Coffee Appreciation

Timemore black mirror? It does not fit on the rancillio grate nicely. If you remove the grate and drip tray then it fits perfectly

I'm with @mmccarthy - what I've found since moving to a naked portafilter and VST basket - pull much better shots but wetter pucks. Judge it on quality of spros rather than what a puck looks like imo

Friedhats or FCP? the reply link kinda links to both! What did you go for?

Tanks for all the fancy coffee tips. Takeaway seems to be ‘nice is nice’ - cheers all!

Friedhats - only had one cup from their Indonesian beans but it was banging. I think Rapha Soho are working on getting them in as the guest roaster at some point, if they do I'll be picking up a few bags for home.

Got my niche zero now which has been a game changer for both v60 and espresso so far (and the ability to switch between them so easily).

Iberital MC2 is sat on the kitchen side ready to take apart and clean and then i'll be putting it up for sale. Let me know if anyone might be interested.

You said v60. But you meant a grinder, right?

There’s a hario v60 electric grinder.

Woah. Quelle surprise.

The Shyria Natural from Rwanda is a belter, if you like a process forward natural, the new La Batea is the one.

Otherwise the Laclo from Timor Leste is delightful

No.

Crema is pointless, don’t worry about it.

As for wet pucks, it’s no biggie. This is often a sign of a blockage in the solenoid as it’s not drawing enough water away when it vents. But it’s also a sign that you are extracting a good amount of solids. Super dry pucks probably aren’t fully saturated.

Re: scales.

If you want to be consistent using scales is a must. You can learn to eye ball it but the 10000hrs rule applies as there are so many variables at play, scales are easier.

To expand on crema. It’s an emulsion of lipids, suspended fine coffee particles, water and CO2. Three of these things are inherently bitter in flavour. It really adds nothing to flavour.

Neither it is a sign of quality. Fresher beans will have more CO2 and so create more crema, as will certain species and varieties, Robusta especially. Great beans can produce great espresso 12 weeks after roast and more, producing less crema that it will at 2-4 weeks from roast. Incidentally this is a key reason why eyeballing volume leads to inconsistencies between shots, that change in crema means the same volume has variations in gas and liquid, changing extraction and flavour

Sorry yep, meant to write Iberital MC2!

I enjoy some of the bitterness that (I assume) Robusta brings to the blend that I buy.

Good reccs already from others, but for cheap end of the scale - cafetiere can make very decent frothy milk. Heat on hob, pour in and froth away

Sure does look purdy though.

I tend to stir it in or skim it off tbh

Yup, it’s a key part of that experience.

If anyone's interested in Sage coffee machines, I've got a discount code for 20% off anything on the Sage appliances website. It's a promo during the online London Coffee Festival which starts on 16th April. I think the code is active from the start of the show.

Promo code:

LondonCoffeeFestivalVirtual-v89Z2sJP

This will offer 20% off entire basket value at http://www.sageappliances.co.uk and be valid until 1st of May.

@StevePeel is there a LFGSS YB discount code these days?

Sure is, still ‘doaskid’ for 20% discount

marvellous, ordered :)

Not sure I'll ever be able to stop typing steveissexeh

Are there any good cafes open around Charing Cross / St James / Piccadilly?

Using some Monmouth beans for a change. Went for a medium roast Peru. Using my v60 using my usual Hoffman method but not getting great results so far. Bit harsh and lacking any distinctive flavour. Tried lowering the temp but didn't change much. Any Monmouth drinkers here got any tips?