buy a dripolater very cheaply. I got one in Crazy Clarks for $12.99. and yes it's just as good as any I had in the UK. (and yes, there are lots of stores in NSW incl Sydney.) See www.golo.com.au

Vash the Stampede

The cretins at Starbucks don't know the first thing about coffee.

Go to a genuine Italian cafe and talk to the barista. He'll put you straight.

Hutch

Bit of bastard flying 10,140 miles just to get a decent cup of espresso though.

Dorothy

Bought our drip coffee maker at K-Mart for $25. Filters are available at Coles and Woolies and the drip coffee is the medium or fine grind usually found on the bottom shelf of the coffee section. We use Melita brand, as it seems to be the closest to what we're used to.