Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

robj20 said:
Whats best out of Italian Job and Signature
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signature - nice/distinctive nose even off of the beans and smoother taste, both are dark, in the early 7-14 day slot not so much diffference, but would also say Italian goes off/rancid faster;
but close the issue down and get a bit of both - I need >250g to get predictable results and must always restrain from trying to lock in too early post roast date
 
Just drink more :p 1kg bags last me 2-3 weeks (when it's just me drinking, if I have coffee drinking visitors naturally consumption goes up) by which time it's just starting to turn stale (but still palettable). Never more than 3 cups a day when it's just me.
 
The BE arrived! First impressions are really good. It's really well built, has almost no waiting for heat up, and looks great on the side in the kitchen.

I picked up some locally roasted coffee, and after a couple of practices, was making some perfectly drinkable espresso.

Making anything involving milk is still proving somewhat challenging, not in the least because I keep doubting if something is actually okay, where as if someone handed it to me in a cup, I'm sure I'd drink it fine!

Doubles seem to be working a lot better than singles. Pulling a single, I only got about 17ml.

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(I) Don't ever make singles, unless you have a top end system (Marzocco - auto tamping ....) ability to control the weight/grind/tamping/distribution/extraction with such a small quantity of coffee is problematic, and its just a mouthful, so doubles. ... well I use 11g coffee for about 40ml volumes

robj20 said:
I'm going to try vacuum sealing and freezing beans in week long portions. Can buy the 1kg bags then
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until current holiday with M&S/asda beans was regularly buying 3kg from Rave and freezing (pre off-gassing), never had condensation so vacuum sealing no so important;
 
Certainly for the drinks I like, I prefer a double, but my girlfriend is looking for a daily coffee that is mostly water with just a bit of milk rather than a latte, and finds the double too much coffee without the milk.

I’ll play around some more tonight. Seemingly just pressing the single basket and single espresso isn’t enough and it needs a lot more fine tuning. Hopefully I can convince her to just have doubles!

When measuring extraction time, is that from the moment I hit the button to the point that coffee stops coming out?
 
I thought you start counting as the rats tail starts emerging, which for me is usually less than a second;
I have the grind too fine, or tamped too hard, if it takes longer (although there was an earlier post, I never queried at the time, suggesting tamp presssure changes little)
 
Got some more coffee on the way to try.

Signature Blend
Fudge Blend
Chatswood Blend
Colombia Suarez Project (Caramel, Chocolate, Toffee)

And this one sounds interesting.
Sumatra Super Gayo (Chocolate, nutmeg, sweet tobacco, orange oil)

Now which order to try them in.
 
jpaul said:
which did you go for ?
I had liked mecoffee, if not going down the full microcontroller development kit route.
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https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6

I took a look at the Mecoffee one & decided against it. If you have issues with one support is somewhat lacking, as in response to emails from the seller. I didnt like installing to what is more or less a raspberry pi inside a machine that produces a lot of heat & steam. not good for electronics methinks.
 
My SAGE grinder arrived today:

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First impressions are very good indeed. It's such a step up from the DeLonghi blade grinder we were using previously.

Looking forward to using this over the coming years and also, upgrading my machine soon, as that's now the weak link in my set up.
 
Man, talk about first world problems but I'm getting annoyed with my work's coffee bar. They have some excellent coffee and proper baristas. Brilliant I thought. Up until now it's been excellent. On par with all the local coffee shops (Monmouth, Fernandez & Wells etc). It's really very good.

But now as it is all free, it gets crazy busy (I know, first world problems!) so they've decided to get in two big filter machines and stop doing Americanos. They do everything else, just not Americanos. What? :confused:

So, Doris can come along and get her skinny almond latte and plop 3 sugars in it and chocolate on top - because she doesn't actually know what coffee tastes like - yet I can't get what is actually a very decent Americano! :mad: The filter uses the same beans, it is not up to scratch (because it's just a big industrial machine). I've tried it, but yuck.

So I have to get a double espresso and then mooch off to the kitchen to make my Americano. How dumb! All whilst watching muppets order their lattes, milky cappucinos etc. load them up with sugar and chocolate sprinkles, even syrups. Argh!! :mad:

/rant over :p
 
Wow, where do you work that they have given you dedicated baristas?

But yeah, espresso forms the basis of a lot of coffee and Americano is the simplest result of that, the fact they've taken that away sounds daft. It's first world problems but it's still a problem dude :)
 
Well they're trying to save themselves time because it gets so busy in the mornings. But an Americano hardly takes any time compared a milk-based drink does it? I want to complain but realise how "entitled" I'd sound. Complaining about free coffee... lol :(
 
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