Coffee Appreciation

You want it to grind the beans and brew them? And do all of it on a timer?

Yes. Basically I'd like to be able to set it the night before and come down to a freshly brewed cup of coffee in the morning.

https://www.melitta.co.uk/products/coffee-machines/filter-coffee-machines/aromafresh-ii-therm-pro-filter-coffee-machine/

This is the sort of thing, but it's huge and I only need a cup or two at once

Seriously over tamping is more of an issue than under tamping.

Although according to Hedrick and the science guy who was with him you can't really overtamp because of the coffees compression limitation - you can run into trouble however if you're tamping super hard and skew the bed of grounds.

Weighs 260g.

I tried pushing down after the drop and didn’t feel any give so it’s got some compaction.

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I honestly don't understand the desire for an auto brew in the morning, takes a 30 seconds to grind beans, chuck them in the basket and start the machine.

All so you can stay in bed for an extra 5 minutes, absolutely pointless.

Some people wake up and they’re up, some people are dragging themselves around for the first hour or so. If you’re the latter, minimising the morning routine makes the whole process easier. I get up, flick Gaggia on, sort some bits out while it heats, make my shot and drag myself out the door, and only start to feel human once the caffeine has hit.

I know someone who requires their husband to administer a strong nespresso and a small square of dark chocolate before they can bare to get out of bed.

I know someone whose wife is so grouchy in the morning that they make sure to be up, showered, caffeinated and out the door before her alarm rings.

Jeezo

Yeah I have a DeLonghi burr grinder bean to cup I bought slightly used off eBay. Doesn't make it as nice as my old DeLonghi Icona with unpressurised basket but far less faff and probably better than even the passable suburban coffee shops we have round ours. Even beats Grind IMO.

After years of faffing with grinders and machines I think DeLonghi Icona is hugely underrated if you swap out a few bits.

I don't think there is such a thing.
I'd probably order a Timemore hand grinder for £40 on aliexpress + a Moccamaster + a smart plug. Grind coffee the night before and add to the machine. Set the timer or control via phone in the morning. You'll lose a marginal amount by not grinding fresh and for two cups it's not such a chore to hand grind

The aromaboy would be a smaller brewer option.

I reckon that's a great way to go about it

James Hoffman grinds his coffee the night before, so it's OK.

I have the non grindy Melitta with thermal carafe.
Grind the night before, push the timer button, wake up to hot fresh coffee.

Stay hot for hours in the pot (diminishing returns when you replace the liquid with air, but I have gone back 2-3 hours later and still been a perfectly drinkable temp)

Cant help with the quantities, but you could use less water.

Biggest coffee upgrade for me was machine on a smart switch so it's switches on when my alarm goes off and is well preheated by the time I've showered and made it into the kitchen to make coffee.

My Sage Bambino heats up in a few seconds. Not tried enough other machines to say how well it compares but it's pretty nice for the mornings

I currently drink Lidl instant as a CBA to do that in the morning. That's the base line we're starting with here.

I used a friend's Sage Bambino when staying at his house a few months ago and really liked how quick that was, but I prefer a long coffee to an expresso.

I think @Tenderloin is right and that's probably the best way. then I can also get a Moccamaster Cup-One

*espresso

Thanks! My original tamper comes in at 184.5gm.

I might even have an old hand grinder if you want

Was tightening the boiler on my Europiccola after fitting a new gasket a few weeks back. Emptied the boiler, tightened it, popped the base & lid back on and went about my business. Went to make a coffee a few hours later and the fuse box went. Forgot to put any water in the boiler. Oh joy.

On the plus side, for the heating element, pressurestat pipe, thermostat, thermal paste & o-ring for the boiler it all came to about £80-90 (much less than the price inflation since I bought it 5 years ago).

Heating element is still functional (think I basically burned away the insulation around the heating element terminals, so it trips the fuse after it's been on for a few mins), so hopefully will be able to repair that at a later date.

I think this might do what you want (not sure about hot plate) and not sure if it makes decent coffee but it does have a 30 day returns policy:

https://smarter.am/products/smarter-coffee

Never seen that before! Does fit the bill. I’d still suggest a moccaster on timer switch is a better option but that certainly nails the ask

Picked this up off a neighbour free, he was going to bin it as not working. No portafilter for now (neighbour thinks he has it somewhere in the house and is looking for it).

Plugged it in and it powers up, the dial was almost seized and had to get a big adjustable wrench on it to get it moving. Tried to de-scale but it simply won't pull any water through either main head or the wand so will try to open it up I guess.

I have no idea what I'm doing, never had an espresso machine and am mechanically inept at best. If anyone has idiot-proof advice it'd be most welcome! Would be sweet if I can get it working but I'm not going to throw money at it.

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