Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Raymond Lin · 31 Jul 2011 at 18:03

Ran out of my last bag of hasbean coffee and resorted to some £2.50 standard tesco stuff, picked it up at 11pm lol it's doesn't taste too bad, perfectly drinkable, not that much creme but in an americano it taste fine.

Hamster · 31 Jul 2011 at 18:35

Raymond Lin said:
Ran out of my last bag of hasbean coffee and resorted to some £2.50 standard tesco stuff, picked it up at 11pm lol it's doesn't taste too bad, perfectly drinkable, not that much creme but in an americano it taste fine.

It's good to know that there are some drinkable emergency beans out there. Which one did you buy? I've tried the Nero stuff which to me tastes OK at £5 for 500g. Is it bad that I prefer to give that kind of coffee to guests that like it with milk and two sugars?!!

Flibster · 31 Jul 2011 at 19:02

New place opening up on Tuesday.
St. Ali have a Sensory Lab opening on Wigmore St. in London.

Guess where I'm going on Tuesday?

Raymond Lin · 31 Jul 2011 at 19:09

Hamster said:
It's good to know that there are some drinkable emergency beans out there. Which one did you buy? I've tried the Nero stuff which to me tastes OK at £5 for 500g. Is it bad that I prefer to give that kind of coffee to guests that like it with milk and two sugars?!!

It's the tesco own stuff, White bag, red label. It's not even the Tesco Finest range lol, that was £3.29 for 275g. This is £2.50 a bag. Nice emergency coffee really.

Hamster · 31 Jul 2011 at 19:13

Raymond Lin said:
It's the tesco own stuff, White bag, red label. It's not even the Tesco Finest range lol, that was £3.29 for 275g. This is £2.50 a bag. Nice emergency coffee really.

Thanks. Will give that a try sometime

Flibster said:
New place opening up on Tuesday.
St. Ali have a Sensory Lab opening on Wigmore St. in London.

Guess where I'm going on Tuesday?

Skegness?

Raymond Lin · 31 Jul 2011 at 19:18

I was expecting like pee for £2.50 but it taste better than hhe £4.75 Starbucks stuff. £2.50 is a bargain.

manveruppd · 31 Jul 2011 at 23:16

Hehe, not bad!

My emergency coffee is the Sainsburys Taste the Difference stuff at £2.89 a bag.

Hamster · 31 Jul 2011 at 23:30

Have any of you tried the Nero beans I mentioned? I spoke to someone from their offices a while back and they told me that from roasting to being sold in the shop is around 2-3 weeks and most of the Nero shops around here store their beans in a fridge. I don't think the coffee is too bad in a milk based drink but I'd like so hear what other people think, good or bad. It's cheap at £4.99 for 500g.

Flibster · 31 Jul 2011 at 23:42

Hamster said:
Skegness?

People willingly go to Skegness?

manveruppd said:
Hehe, not bad! My emergency coffee is the Sainsburys Taste the Difference stuff at £2.89 a bag.

Mine is whatever the girlfriend brings home from Nude Espresso or Taylor St. Baristas.

Hamster said:
Have any of you tried the Nero beans I mentioned? I spoke to someone from their offices a while back and they told me that from roasting to being sold in the shop is around 2-3 weeks and most of the Nero shops around here store their beans in a fridge. I don't think the coffee is too bad in a milk based drink but I'd like so hear what other people think, good or bad. It's cheap at £4.99 for 500g.

Storing bean in fridge is bad.

Very humid environment. Beans are very dry through the roasting and sticking them in the fridge isn't good for them.

Cant honestly say I've tried the beans though.

Hamster · 1 Aug 2011 at 00:08

Flibster said:
People willingly go to Skegness?

When living in the Nottingham as a nipper, we went there many times on Saturday school trips. I remember the crap beach (sometimes literally) but good fish & chips. The teacher had no imagination apart from the time he decided we should go to Mablethorpe instead!!

Flibster said:
Storing bean in fridge is bad.

Very humid environment. Beans are very dry through the roasting and sticking them in the fridge isn't good for them.

Thanks, that's good to know and I wasn't aware of that. I don't store my own beans in the fridge but I do put all but one of my freshly roasted arrivals straight into the freezer and take one pack at a time to thaw for 24 hours before opening. Is that equally bad practice?

jmc007 · 1 Aug 2011 at 01:35

Hamster said:
Have any of you tried the Nero beans I mentioned? I spoke to someone from their offices a while back and they told me that from roasting to being sold in the shop is around 2-3 weeks and most of the Nero shops around here store their beans in a fridge. I don't think the coffee is too bad in a milk based drink but I'd like so hear what other people think, good or bad. It's cheap at £4.99 for 500g.

I just bought the Neros's "House Blend" beans, last Monday. My goodness they are rough.

As soon as I saw a BBE, 21/03/2012, I regretted my purchase.
The HappyDonkey Italian beans, I had the week before were a lot fresher tasting and produced a far superior coffee for sure, worlds apart and for the same price.
These produce a dull, muddy, lifeless coffee, very poor show. In their defence, they were not kept in a fridge.
I am glad to see the back of them. I was offering coffees, to the guys doing our new drive all week.

Anyway, just bought the next batch and am trying Hasbeans again, got the Blake 3 blend. Double the price of the happyDonkeys and Neros, at £4.00 for 250g, plus £1.96 postage. We'll see if I feel they warrant that extra.

Raymond Lin said:
It's the tesco own stuff, White bag, red label. It's not even the Tesco Finest range lol, that was £3.29 for 275g. This is £2.50 a bag. Nice emergency coffee really.

How does this rate to the Lavazza? Used to drink nothing but that really, before I got this Gaggia Classic up and running, in a Kenwood Cafe Retro Machine. That became useless though, seeing as it can't be backflushed, every coffee you put through it now, tastes like stale coffee. I did get a couple of years of use from it.

manveruppd · 1 Aug 2011 at 02:44

Hasbean is expensive, but still cheaper than Union and WAY cheaper than Square Mile! Shame the postage costs have gone up so much recently

PermaBanned · 1 Aug 2011 at 07:43

Well i'm a complete coffee newb, but i just pulled an all nighter and feel like some caffine so what better time to start? I had a rummage and found one of these going on:

A hoojiewatsitmajig:

And a bag of this:

Ground but you know, any colour as long as it's black. So basically... what the **** do i do?

VFR_KID · 1 Aug 2011 at 09:40

I would like to know how the hell you use the thing in your first picture :S

Siliconslave · 1 Aug 2011 at 10:03

the first thing is just a stove top moca pot, sans pot.

You put hot water in the base, add grinds to a basket and put it on a stove. The water boils and pushs up throught the coffee and out into cups under the spouts.

The coffee PermaBanned might be ok for that, but it'd be better in the french press i'd say

Alex_L · 1 Aug 2011 at 10:30

manveruppd said:
Hasbean is expensive, but still cheaper than Union and WAY cheaper than Square Mile! Shame the postage costs have gone up so much recently

Bear in mind that Squaremile bags are 350g versus hasbeans 250g so the price difference isn't that huge though there are some beans that are just expensive full stop.

PermaBanned · 1 Aug 2011 at 10:42

Siliconslave said:
the first thing is just a stove top moca pot, sans pot.

You put hot water in the base, add grinds to a basket and put it on a stove. The water boils and pushs up throught the coffee and out into cups under the spouts.

The coffee PermaBanned might be ok for that, but it'd be better in the french press i'd say

Turns out it was easier than that. As in - take jug out of coffee machine and pour into mug

But yeah, i'd like to get into coffee, it's just that whenever i try it it seems to be too bitter and not 'nutty' enough for it to be 'nice'. If that makes any sense.

davetherave2 · 1 Aug 2011 at 11:54

Well got the hasbean El salvador finca Argentina tasting pack this morning as well as the subscription coffee pack of breakfast bomb.
http://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/El-Salvador-Finca-Argentina-Tasting-Pack.html

If I'm honest I mainly got this to try the cascara just to see what it was like and although I followed the hasbean suggested brew method the first cup was a complete disaster. It seemed far too weak both in taste and colour for my tastes. Although it has given me a suprisingly good caffeine kick this morning. As a first effort I think milk just over powers the flavour too much and you just get the creaminess of the milk coming through but black you get the hint of saltanas and other dried fruit flavours coming through. Some more experimentation is required to get a level of taste that I am happy with, I just need to set up a tasting session to see if the different processing methods change the flavours or mouth feel.

manveruppd · 1 Aug 2011 at 13:28

PermaBanned said:

Wow! Never seen something like that before! Never would've guessed it was a stove-top either, at first I thought it was just something that broke off a proper espresso machine.

A hoojiewatsitmajig:

Don't try to bamboozle me with all your technobabble!

BUSH said:
Bear in mind that Squaremile bags are 350g versus hasbeans 250g so the price difference isn't that huge though there are some beans that are just expensive full stop.

True, very true. And Hasbean sells quite a few stupidly expensive beans too. I get very sore at paying Royal Mail almost half as much as I pay Steve every time I order coffee though. Particularly when they don't even deliver it, just stick a red card through the letterbox and run away without even knocking!

davetherave2 said:
If I'm honest I mainly got this to try the cascara just to see what it was like and although I followed the hasbean suggested brew method the first cup was a complete disaster. It seemed far too weak both in taste and colour for my tastes. Although it has given me a suprisingly good caffeine kick this morning. As a first effort I think milk just over powers the flavour too much and you just get the creaminess of the milk coming through but black you get the hint of saltanas and other dried fruit flavours coming through. Some more experimentation is required to get a level of taste that I am happy with, I just need to set up a tasting session to see if the different processing methods change the flavours or mouth feel.

It needs a high temperature and a much longer brew time than you'd think! You're probably better off with a normal ceramic teapot (pre-warmed), they retain heat much better than a French press. Every time I make it, the first cup I pour out is weak, like you say, but the second one is always better. Don't skimp on the amount you use either. I normally have it with a bit of unrefined sugar. It's got a really pleasant kick to it.

davetherave2 · 1 Aug 2011 at 14:17

manveruppd said:
It needs a high temperature and a much longer brew time than you'd think! You're probably better off with a normal ceramic teapot (pre-warmed), they retain heat much better than a French press. Every time I make it, the first cup I pour out is weak, like you say, but the second one is always better. Don't skimp on the amount you use either. I normally have it with a bit of unrefined sugar. It's got a really pleasant kick to it.

Just out of interest what are the ratio's that you used. I used the 24g/1l of water ratio but that seemed to be too low. Should I be looking to use say 30 - 40g/l?

As for brew time I think 4 minutes is too low so will try 5/6 minutes instead.