Coffee Appreciation

^^ says "not suitable for aluminium", though it'll probably be ok if it's mainly citric acid.

^Always looking out for your machine, eh!

FWIW it was recommended on the Gaggia section of Coffee Forums.
Will read up some more and see what I can find

I use this

with a blank basket I got from Coffee Hit over in Brockley.

Back flushing cleaning solution? Any good?

Pact Zamorana - anyone drinking it as espresso? What do you think?

I'm not overly confident about my de-scaling skillz after Philips blamed me for breaking my own machine...they are pretty useless though.

I got an inline water softener for my new machine which attached to the inlet water hose in your tank, and is about the size of half a Mars bar. Possibly helps a little when using tap water, but I'll still stick to bottled water generally.

Those post-Philips Gaggia Classics are known for having weaker 3-way solenoids (the bit that acts at the end of backflushing as a pressure release.. and at the end of brewing for that matter).

Chris King tampers anyone? Perfect christmas gift for a coffee drinking cyclist. We just got a big batch in at Giro Cycles (coffee shop in Esher), black, 58mm... £85! (Cheaper than Raffa, and much cheaper than Kinoko)

Pop in and get one, or can be ordered from our website

http://www.girocycles.com/products/chris-king-espresso-tamper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XEo3lf0-nxY

Ace!

^^ Mmmmmmm, like molten lava.

I somehow doubt this would look the same:

Do people actually buy this stuff?!

Ace!

Speaking of Ace, how is it? Still haven't made it down.

Have we had this yet?

http://road.cc/content/news/103472-pedal-powered-coffee-grinder-ultimate-hipster-accessory-or-spoof

For once, I recommend reading the comments.

Just coming here to post that ^
I say spoof.

Have we had this yet?

http://road.cc/content/news/103472-pedal-powered-coffee-grinder-ultimate-hipster-accessory-or-spoof

For once, I recommend reading the comments.

I'm totally going to make myself something like that for camping.

I suspect that Dan and Dave could benefit from having their cocks kicked off.

Yep, that's great.

Speaking of Ace, how is it? Still haven't made it down.

It's great, thanks! I'm really enjoying it. Downside of a hotel, is being open over christmas, but a bonus for anyone in need of great coffee or an emergency bag of beans while everywhere is closed!

Just seen that Sang Ho Park has just started doing a brewing class too, which looks amazing! http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/products/understanding-the-principles-of-brewing-class

Discounts a Has Bean here: http://hasbeanchristmascarol.com/

Codes are at the end of the animations. The Cachoeira is good for espresso.

If the pacamara thats 50% off is the one in the guest espresso this month then dont bother, fussiest coffee ive had, it feels like the beans are made of glass and on the lowest setting on my vario grinder i can only get an 18sec shot. Is almost impossible to stop it just gushing through. Dissappointing end to the years subscription imo and almost explains the discount.

Very interesting. Is it a super light roast? I find those to be the fussiest. £25 for a bag of coffee is nuts.

xmas brew advice?

Ok, she won, it was too big for our kitchen. My Cunhill grinder is up for grabs, all working but as she put it 'buy me a bigger house and you can keep it'

50 quid and it's yours. can deliver east if needed.

http://i39.tinypic.com/2n24uqb.jpg

If the pacamara thats 50% off is the one in the guest espresso this month then dont bother, fussiest coffee ive had, it feels like the beans are made of glass and on the lowest setting on my vario grinder i can only get an 18sec shot. Is almost impossible to stop it just gushing through. Dissappointing end to the years subscription imo and almost explains the discount.

I found the beans were too big/solid to feed into the mc2's burrs properly. After an age I was getting enough grinds to pull a shot but yes it was quick pour. When switched back to Pact the grind was so fine it choked up the machine on first shot zero pour.

Got lovely results via the aeropress & porlex mini, really enjoyed the pacamara that way.

I may try the remaining bit in the aeropress then, but it's a bit of a strange choice for the guest espresso blend in that case.

My Cunhill grinder is up for grabs[/URL]

Bargain. I loved that grinder. Grinds probably about par with my Mazzer too.

You have a pm dsan. Ta.