Coffee Appreciation

There was definitely someone on here (don't think it was JB) who pre-ordered one. Think the TL;DR was that it was an impressive piece of kit but they didn't get on with it very well and sold it soon after. Can't remember the user name but it was one of the folks who has a fancy handgrinder (I think maybe a Helor 101)

Nailed it. Yeah it was me. As stated, beautifully made and engineered, but the Robot is superior in every way.

Yeah. My dad purchased one and sold it in lieu of a Lelit Bianca. Totally different obviously but he just couldn’t get the shots dialed like he could with a machine. I wouldn’t take anything that heavy camping. Unless you’re car camping and therefore it doesn’t matter? Still, a joy of camping is warming up with a cup of coffee. A small espresso doesn’t do it for me at a camp site.

The new picopresso looks like a better option for a portable shot puller. Seems to have been made with travel in mind.
That’s picopresso not nanopresso mind.

Still, a joy of camping is warming up with a cup of coffee.

Nailed it.

A small espresso doesn’t do it for me at a camp site.

Yeah, honestly I'm confused as to why those little French press/flask/cup things aren't the go-to suggestion for camping coffee. Or even a French press, and a flask/cup! Or just an Aeropress. Or a bripe, obviously...

And @hangedup

Seems the cold weather (it's about -8 in the morning here) has tipped the balance as the kitchen is a lot colder than before. A couple of blank shots to get the machine going and the crema is back to normal.

Wet messy grounds and general clean up of French press isn’t ideal is the reason I always just took a moka pot camping. Works perfectly on a little gas burner.

Got a Black Sheep flat white. It’s a bit average-to-not-very-good and I’m a bit disappointed. I thought they were supposed to be good, but now I mention it I think I vaguely recall discussion on here saying they were taken over by some Sports Direct type character who milked the brand. Did I remember that correctly?

Yeah it's shite.

Their whole thing is doing a dark espresso roast and pretending thats innovative. They're worse than Costa

Didn't they also take over Taylor St and started selling their shite beans in Taylor St bags?

Thought I was going to run out of coffee just before Christmas. One quick order to Yellow Bourbon on Saturday morning and it arrived yesterday. Nice. I have no idea how it managed to get here that fast in the festive post though.

Any alternatives to the Pyxis scale? I have no need for timers and recipes et cetera, but still want a scale where one dimension is no greater than 66mm. I know there are many drug scales out there that would fit the bill, but looking for a quality recommendation that doesn’t reach the eye watering price levels of Acaia. Thanks!

I've been using the same set of drug scales for literally a decade, think they're still on the original batteries too.

How do people dial in grind for their Moccamasters? try and get a decent extraction from a v60 and go with the same setting?

Was hoping someone more knowledgable would chip in but there’s been no takers. I don’t really dial in, but I’d like to know how to easily improve my filter game.

I keep the ratio the same (60g/L) and vary the grind very slightly depending on the last brew I did. One or two numbers +/- on a Made By Knock hand grinder.

I also use it wrong, rarely brewing more than 330ml. For a litre I have to grind much more coarsely.

What I have seems to be fairly dependable as well, with a bit of delay/correction that I just need to wait out. So there’s nothing in brand differentiation really, no one specs theirs any better than anyone else at the lower price points?

Was running dangerously low on coffee beans at home, MrsDeth picked up an emergency bag when cheese shopping this morning, then the postman delivered 3 bags of Yellow Bourbon and a Coffee Factory subs packet.
Now have adequate coffee for the remainder of the year.

We ran out recently. Picked up a can of the intense roast illy beans. Good flavor, ok Crema but threw off the craziest amount of fines. Took half the can to get a setting that worked well.

What does Greg say?

As long as it’s black and from a machine he’s happy.

I ordered a 9Bar espresso/moka thing today - the thinking is that it will a good companion for the camper. To be transparent the engineering sucked me in, looking forward to it arriving.

It’s rocket science, y’know.

To be transparent the engineering sucked me in

sounds a tad overpowered

Anyone else inundated with bags of shit coffee after the festive period, for being someone who’s “into coffee”?