Can We Talk Coffee

[trentski]

I've got a Giotto Premium Plus with a K3 WBC grinder and an iCoffee Roaster, also have a Syphon I got for $6 form a Salvation Army shop

All my greens come from Coffeesnobs and I have roasted and drunk all my Mexican which was a definite chocolate bomb

Same username on CoffeeSnobs

[fivegallon]

welcome aboard fellow CS'er and now fellow BBQ'er

[peteru]

In terms of the best single origin bean for espresso / ristretto , I have not found anything better than Yirgacheffe.

I got some of the Coffee Snobs Yirgacheffe Special Prep and tried various roasts ranging from CS7 to CS11, but it's not coming up as good as the roasted Yirg from my local coffee shop. It's still better than most coffee.

[peteru]

Pod coffee machines are to coffee snobs what electric vertical grillers are to steak snobs.

[trentski]

Pod coffee machines are to coffee snobs what electric vertical grillers are to steak snobs.

if you were using that electric vertical griller to cook dog food

[peteru]

I got some of the Coffee Snobs Yirgacheffe Special Prep and tried various roasts ranging from CS7 to CS11, but it's not coming up as good as the roasted Yirg from my local coffee shop.

I think I need to revise that statement. My roast was not as good at 1,2,3 and 4 days. On the 5th day it improved noticeably and after 6 days it's on par with the roast from Forsyth's. I guess Yirg definitely benefits from a good resting period. Now I'm hoping that it continues to improve further.

[trentski]

I got some of the Coffee Snobs Yirgacheffe Special Prep and tried various roasts ranging from CS7 to CS11, but it's not coming up as good as the roasted Yirg from my local coffee shop.

I think I need to revise that statement. My roast was not as good at 1,2,3 and 4 days. On the 5th day it improved noticeably and after 6 days it's on par with the roast from Forsyth's. I guess Yirg definitely benefits from a good resting period. Now I'm hoping that it continues to improve further.

None of my roasts are any good before 5 days, they taste like coffee but are a bit "nothing" After that they hit a peak and then drop off but are still good out to 21 days post roast, most only last 14 days max though

[Smokey]

Pod coffee machines are to coffee snobs what electric vertical grillers are to steak snobs.

I must admit, I was using my brothers Nespresso over the Christmas holidays and I was impressed.
Though only the black pod is any good.
I liken it to a gas BBQ is to charcoal.
Im going to buy a pod machine
And hey, Isnt instant coffee likened to an electric grill??

[titch]

I still use a drip perculator and love it.
just a ground Arabian blend.
Would one of those Pod things do the same ?
Do the pods live in the fridge?
Cheers.
Titch

[Smokey]

I believe that "Nespresso" are loosing thier patent on there pods some time this year.
After that there will be choice and cheaper prices as other copys come in that fit nespresso machines.
Titch, As I understand it, There is Nespresso, Map, Aldi, and maybe a few others.
I know that you cant use Map or aldi pods in a nespresso and visa versa.
My brother did all the reserch and settled on nespresso so I will just trust him and save myself some time. I didnt like Map(Mums got one) all that much but aldi(Sisters got one) was a surprise for the price
You can only (ATM) buy nespresso on line or in maybe only one shop in each cap city,, something like that anyway.
I think it works out to about 60 cents a shot

[trentski]

And hey, Isnt instant coffee likened to an electric grill??

the true coffee snob doesn't consider "instant coffee" to be coffee at all

[trentski]

Beans tend to go off unless you seal them unlike the pods that keep fresher longer.

It woul dbe more correct to say that the coffee in a pod is stale by the time they make the pod, so it will stay at that consistent level of staleness, where as beans take a couple of days to de-gas after roasting and are then past their best 21 days post roast.

The important thing is you like the beverage that you are drinking. Espresso made with fresh beans, freshly ground and made at the right temperature and pressure is far superier to Pod coffee.

COmparing gas to charcoal probably isn't a bad comparison, except a good chef can make beautiful food from a gas bbq but a pod machine makes pod coffee regardless of who is making it.

[trentski]

this is also why i think they should standardise pods, that way anyone can make coffee for the pod machines.

like printers the money isn't in the machine its in the consumables, the nespresso pods are out of patent this year and nestle have been working on a new style of pod, which they can patent, for some time.

[FirePlay]

for expresso lovers there is really 2 options

I would add a third - the moka pot.

The only difference between this and a "true espresso" is the pressure level. Everything else - the effective level, temp and volume of extraction is the same when used properly.

The flavour maybe slightly different to an espresso due to that pressure difference (some would say superior although the amount of crema is reduced) but it should still be considered.

Most Italian homes I've spent time in still use them - there's gotta be a good reason for that level of popularity!

[peteru]

The not so cheap option, but very suitable for someone who wants a good coffee without much/any effort is a fully automatic machine. Something along the lines of a Jura, Saeco or Krups. These have a built in grinder, are self cleaning and can be programmed to give a consistent result, fine tuned to your liking at the press of a button. Personally I prefer the experience of the coffee making ritual, but I have a friend who thought that his fully automatic Krups was the best thing ever - until it broke down.

You see, one of the most important things to improving the quality of your coffee is a grinder, so that you can use freshly ground and freshly roasted coffee. You simply can not do that with a pod system. Pods may actually produce better coffee than a proper coffee machine used with pre-ground supermarket coffee, like Vittoria or Lavazza. That's because the coffee in pods will be packed in a protective atmosphere (nitrogen or C02) to stop it from oxidising. As far as I know, the only supermarket stocked brand that does modified atmosphere packaging is Illy. Illy is better than all the other supermarket coffee, but at around $66/kg (for coffee that is months old by the time it gets to you), it's pretty poor value. The oils in all coffee will still spoil over time, even with modified atmosphere or vacuum packaging. You can get premium freshly roasted coffee for around $30-40/kg from decent coffee shops. Most local cafes will also sell you a bag of coffee at a reasonable price.

At the end of the day, it's all about finding what works for you. We all assign different importance to various criteria. For some, simplicity and convenience comes first, others will go to great lengths to come as close to perfection as they possibly can. For me, it's been a journey of incremental improvements, starting with a plunger and supermarket Italian pre-ground coffee, when everyone around me was drinking 2 teaspoons of International Roasts in a mug of hot tap water. Currently I'm at roasting my own beans, grinding them straight into the portafilter and extracting on a microprocessor controlled espresso machine, with custom settings for brew temperature, steam temperature and steam wetness. I think I'll be OK with that setup for another couple of years before I feel the urge to upgrade again.

A slayer is looking good, but I think I'd probably have to build a coffee shop around it, to be able to justify it to SWMBO. Then again, I'd also want to have a micro brewery, smokehouse and an ice cream parlour in my dream shop.