Soldato
Macdonald's coffee ***. no **** with a £300 machine you can make good coffee. Do it for £3 and then I will be impressed.
Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread
- Thread starter Siliconslave
- Start date
The force is weak with this one.
MuckyD's coffe is bitter nasty stuff.
I make better coffe daily with a £18 machine and £5 of locally roasted coffee that I grind before work - that £5 woth of coffee will last me all week and the machine has lasted almost a year so far.
So....
Thats about 75P a day if my maths is accurate, and thats for a couple of cups a day.
Soldato
Time is money my friend.
I am not 100% serious. I am going to get a coffee machine at some point. Probably not quite as fancy as some of these but maybe a basic gaggia as they do look well made, hate cheap plastic rubbish.
But I do also like Maccys coffee. Double sausage and egg mcmuffin and a coffee is the best thing they do, chuck the hash brown away.
Time is money my friend.
I am not 100% serious. I am going to get a coffee machine at some point. Probably not quite as fancy as some of these but maybe a basic gaggia as they do look well made, hate cheap plastic rubbish.
But I do also like Maccys coffee. Double sausage and egg mcmuffin and a coffee is the best thing they do, chuck the hash brown away.
McDonalds coffee is terrible, it's not even on par with instant I don't think at all!
Also "Time is money" Probably takes you more time and money to get to McDonalds to get your coffee in the first place!
Rich
To make good coffee all you need is:
a) Good fresh coffee to start with.
b) Something to grind it, could even be a whirly blade (*shock*)
c) french press (aeropress is better although you need to grind smaller - flibster)
e) good technique (ie not pouring boiling water on it which will scold it and make it bitter!)
That's it.. You'll get the real taste of coffee.
For the Iberial - CoffeeGeek even has a review for that!
http://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders/iberital_grinder
a) Good fresh coffee to start with.
b) Something to grind it, could even be a whirly blade (*shock*)
c) french press (aeropress is better although you need to grind smaller - flibster)
e) good technique (ie not pouring boiling water on it which will scold it and make it bitter!)
That's it.. You'll get the real taste of coffee.
For the Iberial - CoffeeGeek even has a review for that!
http://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders/iberital_grinder
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On the recomendations in here I have bought the Breakfast Bomb and the Monsoon Malabar coffee's to try. I only currently have a cheap greek filter machine and a bodum cafetiere. Will get another espresso machine soon I think though. Love my coffee!
git! thats a lovely looking setup
Lens and lever wise it might be on the cards post christmas when i get the new car sorted and have a bit of free cash again...
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- 30 Nov 2003
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thanks have picked up a zass on the bay (from german dealer - cleaned and ready to go)
will let you know how i get on with it once it arrives
This may taste very different to what you're used to
Monsooned Malabar is a coffee that spends the monsoon (monsooned is actually a term about the ageing process) in special warehouses that they open the sides in the damp/humidity. The beans then swell in the bags and undergo a transformation in appearance and taste.
I has a distinct taste supposedly (I've not actually tried it yet as I'm still working my way through south america).
Also if the bean is only just roasted you may find that it tastes better after three or four days. This is because gases (CO2) are still coming out of the beans after they've been roasted for several days. If the bags didn't have valves on they inflate until they pop!
edit: I'd go with the cafetiere rather than the filter machine..
ThriceNightly - nice
it'll be interesting to see if you note a difference in taste.
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Associate
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ThriceNightly - nice
taste and experience
this will be the first time i will be grinding my own beans
have also ordered 250g of this
http://www.hasbean.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=315
taste and experience
this will be the first time i will be grinding my own beans
have also ordered 250g of this
http://www.hasbean.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=315
Hehe you're going to have to review that!
Associate
Seems like an awful amount of time spent on a tiny cup of coffee. Guess there's quite a following in this interest.
The machine things do look awesome though.
The machine things do look awesome though.
True, but they taste really quite different from hifh street espressos, much smoother not bitter with a syrupy feel to them. Really nice. Plus you choose the beans, so you only make your favourites, plus once you figure out it's nowhere near £3 a cup like the high street charges, you have loads of them!
Well I ordered on the friday and they have turned up today yay! Going to try out a cup of monsoon malabar, won't touch the breafast bomb just yet as I have to go to sleep soon. I could smell the coffee even before I opened the package.
It's not just a tiny cup of coffee though - as that shot is the base for a lot of coffee beverages.
The coffee is WORLDS apart from the stuff that you get in jar.
Rich
When was it's roasting date?
If it's the previous day then the reason for so much coffee smell is because the CO2 is still 'degassing' from the beans. I'd give it a few days as it can alter the taste of the coffee.
just splashed out on a 6 month subscription to square mile - 6 lovely bags of random goodness - can't wait to see what i get first The bag of WBC Espresso blend i got from them was fantastic (as you'd expect... http://www.squaremileblog.com/2008/07/13/the-last-of-the-wbc-blend/)
Anyone used a Chemex drip filter thing at all? i'm strangely tempted as a cheap second brewer for larger quantities but i'm worried that my step less grinder will make it a pain to maintain two grind profiles
maybe time for a hand grinder as well
The bag of WBC Espresso blend i got from them was fantastic (as you'd expect... http://www.squaremileblog.com/2008/07/13/the-last-of-the-wbc-blend/) Anyone used a Chemex drip filter thing at all? i'm strangely tempted as a cheap second brewer for larger quantities but i'm worried that my step less grinder will make it a pain to maintain two grind profiles
maybe time for a hand grinder as well /me Is a trained Barista and your coffee is looking good. But to be honest you are putting to much ground coffee in the portafilter basket you should be using no more that 7.5g a grounds but this can very a little with each machine. The Gaggia you have is one of the best home espresso machines you can buy and for the money is very good value.
Your Crema looks a little dark for my liking, and you should see a light spot on the top of the crema where the last drop of liquid entered the glass .
Get some Diamond scales of coffee scales (They are the same thing just one has a different shape basket to the other) for measuring the amount of grounds you put into the portafilter.
Some would say your grind is a little too fine. But I could not comment as unless i can feel and see it properly i could not tell to be honest.
Other than that its looking good.
Your Crema looks a little dark for my liking, and you should see a light spot on the top of the crema where the last drop of liquid entered the glass .
Get some Diamond scales of coffee scales (They are the same thing just one has a different shape basket to the other) for measuring the amount of grounds you put into the portafilter.
Some would say your grind is a little too fine. But I could not comment as unless i can feel and see it properly i could not tell to be honest.
Other than that its looking good.
hey, thanks for the comments i know i'm over filling the basket slightly... but for ease of leveling & with a lack of decent scales i'm not too worried.
grind wise i'm constantly adjusting the grind based on the Time : Volume ratio of 25 seconds : 30ml (or 60 on a double) and i do get a bit of blonding at the end of the pour... you can just see the light spot on this americano (pulled into hot water from the bottomless)
![DSC_1708.JPG"](https://lh6.ggpht.com/itssam/SI8jI-WPKzI/AAAAAAAABGA/sO_cv6Rav2I/s400/DSC_1708.JPG")
out of interest where did you train & where do you work at the moment?
i know i'm over filling the basket slightly... but for ease of leveling & with a lack of decent scales i'm not too worried.grind wise i'm constantly adjusting the grind based on the Time : Volume ratio of 25 seconds : 30ml (or 60 on a double) and i do get a bit of blonding at the end of the pour... you can just see the light spot on this americano (pulled into hot water from the bottomless)
out of interest where did you train & where do you work at the moment?
This was a photo from my first night of MCAL ownership and with trial beans to help a complete novice home-barista get the grind dialled in, the pour temperature right etc. Also explains the complete mess!
MCAL is known for it's slightly anaemic amount of crema compared to other machines. This is a single basket too.
I should take another photo at some point as the recent pours have been a lot better with deep reds, some blonded shots and a bit more crema.. but above all the taste is a lot better than those shots!
MCAL is known for it's slightly anaemic amount of crema compared to other machines. This is a single basket too.
I should take another photo at some point as the recent pours have been a lot better with deep reds, some blonded shots and a bit more crema.. but above all the taste is a lot better than those shots!
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