Three boxes from Colonna

This morning delivered by DHL three boxes from Colonna.

• PHOTOS Three boxes from Colonna

box one – Peak water filter

Coffee is over 90% water, water matters.

Cannot make coffee with tap water. Hopeless if trying to enjoy the pleasures of those delicate nuanced notes in a V60.

You may not realise, when drinking coffee in a speciality coffee shop, the water used has been filtered.

We have therefore a choice:

• ask nicely for water in a coffee shop
• buy bottled spring water
• use a filter at home

If a filter, try Britta water filter jug. But far better a Peak water filter jug, designed for coffee.

box two – Opal One

It may seem unlikely, if not highly improbable, it is possible to brew excellent coffee with a Nespresso machine, though not using Nespresso capsules. Nespresso capsules brew disgusting undrinkable coffee.

Internally, Nespresso machines are the same, whether less than one hundred pounds or several hundreds pounds, therefore buy the cheapest Nespresso machine.

Or go one better with an Opal One superior Nespresso machine. Double the cost of the cheapest Nespresso machine.

Note: Not yet available outside Singapore, check out Morning machine, roughly double the price of an Opal One.

box three – coffee

Imagine if an optimum grind, peak freshness, sealed in an oxygen free environment. That is what a better designed Nespresso capsule offers. The capsule can be aluminium or compostable, one recycled the other composted.

A mix of capsules for Opal One, a gadget to extract spent grounds from aluminium capsules, plus a bag of coffee for comparison.

Hot tip: Sign up for a newsletter from Colonna. 10% discount off first order. Make first order a big order.

Part of series The Kitchen Counter Coffee Shop. Started last summer with Aeropress, V60, digital scales, Rhino hand grinder (since given away as a present) CrushGrind hand grinder, though sat dormant not used as coffee shops reopened following lockdown.

What I now require, Comandante hand grinder, 9Barsita espresso machine and Niche Zero single dose grinder. All three ludicrously expensive with long lead times or impossible to obtain.

Also require, top quality ceramic in which to serve. Maybe also add, a cocktail shaker for cocktails.

Tags: coffee, Colonna, Nespresso, Nespresso capsules, Nespresso machine, Opal One, Peak Water Filter