Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

I still think the best brew method is moka pot. Just gone back to it after a couple of months gives the smoothest complex coffee imo.
 
Mines gathering dust, I have got it down a couple of times but it goes back on the shelf. It's got to be well over a year since I last used it, I'll have to first it off again!
 
FrenchTart said:
I've got the MC2 myself. I agree that it has some foibles but I guess I thought if you were looking to get rid then one of the two people I know that are stuck with awful grinders might like a cheap upgrade :)
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Ah fair enough, I thought you were hinting that you were gonna buy one and just wanted to mention the spout thing, as it really annoyed me over time.
 
Jolteh said:
Ah fair enough, I thought you were hinting that you were gonna buy one and just wanted to mention the spout thing, as it really annoyed me over time.
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Yeah... on re-reading I can see how my post came across like that :)

The spout thing is a little annoying but I guess I always assumed that was a problem with most grinders (I also have the doserless version of the MC2).

You mentioned better grinders available in the same price range btw - would you mind letting me know which ones? I'll pass on the suggestions.
 
Currently using a hacked Starbucks Barista. I had thought about upgrading to the MC2 at some point but sounds like I might be better looking elsewhere?
 
https://www.chefsteps.com/classes/espresso/landing#/

The above is a really good (and free) primer on making espresso using the most up-to-date methods imo. I love chefsteps stuff - actually bought the brewed coffee class also on the strength of the espresso one.

Also, Pact are doing another new customer giveaway. This time it's for a 250ml KeepCup (my favourite travel cup). £6.95 for 250g and the KeepCup (I paid about a £12 for my KeepCup last year). The coffee is decent, but not as good as Square Mile (imo). Code: METROKC
 
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1x Kenya Kii AB Micro Lot - Whole Bean / 250g

1x Indian Monsooned Malabar AA - 250g / Whole Bean

1x Colombian Suarez - 350g / Whole Bean

1x The Italian Job Blend - 1kg / Whole Bean


Just ordered that little lot from Rave, IJ to try and get the MC2 dialled in. Shots are all over the place lately :-( its the one good shot in about 5 that keep me trying.

IMM in the aeropress is lovely, 4-5 clicks on the porlex 15g coffee, 200ml water. 2 mins. Brill.
 
i picked up a kilo of each of the HuRave for the holidays blend and the Sumatra Jagona Village and im not getting anything special out of either, ive always enjoyed raves stuff but these 2 are just missing somthing, some of raves stuff has taken a couple of weeks to get to its best but both of these seem to be lacking the natural sweetness that i like from my coffee.

i think once i have finished with these i may have to give a different roater a try as its been a while.
 
I got an aeropress a couple of months ago (after breaking the glass on my cafetiere) and I have been loving it. It totally suits my needs vs a cafetiere. I am the only coffee drinker in the house, but to avoid the hassle of cleaning the cafetiere each time I would instead make a full beaker, and have 1 nice fresh cup and 2 bit so nice reheated cups later in the day. Aeropress is much quicker and cleaning is a doddle so it suits me much better.
I am thinking of grinding my own coffee. Can you guys give me a few recommendations please. I want coffee suitable for the aeropress or cafetiere.
 
Hand grinder or electric?

I'd suggest for just the aeropress go for a hand grind, probably the porlex. It does the job nicely and fits inside the aeropress if you want to travel and take it with you.

Google 'porlex hand grinder', the rainforest has it for about £30 but it can be found for less elsewhere.

If you're after a electric grinder, someone else will probably have better suggestions - I went for the MC2 as my first electric as I wanted to do espresso too.
 
EdwardTeach said:
Are all electric grinders as expensive as the mc2?in which case I will go for hand ~£30 seems a now reasonable price to start or with.
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Ummm.... No. Many are significantly more expensive. The MC2 is the cheap end.

MC2 is the bare minimum electric burr grinder really. I'm currently running an £85 ebay special commercial grinder *Cunill Brasil with the doser changed to a funnel* and a couple of hand grinders.

Many people run second hand Mazzer Super Jolly grinders at home. They're around £250

Then you have the people who have the full on top class grinders at home. Things like the Mahlkonig EK43 which hovers around £1700. Mythos One - Just over £2k. Versalab M3 *my personal favourite tbh*, that's about £2200 before you get to the optional bits. This is the hand made one though.
 
rhysduck said:
Having little to no crema on my recent Mk1 blend from HasBean.. :(
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Dry beans would be feeling light and hard.. look, feel and sound different.. if they're not dry it could be that you need to adjust for new bean blend?

The MCAL (thing my previous post) is a bit sensitive to beans - yet with enough adjustment on grind and tamp I can normally get something out of a tin if Illy.. although usually Talyors coffee beans from Sainsburys seems to be pushing it a bit too far! :D
 
Flibster said:
Ummm.... No. Many are significantly more expensive. The MC2 is the cheap end.

MC2 is the bare minimum electric burr grinder really. I'm currently running an £85 ebay special commercial grinder *Cunill Brasil with the doser changed to a funnel* and a couple of hand grinders.

Many people run second hand Mazzer Super Jolly grinders at home. They're around £250

Then you have the people who have the full on top class grinders at home. Things like the Mahlkonig EK43 which hovers around £1700. Mythos One - Just over £2k. Versalab M3 *my personal favourite tbh*, that's about £2200 before you get to the optional bits. This is the hand made one though.
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I have had a bit of a look around and I can see that there are electric blenders considerably cheaper than the mc2, for example the Dualit 75015 is £80 and the are some de longhi ones on amazon for as little as £25 on Amazon. Anything wrong with these? Are the hand grinders better than the cheaper electrics?
I am not interested in spending a ton of money. I am trying to gauge how much I need to spend to start seeing a benefit over buying ground coffee.
 
EdwardTeach said:
I have had a bit of a look around and I can see that there are electric blenders considerably cheaper than the mc2, for example the Dualit 75015 is £80 and the are some de longhi ones on amazon for as little as £25 on Amazon. Anything wrong with these? Are the hand grinders better than the cheaper electrics?
I am not interested in spending a ton of money. I am trying to gauge how much I need to spend to start seeing a benefit over buying ground coffee.
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I bought the De Longhi quite cheaply just to experiment with, it worked well at first but since I've been unable to get a consistent grind from it and have reverted back to my Kyocera hand grinder.
 
How critical is it to have freshly roasted beans? Bearing in mind I am not looking to make the "percect" coffee, just looking for an improvement over buying ground coffee. I had a look at the beans on hasbeen and they are 50% or more per weight than the ground coffee in the supermarket. I am sure they are worth it and something I would be interested in occasionally, but given that i drink a fair amount of coffee, I don't want to have to increase my average cost/cup by that much. Waitrose sell a lot of different coffee beans for approximately the same price/weight as the find coffee. These beans will obviously not freshly roasted, but would they still give a significant upgrade over buying ground coffee?
 
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