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The Coffee Thread

Dogberry said:
No water.
Any good instant?
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You might struggle without water, unless you sprinkle it on your All Bran. I believe you have frosts in your neck of the woods - get one of your retainers to scoop up a pile and heat it in a pan. It gives the coffee hints of grass and interesting earthy notes.
 
We're in a holiday let that has an espresso pod machine and nothing else. I'm a filter User but improvised by adding two espressos into a mug with water (and milk :eek:) and heating it up in the microwave.:eek:
However, the Mrs was left rather "put upon" as I couldn't stop jabbering on at her yesterday morning.
Found a cafetiere in a Chazza shop in Church Stretton.
 
Marchbanks said:
You might struggle without water, unless you sprinkle it on your All Bran. I believe you have frosts in your neck of the woods - get one of your retainers to scoop up a pile and heat it in a pan. It gives the coffee hints of grass and interesting earthy notes.
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I suppose I could go and scrape up some snow.
That instant is not cheap six ducats for 50gm or 5 ducats for 100gm.
 
Marchbanks said:
You might struggle without water, unless you sprinkle it on your All Bran. I believe you have frosts in your neck of the woods - get one of your retainers to scoop up a pile and heat it in a pan. It gives the coffee hints of grass and interesting earthy notes.
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You can really taste the terrier.
 
Friends came round on the morning of day 17. I made them each an espresso from the Gaggia and explained that I was going to have a pour-over. They liked the idea of the advent calendar, but seemed bemused by my need for a special soft-pour kettle. By the time I got on to the subject of the combination scales/timer I was aware they were staring at me in a rather concerned fashion.
 
Marchbanks said:
Friends came round on the morning of day 17. I made them each an espresso from the Gaggia and explained that I was going to have a pour-over. They liked the idea of the advent calendar, but seemed bemused by my need for a special soft-pour kettle. By the time I got on to the subject of the combination scales/timer I was aware they were staring at me in a rather concerned fashion.
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I put a splash of milk into my coffee whilst it was still on the scales, my wife was convinced I was weighing the milk following the pour-over.
 
Day 19. Same method as ever, but the drip-through lasted well over five minutes. I enjoyed the coffee - more than most of them, if I'm honest - but an hour or so later decided I'd quite like to close my eyes for a moment or two. When I got round to opening them again another hour had passed. Is this anything to do with excess caffeine extraction, or simply down to me being a frail-bodied Old Person?
 
Marchbanks said:
Day 19. Same method as ever, but the drip-through lasted well over five minutes. I enjoyed the coffee - more than most of them, if I'm honest - but an hour or so later decided I'd quite like to close my eyes for a moment or two. When I got round to opening them again another hour had passed. Is this anything to do with excess caffeine extraction, or simply down to me being a frail-bodied Old Person?
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Now that the advent dust has settled, did the exploration work out well in the end?

I have decided to try - not very hard, I might add - to improve my coffee a bit, and so am planning on getting a better (hand) grinder and tweaking how I use my filter machine.

So not the full goose necked scales experience, but enough to recall this thread and wonder.
 
Dave***t said:
Now that the advent dust has settled, did the exploration work out well in the end?
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It was… interesting. I have to say only about three or four of the coffees made a real impression on me, the others were much of a muchness to my tastebuds. Possibly due to being pre-ground for who knows how long.

I got the impression that the pour-over method results in a more delicate brew that lends itself to deeper analysis than the espresso and cold brew methods that I normally use - but then I’m a clod with unrefined senses, preferring Rochefort and Malbec to IPA and Pinot Noir.
 
yesterday the mrs said to me we were running out of coffee. I asked how much we have left - no pourover and about 2 days of espresso. My usual espresso roaster has about 5 days lead time, and pour over is on subscription - delayed delivery due to RM. I refuse to buy supermarket coffee, so i set about Google to find a roastery within a short drive - much to my surprise i found a new one locally (5 minutes drive) - and they run a small attached coffee shop. Great coffee, nice people....mainly wholesale, but more than willing to supply smaller quantities.

they made me a great pour over.

https://sustaincoffeeco.com/pages/sustain-coffee
 
My B2C machine, obtained on here, is doing sterling service with supermarket beans. It's a nicer brew than something reputed to be rather nice that I picked up in the staff shop Ocado returns bin. I'll miss that staff shop, but I won't have to buy any tins of toms, chickpeas, beans of various flavours for about 6 months.
 
A couple of months have passed since I visited this thread, and I had plateaued a little with espresso from my Silvia. Consistent shots well-dialled from our regular roast, tasty, satisfying. Never able to quite replicate the roast from another as delivered in their cafe by the cup, which frustrated me a little. I brewed, drank, enjoyed... and read. I nearly convinced myself that a Linea Mini was headed for our kitchen and would be the answer. Making milk-based drinks on the single-boiler non-HX Silvia was bloody time-consuming.

Long story short, got some good news following some med tests at the end of last year and we decided to celebrate. A Rocket R Cinquantoto has invaded our kitchen (phew, just as well he didn't carried away then? :D), rounding out an accelerated journey akin to starting with a Philips CDP/Arcam Amp/AR 18's, then Planar 3/Nait 2/Minstrels, and skipping to LP12/52/active 250/SBL in just a year.

I am now chasing scales that actually work for espresso, and resisting the wallet-bleeding pull of the Acaia Luna as I seek something more reliable and more compact than the Timemore Black Mirror 2022 that are probably brilliant for pour-over.

Learning the R Cinquantoto may be described as akin to playing Bass... you may be able to play it quickly enough, but mastery is a much longer journey. Overall I make espresso that is mostly better than what I had with the Silvia, but not as consistent. I made a truly exciting and satisfying espresso yesterday afternoon, nearly three weeks in. Still learning. My milk stretching and latte art are improving though also can be inconsistent.

Right then, I'm off to grind, brew, and enjoy saturday morning espresso. And then the weekly backflush and grinder clean out. Ciao!
 
Nice to read your news on the med tests. I’ve watched all sorts on steaming and latte art through the years but perhaps my favourite site currently is alternative barista in Aus I think. Here’s an example. And congrats on the Rocket, who did you pick it up from?

 
thank @Paul L appreciated. Indeed - a great video! Most of the others have indicated tip in 9-12 quadrant (referencing wand as '12'), so I'll give this a try. And of course I get the accent of our bretheren on the 'West Island'. My fave sales channel: https://www.espressoninja.co.nz/

My Silvia sold quickly, haven't heard how my mate is getting on.
 
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