Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Raymond Lin said:
re the sneezing bit Doesn't yours have a solenoid valve ?
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:eek: Someone stole it!

Nope there's no Heat Exchanger, soleniod or pump. The lever operates a piston that normally blocks the hole from the boiler. Push the lever and the piston rises - opening the valve. When you let go, the spring expands pushing the piston down and the water through the puck as the piston has already closed off the hole.
 
Hi,

I need to get a tamper, grinder, milk jug, and I guess I need to get some coffee too!

1. Is there much difference between the £40 tampers on Hasbean and the £8 ones on auction sites?

2. Can someone reccommend a milk jug? what should I watch out for in terms of depth, etc?

3!!! There are WAY too many coffees on that site! Please spec me a bean to start with!

Thanks
 
Bes said:
Hi,

I need to get a tamper, grinder, milk jug, and I guess I need to get some coffee too!

1. Is there much difference between the £40 tampers on Hasbean and the £8 ones on auction sites?

2. Can someone reccommend a milk jug? what should I watch out for in terms of depth, etc?

3!!! There are WAY too many coffees on that site! Please spec me a bean to start with!

Thanks
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Jamican blue mountain is consider the 2nd best, and they sell it there :p

I suppose a £40 tamper is just has a better handle, and the way you want it. Long as its the right size it should be fine.

Milk jug, i got one in town, just big enough for the milk to expand into, stainless steel, you'll need a thermometer too, at least until you know by touch how warm you need to heat to milk to.
 
The coffee is the most important bit. Bear in mind that when you start out grinding etc you'll find that you'll chew through beans until you have the grinder at the right setting and things start to gel and espresso comes out.

JBM is expensive. So it may be worth starting off with something like:

1) Tinned beans from the supermarket - to get the grinder at a point where you get something out! This will stop you wasting your good beans.

2) Beans in the £3-4 category initially. I guarantee that you'll be fiddling with the settings, trying different things so you'll burn through a bag quickly.
The next bag will zip by as your friends/family try 'real coffee'...
Note that different beans may require some fiddling of grinder/brewing settings..

Suggestions, for middle of the road non-acidic beans:
* Australian Skyberry which is quite bombastic. Has a hedonistic smell and flavour intensity to match. Good flavour just expect it to be BOOOM in your face. Smooth but intense.

* Iapar 59 The bean in the videos. It's very unassuming and is, well, a complete opposite to the Skyberry. It has smooth chocolate, sweetish and nutty.

However there are blends you could look at. They'll taste very different to single origin beans such as those above. Lastly remember that the beans that someone likes may not be the bean that makes you think mmmmm... that's nice. Everyone is different. However what it does do is give you a reference to which you can say I like this but that's was a little too soft tasting etc.
Remember that beans may take upto four days to 'degas' after their roast date. This is when the Carbon Dioxide from the roasting is still escaping from the bean. I will affect the flavour slightly. So be prepared to put the beans to one side and try them again late if you think that they need more time.

Other bits - just as Raymond has said.

Tamper is basically a metal disc with a handle. For me it's the feeling that I'm not about to break it when using it. It should fit your portafilter basket snugly.

The jug - mine's a Motto 0.75 litre jug. You'll need some space in the jug as it'ls only half filled with milk, the rest is taken up by expansion of the milk foam. I've managed to expand the foam to about an inch of the top of the jug. So choose a size that fits your normal cappuccino/latte size accordingly.
A narrow spout allows for latte art later but focus on getting good taste before that!

I've got to the point where I can tell with my hands and the noise of the steaming when to switch from adding air to stretching to finishing. However a thermometer is a reliable and very useful tool when you learn.


So...
1. The beans/coffee is the most important - that's where the taste comes from.
2. Next important is the grinder as that unlocks the taste from the bean
3. Lastly coffee machine as that washes the taste from the bean into the cup.
 
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Scottland said:
My beans from hasbean turned up this morning, only ordered them yesterday afternoon, so pretty good as usual.
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I just got an email from them regarding shipment of my Tamper....via UPS.....

Frack, i am not at home to receive it monday to friday and the nearest UPS depo is at least 50miles away whereas the Royal Mail is 15 mins walk from my house......So I am in a bit of a pickle even if i ask UPS to redeliver as I don't think they do Saturday deliveries.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I don't think UPS will deliver it to a completely different town all together. :(

I am going to hope that he'll leave it with the neighbour, else will have to call them on monday.
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They won't leave with a neighbour. What you can do is phone them up and get them to deliver to a neighbour instead perhaps.
 
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