Coffee Appreciation

I grind to about the texture of coarse sand (not dis-similar to a pour over filter) and use it as if its a filter brew, rather than trying to pull (or push) an espresso out of it... Still not convinced by mine...

http://www.cosycoffeeshops.co.uk/top-10-coffee-shops-in-the-uk-2014/

3/10 tried here

Got my Aeropress from http://www.coffeehit.co.uk

Always had good service and quick delivery. As rhb mentioned i've heard stories of fakes cracking...

Some lighter roasts seem to prefer a coarser grind and longer steep in my opinion.

Just found that my local coffee shop in Edinburgh sells 350g bags of Red Brick for £6. Not bad.

Howard just showed me the Handpresso- that looks very cool, how does it compare to the other pressurised air coffee makers?

was covered a lot on this thread way back. search should uncover all you need i think.

I'm not sure Miss Rancilio Silvia is behaving herself. Before Christmas the pump was making some funny noises, like there was air in it, and sometimes water wouldn't run through.

The espresso was flat and took ages to come through with no crema.

I've taken her back off to have a look but just turning her on now for a test when the boiler starts warming up there is warm water backflowing into the water container and bubbles coming out of the plastic pipes.

This can't be good, right?

It could potentially flow back through the OPV, I suppose.

Do you regularly de-scale?

Hmm, yep just did some googling and apparently this is water from the boiler flowing back through the over pressure hose, but why would it be doing this when I've just turned it on?

I did, haven't since I switched to filtered water but that wasn't long ago.

Water and air expanding due to heat may make it want to push out from the boiler.

Sometimes OPVs can get blocked with scale or debris and act up. They are pretty simple devices.

Ah, so I just checked and it's not the over pressure hose that is getting hot and letting air out - it's the one from the pump.

I just did a test and same problem - once when I turned the pump on no water came though at all, then when I eventually got coffee to come through and it was very slow and what came out was watery and a bit tepid.

Repair shop it is then I guess :(

What do you reckon, three way valve problem?

airlock maybe? try running water through the steam wand

Tried that, but thanks for the suggestion :(

Even if there was an airlock, could that explain hot water and bubbles coming out of the boiler via the water hose (definitely not the over pressure hose) into the water container?

If anyone can come up with anything else to try I'd be up for it as I'd obviously rather not pay to have it looked at if possible.

So, which hose has the bubbles in it?

You can bypass the OPV if you suspect it to be an issue.

I don't understand where the air is coming from, other than the tank.

Got my dad an Aeropress for Christmas, very impressed with it (I used it a lot).

What's the latest view on grind for these? Also, where is cheapest for them?

Scales, thermometer and spreadsheet - I grind a little finer than a French press

my dump tube is split, anyone got a spare?

The split is now bottom to top, meaning no more espresso until I can replace it, about to order via this site - anyone used them, any hassles?

Meanwhile here's an effort at an arty pic of my setup:

I started descaling my Gaggia Factory 105 (a La Pavoni clone), ended up stripping the whole thing down and ordering £50 of spares/upgrades. Mostly washers/seals/nuts but I went for a nice brass piston to replace the current plastic one. Should make pulling shots a smoother action.

No espresso until the bits arrive though...

For people asking about filter brewing and appropriate grind, there are some pretty sweet videos on this site: https://www.mistobox.com/Articles.asp?ID=329

The split is now bottom to top, meaning no more espresso until I can replace it, about to order via this site - anyone used them, any hassles?

Meanwhile here's an effort at an arty pic of my setup:

How/why did it split?

I'm not sure why, but at a guess it might be stress via heat / cool quickly as it does it's job.

New one is £12 hopefully it'll last.

I'd have probably just wrapped it in ptfe tape.

What are the best budget electrical grinders out there at the moment?

Finding my porlex far too much work, especially for two, and a safety hazard.

#thewalkingporlexwounded

^ I fully agree. Too time consuming and knuckle damaging. I'd like to get one, TTM has this I think and really rates it:
http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/iberital-mc2-grinders/

Not exactly cheap though.

I want to get an electric grinder but not enough space in my ridiculously small kitchen at the mo

Krups Expert GVX231 Burr Coffee Grinder: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

I've been getting pretty good results with this surprisingly! Rescued from my dad as he wasn't using it (ungrateful so-and-so ... )