Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

[Siliconslave]

It is a silvia steam wand, and I currently have the steam wand. Anyone wanting it sent on should contact hamster and then I'll send it on following his instruction.

I think you mean pressure basket...

 

[Siliconslave]

ordered myself one of the squaremile griffin t-shirts the other day along with a coffee restock:



which turned up yesterday, unfortunately it seems they managed to give me three things bags of coffee instead of 2 coffee 1 t shirt:



The right hand one doesn't grind very well though

 

[Siliconslave]

Great presentation, I love it!
How is the actual coffee ?

sorry - totally missed this.

Sweet shop is, unsurprisingly very sweet and fruity, still rich and strongly flavoured as an americano but its sweetness makes it a very light tasting espresso initially with a real punchy heavy flavour of sweet fruits.

Red Brick is probably my personal favourite espresso blend for americano, again its a very sweet coffee with a rich and chocolatey mouthfeel and a sort of plummy fruit flavour.

It does vary seasonally and some are better than others, but i've never had a batch that i didn't really enjoy

 

[Siliconslave]

Glad your enjoying the aeropress, its a great bit of kit

Its funny, when done well a cafetiere coffee can be a wonderful thing, the problem is that generally coffee and grind used is pretty damn bad and the measurements are total guesses...

First things first: go buy a decent grinder - the polex mini hand grinder can be had for £30 or so, then get over to hasbean and order some decent fresh coffee - any of their top sellers, blends or recommended are a good start

 

[Siliconslave]

fare enough, probably best to work your way through those and work out the sort of flavours you enjoy before getting fresh beans, grinding them yourself and forever ruining the pre-ground stuff

 

[Siliconslave]

Have you checked out how much a repair would cost? might be worth a shot

 

[Siliconslave]

Despite visiting Norfolk a good few times i've not made it into Norwich yet, that'll have to be rectified, along with a trip to The Window Coffee next time i'm up in November

 

[Siliconslave]

My classic was delivered this morning. There's a thin, black plastic plate that fits under the drip tray. Is it needed?

not seen one of those before, but i'm guessing its a recent addition - no idea what its for but a photo might help? No (badly translated) manual in the box? they tend to help a little

 

[Siliconslave]

love the black iberital, looks so much nicer than the silver

its worth doing the opv mod sooner rather than later tbh, makes a solid difference to the pour and will improve your coffee - sooner you do it the better imho

 

[Siliconslave]

yup, as a very vague example - your aiming for about 102C in the boiler to get the right temp at the basket (apparently).

The stock system will fluctuate around like crazy, say 70-110C because its a simple system that turns on the heat when it gets below temp X (say 90C) and off again when it goes above temp Y (say 100C). The 'momentum' of the boiler carries it up over the needed temp and allows it to drop down, well below the required temperature.

The PID however 'learns' based on the behavior of the system so knows that initially you need to have the heat on until it gets to 90, then turn it off, it'll hit 102 then start dropping, so give it a small boost when it goes down to 100 and your good... meaning the variance in temperature is kept to say 95 - 107C (in reality I think its much lower, mine seems to go upto 102 and stay there!)

 

[Siliconslave]

yer, the wet puck is more a function of the pressure release on the machine rather than something your doing wrong iirc. When machine is turned off the three way valve should release any pressurised water into the drip tray, a little of that water won't head back so will sit in/on the puck

In other news i'm finally using my handpresso in anger, after a failed attempt during my last business trip (no kettle in the hotel!) I've got a baggie of high grade colombian brown (ground coffee) and the handpresso, shame it only does singles but still beats the dodgy local coffee in Germany and is a welcome post Oktoberfest relief in the morning!

Theres still a vague chance i'm going to drunkenly blind myself with it at some point though...

 

[Siliconslave]

Yup 2008 vintage The digital thermometer bought the farm too!

You know you want a lever machine ...

I do, i really want a lever machine... That electra look lovely!

Theres a random cafe in Frensham that has one of the huge Dalek sized ones and no idea how to use it, the coffee they made me from it almost made me cry So tempted to go nick it and swap it for a nespresso machine, sure they wouldn't notice the difference, and it would improve their drinks!!!

 

[Siliconslave]

hrm, i really need to give mine a good clean out - i'm far to lazy about it generally but it does make such a difference!

 

[Siliconslave]

Working around the corner from Monmouth Coffee this week in Borough Market and currently sipping on a filter coffee. Absolutely fantastic. Their pastries and cakes look great too and are good value besides the likes of Starbucks.

good stuff - worth paying the Notes coffee cart a visit sometime as well, undercover by the cathedral, right near the steps upto Borough Highstreet.

Know what you mean about Monmouth's pastries though, their little parma ham things are to die for & the brownies, damn

 

[Siliconslave]

just popped by workshop coffee this afternoon and wow, very impressed with cult of done, really nice, sweet, rich coffee with a crazy aromas of Jasmine washing through. Lovely & highly recommended (and always good when the till jockey starts talking about when the coffee was roasted and when its going to be at its best )

 

[Siliconslave]

Just seen that there is one a couple of minutes from my office at Bond Street. I usually visit Taylor St Baristas but I may have to pop there tomorrow to check it out.

yup, thats the one i went to (after a rather tasty lunch at P&B) - much nicer than Taylor St imho - not to detract from Taylor St, they do a great job as a small chain

 

[Siliconslave]

P&B surely means Patty & Bun, and if so, that's got me wanting to go there for another superb burger. I love the place .

Back to coffee..... does anyone here roast their own beans???

yup, thats exactly where I mean and it is truely glorious

Not tried home roasting, want to give it a go but its quite a commitment - plus it apparently smokes the whole house out!

 

[Siliconslave]

that does sound frustrating

Have you tried under dosing the slow extraction slightly? How fresh are you beans? its not ideal but different beans will dramatically affect the pour as will the freshness...

actually - can't you mod the porlux to make it stepless? Theres some posts around about adding a washer or two?

I worked around that by just using a washer and two nuts instead of the plastic thingy that comes with it.

Spoiler

 

[Siliconslave]

That's really strange. I never had issues like that when I used to use my porlex. I must have just been lucky.

If you can mod the porlex as above then perhaps that's your best choice.

I can imagine its just luck, if you hit that point right between the two theres not all that much you can do, beyond over/under dosing...

 

[Siliconslave]

Got some a week or so back, the espresso blend I had didn't seem bad, not great but we were having it in a clever dripper without much chance of dialing it in...

For the (full price) money It's on the edge of being worth a punt, but for £1 its a bargain (the £1 code is #joyofsix its not a referral btw)