the search for coffee

I have been getting very interested in making really yummy decaf coffee. It started this summer when I began my quest to find a coffee maker at a yard sale or thrift store. I didn't want it to cost too much since we had plenty of Bodems and other coffee making devices in Berkeley. I was open to any sort of coffee maker and actually tried at least 3 different possible methods of coffee preparation. I tried a tiny Melitta,a bodem glass tea pot which I thought might work for coffee too (it doesn't BTW),
and a stupid thing in a little Melitta shape which was totally functionless. I was unhappy with all my findings until I went to the St Mary's Sorrento Parish Garage Sale. There I found the ultimate espresso making machine.
I have a feeling it had never been used. It was in its original packaging. It's called the Via Veneto and it says on the box- "will create at your home the atmosphere of typical Italian espresso bars". I can't stop saying buon giorno!  

Now back in Berkeley I was getting nervous that I couldn't find a really great "swiss water decaf" bean source. I had found a great company in the Shuswap that had yummy beans and I had brought the remainder of a bag down to Berkeley when we came. Now that is gone and I am on the search for a replacement. I've tried Jeremiah's Best and Peet's and neither seemed at all satisfactory. My other coffee friends were also joining in the chorus of unsatisfied coffee bean purchasers. Some are even importing their coffee beans from Portland (can you guess who that is?). But just recently I think I may have found an awesome source of YUMMY decaf. At Philz they specialize in blends of coffee beans with each cup being dripped individually. Maybe it was the cream that they put in it or maybe I now have my "source"!!