Help with coffee addiction!
 

"Hello, my name is Kathy and I'm a coffee-aholic." I need help continuing my addiction while traveling for 3 weeks in France. Having been to Europe several times, I know full well that "their" coffee isn't the same as ours. I find the amount served too small and too strong. Besides that, it's always expensive.

I'd like to be able to make coffee in my hotel room. Will I be able to buy an appliance for boiling water? I have a very small Melitta coffee maker that requires pouring boiling water over the ground coffee.

Where would I shop for such an appliance in Paris?

What brand of coffee would you recommend?

Thanks! Just the thought of withdrawal gives me the shakes!

You can buy an immersion heater like this. Hope the link works.

http://www.backer-elektro.cz/en/191.shtml

Now , see, that is where you and I are different..I go to Europe and love the coffee everywhere I go and I whine about missing it when I come home.
I have a friend who just bought a super duper coffee maker that reminds her of the coffee she had in Paris

The brand of coffee would be what they serve there, won't it be too strong?

I think the best way to boil water fast, is to buy an electric kettle. You can get it in Galleries Lafayette, any home store and my mind is blank..so others will help with that.

I am so sad that you will miss that jolt of caffeine in the am that makes me open my eyes @-)

icithecat: the link worked just fine but I don't see how much it costs nor how to order it. Might I buy this at Galleries Lafayette?

What do you think of Scarlett's suggestion of the electric kettle?

Yes, what do you think of my suggestion? :D lol

Scarlett: We will be traveling via train and car for a couple of weeks after Paris. Which appliance do you think to be smaller and therefore doable for my carry-on suitcase? The immersion heater looks pretty handy but the kettle would probably heat more water at once. Your opinion, please. Thanks

My friends in London never use pots of water anymore when making tea, they just put the kettle on and it is boiling hot in what seems to be seconds!
My daughter has one here and it is the same.
I would just get something small that you can use there, the plug will be different and you will not be able to use it here when you get home..
They make all sizes and types..it just depends on what you want to spend. They all seem to work well from my experience .

Don't they sell household appliances at monoprix? My friend has a great little appliance called a "hot shot" that boils 2 cups of water in less than 2 minutes -- it's some major brand name that I don't remember, and small enough to pack but there's the voltage/converter issue if you buy it here.

Here's a link to the hotshot

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...e&n=284507

It's smaller than it looks in the picture...

Thanks fishee, for the suggestion and the link. I'm familiar with this item for the USA. I'll probably just have to shop around in Paris for whatever looks most efficient and small.

Does anyone know the French vocabulary for "electric kettle" or "immersion heater"? Thanks

...although not nearly as small as that immersion thing... impressive.

I lugged a cheap($9.99,very light, plastic plug-in kettle thing around with me when I had to drink this tea with some steeped Chinese root 3 times a day. I was at a conference for 4 days and it fit into my carry on and I was able to pack my little tank tops into it so it didn't waste too much space.

mkdiebold;
You must understand first that I am Canadian and that I have no idea of your nationality, so I can not suggest where you can buy this locally.
My mother, who was an herbal tea drinker in the '60s had one of these to travel.
They were available at travel shops or airports?
It weighed nothing, but was awkward to use.
I typed 'travel immersion heater' in google and that was the first hit.
I see that it is .cz. Maybe there is somewhere closer to your home?

I travel with an immersion heater and find them fantastic. Mine is relatively new and is not at all awkward to use as there is a thingymajiggy (I hope that's not too technical a description )on the side that enables it to sit on the lip of your cup.
Here in Oz they, along with travel kettles, travel irons etc are sold in bag/suitcase shops.

If you want a really cheap electric kettle try Darty (www.darty.com) - it's the main French electrical goods chain and there are branches all over Paris. We bought one from there for about 10 euros. Monoprix does have a limited selection of electrical goods but they don't usually stock the cheaper models. I don't know if they'd have kettles.

Hi

I use the same unit as stormbird. They are also available in camping stores here in OZ. I have used mine frequently in my travels. They are great. The advantage is they are very space efficient and boil water quickly. Make sure you switch them off when they are removed from the liquid. I forgot to do this once in my Athens hotel room. OK no damage done but as for the rest well "Let's not go there girlfriend"

Cheers

mkdiebold, the word you're looking for is "bouilloire" (roughly, "bwee-y'war"). I see Darty's online shop has an electric kettle with safety cut-out for 9.95 Euro, or an immersion heater such as worldinabag describes("thermoplongeur") for 14.95 Euro.

You can find their local branches at www.pagesjaunes.fr.

Hi M,

>I find the amount served too small and too strong. <

Have you asked for cafe American?

Same amount of coffee, but it is in a bigger cup because they add water.

((I))

I found a dual voltage travel coffee maker at packinglight. It's called a Zelco Brisk Brew. It's roughly 6" x 4" x 3". Perhaps you want to look that up?I plan to get one for our upcoming trip to Italy. It has decent reviews. Does anyone here have first-hand experience with this product?

I can't budge from our room without coffee. I have a B&D travel coffeemaker, but it isn't dual voltage & is rather bulky. Immersion heaters won't help me as I can't stomach instant coffee. I need good, strong drip.

Wow! Woke this morning to your many suggestions! Thanks a million! As to answer ira...yep, I've drunk "cafe Americano" in Italy and learned how to ask for "a small coffee in a larger cup, and a pot of hot water" in German. My current request is for those wee hours of the morning, before hitting the shower. Just need my java to kick start the day.

Leota: look at the rig that Mellita offers. It's definitely a drip method brew. I have a couple of their travel mugs where the coffee cone(with paper filter) sits directly on the thermo mug. Use a scoop of finely ground beans and hot water for a delicious coffee. You can regulate the strength by the amount of coffee in the cone. Look for Melitta paper filters in your grocery store. Some of them are offering a "free" travel mug for only the shipping cost. Pretty good deal I think.

You can get a simple holder for a filter paper and coffee very cheaply. I got an aluminium one in the Netherlands for a couple of Euro at most, and I have an earthenware one that I bought from a Muji shop. The problem is judging the right amount of water for the mug or other container it's sitting on.