Ragazza

Calciopoli Director
Jul 22, 2013
5,060
Only with school for a 5-6 days. That was like 5 years ago. Back then I couldn't really catch up to anything as they were speaking way too fast lol. I can also say that their English is really bad.
I think it depends on where you go. In Milano, the only times I really had trouble interacting was with a cab driver (even when I tried Italian, he couldn't understand my accent I guess), and one of the stewards at the stadium. Most people working at the hotel ranged from competent to fluent, most shop owners were fairly competent.

My friend told me before I went that if you want to hear close to perfect English, go to a Burger King or McDonald's. She wasn't kidding, I'm pretty sure the people working in Burger King at Piazza del Duomo spoke better English than the people who work at the ones here in the US. :lol:
 

swag

L'autista
Administrator
Sep 23, 2003
84,799
That crema....is the coffee your work or bought in a café?
A café that X is particularly homesick for, I'm sure.

Most of my coffee lately has been coming out of this machine at work. It's beyond me how one individual could spend that much on an espresso machine, but we sold two this month. :D

And thanks, I'm hoping Milan still suck even with their new signings so I can keep making fun of him. He's going to regret marrying me.
Those machines are major disappointments, IMO. Sure, you get Roger Federer smirking at you on the box. But that's not worth the $4500 premium price over what one of those is worth.

I'm not even being a coffee snob about this one, as I've has coffee out of $800-$1000 superautomatic machines that are just as good: which all is passably meh, btw.

But they are convenient as all hell. So if I worked at a SLT like you do, you'd bet I'd be plugging away at one in my work time. Just that I suspect your purchases came from people who cannot tell the difference between quality and price, which happens a lot.

Oh, and Milan still has much work cut out for them. They need some Thai tranny billionaire to keep up with Inter now - though you could say that
Mr. Berlusconi has some resemblance in the right light.
 

Ragazza

Calciopoli Director
Jul 22, 2013
5,060
Those machines are major disappointments, IMO. Sure, you get Roger Federer smirking at you on the box. But that's not worth the $4500 premium price over what one of those is worth.

I'm not even being a coffee snob about this one, as I've has coffee out of $800-$1000 superautomatic machines that are just as good: which all is passably meh, btw.

But they are convenient as all hell. So if I worked at a SLT like you do, you'd bet I'd be plugging away at one in my work time. Just that I suspect your purchases came from people who cannot tell the difference between quality and price, which happens a lot.

Oh, and Milan still has much work cut out for them. They need some Thai tranny billionaire to keep up with Inter now - though you could say that
Mr. Berlusconi has some resemblance in the right light.
I get a 40% discount & I'd still never buy one, though I'm considering a Nespresso machine because at least those start out at a more reasonable price (for roughly the same quality IMO). Yeah, it's a little more gimmicky & you're forced to use their pods instead of your coffee beans of choice, but whatever.

And yeah. :lol: To me, Thohir's only redeeming quality is "at least he's not Berlusconi".
 

swag

L'autista
Administrator
Sep 23, 2003
84,799
I get a 40% discount & I'd still never buy one, though I'm considering a Nespresso machine because at least those start out at a more reasonable price (for roughly the same quality IMO). Yeah, it's a little more gimmicky & you're forced to use their pods instead of your coffee beans of choice, but whatever.

And yeah. :lol: To me, Thohir's only redeeming quality is "at least he's not Berlusconi".
With a 40% discount, not bad.

And I wouldn't fret to pods too much. Things like the Jura should destroy Nespresso on freshly roasted coffee sources, but the Swiss still managed to f^{%* that up somehow and fail to engineer a way to make that a distinct advantage.

Also, the knockoff pods suck even worse than Nespresso's. It's kind of sad that they set the superautomated bar so low and yet nobody has figured out how to successfully exceed that yet short of less convenient, more manual methods --ones that I follow more.

But I must confess that I have a superauto Philips Saeco Syntia that retails for $1k but was shipped to me for free last year because some marketing morons thought I would naturally gush all over it on my blog. I kind of ripped it a new one, and yet its convenience has me using it regularly anyway.
 

Wings

Banter era connoiseur
Contributor
Jul 15, 2002
21,679
Good morning coffee lovers. Just a quick question. Can you recommend caffeine free coffee? Caffeine makes my heart flutter like a butterfly on roids but the aroma gets me all the time.
 

Bisco

Senior Member
Nov 21, 2005
14,420
Good morning coffee lovers. Just a quick question. Can you recommend caffeine free coffee? Caffeine makes my heart flutter like a butterfly on roids but the aroma gets me all the time.
Good morning!! Not super sure about this ali but try Arabic coffee the one with cardamom I think it's caffeine free. Check it out
 

Fr3sh

Senior Member
Jul 12, 2011
37,264
Fuckin ridiculous weather today! -32 degrees and a fucking blizzard and I had to walk 15 minutes in snow that swallow my feet. This city is fucking shit, shovel your goddamn roads for fuck sakes!
 

Ragazza

Calciopoli Director
Jul 22, 2013
5,060
With a 40% discount, not bad.

And I wouldn't fret to pods too much. Things like the Jura should destroy Nespresso on freshly roasted coffee sources, but the Swiss still managed to f^{%* that up somehow and fail to engineer a way to make that a distinct advantage.

Also, the knockoff pods suck even worse than Nespresso's. It's kind of sad that they set the superautomated bar so low and yet nobody has figured out how to successfully exceed that yet short of less convenient, more manual methods --ones that I follow more.

But I must confess that I have a superauto Philips Saeco Syntia that retails for $1k but was shipped to me for free last year because some marketing morons thought I would naturally gush all over it on my blog. I kind of ripped it a new one, and yet its convenience has me using it regularly anyway.
I'm eyeing the Lattissima+, since the milk frother is built in compared to the others. Also the best one aesthetically IMO.

The worst machine ever btw - Francis Francis X7.1 (uses Illy iperEspresso pods). Nothing wrong with the taste of the coffee, but the interface of the machine is pure garbage for something that's supposed to make things easier. We actually have a joke about taking bets whenever we sell one whether it will be returned or not.


Good morning coffee lovers. Just a quick question. Can you recommend caffeine free coffee? Caffeine makes my heart flutter like a butterfly on roids but the aroma gets me all the time.
I don't drink decaf, but Lavazza & Illy both have decaf versions - the two brands I swear by.
 

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