@surreality
Damn. I swear I just wasted like a whole hour drooling over espresso machines again.
I would probably go with more of the semi-auto style if I went that way, along the lines of Breville's BES920XL. But. Those brass Pavoni machines are so pretty~
(There's a reason I've been way less pleasant than usual this month, and I blame the perpetual withdrawl migraine. )
I tried doing that-- Once. I was working in an office back then; regular university IT department stuff. After about two weeks of trying to do without any caffeine at all, a group of my co-workers cornered me before I could slip back into the safety of my undersea-crevice cubicle. They didn't say anything, but stood there, silently judging me. After an evil cackle, one of them cracked open a can of redbull or something. Not the best soft drink, and certainly no comparison to coffee-- but that smell... If I hadn't smelled it, I'd not have been seriously tempted. Once it was thrown open before me, I was lost. With great gleeful gulps I drank the thing down, then scuttled back to my cube-- screeching with furious delight at the raw power of the stuff.
It is truly the modern vitae.
Then of course there is the trip I took with some friends a few years back; we were huddled near the meager shade of a tarp to escape the harsh Mojave sun, squinting through the glare at endless miles of dusty earth and purportedly still-alive creosote bushes. As the silence stretched, my friend put his hand on my back and grinned slyly. His tongue darted out for a moment, moistening his lips as he surveyed the camp. His eyes swiveled back to me, and his grin showed far too many teeth.
"I've got something you'll like," he said. There was no doubt in his voice; he knew me far too well. He nodded, likely knowing anything I might have thought or said was superfluous. I did scowl; his self-assured dominance was wearing thin in the heat and I remain ever the skeptic. Rolling a small container into his hand, he showed me the label, then leered-- daring me to action.
"PURE ANHYDROUS CAFFEINE," it read. Well, and so. "Wow. Um. Like how do we even--" I recall not being terribly articulate, but then again I hadn't had any yet. He pulled out some ridiculously flavored bag of doritos and proceeded to coat one with the powder until it looked like a powdered donut.
"Try this." he said, leaning in closer. Him being him and me being me, I did-- but that caffeine certainly didn't hurt. My heart may have disagreed, however; I could feel it accelerating within the confines of my body, trying to escape. Soon after, my face contorted in dismay. "Auwwgh."
Miracle tho caffeine might be, it doesn't taste very good in pure form.