Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Siliconslave said:
I really don't rate the lavazza stuff either tbh, your much better off trying hasbean and the like :)
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I wouldnt know where to start or how much i need, what about Aldi stuff, must be better than instant coffee still. Once i know how much i get through in a month then i can start ordering in bulk.
 
E61 Grouphead said:
Has anyone come across a really foolproof guide for the Clever Dripper? Or, any suggestions from any regular users. Thanks :)

I am enjoying this bag of coffee from PACT, but it's no Jailbreak.
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I'll try and write one later when do a drink... but seriously, its not hard :)

Rave wise I ordered on the 2nd and got the coffee through on Sat with the free shipping.

robj20 said:
I wouldnt know where to start or how much i need, what about Aldi stuff, must be better than instant coffee still. Once i know how much i get through in a month then i can start ordering in bulk.
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Rave are still doing free shipping (Discount code "RAVEXMAS") so you've nothing to loose trying their coffee :)
 
My rave black Friday order arrived this morning, thank goodness. I can't believe RM took the best part of a week to deliver this 2nd class. My folks rescued my coffee drought over the weekend though, they bought me some little red roaster beans on Norwich market on Friday to tide me over. :)
 
Here we got then...

you need stuff:
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Dripper, coffee, filter and grinder (+hot water)

Fold the edges of the paper in and wash with hot water in the dripper (washes some of the paper taste out and warms the dripper up):
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while the waters sat in the dripper i grind the coffee - Im only using about 15g for this which isn't much - but I have it pretty finely ground (espresso grind is on the right, grind for the dripper on the left):

on refection (see below) i've ground coarser and doubled the beans to ~30g coffee

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Empty the water from the dripper (I tend to do this into the mug so that the mug warms as well), put the dripper on the coaster, add the coffee and fill up with water:
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let the coffee bloom and give it a good old stir (btw, be careful here, you don't get anything over the top of the filter paper or you get grinds in your mug)

4 min later empty the water from the mug and pop the dripper on top:
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Enjoy with a ginger nut :)

Now as I said i've got a bit of a weird proportion of coffee to water here as i'm grinding very fine, a hangover from only having one grinder.

You can do a ratio of 60g/litre of water (the dripper takes upto 0.5L total) and grind much coarser and it seams to come out better :)

Your variables are time, water, weight of coffee and grind. Try and keep the time and water static at 4min and ~400ml (500ml brims it) then play with the weight and grind :)
 
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majnu said:
^^Don't you use scales, let the coffee bloom and give it a stir ?
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nope on the scales, I've weighted it out numerous times in the past but do it by eye & level in the grinder/dripper now :)

Bloom and stir wise I didn't find it made much difference personally but your milage may vary... yes technically giving it a stir post bloom helps the infusion somewhat.

In the interest of experimentation i've just made my second vat of filter today with a double load (ooh - err misses) ground a load coarser, same amount of water and time but closer to 30g:500ml water and its probably better, sweeter richer flavor i'd say :D (also did the bloom & stir just to totally throw the results off)

re-editing the above post :)
 
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Oooh, thanks Siliconslave :)

I have tried that out and it was decent. I used water around 93. It was the water temperature that I was/am unsure about really. I have followed your instructions on the steep time and dose.

I think I need to tighten my grind a bit as it tasted a bit watery. Also, it drained a little quicker than the thirty seconds it should apparently take.

I used to use this method for the vast majority of cups, but I have had quite a break from making real coffee :eek:
 
Does any of you guys roast your beans?

Am looking into getting into roasting so i can potentially buy a large batch of fresh beans that can last me 6+months and just roast a small batch once a week.
 
It's almost certainly not worth it in terms of saving money (i.e. it will take a long time to make it back). On top of that, you'll probably not do that great a job of roasting your first few batches so you'll be drinking less than optimal coffee.

Rather than laying out all this money (£1k coffee machine, £3k roaster) you should get something smaller and more suitable for your first set up. Just get cheapish but decent coffee machine (£200-400) and a reasonable grinder (£150-200). Buy your coffee beans roasted online and simply enjoy coffee for a few months. In a year when you've settled down on what you really want and learnt a bit more about the whole process then maybe reconsider getting super expensive stuff.
 
jonneymendoza said:
Cool.

its important to get beans that have been roasted on same day as they only last a week or two before it goes stale
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If you order from any of the decent coffee suppliers (I use HasBean but there are several other great ones) they will have been roasted to order so by the time they get to you they'll be in great shape.

You also don't want your beans to literally have been roasted on the same day. They should rest for at least 24 hours.
 
I'm getting frustrated with my porlex. 20g of rave suarez on one notch is too course - irrespective of how hard I tamp. Just one increment finer and 17g chokes the machine with a normal tamp. The lightest possible tamp will just about extract, but only just. Shame the dial can't be more refined.
 
Going to Cali said:
I'm getting frustrated with my porlex. 20g of rave suarez on one notch is too course - irrespective of how hard I tamp. Just one increment finer and 17g chokes the machine with a normal tamp. The lightest possible tamp will just about extract, but only just. Shame the dial can't be more refined.
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I had similar issues with my porlex - though more so before I OPV modded my Classic and got a better basket.
 
jonneymendoza said:
Does any of you guys roast your beans?

Am looking into getting into roasting so i can potentially buy a large batch of fresh beans that can last me 6+months and just roast a small batch once a week.
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No but there is plenty of info on coffee forums. Remember the cost benefits will only be seen in the long run and it depends how much you or your family consume per week. There is a learning curve too and if you have the patience then go for it. It's too much faffing around for me personally learning roast profiles and keeping an eye on the roast.

The most common entries are the Cafe Gene and Behmor 1600 + around £350 and then the Hot top which is around £750. Green beans Bella Barista, Rave or any decent coffee shop can supply, but it's better to buy in bulk.

What's your budget on a grinder? Is it for espresso, french press?
 
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