Coffee Appreciation

Nice work!

Purely out of interest (I work in ecomm), did this result in an order uptick?

This was great to read, I stumbled across it after the weekend....whilst drinking some YB. Well done Tom (and Steve).

Thanks very much. Turns out Tom, 37 from London isn’t on here he got in touch after the article.

One of the few perks of my job driving around Suffolk and Norfolk is occasionally grabbing coffee from a new roasters in this instance Tropic Coffee near Kings Lynn. Or in this case 4 new coffees. Can’t decide which to have or how to have it.

Any suggestions???

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Wouldn't know where to start.

There's no detail about the actual coffee beans on their website ie variety, altitude, etc etc. So my gut is thinking it probably isn't that special?

Give it a go and tell all!

After much maligning the naked portafilters as a fad for people who taste their coffee through the medium of Lance Hendrick videos, I have decided I can't be arsed to clean my spouted PF nearly as often as it deserves to be, so thinking about eating humble pie and going naked.

Any good sources for these? Shades seem to have nice brass ones for under £30. AliX in this case doesn't seem to come up with the goods, as all seem to be made of aluminium alloy - would rather keep the mass for heat retention/transfer, as well as something that won't eventually rust on me.

What next, I will give into the mesh filters to keep my shower screen cleaner, too? Unbelievable.

Side note, got the first James Gourmet order coming in tomorrow, high altitude, natural process South American stuff. Looking forward to it!

Bought this one for my Bambino, rate it - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355413316159 (may not be the right size for your machine)

Hedrick : )

Thanks for the heads up! Should have mentioned, Gaggia Classic user here - sadly that seller doesn't have any 58mm ones, very good price and stainless steel!

@withered_preacher bah humbug!

I had an AliExpress one from a local reseller that snapped after a week. Got a Shades one and it's been great for years now.

Get a stainless portafilter. It’s a big investment but then it’s just wipe-clean. You won’t have to obsess over channelling or wear an apron.

My team at work is being moved to the basement, but the upside is that the company have agreed buy us an espresso machine and grinder… our opening salvo is a lelit Bianca and Philos….

Anything else people would look at… I’m slightly drawn by the eureka libra to simplify things for those who aren’t going to be that into the art of making good coffee (there are only 6 coffee drinkers…)

At £4 for 250g it’s probably not far off the warehouse gate price for specialty coffee!

Anyone on here use a Bambino Plus? Got one on the way I'm hoping to fix up and use for a bit as I hear they're fairly rated?

I'm a La Pav user through and through but au fair with the Sage barista express & duo temp pro and I think they're OK for what they are, much better than a lightly modded classic in my opinion.

I'm guessing from the names alone that those are going to be quite dark roasts.

Yeah, me. I sometimes struggle with mine and I don't whether it's because I'm shit at coffee or because of the machine. Would be interested to hear how you get on with it.

Thanks for the input! Stainless (and spouted?) over chromed brass then?

They are. The Java high roast I had this morning made a very punchy espresso, but I very nice brewed coffee.

I didn’t think too much about the roast when I was choosing. Rightly or wrong I smelt the beans and choose what smelt good.

I didn’t think too much about the roast when I was choosing. Rightly or wrong I smelt the beans and choose what smelt good.

Nothing wrong with that, really. I am sure lots of us could very quickly rule out a lot of coffee based on smell/sight of the beans themselves. With that said there are definitely coffees I thought I wouldn't like based on that, that I have loved. Particularly when it comes to naturals.

I was ordering tea recently (yes, there's a thread for that) and needed another thing to get to free postage so chucked these in the basket - haven't tried yet but looks ok.

I was almost put off by the fact that 90% of their coffees are flavoured...

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Naturals??? Tell me more

Will do! (subject to me repairing it!)

Some naturally processed coffee has an earthy and/or fermented smell. In wine its referred to as a 'barnyard' odor and in wine I really don't like it. I don't love the smell of it in coffee, but once you combine the smell with the taste I really enjoy it. Its weird. But yeah, try some naturally processed stuff for your next filter order. The last time I was in the UK my dad had some of this and it was good. Very good: https://jamesgourmetcoffee.com/product/honduras-finca-el-mandarino/

Is some of that barnyard in organic wines? I pretty much exclusively buy Italian reds and whenever I try an organic one I come away disappointed - do I just prefer chemical soup?

To be super pedantic, you can have organic grapes that still have additives/chemicals added during the winemaking process. Whereas natural wines use organic grapes and no additives/chemicals at any stage.

I have never had barnyard in anything other than fully natural wine. And never in any European naturals, only Californian. Which given my locale, is most of the wine that I drink. Along with PNW Pinot because its cheap as anything and delicious :) I've had some naturals that taste like conventional wine but yeah for the most part its a different experience I guess.