Coffee snobs?

crumbschief

An enemacano

twist83

My choice of the Brewtus came down to ££ at the time. I would have liked a Rocket and a good friend has one. However I am happy with Brewtus I have had him about 13 months now. Not as pretty to look at as others but I like it. Even have a dedicated section of the kitchen for my coffee passion.

FransJacques wrote:

Holy crap I can't believe two of you own Brewtus'! After 5 years with a heavily modded Silvia I'm ready for my first E61 machine but the choice is too great. Faema, Rocket, Isomac, Quickmill, Grimac etc its worse than cross tyre choice. Any advice about how you chose the Expobar would be welcomed.

Best coffee in a bar ever is off the square in Frascati near Rome. All about the right blend of (whisper it) robusta. Agreed that France, Spain and Swiss make sheit coffee.

Beans in the freezer plays havoc with any moisture. Avoid.

twist83

You tend to find coffee junkies like ourselves and others tend to keep it quiet. The looks I get are priceless when I explain how much I have spent. But is a hobbie/passion isnt it.

I have been looking at the Gene Roasters to give that a go. More from an understanding the roasting process more than anything. Kudos for the RO system

Like you say the acid test is that people come round for coffees, also I have managed to convert about 4 people into using decent beans which I get for them when I order and most of them use Aeropress as well. So it is a start. I never force my views on people but will give advice.

I don't drink from Starbucks etc not because of being a snob but because it is simply foul tasting.

The only person I struggle to convert is my mother. She loves really dark roasts. She is currently just about satisfied with the RAVE Coffee Italian Job blend which does have Robusta. She isnt a massive fan of light roasts.

paul64 wrote:

I'll own up to being another closet coffee snob although I have posted on here for a long time and never mentioned it before. In the past 10 years I have owned a cheap Gaggia, A Pavoni Europiccola (take it out of the box for fun occasionally and was shocked to see they cost £500 now!), an Expobar Brewtus II and an Izzo Alex MKII, these days I use an Alex Duetto. I owned a Macap MC4 grinder then moved to a Mazzer Mini Electronic. I started roasting with an iRoast, then A Hottop, a Gene Cafe which I modified to control the input watts and avoid the on-off roast method and difficult-to-control scorching before importing a Quest M3 that I have used for the past year. I used to an Aerobie and I still keep a decent Moka Pot around for occasional night-time use (when the Duetto is off and not due to come back on until the morning).

But it's all about the coffee. I started with Whittard, bought some beans from Hasbean and the like before becoming part of a group buy through Bella Barista where I buy all my equipment, spares and green beans, they are a brilliant company. At any one time I have 20kg minimum across about 10 varieties, I keep roasting logs, maintenance charts and evolved a grind-table so I know within a shot where any variety is likely to grind in terms of fineness and volume.

And just to round this out it it's all about the water too and I have used a RO system for about 4 years.

I generally avoid coffee conversations but word gets around. The acid test about whether all this produces better coffee is that, yes, people come round and want a coffee, they love it when I grind a fresh roast (about 3 days old) then take some for them to enjoy in their Moka pot or cafetiere.

Biggest disappointment for me was expecting nectar in Rome and finding it okay but nothing special so I take Ugo's comments on board to experience it in Naples, it's on my to do list. I feel that France and Spain have appalling coffee, never had a drinkable cup in either country yet!

bianchimoon

crumbschief wrote:

An enemacano