Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread
- Thread starter Siliconslave
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Caporegime
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- Wish i was in a Ramen Shop Counter
Or get a zassenhaus on eBay.
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Caporegime
- Joined
- 20 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 75,875
- Location
- Wish i was in a Ramen Shop Counter
Lol, okay you might want to forget that since the price has rocketed since i bought mine. NOT surprising as the company went bust not long ago.
This is mine, I paid £50, and is now worth more than my Iberital MC2!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ZASSENHAUS-CO...ines_Makers&hash=item19c34361c0#ht_2869wt_940
This is mine, I paid £50, and is now worth more than my Iberital MC2!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ZASSENHAUS-CO...ines_Makers&hash=item19c34361c0#ht_2869wt_940
Soldato
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well I have ordered the porlex tall grinder. It does seem that the others are bit hard to find at the moment.
Have picked it up for £30 + next day delivery.
Have also ordered some of the following beans:
Brazil Fazenda Sao Judas Tadeu Pulped Natural 2011
This was recommended from Steve at hasbeans based on the info I provided him. So will see how I get on with these and then start experimenting with other flavours when I have sampled this bag.
Have picked it up for £30 + next day delivery.
Have also ordered some of the following beans:
Brazil Fazenda Sao Judas Tadeu Pulped Natural 2011
This was recommended from Steve at hasbeans based on the info I provided him. So will see how I get on with these and then start experimenting with other flavours when I have sampled this bag.
Yep, I was comparing it to some Costa Rica Finca de Licho using the same standard Has Bean inverted method and I came to the same conclusion. I think Jailbreak is not really to my tasteIt's quite a smoky blend though. That's partly why I like it, dark and spicy, smells of earth and cumin
If you want a slightly more acidic drink try grinding the beans finer. I use the inverted method like Hamster.
Hamster, I will have to try that second method. Looks nice and straightforward. The reason I haven't experimented much is that I don't have any scales, nor a thermometer. So making all these fine adjustments is quite tough
On that note, I generally use one flat scoop of the AP spoon of beans (before I grind). What weight would that be?Thanks for the recommendations
Managed to get there today *amongst many others - 2 different Taylor St Baristas, Prufrock, Nude, Notes Music & Coffee...*
Drunk a lot of coffee today I'll get my notes and thoughts together tomorrow and give a couple of thumbs ups.
OK, could you please calculate also the average bean size and count how many beans per gram?
I refuse to confirm or deny the rumours that I may have done something very similar to this in the past. *quickly hides 1mm graph paper, 0.01g scales, digital calipers and graduated measuring cylinders*
Sounds like you had a fun day out! If you do get the chance to comment on any of the coffees before tomorrow lunchtime that would be great as I'll be around Covent Garden around 4pm.
Haha!! I bet you put Heston Blumenthal to shame with your coffee experimentation
Taylor St Baristas - Wasn't overly impressed. It was ok. Can't say much more than that. Espresso blend looked really dark and oily, tasted ok in milk though.
Prufrock *Leather Lane* - WOW! Love the place, it's not fully complete yet, but it's open and the coffee is excellent - the brew bar has both siphon and woodneck's on at the moment. Also has an Uberboiler... I still want one. Square Mile coffee used. Suke Quto was lovely and refreshing in the Siphon and the Agoga in the woodneck was interesting. Smelt almost like a natural, but had a blackcurrent flavours and sweetness.
Nude - I was only this way due to the Queen Stormtroopers In Stilettos exhibition. But it was just across the road so paid it a visit. They roast their own coffee and the the espresso isn't. They serve Ristrettos. Thick, gloopy and really surprisingly fruity. Really nice, also great in milk.
Notes Music & Coffee - couldn't spend as long as I wanted in there today. Square Mile coffee again. Went for the Agoga in the siphon - Not as nice as in the woodneck at Prufrock. Running the Winter Espresso blend too - one of the best espresso blends I've ever had.
Monmouth - Busy as hell. Didn't try the espresso, but went for a couple of filter coffees. Gethumbwini - blackurrents liquer - lovely. Wathenge - the most unusual coffee I had, really fresh and acidic - lots of citrus with a sweetness devloping as the coffee cools.
I have to admit that I even tried their decaf - I like having a decaf available for late night coffee drinking - very smooth, sweet almost toffee stroopwafle flavours. I bought a load of this.
Also picked up some more Square Mile Winter Espresso *which I love* and some of the Finca Bourbon Chimaltenango, which I've not tried before but sounds pretty damn tasty.
Haha!! I bet you put Heston Blumenthal to shame with your coffee experimentation
Well, I have had to wipe milk and coffee off the ceiling before...
Soldato
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well have my beans and my grinder now and have had my first cup of freshly ground coffee. The caffine kick is emense you can feel it instantly. Was surprised at how much of a difference there was to grinding your own beans.
I am guessing the roasting process and the time the beans have been roasted also makes a difference and the packet from hasbeans tells me they were roasted yesterday.
So my first cup has been an interesting experiment I don't think I have managed to get the full flavour out of the beans yet so will keep experimenting. But I can certainly taste some of the flavours that steve described such as the honey and chocolate flavour but also seemed to be a hint of tobbaco flavour in there as well this seemed to be an after taste flavour rather while drinking.
Also for a french press how fine or coarse should i make the grind I am using a bodnum 8 cup press if that helps.
And to that matter how many scoops should i be putting in. I only put in 2 heaped scoops on my first trial run but should I be putting in more?
But overall as my first experience into the world of home brewing I am loving everything about it. I am learning so much about coffee that I never realized.
I am guessing the roasting process and the time the beans have been roasted also makes a difference and the packet from hasbeans tells me they were roasted yesterday.
So my first cup has been an interesting experiment I don't think I have managed to get the full flavour out of the beans yet so will keep experimenting. But I can certainly taste some of the flavours that steve described such as the honey and chocolate flavour but also seemed to be a hint of tobbaco flavour in there as well this seemed to be an after taste flavour rather while drinking.
Also for a french press how fine or coarse should i make the grind I am using a bodnum 8 cup press if that helps.
And to that matter how many scoops should i be putting in. I only put in 2 heaped scoops on my first trial run but should I be putting in more?
But overall as my first experience into the world of home brewing I am loving everything about it. I am learning so much about coffee that I never realized.
Excellent.
The normal thing that i've seen about for life span of coffee is:
Green beans - 10 months
Roasted beans - 10 days
Ground coffee - 10 minutes
It's not entirely accurate as I've had some coffee 6 weeks past roast that have been magnificent, and some 3 days past roast that were dreadful.
Generally, the closer to the roast date the better.
Interesting, everyone will taste different things though.
What I find is that I have a notebook with all sorts of coffee listed in it, when I drank it, how I drank it, how old it was, brew peramaters and what the result was - it help me keep things organised in my mind.
This is where coffee gets complicated...
I tend to use a reasonable coarse grind, much like grit, but it should be coarse enough not to go through the screen and fine enough not to take an age to brew.
One of the most important changes you can make now is use digital scales and a watch with a second hand or a countdown timer. The more things you can keep consistant the better, and the more you can play with a single element at a time.
Weigh the amount of coffee that goes in, weigh the amount of water too. Try starting around 60g coffee per 1000g of water. It's the normal starting point for me. I have used up to 80g/1000g at times though. I'm currently trying around 24g of coffee to 375g of water and a 4 minute 15 second brew time. I said it got complicated..
A lot of the info from Steve's Eva Solo brew guide can be used for the french press too.
http://www.hasblog.co.uk/brewing-guide-number-four-eva-solo
One of the changes I would do is once the water is added and has been stirred, add the plunger and press down slightly to push all the grounds into the water rather than having some float on the top. I actually find the french press the most difficult of the brewing methods to get consistantly right, yet it's the one you find most often in the shops.
Excellent.
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Great writeup, thanks! I'll have time to pop into Notes and Monmouths. Both being so very close together it would be a cime not to. It's good to know that you can pick up Square Mile from a shop as i though it was only available online. Will definitely come back with some winter espresso from there.
Also didn't realise you could get decent decaf beans. I sometimes get a craving after getting back too late from work for a normal coffee so I'll pick some of that up from Monmouths and also get something else from there after a sample or two.
Thanks again Simon
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Taylor St in Richmond seem to have dropped off the game a little in Richmond, maybe they are spreading themselves a little thin...
I'm going to have to make an excuse to visit Prufrock, never made it to Gwilym's cart so must hit the shop at some point.
BTW Flat White in Soho also sell Square Mile from their shop, including their own espresso blend
I'm going to have to make an excuse to visit Prufrock, never made it to Gwilym's cart so must hit the shop at some point.
BTW Flat White in Soho also sell Square Mile from their shop, including their own espresso blend
Great writeup, thanks! I'll have time to pop into Notes and Monmouths. Both being so very close together it would be a cime not to. It's good to know that you can pick up Square Mile from a shop as i though it was only available online. Will definitely come back with some winter espresso from there.
Also didn't realise you could get decent decaf beans. I sometimes get a craving after getting back too late from work for a normal coffee so I'll pick some of that up from Monmouths and also get something else from there after a sample or two.
Thanks again Simon
I'm sure you can get it elsewhere, but Notes and Prufrock both sell the Square Mile beans.
Monmouth just do their own, as do Nude.
Taylor St. Baristas I didn't even look after trying the coffee.
Taylor St in Richmond seem to have dropped off the game a little in Richmond, maybe they are spreading themselves a little thin...
I'm going to have to make an excuse to visit Prufrock, never made it to Gwilym's cart so must hit the shop at some point.
BTW Flat White in Soho also sell Square Mile from their shop, including their own espresso blend
I did the one on New St and the one on Old Broad St. New St is tiny and pretty much takeaway only. Old Broad St is a very nice place though. Maybe if I go back in a while the coffee blend will have changed to something else...
Prufrock is pretty stark and empty at the moment, but it'll get nicer in there - this is a good representation at the moment - http://www.option-c.co.uk/2011/02/café-review-prufrock-at-leather-lane.html
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Taylor St. use Union, its aright but not really up there with Square Mile or Monmouth's own. Their single origin specials can be pretty good sometimes and they change it weekly.
And yer, saw that review a little while back - i kind of like the warehouse look of it at the moment
Soldato
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My restored La Pavoni Europiccola
Although I didn't really feel like it after a heavy morning in Birmingham and finding out that someone had fraudulently raped my credit card.....several times, I made the effort to pop into London this afternoon.
First stop was Notes where i just stopped to pick up their last bag of Winter Espresso and then the walk up St. Martin's Lane up to find Monmouths amongst the labrynth of side streets! Although very busy, a very knowledgable chap made me a few sample coffees after questioning me on my likes, dislikes and preparation methods.
I tried the El Guabo, Cafe de Consaca, Finca Les Nubes, Fazenda di Sertao and the decaffeinated Finca El Chino. I'm not that much of a connoiseur that I can describe the coffees as well as some of you but my favourites of the lot were the Brazilian Sertao and the Les Nubes so I left with some of each. Also picked up a load of the Honduran decaf which was very drinkable.
When i get the chance, I'm going to pop back for a sit down in Notes and also try out Prufrock after the recommendations here. Also recommended were Tapped and Packed who are supplied by, amongst others, Hasbean.
http://www.tappedandpacked.co.uk/index.html They also run short tasting sessions and other brewing methods courses listed in their blog.
Now, time to stick the kettle on.....
First stop was Notes where i just stopped to pick up their last bag of Winter Espresso and then the walk up St. Martin's Lane up to find Monmouths amongst the labrynth of side streets! Although very busy, a very knowledgable chap made me a few sample coffees after questioning me on my likes, dislikes and preparation methods.
I tried the El Guabo, Cafe de Consaca, Finca Les Nubes, Fazenda di Sertao and the decaffeinated Finca El Chino. I'm not that much of a connoiseur that I can describe the coffees as well as some of you but my favourites of the lot were the Brazilian Sertao and the Les Nubes so I left with some of each. Also picked up a load of the Honduran decaf which was very drinkable.
When i get the chance, I'm going to pop back for a sit down in Notes and also try out Prufrock after the recommendations here. Also recommended were Tapped and Packed who are supplied by, amongst others, Hasbean.
http://www.tappedandpacked.co.uk/index.html They also run short tasting sessions and other brewing methods courses listed in their blog.
Now, time to stick the kettle on.....
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Credit card getting scammed - that sucks. Find out who it is and de-nadger them... and their family and friends... 
Tapped and packed are very good. Only visited there twice so far, so can't really say much about the coffee, they were running one of Steve's espresso blends last time I was there - but I went with filter instead.
Can't remember that much at the moment.
Shame - I did enjoy it though.
The Winter espresso blend, I was recommended to try it around 12 days past roast, but I found it to be great from about 5 days.
I still maintain that Les Nubes is a superb coffee, but is extraordinarilly fragile and subtle. If you get it right, its amazing.
Enjoy.
Tapped and packed are very good. Only visited there twice so far, so can't really say much about the coffee, they were running one of Steve's espresso blends last time I was there - but I went with filter instead.
Can't remember that much at the moment.
Shame - I did enjoy it though.
The Winter espresso blend, I was recommended to try it around 12 days past roast, but I found it to be great from about 5 days.
I still maintain that Les Nubes is a superb coffee, but is extraordinarilly fragile and subtle. If you get it right, its amazing.
Enjoy.
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Unfortunately I'll never know who tried to buy their holiday and traveller's cheques with my card but the good news is that it's now cancelled and I had a new one delivered this morning.
I've just bought a V60 from Hasbean. Hopefully it should be on it's way to me today and I'll have some fun experimenting at the weekend
I've just bought a V60 from Hasbean. Hopefully it should be on it's way to me today and I'll have some fun experimenting at the weekend
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