Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Okay, well the grind is probably about right (for that old ground coffee) if you are getting once shot in circa 15 seconds.

I think the lack of crema is probably due to old stale coffee, made worse by it being pre ground.

Keep an eye out on ebay for a burr grinder, or buy a new one such as the iberital mc2 which is about 130gbp.

It seems a lot of money but a good grinder is extremely important to making good espresso.
 
haz_pro said:
Okay, well the grind is probably about right (for that old ground coffee) if you are getting once shot in circa 15 seconds.

I think the lack of crema is probably due to old stale coffee, made worse by it being pre ground.

Keep an eye out on ebay for a burr grinder, or buy a new one such as the iberital mc2 which is about 130gbp.

It seems a lot of money but a good grinder is extremely important to making good espresso.
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thanks!
just watched the video and they are using 19g of coffee per shot...so 7 or 19 ? :)
for 19grams, they were aiming to brew it in 25sec.
 
bastic said:
thanks!
just watched the video and they are using 19g of coffee per shot...so 7 or 19 ? :)
for 19grams, they were aiming to brew it in 25sec.
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They were using 19 grams as it was producing a double shot (2 oz.). I personally stick to doubles as I don't feel the single baskets work as well due to their shape.
 
haz_pro said:
They were using 19 grams as it was producing a double shot (2 oz.). I personally stick to doubles as I don't feel the single baskets work as well due to their shape.
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will try doubles when all espresso I had this morning stops working
...cant...close...my ...eyes...now...too.. much ...coffee...
 
Changed the rubber seal and put in a new shower head in my Gaggia. Took better part of an hour after mild scrubbing and flushing with cleaner now there is no leaks when making a shot, better consistency when pulling a shot too.
 
I really liked the subscription coffees I got from the Small Batch Coffee Company. I've just got some other coffees to get out of the way then I'm in again but for 6 months this time...
 
Mr. Bean said:
Fancy trying an alternative to Has Bean. Anyone had anything particularly great recently from elsewhere?
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Given the amount I go through, I've had coffee from these guys in the last 6 weeks or so. Can't say there was anything bad from any of them.

Grumpy Mule, Square Mile, Union Hand Roasted, Safehouse Coffee, Butterworths, Alchemy, J. Atkinsons, Extract, James Gourmet, Workshop and Origin...

At the moment, there's a load of Kenyan coffee coming into the country, so expect lots of lovely fruity coffee. Blackcurrants, blackberries, sweet and most importantly - tasty. :D
 
May have to give Small Batch a try myself. I have my regular sub to Has Bean but it is always nice to try something new. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to pick up any lovely beans when I was in London last week for a flying visit. Hopefully I can get one of the guys from the office going down this week to pick me something up. Where's good near moorgate?
 
Flibster said:
Given the amount I go through, I've had coffee from these guys in the last 6 weeks or so. Can't say there was anything bad from any of them.

Grumpy Mule, Square Mile, Union Hand Roasted, Safehouse Coffee, Butterworths, Alchemy, J. Atkinsons, Extract, James Gourmet, Workshop and Origin...

At the moment, there's a load of Kenyan coffee coming into the country, so expect lots of lovely fruity coffee. Blackcurrants, blackberries, sweet and most importantly - tasty. :D
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I have been enjoying the african coffee's from Has bean recently. Its a nice change from the usual south american's that taste similar (with so many I am kind of bored with them). I just love the coffee's that just completely mess with your head and you go "wow am i really drinking coffee or something very fruity". Personal favourites are always the blueberry tasting coffee's it just makes the day seem so much better :p
 
Flibster said:
Given the amount I go through, I've had coffee from these guys in the last 6 weeks or so. Can't say there was anything bad from any of them.

Grumpy Mule, Square Mile, Union Hand Roasted, Safehouse Coffee, Butterworths, Alchemy, J. Atkinsons, Extract, James Gourmet, Workshop and Origin...

At the moment, there's a load of Kenyan coffee coming into the country, so expect lots of lovely fruity coffee. Blackcurrants, blackberries, sweet and most importantly - tasty. :D
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I was very impressed with Grumpy Mule, their 'Tanzanian Footprint Blackburn' was amazing. And I'm not the biggest fruity coffee fan. Have also tried James Gourmet, which I was also impressed with. Still have to try the rest!

Been meaning to try Square Mile for a while, I think it's the £8 bags + postage which puts me off a bit.. I'll give them a whirl one day.
 
Placed an order with Small Batch. Went with:

Mexico Finca Muxbal

Goldstone Espresso, AKA House Blend

EL Salvador Finca La Fany Natural

Will post my thoughts when I've tried 'em all :)
 
Mr. Bean said:
I was very impressed with Grumpy Mule, their 'Tanzanian Footprint Blackburn' was amazing. And I'm not the biggest fruity coffee fan. Have also tried James Gourmet, which I was also impressed with. Still have to try the rest!

Been meaning to try Square Mile for a while, I think it's the £8 bags + postage which puts me off a bit.. I'll give them a whirl one day.
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I find square mile to be my favourite roaster, well worth a go. In terms of costs, their bags are 350g, so on £/kg they are pretty competitive with hasbean et al.
 
Managed to break one of my Starbucks espresso shot glasses so just left with one.....I need to replace it but they don't make them anymore...

Can anyone recommend some 1 ounce shot glasses? I need a pair obviously and it is short enough to fit under the Gaggia Classic.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Managed to break one of my Starbucks espresso shot glasses so just left with one.....I need to replace it but they don't make them anymore...

Can anyone recommend some 1 ounce shot glasses? I need a pair obviously and it is short enough to fit under the Gaggia Classic.
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I have a pair of "Eddingtons Mini Measure" glasses; bought them for about 3 quid each from Sainsbury but are probably available cheaper elsewhere!

Have ounces, ml etc.

Edit:-

TUCopGj.jpg
 
Raymond Lin said:
Managed to break one of my Starbucks espresso shot glasses so just left with one.....I need to replace it but they don't make them anymore...

Can anyone recommend some 1 ounce shot glasses? I need a pair obviously and it is short enough to fit under the Gaggia Classic.
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As I'm a slave to HasBean, I have these. I like them :)
 
I was "home" in Norwich over the weekend visiting my parents and came across a fantastic store called, 'The little red roaster'. I picked up a bag of their house espresso blend. Fantastic. No idea what is in there, but it's wonderful either as an espresso, or the base of a flat white. Really wonderfully smooth, slightly viscous, tasting notes of caramel and dark chocolate.

On another note, i'm finding i much prefer dark roast coffees. Although I like the brazil espresso perfito from hasbean, I find a lot of their coffee is only very lightly roasted and comes out quite sour.
 
Going to Cali said:
I was "home" in Norwich over the weekend visiting my parents and came across a fantastic store called, 'The little red roaster'. I picked up a bag of their house espresso blend. Fantastic. No idea what is in there, but it's wonderful either as an espresso, or the base of a flat white. Really wonderfully smooth, slightly viscous, tasting notes of caramel and dark chocolate.
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Next time you're in Norwich you have to check out my 2 normal coffee haunts when I'm in town (Both my and the other half's parents still live there, so it's a good excuse.)

The utterly wonderful The Window Coffee - Hayley is fantastic and the pastries are great. :D Serves Hasbean *mostly... occasionally has something different for regulars. ;)*

And Strangers Coffee - Different coffee here, Butterworths, but there's occasionally something else in one of the hoppers, and Alex is damn good.

Going to Cali said:
On another note, i'm finding i much prefer dark roast coffees. Although I like the brazil espresso perfito from hasbean, I find a lot of their coffee is only very lightly roasted and comes out quite sour.
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I've found that sourness seems to come from overextraction. Depending on how you're making the coffee, sourness can be overcome with higher doses, less water, and so on.

Roasting through first crack to the start of second is pretty much the most common point to roast to, but the roasting profile itself is seriously important. Anything past second crack and you're getting roasting flavours instead of the bean flavour. Once you get to starbucks level of roasting, there's pretty much nothing of the bean flavour left and it's just flavours from the roasting process.
 
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