Coffee Appreciation

I was looking at getting this a while back:

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/Technivorm-1-Litre-Coffee-Brewer.html

At nearly 200 smackeroos it's not cheap but by and large I hear that it's just about as good as there is. I fully expect bc to come now and correct me :)

And it looks cool.

Would a single filter be a better idea? Anything that sits and stews for a long time tends to get really bitter and horrible.

I understand the appeal of those but I grew up in the US where I grew to loathe drip brewed coffee. I don't think I've ever had good coffee from one of those, but, in fairness, that my have had more to do with the coffee rather than the machine.

i use a single filter now, the hario thing, and it sure makes good coffee but i'm after the sensation of it's-sunday-morning-and-i'm-pottering-about-in-my-underpants-while-the-coffee-is-brewing

For a Sunday-morning-large-pot experience, my preference would be to buy a large cafetiere and decant the coffee into an insulated jug once it had been brewed.

Or you could go for a big Chemex, my girlfriend bought me one for Christmas and its lovely to be able to make 2-3 cups of fantastic coffee in one go

On a different note it would be useful to provide a quick update on the Brugnetti Simona that bombcup pointed me to when it popped up on eBay. In brief, I am seriously happy with this machine.

I acquired a naked portafilter and new head gasket that I installed after cleaning the residue from the shower head. It's taken me a couple of months learning what works best with the machine in terms of dose, tamp, grind and process. I have only been using Monmouth espresso up until now as I wanted to keep things consistent while I was getting things dialled in.

It's been a vast improvement over my old machine however I'd been finding the coffees a little bland so I decided to change the beans. I picked up some Santos High Roast from Algerian Coffee Shops instead. I'd used it before in my old machine and really liked the flavour. My palate has always been drawn to the really dark and oily espresso roasts anyway. In the Brugnetti the beans have been a complete revelation. This is what I'm getting for shots now

Looks like Guinness straight from St. James' Gate. Chocolatey and with good bite. Awesome. That is what I wanted to get when I splashed out on the machine.

Glad you're happy with your machine, a heavy sturdy machine made from commercial parts is a huge step up from the entry level machines in terms of performance isn't it?

+1 for the Technivorm filter machine, it's really the only one worth considering. Most of those machines don't heat the water high enough or shower the water evenly. Still avoid Technivorms with a hotplate and get one with a thermos. They come up regularly on ebay for a steal.

Glad you're happy with your machine, a heavy sturdy machine made from commercial parts is a huge step up from the entry level machines in terms of performance isn't it?

Huge. Worth every penny.

My goodness I've got some free time at home - so here's my setup; a few nice coffees, scales and a serious grinder.

Someone earlier on was talking about that Krups grinder - I've just bought one. I'm pretty happy with it. It is noisy, but I can put up with 20 seconds of noise - it's not like it runs all day long.

+1 for the Technivorm filter machine, it's really the only one worth considering. Most of those machines don't heat the water high enough or shower the water evenly. Still avoid Technivorms with a hotplate and get one with a thermos. They come up regularly on ebay for a steal.

this looks worth the monies. shame / glad it's january and i've put a shopping ban on myself

^This. Best £30 you can spend that will give you the biggest improvement in coffee.

Thirded. I got a Porlex Mini grinder from creamsupplies and it's bloody brilliant. Great grind, and the design means you can tip straight into the portafilter. Makes smashing shots with my Gaggia Classic.

I'm making a portafilter pressure gauge for my Classic if anyone is interested by the way. I'm going to set the OPV to get the pressure correct, finally.

On the subject if beans currently, I've been using Monmouth's Espresso Blend, Brasilian Santo, and one of the Kenyans. All are fantastic and easy to get a good shot from.

I'm going to re-evaluate Square Mile's new version of Red Brick as I had one bag which was sour as hell. It's a lighter roast, and I don't think I did it justice (it was very easy to underextract).

I think there's also an adjustment you can make to regulate how much water you get per shot. Someone posted something like that around here somewhere a while back. May or may not have been a Classic though. Memory is too fuzzy to be useful I'm afraid.

they've changed the blend on it - I must admit I didn't like the initial 3 bean blend but the new 2 bean blend is miles [sorry] better

Wish I'd read this about Red Brick earlier! Some of the shots I pulled were rancid!

I think there's also an adjustment you can make to regulate how much water you get per shot. Someone posted something like that around here somewhere a while back. May or may not have been a Classic though. Memory is too fuzzy to be useful I'm afraid.

Adjusting the boiler pressure would change the shot volume.

http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1175171794

http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1143118905/0

*Yep I can help with this one. The adjustment is hidden inside the OPV. You first have to identify the OPV which is attached to the inlet of the boiler. The pump feeds directly into it. There is a pipe that comes off the top and feeds back into the reservoir. That return pipe (silicone rubber) is attached to a hexagonal nut that you must remove to reveal the OPV adjustment. Then you'll need an allen key (either 3 or 4 mm) to adjust the OPV setting. I used a 270 degree turn anti-clockwise. That lessens the spring tension. I didn't have a pressure gauge at the time, so I used a blind filter basket and calibrated the OPV setting using the return flow rate when the pump is on. It should be about 100 ml in 30 sec. You can check the ULKA site for their pump specs, the flow rate vs pressure curves are there. After you get it about right, you can tweak it until you get what you want.

The result of my modification was amasingly thick crema, coming out like treacle, sometimes in globs. I know from my Faema Family, that this pressure corresponds to about 8.5-9 bar. This was the biggest difference in the Classic vs Silvia shootout I found. The Silvia's higher brew pressure made thinner crema for ristretto pours (30 ml in 30 sec from a double basket).*

I started out with that krups grinder, it's ok but generates lots of coffee dust even on coarsest setting.

Would go porlex if I hadn't picked up a 2nd hand zassenhaus off this ere very thread.

I did the adjustment thing on hippy's old Classic. Quite easy to do.

About this Porlex. Isn't it a bit of a pain in the ass to do 100 turns of the handle?

Not if you attach the handle to a drill ;-)

Upper body and core workout.. I do 50 grinds with right and then 50 grinds with the left for balance..

But Porlex is only for travel/holiday coffee needs for me.

Just got a porlex for chrimbo but not used it yet.

What is a good starting point for the grind setting to pair with an aeropress?

I assume the only way to accurately guage the setting is to tighten closed then count the clicks as you unscrew it. so how many clicks are we talking for a good basepoint?

How much coffee do you drink in a day? 2-3 per day? It's less of a faff than you think. And besides, upper body and core work out. To the max!

Chris, I think we need to talk about your training regime if turning a coffee grinder is a maximum effort workout!

Meh. Just made a coffee. I need nap and a recovery protein drink.

Just got a porlex for chrimbo but not used it yet.

What is a good starting point for the grind setting to pair with an aeropress?

I assume the only way to accurately guage the setting is to tighten closed then count the clicks as you unscrew it. so how many clicks are we talking for a good basepoint?

Mrs Brave got me a Porlex for Xmas as well.. I've got it 5 clicks "loose" for Aeropress..