Coffee Appreciation

rich how much liquid are you extracting from the coffee?

I use 18-19g in a double basket and extract between 22g and 27g of coffee depending on the coffee (lower end if it's a dark roast), aiming to get that amount out in between 25 and 40 seconds by varying the grind.

in terms of volume it's hard to say exactly how much that would be if pulled straight into a cup because of crema being quite variable but it's roughly about a single shot glass (not all the way to the brim though)

if you have scales but they don't fit under the grouphead/cup you can try weighing the shot after you've pulled it to get a rough idea of how much you are getting out.

but it's perfectly fine if you don't get any coffee out in the first 10-12 seconds if you're going for a slower shot, but if it goes on much longer than that without anything coming out you've choked the machine and need to reduce the dose slightly (given you're using pre-ground and cant change the grind instead)

the rate of flow will vary from day to day for the same bean and grind size. there is also huge variation in how different coffees.

comparing wildly different weights of different coffees will not be particularly useful.

some baristas are very particular about both grind size and weight of coffee as these two things can be tweaked to ensure the rate of extraction is correct. test shots get pulled throughout the day and if the timing for the shots has varied too much they will make adjustments accordingly.

if your coffee is pre ground it will age quickly and this will also change its characteristics once the bag is opened.

some? Hopefully all baristas do that.

i don't see many weighing the grounds, timing the shot and checking its weight.

some do it visually

but in many shit coffee shops the staff don't make any adjustments, instead they assume the doses from the grinder are accurate (which is an utter myth)

like all things with enough repetition you will be able to get a better feel for these things and be less reliant on exact measures,

when I worked in a bar many years ago you were allowed to freepour spirits but only if you sat down with the boss at the start of your shift and were able to to correctly pour 8 shots at varying amounts into test-tubes which had the markings obscured. if you got it wrong you had to use the jiggers to measure the shots that night. most if not all barstaff who wanted to freepour would get it spot on every single night purely because they were practised in it.

if you mean weighing for every shot? Then it's impossible when busy, because the vast majority of customers care more that their coffee isn't horrible and it quickly rather than perfect and slowly, although I think Prufrock might. When tamping it is very easy to feel if there is less or more than their should be anyway. Timing should be done every time, some machines have timers built into each group so that's easy, but again, when you're making shot after shot it is easy to tell if one has come through too quick or slow, and not just from the time, the colour, how it sits in the cup and the crema also make it obvious.
If you're buying coffee in a shit place, expect it to be shit, simple.

Just wound back my boiler pressure to 1 bar, from 1.5.

Going to try a longer pre-infusion, and possibly a "Fellini" pull.

Reducing the pressure has meant that foaming is slightly diifferent.

A friend of mine just pointed me to this after he'd had a less than perfect cholesterol test result back..

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070614162223.htm

*Moore’s interest in cafestol began several years ago when his wife read an article on coffee’s effect on cholesterol. She suggested that he might change his brewing method, which involved a permanent coffee filter. The paper filters, the article suggested, removed the coffee oils, which contain cafestol.

*No idea whether the evidence stacks up but it could convince me to move to paper filters on the aeropress rather than the reusable metal filter I use now. Anyone heard of this before?

That's news to me. It's all swings and roundabouts with non-concrete evidence though. Apparently black coffee reduces the chances of developing prostate cancer too.

I think cycling and a moderately healthy diet should offset any ill effects of the cholesterol. It's hardly like chugging margarine.

Thanks for the Gaggia Dammit, given it a quick preliminary strip down and clean and will investigate the fixing/replacement parts soon.

Awesome- glad to hear that it will be used for it's intended purpose, rather than simply being a somewhat over-specified shelf.

@Hatbeard

I am extracting 2x 2oz shot glasses each time. The rate of extraction for the Lavazzza was considerably slower than that of the Small Batch.

Lavazza was 18g and took probably about 40-50 seconds
Small Batch was 12g and took about 20 seconds

I guess that is down to the grind of the two different varieties. At the moment we are yet to get a grinder and take control of that aspect of production.

In terms of taste the small batch was by far the best, but the Lavazza has been open a couple of days.

I guess with pre-ground coffee the rate of degradation rapid. Therefore I think that I need tips to keep a consistently good brew with pre ground of a single varitey. I am getting there but tips would be useful.

I keep the grounds in an airtight container in the freezer, good, bad, suggestions?

Bad

Grounds will pick up moisture and flavours from a fridge or freezer.

Airtight jar is probably best.

I keep whole beans in freezer up to two weeks, while going through the other half bag.
Pre-grinding and then storing would be a bad idea.

Got my third gaggia classic since Xmas on saturday, and so far, so good - no problems with it (touch wood).

My shots are coming through pretty fast using the grind I've got at the moment, however, I find if i take the porlex to the next finest grind, the shots come through really really slow. Should I just be tamping the grind I've got at the moment a bit more / harder?

Try upping the dose by a gram?

It's good to keep tamping at a constant and adjust grind and dose

Hello Caffeinds - has anyone got a Union discount code going spare?

If so, please PM me. I've got a generic ridgeless double basket (58mm) to give away if that's any incentive. Thanks!

sorry to keep banging on about this but it is the talking point in the office today as people desperately search for an alternative to french press..

found here:

COFFEE PREP Negative/Positive Effects on the Body
Turkish Contains the highest amount of caffeine - about 200 *mg, about *6 *mg cafestol and kahweol. Not recommended if high cholesterol is a concern. Those sensitive to caffeine should drink this coffee till the afternoon, if you wish in early evening. Drinking this coffee late at night may disrupt sleep.

Filter/Percolator Contains about 160 *mg of caffeine. Your coffee through a filter removes cafestol and kahweol, leaving 1 mg; the amount does not cause an increase in *LDL.

Espresso Contains 75 mg of caffeine - a relatively large amount for a small glass, only 1 mg cafestol and kahweol. A lot of caffeine can increase stress, contribute to a sense of tension and discomfort to the body, increase heart rate and raise blood pressure. Espresso linked to negligible increase in cholesterol.

Low-fat latte or cappuccino on low-fat milk Latte contains 1⁄4 espresso and 3⁄4 milk - a cappuccino has 1/4 espresso, one half regular milk and a forth frothed milk. They contain about *75 mg and 1 * mg cafestol cafestol and kahweol. 200 ml milk supply about 20% of the recommended amount of calcium per day for adults. Drink contains about *80 calories, but not problematic for high cholesterol.

Instant coffee, regular or grainy Contains 100 mg of caffeine and does not contain cafestol and kahweol. High caffeine is*still*at*such*a*level,*it’s better to drink it until the early evening, to maintain quality of sleep. Suitable levels for increased cholesterol.

Decaffeinated coffee Contains about 15 mg of caffeine, without cafestol and kahweol. Suitable levels of increased cholesterol. You can drink it at night. In a French trial it was discovered that decaffeinated coffee made from green coffee beans contain an active substance called chlorogenic acid. This acid interferes with the breakdown of glucose in the liver and helps balance the blood glucose level. If your glucose level is high, you might prefer decaffeinated coffee.

Mocha pot Contains a high amount of caffeine, about 120 *mg, about 6 *mg cafestol and kahweol. Not recommended if high cholesterol is a concern. Those sensitive to caffeine should drink only until the afternoon.

Seems Square Mile did Sweet Shop again. Missed it last time but managed to get some from TSB Liverpool St.
My my, I love it. Fruity when black, amazing nuttyness with milk.

Smithchild, definitely try Aeropress with filters, or try V60 pour-over. Pretty sure paper filters are preferred by most people in the trade. Just make sure you rinse them with hot water first.

Or if you mean for the office you could get into a 6-cup Chemex? Or maybe even go nuts and get a batch brewer?

Smithchild - interesting info there, nice to see the mocha pot is the bad motherfucker I always thought it was...

If you're after an alternative to French press, pour over or aeropress?

That study is kind of pointless without stated volumes.

I'd say drip is the bad boy here, who only has 8 ounces of regular coffee?
Moka has a higher percentage, but most just people take 3 ounces per hit anyway.

Regardless, the study itself mentions that cholesterol may not be the bugbear that it's made out to be.

Yeah this is really messy, I just had a look at the full paper and the samples were taken from 120ml cups from retailers in Singapore, Indonesia and India (if I've read it correctly). This should be done in a lab!

Also:

All retailers used ground coffee as the main source with the exception of two Singapore-Indian retailers who used instant coffee. The filtration methods used varied between countries. All ground coffee in Singapore was filtered using the 'sock' (nylon/cotton mesh) method, whereas a metal mesh filter was used in India and a combination of the 'sock', metal mesh and unfiltered methods in Indonesia.

Other methods (espresso and moka pot) seem to have been taken from previous studies.

When I got to this bit I decided "fuck this":

Additives such as margarine and corn were added to the ground coffee at the distributor level and served at Singapore-Chinese and Singapore-Malay retailers only. Chicory was another additive in ground coffee served in Singapore-Indian and Indian retailers (70% coffee beans and 30% chicory in one sample). Samples from Indonesia did not contain additives

so differently processed coffee's contain different stuff?

What do you mean?