Coffee Appreciation

I was talking more in a 'I like Assembly roasts, so perhaps I should stop trying too hard to find something better' sorta basic way, rather than a cost-per-gram basic.

Also, I probably only make ~4 cups at home in a week, so I'd rather something I like for a bit more dollar, than loads of something average and have it hanging around for ages.

Best beans I've ever bought were Assembly (I may have even posted here about them) it was like £20 for 200g but jeebus, it slapped, I genuinely couldn't make a bad cup from it, even with hard LDN tap water and lazy brewing.

I might agree somewhat with @Mr_Smyth though, that perhaps lately they haven't been as reliable.

yes, completely understand that.

as we get through at least 250g/week, cost is a bit more of a consideration.

i know what i like which tends to be South American naturals, nothing too light, citrus or acidic.

Yellow Bourbon espresso blend is our standard coffee and has been for years, i also really like Steve's Brasil Mantiquiera De Minas Natural as well, for a bit of variety.

i rate Square Mile, have enjoyed their Red Brick and Sweet Shop blends. They do seem quite expensive compared to YB, though.

James Gourmet is comparatively new to me but i've enjoyed their Formula 6 and the others i've tried so far.

I had some awesome beans from Sweven recently, who i think are out your way?

Thanks, useful for next time. We tried to go a place called Burra but 30 min table waiting, ended up at a place called Restore.

Coffee there was OK enough but not really what I was after.

Knock feld 24 hand grinder arrived today. The soaking in process has been challenging.

I’ve managed to get some that resembles an espresso: good crema, but it’s a touch acidic and pushing the shot is requiring all my strength.

I’m using a ROK

Could the grind be too fine?
I’m using the suggested weight of coffee.

Yes. Go coarser until you get the right balance of flavour and smooth flow

Definitely smoother. I’m going go a little coarser just to be sure

My Sage Bambino has started to flow really quickly. I'm getting a lot of shot in 25 seconds, despite going pretty fine with the grind. Is this because

a) I recently descaled the machine and have switched to filtered water
b) I had this batch of beans in the freezer
c) It's a really dark roast
d) none of the above

What happens if you go finer? Lot of additional factors could be at play

Every morning I'm going finer, but I'm already finer than I have been with any other bag, hence why I thought it might be one of those variables.

I'll go finer again tomorrow

Dark roast will deffo come through a lot quicker than light/medium.

the best decaf bean I've had

What is your benchmark here?

I like the Yellow Bourbon decaf, but I'm always open to trying new roasters.

I bought some Origin decaf recently, which was good, although I had it ground for stove top, as opposed to grinding my own for espresso.

All the James chat persuaded me, will report back once brewed a few.

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I'm always open to trying new roasters.

Decaff wise, my recent favourites are Hardlines in Cardiff, and Dark Arts as recommended on here.

Also nice, but not as nice as above was Moon Roast near Winchester, and Sea Dog near Southampton.

The DF54 should arrive tomorrow (emphasis on "should" since earlier today the tracking pointed to it still being in Japan....) and to celebrate I've ordered a couple of 250g bags of James Gourmet to try out, the Rwanda Rwamatamu Lot 4 and Brazilian Fazenda Jacaranda Lot 27 which should be much lighter roasts than I'm used to, especially the latter. Figured it would be interesting to try something different!

The James Beans are tasty, brewed as 18g to 320ml with the aromaboy, which I'm still enjoying using very much.

I picked up a Bellman CX25 that popped up on Facebook marketplace for £60, figuring that it’ll give me an option to use a manual espresso machine later down the line if I wanted, plus I can use it in the van while camping.

It’s pretty good! Obviously not true espresso but can make a passable milk drink

Opened a bag of Simply Brazil from James Gourmet today and the smell was so good.

Class! Looks like a great wee gadget tbh.

Just received a bag of James, after reading about it on here, very nice indeed

Finally failed in the made by Knock hand grinder.

Bean Bros decaff is super smooth

That Fellow Aiden looks like it could be the ultimate filter machine. I like that roasters would be able to send recipes that you could use

Looks pretty cool huh. Not the prettiest machine, but functionally seems great.

Yes my thoughts exactly, not quite as pretty as my Moccamaster and looks quite bulky as well but so many nice little features to make it easy to live with

really enjoying this as a long (18g in ~45g out) espresso based drink (topped up with hot water and or milk) as I think also suggested in brewing guide, more than as a filter option which was what I bought it for.