Coffee Appreciation

i can taste whether the coffee beans were grown in clay soil or clay/loam, and on which hill!

I'll make you a coffee next time you are in my neck of the woods.

I don't drink coffee made by other.. nah i'm just fucking with ya :)

i can taste whether the coffee beans were grown in clay soil or clay/loam, and on which hill!

Now if you can tell what else the Civet had for lunch then I think you'd really have a nice party trick.

Fuckies.. full basket.. NO tamping (I forgot) and nothing came out after a minute.. need to finish this fine shit off.

Fuckies.. full basket.. NO tamping (I forgot) and nothing came out after a minute.. need to finish this fine shit off.

Bin it, lifes too short.

Now if you can tell what else the Civet had for lunch then I think you'd really have a nice party trick.

i hate it when the mangy little bastards eat garlic. it makes the crema taste french.

are you telling me that you can taste the difference in the espresso depending on if there's been even heat distribution of the boiling water?!! quick, someone insure this man's tongue.

it is similar to bike components really - can you really feel the ride quality between most parts....? probably not. it's all in the head and i'm happy. and without even heat distribution on the bottom of the expresso i'm not.

my pet hates 1. coffee + soy milk 2. coffee with skinny milk
my love = even distribution of heat on my expresso machine.

Oooh...don't get me started on Soy milk....

Where's that HTFU video?

YouTube - Chopper Reid - Harden the fuck up, Australia

Oh yes - try a Moccachino of HTFU

Bin it, lifes too short.

I can't. It's the one Scottish gene that has been handed down through our family..

My way on the stove top is.

Boild the water in the kettle poor it straight into the stove top onto a medium heat. Should start coming up quite quickly when it does turn the heat off.

I don't tamp, I just tap the side a few times to get it to settle.

Basically you don't want it on the stove for too long or want it to get too hot.

I tried this method this morning, and it seemed to work fine, but i was in too much of a rush to drink it at my leisure. i might have to confine further experiments to the weekend when i have the time to fully appreciate the nuances evinced by the various methods of forcing steam through coffee and then condensing it.

man. i'd appreciate some coffee right now. all i have here is gold blend. :(

ok weird coffee story here:
vic and me popped into the italian on turville street the other day. seems to have changed hands and become some weird cheapo naff joint. the italian lad in the there had just about enough english to get by, took our order, missed my request for a coffee and went back to fiddling with laptops in the corner. i re-requested a coffee, picking a late machiato. i got a tepid espresso and little just of cold milk (un-steamed). ... worst. italian. ever.

man. i'd appreciate some coffee right now. all i have here is gold blend. :(

ditto. my works got one of those stupid coffee machine that magically mixes shit freezed dryed coffee with water.

and i'm out of ground coffee for my plunger. it is indeed a dire day. i also cannot see the chopper video as works fucking banned utube links. lucky it was a cracking ride in this morning .

what i want:

• independent coffeeshop with passable-to-cool decor (c'mon, if i wanted to drink coffee in a tip, i'd stay home)
  
• proper tables and chairs (not just stools)
  
• must have good coffee and good baristas
  
• decent music played at a reasonable volume
  
• nice, knowledgeable, happy staff that recognise you after a few trips
  
• should serve nice cake and a reasonable selection of lunch-type food (i'll settle for sandwiches and soup)
  
• safe place inside or outside for the bike
  
• comfortable so i can hang around for a few hours to do some work
  
• hasta hasta hasta have wifi
  
  

why does this not exist anywhere around me? fucksake, this is shoreditch!

@ teddy: hmm may this help? http://www.baristaexchange.com/forum/topic/show?id=1688216%3ATopic%3A31121

what i want:

• independent coffeeshop with passable-to-cool decor (c'mon, if i wanted to drink coffee in a tip, i'd stay home)
  
• proper tables and chairs (not just stools)
  
• must have good coffee and good baristas
  
• decent music played at a reasonable volume
  
• nice, knowledgeable, happy staff that recognise you after a few trips
  
• should serve nice cake and a reasonable selection of lunch-type food (i'll settle for sandwiches and soup)
  
• safe place inside or outside for the bike
  
• comfortable so i can hang around for a few hours to do some work
  
• hasta hasta hasta have wifi
  
  

why does this not exist anywhere around me? fucksake, this is shoreditch!

LCB has most of these things, no?

they do have a lot of wobbly stools and tables though. LCB is pretty much the best place i know for most of the above, but in terms of coffee, they are beaten by franz and evans round the corner. that coffee is awesome.

has anyone mentioned the little coffee stall that's round the back of ezra street, in the little yard on sundays. our friend rose showed us how good their cups are and, by gosh, they are amazing. nice staff too. down side is the queue and lack of seating. ah well.

what i want:

• independent coffeeshop with passable-to-cool decor (c'mon, if i wanted to drink coffee in a tip, i'd stay home)
  
• proper tables and chairs (not just stools)
  
• must have good coffee and good baristas
  
• decent music played at a reasonable volume
  
• nice, knowledgeable, happy staff that recognise you after a few trips
  
• should serve nice cake and a reasonable selection of lunch-type food (i'll settle for sandwiches and soup)
  
• safe place inside or outside for the bike
  
• comfortable so i can hang around for a few hours to do some work
  
• hasta hasta hasta have wifi
  
  

why does this not exist anywhere around me? fucksake, this is shoreditch!

Move to Melbourne.

sigh

/homesick whinge. I really need to get to this place in Long Lane, it's only 5 minutes from the office, I have no excuse.

what i want:

• independent coffeeshop with passable-to-cool decor (c'mon, if i wanted to drink coffee in a tip, i'd stay home)
  
• proper tables and chairs (not just stools)
  
• must have good coffee and good baristas
  
• decent music played at a reasonable volume
  
• nice, knowledgeable, happy staff that recognise you after a few trips
  
• should serve nice cake and a reasonable selection of lunch-type food (i'll settle for sandwiches and soup)
  
• safe place inside or outside for the bike
  
• comfortable so i can hang around for a few hours to do some work
  
• hasta hasta hasta have wifi
  
  

why does this not exist anywhere around me? fucksake, this is shoreditch!

You know what, I read your list of criteria and thought 'you wanna get yourself to...' but no, you're right, I can't think of anywhere in all London town which matches your very reasonable list of elements which would a good coffee shop make.

I think you have most succinctly categorised exactly what a good cafe needs. I'm going to print it out. Might come in handy one day.

Actually, Lantana in Fitzrovia ticks most of the boxes apart from being in Shoreditch and the secure locking up. So does Vicky Park.

Sounds like my house. See previous comment about not drinking others coffee.

Nice one, I'll be round for a flat white about 10.00am. I'll bring my receipts for the financial year to date and sort them out with the revenue on your wi-fi. Make some space on the sofa...

Bring your own milk!

what i want:

• independent coffeeshop with passable-to-cool decor (c'mon, if i wanted to drink coffee in a tip, i'd stay home)
  
• proper tables and chairs (not just stools)
  
• must have good coffee and good baristas
  
• decent music played at a reasonable volume
  
• nice, knowledgeable, happy staff that recognise you after a few trips
  
• should serve nice cake and a reasonable selection of lunch-type food (i'll settle for sandwiches and soup)
  
• safe place inside or outside for the bike
  
• comfortable so i can hang around for a few hours to do some work
  
• hasta hasta hasta have wifi
  
  

why does this not exist anywhere around me? fucksake, this is shoreditch!

try this place

http://nudeespresso.com/images/contact.jpg

the owner was at a thing i went to last week and seemed cool. it's probably not going to tick all your boxes but a bunch of people seem to rate it.

don't go to lantana, coffee is average, there's hardy any seating and their main focus is really on the food (which isn't THAT great)

Seems odd you would explicitly advise somebody not to go to a cafe where you think the coffee is average, which if I have got the right idea, would mean it is considerably better than coffee from the main stream, whilst fully endorsing a cafe because you met the owner and thought he was a nice guy.

I have had a coffee from Nude. It was good. Not exceptional, not better than the one from Lantana. Average. I've made better myself, but probably so has he, so have you and so has the woman who served me in Lantana. If I had made that particular coffee myself I would have been happy with it.

The difference between those two coffees was marginal. Both are shops which take pride in their coffee and I think your criticism is unhealthy.

Seems odd you would explicitly advise somebody not to go to a cafe where you think the coffee is average, which if I have got the right idea, would mean it is considerably better than coffee from the main stream, whilst fully endorsing a cafe because you met the owner and thought he was a nice guy.

I have had a coffee from Nude. It was good. Not exceptional, not better than the one from Lantana. Average. I've made better myself, but probably so has he, so have you and so has the woman who served me in Lantana. If I had made that particular coffee myself I would have been happy with it.

The difference between those two coffees was marginal. Both are shops which take pride in their coffee and I think your criticism is unhealthy.

alright. i also don't like lantana because i think the owner is a bit of a nob and if you're that way you may as well go to milkbar. we're on bike forums though, i'm not on tmc, coffeed, 'geek, bxchange etc so i kind of use that as an excuse to say what a want as it doesn't really matter.
i'm paying your bills regardless of which store i visit though? am i right? booooom