Coffee

[scaramanga]

have you got your own civet?

Now that's just getting silly.

Clearly coffee drinking has got to the same point as wine where everyone outside of the old world has to keep coming up with more and more ridiculous reasons why their produce isn't just vinegar.

 

[Baleforce]

you may have a point

sadly I'm at that age now where my car has become moving playpen for my my kids, the office a static play pen for 20 something's and when I get home in the evening my relaxing time involves corralling tired toddlers, laundry and washing up

don't take the coffee away, let me enjoy being fussy about something

 

[spasm]

Now that's just getting silly.

Clearly coffee drinking has got to the same point as wine where everyone outside of the old world has to keep coming up with more and more ridiculous reasons why their produce isn't just vinegar.

It's very much garbage in, garbage out Scara...but you are right. more & more expensive rubbish.

i heard this story from an old chap who's been dealing coffee since the 80's. & he's always rambling on about how expensive & complicated coffee brewing is nowadays. In his 30+ years, arguably the best coffee he has ever had was on one of his sourcing trips to Ethiopia where the coffee was roasted in a pan at the side of the road, ground with a pestle & mortar, kettle over a fire and after a gentle pour over, steeped in a simple cup... not a machine in sight. just good quality beans prepared with tradition & pride.

 

[elyid]

This all sounds like a huge amount of effort.

What's wrong with machines where you put beans in one end and get espresso from the other?

I've got one of these. Chuck in some beans, it grinds them and squashes them into a "hockey puck" shape and then squirts pressurised hot water through it all.

Coffee seems pretty good even with cheap beans, and has a crema on top (had to look up what this is called).

Is this not the recommended way?

 

[scaramanga]

I've got one of these. Chuck in some beans, it grinds them and squashes them into a "hockey puck" shape and then squirts pressurised hot water through it all.

Coffee seems pretty good even with cheap beans, and has a crema on top (had to look up what this is called).

Is this not the recommended way?

Apparently there's value in the effort required but I much prefer the place cup/press button/go do something else for 30 secs/drink coffee approach.

 

[Seedy Ron]

Cost quite a lot though don't they?

Is it self cleaning (do you just have to dump the grounds every so often)?

 

[scaramanga]

Cost quite a lot though don't they?

Is it self cleaning (do you just have to dump the grounds every so often)?

They're not as self cleaning as they'd have you think.

Day to day they dump the grounds in a tray and wash-through/preheat water in another. But every now and then you still need to take it to bits and wash it out. It's also recommended that they go for a service every couple of years (can be £50-£100 a time).

I have a Delonghi Magnifica something or other that was about £500 discounted to about £350 in a January sale. For that you get to set the size of the grind, how much coffee and water are used, the ability to heat/froth milk and make one/two espresso or an americano.

It's worth it for me as I will sometimes have a few espresso in a morning but at other times can go a week without using the machine. As you can't clean it hot that meant that I always had mouldy coffee grounds to clean. The WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) on something like this is very high.

 

[Baleforce]

ease of cleaning is why I love the v60

in my house the WAF is the Wife Avoidance Factor, its very high, if any cleaning needs to be done then she's avoiding it

 

[spasm]

got my grinder back but the feckers broke my upper lid & the grind knob is missing..cnuts

 

[Ginolius]

They're not as self cleaning as they'd have you think.

Day to day they dump the grounds in a tray and wash-through/preheat water in another. But every now and then you still need to take it to bits and wash it out. It's also recommended that they go for a service every couple of years (can be £50-£100 a time).

I have a Delonghi Magnifica something or other that was about £500 discounted to about £350 in a January sale. For that you get to set the size of the grind, how much coffee and water are used, the ability to heat/froth milk and make one/two espresso or an americano.

It's worth it for me as I will sometimes have a few espresso in a morning but at other times can go a week without using the machine. As you can't clean it hot that meant that I always had mouldy coffee grounds to clean. The WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) on something like this is very high.

I'd love to justify £350 for an all in one but when an aeropress is £25 I don't think I'll be able to find that in the budget!

 

[Ginolius]

got my grinder back but the feckers broke my upper lid & the grind knob is missing..cnuts

Arse - though if you complain surely they can just send out those two parts rather than having to wait to send it back and forth?

my latest turned up today so it will
be a fortnight before my next one, you'll beat me to that

I've made a few cups of this now and it's absolutely excellent! Totally get why they described it as 'marmaladey' from the smell, though sadly that doesn't hold over to the taste as well as i'd hoped.

Oddly its one I've found that tastes better slightly weaker than I've made other pact coffees - really tastes brilliant coarsely ground from the V60, or diluted quite heavily from the aeropress - as when it's too strong i found it looses a lot of its nutty, chocolatey flavour.

You should be in for a treat when it arrives! That said, for £8.95 it should taste pretty excellent!

 

[scaramanga]

I'd love to justify £350 for an all in one but when an aeropress is £25 I don't think I'll be able to find that in the budget!

I started on coffee machine when the only options were a boiler/compressor-based machine or a stove-based thing.

At that time I spent £150 on a Gaggia grounds-to-cup machine but my grinder broke and the Gaggia broke within about two weeks of each other.

So I guess I had a couple of smaller, more acceptable steps, rather than going from nearly nothing straight to £350

 

[Ginolius]

I started on coffee machine when the only options were a boiler/compressor-based machine or a stove-based thing.

At that time I spent £150 on a Gaggia grounds-to-cup machine but my grinder broke and the Gaggia broke within about two weeks of each other.

So I guess I had a couple of smaller, more acceptable steps, rather than going from nearly nothing straight to £350

Oh i'm almost certain i'll do exactly the same thing, just right now there's
no way I can justify the expense...

Of course I’ll probably buy a decentish grinder next for a hundred or so, then I’ll need a machine to go alongside that… except I’ll buy cheap and it’ll break but by that point I’ll have become dependent on it and will need to replace it and hey 'why no upgrade the grinder while i'm at it', and then before I know it I’ll have accidentally bought my own chain of independent coffee shops…

 

[spasm]

feckers deny any responsibility. claim that it was already buggered. i honestly cant be fecked to argue. already bought a replacement knob online & yes, i know how that sounds..

 

[spasm]

They're not as self cleaning as they'd have you think.

Day to day they dump the grounds in a tray and wash-through/preheat water in another. But every now and then you still need to take it to bits and wash it out. It's also recommended that they go for a service every couple of years (can be £50-£100 a time).

I have a Delonghi Magnifica something or other that was about £500 discounted to about £350 in a January sale. For that you get to set the size of the grind, how much coffee and water are used, the ability to heat/froth milk and make one/two espresso or an americano.

It's worth it for me as I will sometimes have a few espresso in a morning but at other times can go a week without using the machine. As you can't clean it hot that meant that I always had mouldy coffee grounds to clean. The WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) on something like this is very high.

closet coffee snob...

 

[spasm]

Had two wonderful cuppas today...last two from Tolima, Columbia.
with my trusty grinder back, extraction was so much more balanced, hence, even with 4 week old coffee, I got a decent mug.
deep, rich mouthful, syrupy with ripe fruit undertones. can't smile without you..

 

[spasm]

fookin lurvely...Fazenda Santa Lucia, BRazil.
Monmouth beans Fresh roasted + half decent grinder + horny me = fanbloodytastic

 

[Ginolius]

Finally tried some of pact's toledo-norte de Santander. Bloody lovely, bit darker than I'm used to from pact but in a very good way. Works nicely from v60 or aeropress, just a great coffee.

 

[Superhudd]

Guys, don't throw away the used coffee, collect it in a sealed bag and then once a week put it in the garden beds, used coffee is high in nitrates and is a great soil improver. Obviously make sure its cold

 

[Superhudd]

I'd love to justify £350 for an all in one but when an aeropress is £25 I don't think I'll be able to find that in the budget!

I was exactly the same mate, one of the reasons I do the food shop online at Tesco is for the reward pts.. We as a family of three spend £70 a week on food at Tesco.. and over a year we gain something like £100 in tokens that we save up.. in May they were doing a double tokens offer which they do at all there events, next one will be a back to school one in August, so you can swap them at Tesco direct for £200 to spend in the shop.. then do like we did put that money towards a nice coffee machine. That event ended in May. But like I said they have a few of these events at there direct store. Year round they have other offers, like Goldsmiths you can turn your £100 tokens into £300 Goldsmith vouchers.

At the minute most blokes don't know about these giveaways and the other half doesn't say they get them and use them on themselves lol

I also like the Tesco petrol offer, every £50 spent you get 2p off a litre of petrol, this month I have spent £350 in Tesco so tomorrow I fill the car up and get 14p off a litre. It was nice a few months back where I was able to get my petrol for under a pound a litre.

Anyway, its a nice way of getting yourself one of those nice coffee machines. Imagine if your weekly shop is £100. Imagine £150.