Coffee Appreciation

Nice chaps all round - back when I lived in Cambridge I used to route my loops past there whenever possible.

Hah, good idea!

So to solve the problem of not having good coffee available sometimes when on the road I bought one of those SIGG flasks mentioned upthread. It's really nice.

Also found a shop that still has those Keith isolated titanium mugs in 200ml and gotta say this is about the perfect thing to drink strong black coffee out of when out and about.

What if you use it in a coffee shop but your name's not Keith, and some other dude takes your coffee and your nice mug?

I guess I'm about to find out.

Wish me luck!

Appreciating coffee in cake, never made C&W so had to remedy it!

Fed this with some of a Kenyan v60 brew & a shot of Warehouse City. Recipe said use instant, can gtf >>>>>>>>>

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reccomendations for best for value for money place to get coffee in soho / fitzrovia?

had a very nice (but expensive @£2.70) espresso in Workshop coffee mortimer street yday. not something I can afford 2/3 times a week!

What do you envisage paying for coffee in that part of town?

Maybe I’m not being realistic, but £1.80 to £2.20 is what I’d expect (for an espresso)

In Melrose, Scotland, just paid £2.50 for a post dinner espresso, £2.70 isn't wildly out surely!

Far from London's famous, but out here it's around 1.75 on average.

I’d say 2-2.20 is still the norm in London speciality.

Algerian coffee stores, old Compton st

Pressostat is now gone, I was quite happy I could do it by just moving some connectors rather than having to do invasive stripping and stuff. It seems to be holding its temperature (near) perfectly.

Next step is tidying up the electronics, have ordered the component but can take a while as everything is coming from China.

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Nicely done!

I'm in the market for a coffee machine. The convenience of a bean to cup machine appeals, but I'd guess quality suffers? Any strong recommendations of a grinder/ machine combo for about £150-200 max.

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I think with bean to cup you can get some decent coffee, something like the Sage Barista Express gets good reviews.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Nr-Dftouk&t=32s

However for that kinda money, you're heavily into eBay trawling, the more you look into it the more you find out the quality of the grinder is more important than the machine. A good solid setup would be the likes of a Gaggia Classic and a Eureka Mignon, could possibly do that for £300-£350 if you get lucky on second hand stuff!

Cheers! Maybe I'll have to find a bigger budget!

Always the way with this sort of thing :(! I've really done it on a budget, I have a delonghi Dedica and Ascoso i2 grinder (took a hell of a lot of trawling to get those) that cost around £110 for that second hand, I've since spent another £40 on tamper, non pressurised filter basket, steam wand (to replace the panarello wand) and various other bits, still tinkering to get a decent cup of coffee out of it, not to mention the faff and clean up lol! I love a tinker so not bothered right now and I'm sure I'll get there but that is the trade off on that kind of budget!

Ooh, still need to get a knock box as well, so if anyone is selling one cheap cheap, let me know!

faff and clean up

yeah, not sure how much tolerance I have for this sort of thing, hence the appeal of a bean to cup. I just worry about the longevity and quality with those. I guess I have to work out my priorities... pick two etc.

I've got the Sage Barista and it's pretty faff free.

Grinder as part of the machine. And it's a decent one from what I've read.
Grind size and quantity are just a dial each, and the steam wand is a dial on the other side. Tamper held inside by magic (magnets). Pretty much just turn on, wait a short while and press a button. Monthly descale and clean, but you'd get that with a bean to cup too with London water I expect.

Got mine from this lot
http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/xsitemsoutlet

Just received my Finca La Fany and Bebeto Mamani from Has Bean, looking forward to tasting those!

Booths Costa Rican, meh.

#buycheapbuytwice

Hive mind. I need your recommendations please. Is there a stand out burr grinder under £100?? Thanks!

Depends on what you need it for! Will you be making sweet sweet espressos with non-pressurised baskets? Or more for Aeropress, Chemex, french press etc...

https://www.coffeehit.co.uk/baratza-encore-refurb.html - Slightly out of budget, will do most things but not quite fine enough for espresso, or so I've been told

https://campbellandsyme.co.uk/collections/brewing-equipment/products/wilfa - Same deal here