Coffee Appreciation

I bet it did, but respectfully, mangosteen as a tasting note lol?! These roasters are getting too much.

Okay edit apparently it grows in Colombia and given the coffee is Colombian, I'll let them off.

Needed a bag and grabbed this from the local cafe.

It’s banging! And interesting!
https://www.northstarroast.com/en-gb/products/rwanda-cyato-pineapple-anaerobic-natural?variant=44705265844453

Sweven is banging out some really good coffee.

After sucking off Dark Arts for the last couple of years I've started branching out a lot more and European roasters seem to be doing an incredible job at a more reasonable price.

Your jaw must be aching. Two years, jesus...

You get used to it after a couple of weeks

If you're on the continent, this guy does great coffee: https://www.saintromaincoffee.com/

Currently got a couple of bags of his washed Yirgacheffe (one roasted for filter, the other espresso) and one of his collabs; all excellent. Super nice bloke if you catch him at the market or his place.

They didn’t have any to buy but I would have if they did even with the £££ price tag

It’s alive!

1 Attachment

Niiiiiiice! Tell me everything

Machine was stock so the improvement is craaaazzzy, mainly not obliterating the puck with 11 bars.

Haven’t ventured past the 1st default profile while I unlearn all I did to mitigate high pressure.

Steam is much much better than stock but still limited by thermodynamics, so whist quicker and more powerful you still need to wait for boiler to change temp, a pain for multiple milk drinks.

1 Attachment

What the heck is this, and where do I get one.

11 bar Gaggia misery!

https://gaggiuino.github.io/

Looks fun - I miss my modded gaggia!

Cheers! How long did it take to do the mod?

It was great fun! Took my time and enjoyed the process.

Reckon I spent 2-3 hours preparing wiring (cutting, crimping, soldering) and 1-2 hours assembling. I have a basic formal background (albeit 20 years ago) in engineering and electronics, so YMMV. Instructions aren't the clearest but after reading them a few times and familiarising myself with internals it was ok, less paint by numbers, more a puzzle with tasty coffee as the reward.

This is what I needed to hear. I have the PID kit to fit, and felt jealous of your rig. Quite happy to be reminded it’s probably above my station !

Looks and sounds fantastic tho.

If we're recommending European roasters then I've had some excellent coffees from Dak coffee roasters recently. I'm lucky that a local cafe stocks them so I have tried quite a few as pour overs recently. Good if you like unusual flavours!

Ive got the Peach Slap from DAK at the moment, its great. If anyones in east then Batch Baby/Paradox/Daze have great selections. Also big recommendation to Daze if anyone wants to try a new cafe. Its based out of NTs loft and opened a few weeks ago as the love child of BB and Paradox. Its a great space during the day

Yeah I tried Dak at Paradox (think i posted about it here too). Them and Batchbaby are my fave coffee shops for trying new and interesting roasters.

I do find getting it posted to UK can be ££

Ah thats a nice recco, I'm going to try it out!

Finally used the Aromaboy just now.

Flushed through twice as per instructions then first brew. It is very quick. Brew didn't overflow or seep through so I reckon the grind was close enough to ok.

Tastes on a par with my daily hurried v60* so no grumbles at all.

'* The Aromaboy jug also hold the v60 perfectly for those brews too.

I have a minter of a La Pavoni Europiccola for sale if anyone is interested. All seals replaced with silicone and a pressure gauge fitted. Shameless plug!

1 Attachment

Aromaboy update, the brews are condistently fine, using 18g to 320ml same as I would a v60.

The max line is 330ml which did have me wondering if there's scope to do other stuff using cans of beer or fizzy pop,would need a second machine I'm prepare to destroy for that line to be explored.

The way the water drops in digs out a hole in the centre of the grinds. I placed an aeropress filter paper on top of the grinds and this works to reduces the impact.

I'm not sure how much this improves things though but it looks better.

I will start to tinker with grind size and dose eventually.

My only good coffee place in walking distance is closing this weekend, which has renewed my interest in home espresso.

Won’t see daily use, mainly for making weekend flat whites, so I’d like to keep the budget definitely under £1000 and preferably around £500 if possible.

My grinder won’t do espresso grind and I’m not sure I have the counter space for espresso machine and a 2nd electric grinder, so I’ll go with a hand grinder. 1zpresso J max looks good, any other options?

For the machine I’m leaning towards Gaggia Classic/Pro. Ideally I can find a used one and maybe mod it with the Gagguino kit.

Does that seem a reasonable approach or are there better options?

Why not have one electric grinder that does it all? Can recommend a Lagom Mini highly