Coffee Appreciation

Single hole is considered easier for the unskilled I am guessing?

It works more slowly so gives you more time to get it right, also easier since there's not steam coming out in multiple directions. Not so good in a busy cafe though.

Hmm, this is the chap who made that video you sent me the link to.

Looks like the three-hole wand tip is not the best.

Yeah, I don't like the odd ones since every time you lean the milk pitcher a different bloody hole is exposed, fucking up the process.

I used to unscrew mine and stick toothpicks in the back of some of the holes.

http://www.bellabarista.co.uk/ sell replacements or you can just drill a rounded-end nut.

Are they a standard thread, i.e. any one of the ones on Bella Barista will fit?

I need to get a blanking plate/basket thing and a spring to hold the baskets in also.

Not sure. Check that guys thread to see if he mentions thread type.

He does, however he is talking about a Pavoni, which is meant to be identical parts-wise, but...

Butt.

Thermometer is an essential for steaming milk, guesswork just doesn't cut it!

I disagree.

It's not guesswork anyway. Your hands are quite sensitive to temp changes.

The little circlip style spring things, should there be a little channel in the portafilter head for it to fit into?

Hmmm in a test your hands wouldn't accurate compared to a thermometer.
10 degree (F) can make a huge difference in the taste of the milk and can happen very quickly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUqkbcdw5aA

^ That's the 2009 world barista champion Gwilym.. with no thermo.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI3DPAba9bA&playnext=1&list=PLB75DC29DE34EF59F&index=53"]YouTube
&playnext=1&v=dI3DPAba9bA - Copenhagen's World Barista Championship, 24 June 2008[/ame]

2008 World Barista champs, no thermo

The little circlip style spring things, should there be a little channel in the portafilter head for it to fit into?

Maybe not, pavonis, peppinas, caravels, most home levers never had a springclip for the basket. PITA. Put the tip of your thumb on the edge of the basket when you knock it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoJZfxYBF0Y

2003 WBC, no thermo.

Maybe not, pavonis, peppinas, caravels, most home levers never had a springclip for the basket. PITA. Put the tip of your thumb on the edge of the basket when you knock it.

Gaggia doesn't. I just make sure and knock the one at work right on the edge of the basket. Easy. The Bezzera does and it falls out all the time anyway :)

Maybe not, pavonis, peppinas, caravels, most home levers never had a springclip for the basket. PITA. Put the tip of your thumb on the edge of the basket when you knock it.

Arse, oh well. From Googling it looks like my p/f is a 51mm, are they all interchangeable as long as you get the same size?

i.e. I could get a p/f with a circlip, and use that?

The one I used to use at work required sticking a knife blade under the edge of the basket and levering it out, they were in hard.

You could slam them on the bar, never came out.

So because the absolute top Baristas in the world can froth milk (very) successfully without a thermo, that means that total amateurs shouldn't use it as a training tool?
I don't make hundreds of cappas a week, therefore I need all the help I can get to nail the drinks I make.

dunno about that, I'm not sure any other machine uses 51mm handles. It's probably not really worth the energy, you'll get used to it. I use a Peppina at home and don't worry about it, I just hold the basket in with my thumb.

So because the absolute top Baristas in the world can froth milk (very) successfully without a thermo, that means that total amateurs shouldn't use it as a training tool?
I don't make hundreds of cappas a week, therefore I need all the help I can get to nail the drinks I make.

Maybe you should read my post again.

"I've got one off ebay for a tenner but don't use it much now (every now and then to check my method). Generally when it starts to warm - that's your stretching done and when it's getting to be too hot to touch, you're all done."

I have a thermo. I used it to measure temps and now just use my hands because I can. I don't see why other people couldn't do the same and those videos basically show this reasoning to be the case.

I'm in tokyo at the moment. i've just had the most insanely unique, unbelievably incredible cup of coffee i've ever tasted. made with vintage colombian coffee beans from 1970. utterly unlike any coffee i've ever tasted. if you're ever I'm tokyo, hit up cafe de l'ambre in ginza. but... £7 for a demitasse of the stuff...

Upgrade ^^ Anyone want a 1 group, tank-fill Bezzera? :)

I'm in tokyo at the moment. i've just had the most insanely unique, unbelievably incredible cup of coffee i've ever tasted. made with vintage colombian coffee beans from 1970. utterly unlike any coffee i've ever tasted. if you're ever I'm tokyo, hit up cafe de l'ambre in ginza. but... £7 for a demitasse of the stuff...

I can see nothing has changed in Japan...

hey my mate fabio has just opened a new coffee house on st martins lane called Notes (bottom of the hill next to the royal haymarket). He's got the only machine of it's kind (i say kind i mean stature) in the country so go grab a brew (tea is also pretty sick there).

FYI he was Brazil's barista of the year 2007 and is still 'pretty decent' (by that I mean up there with Gwilym etc.)