Coffee Appreciation

Nice, I've been pining for one ever since my old one broke. Gone for a bag of the micro-lot stuff.

Almost all got from here.

Thanks!

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@ChasnotRobert and @timmah! thanks. There’s one on FB marketplace for a good price and the dual boiler life is tempting me

Anyone after an espresso capable hand grinder? Going to move on the J-Max I bought off here. Ive put around a kilo through it and it was pretty much brand new when I got it. Could do with more seasoning if anything. £100

This is a great deal

Speaking of espresso grinders, I'm looking to go electric after a few years of using the still excellent 1Zpresso JX Pro as there's more choices in the marker than there were 4 years ago...

Does anyone have any experience with the Baratza ESP or the Turin SK40? Any good source in UK for the latter? Or should I save/hang on for a used Eureka Mignon of sorts?

I'm only interested in espresso and would want a single dose capable option. The Fellow doesn't look great to me in terms of dialling, hence its exclusion, but interested to hear any experience with the above or suggestions for anything else I should be looking at?

Hasbean now fully swallowed by Ozone and won't be using the Hasbean name any more. I haven't used them for quite a while and have switched to James Gourmet and Dark Arts for the majority of my beans, but they definitely helped broaden my coffee palate a lot (I think their Nicaraguan naturals were the first time I'd tried really funky winey coffee and I was instantly in love).

Nicaraguan naturals

I think Finca del Licho was possibly one of those and was defo a gateway drug for me 15yrs ago.

Thanks for this! I've fancied giving a Clever Dripper a go for a while. They even chucked in some filters. First go this morning was a bit underwhelming but that's probably down to technique/grind etc. Looking forward to dialing it in a bit.

I took the bag of coffee it came with to work and tried it with my V60. Pretty bad!

Interesting that - Hasbean doesn’t really mean anything without Steve Leighton and his customer interaction. You can tell by the response to their In My Mug videos these days.

I wonder what they’ve gained from the acquisition - I would guess most of Hasbean’s subscribers will have gone elsewhere, probably not the wholesale accounts so much - that’s likely a good customer base still, plus they get the production facilities.

I wish I knew business and not just coffee, I’ll never get the big money buy out.

I also hopped on this offer and had similar results. Felt like an exceptionally clean cup though? Noticeably so. Seems like it might make a very nice iced coffee?

What technique did you use? Wet filter and preheat with some hot water, discard, fill to desired weight of water, then coffee in, stir to combine (but aim for as little agitation as possible), 2 minute steep, gentle shake to settle grounds and then drain.

This has always given me really nice cups. And if the cup is a bit light, grind finer. It’s my favourite brewer by far, just wish I could get a glass one!

I tried the Clever for a few weeks (followed by the Aeropress for a few weeks), and am now back with the V60. Will probably have another cycle through in a month or two, but I think I'm settled on the V60

That's the technique I used (thanks James Hoffman). Yeah I think my grind was too coarse. Will adjust and try again tomorrow.

Yep, sounds similar! Iced coffee is a good call actually. Not now obviously...

I tried grinding a fair bit finer this morning. It's definitely made a difference.

Did the same, with similarly positive(?) results!

Bought a Sage Precision Brewer. Currently £60 off at John Lewis.

Seriously thinking of packing my espresso machine away. Actual espresso just makes me feel buzzy, irritable and borderline migrainous. I like milk-based drinks, but I reckon I could happily live with V60s for about a tenth of the faff.

have an unexpected bill i need to pay first thing tomorrow so anyone interested in my brand new unused shades of coffee pid kit and pressure gauge topbox for old school gaggia classic models. was ordered aug 22 but i swapped from the gaggia to our sage bambino shortly after so my gf could also make coffees so it's been sat in a box since.

https://www.shadesofcoffee.co.uk/pre-2018/gaggia-classic-pid-kit---132din-single-display
https://www.shadesofcoffee.co.uk/pid-kits/brew-pressure-gauge-kit---for-topbox-and-case-mounting

total rrp inc vat was £159 for the pid kit, topbox and pressure gauge

selling for £109 posted. [sold to nef]

comes with a comprehensive 71 page pdf instructions manual I can email you.

Need to double check it’s the right kit, but keen.

DM’d

Nef to the rescue, cheers mate.

Its funny. I got back into espresso with a flair 58+ back in December and I was like yeeeeyyy home espresso again. Delicious. Quick. Easy. And now I'm back to making mostly filter and making maybe, maybe two shots a week max instead of one a day. Nice to still have the option though.

New Coffee Science
https://youtu.be/IBB_8vR7wpU?si=AO8Hq4bm2Su4mL4T

Had to pull my Sette apart and replace the entire drive assembly. It seems they eat through their (plastic!) bevel gears within a couple of years :(

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