Coffee Appreciation

I appreciate good coffee (hence perusing this thread) but £16 totally takes the piss. I thought £10-12 for Square Mile was stupid, but this really takes the biscuit.

I'm trying to save money at the moment and have downgraded from Hasbean (£6-8 / bag) to Supermarket 'finer' brands (£3 - 4 / bag) and if you get very lucky in your choice you can't tell tooooo much difference

Square Mile retail bags are 350g, Hasbean are 250g.

These kind of roasteries (SM, Workshop etc) go to great lengths, dealing direct with the farmers, to source insanely high quality beans that go through multiple stages of quality control and sorting, and put a lot back in, paying well over the market price/Fairtrade. Read up on their blogs/websites/tweets/instagrams to see the kind of involvement they have at origin.

It's totally fine if you're happy buying cheap coffee, I don't care, but comparing SqM to supermarket fare is just ridiculous. SqM is 3x the price but I'd say the quality/taste is stratospherically higher. Certainly worth the what, 55p a cup?

You can get this stuff: http://ravecoffee.co.uk/collections/espresso-coffee/products/the-italian-job-blend for 9.50 a kilo + 2-3 quid shipping, making it cheaper / the same as the supermarket. The bag I got yesterday was roasted the day before.

^^That's fair enough, I appreciate it's a totally unfair comparison as they're totally different products really. it's just my budget is more important than my caffeine habits at the moment. I would much prefer to be putting my money into the indies but can't at the moment really.

^ Thanks for the ravecoffee link Dr S, will investigate.

Ahh, interesting.

I agree with this. I've been paying top money for Square Mile, HasBean etc, but I find a £3.50 bag from Waitrose to taste great, and when it comes to value for money, beats the others.

In an ideal world I'd drink £3.50 bags in the week, and £8+ bags on the weekend, but I'd need to get my hands on 100g bags for that, otherwise they'd go stale before I'm done with them.

Yeh, I just can't really justify around £8 a pop at the moment, especially when i go through a bag a week (ish). So, I'm saving a round £15 a month this way (minimum).

Sucks but tough shit.

Not sure if you're still talking about coffee though.

@mrs_socks

Thanks for tips, didn't end going with the app but we did slink around london and try a few spots you recommended. Was an enjoyable week. Cheers

Doctor_Stupid
Righto, think I want to try an aeropress for work / camping. Where's the best place to buy one >online + a porlex mini, cheers

Got one on the way, plus a 'Rhino' grinder which is supposed to be as good or better than the porlex. So.... any tips, coffee recommendations, how fine should I be grinding roughly?

Just picked up some of this Ethiopian Sidamo from Climpson's for v60 duties at the studio. Rather nice, quite full bodied even when made with a filter but still has clear notes.

I wish they sold coffee in smaller quantities though - I can't drink enough coffee at work to get through a 250g bag before it goes off. 100g samplers would be ace.

Also - not so sure about the new shop layout. Much preferred it when the coffee shelf was in the cafe (rather than behind the till like now), so that you could actually read the descriptions on the coffee before talking to the staff.

If the mechanism is the same as the Porlex (which I think it is) a good starting point is about 10 clicks back from tight (this will make more sense when you see it - basically you tighten the burrs all the way then loosen back from there). That's a little coarser than what you'd set for pourover. I'd start with 17g coffee / 250g water. Then the usual adjustments after tasting - if it's weak/sour/thin go a stop or two finer, if it's harsh/bitter take it a stop or two coarser.

You can sometimes ask cafes if they wouldn't mind selling a small quantity of whichever bag they have open for serving in the shop. Obviously gauge how friendly/communicative the staff are first.

hangedup in reply to @Doctor_Stupid
about 10 clicks back from tight (this will make more sense when you see it - basically you tighten the burrs all the way then loosen back from there). That's a little coarser than what you'd set for pourover. I'd start with 17g coffee / 250g water. Then the usual adjustments after tasting - if it's weak/sour/thin go a stop or two finer, if it's harsh/bitter take it a stop or two coarser.

Excellent, thanks a lot!

'Rhino' grinder

Roughly how long does it take to grind a 17g serve with one of those?

Went to gf's sister's house yesterday evening.

She's just bought a ROK coffee maker. What? Looks like an oversize table mounted corkscrew.
I wanted to try one but I had brought wine with me that I wanted to drink. I'll have to go back.

Can anyone recommend good coffee places in Bristol.

Independents only plz.

1. Full Court Press is the best in Bristol. Matt the owner is also a
   cyclist :)
   
2. Small St Espresso (just around the corner from FCP) - on Small St...
   
3. Didn't You Do Well - on Park Row
   
   

If you can - take a trip to Bath and visit Colonna and Smalls

About a minute once you get the knack.

http://www.wired.com/2014/10/civet-coffee-without-civets/

^ interesting

Getting to grips with v60 3rd use really nice delicate brew after dropping dose a bit. I can see why folks use pricey pouring jug thingies over ham fisted sloshing out of the kettle...

Different order of preference for me. FCP has the most choice, Small St is the nicest cafe but the coffee is a tiny bit more populist (just one guest and a standard espresso blend) but I generally prefer the coffee in DYDW. YMMV.

Cheers dude.

I used to log on here as Bombcup, I also roasted coffee at Monmouth for 5 years. I now work for Bella Barista out if town in Wellingborough and my new toys arrived today.

Should be getting cracking in a couple of weeks. Sourced some great coffees but still on the lookout for a big sweet natural.

Dunno why that's in reply go Zed. Still grappling with the new layout.