Coffee

[strange-steve]

Almost ready to go, although annoyingly my tamper hasn't arrived yet so I can't yet test it properly

 

[Clint]

Very fancy!

 

[dad_of_jon]

Can't help sorry - I have a dolce gusto auto pod machine, but you can buy empty reusasable pods and fill them with your favorite blend. I just love setting the length of the drink and pressing a button, I find the coffee is better than starbucks & costa and as good as cafe nero but only 25-50p a cup - thus saving me time and money which goes towards brewing beer and baking bread instead

 

[London]

Looks very nice, hope you get the results you're after.

 

[strange-steve]

I have a dolce gusto auto pod machine

We have one of those, but I didn't get on well with it. Never had a decent coffee from it. My Mrs loves it, but she only drinks lattes.

 

[dad_of_jon]

We have one of those, but I didn't get on well with it. Never had a decent coffee from it. My Mrs loves it, but she only drinks lattes.

There are more other pods and specialty coffees available these days, so it might be worth trying one of the 'new kids on the block' I'm just a flat white guy - I have the occasional 2 pod drink but then that's double the cost ;-)

 

[strange-steve]

Well I had an annoyingly long wait for the tamper to arrive, but I've had a chance to play around with it now and pull several shots. This is the first one that I'd call acceptable, but still just a touch on the sour side. I've a feeling this'll take many years of practice to get right...

 

[-Bezza-]

Set up a thread on water chemistry once you've got it figured....

On the subject of coffee, I would wholeheartedly recommend Redber Coffee who roast to order.

 

[strange-steve]

Set up a thread on water chemistry once you've got it figured....

On the subject of coffee, I would wholeheartedly recommend Redber Coffee who roast to order.

Somebody has already done it (here if anyone's interested)

Thanks for the recommendation, I just ordered a new bag this morning but I'll check them out next time

 

[-Bezza-]

Somebody has already done it (here if anyone's interested)

Thanks for the recommendation, I just ordered a new bag this morning but I'll check them out next time

I like the TL;DR intro. Buy volvic.

 

[Subtle Duck]

How is the coffee making going? Finally dialled in for a perfect espresso? Can we expect a 'show us your latte art' section soon?

 

[dave_77]

You can get really nice coffee by using an aeropress for about £25 and is doodle to clean and very portable.

Love my aeropress coffee. I have had 2 Nespresso machines in the past Nespresso's own coffee consistent, don't plan to get another one though.

 

[Subtle Duck]

Has any one found the coffee.cup.guru app? Absolutely amazing for pour over coffees and aeropress. I wouldn't be without it
Even allows you to create your own recipes to follow

 

[strange-steve]

How is the coffee making going? Finally dialled in for a perfect espresso? Can we expect a 'show us your latte art' section soon?

It's going well, thanks for asking. I had a medium roast bean that I was struggling to get right, but it was getting there as the bag was finished. Still a tad sour but not necessarily unpleasantly so, but I couldn't go any finer without choking the machine, and it got a little thin when pulling a longer shot. Anyway I've just swapped to a darker roast, Rave's espresso blend, and I'm finding it much easier to get a good shot with.

One thing I've realised in my short time playing around with espresso is that I think it's much less forgiving than brewing beer. It's pretty easy to brew a good beer, even if you're not too bothered about the little details, but I think pulling a good espresso shot needs all the details to be just right. Luckily you don't have to wait several weeks to taste the results though, just dump it and try again.

The milk is another story. I don't often drink lattes but I'll make one now and again for the missus. The microfoam isn't really happening for me yet, always seem to end up with either thick, moussey foam or just hot milk. I think that's another skill in itself.

 

[Subtle Duck]

Far less forgiving. I completely agree! We dial in our grinders every morning and can take a few shots to get it right for the day. Thank god for scales. And yes, 21 seconds to see if it's perfect not 6 weeks.
Milk, like I say to all my staff is something that comes with practice, try using homogenised milk. Its far more consistent.

 

[London]

Love my aeropress coffee. I have had 2 Nespresso machines in the past Nespresso's own coffee consistent, don't plan to get another one though.

Just got a Hario slim plus grinder from Ebay for £18.54, so hopefully better and fresher that pre ground Lavazza rosso.

 

[Clint]

Steve..why is the coffee "sour"?

 

[strange-steve]

Steve..why is the coffee "sour"?

As I understand it sourness comes from under-extraction of the coffee, often due to the grounds being too coarse, the water being too cool, or not drawing enough water through. Some of the trendy lightly roasted beans are more fruity and acidic which some people like, but I think it's an acquired taste.

 

[AlDaviz]

We have one of those, but I didn't get on well with it. Never had a decent coffee from it. My Mrs loves it, but she only drinks lattes.

I’ve had one for around 15 years it’s still going strong !
I only use lavazza coffee, it works wonderfully

 

[AdeDunn]

As I understand it sourness comes from under-extraction of the coffee, often due to the grounds being too coarse, the water being too cool, or not drawing enough water through. Some of the trendy lightly roasted beans are more fruity and acidic which some people like, but I think it's an acquired taste.

Sounds like an Ethiopian coffee we tried (pre-ground as was a sample pack). It was horrid! Tasted like a strange, slightly sour, fruit based drink, rather than coffee. I like my coffee with nutty flavours, and/or hints of chocolate/caramel and the like, heh even a bit of plum or cherry in there is ok... Big no to pomegranate etc though thanks. lol

Oh, and we bought a Dolce Gusto machine once, returned it 2 days later! Worst pod machine we've ever had! Luke warm, 100% manual... Didn't see the point in it. Ran with Tassimo machines for many years, most recently we bought a Lavazza A Modo Mia Desea (still have it in fact, sits the side of our bean to cup machine) and was the best pod machine we've tried... Lavazza do eco pods (vege plastic) that can be industrially composted (if your council support the correct process, as well as doing food waste collections, ours doesn't), plus you can buy 3rd party pods for them (including from smaller roasters), but they're normal plastic.

Coffee station lol:-