Coffee Appreciation

It's a new bean for me to ruin in my coffee machine fumblings anyway.. :)

Probably put to best use as a brewed coffee that one. Chuck it in a cafetiere. Real coarse, 60g/l, 4 minutes, quick stir then press and serve.

Could do it in the office with cafetiere but I like running my machine.. boys + toys ya know?

Maybe I should buy some of their espresso blend for home too? :)

Oooh yeah, HasBean premium blend is tasty stuff.

for good value beans there is always the algerian coffee store - each month a medium and a dark roast been @ £5.50 for 500g

I'm not allowed in soho..

why not?

restraining order?

Thanks for the video, hippy. Still can't make it pour shots but the video made me realize why sometimes the steamer was working kind of, and why sometimes it worked perfectly. It seems like there is only one place in London that repairs coffee machines, and they normally do big comercial ones. Anyone know anywhere else?

Thanks for the video, hippy. Still can't make it pour shots but the video made me realize why sometimes the steamer was working kind of, and why sometimes it worked perfectly. It seems like there is only one place in London that repairs coffee machines, and they normally do big comercial ones. Anyone know anywhere else?

there's a bunch of places you could probably take it but they're going to charge you more than the machines worth i would imagine.
you can try darlingtons in vauxhall, or london espresso in seven sisters area

There's the Gaggia service centre: http://www.gaggia.uk.com/repairs.htm and WCS: http://worldcoffeeservices.com/ but yeah it will probably be more expensive than sensible.

Have you tried descaling it yet?

nope, don't really understand de-scaling. I'll try doing it at some point.
TBH, it was a free machine, and it's pink, so a buck or less is fine by me.

Descaling is removing the built up calcium caused by boiling water from the internals of the machine. The scale blocks up water channels in the boiler, pipes, brewhead, pump, everywhere.

You need to buy some proprietary descaling solution or a bag of citric acid crystals from a health food shop and mix it 1:10 (so 100g for a 1l tank) with water. Fill the boiler with the solution, switch the machine on and leave it boiling for an hour or two. Run the solution through the brew head by pulsing the brew button in bursts, and give the steam wand a few good bursts too. Now repeat the process without the hour wait. Finally run about 5 tanks worth of clean water through the machine to rinse it, et voila a much improved machine for about a fiver. Just pull a couple of shots through before you drink one to get rid of any residual taint.

If this doesn't do the trick then I would suggest as others have that it is uneconomical to repair.

I have started a 'coffee club' at work...No more will I have to refuse when offered a tea / coffee or get called a 'snob' for not liking instant.

We've all invested in a 12 cup cafetiere and various bags of Monmouth. They're all very excited with the tasting notes and are really getting into it.

It's like pursuading work colleagues to start cycling to work :D :D :D

That's funny.. I usually refuse the guy's caffetierre offers. I prefer either using my machine to knock out an espresso or 'cino or just sending the boss out to fetch me a Buzz. :)

That's funny.. I usually refuse the guy's caffetierre offers. I prefer either using my machine to knock out an espresso or 'cino or just sending the boss out to fetch me a Buzz. :)
I dream of having a machine at work - it'd either be against some health and safety rule or there'd be a queue of people trying to use it / fuck it up. Do you make coffee for the rest of the team?

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/epicure/2009/10/12/1255195738731.html

Before the Circle Line ride on Saturday, I was asked by my companion to get him a latte from Pret a Manger.

With vanilla syrup...

Had a good look around me, pulled my hood up and went in, ordered said drink and was told by the "barista" he wouldn't do vanilla syrup because "it's not proper coffee".

Surprisingly awesome...

I dream of having a machine at work - it'd either be against some health and safety rule or there'd be a queue of people trying to use it / fuck it up. Do you make coffee for the rest of the team?

I don't give a fuck about H&S.. no one has said anything about getting it approved or any bollocks so, job done.

I showed my guys how to use it. Most don't. Some do occasionally.

The others on this floor wouldn't dare touch it.. they know who it belongs to. :)

You can always just hide the portafilter somewhere to stop others using it.

Do I make coffee for the rest of the team? You 'avin a laugh? :P

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/epicure/2009/10/12/1255195738731.html

More than a trend, the third wave is something of a subculture led by coffee geeks whose natty dress sense and penchant for tattoos and fixed-gear bicycles has led some second-wavers to dismiss them as a bunch of pretentious twats.

''Fundamentally, I believe the coffee scene will be akin to the wine scene and within five or 10 years, people will be speaking about single-estate varietals as they do grapes,'' he says. ''I don't mean just the cool cats who ride fixies; I mean everybody in the mainstream will be discussing coffee in that way.''

Ha!

Anyway, I LIKE using my machine.

And now I want a Slayer..

http://www.slayerespresso.com/pictures/

Slayer machine; individual temperature adjustable boiler per group, individual pressure profilable pump per group, bells, whistles, knobs on.

Paired up with a jeffing Super Jolly. WTF? Pressure hipsters.

Aren't you Super Jolly bombcup? I'm Super Jolly! Ho Ho Ho He He He Ha Ha Ha

I´d rather see the Slayer paired up with a couple of Anfim Super Caimano Ti`s..

I'm after a small coffee machine and grinder. I would only be making a few cups a day. At the minute I'm using a stove-top with pre-ground coffee.
Anyone have any recommendations for particular models/machines to look out for before i start scouring ebay. My budget for the pair would be no more than £100.

Look for a decent second hand grinder (iberital mc2 perhaps) and pair it with an aerobie aeropress. At that price you won't get a decent machine so bes to concentrate on the grinder, and the aerobie will make you decent coffee, though not cappas or latte. Anything providing that for under £100 will be shite

I just bought a few bags of this south american blend from All About Coffee on Leather Lane to go into the new machine work finally shelled out for. My hands may be shaking but I am utterly happy.