Coffee Appreciation

A friend used to use one on a chemex. Flavour was good but he always said it was a PIA to clean each time.

I’ve used them a couple of times. Yes they are good, but susceptible to varying quality if not cleaned well, and I’ve never kept one in a good enough condition for long enough for it to be a real cash saving (given they aren’t that cheap to start with).

Best way to store is in a bag in the freezer to stop it getting funky, otherwise your coffee all starts tasting the same and bad. Also requires slight adjustment to grind I found

I bought one of these on your recommendation and it's as good as I hoped. Makes the porelex feel like a toy.

Got the G105

I’ve gotten into looooong preinfusion lately so getting 34g+ but on a normal pull 28-30g out was pretty standard. I swap the cup out when it hits 30g regardless.

What's the best hand grinder for brew methods wrt distribution? Would love to get a flat burr home grinder but I only make coffee at work so would be pointless. Are there any hand grinders that could work in the office that come close?

Does anyone have a hand grinder that want to offload? Nothing fancy, for filter only.

Buzzing. Honestly I knew nothing about them until a mate bought one and I followed suit to replace my hario. Really impressive for the money IMO.

Are @taogeogheganhart may have to make winning the Giro his second greatest achievement. Bidon x Cleverdripper travel coffee hack

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ca3-ZEFDGV-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Nice idea but not sure the plastic leaching from the heat will be pleasant?

No more so than a plastic v60 I'd imagine. Genius tbh

I wouldn’t be so sure considering how bad some of my bidons make water taste after just a short while!

Upgraded my coffee at work from whatever ground coffee Pret sell to Brasil Mantiquiera de Minas from Yellow Bourbon. Lovely.

Surprised how fine the "cafetiere" grind is, bought pre ground as there isn't a coffee grinder in the office. Seems to turn out good, though. Maybe I need to set the grind a bit finer on my home machine.

How often should I be descaling my gaggia classic?

Depends how hard/soft the water is in your area. Mine was from that there London so I descaled it a few times to get it going but our water up here means I did it once a year at best. I've paused the espresso life but will descale it again before it gets used again.

You could slice our water

If you have a kettle, use that as a guide.
If there is scale on the element, there will be scale in the coffee machine (this assumes similar levels of use)

I have a kilo bag of citric acid powder and I descale (filter) machine and kettle every other month or so.
Coffee machine also has a light to tell me to descale it (this is purely based on uses rather than detectors, and is set to "hardest water" frequency)

I don't know if this equates to espresso machines as I don't have one

I do mine nominally monthly, which probably translates to every 6-8 weeks once real life gets in the way. You'll only have to fuck about taking out and clearing the solenoid once when all you want is an espresso for it to be a time effective saving.

Right sounds like it might need descaling then.

I’ll have a look on YouTube for instructions.

You'll only have to fuck about taking out and clearing the solenoid once

I remember having to do this too. Strangely satisfying, but not keen to repeat.

There is definitely something reassuring about satisfying yourself that any part on something is user maintainable, but it is unquestionably a faff. It frustratingly for me seemed to happen after a descale (presumably down to freeing a piece of scale upstream of it in the machine).

You can use normal appliance descaler from the supermarket if you want to do it immediately, but it is only citric acid. Get a kilo tub of citric acid off eBay and it'll last you an age.

Isn't the Gaggia Classic the one where you're supposed to use tartaric acid (or perhaps a mix) because the boiler is aluminium?

Or is that an old wives' tale and/or an excuse for Gaggia to sell special descaler?

Yes I’d heard this too
I’m using lactic acid on mine. Can’t remember why - did my homework at the time and have been using this stuff for a fair few years. https://www.descaler.co.uk/eccellente-lactic-descaler-500ml.html

Can anyone here recommend good places for coffee in Cheltenham or Tewkesbury please?