London Fixed-gear and Single-speed

Do you know Phil?

Thank you both..

So.. Is a black shiny bean "past it"?

I searched the thread for key-words, but I don't think this has been posted.

http://funraniumlabs.com/the-black-blood-of-the-earth/

For the ultimately gnarly science coffee.

I searched the thread for key-words, but I don't think this has been posted.

http://funraniumlabs.com/the-black-blood-of-the-earth/

For the ultimately gnarly science coffee.

Start with the wand just under the surface, crank the steam wand up to max. Raise the wand to the surface so you're getting that "shh, shh, shh" sound. When you stop depends on what sort of foam you want, on our machine I tend to use about 2 seconds for a flat white, 3 for a latte and 5+ for a cappuccino. Obviously as it's a huge machine it steams milk much quicker than a consumer one but it gives you an idea of the ratios for the drinks. Once you have your frothing done sink the wand into the milk and begin swirling the milk around to mix the air properly. It's important to do this heating at the end as if you're frothing at the end you'll end up with big bubbles in your milk, not a good look.

And no, you don't need a thermometer, never since I started making coffee (about 3 years ago) have I used a steam wand. Though at my brief stint in Eat they did push you into using it, but I assume that's because the majority of their employees are not exactly all that knowledgeable on the subject.

Actually that's a lie, I used to use thermometers quite a lot for etching.

This has probably been covered before, but the UTFS isn't working on my phone.

What is the best coffee to use in a French Press? Never really used one before, but after having some of the nicest French Pressed coffee every morning on holiday in Dubai has made me go out and buy one.

All info gratefully received!

IMHO anything will work in a french press so long as it's ground right and brewed for the right amount of time. If you get the process right, you can vary the dose/steep time to get your preferred coffee tasting great, or try out different coffee types.

There's a guide to technique here, which you might want to read: http://coffeegeek.com/guides/presspot

As with all coffee, the grind is key. Bombcup posted some interesting stuff a few pages back about varying the grind and steep time for several different coffees.

Nice one, thanks for the info!!

for those of you who still haven't got your own grinder yet, espresso room in gt ormond st will grind square mile coffee for you (as do other places) but they will also just do half the bag so you can go back and get the rest ground later.
i thought it was a good idea if you dont get through a bag that quickly.

Woodnecks.

Anyone use them?

Thinking of getting one.

Thanks for this.

Where do I get a 12mm male -> washing machine female (3/8th?) adapter?

I bet Bunnings would have one but fucked if I'm travelling back to Oz to hook this machine up. #b&qsuckmyplums #londonhardwarefail

Just bought one of these,



Bit of a faff compared to the aeropress, however it really brings some of the flavours of the coffee through.

Pretty cheap as well!

I was genuinely amazed at the coffee we got out of one of those. I never liked filter coffee before that.

Does anyone know anything about La Pavoni Europiccolas? I've just gotten a rather swish second hand one in copper and brass. I've noticed though that on the base, the sticker says the voltage is 110~. I bought it from a guy in the UK that sold it as perfectly functional with no mention of it being a foreign market machine or anything and although there was no plug on it when it arrived, it's wired for a 3 pin plug with an earth lead. Am I going to be okay to just stick a plug on it and have at it?

Sure it's not voltage 110-250V or something? Lots of stuff has dual region power supplies. I'd check first though.

Here is the sticker and device.





Looks like I'm going to have to contact the seller and ask them.

something along these lines would work as well

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=19413

Yep, thats 110v. Don't go plugging it in. Euro 230v wiring is brown - live blue -neutral and green / yellow - earth.

You would have to convert it by changing the element to a 230v unit which is neither cheap nor easy. I would send it back unfit for purpose, unless you bought it from a 110v country.

That adapter will only handle 45w, you're going to need about 1000w

Edit, this would do the trick though http://www.toolstop.co.uk/index.php?...tm_medium=base

Balls.

Thanks, looks like I'm going to have to get one of those transformers.

Tada!!



It seems bizarre to me that 3 or 4 days ago I thought to myself that it was silly, given that I enjoy coffee, to be drinking so much instant. And now here I am with building site equipment powering kitchen appliances...

Good work sir

and for comparative purposes, here's the Bez next to my Gaggia Classic



The Bezzera now has a anti-vac valve fitted and no longer leaks when warming up which is nice. I also replaced some of the silicone pipe that had split.

the ranci looks aces… you're going to have some fun dialling that in

oooh - look at the state of the steam wand on the Bezza - dirty boy!

Look at the top photos.. that bottom pic is how I bought it last year not how I leave it.

Anyone want to buy a 1br flat? I need a bigger kitchen now so we're moving out.

Mal's already tired of having to sleep outside..

I think I might have finally overdone it.. It's half the size of our fridge and we have a big fridge.. :S :D

i salute you.

Seems I may have been rash in my acquisition of the transformer. I e-mailed the seller, but haven't had a response yet. I didn't want to get a new plug and just stick the machine into the transformer without being sure that it was really meant for 110v. I thought I'd open it up to see if there were any clues inside.



220-240v 1000w on the bottom of what I assume is the heater element? It's clearly been tampered with; each of the wires has a bit of sticky tape on it that's numbered to correspond with a bit of tape labeling each of the pins on the switches. That would make more sense than the guy I bought it from failing to mention the fact that it wasn't 240v.

I've just bought a 250g bag of Monmouth which I had them grind (yeah, yeah, the grinder is coming) and it's choking my Silvia (which is strange because I asked for a coarser grind than my last purchase) even with a relatively light tamp. What else can I do with it so it doesn't go to waste?

Could try no tamp at all? Otherwise take them back to Monmouth

@sanddancer how much did you pay for that beauty?

£160. It went up on Ebay, starting price £80 and I just happened upon it within minutes of it being posted. I sent a message asking how much he'd end the auction for and got a reply inviting me to make an offer. I offered the £160 (last one to go went for £157, but that was a chrome one) and he accepted.

It's technically my own fault for asking for such a fine grind, although I suspect it may have been the guy serving me who made a mistake – I had to remind him to charge me for my flat white and told me no-one had ever asked for such a fine grind (which I find hard to believe). Of course the other more worrying possibility is that my machine is losing pressure...

Sounds like the guy got it wrong. Take it back, they are very helpful and good staff so I'm sure they will swap it over for you.

BTW which grinder are you getting?

Looking at the Iberital MC2 but it's quite big. I also like the look of the iSteel from earlier on in the thread, but it's about double the price and I'm not convinced it's all that much smaller.

Suggestions?

I could make some Turkish coffee with it I guess.

I had an MC2 for ages and it was great. It's not big compared to most other grinders!

How is this any different from just sticking a filter paper into a funnel and putting that in your cup? Just wondering why they're £20 when a funnel is about 50p? Does it actually affect the flavour?

So I'm trying to get to grips with my Europiccola and I'm making slow progress, but awesome considering my circumstances (still waiting on stuff to arrive, so tamping with soy sauce bottle, foaming milk with giant pyrex jug etc).

Can any one recommend a coffee/grind/supplier that sell a coffee that's ground just right for this machine that I could use so that I can discount coffee/grind from the list of variables I'm jugging while I'm learning? So far all I've got to work is a tin of Illy Espresso from the supermarket. I tried a couple of others, but they were too coarse I think and no matter how much I tamped, I couldn't get the pull to last more than a couple of seconds.

Try hasbean.co.uk

They have just launched some new espresso blends, maybe try 'Jailbreak'. About £6 delivered and it's very good stuff.

I have a spare tamper (what's the basket diameter?) which you can have if its any good.

It seems to. I think it's all to do with the channeling of the water through the grinds - there
are specific pourover techniques (and an actually pouring kettle designed for just this type of coffee!).
I'm certainly getting some great stuff using it. Still use the aeropress a lot as it's so easy and quick to use.

it's not double the price. the black ones are £140 the polished aluminium £160

found the steel for £160 here
http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk/acatalo...l_Grinder.html

2.5 weeks in Italy. Shit the bed they do things properly over there. Some lovely lavazza stuff ground right for stovetops in every supermarket worked a treat in a mini bialetti in the rented gaff. The hotels restaurants and cafes all had big ass commercial machines. I saw the tiniest grottiest cafe churning out freshly ground freshly poured espressos at 75cents a cup.

bought a bialetti as a present and some lavazza coffee. Visited the last roaster in venice, but didn't have funds (last day of trip) to bring back more coffee :(

a caffeine filled holiday :D

I thought that using this type, with disposable filter, it would be much easier to clean as all you need to do is throw grinds in the bin and rinse out funnel? Is the aeropress somehow magically self-cleaning?!

Just had my first coffee. About to have another.

/thread ends

Boy, Crispin you really know how to make friends!