Coffee

[Karl_b]

Finally took the plunge and bought a decent manual burr grinder, the Porlex Tall II:

 

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/porlex-tall-ii

 

It's a mid range option and I've been trialling different settings for use in the Moka pot over the last week. It's a definite improvement over a blade grinder, giving a smoother, richer brew.

[RJ Fan club]

21 hours ago, Karl_b said:

Finally took the plunge and bought a decent manual burr grinder, the Porlex Tall II:

 

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/porlex-tall-ii

 

It's a mid range option and I've been trialling different settings for use in the Moka pot over the last week. It's a definite improvement over a blade grinder, giving a smoother, richer brew.

That’s basically porn Karlos. 

 

[Guest]

 

[Remmie]

Some decent discounts on Sage machines:

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sage-barista-express-stainless-steel-3581226?utm_source=mappshare&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=3581226

[Karl_b]

I got a small bonus from work so finally bought a V60, complete with server and a Hario "Air Jug". I couldn't justify a gooseneck electric kettle and Hoffmann was quite impressed with the Air as an alternative for controlling pour overs. Looking forward to weeks of refining the setup to make a delicious brew.

 

[johnsusername]

Can anyone recommend a (cheap) coffee grinder? Missus bought a bag of beans by mistake so might as well get into it. 

[Shitty Arse]

2 hours ago, johnsusername said:

Can anyone recommend a (cheap) coffee grinder? Missus bought a bag of beans by mistake so might as well get into it. 

If you’ve got a nutri bullet just use that

[Remmie]

4 hours ago, johnsusername said:

Can anyone recommend a (cheap) coffee grinder? Missus bought a bag of beans by mistake so might as well get into it. 

Haha Hoffman who has been mentioned several times on this thread as reviewed £3.5k grinders. Guess what, they are really good! 

[Remmie]

On 26/03/2021 at 19:10, Karl_b said:

I got a small bonus from work so finally bought a V60, complete with server and a Hario "Air Jug". I couldn't justify a gooseneck electric kettle and Hoffmann was quite impressed with the Air as an alternative for controlling pour overs. Looking forward to weeks of refining the setup to make a delicious brew.

 

What we're you using before and how does it compare? 

[johnsusername]

1 hour ago, Shitty Arse said:

If you’ve got a nutri bullet just use that

I have, I'll give it a go, cheers. 

[johnsusername]

11 minutes ago, Remmie said:

Haha Hoffman who has been mentioned several times on this thread as reviewed £3.5k grinders. Guess what, they are really good! 

Hmmm might buy two just in case. 

[Karl_b]

8 hours ago, Shitty Arse said:

If you’ve got a nutri bullet just use that

No, don't!

[Karl_b]

11 hours ago, johnsusername said:

Can anyone recommend a (cheap) coffee grinder? Missus bought a bag of beans by mistake so might as well get into it. 

How cheap is cheap? I paid £80ish for a hand grinder and, with hindsight, wish I'd paid a bit more. I have the Porlex II, it's infinitely better than when I was using a spice grinder but the grinds can be a little inconsistent. For the price, I've heard really good things about the Hario Skerton:

 

https://www.hario.co.uk/collections/coffee-grind/products/hario-skerton-plus-ceramic-coffee-grinder

[Karl_b]

7 hours ago, Remmie said:

What we're you using before and how does it compare? 

I was using either my stovetop Moka pot or Aeropress. The V60 makes significantly smoother, more delicious coffee than a Moka pot but they're different things - I still occasionally use the Moka when I fancy a milky, fwoffy, coffee.

 

With the Aeropress it's a less obvious improvement, I think the Aeropress is a fantastic piece of kit and I've refined my technique to the point where I make consistently great cups with it. I'd still just choose the V60 over it for quality but I use both every day.

 

I like the V60 for my morning coffee as I can make two cups in the jug. The Aeropress does my single afternoon cup. If you're contemplating getting a V60, I'd encourage you to do so!

[Remmie]

37 minutes ago, Karl_b said:

I was using either my stovetop Moka pot or Aeropress. The V60 makes significantly smoother, more delicious coffee than a Moka pot but they're different things - I still occasionally use the Moka when I fancy a milky, fwoffy, coffee.

 

With the Aeropress it's a less obvious improvement, I think the Aeropress is a fantastic piece of kit and I've refined my technique to the point where I make consistently great cups with it. I'd still just choose the V60 over it for quality but I use both every day.

 

I like the V60 for my morning coffee as I can make two cups in the jug. The Aeropress does my single afternoon cup. If you're contemplating getting a V60, I'd encourage you to do so!

I have an aeropress and have been really impressed by it, just makes a different cup to my coffee machine. I like both. I have a cheap plastic V60 but without the rest of the kit, no carafe or kettle etc. Got it free with a brief pact subscription. Every time I've used it the coffee has been pretty bad, I think it's the filters and maybe not having the right accessories. 

 

I'd like a good V60 set up but it's low on priorities. A decent grinder is next on my coffee paraphernalia list and it'll be 2nd hand, can't be arsed with hand grinders so looking at a Sage or MC2 (which are the 2 Hoffman looked at in his good espresso for under £250 vid). 

[Shitty Arse]

13 hours ago, johnsusername said:

I have, I'll give it a go, cheers. 

Works for me with the milling attachment. I’m sure some coffee purist will be along shortly to tell us why you shouldn’t! I’ve only used it on the odd occasions I’ve bought beans by accident. Also I use an aero press after reading this thread. Fucking game changer. Never use a caffetiere now. Hot oat milk. Fucking lovely

[Remmie]

22 minutes ago, Shitty Arse said:

Works for me with the milling attachment. I’m sure some coffee purist will be along shortly to tell us why you shouldn’t! I’ve only used it on the odd occasions I’ve bought beans by accident. Also I use an aero press after reading this thread. Fucking game changer. Never use a caffetiere now. Hot oat milk. Fucking lovely

A coffee mill or blade grinder does a reasonably decent job of grinding to be fair, my mum has been using one for around 15 years and it cost about £12 at the time maybe £16 now and she makes an excellent espresso with a moka pot. 

 

If you want John you have my mill, I am about to pull the trigger on a sage grinder. Not sure about how much it costs to post but I live in Milton Keynes if you happen to be close for a pick up! 

 

This is the mill my mum got:

 

[Karl_b]

1 hour ago, Shitty Arse said:

Works for me with the milling attachment. I’m sure some coffee purist will be along shortly to tell us why you shouldn’t! I’ve only used it on the odd occasions I’ve bought beans by accident. Also I use an aero press after reading this thread. Fucking game changer. Never use a caffetiere now. Hot oat milk. Fucking lovely

You've spelled 'wanker' wrong there mate, but here I am regardless!

 

Obviously it's not a "don't do it" but a mill will produce an inconsistent grind which will result in variable cups of coffee - both in the flavours of an individual cup and from cup to cup. You'll end up with some very finely and some very coarsely ground coffee which will give different, competing flavours. I didn't think it would be a big deal until I bought a semi-decent grinder but it's really noticeable with filter coffee.

 

Fresh, consistently ground beans are a fucking revelation.

[Remmie]

Been doing my research and during that time the grinder I wanted went up £20. Twats. Tempted to get the more expensive Sage smart grinder out of spite but its not worth the extra £50. I'm going to go for the Sage dose control grinder. Not sure I want to give Amazon the money but not many places seem to match them for price, it's £158 on there. John Lewis doesn't sell them. Anywhere else I should look, will buy it tomorrow I think. 

[johnsusername]

19 hours ago, Remmie said:

A coffee mill or blade grinder does a reasonably decent job of grinding to be fair, my mum has been using one for around 15 years and it cost about £12 at the time maybe £16 now and she makes an excellent espresso with a moka pot. 

 

If you want John you have my mill, I am about to pull the trigger on a sage grinder. Not sure about how much it costs to post but I live in Milton Keynes if you happen to be close for a pick up! 

 

This is the mill my mum got:

 

Thanks for the offer, MK is a bit far though ha.

 

I might go for the miller blade, since I'm halfway there with the Nutri Bullet anyway. 

[Remmie]

Yeah see how you feel about milled coffee as the jump in price is fairly severe to entry level burrs. I ended up buying new as it was only slightly over budget but noticed there is a sage grinder on ebay that's currently £80 with postage. 

[Remmie]

My Sage grinder arrived today and have been playing with it. Ground too fine first shot as my machine couldn't generate enough pressure to force water through the Puck. I thought it would be less messy with it having a portafilter holder but as I calibrate it coffee is everywhere. 

 

But the coffee itself? A completely different level. The extraction was ramped right up and was as smooth as a babies bum. First coffee was great and has completely vindicated my decision to buy it. 

 

I am now a full coffee wanker. I now want to buy a distributor tool, a tamper, a portafilter ring and possibly a new basket/portafilter. Then I probably need to look into buying beans that aren't just the bottom of the barrel cheap shit. 

[Evelyn Tentions]

On 02/10/2021 at 01:23, Remmie said:

My Sage grinder arrived today and have been playing with it. Ground too fine first shot as my machine couldn't generate enough pressure to force water through the Puck. I thought it would be less messy with it having a portafilter holder but as I calibrate it coffee is everywhere. 

 

But the coffee itself? A completely different level. The extraction was ramped right up and was as smooth as a babies bum. First coffee was great and has completely vindicated my decision to buy it. 

 

I am now a full coffee wanker. I now want to buy a distributor tool, a tamper, a portafilter ring and possibly a new basket/portafilter. Then I probably need to look into buying beans that aren't just the bottom of the barrel cheap shit. 

You're wasting money if your not using decent coffee. It doesn't matter how good your equipment is if you're using rubbish coffee. Freshly roasted, no more than a week's supply. Get single origin arabica and you'll soon notice the improvement and the difference between different regions and varieties of coffee.  Try an Ethiopian, a Sumatran and a Columbian.( I'm loathe to suggest a Brazilian on this forum). 

Mill grinders are useless. It's impossible to get uniform grinds either from grind to grind or within the grind. You can buy burr grinders like this through eBay for about 30 quid which do an acceptable job. I know a lot of really serious coffee wankers who spend more on the grinder than on their espresso machines.

When you get really serious you can buy green beans and roast them in a popcorn popper and learn about the change in flavour with different roasts.

[Remmie]

8 hours ago, Evelyn Tentions said:

You're wasting money if your not using decent coffee. It doesn't matter how good your equipment is if you're using rubbish coffee. Freshly roasted, no more than a week's supply. Get single origin arabica and you'll soon notice the improvement and the difference between different regions and varieties of coffee.  Try an Ethiopian, a Sumatran and a Columbian.( I'm loathe to suggest a Brazilian on this forum). 

Mill grinders are useless. It's impossible to get uniform grinds either from grind to grind or within the grind. You can buy burr grinders like this through eBay for about 30 quid which do an acceptable job. I know a lot of really serious coffee wankers who spend more on the grinder than on their espresso machines.

When you get really serious you can buy green beans and roast them in a popcorn popper and learn about the change in flavour with different roasts.

While you're not lying I'm not sure I agree with all of that. Once you have got used to really good premium coffee, I am sure it's hard to go back a few steps. But you can get decent coffee out of a mill grinder, it's just a massive pain in the arse, you can sieve out the big rocks and user a paper towel to catch the fines. My mum makes a belting coffee out of her mill grinder and moka pot and she doesn't even bother with the system I mentioned above. 

 

As for beans, I am really enjoying the coffee I have got out of a cheap Aldi Colombian roast at the moment. I intend to use better beans as I mentioned and make incremental improvements with all of my set up but why rush it if I am already enjoying what I have? 

 

I am also massively pessimistic about making better and cheaper roasts at home over commercial roasters. It's possible to buy fresh roasts delivered to your house here, which I have previously tried with a subscription. Then there is being arsed and having the time, space and money. 

 

Fair play to you if you are that into your home set up, but I am more than happy compromising on a far less onerous/expensive set up. 

[mattyq]

1 hour ago, Remmie said:

While you're not lying I'm not sure I agree with all of that. Once you have got used to really good premium coffee, I am sure it's hard to go back a few steps. But you can get decent coffee out of a mill grinder, it's just a massive pain in the arse, you can sieve out the big rocks and user a paper towel to catch the fines. My mum makes a belting coffee out of her mill grinder and moka pot and she doesn't even bother with the system I mentioned above. 

 

As for beans, I am really enjoying the coffee I have got out of a cheap Aldi Colombian roast at the moment. I intend to use better beans as I mentioned and make incremental improvements with all of my set up but why rush it if I am already enjoying what I have? 

 

I am also massively pessimistic about making better and cheaper roasts at home over commercial roasters. It's possible to buy fresh roasts delivered to your house here, which I have previously tried with a subscription. Then there is being arsed and having the time, space and money. 

 

Fair play to you if you are that into your home set up, but I am more than happy compromising on a far less onerous/expensive set up. 

I'm not that much of a coffee person much preferring tea but I do like the odd cup every now and then.

I live 5 minutes away from an excellent tea & coffee merchant and get all my beans/leaves from there.

Hava a mokka and a French Press and a 20 year old shit blade grinder.

Whilst it's obvious that I'd get much better coffee if I had a much better grinder I also think the main ingredient for good coffee is the coffee itself.

If you're grinding shit in a cool grinder the end result will be smooth and silky but it'll still be shit

Get yourself some decent freshly roasted beans