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The Coffee Thread

matthewr said:
The central mystery of coffee talk to me is that so much time and effort is expanded on the technical and practical aspects of how to make it and so very little on what it tastes like. And the great joy is the never ending variety of different coffees and flavours so you can get something new and interesting every week, especially if one branches out of commodity coffee into single origin and speciality coffee.

It would be like if one got into wine and then spent lots of time talking about different corkscrews and glasses but kept drinking the same generic "French Chardonnay". Which is, of course, fine if that's what you like but I can't help think of it as if not missing the point but certainly missing out.

(All of which I mean generically rather than you specifically and it was just your comment that prompted this post).
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Well said. Given I am a coffee machine heathen and use a Nespresso machine, what pods do folks recommend? I am currently using Toast recyclable pods which satisfy the disposal aspect but the coffee is merely OK, I need a little more excitement in my coffee.

Suggestions?
 
cutting42 said:
Well said. Given I am a coffee machine heathen and use a Nespresso machine, what pods do folks recommend? I am currently using Toast recyclable pods which satisfy the disposal aspect but the coffee is merely OK, I need a little more excitement in my coffee.
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I think this is my big objection to Nespresso -- it seems to cut you off from the high quality and endless variety we have living in this golden age for speciality coffee. Everyone has access to a top quality roaster with lots of loads of interesting coffees now and the days of buying beans from that high street chain (the name of which escapes me -- had blue signage) be that Square Mile, Pact, Has Bean, Round Hill to list just the ones I have enjoyed over the years.

Which is perhaps not the most helpful answer to your question. Although at points like these I do like to remind people that there are only two endpoints for coffee which are a) you get a new full time hobby and learn how to make great espresso or b) get a V60 :)
 
matthewr said:
I think this is my big objection to Nespresso -- it seems to cut you off from the high quality and endless variety we have living in this golden age for speciality coffee. Everyone has access to a top quality roaster with lots of loads of interesting coffees now and the days of buying beans from that high street chain (the name of which escapes me -- had blue signage) be that Square Mile, Pact, Has Bean, Round Hill to list just the ones I have enjoyed over the years.

Which is perhaps not the most helpful answer to your question. Although at points like these I do like to remind people that there are only two endpoints for coffee which are a) you get a new full time hobby and learn how to make great espresso or b) get a V60 :)
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I would only change one thing in your post. I get great coffee with a press (I have a V60/Hario pot as well) so I'd add + FP too. :)
 
boneman said:
I would only change one thing in your post. I get great coffee with a press (I have a V60/Hario pot as well) so I'd add + FP too. :)
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Yes there are plenty of ways of making coffee all of which can work really well. The reason I prefer the V60 is it is the one that maximises flavour and clarity above everything which fits well with this golden age of speciality coffee and, to some extent, the trend for lighter roasts this has driven. French press tends to trade a bit of flavour for body and texture in my opinion, although completely understand why people might lean the other way.
 
matthewr said:
I think this is my big objection to Nespresso -- it seems to cut you off from the high quality and endless variety we have living in this golden age for speciality coffee. Everyone has access to a top quality roaster with lots of loads of interesting coffees now and the days of buying beans from that high street chain (the name of which escapes me -- had blue signage) be that Square Mile, Pact, Has Bean, Round Hill to list just the ones I have enjoyed over the years.

Which is perhaps not the most helpful answer to your question. Although at points like these I do like to remind people that there are only two endpoints for coffee which are a) you get a new full time hobby and learn how to make great espresso or b) get a V60 :)
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Yes. I am surprised that ESE pods that do offer some decent variety are not more popular with the public. My old Francis Francis X1 (2nd gen) coffee machine can use both ground coffee and the ESE pods. In fact when my main espresso machine goes in for a service (rarely) we bring out this old bright orange machine and fire up a few ESE coffees. Not as good as the real thing but still better than the chain coffee shops.

Here is just one example of what can be had https://www.thecoffeepod.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d2_ESE_Coffee_Pods_Page_2.html

Cheers,

DV
 
matthewr said:
The central mystery of coffee talk to me is that so much time and effort is expanded on the technical and practical aspects of how to make it and so very little on what it tastes like
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i think that is changing a little. I was talking to my boss this morning about this very thing. Trying to convince him it was as complex and subtle as wine or beer, and that there were so many more variables in the chain from cherry to cup that have an influence on flavour.....
 
matthewr said:
Yes there are plenty of ways of making coffee all of which can work really well. The reason I prefer the V60 is it is the one that maximises flavour and clarity above everything which fits well with this golden age of speciality coffee and, to some extent, the trend for lighter roasts this has driven. French press tends to trade a bit of flavour for body and texture in my opinion, although completely understand why people might lean the other way.
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Yep, precisely. I lean more towards body/mouth feel.
 
matthewr said:
The reason I prefer the V60 is it is the one that maximises flavour and clarity above everything which fits well with this golden age of speciality coffee and, to some extent, the trend for lighter roasts this has driven
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I agree - we use a Chemex as our primary means of brewing, although i tend to steer towards less bright beans and roasts. We rarely use our French press or the moka pot. The Turkish gets some use, as does the vietnamese dripper.

I am missing having an espresso machine (the Wacaco Nanapresso is ok) and my wife misses the odd milk based drink. So i think a new machine will be incoming shortly - although it will be without the maintenance faff of an E61 group head. Needs to be fast heat, temperature stable....dual boiler, PID, pre-infuse and low maintenance......we have our eyes on something....

Our new single dosing grinder has made it a joy to switch grind size for a varying drinks
 
matthewr said:
It would be like if one got into wine and then spent lots of time talking about different corkscrews and glasses but kept drinking the same generic "French Chardonnay". Which is, of course, fine if that's what you like but I can't help think of it as if not missing the point but certainly missing out.

(All of which I mean generically rather than you specifically and it was just your comment that prompted this post).
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Not really analogous, as the grinder and espresso machine can make or break the coffee. Hardly like corkscrews and glasses. Although wine in a plastic wine glass is an abomination.
 
Snufkin said:
what is the small espresso maker called?
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Wacaco Nanopresso. For it to work you do need to dial in the grind. It produces OK espresso.

There are other portable and manual espresso machines out there. I quite like the Cafelat Robot
 
awkwardbydesign said:
Not really analogous, as the grinder and espresso machine can make or break the coffee. Hardly like corkscrews and glasses. Although wine in a plastic wine glass is an abomination.
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It's not a perfect analogy for sure, but my point was more that coffee discussion is all too often about the technique aspects of it and people rarely if ever talk about the coffee itself. But with wine we would think it very strange not to talk mostly about the actual wines and what they taste like. I also think there is a peculiar disinterest in learning about coffee and educating one's palette and it has sort of descended into a lot of practical talk about how to not fvck up the extraction.

I have of course been massively guilty of this myself :), albeit often in the process of effectively learning in public.

I do appreciate that it's a bit different with espresso which is an inherently harder and more complicated thing to do well.
 
I really like coffee; drink either aeropress or pour over.

I am not interested in being a home Barista & prefer to frequent my favoured coffee shop for anything fancy like a flat white.

I tend to prefer darker roasts at home, Aldi beans work for me with a simple burr grinder.
 
matthewr said:
I think this is my big objection to Nespresso -- it seems to cut you off from the high quality and endless variety we have living in this golden age for speciality coffee. Everyone has access to a top quality roaster with lots of loads of interesting coffees now and the days of buying beans from that high street chain (the name of which escapes me -- had blue signage)
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Whittards?
 
Woodface said:
I tend to prefer darker roasts at home, Aldi beans work for me with a simple burr grinder.
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This is partly responsible for the effect I am talking about here. Darker roasts tend to homogenise coffees as the flavours common to all coffees come to dominate so to a large extent which coffee you are using, beyond a very broad region and variety classification, does not really matter. So as long as your coffee is freshly roasted and ground and your way of making yields a good extraction you are pretty much set.

Although I am an unreconstructed third waver and my interest and appreciation of coffee has exploded along with the speciality coffee scene and accompanying shift to lighter roasts.
 
matthewr said:
So as long as your coffee is freshly roasted and ground and your way of making yields a good extraction you are pretty much set.
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dialling in the grind for new beans and getting the grind right is so important and often underestimated.

I was so pleased a few weeks back in Aberystwyth, where the barista took the effort to dial in the grind when she opened z new bag of their seasonal espresso when i asked for one. Took three attempts when it was acceptable to her....
 
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