Coffee Appreciation

I'm doing the whole office (along with one other), and it's not just coffee we're choosing but even more contentious things like which seats people will have, which desks (and their size), which lighting solution, etc, etc.

So much room for it all to go wrong.

But people are liking the auditorium and projection space we've designed, and the outdoor terrace area with picnic benches where we'll be able to get some of the Kerb street food vendors to set up pitch and supply our team lunch (which we do every 3-4 weeks).

Technivorm Moccamaster?

Almost worth buying for the name alone.

Definitely a contender.

I'm by no means a coffee geek, but it makes very nice coffee.

That's pretty much the only requirement... that most people in the office will say, "We have very nice coffee.". If the machine we choose is consistent enough so that the majority give that answer then we have a winner.

Yes, that's the one. When you come in there tomorrow or later this week, look out for an extremely short tattooed Indian girl - I'm usually the front of house anyway so you cant miss me. Do mention your forum name and I'll sort you out. Hopefully we'll have some in stock as we sell out pretty quick!

You can't miss him. Our forum overload always has an entourage of fixie skidders scattering energy gel wrappers and torn spoke cards for him to walk on.

I've been drinking a lot of hotel room Nescafe this year - however, no more!

Although the last place (Munich, why you crazy Germans?!) didn't even have a kettle, but most places do.

Wat grinder is dat?

Mini-porlex

Does anyone have a link to a good guide for making cold brew coffee?

Just going to leave this here...
http://coffeeripples.com/

There are no words for that.

I can think of one...

http://www.victoriaarduino.com/mythos-one-grinder/

Nude Espresso off of Commercial St has one of these, it auto-adjusts to always give precisely the same grind as when calibrated.

Oh my, I'm in love:
http://www.victoriaarduino.com/theresia/

It's 5,000 EUR if you're wondering.

http://www.coffeeitalia.ie/new-victoria-arduino-theresia-top.html

I don't think these are a bad idea, filter is very practical as (obviously) you can put a brewed jug on top while making another and decent beans + grinder will make a big difference to quality. A filter setup will be more reliable too.

However, a lot of machines can be very hit and miss: you'll get a good jug then a bad jug with seemingly the same inputs. From what I've read this is to do with how they pour the water over the coffee, which is literally a bit hit and miss/random.

I know that you can get filter machines which have a 'showerhead' type arrangement so the coffee is more evenly wet, which means better consistency. I don't know if the Burco one you linked to has this but if it does it doesn't mention it...

Not sure the Burco has that, also been looking at Moccamasters and I think those do have that.

Filters also have the advantage of being quiet. Anything with a grinder and a pressurised pump is a bit noisy for an office.
Be prepared to get through a lot of jugs - people dropping them, rinsing them when they're hot, leaving them empty on the hotplate etc.

I tried 180g per litre, as on guardian. Bit much.

I love this machine! So beautiful. The mythos one is awesome too. I've not had much of a chance to work on one, but I'd like too. You should check out the Black Eagle gravimetric too, if you want to get into machines doing cool things...

Sorry bud, it doesn't.

It has some very clever Tech but you still have to adjust your grind.

For your office, buy a bean to cup, the simonelli one is great, then spend good money on the beans.

Most of the people will still want a white or black coffee, and so won't really care. But the coffee heads will appreciate the beans. Hook up with a good roaster, they can help sort this out. Where are you based?

100g per liter, whole bean, mineral water (Ashbeck or waitrose essential) steep in a cafetiere to taste.
This makes a concentrated brew.

If you want one to be light enough to drink straight away, use 50g per liter.

That's the easiest way, the best cheap brewer is the Iwaki cold dripper. Fool proof, makes 500ml at a time.

180 was deffo too much then. Whole bean not ground?
Is that because it's not necessary because it's soaking?
I'm thinking of comparison with how you toast chilies, then soak and then puree.

I wish I worked somewhere fancy enough to consider the coffee needs of it's staff like you do bossman.
My workshop:

+

You want it very coarsely ground, similar size to cafetière / French press.