Coffee Appreciation

Very informative. Thank you.

That's amazing insight thank you so much I'm going to save that somewhere. And just bought a bag of your Ethiopian to try!

Ah nice one thanks.

Wtf
https://twitter.com/laura_estah/status/1662939448705703937

Does anyone work in an office where they have those 'hot' tap things? No idea what temp it is but it's well below that needed to make a decent cup of coffee (light roast) or tea for that matter. What's the best option - make coffee at home and bring in thermos? Try a darker roast coffee? Currently I just give up and go out to a cafe but want to try and make my own if I can.

I find that if you fill the tea mug / cafetiere with hot water from the hot tap thing, wait about 10s for the vessel to become hot, pour out the water and then make your drink with fresh hot water, it turns out fine.

I've been using this method in offices with zip taps for about 10 years and it works fine. I'm reasonably fussy about tea and coffee but not quite obsessive level.

I do get some chat now and again when I'm waiting for the right amount of time with my hot water in the vessel pending making the actual drink about wtf I am doing.

But hey, I didn't create this problem.

Those things are a pain in the ass tbh. We used to have old-fashioned wall-mounted urns at work and they were bang on for V60 brews because they sat at 97-98°C and you could control the flow really well. The new hot tap things aren’t hot enough to make a decent cup of tea and flow in a fast jet that sprays all the coffee out of a V60. I switched to an Aeropress but you have to leave it for bloody ages and you still get a weak brew.

Should've said I do try the preheat method for mug/ aeropress but doesn't seem to make enough difference. Guess I'm more on the obsessional side. With tea I've taken to just leaving the tea bag in and hoping it'll reach some sort of strength at some point.

People in the world aeropress championship have brewed at really low temps in recent years.

I’m not advocating coffee championships. But hey the acronym is WAC.

https://worldaeropresschampionship.com/pages/recipes

Any mileage in trying to grind finer to get better extraction despite cooler water?

We have those, but also a microwave. I fill a hario air kettle (posh plastic jug) from the hot tap and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Then pour through a V60.

Works great. Also a conversation starter which is nice/awful depending on the day of the week.

I should point out that apparently the plastic jug is not microwave approved, but some googling suggested this was unlikely to kill me.

We have zip tap & kettle. Buy a kettle.

You can get really good results from Aeropress with temps as low as 80c even with light roasts. You just need to adjust your recipe accordingly. If it tastes underextracted - grind finer, brew longer. It'll take some experimenting but it'll work. If the water is too hard/soft (as in my office) then you've got a different problem. I've resorted to bringing water in from home!

Altering water temp adjusts extraction in the same way as altering any other variable, so if you count it as a fixed variable then you need to grind finer or dose up if the water is cool. I never really understand deliberately using cooler water unless you’re aiming for under-extraction like you might if you’re trying to tame a toasty dark roast.

I'd decided on a Linea Micra as a celebration of my new job, and then found that you can't buy them here (Singapore) until '24.

Would anyone know of a supplier in the UK who would be amenable to shipping one out to me?

I emailed Marzocco in the UK, but they didn't reply.

Here’s an interesting thing. I had to replace the dispersion plate in my Gaggia Classic. I was warned about the cheaper ones because they have smaller holes than the original, which can cause problems. I’d planned to re-machine a cheap one to OEM size, but I thought I’d throw it in and see how it actually affects a shot. Most of the time it’s fine, but if you grind too fine and choke the machine you get this interesting quad channeling going on.

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Get a Profitec 800 Lever.
Its much more fun.
I've been on the steep learning curve since doing a similar thing, and it's been great. And hard. but mostly great.

In my mind, I'd imagine you'd get the same channelling when grinding a bit coarser too, just not as obviously visible in the puck. What do you think?

That's the screw mark of the shower screen in the middle of the puck - do you need a bigger basket/dose down? Maybe not enough headroom for the showerscreen to do its thing effectively? I also found with my classic and an IMS sceen with an aftermarket
dispersion plate I had to back the screw off a bit to get it to 'shower' properly, might be worth pulling some water through without a basket and having a play.

I think you're probably right. It's actually made me want to compare the water flow between the original plate and this one, both with the shower screen taken off. I wouldn't mind betting both of them 'squirt' 4 jets to some degree (causing channelling) and could be improved on.

That's the screw mark of the shower screen in the middle of the puck - do you need a bigger basket/dose down?

Yes it is but no I don't. I'm from the old school of thought where you don't leave a head of water at the top of the puck. Channelling is reduced by not leaving anywhere for the coffee to go.

No qualms - but might be exacerbating any 'squirt' as in your last, which would of course in turn allow channels to form. If old dispersal plate was working I guess next step is to machine the new one as planned!

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My ancient Rancilio died couple of weeks ago and seems a bit steep to repair. I recieved it quite neglected, had it serviced frequently and served me well the last 17-20 years. But it is time to move on.

I am looking at Sage as I can get them with quite a nice discount and it would free up some counter top real estate with the integrated grinder and all. My experimenting days are over and now I just want ease of use combined with consistency. Any opionions on the Barista Pro vs the Express (Impress)?

Thanks for the advice chaps - there's actually a La Marzocco official outpost here and the price is not that much higher than the UK, so for convenience I'll get one here.

I will need a grinder, and have been very happy with my Niche Zero, but is the Niche Duo worth the premium?