Espresso Machine ...
Comments
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GiantMike wrote:Take a Mug
add Gold Blend, boiling water, milk and a sweetener
stir with a spoon (any will do, although aficionados may prefer a coffee-stained one)
Drink.
Eurgh!Do not write below this line. Office use only.0 -
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Decent water just means filtered or a good supply. As it makes up 99+% of the drink you will taste any chlorine etc.
If I get a cup of non brita water coffee at home I can immediately taste the TCP like chemical taste due to the local supply being iffy.
Mineral water is overkill - but will make a difference same as adding it to a fine malt.
Standing water overnight in a jug can eliminate some odours.
Way I see it - think how much tea and coffee you drink in a year. Why bother with the cheap stuff? Life is too short to skimp on a staple...0 -
Having lived in Italy for sometime, I now need an espresso every morning to kick start my day !
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I have one of these bad boys
http://www.lavazzamodomio.com.au/en-au/ ... coffee.htm
Admittedly, you can make better espressos, but this produces a nice drink with the minimum of fuss, which is surely what you want when you're starting your day.You live and learn. At any rate, you live0 -
Home espresso is too hard work. Unless you have a plumbed in machine, and it is always on.
Few people drink enough to justify it. Hence the huge use of pod machines. Convenience over quality, but a reasonable trade off.0 -
Scrumple wrote:Home espresso is too hard work. Unless you have a plumbed in machine, and it is always on.
Few people drink enough to justify it. Hence the huge use of pod machines. Convenience over quality, but a reasonable trade off.
Speak for yourself....mine gets loads of use !!!!! 0 -
Scrumple, what about these bean to cup machines like this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DeLonghi-Perfec ... QBPRHPESJ1
I have tried some from the delonghi magnifica which is a smaller unit in a hotel restaurant, and liked the idea of all in one with the ability to alter the grind to taste etc. Am I better off with soemthing like a gaggia baby class and buying preground or a separate grinder?0 -
For the least effort it would be Nespresso then a bean to cup machine altho' I think Scrumple advocates a grinder and a cafetiere and a quality bean. Seperate grinders are good (you need a burr grinder NOT a blade) but there are lots of grinders at all kinds of prices. The grind does make a massive difference but you can be hours trying to get the grind right. In theory a bean-cup machine takes the human out of the equation and it might be the right solution for you - there is no wrong solution except awful coffeeM.Rushton0
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my sister lives in italy with her italian hubby...
they swear by a stove top espresso pot... they were not impressed by my brothers delongi machinea Bianchi is for life... not just for christmas0 -
They're different styles of coffee really, different drinks. Stove tops don't really make espresso. On the other hand your DeLonghi machine may not be up to much, or you may not be getting the best from it.borisvanhalen wrote:my sister lives in italy with her italian hubby...
they swear by a stove top espresso pot... they were not impressed by my brothers delongi machine0 -
Coffee machines use a powerful pump to force the water thro' the ground coffee. Water is heated via the bioiler. the stovetop uses the boiling water to rise up the narrow funnel thro' the coffee and up into the holder. It's good coffee but not an espresso or a base for making lattes/cappucinos etcM.Rushton0
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OK, I am going to shamelessly resurrect this thread.
I have just bought a Gaggia Classic of the bay for just over £100 which I should get middle of next week. Meantime I have been experimenting with an old Breville machine, which when I first used it only produced lukewarm watery p**s in my hands.
With a bit of research and application I have got at least the level of the less competent costa / starbucks / ritazza houses, at least in the quality of my espresso anyway. I am getting a nice thick golden crema, the shot is noice and hot and has a nice rounded flavour.
I decided to go down the separate grinder and espresso machine because I like the ability to tweak things to continuously improve the results. I am using a hand grinder that my parents bought in Spain about 25 yrs ago, and with some adjustment I have got it to produce a nice consistent grind somewhere between regular granulated sugar and icing sugar. I run a cup of hot water through the head before pulling the shot so the filter gets up to temp, and the cup is hot.
I have tried making capuccinos and lattes - getting the milk frothed and hot is relatively easy with some practice, and I am not convinced you really need a thermometer, but getting a nice visual appearance is a lot harder. More practice required there for sure. I going to get a proper tamper too, as I have been experimenting with different tamping pressure, and it makes as big difference to flavour and the crema.
Next up, need to try some good fresh beans, and not the Tescos organic ones that I have had in the fridge in a sealed container for 6 months......0 -
@SteveR, good idea to have gone for a separate grinder as getting the grind right is key to making a good espresso, and at least you have the option to upgrade the grinder (or probably both ) at some point. The hand grinders don't tend to produce a consistent enough grind (and perfectionistas will tell you that by the time you've hand ground coffee it's past its best!!).
We find milks of different brands produce different results - some steam better than others. Have never used a thermometer - just go on the feel (temp of metal jug) and sound (having nozzle in right place at the right time). With our old Gaggia Classic the only way to get a really good velvety microfoam was to remove the plastic steamer wand. With the wand on, it tended to produce lots of frothy bubbles. We have an Izzo Vivi machine now which is awesome.
Try Hasbean for beans - roasted at time of purchase and posted same day. We have used them for about 5 years now.0 -
this thread is going round in circles now, the last 5 posts seem to repeat the advice of the pages before - trouble with a long thread!
Espresso at home is either automated = ok, but not the best / or it is machine and grinder and the ability to really tweak and adjust.
You should aim for a burr grinder, and a machine that has adequate pressure, and a brass portafilter. Your espresso should be made in just over 20 seconds, and have a thick dark brown/red crema. Too blonde means stale beans or not enough extraction.
Grind as fine as you can, and tweak for times of the shot pull. Please buy decent beans once you get the hang of it. Supermarket beans are fine to experiment. Then, try hasbean.com for something special. Remember, different beans have different water content, and the relative humidity of your house will affect grind. One setting does not fit all - you have to keep adjusting.
One day you will pull a "god shot" and you will know what coffee can be. Bit like a hole in one - you can hit the nail on the head. Trouble is, you can rarely repeat it! The autos give you regular pars, but you will never hit any eagles.0 -
Cross reference to a similar thread on another site for info...
http://community.whathifi.com/forums/4/494233/ShowThread.aspx#494233
It's a small world.
Now, if I can find a third cross reference from my photography site...............None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.0 -
daviesee wrote:Cross reference to a similar thread on another site for info...
http://community.whathifi.com/forums/4/494233/ShowThread.aspx#494233
It's a small world.
Now, if I can find a third cross reference from my photography site...............
careful now, cross referencing on the WHF site will get you into big trouble.....0 -
cross dressing, on the other hand, wont0
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On the Gaggia Classic steamer wand, you can replace this with the Rancillio Silvia wand, it is an easy DIY fit.0
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Anyone suggest the best cleaning/descaling product to run through a machine?"There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world, t'would be a pity to damage yours."0
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You need a both a descaler (3 monthly?) and a cleaning powder/tablet/liquid for the group head (weekly?). You clean the grouphead by backflushing using a "blind" basket.
various products here:
http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/machine-cleaning.html0 -
We use a product called Clean Express as that was the product supplied with the machine originally. Not sure where we get it from tho (cleaning the machine isn't my job :P ) but this is it:Aggieboy wrote:Anyone suggest the best cleaning/descaling product to run through a machine?
http://www.bestcoffeebeans.co.uk/espres ... -841-p.asp0 -
Wow! Fired up the Baby Class I bought off the bay, first shot using Illy preground; and well, pretty close, though a bit underextracted. I really need to get a decent tamper, biut most of all a grinder. I was scouring ebay for a vintage PeVe or Deines or maybe a Zass handgrinder that 'might' just be able to grind for espresso, but everyone else knows about them, and the prices are too much for a speculative purchase. So it will have to be a cheapish simple grinder Dualit, Gaggia etc though the Kitrchenaid Artisan looks a bit of a bargain.0
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Nespresso here too. Krups I think, had it years. Couldn't live without it. Even took it holiday to Italy with us. Get one.0
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What's your budget? HAve you had a look on somewhere like coffeegeek.com for reviews?SteveR_100Milers wrote:Wow! Fired up the Baby Class I bought off the bay, first shot using Illy preground; and well, pretty close, though a bit underextracted. I really need to get a decent tamper, biut most of all a grinder. I was scouring ebay for a vintage PeVe or Deines or maybe a Zass handgrinder that 'might' just be able to grind for espresso, but everyone else knows about them, and the prices are too much for a speculative purchase. So it will have to be a cheapish simple grinder Dualit, Gaggia etc though the Kitrchenaid Artisan looks a bit of a bargain.
http://www.coffeegeek.com/guides/howtob ... etagrinder0 -
Remember to get a burr grinder not a blade.M.Rushton0
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mrushton wrote:Remember to get a burr grinder not a blade.
All of the ones I was looking at indeed burr grinders. buit not all burr grinders are born equal - grinding fine enough is the easy part, its maintaining consistency is key, and this means that the inner blade axel needs a robust main and thrust bearing so there is little or no float between the blades as you grind.0 -
Just that description adds £££ to the price. i recently tried a Vario which was nice (£300!) but my KitchenAid is consistent. The Vario lets you grind within the grindM.Rushton0
