DéLonghi’s latest launch
Always with their finger on the pulse of Australian coffee trends, DéLonghi is launching their newest manual coffee machine, the Dedica.
Table for 20 hosted the event in their intimate dining room and provided some outstanding sandwiches, pastries and other treats. If you haven’t had a chance to experience one of their dinner parties, then I suggest that you book yourself in soon.
Richard Padron’s launch presentation
Dedica in classic red
DéLonghi product trainer Richard Padron presented the Dedica at the launch. It is aimed at those who want a quality manual machine that offers the features and build quality of commercial machines but that also suits contemporary kitchen decors. It will be available mid August for $349 RRP in colours to match DéLonghi’s kettle and toaster breakfast package namely: piano black, white, classic red or stainless steel.
The vibrant colours are achieved via a dipped colour scheme as opposed to being sprayed on resulting in a finish that is less likely to chip.
Dedica in stainless steel
Within, the Dedica is extremely well constructed. At the heart is a high quality Italian-made pump with stainless steel piping. The thermal block technology is the same as that featured within the Eletta, DéLonghi’s automatic machine which I showed at launch a few months ago. This all means that the Dedica can handle large amount of pressure all the way up to 15 bar for coffee and milk duties.
Moving to the outside, the commercial grade feel continues with a stainless steel grouphead that is robust enough to handle the portafilter being inserted and removed for many years to come. The portafilter itself is slightly lighter than commercial grade but feels strong and very well made.
As well as the solid construction, the Dedica has some features that make it very easy to operate. The see-through water tank is removable so it’s easy to fill. There are three included stainless steel baskets for single (7g) or double (14g) servings as well as ESE (easy serve espresso) pods. So that there is no confusion, a pod is a flat round bag containing ground coffee. The capsule is probably the better known product and is usually a plastic base filled with ground coffee and sealed. The capsules are not compatible with the Dedica. Using either a pod or a capsule provides a simpler form of creating an espresso with no need to grind or measure. DéLonghi has their own selection of beans available as Family Value, Connoisseur and Decaf varieties and each of these is available in the ESE pods.
Of course, the Dedica also includes a scoop and tamper allowing you to go all-manual and brew in the same way as your local barista.
It’s all about giving you the flexibility to choose the style of beans and milk that you prefer so that you end up with total control over your perfect cup at home.
Alex Forsyth from Forsyth Café
Alex Forsyth from Forsyth Café in Naremburn (who I visited a few years ago) was then on hand to offer a sampling tour of coffee from Ethiopia, India and Peru.
He spoke about the importance that your olfactory sense has in the detection of tastes and aromas whether it be sweetness, sourness, bitterness, etc.
Ethiopian, Indian and Peruvian coffee sampling
I’m sure that most of my readers have their favourite brand of coffee but I can only encourage you to sample more, ask more and read more about the beans: where they are from, how they are grown, washed and roasted. It all makes a world of difference and only after tasting, tasting and tasting some more will you really be able to find and appreciate your facourite coffee.
After pouring the water of our grinds and allowing it to brew for about four minutes, we sampled some Ethiopian, Indian and Peruvian coffees. They were all vastly different in flavour with slightly different sweetness, acidity and boldness. Not only was it easy to discern the characteristics in this form, but when ground and brewed by the Eletta automatic machines which were also on hand, the same flavours came through.
Ethiopian coffee
I enjoyed all of the cups but the Ethiopian was definitely a favourite. While the Peruvian with its hints of chocolates and caramels was the sweetest, the Indian featured earthy, peppery flavours but the Ethiopian with its high acidity, sugar browns and orange hints was refreshingly lighter.
Vegetarian panini
Almond horns
Being an absolute food glutton, my mouth was watering at the sight of the spread that had been prepared for us to enjoy post coffee sampling. Table for 20 certainly outdid themselves on this front so a big thank you to them for hosting and DéLonghi for putting on the event.
Sydney on Sunday 