TRF ~ Coffee Lovers Thread!

[Tmac478]

Originally Posted by BreguetRolex

What would you recommend for a high end and I mean high end Expresso maker and Grinder for a home and up to about 10k possibly..? I have shitty well water but is there a way of using good water that not in my tap..? Been wanting a TOTL machine but nasty hard water we have..

For home use, I highly recommend the ECM Synchronica. I purchased one last year after trying many machines for many years. This will probably be the last espresso (not expresso) machine I ever own. I paired it with a Ceado E37S grinder - also the last grinder I'll ever own. You can plumb this machine in but you'll need a water filter. I use a BWT Bestmax

All of this can be purchased at Whole Latte Love. Great site.
Good luck!

[-dustin]

Originally Posted by BreguetRolex

What would you recommend for a high end and I mean high end Expresso maker and Grinder for a home and up to about 10k possibly..? I have shitty well water but is there a way of using good water that not in my tap..? Been wanting a TOTL machine but nasty hard water we have..

If you haven’t made espresso before, a $10k setup will taste just as shitty as a $500 setup. If not worse, as the machine will be more picky.

But since you asked - La Marzocco GS3 machine with a Eureka Atom grinder.

Regardless, www.clivecoffee.com is a good starting point.

[uscmatt99]

Originally Posted by -dustin

If you haven’t made espresso before, a $10k setup will taste just as shitty as a $500 setup. If not worse, as the machine will be more picky.

But since you asked - La Marzocco GS3 machine with a Eureka Atom grinder.

Regardless, www.clivecoffee.com is a good starting point.

I really wanted a Linea Mini when I was shopping around. Top of the line for home use would be a Slayer. Both require skill to extract their best.

Best advice I got was to split my budget between the espresso machine and the grinder. The grinder may well be the more important part of the equation for great espresso.

[FLGatorM5]

The first allocation of the $10k should go to addressing the water issue. A good filter will save you from more than just a junk cup of coffee.

[Ragnarok]

Okay mods, not sure whether I’d be in trouble for such an offering but here goes.

I’m have been roasting bean as a hobby and wanted to share my passion with some of the folks here on the forum.

I have a friend that owns a coffee farm in Indonesia and let me know if anyone would like an sample. :)

If the offering is against forum regulation, please delete this post.

They specialize in pea berry java beans with a strong notes of chocolate and really creamy. Let me know.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[-dustin]

Originally Posted by ragnarok

okay mods, not sure whether i’d be in trouble for such an offering but here goes.

I’m have been roasting bean as a hobby and wanted to share my passion with some of the folks here on the forum.

I have a friend that owns a coffee farm in indonesia and let me know if anyone would like an sample. :)

if the offering is against forum regulation, please delete this post.

They specialize in pea berry java beans with a strong notes of chocolate and really creamy. Let me know.
Sent from my iphone using tapatalk

yes please.

[-dustin]

Originally Posted by FLGatorM5

The first allocation of the $10k should go to addressing the water issue. A good filter will save you from more than just a junk cup of coffee.

Worth noting that proper water hardness is somewhere in the range of 50ppm. There are a number of bottled water brands that sell water in the proper range. My preference is Crystal Geyser. I considered plumbing my machine and getting a water softener, but didn’t want to get tied down to having my machine in one spot in my kitchen.

[BNA/LION]

Originally Posted by Ragnarok

Okay mods, not sure whether I’d be in trouble for such an offering but here goes.

I’m have been roasting bean as a hobby and wanted to share my passion with some of the folks here on the forum.

I have a friend that owns a coffee farm in Indonesia and let me know if anyone would like an sample. :)

If the offering is against forum regulation, please delete this post.

They specialize in pea berry java beans with a strong notes of chocolate and really creamy. Let me know.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm in!

[ZOOK]

Originally Posted by BNA/LION

I'm in!

Welcome back Larry.

[Rock]

You don't need to spend $10K for great home Espresso.
You do need to educate yourself in order to make the right choices in equipment.
Nobody else can do this for you.
A good place to start:

https://coffeesnobs.com.au/

[Ragnarok]

Originally Posted by BNA/LION

I'm in!

I'll PM you once I get my next shipment :)

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Ragnarok]

Originally Posted by -dustin

yes please.

I'll PM you once I get the next batch. ;)

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[SunTzu]

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe & Kenya AA beans from Volcanica Coffee Company that I grind myself.

[droptopman]

Originally Posted by Ragnarok

Okay mods, not sure whether I’d be in trouble for such an offering but here goes.

I’m have been roasting bean as a hobby and wanted to share my passion with some of the folks here on the forum.

I have a friend that owns a coffee farm in Indonesia and let me know if anyone would like an sample. :)

If the offering is against forum regulation, please delete this post.

They specialize in pea berry java beans with a strong notes of chocolate and really creamy. Let me know.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That sounds awesome. Very nice of you. Love cocoa notes

[droptopman]

Been buying beans from these guys for a while now. Excellent selection, good pricing, great coffee. My favorites so far are: Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and Papua New Guinea. https://www.smokinbeans.com/

Was buying from local roasters and still do, but not as many options as these guys.

[Undefeatable]

Anyone have any experience making their own cold brew? I tried it out for the first time this week and it came out decent, but looking for suggestions if anyone has em!

So far, I have followed:
-Coase bean grind
-Use ratio of 1 cup water to 1/4 cup coffee grounds
-Soaking the mixture overnight
-Strain the coffee and usually dilute the mixture 1 cup of the cold brew to 1 cup of water
-Add a splash of creamer (I know I know)

I am probably doing a few things "wrong" but I just followed a recipe I found online.

[-dustin]

Originally Posted by Undefeatable

Anyone have any experience making their own cold brew? I tried it out for the first time this week and it came out decent, but looking for suggestions if anyone has em!

So far, I have followed:
-Coase bean grind
-Use ratio of 1 cup water to 1/4 cup coffee grounds
-Soaking the mixture overnight
-Strain the coffee and usually dilute the mixture 1 cup of the cold brew to 1 cup of water
-Add a splash of creamer (I know I know)

I am probably doing a few things "wrong" but I just followed a recipe I found online.

I use Stumptown’s method.

https://www.stumptowncoffee.com/blog...sked-questions

[BNA/LION]

Originally Posted by ZOOK

Welcome back Larry.

Thanks!

[Bosbevok]

Something new.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BNA/LION]

Originally Posted by Bosbevok

Something new.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice! How do you like it so far?

[SearChart]

Originally Posted by Undefeatable

Anyone have any experience making their own cold brew? I tried it out for the first time this week and it came out decent, but looking for suggestions if anyone has em!

So far, I have followed:
-Coase bean grind
-Use ratio of 1 cup water to 1/4 cup coffee grounds
-Soaking the mixture overnight
-Strain the coffee and usually dilute the mixture 1 cup of the cold brew to 1 cup of water
-Add a splash of creamer (I know I know)

I am probably doing a few things "wrong" but I just followed a recipe I found online.

Soaking coffee overnight sounds like a good way for making over extracted coffee that tastes incredibly bitter.

[SearChart]

Originally Posted by Rock

You don't need to spend $10K for great home Espresso.
You do need to educate yourself in order to make the right choices in equipment.
Nobody else can do this for you.
A good place to start:

https://coffeesnobs.com.au/

Think you can get really good with a €600 La Pavoni and a high end manual grinder (Kinu, Commandante or Apollo). After a few weeks of practice dialing in is the difficult bit.

[Ballzzz]

Originally Posted by SearChart

Soaking coffee overnight sounds like a good way for making over extracted coffee that tastes incredibly bitter.

Cold brewers typical will allow 10-14 hours depending on desired flavor extraction from what I have seen.

[-dustin]

Originally Posted by Ballzzz

Cold brewers typical will allow 10-14 hours depending on desired flavor extraction from what I have seen.

i go for 16. tried 13 once, on accident, and it tasted flat. tried 18 once, on accident, and threw it out.

[Ballzzz]

Originally Posted by -dustin

i go for 16. tried 13 once, on accident, and it tasted flat. tried 18 once, on accident, and threw it out.

Point in case Bas everyone has there own "formula" but the average is 10-14 hours some less some more for cold brew of course

[White Collar Boy]

Has anyone here had a heat exchange (HX) machine like an ECM Rocket Giotto and moved up to a double/dual boiler? I know some of the HX ones have PIDs now that helps stabilise the temp during a shot, so maybe that’s a good in-between place for me to land. Plan to eventually have it plumbed-in with a water softener. Just want to buy one and be done, not buy another in five or ten years. Know what I’m doing in making it, as it used to be my job at different specialty coffee cafes, but know bugger all about today’s domestic machines.

Any recommendations welcome.

Really like the ECM range, including Synchronika, which I would rather than a Linea Mini if I even had the money for the LM... Fishing for ideas. Thanks in advance, but also appreciate it’s a niche question.

[albertf]

Originally Posted by Hungry Eyes

Has anyone here had a heat exchange (HX) machine like an ECM Rocket Giotto and moved up to a double/dual boiler? I know some of the HX ones have PIDs now that helps stabilise the temp during a shot, so maybe that’s a good in-between place for me to land. Plan to eventually have it plumbed-in with a water softener. Just want to buy one and be done, not buy another in five or ten years. Know what I’m doing in making it, as it used to be my job at different specialty coffee cafes, but know bugger all about today’s domestic machines.

Any recommendations welcome.

Really like the ECM range, including Synchronika, which I would rather than a Linea Mini if I even had the money for the LM... Fishing for ideas. Thanks in advance, but also appreciate it’s a niche question.

I've been following the home-barista forums for the past few months and they have alot of very detailed threads on different machines if you want to check them out.

I think people who tend to make multiple drinks at once tend to gravitate to dual boilers. The Profitec or Rocket machines seem like the more popular ones in the states (1.5k-3k USD range)

[White Collar Boy]

Thanks Albert. Have just started lurking in a few of such forums, and bingeing on YouTube reviews, but could you recommend any particularly good forums? Haven’t found any outstanding coffee mavens yet, but someone mentioned James Hoffman to me today, who I’ll check out.

It’s kind of like researching a watch, isn’t it — quite fun in itself.

I don’t expect to have to make too many coffees at once, but that’d be good to be able to do, esp as I don’t want to buy another machine after this one.

Thanks again
Matt

[uscmatt99]

Originally Posted by Hungry Eyes

Thanks Albert. Have just started lurking in a few of such forums, and bingeing on YouTube reviews, but could you recommend any particularly good forums? Haven’t found any outstanding coffee mavens yet, but someone mentioned James Hoffman to me today, who I’ll check out.

It’s kind of like researching a watch, isn’t it — quite fun in itself.

I don’t expect to have to make too many coffees at once, but that’d be good to be able to do, esp as I don’t want to buy another machine after this one.

Thanks again
Matt

I spent a good year on Home Barista before I settled on my espresso machine and grinder. If I remember correctly the HX machines can require cooling flushes to get the grouphead to the optimal temperature. I'd only get an HX machine fully plumbed with it's own dedicated treated water, as you'll be refilling a reservoir too much otherwise.

I love my spring lever machine. If I were to go with a pump machine, I'd probably go right to a dual boiler with E-61 grouphead, or alternatively a La Marzocco if I had the budget. Since you want to be one and done, just buy the machine you want to enjoy for years, don't settle! Way harder to flip an espresso machine than a watch.

Last thing, do not underestimate the importance of the grinder. I don't make more than a drink or two at a time, so I really like single dosing (weigh out the beans, RDT, grind, WDT, groom, tamp and pull the shot). You'll want fine adjustments, and a very short grind path to minimize retention of old grounds. I can't speak highly enough of the Kafatek line of grinders (I have a Monolith Conical), as well as the Weber Workshops EG-1 (which I haven't used). I was using an Orphan Espresso Lido 3 while I waited for the Kafatek. It's great for a hand grinder, but made it that much sweeter when the Kafatek arrived. As the beans age over the course of a week or two, it's so easy to predict the grind adjustments I need to make to keep the shot times and weights just right. No need to purge and waste precious beans, it pretty much spits out exactly what you put in. Simply awesome engineering.

[albertf]

Originally Posted by Hungry Eyes

Thanks Albert. Have just started lurking in a few of such forums, and bingeing on YouTube reviews, but could you recommend any particularly good forums? Haven’t found any outstanding coffee mavens yet, but someone mentioned James Hoffman to me today, who I’ll check out.

It’s kind of like researching a watch, isn’t it — quite fun in itself.

I don’t expect to have to make too many coffees at once, but that’d be good to be able to do, esp as I don’t want to buy another machine after this one.

Thanks again
Matt

home-barista. com/forums/ (i'm stretching it out because i'm not allowed to post links yet)

Yes, the research part was pretty fun for me too. I found it kind of hard to stick to my original budget because each 100-200 step up from machine to machine or grinder to grinder gets you some additional feature.

There should be threads within the "Buying Advice" forum where other people are in the same position of deciding between HX or DB.

Good luck and have fun! YouTube has already started recommending videos on home roasting and i'm doing my best to stay away from that for now...