Still Smarter

I want to get a "small barrista style" coffee machine. Proper coffee.

Happy to spend a couple of shekels, but equally I don't mind a bit of a project gaggia & a pid?

I am after 2 or 3 good cups a day. Espresso & latte. Pods need not apply.

Any recommendations/thoughts please... Or should I join another forum?

Mash wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:30 am ... Or should I join another forum?

We could always build a forum…

I suspect Gaza may be your man...

I roll with a cafetiere.
And bought in pre-ground coffee.
I drink decent black coffee, my taste buds are happy and not pretentious.

Robert.

Meh! I did once have a proper steam maker (smaller home type) but it died because we forgot to get descaler for it.

So I use various, as I have multiple cafetierres, mocha pots (would love to get my hands on one of the ones Musso issued to his troops during WW2) and an aero press.

In decending order, my preference is aero press, mocha pot, cafetierre.

A proper espresso maker type, even with only 1 steam vent (2 cups max at a time) are not gonna be cheap.

Seen some that start at £600 sort of area.........

I own various French press plunger things. Better are the mocca pot & aeropress.

Both make good (but different) coffee. The aero has taught me about temperature.

I would like to make 2 cups at a time, easily & consistently.. instead of running both machines & the miccy. 1 espresso & 1 capo.

Lever machine is winning in my head at the moment.

Gaggia classic good value and that is entry level 58mm pro portafilter etc.
Rancillio Silvia is the kiddie if you want a high quality budget machine.
Remember grinder is as important as Espresso Machine.
Gaggia £350 ish, Rancillio £500 grinder £200.
Coffee roaster like mine £300. Then buy coffee in bulk at £4 per kilo and
roast your own, the way you like it. Ready roasted lasts about 3 weeks then
the flavours go. Green (raw) beans last for years!!
As soon as you grind your coffee it loses flavour ,so roast for the week, grind
for the cup.
Cost per cup about 8p and that is Arabica Columbian 100%.
My set up, Rocket R58 Espresso, Eurika Atom Special 75 cost (don,t ask), but
I do like my Coffee and my Rum does it justice.

Have a look at this Mash https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/rancilio ... -deal.html
Good value and great kit.
https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/gene-caf ... black.html
My roaster.

Nice bits of kit Gazza.

Don't mind the actual maker, but never managed to get my head round a roaster.

Always took the view that it was better to get someone with a clue to do the coffee roasting (Ha! only delivered 4.5 tonnes of green/raw coffee this week)........

I don't mind admiting to being a Philistine.
Have not knowingy drunk instant for 30 years.
Happy with the coffee I drink, going up a level I suspect, would be wasted with me.
Maybe some of you are the victims of BLAH! and maybe some of you really can taste the difference .

Robert.

ED if I was to say that tasting beer and tasting Coffee are very similar.
There is a huge difference in the beans, then again in the way they are
roasted.
Mr P you have the skills to brew Mead etc and run a still.
Roasting Coffee is just another practised skill and not all Coffee is the
same. Most people say dark roast for strength, sure , but most of the caffeine
is roasted off in a dark roast.

Gazza smashing thanks.

I sort of agree with phantom.. Roasting?
Is it best to start with a good espresso machine and see want happens? I suspect this bug is very like stilling.. Once you start, your taste buds "get stuck in", closely followed by your wallet.

Well yes and no like stilling. Green beans if bought the right way
£4.50 per kilo, ready roasted £15-£24 per kilo and losing flavour
once opened, Green beans don't. So savings of £5 per week not
uncommon and second hand roasters command a good price.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avM-XsaTBIc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HIGdYy5of4

Meh! I don't believe I have a good palate anyway, so I'm happy to stick with my own mix or pre-roasted, ready ground coffee.

A 50/50 mix of Lavazza Oro and dark Java do the trick for my taste (the only instant we have in the house will either be Alta-Rica or Cap-Colombie - both Nestlé, as anything else tastes like "factory floor sweepings")........

billythekid wrote: Sat Aug 28, 2021 9:36 pm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avM-XsaTBIc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HIGdYy5of4

Good find. Just lost the morning watching the first one

phantom wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 7:14 am Meh! I don't believe I have a good palate anyway, so I'm happy to stick with my own mix or pre-roasted, ready ground coffee.

A 50/50 mix of Lavazza Oro and dark Java do the trick for my taste (the only instant we have in the house will either be Alta-Rica or Cap-Colombie - both Nestlé, as anything else tastes like "factory floor sweepings")........

I have to agree with you on the palate thing P.
Happy to concur that others may have better palettes.

I wil leave aside all snobbery, wankiness and mine is bigger and shinier than yours.
Life is too short to argue.
Too each, his or her own taste.

And if it makes them happy, then I am happy for them.

Just don't let such folk feel that they hold the higher ground.

Fooking talking the Barrista talk!
Wankiness to my ears.
But have fun with it.

Robert.

I have a good palate for some things. Perhaps stuff I have trained it in... food, wine & beer. Struggling with coffee though.

It is not helped by the fact I like espresso out of a mocca pot.

A puke double Espresso out of a good machine using a good grinder
with freshly roasted quality Arabica beans is a taste bomb for those
that LOVE Coffee otherwise as you say any old stuff will do. All
I am saying is there is a big difference. When on the odd occasion I
am forced into Costastarbuck Roman Emperor, I am staggered at One
The Price £3.50 for a Cortado and Two the lack of quality ie: cheap
beans cremated in the case of Starbucks.
Did you like the name of my new Coffee shop. I will charge £10 a cup
and customers can throw it straight in the bin outside without tasting.
Thats the Costastarbuck Roman Emperor taste test.

Costastarbuck Roman Emperor stands for;
Costa Coffee
Starbucks Coffee
Nero Coffee.

I like it.

I also think, like the micropub, people would come.

Get the location RIGHT. Selection of machines, coffee supplies and café..... A good plan.

.. And you could probably getting funding too.

Mash wrote: Mon Aug 30, 2021 7:07 am I have a good palate for some things. Perhaps stuff I have trained it in... food, wine & beer. Struggling with coffee though.

It is not helped by the fact I like espresso out of a mocca pot.

My palette/taste has developed with time and age.
The sweet stuff that I once would have fought for, I now would not thank you for.
Fresh fruit is about my sweetness limit.
I like my beer, most of my wines if dry, and my whisky.

BIR curry event chez moi, demain.
Eight dishes, plus breads, poddadums, and onion Bhajis.

A guest has volunteered to bring homemade gulab jamun.
I have warned that I will not partake.

Coffee?
I think that I have found a comfy place.
I could possibly ramp it up, but I don't feel the need, nor have the time right now.

Robert.