Silly Commuter Coffee

itboffin

First two cups of the day dispatched

mudcow007

whats wrong with a bit of Nescafe Gold Blend?.....(waits for people to bite)

am i the only person in the world who doesnt drink tea or coffee?!

itboffin

Monmouth stocks restored

gwillis

I inheritated a rancilio coffee machine from a cafe some time ago and struggled to get my grind right even after buying a commercial grinder, I tried most of the usual suspects and struggled to get that perfect cup with a full crema. I'm over the moon today as I bought some beans in o f all places Tkmax and it's brilliant. They sell the beans on eBay I've discovered.... Loads of crema really smooth and just on my 2nd cup of the day it works out £12 for a 1kg bag if your interested

itboffin

I'm now the owner of a Monmouth ceramic single cup drip filter

andyrr

gwillis wrote:

I inheritated a rancilio coffee machine from a cafe some time ago and struggled to get my grind right even after buying a commercial grinder, I tried most of the usual suspects and struggled to get that perfect cup with a full crema. I'm over the moon today as I bought some beans in o f all places Tkmax and it's brilliant. They sell the beans on eBay I've discovered.... Loads of crema really smooth and just on my 2nd cup of the day it works out £12 for a 1kg bag if your interested

You got a link or can you help with search in ebay pls ?
I get my greens from either my own (secret !) source or when not available Hasbean - postage cost is always a big addition tho'

hatbeard

ITB you should get an aeropress. I got one this week for the office and it's awesome. no more crappy instant for me...

currently using the monmouth espresso in it and it's lovely. (also realised I ride more or less past monmouth shop in borough everyday so I'm always able to pop in to restock whenever I need, win).

if you're ever in the vicinity of leather lane too get thee to the prufrock. one of the best cups of coffee I've ever had.

gwillis

andyrr wrote:

gwillis wrote:

I inheritated a rancilio coffee machine from a cafe some time ago and struggled to get my grind right even after buying a commercial grinder, I tried most of the usual suspects and struggled to get that perfect cup with a full crema. I'm over the moon today as I bought some beans in o f all places Tkmax and it's brilliant. They sell the beans on eBay I've discovered.... Loads of crema really smooth and just on my 2nd cup of the day it works out £12 for a 1kg bag if your interested

You got a link or can you help with search in ebay pls ?
I get my greens from either my own (secret !) source or when not available Hasbean - postage cost is always a big addition tho'

Pm me and I'll pass it on

jejv

itboffin

Hmmm just run out of Monmouth beans, i'm not freaking out just yet :?

Clever Pun

I'm hitting up monmoth tomorrow morning... any recomendations?

itboffin

Seeing as Monmouth is a bit of diversion for me ATM I thought i'd experiment with the local super market brands of coffee beans ....how bad can it be ....?

VERY

Tesco's flavourless espresso = nothingness. Generic own brand = smelling and tasting of burnt plastic :x
Taylor's beans = watery even with my generous portions
Next up is Waitrose's strong, I'm am so far one very unhappy caffeine addict :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

davis

ITB you really rate them that highly? I'll have to try some... still drinking Lavazza Gold or Illy.

itboffin

davis wrote:

ITB you really rate them that highly? I'll have to try some... still drinking Lavazza Gold or Illy.

Best coffee in London old bean! see what I did there

Coffee headaches are not good

notsoblue

I got a free bag of Starbucks Espresso coffee beans last week and it was pretty evil tasting. I guess I'm too used to Lavazza Red. Must try Monmouth some time, which qould you recommend for stovetops?

Clever Pun

V's parents came back from Africa the other day and the brought me this bag of organic beans


bought from the farm there

Smell lovely and chocolaty, will give em a go tonight. I am excite

flanners1

Did 500g of decaff Finca el Chino Honduras Monmouth beans in 6 days! Help.

Just got the OCD espresso bug, had cheap machine and grinder have now upgraded big time and bought a nice machine and grinder, tamp, mat, jugs etc I am bouncing downstairs for a cup in the mornings, have become a coffee snob in 2 weeks! Love it.

caffeine fix I like

Sumatra Blue Ling Tong
Monsoon Malabar
Ismail House Blend

It's like a crack habit!

ste_

Nah, it's more expensive.

FransJacques

I've got a modded Gaggia Classic with a modded Solex/Dualit/Starbuck's conical burr grinder. (mine is the Starbuck's version). The mod for the grinder is to take apart the top and change the ring orientatiion to get the smallest grind possible: http://www.ineedcoffee.com/07/hack-starbucks-grinder/ Don't overdo it tho, otherwise the two burrs will touch, but you can hear when this happens and back it off a hole. The mod for the Gaggia was to frig with the 3-way valve to actually *decrease* the pressure of the pump - it was coming out like a fire-hose before. 15 bar isn't the issue, the best commercial machines are only 6-7-8 bar at the groupset itself.

The grinder is 75% of the equation - tuning the grind size to impede the water flow enuf to achieve a 20 second shot is key. It's not difficult, just make sure water doesn't flow out too quickly. Also, not over-watering the shot is key as well. All commerical places like Costa, SBs, etc all overwater their shots. Really poor practice.

All the temp surfind and PIDing is too geeky for me, I like to geek out on bikes instead.

For coffee beans I'll try anything but my latest craze is for more Robusta. Lavazza make a Creme e Gusto blend (blue and orange freeze-dried block) sold in Sainbury's which is 50-50 Arabica-Robusta. Arabica coffee is too often bitter and VERY prone to burning when roasted (like Starbucks or Pret - yeuch) or overheating when brewing. Robusta gets a bad deal from coffee snobs who go on about 100% Arabica being the best. Even between the same brand - Lavazza Oro which is 100% vs Crema e Gusto is an eye-opener. Has anyone experimented with a 80% Robusta? I've not seen it in the UK.

Robusta gives a nice deep flavour more akin to what I get in Rome (the little lady is Roman so we go there 2-3 times a year). I basically bought 1kg of beans from this place in Frascati where the coffee was the best flavour i've ever had, and the Crema e Gusto is close to this. Acutally, there's another Lavazza line called Crema e Gusto "Dolce" which is in a pink and light blue package. That stuff is really south Italian style.

gert_lush

this thread continually teases me to want coffee, I can almost smell the beans!

On a different note, any Bath/Bristol cimmuters reading this shouldr check out "Colonna and Smalls" http://colonnaandsmalls.co.uk/ in Bath, its awesome, really friendly and ALL about the coffee, house coffees change weekly..plus they do a mean flapjack, have cycled there specifically from Bristol just for a smooth one

rick_chasey

Je suis reasonably new to the coffee game.

Tried the ground Illy espresso coffee > was lurvely.

Now trying the Lavazza in a black packet. Girlfriend, who likes her espresso sans sugar is complaining it's too strong/bitter.

It's ok, but doesn't seem as coffee-ish as illy...

I've herad bad things about illy red - anyone?

itboffin

I picked up 500g of each of the two Colombian coffee's the red label is darker stronger with more of a "hello" is that the time kick, the green label is really interesting, same sort of flavours but with a really nice noticeable fruity taste, even Mrs itboffin likes it and she drinks tea :shock:

i'm out now so need to make another trip tomorrow, 1kg isn't enough :shock:

This morning I cycled into Marlborough for breakfast, I was served this giant cup of creamy milky filth, I seriously considered popping inside and introducing my d-lock :twisted:

Not happy!

flimflam_machine

Monmouth coffee is awesome!

Their regular espresso blend is really good (I'd avoid the organic espresso blend) and their decaf is very tasty. I rarely use their caf stuff as it's so bloody strong (especially the way they make it) that it makes my face "fizz".

A step down from that, Waitrose Peru Decaff and Monsooned Malabar are good and M&S ground Colombian is really surprisingly tasty, highly recommended!

itboffin

On my fourth cuppa, it's normal to loose feeling in your left arm isn't it ? :?

tptvmbircn

mmmmm coffe, taking some notes from this thread, looking to buy a full on coffe brewing machine myself.

Small Fish

Not tried Monmouth Coffee - but HasBean mail order does it for me - I order a random selection of the cheaper espresso coffees every month or so (They range from £4 up to £8+ for 250g)

Lavazza is acceptable as a stop gap - Illy not worth the extra money unless you want the tin - but the extra taste from HasBean is a revelation once you try it. (That's using a Baby Gaggia machine) I get really excited every time I open a pack wondering what it's going to taste like!
I really need to get a grinder - I wanted one for xmas but with impeccable logic my wife explained her decision not to get me one saying "you don't need one, you only ever drink ground coffee..."

FransJacques

itboffin wrote:

I was served this giant cup of creamy milky filth, I seriously considered popping inside and introducing my d-lock :twisted:

Not happy!

Seriously, if you're served a soup bowl of watery, dirty milk do yourself and the establishment a favour and send it back and ask for what you want. A milky coffee is ok for the first one the day but generally not OK later. You certainly didn't sound happy with it.

Sitting in the queue behind people I've learned that the word "dry" explains to the barrista you want more milk foam and less liquid milk. Try this next time.

As I've bee working on my home brewing sklls, when I go out now, I get un-milky coffees like macchiatos or simple extressos to better taste what the commercial machines are capable of. Most are not that good - shots are pulled for too long making them too watery. Another defense agains this is to ask for a short shot or ristretto.

Of course the barrista has to know what all this bumpf means :-)

meanredspider

I stick with the Illy because I can source it locally. Choice is rather limited in the Highlands (though, bizarrely, there's a Belgian chocolate shop nearby that serves the most incredible hot chocolate that's nothing like anything I've ever tasted - even in 3 years of living in Brussels). I'm afraid that if I discover some mail-order stuff, I'll bankrupt myself.

Ooh - time to fire up the Gaggia

itboffin

Just popped to Borough for some coffee .... 1.5kg of it :roll:

It's okay as I have no idea what a kg is so it must be fine :roll:

NGale

my personal choice of coffee

made in a stove top coffee make