Coffee Appreciation

Just bought a porlex mini in time for next week's trip to Scotland :-)

There's a new place in Angel right at the end of Camden Passage called The Coffeeworks Project which opened three weeks ago, it's worth a visit if you're in the area. Sumo said the machine they're using probably cost +10k, and the coffee was damn good.

They've got a Slayer...as far as I'm aware only the second in London after St. Ali/Workshop.

http://www.iainclaridge.co.uk/blog/17945

They've got a Slayer...as far as I'm aware only the second in London after St. Ali/Workshop.

$18,000 apparently.

Desperation purchase from the Aldi around the corner, I expected it to taste like burnt sawdust off a butchers floor... I'm shocked, it's pretty good, smooth and quite mild sort of taste I associate with African coffee.

It has got a best before date of May 2013 so maybe I was just lucky and caught it at a sweet spot.

Where can I get a good sit down coffee in Victoria?

Did the Extract Coffee barista/brew course on Saturday:

http://extractcoffee.co.uk/2012/05/professional-barista-brew-courses-2nd-june/

Was an awesome day - Started about 10 and finished 3.30ish, with a great lunch in a group of 4, lead by David (head roaster at extract) and Andrew Tucker.

Started off with a cupping session, comparing different processing methods, (natural, washed, pulped etc) and different bean grades (a, aa and peaberry) along with some different roast types..
Really interesting just tasting coffee and water, with no filtration, also noting the change in taste as they cooled, some of them actually got better as they cooled.

Lots of discussion about how coffee is farmed and produced, along with a quick tour of the roasters - 1 "large" vintage Probat (that has been heavily modified by David) a small one and a tiny sample roaster.

Moved onto espresso - my first go on a 3 group commercial machine - looking at the impact of small grind and dose changes , then a bit of a milk mastercourse - loads of useful little tweaks and guidelines to my "workflow" when making espresso and milk based drinks.

Finally we moved onto comparison of Chemex, Aeropress, clever dripper and filter brew methods.

By the end of the day is was properly wired - having drunk enough caffeine to kill a horse (thankfully it doesn't keep me awake...)

Amazing day, and a massive bargain at £40 - would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in coffee - despite the title of the course, there is no requirement to be in the coffee business!

Oh! Was about to come in and ask about another course, but that does indeed sound heaps better! Cheers!

Got given a present by JDP today:

Cheers danb! - been looking to get on a course so will check this one out :)

Where can I get a good sit down coffee in Victoria?

Flat Cap have a stall at the end of Strutton Ground during the week serving Square Mile. Really, really excellent coffee and super friendly guys.

Can't personally vouch for it, but http://www.tomtom.co.uk/ on Ebury Street also comes with the Derek Lamberton (London Coffee App guy) seal of approval.

Tomtom sell a pretty good selection of beans but the drinks that they serve can be a bit hit and miss. Expensive place, which is what you'd expect given the location. There is a Fratelli's just round the corner on Elizabeth St which has better consistency. If you are into cigars with your coffee, the original Tomtom shop is a cigar vendor on the other side of the road to the cafe.

Literally moved into London this week, Notting Hill. Where can I buy some freshly roasted coffee beans?

My new grinder arrived last night, one of these:

The difference compared to the kitchen aid I have had for years(this one) is day and night. I would go as far as saying that there was no point me owning the Giotto until I got the new grinder.

I love the look of the kitchen aid, and it seems solid and well made, but it does not grind evenly enough to give the rich gloopy extraction that you want, with golden crema right from the start of the extraction.

I went through about 150g of beans last night dialing it in, and felt a bit odd after my 4th or 5th cup!

A Gran Gaggia has come into my ownership but it doesn't seem to be working.

The lights on the switches work etc and when you flick the switch to pull a shot the unit vibrates etc, like the pump or whatever is working, but nothing comes through. The steam arm works albeit in a rather lack lustre fashion.

Worth repairing? Worth anything as spares/repair? It has the portafilter and a couple baskets etc, are these specific to the Gran or will work on other Gaggia machines??

Literally moved into London this week, Notting Hill. Where can I buy some freshly roasted coffee beans?

Coffee Plant on Portobello roast but I don't really rate their coffee. There's a real dearth of good coffee in that part of town, seems like a big untapped opportunity to me.

The lights on the switches work etc and when you flick the switch to pull a shot the unit vibrates etc, like the pump or whatever is working, but nothing comes through. The steam arm works albeit in a rather lack lustre fashion

Possibly scale build up has caused a blockage, or the three-way solenoid is acting up.

You could get your allen keys out and remove the grouphead to see if that looks gunked up for a kick-off.

just dismantled my classic again, Solenoid was blocked once more wasn't releasing the pressure after a shot (not fun when backflushing).

it's fairly straightforward, this guide useful: http://reedsmeals.blogspot.com/2011/04/overhaul-of-gaggia-classic-espresso.html?m=1

used a different one last time which takes more bits off, but can't find link now...

Coffee Plant on Portobello roast but I don't really rate their coffee. There's a real dearth of good coffee in that part of town, seems like a big untapped opportunity to me.

Thanks, I will be trying them next as I picked up a bag from Monmouth a few days ago. Very friendly chap in there, just, well, my preference for the Turkish method did not bring forth any strong recommendations.

After nearly two weeks in New York City I have yet to visit a real coffee place, and even though there's a hideous heatwave going on I feel like I ought to find one (an air conditioned one obviously). I've discovered that Stumptown is just around the corner from the place I'm staying at Madison Square, but if anyone has another recommendation I'd be happy to hear it.

After nearly two weeks in New York City I have yet to visit a real coffee place, and even though there's a hideous heatwave going on I feel like I ought to find one (an air conditioned one obviously). I've discovered that Stumptown is just around the corner from the place I'm staying at Madison Square, but if anyone has another recommendation I'd be happy to hear it.

Bluebird (IIRC, it's in the East Village, 1st st/ 2nd Ave)

Third Rail (Not sure where they are, as I only visited the one in the Rapha popup shop, but they're about somewhere and well worth the visit)

Bluebottle (Williamsburg)

I liked stumptown but wasn't that impressed. I think getting good brewed coffee in NYC is difficult, at least in manhattan. Much of what I found was espresso-only, with Bluebird being the exception.

(IIRC again) I seem to remember that Bluebottle did public cuppings. Might be worth a look.

http://www.bluebirdcoffeeshop.com/

http://www.bluebottlecoffee.net/locations/berry-st-brooklyn/

http://www.thirdrailcoffee.com/

Cheers Rich, I'll try and check out at least one of them.

I was went to Saturdays in Soho today. It's half surfing/clothing shop, half coffee shop. Sort of like a tiny lmnh.

I found Stumptown and Blue Bottle both a little lacklustre. I've heard nothing but good things about Abraço, and Kaffe 1668 looks excellent on paper (Swedish owned, serving a huge range of coffees) and has a genius website http://kaffe1668.com/index.html