Online coffee beans retailer

Soldato
Joined
25 Nov 2020
Posts
2,514
Having moved from a bean to cup machine that does everything when you press the button, to the Sage BE where I need to do a bit of work, I don't find it that much of a hassle to weigh the ground coffee. I've got a nice little system that works for me so I can keep things as consistent as possible (as @Raymond Lin mentioned), meaning I can change one thing at a time to fine-tune my coffee.

I typically like to minimise faff but it's all worth the effort when I can enjoy my espresso.

Today's lesson was that I am grinding far too fine. We had some small bits come through the basket into our espresso cups. This all comes after adjusting the top burr down a setting. Going a little coarser tomorrow.

I agree that @BUDFORCE should get commission, Hormozi purchases must have snowballed :cry:
Also agree they're the sweet spot in terms of value for money.
Another point on the Hormozi, I may have already mentioned this - I can get a much cleaner bottomless portafilter pour with their JBM blend than I can with the Rave Italian Job blend.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
40,069
Visited London Coffee Festival today - first time in London since December 2019... Felt seriously strange being in London again. But being at the festival was fantastic, relaxed and Was lovely seeing people I haven't seen in almost 3 years, catching up, just chatting. Was almost normal...

Some new roasters to me there, most interestingly one called Kiss the Hippo, carbon negative coffee roaster. Got a bag of their Indonesia Gayo, which they call "unique and interesting" - smell as brewed coffee was mulling spice for wine.. .Yeah, it's certainly interesting.

Got many other samples from other roasters too, (yay for industry day tickets ;)) Hasbean, the Milk Shed, Origin Coffee, Rebel Coffee, Kickback Coffee, Girls who Grind. Looking forward to trying them all.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
40,069
/\/\/\ going tomorrow. I want to try new roasters like most years since 2015. Not been into 'town' since Jan of last year. I think the bug will make it different this year.

It's across 4 floors and with 30% lower capacity, was a more relaxed atmosphere than previous years. Cashless as well, which was very nice. Still hot as balls though.

Some of the hot chocolate was fantastic, the 70% and 85% from Mörk were very much to my taste, forgot to mention that before. Assembly were using an Ikawa sample roaster (much want!) on thursday to let people roast their own sample. Was pretty cool. No idea if they'll be doing that on the public days.

Take water!

If you want a snack on the way, Crosstown doughnuts in Spitalfields market. Afterwards, Pizza Union just around the corner. Great pizza, done fast. Nothing fancy but they're really good.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Apr 2007
Posts
13,571
Hormozi coffee turned up, I'd say ever so slightly better than the Lavazza I've been using and about the same price so a winner for me.
Might try the light roast next time.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
21 Feb 2006
Posts
29,326
I weigh my beans for pour over and filter. My order arrived and working through them slowly and really happy with what I have received so far.

Small blip with the grinder. The magnet fell off the bottom of the pot, but exceptional response from the company (founder phoned me on Saturday to apologise) and new pot replacement on way today.

THAT is good service, which often shows itself when things go wrong in hour it is dealt with but as a grinder I am really impressed.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Nov 2007
Posts
7,944
Location
Deepest Darkest Essex!!
It's across 4 floors and with 30% lower capacity, was a more relaxed atmosphere than previous years. Cashless as well, which was very nice. Still hot as balls though.

Some of the hot chocolate was fantastic, the 70% and 85% from Mörk were very much to my taste, forgot to mention that before. Assembly were using an Ikawa sample roaster (much want!) on thursday to let people roast their own sample. Was pretty cool. No idea if they'll be doing that on the public days.

Take water!
I had a good time yesterday. I bought far too much (2.35 KG if you count the free samples) I take water every year & some cream crackers to clear the pallete if I don't leave enough time between drinks. I will take a COVID test twice this week as it was the highest exposure risk I've taken so far since this all started. Apart from the cream crackers I didn't eat much in the 3 hours. Post festival Lunch was at Burger & Beyond in Shoreditch High street.
 
Associate
Joined
6 Aug 2004
Posts
2,234
Location
Norwich
I've actually been really happy with the Rave beans I've been using. Their signature #1 blend being my favourite, the fudge a close second. The darker roasts (itallian, java mocha etc) a bit too much for me personally.

Have ordered some tester hormozi JBM medium to try too, so will see how I get on.

BBE with a bit of WDT setup, honestly with the above beans I've been pulling super consistent nice shots, which is all I've ever been after.
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Oct 2004
Posts
18,347
Location
Birmingham
Unfortunately you may find you can't stand the Lavazza beans after you try freshly roasted beans. That's the case with us. We have our supermarket beans in a sealed jar just for show now really :rolleyes:

Well... you called it.

Ran out of samples yesterday, had a Lavazza this morning and tasted almost as bad as instant :(

On the plus side, I now have a kilo of Vietnam White Dragon on the way*, along with a few more samples :D


* totally doesn't sound like I'm waiting for a shipment of drugs :cry:
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Nov 2020
Posts
2,514
Well... you called it.

Ran out of samples yesterday, had a Lavazza this morning and tasted almost as bad as instant :(

On the plus side, I now have a kilo of Vietnam White Dragon on the way*, along with a few more samples :D


* totally doesn't sound like I'm waiting for a shipment of drugs :cry:

Oh man :p I am so sorry to have put you off the Lavazza, but I'm also glad I'm not alone in this experience!


I've tried allsorts from the major online coffee retailers and some smaller ones as well as local ones. Always go back to these now.

I'll look into them. It's good to have a few value options available.


I've been looking at the Brown Bear website tonight and googled for reviews - it seems they don't roast their own stuff fresh, although these comments date back a few years. Also haven't read any raving reviews so I think they drop to the bottom of the pile for me. Fancy flashy (annoying) website but not a lot else going on that could tempt me.

I have been told to try Dark Woods... Can anyone convince me I should?
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Jun 2015
Posts
11,201
Location
Bristol
Another +1 for Wogan's. It's basically my go-to place for beans now but I'm biased as it's literally on my way to the office so I like to pop in and talk to the staff.
@Ayahuasca - did you try their white wine fermented coffee from a month or so ago? It's really divisive. I like it a lot but a lot of people didn't get along with it
 
Back
Top Bottom