Coffee

IWC Doppel posted:

I'm just getting back on the espresso, wagon after moving house,

Now I know what you mean ... and I'm being a pedant ... but surely someone who is on the (espresso) wagon would be someone who has STOPPED drinking coffee?

I am obviously being dim... can you explain what you mean Eloise?

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

I am obviously being dim... can you explain what you mean Eloise?

"A colloquialism generally referring to an alcohol abuser's sobering up time. Can also be used as a general reference to refraining from any bad habit, i.e. coffee, covfefe, diet or drug usage.

Closely related to fell off the wagon.

Thanks Adam ... you got it exactly.

dave marshall posted:

I alternate between the various offerings from Taylors of Harrogate and fresh roasted beans from a local artisan roaster.

All fed into a Jura bean to cup machine, powered, naturally, with a Powerline, for that little extra je ne sais quoi. 

I have a Jura Z5 myself and the (now ex) GF has my Delonghi Bean to Cup ... both seem very capable machines (for automatics) but I still hanker for a Sage Oracle (although I did like the Jura Z6 too).

For beans - TBH I often just end up buying Tescos own brand beans ... they turn out a decent cappucino.

Phil

tonym posted:

The only way to avoid environmental impact is to not consume anything. You'll die, but it's a small price to pay for the peace of mind. I'm always rather amused by the "You shouldn't do that 'cos it's damaging to the environment" crowd. "Judge not, that ye be not judged. "

Me, I shall stick to a nice cup of covfefe. With milk.

Sorry that doesn't work, your corpse will still have a negative environmental impact (and cremation's even worse). 

Phil Harris posted:

I have a Jura Z5 myself and the (now ex) GF has my Delonghi Bean to Cup ... both seem very capable machines (for automatics) but I still hanker for a Sage Oracle (although I did like the Jura Z6 too).

For beans - TBH I often just end up buying Tescos own brand beans ... they turn out a decent cappucino.

Phil

The number of unrecoverable state errors in the Delonghi programming frustrates the h**l out of me!

Huge posted:

Phil Harris posted:

I have a Jura Z5 myself and the (now ex) GF has my Delonghi Bean to Cup ... both seem very capable machines (for automatics) but I still hanker for a Sage Oracle (although I did like the Jura Z6 too).

For beans - TBH I often just end up buying Tescos own brand beans ... they turn out a decent cappucino.

Phil

The number of unrecoverable state errors in the Delonghi programming frustrates the h**l out of me!

Haven't hit any issues like that with the one that I have (had?) ... what annoys me with it is that the water receptacle is so small, oh, and that it broke after a few months but Currys did exchange it for me (and upgraded it to the newer version / next one up) and I'm not going to presume from a sample size of 1 that that means that all of them are inherently flawed and therefore they will all fail after three months. ;-)

Phil

Eloise posted:

Thanks Adam ... you got it exactly.

Thank you both - now I am edified

Simon

Phil Harris posted:

dave marshall posted:

I alternate between the various offerings from Taylors of Harrogate and fresh roasted beans from a local artisan roaster.

All fed into a Jura bean to cup machine, powered, naturally, with a Powerline, for that little extra je ne sais quoi. 

I have a Jura Z5 myself and the (now ex) GF has my Delonghi Bean to Cup ... both seem very capable machines (for automatics) but I still hanker for a Sage Oracle (although I did like the Jura Z6 too).

For beans - TBH I often just end up buying Tescos own brand beans ... they turn out a decent cappucino.

Phil

Shame you are not nearby - i have just binned some Tesco own brand beans - just couldn't get on with them at all despite trying several different preparations for brewing  -  you would have been absolutely welcome to have them. 

The Sage Oracle is a nice machine - I went for their next model down, the Sage Dual Boiler and got a separate grinder..

During the course of a job I was involved with a colleague had to have regular meetings at the offices of a highly respected firm of engineers. Each time he visited he was offered a coffee whilst he waited to see the director. The coffee was pretty awful apparently so on the third visit, when offered the customary coffee, he politely asked 'Is it powdered?'...'No, replied the assistant.... It's granules'

G

Just got our DeLonghi back from Havant after a service. The blacks are definitely blacker and the crema is cremaier. Coffee tastes OK as well

I have just upgraded to a TQ mains cable,  for my Sage Coffee machine,  I would say already, the coffee tastes smoother, certainly it's more layered, deeper in colour, will keep everyone updated as the cable burns in, they reckon it can take 40..50 shots of expresso to perform at its best....

 Happy days....

wenger2015 posted:

I have just upgraded to a TQ mains cable,  for my Sage Coffee machine,  I would say already, the coffee tastes smoother, certainly it's more layered, deeper in colour, will keep everyone updated as the cable burns in, they reckon it can take 40..50 shots of expresso to perform at its best....

 Happy days....

Now I've no idea if you're being serious...

Eloise posted:

wenger2015 posted:

I have just upgraded to a TQ mains cable,  for my Sage Coffee machine,  I would say already, the coffee tastes smoother, certainly it's more layered, deeper in colour, will keep everyone updated as the cable burns in, they reckon it can take 40..50 shots of expresso to perform at its best....

 Happy days....

Now I've no idea if you're being serious...

I'm already on my 17th expresso....its going to be along night, at least I will have no problem staying awake, 

By the way....it's the Arabica Expresso Ultra Black cable? 

wenger2015 posted:

I'm already on my 17th expresso....its going to be along night, at least I will have no problem staying awake, 

By the way....it's the Arabica Expresso Ultra Black cable? 

 

17 espressos, that'll certainly get your feet tapping!

wenger2015 posted:

Eloise posted:

wenger2015 posted:

I have just upgraded to a TQ mains cable,  for my Sage Coffee machine,  I would say already, the coffee tastes smoother, certainly it's more layered, deeper in colour, will keep everyone updated as the cable burns in, they reckon it can take 40..50 shots of expresso to perform at its best....

 Happy days....

Now I've no idea if you're being serious...

I'm already on my 17th expresso....its going to be along night, at least I will have no problem staying awake, 

By the way....it's the Arabica Expresso Ultra Black cable? 

 

Inky black coffee then ?

james n posted:

wenger2015 posted:

Eloise posted:

wenger2015 posted:

I have just upgraded to a TQ mains cable,  for my Sage Coffee machine,  I would say already, the coffee tastes smoother, certainly it's more layered, deeper in colour, will keep everyone updated as the cable burns in, they reckon it can take 40..50 shots of expresso to perform at its best....

 Happy days....

Now I've no idea if you're being serious...

I'm already on my 17th expresso....its going to be along night, at least I will have no problem staying awake, 

By the way....it's the Arabica Expresso Ultra Black cable? 

 

Inky black coffee then ?

Inky blackness? More a creamy inky blackness 

I suspect you are now able to enjoy those fruity notes more 

Instant coffee perfection used to come from Carte Noire, but after a take over by Douwe Egberts and a rebranding/change of flavour to L,or, which is nothing much.   I'm sad to see it go from its place near the kettle.

I went through two Gaggia Classic machines - as others have said they look the part, but only from the outside.  I suspect their internal assembly and components are well below par.  I replaced my last one with a DeLongi bean to cup machine which was pretty impressive and reliable.  Good value for money too!  Then I took the head staggers and got a Mazzer Mini grinder and a Rapha badged Rocket coffee machine which really looks the part.  Slightly steam age in terms of size!  I really should make more effort to improve my coffee making though as I do no justice to the equipment.  At the moment I use the Lavazza dark labelled beans from the supermarket.

Best cuppa I had was on a colleague's coffee plantation above Newcastle in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica.  Amazing to see the whole process with the plantation spread out below the cantilevered verandah, the beans freshly roasted and everything in between on view.  It had a very delicate flavour and delicious.  Happy days!

Peter

Not “at home” coffee... but if anyone is in the East Midlands (I think) a trip to 200 Degrees in Nottingham or Leicester is worth it...

I have a De Longhi bean  to cup machine that is about 7 years old, and that replaced a similar Gaggia machine. I do maintain it, making sure it's properly cleaned after each use and descale it as and when it demands it. Can't remember the last time I had instant coffee and only reluctantly buy a coffee from the chains. Quite often my wife and myself will consider going to have a sandwich and coffee somewhere and then decide we could do better and cheaper at home.

Am not religious about the coffee we use,Taylor's Italian or Columbian or Breakfast Blend, which is a bit bland, and sometimes a Java, or whatever takes my fancy. The idea of paying for Blue Mountain or other exotic, expensive coffees is abhorrent, and anyway I don't have good enough taste buds.

Environmentally, when the machine tells me the ground container is full I throw them in the garden as they make good compost. If you are desperate for a cup of coffee when in town, I would suggest either Prett's or McDonalds who, in my opinion, do better coffee than Costa or Starbucks at a much more reasonable price. 

At home I have an AEG built in bean to cup machine.  Maybe not the last word but with Lavazza beans it makes me more than happy.

as we’re telling stories of past machines: this is the second (model of) AEG machine I had.  The first was engineered by AEG and had countless problems - mostly caused by the local relatively hard water it appears.  Had a domestic appliance insurance so was repaired free of (additional) charge.  After about 5 years they decided it was beyond economic repair and replaced it with the newer AEG model.  Apparently AEG recognised their inexperience as this one is supposed to be a deLongi mechanism inside.  (Also annoyingly it was 1cm taller than the space the old one plus a filler strip occupied, so please don’t look too carefully in my kitchen at the height of the door above the coffee machine)

Resurrection posted:

If you are desperate for a cup of coffee when in town, I would suggest either Prett's or McDonalds who, in my opinion, do better coffee than Costa or Starbucks at a much more reasonable price. 

I think the key word here is Desperate.... ...you would have to be extremely desperate to go to Mcdonalds.

As for Costa or Starbucks, they are both far superior to the above, may cost more but we'll worth it...

But that said ' we pay are money and take are choice'