Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

[Siliconslave]

Not quite on the Espresso subject, but I'm in need of a Coffee solution for work.

Which do you think would be best between:

• A decent Caffitiere
• An Aeropress
• Swissgold 'One cup'
• Something else?

Any ideas guys?

I'd go with either a Aeropress (which do have single use filters, but there pretty cheap and you can get/make a swissgold one...) or the Caffitiere (which i'd say are underrated personally)

If you wanted to go properly different you could get a chemex or one of those electric stove tops (http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk/acatalog/Easy_Stove-top.html)

It sort of depends what kind of coffee you like, be it drip, espresso, pour over or stove top

 

[Siliconslave]

Ok I am going to stop using this damn preground and get a grinder.

Is there anywhere in London that I might be able to get a decent Zass grinder?

Ta

i think you'd be lucky, theres apparently a very good coffee place called the Algerian Coffee stores (http://www.algcoffee.co.uk/) that might do on (get an espresso if you visit ), but its a long shot.

 

[Siliconslave]

I would seriously go for the used one on ebay over the new one. I'm not an expert, having only owned one, but I asked around before buying it and the folks on coffeegeek.com and other forums all agree the newer models aren't as good because the grading on the little knob that adjusts the coarseness of the grind isn't as fine. In fact, in the newer models it's stepped, whereas in older ones like the one I got it's a continuous grade.

On another note, I asked this earlier in the thread but no-one was able to enlighten me: How does the Aeropress compare to a stove-top espresso pot? As strong? Less? Does it do as good a job of not letting the grounds through into your coffee?

aeropress is supposed to be pretty much espresso less the creama, however stove top does not give an espresso style coffee out - its more like a strong americano (~ 1:1 of espresso:water at a guess) the filters are supposed to be pretty good afaik, you shouldn't really get any grinds through

If no-one else is i might bid on that grinder... don't want to get in a bidding war though

 

[Siliconslave]

Ah I was gonna go for it Desperate to get my hands on my first grinder

if you want it go for it... i won't bid against you but if your not going to i'll have a go

 

[Siliconslave]

after a bit of research into cleaning hand grinders i present grape nuts!

i will be running these through my zass hand grinder (once it turns up from germany)

i got a packet of grape nuts from tesco for £1.19 a pack with the intention of running 1/3 of a cup through the grinder once every 3 months.

was also looking at 'minute rice' but this is not readily available in uk. (btw ordinary rice is not recommended)

apparently this is great for cleaning grinders... really should do mine soon....

 

[Siliconslave]

You wouldn't believe me if I told you

come on spill the, erm, well tell us

 

[Siliconslave]

its not too much money for a decent grinder, even less if you get a second hand zassenhausenhasssenzaz (sp? ) on ebay

 

[Siliconslave]

Anyone seen the presso machines?
http://www.singleservecoffee.com/archives/012875.php

Might be a solution for me at work where I can't plug anything in.

i used to have one of these, it was pretty good and did a decent coffee actually - just never, never heat up vodka and use that instead of water to make espressos, its incredibly dangerous (and fun)

 

[Siliconslave]

yer, bean storage seems to be a highly argued topic - the last blind test i saw done basically concluded that unless your planning on keeping for more than ~1 month its better to store in the fridge in and airtight container.

I'm storing mine in a vacuum at the moment for up to a month and its doing pretty well - better than just airtight / frozen, theres always a jump from the old to the new, but its surprisingly little in my current setup.

 

[Siliconslave]

Wahoo- Just picked up a Zass here in Germany- lovely second hand thing... Is there a good demand for these in the UK? I got talking to the woman that owns the store here and she said she basically has loads of the things and doesn't sell an awful lot of them... I was under the impression they were very in demand in the UK? (Quality used ones).?

could you drop me an e-mail (in trust) if you don't mind picking me one up... i could really do with a "work" one

Cheers

 

[Siliconslave]

there generally different sizes buy manufacturer - sometimes one manufacturer will have a range of sizes - but usually consumer ones are the same.

 

[Siliconslave]

thats a La Spaziale one - won't fit Hasbean don't have any listed but they may be able to source you one....

Would be worth soaking in some hot water for a bit an see what its like after

 

[Siliconslave]

I'm biased but at the time of purchase the classic was the best machine around that price point - unfortunately its been discontinued and as far as i'm aware the replacement doesn't do it justice. If you can find one I'd get a classic....

Grinder wise i'd really recomend getting one from the start and learning to use it. Freshly ground beans will have a more positive effect on your coffee than anything else. Buying pre-ground will be very frustrating - whatever you do with it the only time you'd get a decent shot would be upto 2hrs after its ground - after that it will just get worse and worse

for £200 i'd be tempted to get a £100 grinder and a stove top / french press (and then get a coffee machine later...)

 

[Siliconslave]

£50 you can get the dualit one (rebanded and resold through starbucks too...):

its good, but won't go fine enough (most of the time - you get some which do) so i'd really recomend going for the iberital mc2.... its grrrrreat (check back a few pages for a quote from the hasbean owner admitting that his more expensive machine wasn't as good )

 

[Siliconslave]

ugly but very functional - honestly its a order of magnitude better than the dualit....

 

[Siliconslave]

can you do us a potted guide to milk foaming in a home environment Maverrick? - also if theres anything i should add/change in my original post i'd be interested to hear your opinion

 

[Siliconslave]

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/

 

[Siliconslave]

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!

 

[Siliconslave]

I bought myself a pre birthday present yesterday, a piece of Italian Engineering

nice at least you know with that kind of Italian engineering the electrics aren't going to randomly fry themselves on the motorways

 

[Siliconslave]

i'd probably go with cooling the espresso shots in ice then adding milk (or dropping into iced milk) leaving overnight is sure to have a detrimental effect to the coffee (plus requires far too much planning )