espresso machines

Where's Senor Parry when you need him, no doubt he will be along shortly as it's his forte, in the mean time our Gaggia Classic Coffee gets a thumbs up.

Beano

Gaggia for me too but definitely buy a good burr grinder as well. Getting the grind right is about 75% of making a good cup IMHO (once you've bought decent cofee beans of course).

I can, but it will cost approx £1,000. Hand drawn pressure - the only way to go for the ultimate coffee.

What coffee beans do you recommend as Im a huge coffee fan??!!!

Jon

Freshly roasted beans is an absolute must and freshly ground just before use. Farrers Espresso roast or Lavazza are my recommendation but is down to personal taste.

As for grinders we have a Gaggia burr machine which has also proved very reliable.

http://www.homewares.co.uk/

Beano

I use Kitchenaid Artisan Espresso maker cost around £440. This has twin boilers and provides good espresso and perfect froth.

I tried and discarded several other makers in the past including Nespresso by Krups.

As mentioned earlier a good quality Burr Grinder I use the Gaggio (c.£130) is essential as is fresh coffee.

Be warned though it is time consuming to make, my electrician observing me make 2 cups last week said he would stick with Nescafe.

Gerry

Completely concur with everyone saying Gaggia and grind your own. The grind is very important.

It's hard to beat one of those stovetop things for espresso. They're what Italians use. About twenty quid will get you a good one.

Nigel

quote:

What coffee beans do you recommend as Im a huge coffee fan??!!!

Bit of a toughie that. It really does come down to taste. I have found that living in the town that roasts 95% of beans for the British market I have quite a choice.However, over the last year I have been using San Francisco Bay (Columbian suprimo) beans from Costco at about £5/kilo. They just work for me.

Like Nigel says, those Italian [caffettiera?] machines that go on the cooker hot-plate make splendid coffee. I am a bit of a pleb as regards the coffee itself - all pfaff grinding ... aaargh! I use Co-op Fair Trade ground [of various styles] which is about the nicest ready ground I have found including among others Lavazza.

I find that heating the milk in a microwave is very effective as well, prior to putting it in the coffee. No messy pan to sort out after either.

On the other hand as with enjoying a nice pint of beer, or even on occasion enjoying certain music, it does depend on the mood to really enjoy a good cup of coffee ...

ATB from George

Chaps

I started a thread on this subject a few years ago and I think it dragged on for months.

I must have read advice from here as well as some specialist fora and good coffee needs

a) s good bean. Buy the bean such as fairtrade and freeze it immediately and only keep a couple of days supply at room temperature. Never ever buy ground coffee because you lose the flavour the minute it is ground and it deteriorates fast.

b) Burr the bean with a decent machine. I use the Kitchen Aid which is built like a tank, bomb proof, and burrs the bean to perfection. Never use a helicopter blade contraption because the blades will singe the oils in the bean and make it taste bitter. Burring crushes which is better.

c) Use a tried and tested machine and I use the Gaggia Classic. Again bombproof in use, easy to clean and makes good expresso.

d) Drink out of a decent expresso cup such as Villeroy and Boch. Some people swear by the specialist cups made by Illy but I do not like them. They have walls of varying thickness designed to minimise heat lose and also to prevent one burning ones lips.

I drink expresso most evenings after dinner and it is a most enjoyable experience.

Regards

Mick

I also use a Gaggia Classic and can highly recommend one.

Easy to use and very enjoyable,

Regards

PB

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Chaps
I started a thread on this subject a few years ago and I think it dragged on for months.

This might have some information - http://forums.naim-audio.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5801938...862946896#2862946896.

i vote for the burr grinder being the most critical component (source first?). there are lots of good makers, and i agree the stovetop units make a tolerable cup. i, like mick p., have the kitchen aid grinder and it has been bomb proof so far. as far as coffee, i only purchase organic / fair trade / shade grown. i suppose this is a political choice, but on one level everything is political, ain't it mickey?? (however once in awhile i cheat and buy a can of the illy dark espresso.) as stated by others, it's critical to grind the beans just minutes before brewing. we have the italians to thank for all this fuss.

I have the Kitchen Grinder, and think it is great, I have retired my Gagia coffe after 7 years sterling service, and purchased the Kitchen Aid with 2 boilers, as mentioned above, it looks the part, is built like a tank and guess what..........the internals are built by gaggia.

It was me that swears by the illy cups and I stand by that, but it is not the be all and end all.

Freshness is the key, I do not have the time or space to roast my own, so I buy the Illy beans, and grind them in the Kitchen Aid. I tin is no good if open for more than a week. I dont bother with the fridge or the frezer, I just drink it. If you dont drink that much, buy a smaller tin!

Every so often I get jaded with Illy, try somthing else and go back to Illy.

Kind regards

Simon

there's mountains of coffee natter on the web, but after hours of searching the most recommended 'serious' domestic machine is a Rancillio Silvia with a Rancillio Rocky grinder. This is the nearest you'll get to a proper coffee shop machine in your kitchen.


One of the benefits of going with this is that there's heaps of chat and advice related to getting the most from these machines. There are even coffee junkies who will pimp your machine for you, I've just upgraded mine with an industrial quality temperature controller - the other half thought I'd gone mad, but agrees it takes the quality to another level, significantly better than just about any espresso I've had when out.

HTH
Phil

Villory and Boch made our toilets.

How interesting.

Phil
Bet you couldn't post that on the Rancillio forum!

Off-topic, sorry!

Dear Gary! Adam Ant made the toilet in my House! ATB from George

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:

b) Burr the bean with a decent machine. Never use a helicopter blade contraption because the blades will singe the oils in the bean and make it taste bitter. Burring crushes which is better.


Regards

Mick

Ahhh! THAT explains it! Thanks Mick.

Other than the burnt and bitter-tasting coffee I make every day (!) I, like George, find the Co-Op's "Fairtrade" ready-ground to be very good indeed.

My problem with a lot of the machines is they don't make nearly enough for me. According to the scale on my percolator my normal mug of coffee's the equivalent of nearly five "ordinary" cups!

OK, I do shake a bit...

Nespresso cube.
Very user friendly and very clean!

I bought a new seal for my Caffettiera today and some fresh gound Colombian from Whittards to soberly celebrate my early and unplanned Christmas Holiday, starting today. Yes, that was my Christmas treat, and very nice too! Just like an upgrade from a NAP 200 to 300. I could and did happily live with a 200, but the 300 is without question better in every department!

I also wondered into HMV and found the perfect set of DVDs for me! The Ealing box set including Kind Hearts and Coronets [etc] and also Scott of the Antarctic. £120 reduced to £50! It stayed on the shelf!

ATB from George!

quote:

buy a good burr grinder as well...The grind is very important.

Never ever buy ground coffee because you lose the flavour the minute it is ground and it deteriorates fast...Freshly roasted beans is an absolute must and freshly ground just before use...

Yep - all correct.

quote:

Rancillio Silvia with a Rancillio Rocky

YEAH BABY that's what I have!

quote:

b) Burr the bean with a decent machine. Never use a helicopter blade contraption because the blades will singe the oils in the bean and make it taste bitter. Burring crushes which is better.

Hmmmm. That reasoning sounds a little far-fetched to me! I was told that slicing the bean was inferior because the shape of the 'grind' was much less regular, didn't tamp as well, and therefore was prone to exacerbating uneven extraction.

quote:

Other than the burnt and bitter-tasting coffee

Could be several reasons for that.

1) old coffee. As Mick said, fresh is best. My local roaster insists however that brand spanking fresh isn't as good as a coffee that's sat for 48 hours. He believes the caramelisation that goes on during roasting continues after roasting is finished and is at its best after two days. I tend to concur, having done a few blind tests.

2) water too hot. If you have an average machine run some water through it before inserting the group. If there's a big puff of steam, then let that run off.

3) Over extraction. Properly it should take 6-8 seconds for the coffee to extract in big fat black drops. Gradually, as pressure builds, it'll start to run out and go a nice caramel colour. Then no more than 25-30 seconds total extraction, otherwise you'll get bitterness.

Practice getting a short black right, if you haven't already. That's the basis of all coffee.

I was in Whittards yesterday, and asked about the old method of making coffee in a pot left on the stove to make extremely strong coffee. My Norwegian grandmother used to make it that way, and I have had lovely coffee in Poland made the same way. Nothing sophisticated about it, but the result is unique if possibly undrinkable if you don't know what is coming!

It was explained that this method came from Turkey and is a valid way even now, if not fashionable in many quarters!

Interestingly my grandmother used to fetch fresh roasted and ground coffee daily at the same time as fetching the daily bread, which was the proper kind levened in the night before baking. It was heavy, was mid brown/grey, and my goodness it was a meal in itself!

I think I should try Turkish coffee soon!

ATB from George

beautiful........................