Coffee Appreciation

I had no idea that existed. Want.

AH philips electronics, so much potential but fall flat on their face when they actually release a product.

the temp scale is just marked in cups, not actual temperature, so its still just a guess. And as for the 360 pirotte base thing, now I may be wrong here, but haven't all kettles for the last 30years had that? Its like trying to big up marketing hype about cars having electric windows, just about every car going, even cheap shit boxes have electric windows since 1990!

AH philips electronics, so much potential but fall flat on their face when they actually release a product.

the temp scale is just marked in cups, not actual temperature, so its still just a guess. And as for the 360 pirotte base thing, now I may be wrong here, but haven't all kettles for the last 30years had that? Its like trying to big up marketing hype about cars having electric windows, just about every car going, even cheap shit boxes have electric windows since 1990!

is the cup indicator not to control the amount of water boiled? and philips did invent the cd.

although i agree, most of their stuff is shit and i think buying a most likely inaccurate, variable temperature expensive kettle is a bit dumb anyway..

also the bullshit on that page is particularly cringeworthy - sprung lid?? jesus christ..

don't phillips now own gaggia?

If the scale was marked in degrees it still wouldn't be accurate but if you used a thermometer the first few times and figured out the overshoot it would be pretty useful so long as it was consistent with a set water level. I get too many bad brews from guessing how much the water has cooled because I can't be bothered to get the thermometer out.

I've looked into fitting a PID controller to a kettle before to get an accurate temperature but never got round to it. That Philips thing could be a good compromise. Not sure how you heat just the amount of water you need other than filling it with the right amount in the first place like any other kettle. :/

Any recommendations of a good thermometer? I have a meat thermometer/timer but it doesn't work as a thermometer for some reason.

Any digital thermometer / meat probe / multimeter should do the job. Cheaper ones tend to be a bit slow that's all. I use a Fluke 50 which I got cheap from ebay.

bought a porlex mini - will head up to monmouth on thursday for some beans and try and source a kilner jar

plenty in pound shops

Fuck you, screw! ^

This valve in the middle seems to be venting on start up. Funny as I thought the one next to it on the right (anti siphon?) was supposed to be doing that.

Best Cappuccino by the King of the Cappuccino - YouTube

^^ nah you're alright, the middle one is the anti-vac, the one on the right is the safety valve.

^^ amazing looking cappuccino!

Re: Temp for aeropress
I thought the way to make 80c water was to boil it, then add 20% cold water. Its obviously not perfect, but should get it pretty close?

^^^ amazing!

^ depends on just how cold the cold water is tho no?

advice in this thread was to boil then leave for 3 mins.

In Notes Traf Sq the guy I asked said it wasn't so important...

p.s. I mixed 2 different mean types for todays flask. Does this count as a blend?

Just stumbled across Artisan in Putney. The area is very much growing on me. Particularly the opposite side of Upper Richmond Road to East Putney tube. Nice coffee shop, lovely staff, interesting beans, well prepped and not too badly priced drinks, two bike shops across the road and a Mexican takeaway on the way up. I'll take that.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377591/

if you turn right out of the station you've got soul brother records, top tunes and great, knowledgeable staff, you've also got valentinas if you need to pick up any italian deli bits and bobs on the way home

avoid the mexican!! fair few stories about dicky tummies from the guys in the bike shop after eating there. If you keep wandering down URR road for about 3 minutes then there's Talad Thai restaraunt and they have a great little thai supermarket 2 doors away as well

gonna go and try artisan after lunch, not been in there before

Ta for the local tips - though disappointed to hear about the Mexican :( Went into Valentina's the other day - expensive but nice stuff. And as I was turning in there I saw the record store in the distance - shall pop in later and have a nose around.

PS - 10p discount if you bring your own cup for a takeaway :)

Ok, Aeropress is in the bag. I am very impressed so far - even made a good cuppa out of shit coffee. Next is to source a grinder. Should I go for the small Porlex or the bigger one? Is it the small one that fits inside the Aeropress?

Porlex mini arrived today (next day delivery on royal mail signed for first class), went out and bought 200g of Monmouth Espresso Blend at lunch (could decide from all the options so went for that). Will try it all out when I get home. Actually quite excited.

I just did some more work on my Brugnetti. I replaced the leaky grouphead gasket, descaled the machine, and then cleaned the shower head and diffuser - both of which were black with remnant coffee bits. Check this out.

Bleargh.

I also followed a technique from the coffee-tips fairy and cleaned the burrs in my Porlex by grinding a load of Grape Nuts. Worked quite well actually.

Freshly ground coffee, clean machine, all set to go and........cue unpredictable spewing from the naked PF. Not a nice clean pour at all. Most of the online guides seem to indicate it's either grind, dose or tamp. Or all 3. Gah! Fucking coffee? How does it work?