Coffee Appreciation

Damn, was hoping to have an easy answer of saying to upgrade your grinder. All out of ideas personally! (My knowledge of the various home espresso offerings isn't up to scratch, I'm sticking with La Pavoni lever machines!)

apart from looking beautiful and being a joy to use every day
Both valid.

Do you use the flow control lever much on the Bianca?

I have toyed with getting a lever machine and keeping the gaggia too but dont think it's counter space friendly. I always thought I wanted a Rocket but have heard mixed at best reviews about build quality/support.

Do you use the flow control lever much on the Bianca?

Yes, on every shot. I open the valve slightly at the beginning for pre infusion, then once the pressure hits 10 bar I open it fully to pull the shot.

https://edgcumbes.co.uk/products/edge-velo

👌

Does anyone use a puck screen in their espresso setup?

My personal experience:

Ordered one from Alixpress.
Turned up two weeks later.
Wrong size.
Didn’t bother re-ordering.

Haven't bothered with one, but figured the frustration in taking one out of the portafilter would be much more annoying that my metal aeropress filter (which can peel off the puck easily).

Not sure if it's worth trying a paper aeropress filter to see if it helps your setup much before buying one (or maybe a better shower screen? Not sure if they're equivalent upgrades as I'm not very knowledgeable about puck screens to be honest!)

Slippery Slope coming soon. Does this mean I’m going to have great coffee on my doorstep?

Yeah tbh this was my thoughts on it. I was just watching a Tiktok about it and thought I’d ask on here as seems like a faff to me.
I’ve actually got some old aeropress filters so might try and and see it makes a jot of difference

There were a few videos on a Scott Rao method which was basically an espresso puck sandwiched by a pair of Aeropress filters. Can't remember the outcome but I immediately discounted it as it's too much faff.

Have you watched the recent youtube on ultimate moka from Hoffmann? Stirring, adding and pre-soaking filters, pre-boiling, et cetera.
It just brought home to me how much simpler the Robot is to use.

Took me at least twice as long to do his method versus the robot. And for what? Lol. A not espresso sized espresso.

Yep, he says, sipping from his smug mug.

Just the first one so far. Not particularly interested as the only time my Moka pot ever gets used is for tiramisu (and even that just gets long espressos instead most of the time).

Never really been into Moka pots so don't have much of a frame of reference, but I imagine he went pretty far down the rabbit hole for the sake of experimentation (and views perhaps).

I'd imagine it was already known that the Robot was pretty simple to use in terms of espresso-making due to the relatively few variables at play (though I'm sure there's all sorts of pressure profiling experiments people do with them that could make them look just as much of a faff to work with!)

Also, we're a bunch of amateurs for the most part who've collectively written over 22k posts on making coffee, those in glass houses etc. ;)

Not to get too into this, because lord knows it doesn't actually matter, but you're not actually making an espresso (or variant thereof) so comparing it to making an espresso doesn't make a lot of sense to me?

My filter machine takes twice as long again, but I'm not really comparing the taste of an espresso versus a moka pot versus a filter coffee.

not actually making an espresso

No duh. Making a comparison in this specific scenario makes total sense. They are both forms of short, strong coffee. He used the moka pot coffee to make an americano, which is normally an espresso based drink. So of course I’m going to compare them. I would not compare them to a cup of filter coffee because that’s an entirely different drink. Both espresso and the moka pot use pressure as a means to push water through grounds. Filter is obviously immersion. I think the comparison is pretty sensical 🥴

This is definitely a pet peeve of mine, the idea that espresso is some sort of gold standard of coffee. Like all sorts of hobby communities (it could be argued of course whether or not it is a hobby or not, but that's an argument I don't care about), there's always going to be an element of gatekeeping and snobbery. And as coffee has become a bigger thing in the past 10 years, there's always going to be an increased amount of this sort of thing. It's definitely not limited to coffee (or even cycling) of course. For me the benefit of these sorts of hobby communities is sharing your enjoyment, and helping/getting help in order to enjoy it further.

Though why anyone would spend £1k or so just to have a small goopy version of a filter coffee at home is beyond me /s

I would not compare them to a cup of filter coffee because that’s an entirely different drink. Both espresso and the moka pot use pressure as a means to push water through grounds. Filter is obviously immersion. I think the comparison is pretty sensical

Where does the Aeropress sit here?

Well, for me, it’s an immersion brewer as I use it inverted. Yes, I know I’m using pressure to push the water through grounds but that’s just the nature of the brewer. I could just as easily let the coffee drip through by itself. Which I have done before.

I guess my point was highlighting how some comparisons between different types of brewing methods can be made to seem a bit ridiculous depending on the rules use to categorise them.
I'm not saying making comparisons between different brewing methods is without value (it certainly can be), but I'd argue that saying one is 'better' than another in my opinion is relatively worthless given how subjective it is.

Anyway, I'm starting to ramble here. We're all free to enjoy our coffee regardless of brewing method or which numbered wave we decide.

I disagree. I mean, I follow your argument, but for me, it's not the same thing. But, like @mmccarthyb said, I don't think we should get worked up about it

A question for clarity’s sake: were you asking about whether the Robot makes espresso? If not ignore me.

As in this bit?

but you're not actually making an espresso (or variant thereof) so comparing it to making an espresso doesn't make a lot of sense to me?

Fairly sure that was talking about Moka pots vs espresso, a hypothetical "you're" as opposed to a "you, a Robot user"

I was not :-)

Right, sorry