Coffee Appreciation

i'm going SM on wednesday - i'll probably try and take my bike now as well.

i don't know if you've been to one of these before or not, but if not try and eat before you go otherwise you'll feel sick and also be up for ages and ages.

Is this what i think? A coffee tasting night?? yes please!?!

A little inspiration:

mmm Monmoth... love that place

Is this what i think? A coffee tasting night?? yes please!?!

http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/products/taste-of-east-coast

it's tonight

It was tonight. Nice to meet you, Ross.

good to see ya Ross. Mmmm I'm getting wet flannels and chain oil from this cup…

Look at what I have sitting on my desk right now...

you haz grindah!

Oh Hippy. I told you not to spend it all in one place...

FYI - I had a cracking double shot this morning - I seem to be improving my feel for the Baby Class

Chris - you want me to grind some of the Square Mile coffee for ya and bring it to Westies?

Peadobear says "well done!"

Chris - you want me to grind some of the Square Mile coffee for ya and bring it to Westies?

If you can spare it Wayno that would be brilliant and there would be a pint in it for you.

Peadobear says "well done!"

Hush.

In the Guardian yesterday (page 22 if anyone still has the print version), Starbucks claimed to have developed an instant coffee that's indistinguishable from 'proper' coffee. Called 'Via Ready Brew' - apparently their chief exec personally acknowledged that the move would be labelled (and I quote) "insane" or "desperate".

Personally I don't see that they're doing anything but making a cynical attempt to monopolise the instant market. I don't think for one second it'll ever taste as good, but hey...

http://www.starbucks.com/coffee/c17-instant-coffee.aspx

Not a huge fan of their non-instant. Can't imagine what the instant tastes like.

instant coffee process (spray dried):

bulk robusta green beans

roast

rest (age)

grind

rest (age)

extract liquor at 32bar

distill aromatic vapour

hydrolise spent grounds

centrifuge liquor

add hydrolised liquor fraction

inject nitrogen at 68 bar

spray dry

sieve

fill jar

spray aromatic vapour into head space

lid

label

e.n.j.o.y.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvIvikMutvc&fmt=18

In the Guardian yesterday (page 22 if anyone still has the print version), Starbucks claimed to have developed an instant coffee that's indistinguishable from 'proper' coffee. Called 'Via Ready Brew' - apparently their chief exec personally acknowledged that the move would be labelled (and I quote) "insane" or "desperate".

Personally I don't see that they're doing anything but making a cynical attempt to monopolise the instant market. I don't think for one second it'll ever taste as good, but hey...

Not given a good review in the Guardian today!

'On balance, this is not even as nice as Nescafé, and it doesn't even have that friendly, incomprehensible foam.'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/19/zoe-williams-coffee-starbucks-instant

It was tonight. Nice to meet you, Ross.

good to see ya Ross. Mmmm I'm getting wet flannels and chain oil from this cup…

likewise. i should have probably mentioned that the coffee crowd is pretty fucking crazy. i mean when those hookers appeared from that coke mountain, pretty wild.

i jest. it was a good night the coffee was much better than the last one i thought.

thirdly, i was in oxford today so i quickly popped into bicester village and picked up a kona with hold filter from the bodum store. £15 reduced from £80

I want.

I think I'm going to buy myself a new machine this weekend.

I bought a new machine this weekend.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk:80/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370158198114

Because every home needs a two group. Probably a knackered two group. Probably a knackered two group which requires dozens of hours and hundreds of pounds, neither of which I can muster.

Don't bid on coffee machines because they look pretty. Actually nobody else did.

Nescafé = no es café

I bought a new machine this weekend.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk:80/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370158198114
Because every home needs a two group. Probably a knackered two group. Probably a knackered two group which requires dozens of hours and hundreds of pounds, neither of which I can muster.
Don't bid on coffee machines because they look pretty. Actually nobody else did.

You psycho. :)

I killed a bag of Waitrose beans last night and still haven't got shots pouring like this last one..

YouTube - 3 Shots of Espresso

I like the look of the 'too slow' one. That's a proper ristretto pour which can work well with the right coffee. Try to keep the dose consistent so the only variable is the grind setting. Heap the basket right up, tap the PF on the counter to settle the coffee, then strike off the excess with a straight edge. That should give you a pretty uniform dose while you find the grind. You can experiment with grind / dose ratio once you've got a baseline 25-30 second 60ml pour.

I was using 2 x the Gaggia scooper, scraped flat with a straight edge. My tamping is probably all over the shop though and the finer the grind the worse my tamping. Thanks for the tip(s) though. Will continue to experiment. Problem is, I want to do it now.. and that's not going to help my sleeping patterns! :)

i've been lamenting the death of coffee@ lately, there's nowhere decent/independent/nice to go for a cappucino around near me.

but the past few days ive been going a new tiny li'l coffeeshop called dose on long lane (beside smithfields) that's really good. owned/run by the ex-manager from ottolenghi. yesterday they were watching the barrista championships on live videofeed. heh heh.

i've been lamenting the death of coffee@ lately, there's nowhere decent/independent/nice to go for a cappucino around near me.

but the past few days ive been going a new tiny li'l coffeeshop called dose on long lane (beside smithfields) that's really good. owned/run by the ex-manager from ottolenghi. yesterday they were watching the barrista championships on live videofeed. heh heh.

i was going to ask where you were and try and suggest a new place to go but you've already found one of the best places going by a country mile.
coffee@ was a rubbish company, left in loads of debt.