Coffee Appreciation

£35 picked up?

The steel jug means the coffee goes cold

Whoever said this is dense as fuck. It's a thermal carafe. It's a thermos without a sealed lid. It keeps the coffee at hot enough to enjoy for 1-2 hours and a bit lukewarm but very quaffable for another hour after that.

The steel jug is difficult to pour from

No

Valid criticisms from me:

You can't pour the last few drops of coffee out of the carafe with the lid on, it seems to get stuck. You can either waste this or take the lid off.

The lid of the carafe has a design flaw that means coffee and water can get trapped inside it. The solution is to drill two drainage holes in the lid, I posted on here about it, I'll add a link in a minute.

If you're brewing close to the cone filter max (1L), any excess fines in your coffee can choke the flow and cause the water to overflow and spill grounds into the brewed coffee. You can resolve this by grinding coarser than the optimum but that's a frustrating experience to me.

@Ben689908

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/17149279/

@NurseHolliday thanks! And have we discussed this before, but do/did you own an MX5?

Yes I do!

Small world (MX5Nutz).

Anyway, back to coffee...

No way, what was your MX5nutz username?

Just Ben if I recall correctly. I left when I sold my Roadster and there were one too many right-wing boomers being vocal.

Just picked this up off FB for the workshop, seems to work fairly well. Anyone have any experience/tips/hacks?

1 Attachment

I'm at the point when I'm beginning to think all the stuff on YouTube about making the perfect espresso is bollocks. I've been pissing about with the grind size, tamping pressure, WDT, ratios, etc. and really struggled to get something I'm happy with.

This morning, I randomly adjusted the grind size to a mite coarser than before (which was too fine), tamped 'neutrally' (i.e. just rested the quite heavy tamper on the portafilter) and hit 'go'. Coffee took a good 11 seconds to start coming through, channelling all over the shop and pouring out in three columns before eventually (circa 22 seconds) forming one column. Only thing remotely close was the pour time of around 32 seconds to get the 'right' dose. A recipe for disaster according to all the expert advice out there.

It tasted fantastic. Genuinely the best espresso I've had out of that machine.

Ratio, grind size, flow rate, water temp are all just guides to get you in the ball park. After that you should be making adjustments based on what you taste.

I've found a WDT useful with my Niche, but I don't think it's necessary with all grinders. It's a useful tool that will increase consistency if used properly. I've never been one to care about tamping pressure personally. I've found a bit of water sprayed on the beans helps reduce static & makes it easier to get all the grounds into the portafilter neatly. Not necessary for all setups, but works for me.

There's a whole host of questionable info delivered from an 'expert' point of view out there (not just espresso), it's your responsibility to take that info and use it how you wish.

I imagine there's a subset of creators out there who want to focus on making the best looking espresso (and respective prep routine), because their target is to get engagement, and that can be done with nicely shot videos of naked portafilters with a succulent optimally placed in shot.

If you find yourself blindly following all the information you can find on a subject online, I suspect a sub-standard espresso will be the least of your concerns.

If you are using 'extraction' as your target, then there is a tangible outcome to all of the above 'bollocks'. And generally a consistent workflow/recipe just ensures you're getting the most out of the coffee you put in.

Look up turbo shots for example, not really the texture I'd want from espresso based on what I've read, but supposedly very delicious, and those are totally unconventional.

If you find yourself blindly following all the information you can find on a subject online, I suspect a sub-standard espresso will be the least of your concerns.

lol

TBH what you described isn’t that crazy; 11 secs to come through and then stopping at 32s is well within most accepted parameters. I kind of get what you’re saying though. I’ve had (paid for) espresso before that looked absolutely stunning while extracting and tasted like utter shit, and vice-versa.

I mean, I doubt I'd have got to where I did this morning without having seen a fair few videos/sought advice on here. But was surprised what is supposed to deliver a shit coffee did precisely the opposite.

As a novice, it's natural to follow a fair bit of information online and think it's gospel. With experience, you obviously learn what you can/can't get away with.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3AikliMmfM/

Anyone tried just a paper filter in their robot? Ive mostly been using metal screen, then I tried a paper under the screen which works well, then I tried just a paper and it turned into what looked like a mess, guessing the paper 'lifts' with the water a bit?

I never had much success using a paper filter only. Using both paper and metal filter did make for the easiest cleanup though, can recommend

Yes I use a paper screen. I find it useful, although not too sure why maybe just habit! Using a distribution tool is more important though

Do you find the water turns murky in the basket really quickly (much quicker than the screen?), is that just what happens?

Using both paper and metal filter did make for the easiest cleanup though, can recommend

Yeah this is good. And then rinse the paper and use it again a few times like an aeropress.

They serve two totally different purposes right? The metal screen is a mandatory piece of brewing with a Robot.

Here's my latest La Pavoni. I've had a few through my hands over the last few years and this is by far the cleanest and unused.

Unwanted wedding present with minimal use. Cue a load of coffeesensor seals, a pressure gauge and single hole tip and we're in business 😎

2 Attachments

That's what I thought, but the website refers quite often to using just a paper filter, e.g if your coffee is less than 12g, you can use a paper filter.