Siliconslave's how to make espresso thread

the_r_sole said:
cheers! got a birthday coming up and the folks have offered!
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I have had an MC2 for a good 3 years now and with regular use it is still going strong. The grind is consistent once you have got it correctly adjusted. It's a very good machine at its price point and I doubt it will disappoint.
 
Only downside with the MC2 is that it's stepless, which is good and bad (bad, if you switch beans and need to dial it in again). But for the price, it's an awesome bit of kit.

Clearly mine's better though, as I have the black version :D
 
Also might be worth keeping an eye out on gumtree etc as I was able to pick up a wega max 8.0 grinder which has 83mm burrs and does a stellar job at grinding for £130 with a set of nice cups as it was from a guy who had just sold his coffee shop! Considering the build and quality I thought it was a great deal :)
 
shuzzbutt said:
Also might be worth keeping an eye out on gumtree etc as I was able to pick up a wega max 8.0 grinder which has 83mm burrs and does a stellar job at grinding for £130 with a set of nice cups as it was from a guy who had just sold his coffee shop! Considering the build and quality I thought it was a great deal :)
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I agree, if you want to go down the used route like this -

MAZZER MINI

MAZZER_MINI_MAN.jpg


That is a great grinder and spares are readily avail should you need new burrs.
 
Tried some new beans today. Leaving the grind as it was currently set - choked my machine, so I've had to make it a bit coarser. Surprising how much of a difference it makes when you use different beans! (I think these ones are most likely a lot fresher than the ones I was using previously, as the were roasted a day before I used them).

The second shot was about 60 seconds lol... didn't taste too great :P

Hopefully by the time I've properly readjusted, I'll actually have some left to taste!

Not sure if I should be increasing the coarseness, decreasing the amount or reducing the tamp... I'm assuming each of those will have it's own unique effect?
 
Had our house warming/my 40th bash and the Electra was on coffee duty at the end of the night and the next morning. As I can't tolerate milk now, it was an excuse to get some steaming practice!

MCAP is still producing perfect grinds even after all this time! (I've had both since 2008!)

Can recommend both if anyone considers either!

Still looking like it did new.. and as I'm still on mobile internet until we have the the broadband installed.. so here's the image from before.
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Man... Those old Hasbean bags. Not seen them in years. :D

I've made a subtle change with my old gaggia classic that'll be going to the parents soon. I've bought a 17g La Marzocco Strada super accurate basket and a 58.35mm tamper - both from madebyknock.com

Will be getting them next week. Will be interesting to see how they compare to my normal basket and 58.1mm Reg Barber.

Also got a grinder on the way for the parents. It's an old stock, but brand new Iberital MC5 grinder. It's in grey, but I'll strip it down and get it sprayed into Lotus Pacific Blue to match my dad's newly resprayed Excel. Will be making a short hopper at the same time as it'll be too tall. Will also be pulling off the doser and replacing it with a chute instead.
 
Flibster said:
Also got a grinder on the way for the parents. It's an old stock, but brand new Iberital MC5 grinder. It's in grey, but I'll strip it down and get it sprayed into Lotus Pacific Blue to match my dad's newly resprayed Excel. Will be making a short hopper at the same time as it'll be too tall. Will also be pulling off the doser and replacing it with a chute instead.
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Hi there,

Thought I recognized your username on that website :p

Trust it's all arrived and set up and working nicely?

Kind Regards

Alec
 
allllec said:
Hi there,

Thought I recognized your username on that website :p

Trust it's all arrived and set up and working nicely?

Kind Regards

Alec
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It's meant to arrive on Monday. But given the weather, who knows. :(

I've been watching MC5's and the Cunill Brasil grinders *amongst many others* on there for a while, seen many well used and the very old shape ones go for than what I paid for a new one. Very happy with that. :D Also had a £25 paypal voucher to use which made it even better. :D

Advantage with the MC5 is it's pretty modular. So I will be getting bits from other models and doing quick switches. Trying to make it as idiot proof for the parents as possible. Cleaning a doser would just confuse them. ;)

And I spent a couple of hours today playing with a Kees van der Western Speedster. Utter pornography. Lovely machine to use, as it shouldn't be for ~£6000! :eek:

*edit*
And it arrived almost spot on 9am. :D
Now warming up to room temperature while I take some measurements and try to figure out a mini hopper design. Oval bean entry... annoying.
 
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NickK said:
Yup 2008 vintage :D The digital thermometer bought the farm too!

You know you want a lever machine ... :p :D
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I do, i really want a lever machine... That electra look lovely!

Theres a random cafe in Frensham that has one of the huge Dalek sized ones and no idea how to use it, the coffee they made me from it almost made me cry :( So tempted to go nick it and swap it for a nespresso machine, sure they wouldn't notice the difference, and it would improve their drinks!!!:mad:
 
I've got a discount code for Pact Coffee if anyone wants to try 250g of their coffee for £1. Just put in PROBIKE250 at the checkout bit and it'll drop the price. You have to 'sign up' for their regular deliveries but it seemed easy enough to cancel it with one click if you're not happy with it.

I didn't get on with their espresso blend, but I'm starting to wonder if it's the water in our new place. I took a shot of just hot water out the machine (Gaggia Classic) and it's disgustingly chloride and fluoride tasting. I think it's adversely affecting the taste of the coffee. I definitely noticed that tea tasted awful when we moved in but I got used to it. I'm going to give the machine a de-scale but I think ultimately the answer is to filter my water.
 
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Jonny69 said:
I took a shot of just hot water out the machine (Gaggia Classic) and it's disgustingly chloride and fluoride tasting. I think it's adversely affecting the taste of the coffee. I definitely noticed that tea tasted awful when we moved in but I got used to it. I'm going to give the machine a de-scale but I think ultimately the answer is to filter my water.
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Do you have a Tescos or an Adsa nearby? *or even in delivery range? Make the delivery driver hate you by ordering masses of water. ;)*

Tesco - Ashbeck Spring water
Asda - Eden Falls Spring water

They're not particularly expensive, Asda is £1.40 for 8 litres and £2.50 for 16 litres. Tesco's is roughly the same.

I buy the multipacks of 2 litre bottles, just easier to handle than the 5 litre jobs. Also, better as you only have a small bottle open at one time rather than the enormous one. :D

Seriously good water for coffee. Chap in charge of Prufrock in London reckons that it's more consistent than reverse osmosis purified or filtered water in commercial shops. Really low dry residue (80mg) and a very consistent pH level. Lower dry residue means less descaling too. ;)
 
Yup - I look for the lowest dry residual at 180degC on the packet. There used to be an Norwegian water that had very low residuals but Volvic does reasonably well at about 150ish.. the Scottish highland waters are higher at 350+.

I use this to stop the Elektra from scaling up and the coffee from tasting bad!

In beer brewing, the water and salts/mineral make up is a key aspect to the taste.
 
Thanks for that chaps. Yes, we have a Tesco nearby.

The machine did actually block up at the end of last week so I ran a couple of doses of descaler through it. I was quite surprised at the quantity of sandy scale that came out and the flow is much improved now.
 
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