Coffee Appreciation

I'm sure your double caramel 18oz vanilla latte macchiato with 1 shot regular and 2 shots decafe extra hot and extra wet was prepared to perfection.

I was joking, the last time I was in starbucks there was a toe nail in my drink.

you could have at least let the barista finish mixing the drink.

I'm sure your double caramel 18oz vanilla latte macchiato with 1 shot regular and 2 shots decafe extra hot and extra wet was prepared to perfection.

I got a double macchiato from starbucks in London Bridge station this morning whilst waiting for a train to start my ride for the day.

Don;t think I got any caffeine hit off it, and it tasted very odd, certainly not like coffee. More like caramel or something. Plus they insisted on writing my name on the cup even though i was the only person in the queue / waiting for a drink. £1.75 down the shitter.

It's pretty similar to starting in on the Malibu- achieves your rough goal, but cannot be considered a pleasant way of getting there.

I picked up a bag of Red Brick on Sunday (I've not had it before), have to say that I'm pretty unimpressed so far. My machine/technique are both quite basic but I'm finding it quite bland. I've only made milk drinks so far and it seems to lack the punch to cut through the milk. Any advice on what I'm doing wrong?

Also I'm thinking about an upgrade for my little Gaggia Evolution, the idea of a manual machine is quite appealing at the moment. Does anyone have any experience with smaller lever machines? Any advice Dammit? From what I've read so far one of their drawbacks is the inability to pull successive shots without over heating but this won't affect me as I rarely make more than1 cup.

Thanks

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^^ I've discussed Red Brick (and Sweet Shop, ignoring the fact that the blends do change with time) and have come to the conclusion that they are not the easiest beans to brew. A good cafe should be able to pour either of these, and they'll likely taste brilliant, though I personally think their acidity lends them to taste best with milk.

If you are using a small boiler machine, then I'd try to see if it tastes any better if you start the brew at the top of the temperature cycle, after making sure the machine has had a good ten minutes or so to warm up, plus a small flush.

wrote out some instructions for using my gaggia and now my gf is teaching herself how to use it.

she's doing pretty well so far. soon i might be able to get a passable coffee at home without having to make it myself

#win

I picked up a bag of Red Brick on Sunday (I've not had it before), have to say that I'm pretty unimpressed so far. My machine/technique are both quite basic but I'm finding it quite bland. I've only made milk drinks so far and it seems to lack the punch to cut through the milk. Any advice on what I'm doing wrong?

What grinder are you using? I've been through a few bags and really like it.

To get the best out of it (IMO) it needs to be ground quite fine, it makes an awesome ristretto. If you don't grind it fine enough it becomes somewhat average. I've heard that Square Mile generally is better ground more finely because of the way they roast, I don't know if this is true.

If you have a cheaper coffee machine it may choke at the optimum grind setting. Have you tried it as espresso? Personally I always have to know that I've got my espresso dialled in before I start adding milk. I've always stuck to their recommendations on weight and length of pour (18 grams/28 seconds).

Grinder is a porlex mini, I'll try making the grind a bit finer but as you mention it has a habit of chocking the machine up.

The flat white I had in Prufrock was delicious, quite acidic but very tasty, I'll keep on tweaking things and hopefully get a bit closer to their cup.

Thanks for the help

www.yourgrind.com and enter voucher code ‘freshcoffeegiveaway’

More free coffee codes

Thanks, given it a go for my cafetiere at work.

I picked up a bag of Red Brick on Sunday (I've not had it before), have to say that I'm pretty unimpressed so far. My machine/technique are both quite basic but I'm finding it quite bland. I've only made milk drinks so far and it seems to lack the punch to cut through the milk. Any advice on what I'm doing wrong?

Also I'm thinking about an upgrade for my little Gaggia Evolution, the idea of a manual machine is quite appealing at the moment. Does anyone have any experience with smaller lever machines? Any advice Dammit? From what I've read so far one of their drawbacks is the inability to pull successive shots without over heating but this won't affect me as I rarely make more than1 cup.

Thanks

Are you making an espresso with the Gaggia? How much are you putting in the basket? How long is it taking to come through?

Yes
17g
20ish seconds normally

The line between the water rushing through and the pump choking up is very thin which makes things a little trickier

try and get as fine a grind as you can without choking the machine, it should take around 10 seconds longer than that to come through.

Thanks, I'll try and dial the grind in.

Can I do anything with my tamping pressure to help the pump out? Or will a light tamp increase chances of channelling?

Similar to others' comments, when I've used Red Brick at home it's needed a very fine grind and to be at the hotter end of the brew temp window.

Tamping should always be hard and level, if you don't tamp hard then the water won't come through the coffee puck evenly and it will taste shit.

fuck yeah - Betsy the Bezzera is back

new pump from ebay for 15 notes and she's running sweet as a nut.

[whoever had it before me has done some weird half-assed mod that I can't really work it]

Well. That saved you some dosh. Good stuff Wayno.

I'm off to replenish supplies at the Algerian later tdoay. I'm stuck in a bit of a rut with their Santos or Tres Rios high roasts but they are damn good.

My coffee plant is now pretty big, I think it would really appreciate a larger pot.

However, if I give it a larger pot it won't be able to come back indoors when it gets colder.

Has anyone got any experience of whether frost kills coffee plants?

Ideally I'd like to leave it out year round, but not if it would be simply killing a plant I've grown for quite a while now.

Does your plant have a name? Should be a 'Joe' really.

I will call it Joe if that means it survives -4

As a tropical mountain plant, that appears to be unlikely.

http://houseplants.about.com/od/Tropicals/p/Coffee-Growing-Coffee-Plants.htm

Anyway. I went for the Brazilian Bourbon beans at Algerian Coffee Shop. They reckon it's like the Santos turned up to 11.

Spinal tamp.