Coffee Appreciation

Oh wow. Deffo a lot cheaper!

They had some of the medium at work a couple of years again which I ground for aeropress and it was surprisingly okay - however James Gourmet or YB (with code) espresso blends are a only few quid more so depends how important price alone is.

picked up this for the office when Melitta had one of their regular discounts on - will try it out tomorrow. hopefully capable of making a decent brew.

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Alixpress fines filter thingy arrived today (dented so I'm getting a refund), made a brew with the Clever Dripper straight away. Two things were very apparent, my grinder is retaining way more grounds than I'd originally thought and removing fines completely transforms the cup. Much hollower taste, not as much punch as usual but not unpleasant.

Will do a proper taste test tomorrow as I couldn't tell if they were all fresh fines I'd just filtered out or leftover retained grounds from this morning's espresso. There were A LOT of fines, it was quite a surprise. Will have to grind more beans to make sure I get my target weight after filtering out all the fines.

And I picked up one of those weird dosing rings/distribution tools as well, will try that for espresso.

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Let me know how you get on with the shaker. I'm not convinced about mine (Kinu tasted better without it) but I haven't got a better solution for the DF54 yet.

First impressions/feelings are that I'm probably gonna be putting some fines back in for flavour, how much is gonna be the trial and error bit.

Ah, I meant the dosing cup/shaker thing.

This really struck a chord with me, as I'm going completely the opposite way. For espresso I've given up on WFT, dispersal etc and am focusing on grind size and a 'proper' tamp. I'm not convinced the home barista can replicate/control enough of the variables to be ensure reliability.

(Obviously YMMV and I know that coffee is as much a hobby as it is simply enjoying a drink. I've just noticed better, more enjoyable results controlling two variables).

I was pretty happy with my espresso process, I had everything pretty well dialled in and then I switched to longer drinks and my Gaggia became an ornament. It's been fun to use it again over the holidays, I think I'll use it at weekends as that's when I tend to skip my normal coffee routine.

I've been struggling to dial my shots in again, I think I'm almost there so I make my final adjustment and instead of getting closer I get further away from where I want to be. I'd forgotten how much fun this is. 🤣

Heya, wiring diagram may be good in case I decide to wire up an additional SSR for the steam control!

3rd or 4th shot in so far and I'm getting just a 2 degrees fluctuation during pulling a shot which I think is fairly decent so far!

Controller with SSR and an additional thermocouple (the one that comes with most controllers is the wrong size) was a whopping £19.64 on amazon.

I paid about £2 for some piggyback crimps and I sacrificed a 13a power cable to use the wires from. The other crimps and crimping tool I already had.

Toying with wiring up steam, however the joy of having the temperature read out now means I can crack open the steam valve at 140 or 145 degrees and it'll sit pretty at that temp rendering the steam control useless really!

Rancilio silvia wand arriving tomorrow hopefully. This classic may be a keeper!

Beans roasted last night. Fuck degassing as I am totally out!

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Can you share the parts list and link if you haven’t already please.

You're getting paid to make drinks for people, there's no need to be a prick about it.

Hey now, we can have both things, then everyone's happy. I'll make your extra hot fully skimmed xl latte in a take away cup, but I'm going to make that milk wand scream until even you realise something is wrong and it'll be too hot to even hold though 2 cups and a sleeve

All while maintaining eye contact, to assert dominance of course

Controller: Uadme PID Controller, PID Temperature Controller, Digital Temperature Controller REX-C100, with K-Type Thermocouple Temperature Sensor, AC 110V-240V 0-1300℃, for Electrical Energy Chemical Industry https://amzn.eu/d/flxMzIb

Thermocouple: sourcing map Thermocouple K Type, 0-600C M4 Screw Temperature Sensor Probe 1.6ft for 3D Printer https://amzn.eu/d/8P6QZ8P

You'll need a selection of female and male spade connectors, loop connectors and a crimp tool obviously, and suitable cable. Like I said, I utilised a 13a cable.

You can if you want look for a housing to hold it all but mines tucked away and quite like the cable tie approach so far.

Thank you.

And what does this actually do?

https://www.reddit.com/r/espresso/s/Eaafb9WnDh

Huh, so it’s basically like fitting a Eurotherm and a thermocouple instead of the standard heater control.

Yes. If the silvia thermostat is anything like the Gaggia then the hystersis time takes forever = massive temp swings.

So can you set it to a certain temperature or does this mod allow you to monitor the temperature?

Both, for brewing. Set a temp and monitor how closely it sits to the set temp during brewing.

For steaming it's just monitoring, but allows me to open the steam valve at the most optimal time before the thermostat kicks in and the dead band kicks in

Just had a V60 of this passionfruit fermentation in Wogans in Bristol. Incredible flavour, worth a go for anyone local

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This any use to you?

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Assembly sent me the Henry Bonilla Pink Bourbon by mistake, and it has been excellent.

They recommend pour-over but I've just been using the Aeropress, and it's been really consistent.

Haven't decided whether I'll pay £35 for another 200g, but given that I actually ordered a different coffee from the same producer, I've been really happy with it.

I've been using a Melitta Therm for years (on my 2nd one)
I love the timer, set it up the night before, wake to fresh coffee.

Carafe does a great job of keeping the coffee hot.
Obvs the more you drink the cooler it will become, but still good 4 hours later IME.

That's good to hear; thanks.

I haven't managed to give it a trial run yet.