Coffee Appreciation

Damn you, I have just run out of Monmouth beans and am onto the Sainsbury's Finest (which isn't).

Anyone going to Jenne and Aram's soiree this afternoon that could pick up some beans for me?

if you were a tooting resident i haz beanz

Not sure if these will work but they are 3 coffee maps I have saved..

London's Best Coffee
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msa=0&sll=51.528183,-0.113468&sspn=0.081058,0.222988&ie=UTF8&ll=51.525727,-0.097675&spn=0.081062,0.222988&z=13&msid=218292097595236464265.0004653f4e1c981bdd0f2

London Coffee
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=51.52813,-0.113104&spn=0.162115,0.445976&z=12

Good Coffee London
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=54.661124,2.15332&spn=9.655963,28.54248&z=6&msid=208525610927351753545.00044d6c0a754e8848d58

none of these work

I may have tweaked it. To be honest I can't really remember but it's likely since I had the top off so it'd be rude not to :)

Oh well, doesn't matter. Pouring like a dream now. There's a 6-8 second wait from when I hit the switch to when it starts pouring, then a double shot takes 27-30 secs.

Thanks again for the machine, and thanks bombcup for the tweaking link!

i need to do mine but been a bit busy.

I was a bit daunted at first, but is quite quick and easy really.

i need to do mine but been a bit busy.

Ditto

I'm regularly in Manchester and I send back 80% of the coffee I get there, it's abysmal

Very true. If you can get out towards Gatley though, things are a changing.

http://www.wearecoffeefix.com/

Edit - uses Hasbean, and has a mobile unit too - discovered that at Macc Treacle Market one Sunday.

Update on this - really nice Coffee shop, but of course Gatley is 7.5 miles from city centre so not ideal for many on a day trip for business or whatever.

Uses Blake espresso, plus "special" coffee - this week it was a Bolivian.

Owner rides a mercx conversion he found the frame in a skip... found this out as he spotted our rides and offered a secure place for us to stash them whilst we were there.

Had a chat about Manc City Centre coffee places and was told that North Tea Power in Northern Quarter uses Has Bean - sounds promising so I'll pay them a visit when I get a chance.

He's sold the mobile van, so don't go to Macc Treacle Market looking for a nice coffee -fix...

I paid £275 for the grinder, knock box/stand, bits and bobs and machine pictured below, it makes better coffee than anywhere I have found in Forest Hill so far:

Did you move to Forest Hill, Neil? Nice area. Girlfriend's family live around there - will be doing regular weekend rides with her brother-in-law from there starting soon, if you fancy joining us? We're doing the Etape together this summer, which fits with your HC training :)

none of these work

Not sure how to get direct links to user maps. Wait, try these..

Good Coffee London
http://crum.pl/12ox

London Coffee
http://crum.pl/12oy

London's best coffee
http://crum.pl/12p2

Using this: http://savanttools.com/crumple-google-map-link.asp

Did you move to Forest Hill, Neil? Nice area. Girlfriend's family live around there - will be doing regular weekend rides with her brother-in-law from there starting soon, if you fancy joining us? We're doing the Etape together this summer, which fits with your HC training :)

Did indeed, hilly around here! Let me know when you are heading out, I'd love to join you. I can also provide coffee before and after the ride.

excellent - won't be for a couple of weeks as I'm away skiing and then off to Wales for some hill suffering. Will take you up on the coffee, as will Francis I'm sure.

Off to see the man on delancey... Can his machines grind fine enough for espresso? I've always just used his coffee for stovetop. Good stuff.

Bought half a kilo of Monmouth Espresso beans this morning=running out of coffee anxiety overcome for now

Off to see the man on delancey... Can his machines grind fine enough for espresso? I've always just used his coffee for stovetop. Good stuff.

i've never got it, but i've heard people ask for it so assume he does

(misses the man on delancey)

just got back with 500 grams of costa rica's finest. First attempt with it choked my machine, which I've never been able to do with illy. Second attempt was with a slightly smaller dose and it was the best shot I've got out of the classic so far! Tastes really good, quite citrusy, tons of crema etc. George the coffee man said it was a medium strength espresso, compared to the super dark beans he had. Might try a blend of the two next time...

Also, it's so much better value than illy which is around £5.50 for 250g. I payed £7.30 for 500g. Half of it is in the freezer which I know is a faux pas but is better than letting it go stale in the cupboard.

On keeping beans fresh... Are the red has bean bags as good as anything else for storing beans?

Got some work done on the Astoria lever machine. Sorry about the shakey mobile shots.

Copper bodywork makes my skin crawl slightly. I'm about to pull the trigger on a bench grinder for polishing. The stainless will be mirror and the copper matt brushed.

Electroplated frame is pretty much rust free. Quality build.

Gas system

Boiler out

Been used with reverse osmosis water softener. No scale buildup.

One group stripped, one kept together for reference! Needs new seals, bearings and cam, but stainless springs are another nice quality touch.

^That's awesome, I want one.

In other news I have finished Coffee Of Evil and am back to the Monmouth beans and am trying to be a little more scientific about things.

To fill my double basket seems to take circa 13g of beans- is this about standard? High? Low?

Gaggia factory? Baskets are small, sounds ok. I used to be able to absolutely cram 19g into my Peppina's 45mm basket for real thick yogurty shots.

On keeping beans fresh... Are the red has bean bags as good as anything else for storing beans?

Yep pretty good if you use the seal properly!

Do you have to have the boiler pressure tested and certified before commercial use?

Gaggia factory? Baskets are small, sounds ok. I used to be able to absolutely cram 19g into my Peppina's 45mm basket for real thick yogurty shots.

I'd be worried about the amount of pressure on the lever at that density of coffee- I could for sure get more in, but at 14g nothing comes through until 1/3rd of the way through the lever stroke, and it's hard at that point.

Yes, you would have to put all thoughts of mechanical sympathy to one side when doing that sort of updosing, but the shots were great and o-rings are cheap.

Don't fight the machine, that's the wonderful thing about levers; if it doesn't feel right, it's not right. Your machine can only produce small volume shots, you don't need more than 14g.