OT - What coffee rig?!

schweiz

I have a nespresso coffee machine and a nespresso milk foamer (for the Mrs.) at home. I've used nespresso for close on 8 years and I think it's the most convenient, but that is based on only drinking a small amount of coffee at home. The water tanks on the cheaper nespresso machines, are small so you'd constantly be refilling it.

At work we have a http://www.delonghi.com/uk_en/products/esam-04110s/ which has performed flawlessly for the last 12 months with 4 people drinking several cups a day. The water tank is a decent size and you can put your ground coffee of choice in instead of using the beans/grinder if someone wants decaf or some other coffee.

We worked out it was something like 10 rp. a cup (£0.06) compared with nespresso at 50 rp. a cup (£0.35)

Jay dubbleU

notsoblue wrote:

Jay dubbleU wrote:

One of these - I've had mine for years and its travelled everywhere with me - cheap as chips - I think mine was about a tenner - you could afford the buy a dozen and completely reliable - makes excellent coffee too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moka2.jpg

+1

Though I'd recommend getting a Stainless steel one if you can't be bothered to wash it by hand. Our cleaner put the previous one I had in the dishwasher and it took the protective layer off leaving the metal (presumably Zinc) to oxidise and tarnish. It was replaced with thismodel which is superb.

Not as convenient as Nespresso etc... but tbh I like the ritual of preparing coffee manually.

I'm in love

Agent57

iPete wrote:

Sorry, I was referring to it looking like a year 9 science experiment!

Oh! Sorry for getting the wrong end of the stick there. Yeah, it does look a bit like that...

andyrr

That Gaggia Classic is what has produced great espresso for me for well over 5 years now.
The only issues are that for proper espresso, ie not just some mega strong coffee but the proper creamy espresso then it seems to be fussy about having very finely ground (burr grinder not cheap blade machine chopper) and freshly roasted coffee. I now roast my own beans and that plus the cheapest burr grinder (Dualit labelled as Starbucks) does the trick. Don't think I've had espresso to match my own in a UK cafe or restaurant. Isn't a major faff either - ok more than some instant sludge or pods but the few minutes of time it occupies (I'll go off and do some other stuff whilst I let it heat up) I'll happily factor in and for me it adds a little to the 'ritual' of taking that fantastic taste.

TommyEss

We bought aNespresso Pixies and got the milk frother pot thing thrown in free (it's on a separate stand).

My mum and dad have that Gaggia mentioned above - and hardly ever use it, whereas I can manage a quick shot of espresso before I scoot out the door most mornings.

As others have said, it isn't the absolute best coffee I've ever had, but is still a good cuppa, and it's quick and easy. So a win for me. If I had more time and more money, I'd love to have a proper barista-style machine. But the money's going mainly on bikes at the moment (as should yours be too!)

Enjoy!

meanredspider

LeDomestiqueTours wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

LeDomestiqueTours wrote:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gaggia-Classic-Machine-Professional-Stainless/dp/B0000C72XS/ref=dp_cp_ob_kh_title_0

Based purely on looks - this has to be the winner!

It's what I use at home. It's good but would to too slow (& messy if you didn't use the pods) for 10 guests. You effectively have to finish brewing the coffee before you can use it to froth the milk.

Ah ok - the old form over function thing....

Il get looking at potential pod based machines then. Not keen on the overly plasticky looking ones!

No so much form over function but "traditional" and involves some effort. As above, the making of the morning espresso is a bit of a ritual - I juggle espresso making with porridge making. I can't imagine making 10 cups on it, though - 4 max. Whilst you won't win any prizes for coffee using a Nespresso machine, you shouldn't get any complaints and the choice of pods might make it a bit of a feature. It'll also be relatively quick and easy for you.

nicklouse

whatever "pod/pad" system you go for get some of these.

http://shop.coffeeduck.com/en/coffeeduc ... o-cup.html

meanredspider

nicklouse wrote:

whatever "pod/pad" system you go for get some of these.

http://shop.coffeeduck.com/en/coffeeduc ... o-cup.html

Only for Nespresso machines from before Oktober 2010

is what it says on the site

UndercoverElephant

meanredspider wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

whatever "pod/pad" system you go for get some of these.

http://shop.coffeeduck.com/en/coffeeduc ... o-cup.html

Only for Nespresso machines from before Oktober 2010

is what it says on the site

How about these ones then?

http://shop.coffeeduck.com/nl/coffeeduc ... p-new.html

nicklouse

and the senso version.................

notsoblue

UndercoverElephant wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

whatever "pod/pad" system you go for get some of these.

http://shop.coffeeduck.com/en/coffeeduc ... o-cup.html

Only for Nespresso machines from before Oktober 2010

is what it says on the site

How about these ones then?

http://shop.coffeeduck.com/nl/coffeeduc ... p-new.html

Lekkere koffie

Jay dubbleU

One of these for camping

http://www.theoutdoorshop.com/html/Cook ... ilter.html

Harry182

Jay dubbleU wrote:

One of these for camping

http://www.theoutdoorshop.com/html/Cook ... ilter.html

At home, I go through phases of using a mocha pot, cafetiere and one of these. It makes good coffee.

se-po

nicklouse wrote:

whatever "pod/pad" system you go for get some of these.

http://shop.coffeeduck.com/en/coffeeduc ... o-cup.html

Thanks! useful for the machine I have at work! :idea:

FransJacques

That coffeeduck is an awesome idea. It allows you to choose the type and as importantly, the grind, used for one of those "takes all the fun outta making coffee" Nespresso machines.

For the OP, to make a large pot of coffee on the go, Bialetti/Moka make a larger one which is 9 cups: http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalo ... CFMQ8wIwAg

This stuff is strong enuf to get the most hung-over, over-trained, tired cyclists out of bed.

One thing I learned from italians is that when filling a moka with grounds, they don't just toss in a couple table spoons, screw the top and bottom together and hope for the best.

Nooooo they toss in 2 massive tablespoons then use the convex side of the spoon to tamp that stuff down, then they throw in 1-2 more tablespoons and tamp the crap outta that and repeat till it is a dense hockey puck of coffee.

This probably serves to ramp up the psi in the brew process a bit. It certainly promotes the formation of crema on top.

Coffee-wise, Romans do not shy away from Robusta beans and cannot understand the snobism/fixation around 100% Arabica. If you want a thin, bitter, watery consistency go 100% arabica. If you want some smoke, some smoothness, some flavour and more buttery mouth-feel ramp up the robusta content. Lavazza Crema e Gusto (red/blue or pink/blue) is worth a try. Heck, it's only £3 of your hard-earned pounds. http://www.lavazza.com/corporate/opencm ... gusto.html or

Lastly, next time you brew, do a side by side comparison with tap water then with Evian. You know what I'm about to say, and sorry for saying it, but the Evain coffee is that much smoother than tap or tap via Brita. To be honest tho, I just use tab via Brita in the gaggia.

pangolin

FransJacques wrote:

For the OP, to make a large pot of coffee on the go, Bialetti/Moka make a larger one which is 9 cups: http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalo ... CFMQ8wIwAg

This stuff is strong enuf to get the most hung-over, over-trained, tired cyclists out of bed.

One thing I learned from italians is that when filling a moka with grounds, they don't just toss in a couple table spoons, screw the top and bottom together and hope for the best.

Nooooo they toss in 2 massive tablespoons then use the convex side of the spoon to tamp that stuff down, then they throw in 1-2 more tablespoons and tamp the crap outta that and repeat till it is a dense hockey puck of coffee.

This probably serves to ramp up the psi in the brew process a bit. It certainly promotes the formation of crema on top.

A couple of thoughts on the Moka pot.

A 3 cup Moka pot makes enough for 1 decent mug of coffee, or 2 espresso mugs. I have a 9 cup also, which makes enough for 3 or 4 decent mugs. Making enough for 10 people who I'm sure would want a proper mug would require 2 or 3 large Moka pots on the go, or lots of cleaning in-between.

I'm surprised to hear your advice on 'tamping the crap' out of the coffee basket. Almost all of the advice I have seen is to do exactly the opposite and keep the coffee completely untamped, light and fluffy. After messing about with the grind a bit and doing just that I have had some great tasting coffee from it.

As far as I know it should be level with the top of the basket, and not compressed. Use a pointy thing (cocktail stick or something) to make sure the coffee is evenly distributed around the basket, in all the corners, and not clumped together. Then use your hand or a knife to go across the top and level it (without compressing!).

They don't produce the psi to force water through an espresso style puck. Do you end up with lots of water still in the base when you do this?

-edited to add a couple of references-

http://www.coffeehouseconversation.com/2009/07/the-moka-pot/
http://stumptowncoffee.com/brew-guides/moka-pot/

Sorry for going OT! Having used them a lot I would say that Moka pots are not ideal for your intended use OP. I really like mine but for a large group they will involve a lot more cleaning and prep than some other options.

meanredspider

A friend of mine (an Italian lady) was given just two pieces of advice by her mother before leaving home for university

1. No kissing the boys
2. Never, EVER, tamp the coffee down in a moka pot...

I think that's all you need to know about it

PBo

Wow, thread resurrection!

I loved my moka pot, - loved the ritual - but a major problem I had was that I got some kind of "reflux" back into the bottom chamber, which if not immediately dealt with after the brew, would go quite mouldy...still have no idea why or what...

Learnt some top tips the other day....
1) if you drink milky coffees, use cravendale. The filtered milk when steamed makes a sweeter, creamier milk with denser foam. (I did a blind tasting, and this noticeably true!)
2) use a hand tamper, as you should be using 20lb per square inch in your old money. It's very difficult to generate that pressure pressing up onto a fixed machine thing.
3) fineness of grind is all important, so buy decent stuff....

Also, i echo the robusta comment from above....