Coffee Appreciation

I have a slightly mysterious experience with my bialetti stove top coffee maker. Since moving in my new place which has the same type of gas hob as my previous place it just doesn’t make nice coffee anymore. The coffee comes out extremely slow and tasting non-descript. I have used several brands and in the past always preferred the standard Lidl coffee in the gold wrap (I know.. don’t kill me) but even that that doesn’t give me good results now. I thought it might have been the age of the coffee maker so I bought a new identical one and it gives me the same tepid coffee.

Help me out, I am slowly getting used to the powdery Nescafé Azera crap!

Sure. I’ll give nefarious dibs but if not then that’s fine by me.

Also, was it you wanting a Peak water filter? I backed on Kickstarter and have it boxed and unused here. Happy to just recoup the £20 and post that up your way if you’re interested.

Yes, I was after one of those as well so if you're happy to post I'll take it thanks!

Try to eliminate any differences from place to place, though I would guess the water will be the problem. Try a Britta or something?

How are you brewing it?
Also, did you move a to a different area? Your tap water might be a different quality which is making it taste off. Try bottled water and see if that makes a difference (Tesco ashbeck water is good).

Will try that loved from se15 to Nw10 but tried using Britta

So, first there's no scales, now there's a tonne of scale options.

I like the idea of waterproof with a timer.

Yeah man that sounds great. Will drop you a pm.

So, having used a variety of scales in food production - baking mainly - the big differences you notice are speed and drift.
Some scales are slow to react which is a pain when you’re pouring on and the scale keeps going after you’ve stopped. Also annoying when you’re trying to be quick.
Drift is when you’re weighing multiple things and the measurement starts to move. Usually zero will start to measure above or below when you take everything off.
Then there’s fine accuracy - which is obviously important if you’re dialling in espresso in gram increments.

But the main thing is usability - once you’ve used a few different types of scales, you really appreciate ones that are nice to use, and you’ll curse the buggy ones.

If I decide to upgrade after trying the Harios I’ll give you a shout.

I'd appreciate that thanks.

Haven’t had those issues with mine, though I just set the grinder on the scale, tare it and add my coffee beans. Mine goes to a tenth of a gram which is accurate enough for my tastes.

As I say, you’ll know good from bad ones once you’ve used both good and bad!

True that. When this one goes I’ll be in a right state.

And that’s the funny thing with scales - even if you buy the same model again, it may be better or worse!

#doit

I’ve gotten quite into drink espresso, (gin) and tonic - anyone tried this and would filter work as well?

Memo

3-D printed skinny Gaggia classic drip trays £10 posted

https://coffeeforums.co.uk/topic/50671-25mm-slim-gaggia-drip-trays/#comments

6mm OD stainless tubing for a new longer outlet pipe

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304-Stainless-Steel-Capillary-Tube-OD-6mm-x-4mm-ID-Length-250mm-Metal-Tool-D-NS/352807039654

Filter might get obliterated by the Tonic, you probably need the concentration of espresso. I tried the espresso tonic thing, didn’t really get it, but then I’ve never really got any cold coffee drinks.

Pm’d

Yeah probably right. I really enjoyed it and found it refreshing

I didn’t really either till I made iced pourover. Eg 40% of your water is ice and 60% is boiling water. Really enjoy that. But then, it’s hot where I am and iced coffee is very much appreciated.

Yeah iced filter is delicious, it’s just I never think ‘I really fancy an iced filter’. I think I just find regular coffee more satisfying. I’ll happily drink a hot coffee on a hot day. I tend to think that there are a million tasty cold drinks, there’s no need to mess with coffee to make it another because even at its best it’s still not quite right.

3-D printed skinny Gaggia classic drip trays

Is that you making those? I was thinking of doing something like that when I get back to work. I have the end of a roll of black PLA that would be ideal. I’d probably flame skin it with a blowtorch for added durability and put a finger indent in the bottom for easier fit/removal.

You might find that PLA would warp at temperatures you could expect it to be exposed to under a coffee machine. PLA glass point is only 60ish degrees.

I'd be very happy to cut you off a sufficient length of ABS or PETG and post it to you...