Coffee Appreciation

Haven’t bought any Round Hill in ages, that’s a great shout - ordered 1kg of the other beans so will order some from them too. Thanks for jogging my memory 🙂

Yeah Monmouth is nice I suppose, I’d just rather give my money to smaller independent roasters which I might not find elsewhere.
Looking forward to trying some new beans!

Not very hip, but upon Hoffman’s recommendation, I told my dad to buy some beans from James Gourmet.

He has since waxed lyrical about their Brazilian espresso. It’s so cheap. He also called them to tell them what he was looking for out of the coffee and he told me they were incredibly helpful.

They have a huge range of beans spanning all roast profiles (including dark @Jonny69 !) but they have lighter stuff too.

https://jamesgourmetcoffee.com/product/simply-brazil-espresso-250g/

Organic version too:

https://jamesgourmetcoffee.com/product/organic-simply-brazil-espresso/

I've been drinking James Gourmet besns for years (a friend uses then in his cafe). He's a very highly regarded roaster from what I understand. He, like SQM, have move away from lighter roasts recently I think but some of the Ethiopian naturals I've had from him over the years have been stunning.

Anyone here tried these?

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It rarely gets mentioned but the ever lovely folk at https://algeriancoffeestores.com are worth buying from. Very old independent establishment

Yeah, they're actually alright! I like them for emergency caffeine, when you're stuck somewhere and the supermarket is pretty much the only option. The mocha is my fav.

Anyone got any recommendations for the best manual grinder to buy in the UK with a budget of around 150. Using it for mostly v60 but sometimes aeropress.
Timemore c2 is cheap on AliExpress but not sure I trust the seller and is £70 ish on Amazon.
Tempted by the 1zpresso jx pro but it's very much at the top end of my budget.
Aergrind looks nice but I get the impression customer service is horrendous.

Are there any forums that would have these going second hand as I rarely see them on eBay.

You don’t need the pro if you’re not grinding for espresso. The cheaper JX is fine.

With that said, I am incredibly happy with my Pro. Granted, it’s being used exclusively for espresso.

As @mrs_socks says these are pretty decent. I usually have one or two in the fridge as I find them a good pre-run option if I cba making a coffee. Not as good as sandows but much better than any of the other options at a supermarket

& @mrs_socks good to hear, I'll take the nitro to the allotment next week to try. The latte is for my partner as she likes oat milk coffee drinks.

Nice one cheers, went and bought the pro, gives me an excuse to buy an espresso machine now so its a win win.

What's the Tiagra of coffee machines?

Aeropress?

I like them for the same reasons as @mrs_socks. They are my night shift fuel.
I find them f***ing strong though- really gets you going.

Nice one. Still can’t believe how quick it is to grind for espresso. Never takes more than 30 seconds.

I have a 25% discount code for all sage appliances which might come in handy for your friend

Could you PM it to me? They had also done some research and decided the sage was the one they’d like to get.

Done!

I just took delivery of some beans from Assembly, Costa Rican Aquiares carbon neutral with a yeast fermentation. I'm excited to try it, I normally stick to natural processed where possible.

Carbon neutral is a bit of a big claim, given the quantity of water used in growing and processing, energy in roasting and round-the-world shipping. Would be interested in seeing the calculations for that.

*Not meant in a sarcastic way. I was an environmental scientist in an earlier life and carried out lifecycle assessments like that. Genuine interest.

It's just the farm that's carbon neutral
https://aquiares.com/sustainability/

God knows how much shit is pumped in to the air by the boat to bring it over.

Dialling in. I’m down to a grind which begins flowing at what I would say is the correct rate, but after around 15 seconds it starts to flow very quickly and I end up with a large shot. I am going to go finer, but I’m pretty sure I’m close to choking the machine. These aren’t freshly roasted beans, they’re a cheaper bulk-roasted bean that I’m using to get a ballpark setting for my machine before I start using more expensive beans.

If you had to diagnose that shot, would you say it’s the less fresh bean causing the rush at the end?

This. Every race.

Yeah, ages ago. Don't like.