Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

MarkST · 5 May 2009 at 15:29

Rancilio Silvia turned up today

Almost gone through a 250g pack of beans I got free from HappyDonkey and almost getting a decent espresso, the adjustment knob on the Iberital is so fine its unreal.

Mark

Youstolemyname · 6 May 2009 at 10:56

Any recommendations for a machine under £200? Don't really want to spend more than that or be tied to nespresso capsules.

Kona* · 6 May 2009 at 11:34

Youstolemyname said:
Any recommendations for a machine under £200? Don't really want to spend more than that or be tied to nespresso capsules.

I own a Gaggia Espresso Pure and it does the job brilliantly

They can be had for between £165 and £185, depending on where you go. If you want to go cheaper than that then you can get a Gaggia Cubika, but I'd highly recommend the Espresso Pure for the small price jump as it has a better boiler and comes with a brass portafilter (the Cubika's is aluminium I think!)

Craig

Youstolemyname · 6 May 2009 at 12:16

Kona* said:
I own a Gaggia Espresso Pure and it does the job brilliantly They can be had for between £165 and £185, depending on where you go. If you want to go cheaper than that then you can get a Gaggia Cubika, but I'd highly recommend the Espresso Pure for the small price jump as it has a better boiler and comes with a brass portafilter (the Cubika's is aluminium I think!)

Craig

Thanks, that looks quite smart. The missus is a bit of a fan of Dualit stuff in Baby Blue so I may have to go that route to match the rest of our stuff in the kitchen!

titchard · 18 May 2009 at 14:07

Well after having espresso kettles and french presses I have got my own espresso machine!

Have a Gaggia Baby Dose - and have been sat this afternoon configuring it and getting the amounts right. Think I will go buy myself 500G of cheap coffee and sit and run it through the machine till I get the right kind of shot!

The only thing that baffles me is it has a one and two shot button - but it still comes out in two shots regardless - is it possible to get hold of a single chuted handle?

*goes off to purchase some coffee machine-esque accessories*

Rich

Raymond Lin · 18 May 2009 at 14:14

titchard said:
Well after having espresso kettles and french presses I have got my own espresso machine!

Have a Gaggia Baby Dose - and have been sat this afternoon configuring it and getting the amounts right. Think I will go buy myself 500G of cheap coffee and sit and run it through the machine till I get the right kind of shot!

The only thing that baffles me is it has a one and two shot button - but it still comes out in two shots regardless - is it possible to get hold of a single chuted handle?

*goes off to purchase some coffee machine-esque accessories*

Rich

The machine (my gaggia does) comes with 2 baskets, a single shot and a double shot. However i don't use the single shot since i find it rather inconsistent. Stick with the double shot

As for coffee accessories, get a nice tamper, a stainless steel frother jug, a espresso shot glass (to measure) and some nice cups if you so incline.

Then save up for a nice grinder

titchard · 18 May 2009 at 14:21

Raymond Lin said:
The machine (my gaggia does) comes with 2 baskets, a single shot and a double shot. However i don't use the single shot since i find it rather inconsistent. Stick with the double shot

As for coffee accessories, get a nice tamper, a stainless steel frother jug, a espresso shot glass (to measure) and some nice cups if you so incline.

Then save up for a nice grinder

I have the jug and a decent tamper and some espresso shot glasses (My dad the haggler got a lot thrown in).

Mine does come with the two baskets - I did notice the two shot seemed a rather more "easy to use" design.

Need to hone my espresso skill now!

Rich

p4radox · 18 May 2009 at 21:40

Got some Australian Skyberry beans this week. They're fantastic, a really smooth, mellow taste but still quite strong.

I've found that I've needed to coarsen the grind slightly to get a decent flow rate through my machine though.

Maverrick · 19 May 2009 at 18:07

titchard said:
Think I will go buy myself 500G of cheap coffee and sit and run it through the machine till I get the right kind of shot!

Don't forget that every coffee bean grinds differently, so a setup for one bean may need to be different to another. So don't spend to much time playing around with one bean on a setup, as you may have to change it the next bean you use. If it's purely for setting up the liquid quantity on an automatic machine, then that will be the same each time.

Jonny69 · 19 May 2009 at 19:13

Raymond Lin said:
Hmmm Creme, would've been more but i had to go get the camera in the living room and come back, about 30 seconds after it was pulled.

Lovely. Where are your shot glasses from?

I haven't had decent coffee for months now. My local place closed down and Whittard are no more. I might have to get a train up town and go to Monmouth tomorrow

Raymond Lin · 19 May 2009 at 19:21

Jonny69 said:
Lovely. Where are your shot glasses from?

I haven't had decent coffee for months now. My local place closed down and Whittard are no more. I might have to get a train up town and go to Monmouth tomorrow

Starbucks

Stelly · 19 May 2009 at 19:34

I freeze my beans, it works a treat

Stelly

Flibster · 20 May 2009 at 01:27

Stelly said:
I freeze my beans, it works a treat

Stelly

I freeze mine if they are sealed properly. Only for up to a month though - after that they start to go downhill.

Once opened I use one of these

I am currently working my way through a few different locally roasted beans - they're not great to be honest - but I have some Ausralian Skyberry ready to open in the next day or two so I'm good.

Shoei · 3 Jun 2009 at 08:06

So got my 3 cup Bialetti and my favourite coffee (old brown java).
Main question i have is, how much coffee do i place in the bialetti?

Siliconslave · 3 Jun 2009 at 08:51

three cups

check out this very good video guide for all your stove top needs: http://www.jimseven.com/2009/01/21/videocast-4-stovetopmoka-pot/

Shoei · 3 Jun 2009 at 09:20

Siliconslave said:
three cups check out this very good video guide for all your stove top needs: http://www.jimseven.com/2009/01/21/videocast-4-stovetopmoka-pot/

Cheers for that, will have a try tonight, though looking at that video, the coffee i have may be too fine a grind(can use it in the machine at work though, so no loss there).

Siliconslave · 3 Jun 2009 at 09:32

putting boiling water in the bottom is the best tip for getting a good brew out of it tbh - otherwise it'll over-extract and taste all bitter!

netby · 3 Jun 2009 at 12:27

I got a very tastefully coffee out of my stove top
I like more the taste of it than of the espresso machine
of course it dont have the "crema", but the taste is wonderful

Flibster · 3 Jun 2009 at 18:09

Quick question for anyone around who has an Iberital MC2 grinder.

How tall are they?

Parents are after one and I no longer have mine so I can't give them the measurements - their cupboards are very low over the worktops as mum is a shorty.

allllec · 3 Jun 2009 at 22:50

Flibster said:
Quick question for anyone around who has an Iberital MC2 grinder.

How tall are they?

Parents are after one and I no longer have mine so I can't give them the measurements - their cupboards are very low over the worktops as mum is a shorty.

I'll check at work tomorrow, with hopper attached yeah?

Ta

Alec

Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

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