Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

I was in the process of doing my bi-annual deep clean on my coffee machine and grinder (strip, clean, de-scale etc) and was wondering how do you know when your burrs need replacing? I've had my grinder just over four years now. I have at least one coffee per day - sometimes two or three (three's quite rare). How long do the burrs last? Grinder is a Rancilio Rocky.

I have another question regarding the shower screen bit on the coffee machine itself. Do they wear out? DO they need replacing at all? I was reading on Happy Donkey that they should be replaced every few years as "the holes/mesh wear out". Really, or are they just saying that to make you buy more bits? The only things I've replaced so far is the rubber grouphead seal last year and the thermometer thingy when I installed a pid. The machine is a Rancilio Silvia V3 that I've also had just over 4 years. Normal cleaning routine is plain backflush every couple of days. Backflush with Cafiza every month and grouphead strip and soak, also in Cafiza and every 6 months strip grinder and clean, plus descale coffee machine.

Thanks in advance :)

Pic of burrs when I stripped them earlier:

 
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I guess as long as they are still sharp they are ok? Not replaced my Rancillio burrs yet.. had it about 18months.

These HasBean beans are stunning!

 
Just finishing the last of the Hasbean Christmas Espresso. Magnificent this year.

But, the Brazil Cachoeira Yellow Bourbon is utterly magical. Always been one of my favourite coffees, but this is just wowsers.

Shame my local good coffee shop has changed from Hasbean to Caravan. I wouldn't mind if they were using some of the single origin espressos, but they're using the market blend which is just a bit... meh.
 
Well that after 9 years of good service my Gaggia has finally given up and died... not had a chance to really look into why but its not pumping through the group head anymore, just making a load of noise :(
Seems to make steam though so i guess its probably fixable. Need to make some time and strip it down at some point, in all honesty its probably because I haven't been descaling it as much as i should :D

In other news did a little coffee tour of london yesterday hitting:
  • Nobel espresso Kings Cross - great little stall serving notes beans & making a good americano - will defiantly be going back now i know where it is :)
  • Workshop coffee - serving their own Cult of done beans which i've had really mixed experience with, the first beans i tried (back when they were st Ali) i really didn't get along with. The first time I visited workshop I had one of the best americanos i've ever had (beautifully balanced with subtle hints of jasmin) and since then its never quite lived up to that. Still they do make a great drink.
  • Break for lunch and bourbon at Meat Liquor :D
  • onto mothers milk which was the friendliest place i've ever been too - they unfortunately had run out of their usual beans JB Kaffee due to holiday miscommunications / postage but served me a very nice espresso using some drop coffee (stockholm) beans they'd been given by another local cafe. Will be making my way back at some point to sample their standard fare :)
  • Finally hit Foxcraft & Ginger in Soho for another espresso, again a great drink, sweet and rich with the roasting party beans i've not had before - might have to pick some up when i next need some beans :)
 
Siliconslave said:
Well that after 9 years of good service my Gaggia has finally given up and died... not had a chance to really look into why but its not pumping through the group head anymore, just making a load of noise :(
Seems to make steam though so i guess its probably fixable. Need to make some time and strip it down at some point, in all honesty its probably because I haven't been descaling it as much as i should :D
Click to expand...

Could well be a scale build up.

Pump still work if you turn it on with the steam wand open?


Siliconslave said:
In other news did a little coffee tour of london yesterday hitting:
  • Nobel espresso Kings Cross - great little stall serving notes beans & making a good americano - will defiantly be going back now i know where it is :)
  • Workshop coffee - serving their own Cult of done beans which i've had really mixed experience with, the first beans i tried (back when they were st Ali) i really didn't get along with. The first time I visited workshop I had one of the best americanos i've ever had (beautifully balanced with subtle hints of jasmin) and since then its never quite lived up to that. Still they do make a great drink.
  • Break for lunch and bourbon at Meat Liquor :D
  • onto mothers milk which was the friendliest place i've ever been too - they unfortunately had run out of their usual beans JB Kaffee due to holiday miscommunications / postage but served me a very nice espresso using some drop coffee (stockholm) beans they'd been given by another local cafe. Will be making my way back at some point to sample their standard fare :)
  • Finally hit Foxcraft & Ginger in Soho for another espresso, again a great drink, sweet and rich with the roasting party beans i've not had before - might have to pick some up when i next need some beans :)
Click to expand...

Nobel regularly change their bean supplier. Had some great espresso from them The Barn in Berlin. They're becoming a bit of a favourite place to visit. Luckilly my train gets into Kings Cross. ;) Will be a bit nicer when it's a touch warmer though. :D

Next time you're around the Oxford Circus area, try Curators Gallery too. Had a fantastic guest coffee tail end of the year from Hope & Glory. There's also another Workshop around there.
 
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Well have just got my first bag of Steve's Secret Stash (Has Bean) so hoping for some amazing coffees to come from this sub for the next 12 months. Still going through my December Sub bags at the minute so will probably not start on this till next month at this rate.

Just wondering if anyone knows a decent place for subscriptions in the USA for a friend of mine (want to get them something nice as a present mainly for aeropress). Looking for something similar to a has bean type sub either 1 bag month/week.
 
davetherave2 said:
Well have just got my first bag of Steve's Secret Stash (Has Bean) so hoping for some amazing coffees to come from this sub for the next 12 months. Still going through my December Sub bags at the minute so will probably not start on this till next month at this rate.

Just wondering if anyone knows a decent place for subscriptions in the USA for a friend of mine (want to get them something nice as a present mainly for aeropress). Looking for something similar to a has bean type sub either 1 bag month/week.
Click to expand...

Got my #SSSSS this morning too.

As for subscriptions:

http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/intelligentsia-at-home
http://www.49thparallelroasters.com/collections/subscriptions
https://counterculturecoffee.com/store/subscriptions
http://rubycoffeeroasters.com/collections/coffee/products/colorfulcoffeesubscription
https://bluebottlecoffee.com/at-home/gift
http://www.transcendcoffee.ca/categories/coffee-subscriptions

http://store.ptscoffee.com/club/select.php
http://casecoffeeroasters.com/store/subscriptions
http://www.vervecoffeeroasters.com/collections/subscriptions
http://coffearoasterie.com/coffees/monthly-coffee-subscription.html
https://www.craftcoffee.com/products/artisan-coffee-subscription
http://rivalbros.com/coffee-subscription
http://detourcoffee.com/product_categories/1?roast=Subscriptions
http://www.philsebastian.com/shop/coffee-subscriptions/


Some of the above are Canadian, but it shouldn't make that much difference.


And not forgetting... ;)

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/international-subscriptions
http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/collections/subscriptions

And the more off the wall...

http://coffeecollective.dk/shop/all/#subscriptions


I would definitely look at the top 6 though. With BlueBottle, you may need to change the country to US in the top right corner to get it working.
 
Flibster said:
Could well be a scale build up.

Pump still work if you turn it on with the steam wand open?

Nobel regularly change their bean supplier. Had some great espresso from them The Barn in Berlin. They're becoming a bit of a favourite place to visit. Luckilly my train gets into Kings Cross. ;) Will be a bit nicer when it's a touch warmer though. :D

Next time you're around the Oxford Circus area, try Curators Gallery too. Had a fantastic guest coffee tail end of the year from Hope & Glory. There's also another Workshop around there.
Click to expand...

yer, pump seems to be good still, just need to make some time to open it up really.

Nobel seem great and i'll be visiting them much more often in the mornings (maybe even tomorrow actually...) although the fact they close at 4 is a bit of a pain for the evening :(

I walked past Curators and the other Workshop but was riding a little too high on the caffeine buzz by that point to stop off - If i'd thought about it properly i'd have been doing singles all morning!
 
Thanks Flibster for the links.

I may get the blue bottle sub as I really liked their coffee when I was in New York back in 2013. (Have another trip planned for the summer so can't wait)

After looking at it I have just got another Has Bean subscription (12 month/1 bag per month) for them. Although the delivery surcharge is almost as much as the sub I think it is still a good deal in the grand scheme of things. Plus it is a company that I am happy to use and the have very rarely had a bad bag of beans from them.

Now to try and keep this a secret and see what reaction I get when they have their first bag drop through the letter box ;p
 
I've been struggling with the Gaggia Classic since Christmas, just really inconsistent results ranging from rather nice to so so. I'm new to it all so that is a factor, I was also still using my porlex whilst I was waiting for a suitable grinder to appear near me. I picked up a Super Jolly yesterday, and it has made such a difference. I can't believe I am using the same coffee as I was using in the porlex! I haven't done any mods as I wanted to make sure it was working okay, I've also got some new burrs on the way although these still feel fairly sharp.
 
This is a good place to have a decent coffee if you are ever in Lincoln

http://coffeearoma.co.uk/

Unusual in that they serve you two single shots of espresso (one in the latte & one separate) rather than a double & a glass of water as well.

proof (the latte I was served yesterday)

quQy23s.jpg
 
I bought some Rave Signature which arrived today but I need to use up this Lavazza Rosso in my machine before I try it. Can't wait!
 
/\/\/\ use it up & chuck it on the garden (google coffee grounds compost) That's all that Lavazza is fit for compared with Rave's beans. Co-incidentally, I got given a 'bag' of Ground Lavazza from a family member recently & its got relegated to the kitchen, where It'll only be used in the very early morning as a pick-me-up.
 
Finally got round to finishing Rave's Christmas blend (Hurave).
Didn't get any of the berry taste but it was lovely as flat white and did deliver on it's dark chocolate and buttery vanilla taste. :p

The Mocha Java was nice too, better than Italian Job and Fudge imo, well for my tastebuds.
 
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