Coffee Appreciation

it looks sometimes like the skin is formed as it hits the coffee, as if the difference in temp creates the skinning effect in the milk. Not sure if true but seems that way sometimes, will check and see if I have a strainer and give it a go next time..

I just used the very last of the milk to make my first coffee of the day, essentially a machiato I suppose- which I never normally drink.

Actually very enjoyable, well done me for forgetting to buy milk yesterday and therefore trying new things today.

.

Thats almost the price of a Gaggia Classic refurb on Amazon!

0_o

Are there any decent coffee shops on Fulham Road or Kings Road?

http://thecoffeemachinelondon.co.uk/

Just bought the rankest coffee known to man, ordered a cappuccino from a bakery on the corner next to my work (bloomers bakery in south croydon).

Now i never expected perfection in a grubby bakery that charges £1.40 for a coffee but they have a gaggia machine so I figured it might be passable and I needed the caffeine but after I'd paid and been handed my drink and was walking out of the shop I took a closer look at the machine and fuck me I realised something.

THEY DON'T WIPE OFF THE MILK WAND

the foam from my drink was slowly dripping off it still and it was completely caked in old brown burnt milk and it had built up so much it was as thick as a fucking corn dog (the fatty snack food not the OG souths drinks fella).

boik

by this point they'd disappeared out the back for something so rather than hang around and argue their disgusting hygiene I just dumped it in the bin and left so I wasn't late for work.

funniest thing was they had a hygiene certificate above the till which i'd also noticed which rated them 5 out of 5. I can only imagine this means infractions and one more will see them shut down.

^ report them to Env Health?

A local Irish centre here has a similar build up on their steam wand, thankfully I've only been there for booze.

That hygiene test is a joke- they allow you to sit the test in a group, I've had staff who speak no English pass the written test as they simply copied the answers from the guy next to them.

Even the ones who spoke and read English just said what they had to in order to pass the test- these are chefs who simply do not believe in bacteria as they cannot see them.

Rashid used to (unless you watched him) cut up raw chicken, then wipe the knife on his apron before using it to chop salad.

When pulled up on this he would point to the knife blade saying "is clean chef! look is clean!", as he had wiped the visible gore off.

I bought some of this in desperation Sunday morning - 'Finest' isn't an adjective I'd use :/

http://www.coffeejudge.co.uk/tesco-finest-colombian-supremo-coffee

I tried this. My blend was/is so awful http://eightpointnine.com/
Sumatran 66%
Colombian 28%
Brazilian 6%

New coffee shop opened up next to Kentish Town West station.

Giving out free coffees to those who work in KT today. (Rapha lot >>>>>>>>)

Could be a great place for coffee for me (and my office) but found it a little awkward/uncomfortable.
Also my coffee tasted a little acidic. For now I'll stick to Le Peche Mignon outside my flat.

Charcoal heated espresso machine in Mogadishu.

From:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19961266

Just got back from Mr Wolfe's in Hove (actually)...

Good coffee and a lovely brownie!

Gaggia classic, silvia steam wand, happy donkey bottomless portafilter ordered. boom!

was tempted by the rancilio silvia instead but i think i'll put the money towards a decent grinder instead. esp. as I couldn't find a decent retailer who wasn't charging the earth for it.

in Hove (actually)...
Pedant : )

Anyway, it's a BN1 postcode so that's Brighton enough for me.

Wish I lived closer to it. Photos look lovely. Leafy Montpelier isn't far though. A quick cycle at worst. But the convenience of Coffee @ 33 practically downstairs is hard to beat.

I've just had a sachet of coffee which looked a bit like one of those filter pod things.

The ingredients were: coffee, sugar, margarine, salt.

Tastes like... oilyier Nescafe.

sounds like Tim's

shvrshvr

Nan Yang.

I'm going to go and see if I can pick up some ground beans this week. Should have brought my aeropress : (

Oh god yes, all the coffee I found in Malaysia had margarine in it.. wtf?

Yet apparently there's a, relatively, thriving australian coffee scene in the region. can't say i've found anything yet.

according to hdnl my gaggia classic has been delivered to 'front porch'

I live in a block of flats so i will be hotfooting it home tonight and hoping it's still there.

fuck!

I bought some of this in desperation Sunday morning - 'Finest' isn't an adjective I'd use :/

http://www.coffeejudge.co.uk/tesco-finest-colombian-supremo-coffee

Bought this too for work! It was half price at around £1.70, and I noticed the best before date was October next year, suggesting it probably hadn't been sitting on the shelf long, at least.

It's over roasted. Not great in espresso, but I got decent crema which suggests its reasonably fresh. The slight acrid taste goes away in the Aeropress and results in something which tastes quite similar to a Costa coffee. Can't complain for 10p worth of beans versus £2. It's very oily.

Just got a few bags from Climpson's. Summer Espresso Blend is great. Very balanced; it's got fruit, chocolate, and just the right acidity. The Baron is very dark, but not oily. It pours like treacle, and tastes slightly treacly too. Better with more milk as its a really strong taste. Haven't tried it straight yet, but guessing it'll be more like a traditional espresso.

Gaggia classic, silvia steam wand, happy donkey bottomless portafilter ordered. boom!

was tempted by the rancilio silvia instead but i think i'll put the money towards a decent grinder instead. esp. as I couldn't find a decent retailer who wasn't charging the earth for it.

You'll be needing this. http://coffeegeek.com/forums/espresso/machinemods/515715

^i read that this is a contentious mod as some people say it doesn't make that much difference

As I've mentioned before, I've got a pressure gauge rig if anyone ever needs to borrow it.

I'd say it's probably worth doing as you'll be brewing beans at the sort of grind that they were roasted for. The tighter grind for higher pressure means more extraction.

That said, when you first get your machine, you'll be fannying around with lots of variables until you get consisten pours.

Those half price beans from Tesco would be decent for making shots for pouring down the sink.

Also, getting the temp right is probably more important. For a quicker warm up, leave it in steam mode for five minutes, then switch to boil mode and flush out the hot water for about five seconds. Then just wait for the start of another boiler cycle before brewing (element light goes out for a few seconds, then on again to indicate that target temperature has been met, and element is off).

@HB, it's the only way I could get any shot using the bottomless porta filter.