Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

Somnambulist · 23 Sep 2018 at 08:54

Same boat. I have the Wilfa grinder and might eventually go for their coffee maker if there's a sale somewhere:

Perhaps not - price has gone waaaaay up since that review. Maybe a Moccamaster?

Grimley · 27 Sep 2018 at 19:35

OK Folks, not posted here in a while so just a heads up for all you Londoners.
I Popped into this place in Camden on Tuesday for some Kenyan AA. Been here 40 years with the same man, so he must be doing something right. beans are Hand roasted in a hundred year old drum roaster by said man. Google maps and Blogs on the internet about this place more or less say the same. This is the 2nd or 3rd bag of Kenyan on filter at home (my morning pick-me-up) this year. I'm impressed and it's got better as it's cooled. I can see why the queue was out the door and the shop has been there 40 years. Give it a try whenever you visit Camden.

jpaul · 28 Sep 2018 at 14:19

Ayahuasca said:
I've had my eye on the Sage Barrista Express in the hopes the AO ebay store would get them in again for £380 but isn't looking likely.

10% off on ebay until 8pm ???

Jolteh · 7 Oct 2018 at 23:20

Thoughts?

I ditched faffy home espresso a while ago in favour of a moccamaster, but this little thing look nice.

jpaul · 8 Oct 2018 at 12:11

One mans meat is another mans faff

look like sage are cleverly attacking the nespresso and the millenial/gen must have it now market.
I can't see how this 3s heating mechanism is meant to warm up the portafilter and produce decent espresso,

maybe there will be some good deals on the duo pro and express models, which I fear, they will replace,
with provision of a wifi switch those could be turned on the machine, with sufficient time to warm up.

edit. warm up ...

So, after reading the newbies section of the Home Barista I decided to run a temperature analysis on my Breville Barista Express BES870XL. I'm not entirely sure what to make of the results and so I thought I would post them and see what other people have to say....

I used a digital food probe inserted in the portafilter immediately under the basket to take temperature readings.

_at 5min after switching on the machine I pulled a shot (with coffee): temperature reading 73.4°C

Switched off machine for an hour.

_at 5min after switching on the machine I flushed the group and portafilter, THEN I pulled a shot (with coffee): temperature reading 82°C
Left puck in group head!
_at 10min, discarded puck, wiped clean portafilter, flushed group only, pulled a shot (with coffee): temperature reading 85°C
_at 20min repeated as above: temperature reading 85.4°C
_at 28min repeated as above: temperature reading 85.4°C
This time I discarded the puck after last shot.
_at 35min wiped clean portafilter, flushed group only, pulled a shot (with coffee): temperature reading 85.7°C
I discarded the puck, removed basket and took reading inside portafilter (with no coffee) at 40min: temperature reading 90.5°C

Dj_Jestar · 13 Oct 2018 at 08:15

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/nicaragua-las-delicias-w-longberry

This is the tastiest coffee I've had in a very long time. Las Delicias indeed.

Anyone who likes the chocolate note may want to try this one.

Participant · 13 Oct 2018 at 08:27

Dj_Jestar said:
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/nicaragua-las-delicias-w-longberry

This is the tastiest coffee I've had in a very long time. Las Delicias indeed.

Anyone who likes the chocolate note may want to try this one.

£8 for 250g excluding shipping. My god it must be incredible.

Dj_Jestar · 13 Oct 2018 at 08:48

Was only £6.50 for 250g when I ordered

Flibster · 13 Oct 2018 at 11:23

Participant said:
£8 for 250g excluding shipping. My god it must be incredible.

Still not expensive. Have had coffees from Steve that were £25 for a 250g bag.

Scam · 13 Oct 2018 at 22:38

Yeah £8 a bag is not really much :confused:

Thanks for the tip though, I need to make an order this weekend...

Egon · 15 Oct 2018 at 12:48

£8 +shipping for 250g isn't exactly cheap, but it's not too far away from the average either. £25 on the other hand is just ridiculous.

Ayahuasca · 15 Oct 2018 at 14:23

Just using ALDI mellow beans at the moment and those do me. £8 for 250g is expensive if you drink 3 a day.

haz_pro · 17 Oct 2018 at 10:44

It depends what you want. Sure, it is expensive compared to Aldi beans - but it is much cheaper than going to a coffee shop. Also I didn't spend hundreds (some people, thousands) on brewing equipment to ruin it with cheap beans. (Ruin IMO of course, you may really enjoy them)

jpaul · 23 Oct 2018 at 15:09

If you are a Rave customer check mailbox

The SALE lasts for 24 HOURS 4:30pm TODAY until 4:30pm TUESDAY 23rd October

Grimley · 23 Oct 2018 at 16:14

Flibster said:
Still not expensive. Have had coffees from Steve that were £25 for a 250g bag.

Panama Geisha by any chance?

jpaul · 23 Oct 2018 at 17:29

Steves at hasbean I guess ... I never got my platinum coffee bean card.

.....Rave signature came in at a modest 14.28/kg

Flibster · 24 Oct 2018 at 17:52

Grimley said:
Panama Geisha by any chance?

Can't remember what it was off the top of my head, but it was a super small lot of an unusual process for that farm. Think it was just 1 or 2 bags of green beans produced as well. Will have a look later on see if I can find it exactly later on.

Dj_Jestar · 24 Oct 2018 at 19:33

Is that a walk-in purchase? Never seen anything that pricey on HB

Flibster · 24 Oct 2018 at 22:40

Dj_Jestar said:
Is that a walk-in purchase? Never seen anything that pricey on HB

Was actually on the store for a while. Was a few years back now. I was sent it as a thank you for something I did, along with another bag from the same farm that was slightly less *about £15 iirc* but a different process.

jpaul · 26 Oct 2018 at 10:32

Just had the Rave sale delivery Roasted two days ago -

For newly roasted beans and espresso use, does anyone just wait 5 days post roast, say, before attempting shots ?

I usually try some immediately, but inevtiably there is some waste trying to establish an appropriate (finer) grind, and,
I am not convinced taste is necessarily better in the early days - smell from off-gassing of the beans for sure

EDIT: just read the invoice which does suggest 7 day wait filter, 10-12day espresso