What’s on your coffee bench?

[oldguy00]

East coast Canada

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by echappist

btwn an Eureka Mignon Specialita (55 mm burrs, rather fast grinding speed) vs Eureka Club E (60 mm burrs, slow grinding speed), which would you pick?

I also don't see a lot of reviews for the latter. Thoughts?

THe former would be purchased from the EU and cost ~$475 all said and done; latter would be about $100 more

Club E is pretty big....almost 2 ft tall! (22 inches)

I've been looking at the "Silenzio": https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/eu...presso-grinder

But I am an early riser in a small house.....quiet grinding is important.

Seattle Coffee Gear has pretty good reviews on all the equipment they sell.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by oldguy00

East coast Canada

sorry can't be much of help to you. If you live near a large city, hopefully it will have a local shop that roasts its own beans. That'd be the way to go

Also, to keep beans fresher, consider getting something that stores the beans in vacuum. I bought a container that squeezes out air, but better would be one that allows you to pump out the air.

Some reports that freezing might be okay after all

Originally Posted by Ozz

Club E is pretty big....almost 2 ft tall! (22 inches)

I've been looking at the "Silenzio": https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/eu...presso-grinder

But I am an early riser in a small house.....quiet grinding is important.

Seattle Coffee Gear has pretty good reviews on all the equipment they sell.

Thanks for the response. I hadn't thought of that. 22 inches certainly won't do at my current place; it may be okay in the place where I move to

[crankles]

Originally Posted by oldguy00

Anyone here with a nice espresso setup but only (or mostly) drinking decaf??

High BP runs in my family, and despite being in good shape, training 10-15 hours per week swim/bike/run, my BP was creeping up around 145 / 90.

I've cut out caffeine and that has lowered it a bit. Interested in getting a nice setup again, but not sure what the quality is like of decaf beans??

Thx!

If we are talking espresso blends, then Linea's Decaf is as close to their Espresso blend as I have found. You can still tell it's decaf, but not by much and requires just a small variation in grind. In fact, if I split the difference in optimal grinder settings, I'll get a slightly shorter 25 sec pull for the decaf and a 35 second pull for the espresso (18g pulled to a 40g double).

[simplemind]

Made a mistake...went to Italy! Now coffee here sux!

Ok, here's my question: Years ago I had a pretty nice espresso machine, however it remained largely unused so I sold it in a fit of space management.

Fast forward to the present and I have a renewed appreciation for a good espresso, however I've become increasingly lazy, although my pour-through takes a number of steps, just not to the extent of grinding/pressing,warm-up/steam, etc. that a full espresso machine requires.

Is there a K-cup or cartridge that actually makes a descent espresso, crema and all?

[oldguy00]

Originally Posted by simplemind

...
Is there a K-cup or cartridge that actually makes a descent espresso, crema and all?

Not in my experience. Some make a crema-like substance by different methods, but it ain't the same IMHO.

I actually don't mind some of the coffee and espresso from Nespresso machines, unique taste (especially the coffee), but not the same as the setup I used to have, Rocket Giotto & Vario grinder...

[kingpin75s]

Originally Posted by simplemind

Made a mistake...went to Italy! Now coffee here sux!

Is there a K-cup or cartridge that actually makes a descent espresso, crema and all?

Depends on your bar for decent, but IMHO Nope.

Good espresso requires fresh whole beans and a grinder mated to an espresso machine.

[crankles]

Originally Posted by kingpin75s

Depends on your bar for decent, but IMHO Nope.

Good espresso requires fresh whole beans and a grinder mated to an espresso machine.

agreed. We have nespresso at work. It's OK, but I hesitate to even call it espresso, the pull times are so fast. Whatever you do, DO NOT try the Peets nespresso compatible capsules. Good God. Undrinkable. At least Nestle makes some decent pods...but in the end, they are still pods.

[simplemind]

Kinda what I was afraid would be the answers!

What equipment would you recommend if I want to get the minimum satisfying pull?

[crankles]

Originally Posted by simplemind

Kinda what I was afraid would be the answers!

What equipment would you recommend if I want to get the minimum satisfying pull?

kinda depends on budget of course and what you like to drink. I had a Rocky+Silvia setup at work. I added a PID and pulled great espresso shots with it. However, if co-workers lined up, it was not up to the task. Milk drinks were also non-starters.

The list of pro-sumer machines is long...as is the grinder list.

If money is tight, look used for a grinder, but stay new for a machine. Much easier to tell how badly a grinder has been abused than an espresso machine.
Plus decent grinders are easy to renovate than machines.

Tell us what you want and I'm sure this group can help.

for what it's worth, I recently bought a Niche Zero grinder and really like it. I still have my Mazzer SuperJolly, but it's been relegated to pour-over duty.

[simplemind]

Opinions? I know it's not an Italian princess but ...

https://www.amazon.com/Breville-BES8.../dp/B00CH9QWOU

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by simplemind

Opinions? I know it's not an Italian princess but ...

https://www.amazon.com/Breville-BES8.../dp/B00CH9QWOU

Here you go (pros and cons):

https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/br...chine-bes870xl

Cheers.

[jay023]

Originally Posted by simplemind

Opinions? I know it's not an Italian princess but ...

https://www.amazon.com/Breville-BES8.../dp/B00CH9QWOU

This is what i have. It's works well for the price once you get the settings sorted for the beans you use. I'm not well versed in all things coffee though

[echappist]

finally, after almost ten months, first semblance of a rosetta


messed up the heart at the top and the draw through, but finally getting down the basics of things, I think. A lot of this is muscle memory, and I guess in the end, there's nothing like doing a lot of practicing (with a lot of "modern art" designs to go with it)

one thing that wasn't immediately obvious was just how slowly I should do the initial pour, and it's apparently exceedingly slow. The next thing is knowing when to drop the foamed milk down to cup level. After getting those two dialed, the foam would finally appear to float.

Foaming quality actually didn't have that big of an effect, once a certain threshold is reached. Good beans, however, makes obtaining a thick crema so much easier.

[jpritchet74]

WELL DONE!

That looks great! I had kinda given up on the latte art, but sometimes I get one to look kind of good - I think that yours looks great!

And with that, now I am motivated to try learning again.

Thanks!