Recent Discussions — Coffee Forum

Is pressure profiling ruining good coffee?

Brett H — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 11:32:05 +0000

As we move into the PP age where machines are throttled at the pump or at the group to alleviate poor grind and tamping technique, are we forgetting that the cup starts with the roast profile!! The more ‘stuff’ we do the further from the ‘truth’ we wander, and I wonder gosh.... I’d like one of those shiny water heating pressure profiling things. But, I’m perplexed. I love the taste of my Bosch-style lever.... will I spend huge amounts merely trying to bastardize an approximation of what I already have?? “Oh but you don’t understand” says the slightly condescending retail employee. “You can roast light and extract all the berry and citrus notes from you coffee, then roast dark and have chocolate and caramel!” Literally minutes of pleasure for a mere $10k!

So, is pressure profiling the future or,the emperor’s new clothes??

Also, is anyone here or did that falling tree kill th.............

Who has had a Maccas coffee of late?

Cuir Beluga — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 10:26:45 +0000

Oh dear, while hubby, junior no. 2 and I were out and about last night I decided to grab a Maccas coffee.
I think it was the worst coffee I have ever had, it was like charcoal. Never again, even worse than the On The Run servo coffee a few months back.
Considering all the advertising they have done about their coffee, baristas blah, blah, blah I thought it might be ok. Wrong!

I kind of feel bad for the poor kid that has to churn them out and then be on the receiving end of the backlash :-[

what equipment are you using?

askthecoffeeguy — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:46:14 +0000

Just curious to know what espresso equipment folks are using at home, and if they think they are getting the most out of their machine?

I for one have owned a Baby Gaggia and a Gaggia Classic in the past, and both machines served me well

But when I started roasting my own coffee at home, I decided I needed something a little more high end, to pick up on the subtle nuances of the single origin coffees I have been working with, so here's my list of home equipment:

Coffee machine: Bezzera Domus Galatea single lever E61

Grinders: Rocky Rancilio & Mazzer Super Jolly

Roaster: Gene Cafe domestic drum roaster

Tampers: Various but Coffeelab and Espro tampers

I'm not trying to create a competition here to see who has the most bling equipment, I merely would like to create an easy access thread for folks to discuss what they've got and why they enjoy using it

Cheers,

Pat

Italian Beauty - La Goretti Machines

Lwowiak — Mon, 27 Jul 2020 02:20:47 +0000

I thought I was fixed for coffee machines, but then instagram starts showing some lovely pictures and I came across this beauty:

https://www.lagoretti.com/

Love the look of these machines and no doubt one could make a good coffee with it.

Coffee percolator brand that stays on longer than two hours.

Cynthia Manietta — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 23:46:22 +0000

Hi I’m after a coffee percolator that doesn’t automatically turn off after two hours. I find this really frustrating so if anybody knows of a brand to recommend that would be such appreciated.
Kind regards Cynthia

Where to get green coffee in Australia

Mitchell Lester — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 02:07:20 +0000

Hi all,

I have just started getting into roasting coffee at home. I was interested in where people get green coffee in australia and what they think about the quality and price?

Cheers

First, and definitely last, visit..........

System — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 23:44:01 +0000

Tonight, while waiting near Brisbane airport, I decided to try a coffee from somewhere I hadn’t been before. :-X

After ordering, I was distracted by something on my phone and looked up in time to see the barista dip/scoop the group handle/portafilter into an open container of pre-ground coffee! Who knows how old and stale it was??? At the time I was there (half a hour before closing), it could have been hours.

I suppose I should have walked away but had prepaid so said nothing. Decided to vote with my feet and not return.

My usual cafe would never ever do this, always grinding fresh as I guess most cafes would.

I’m guessing the container was excess coffee from overground doses levelled off from portafilters.

Still scarred, 3 hours later. Urghhh.

PS. Tasted pretty ordinary as well..........

Doomsday coffee preppers!

askthecoffeeguy — Sat, 14 Mar 2020 00:48:32 +0000

So what are folks doing to prepare for coffee Armageddon? Due to the possibility that coffee as a consumable might not be readily available due to stoppages in the supply chain?

I've got 20 kg of green beans on hand just in case which I can roast for myself in an emergency, or not even in an emergency because I roast them all the time anyway!

I also have UHT milk on backup and I make my own almond and oat milk so should be sorted at least for the next little while, but what other other folks doing in case their daily cup of Java is suddenly unavailable?

Pat

Descaler for aluminum boilers

Ianmor — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 22:23:58 +0000

Greetings, my first post .

I have just recently purchased my first gaggia classic coffee machine. It is 16 years old and after reading all the numerous posts online I have managed to replace the pump and set the pressure using a gauge to 9.5 bar.
However after reading that citric acid as a descaler could cause pitting in the aluminium boiler I decided to do some research online for what could be a suitable cleaner.
After some research I have discovered that large scale aluminium boilers used for heating in applications such as schools or offices are treated with organic vegetable based tannin which apparently coats the aluminium preventing pitting and creates a much more effective heating surface.
More research discovers that tannin is contained in green tea or black tea
See ( "waterworld.com/articles/...corrosion.html")

If others on the forum would like to read the information provided in the above link I would appreciate feedback on whether they think that green or black tea would be a feasible descaling solution.... to be drawn into the Gaga classic aluminium boiler possibly as a descaler but also after descaling with citric acid I could then put a green tea solution through the machine that would coat the aluminium and make it safe from further pitting, improve it's heat exchange abilities and thereby also make it more safe for the consumer in keeping any aluminium compounds out of the coffee.Seems like it could be a simple viable solution.

Regards
Ian Morison

Freezing coffee beans

DrD — Sat, 24 Aug 2019 09:02:56 +0000

Hi everyone

I am a big fan of this forum, been distracted on other things (baby) for some time but am trying to get off my butt and make some contributions to this great community.

Anyway, came across this article the other day (hope it's ok to post link) and I must say it was really surprising as I was of the belief that freezing beans was a no-no. The idea that there are some benefits and that it could open a way to preserving sought after/rare roasts is really quite fascinating. Ultra low temperature freezers are probably unlikely to make their way to many homes, so I'll stick to using room temperature beans for now :D

https://www.beanscenemag.com.au/big-freeze-theres-no-longer-barrier-coffee-freshness/?fbclid=IwAR01LydD3CNmqNhrd4pHWInu2iL_k8oaHM8PX07QVu31__Db4GLlzOgoWVg

Dan

How has Covid changed your Coffee habits?

Brett H — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 03:15:43 +0000

I’ve stopped drinking coffee gasp

My reason is less Covid and possibly needing Back Surgery. How’s your lower back Kelsey... remember bananas???

So as I wait here in a hospital bed I haven’t seen my coffee machine for almost a week. But not all is bleak...

Just before I came in the hospital I took a reasonable order from ICT that has plenty enough to get me through the next couple of months. Because it’s ICT The quality is amazing and the varieties are most intriguing. My shop around for a reasonably decent upgrade to my current lever machine which, because it’s plumbable preinfuses like a champ and extracts magnificently.... have ceased. At least until I can be guaranteed I can lift something 50+ kilos onto the bench without killing myself

Kelsey has done a great job of migrating this forum; so, for the sake of we that are locked up, which is most of us... post away good people.

E61 flow adjustment/profiling paddles.

Brett H — Sat, 21 Mar 2020 11:20:09 +0000

What is all this !&^(#

What happened to pull the lever, push the lever???

Change my mind.......

Audiophile Barista

Jackula — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 12:43:39 +0000

Greetings,

My name is Jack and I'm an audiophile from Melbourne. It seems many audiophiles eventually turn into coffeephiles for our love of tweaking and staying up late at night, and I'm one of them.

My wife and I have actually been wanting to own an espresso machine for at least a year, but our priority was always paying off the house and then upgrading my audio (well more my priority than hers). We've done both and finally bought my first coffee machine two months ago from KBean.

I had researched extensively what I had wanted for my first coffee machine - Lelit Elizabeth, but I ended up with the Lelit Mara that Paul had suggested. I didn't even know the Mara had existed and researching the E61 made me realise how much I would've regretted if I had gone down my initial path of the semi automatic. The fully manual Mara is a tweaker's wet dream

In my spare time I enjoy listening to music, playing badminton and woodworking. I'm here because I'm looking to be part of an apolitical coffee community, to learn new things on coffee and share experiences.

See you around!

Indonesian Green Beans

IndonesianCoffeeTrader — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 21:28:38 +0000

Hello guys,

Im a new green bean supplier from Indonesia, I have currently exported my green beans to Europe and now I want to expand to other countries.

I would like to ask for some advice on which Indonesian green beans Australians prefer, which coffee importers to target, average green bean price and any other important details.

Thanks in advance
Milton

Purging!

Simon — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 10:44:36 +0000

(I mean coffee of course)

I'm finding perhaps that purging a few grounds out before the second cup is important... especially if there's a bit of a delay between drinks.

After every whole session I'd always grind through all the dregs, and sweep out the chute entirely (grind, sweep, grind, sweep), ready for the next day.

The first coffee of the day is always amazing, the second has seemed to be hit and miss... the second drink is usually a latte, and strangely it never seems on par with the first drink (doppio or long black).

So today I decided to do the latte first up this morning, and... wowza it tasted amazing.

Nothing in technique changes from coffee to coffee, but there was always something out about the second drink! And it's sometimes 10-30minutes before the second, and even though I sweep out a few grinds from the chute in the first drink dose, it's led me to think that ground coffee oxidises much faster than I originally thought...

I've tried relaxing my routine a bit more of late, and not fully purging in between drinks, but perhaps it's an idea...

Anyway, that was a bit scrambled and longwinded hehe, but I was wondering what your experience was guys? If there's a bit of time delay between first and second drink, do you make sure it's all freshly ground coffee, or do you not notice a difference if there's some slightly old grounds getting in?

When I did cafe work if there was a delay in customers, we'd always purge a few seconds and discard those old grounds. But if it was drink after drink we'd obviously not need to.

Obviously every grinder is different and retains different amounts, but I'm curious whether just a few (1-2 grams) of say 10-30minute ground coffee will make that difference (as I may be finding...)

Thanks guys

[SOLD] Londinium LR for sale - Sydney

Kelsey — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 09:28:36 +0000

My beloved LR is leaving home, with a new machine now on the bench.
Great condition, usual wear and tear that boils down to light scuffing of the chrome.
Asking price is $3250, negotiable.
Pick up from Rozelle, Sydney... But, coincidentally, I now have a box and packaging that should fit this machine fairly exactly were it to require shipping at buyer's expense.

Leakage from my bottom when I pull my lever.....

Brett H — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 09:32:40 +0000

Hmm.. there’s Gotta be a better way of saying that.....

So... beans are fresh, grinder is great quality and fairly new (Robur like 12 months old) but I’m getting leakage from the basket at the pre-infusion stage. The beans seem nicely roasted and are 7 days post. When did channeling become my problem and how? How do you folks deal with channeling especially guys like me who have a big lever (compensation much???)

Not an improvement as such but

Cuir Beluga — Fri, 05 Jul 2019 14:40:17 +0000

I just "dirty chai-ed" up some Geisha :rofl:
I do feel dirty though, I guess >:D

I'm new here...

Phuture1 — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 05:07:22 +0000

Hi everyone. I've never posted on here and I'm looking to show some modifications that I plan on making to my Brugnetti Model C. Any advice on where to post would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Vibration Damage when commuting with trailer

Dezzie — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 15:55:31 +0000

Do mobile coffee machines sustain vibration damage from travelling in a trailer?
What innovative ideas are out there to mitigate damage?

Thanks
Dezzie

New forum platform in more details

Kelsey — Sat, 14 Mar 2020 01:14:44 +0000

Hi all,

As you'll have seen in the announcement, we have implemented a new forum after the previous version collapsed under the weight of a decade of operation, upgrades, plugins, etc.

Rather than try and fix a creaky old architecture, we elected to migrate to something that's still in active development. There were a few choices of platform, and while there was at least one other that I would very much have liked to trial, the hardware/software requirements were a lot higher, as was the very specific technical skills required - and I was never able to successfully migrate the content across.

Yes, there's some content missing here as well, specifically post attachments, but those exist in the database, and I hope to get them back.

Yes, some features aren't present. Some will come back, some will be better, some won't be back. Tapatalk is one of the latter; most active development forum platforms have stopped support due to very low user adoption rates, and this is one of them. There's no longer a plugin available for Tapatalk. Sorry about that.

At present I'm working on social integration (you can already login and register with Facebook, Google, Twitter and LinkedIn is coming), and the mobile version will be getting some upgrades as well.

In the meantime, the new platform is faster, leaner and easier to use, and I think it'll be something that will stand us in good stead for the next decade of coffee discussions.

Regards,

Kesley

I'm new here...

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:36:32 +0000

Welcome; this is the place to tell us a little about yourself... and even if you're not new, it would be great to have a bit of an update [especially for some of those recently migrated members]!

A

No response???

paul.as — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 18:18:16 +0000

Hi I’ve made a first time order with beangreen over a week ago. I have followed up my order by email, by phone and there is no response.

Is anyone still there???!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

2020 Green Beans discussion

Brett H — Sun, 07 Apr 2019 13:17:24 +0000

Hello everybody! Where are we getting Greens from in 2019?

I like Aye Karamba but are there others?

Yes there is a green forum but I never had as much luck with their products as I had with other suppliers!

challenging old espresso methods: new research

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 16:03:23 +0000

Hi guys, don't know if any of you've read this; or what you think? Pretty interesting: https://www.theage.com.au/national/international-scientific-study-says-your-barista-is-making-your-coffee-all-wrong-20200122-p53trn.html

I guess we shouldn't just assume the Italians know everything about the best way to brew espresso coffee - seems great that people like this are pushing the boundaries... what do you think? Has anyone tried brewing this new 'low pressure' way?

A

Baratza Sette 270Wi Review - My feedback on the lovely Baratza Sette 270Wi

Simon — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 12:00:36 +0000

Okay! I think it's a fitting time for my review! Having been using this grinder for 3 weeks now, and having spent a few weeks adding bits and pieces to this review and giving it a fair trial, here we go!

My reasons for the purchase:

1) This grinder seemed simple to use day-to-day. A movement towards simplicity in coffee and life in general.
2) Straight through grind path, sick of grinders with a whole long tunneled pathway with chutes/chambers that fill up. Seemed very little retention, much less wasted coffee.
3) Fluffy grinds, no clumping.
4) Super easy to clean.

Other add-ons which were nice, but didn't really matter to me:
-really quick
-weight-based dosing (am quite happy to weigh doses myself)

Even though the weighed dosing is a main feature of this version of the Sette, I bought it as it was the newest and improved version of the Sette, and wanted to avoid any of the issues the older models had (which after emailing Baratza they confirmed they had sorted out those older issues with the 270Wi).

So did it live up to my reasons for getting it?

1) Simplicity: yep! It truly is a very simple and easy to understand grinder to use. Set your dose, push play, and you get that!

2) Retention: not zero, but VERY low. I was sick of wasting coffee, and don't think it makes sense to have to waste so much in order to get rid of old grinds.

3) Fluffy/no-clumps: Have never seen grounds this fluffy and clump-free. Really really nice. Even upon using a much darker, oily roast that I had done (which in my experience tend to clump more), they were still fluffy.

4) Easy to clean: super easy, I'm doing full cleans more frequently as a result.

And the noise many have mentioned I did not even really notice. Sure it makes a bit of noise, but it is just such a joy to use that it doesn't even occur to me. It's grinding hard coffee beans, I'm cool with noise :P. And how fast this grinder is, truly, it's only noisy for a very short period of time.

Once you set up the portafilter hook/holder and push dose, it delivers the coffee very neatly into the centre of the basket. I was initially worried that my higher doses (22.5 grams) would go back into the chute/opening and clog the burrs but that wasn't the case at all. There's actually a little room up that path before you hit the burrs anyway, but the amount I dose it hasn't really reached the path. And I'm dosing between 21.5g and 23g depending on the bean. I may not even need to order the drop-down fork. If the mound did ever creep up there, removing the portafilter can knock the top layer off a little. Depends on your bean and dose! Many have gotten around that by doing it in two doses, and collapsing in between.

The vertical grind path and way the burrs are designed is... brilliant. Have never seen that style of grinding before, and gosh darn it's fast...

Distribution-wise, this has been an amazing part of this... even though it's fast, it shoots the coffee directly into the centre of the basket, but as the grounds are so fluffy, it distributes really well through the whole basket while dosing, and there's honestly not much need to have to add any extra steps. I think the lack of clumps really allows the basket to be filled easily, as the grounds can move more freely within the basket (that's my theory on the clumps debate [emoji14] ).

My method has been dose, one vertical collapse, a spin of my distribution tool (just to get the top 1/3-1/2 layer well distributed), and tamp. This is a massive difference compared to other grinders I've had, in which depending on the bean and grind consistency I'd have to go through a few different methods to get a nice even extraction. I've found (not exaggerating) pretty much every extraction through the naked portafilter to be so beautiful and even (something I really struggled to achieve with consistency in other grinders). Never has there been any stubborn dead spots.

In terms of the mess while dosing that some have gotten, mine has been mooostly pretty minimal, and mostly caused by my carelessness than the grinder! Some grinds do go onto the portafilter hook/holder and can fall off the mound, but no big deal. It really depends on the day/dose/bean, there is a bit of spillage at times, but I don't mind. (A little update, I have a feeling certain beans behave differently, my current Colombian bean is being much messier than others! Am now trialling two separate doses as this particular bean or even weather is leading to some static and mess)

I also did notice that if you did a full clean of the burrs (which I'm now doing probably once a week, as cleaning is a BREEZE), the first grind you do after will be a little 'staticky', and some grinds fly about a little and get stuck even underneath the burr carrier. But that's only for the first grind after a full clean.

In terms of retention, it's not zero, but it's very minimal. After you do a dose, there will be coffee grounds stuck within the gaps which it passes through to get to the basket. After purging everything out at the end, I removed the burr carrier, fully cleaned it out, measured the grounds and got 1.6 grams.

The weighed doses are freakishly accurate! Always pretty spot on, with maybe 0.1-0.2g deviation every now and then, no biggie! The intelligent feature certainly learns and adjusts things automatically the more that you use a particular dose setting.

It has a burst mode which works great to top up or even just to use manually. So if you've set the dose at 22g, and it doses 21.8g, you can push the play button and it will do a very short burst. You can do this as much as you like to top it to 22g (usually takes one or two 'bursts').

Also has the pulse mode (essentially manual mode) you hold down play, it tares whatever is on the forks, and it will grind for as long as you hold play. But be wary, it grinds fast haha, so you have to be on top of that. But it does come up with the weight you're dosing on the screen, handy!

Adjusting the grind is done with the macro and micro adjustment collars, and is very straight-forward. One thing that is strange is that you need to rotate the macro and micro in opposite directions for going coarser or finer (eg if wanting to go finer on the macro adjuster, you rotate it clockwise, on the micro you rotate anti-clockwise to go finer). Not a bother however, but perhaps it's simply how the threads run.

Dialing in a shot has been super easy, only took a few shots to dial in my Colombian Popayan Supremo, setting 12F/G got me in the ballpark, dosing 22.5 grams. I've found that changing the macro setting by one notch (from 12 to 11) is enough to go from a 1:2 doppio espresso to a 1:1 doppio ristretto within a slightly longer time and vice-versa. Which is awesome for easily switching if you're keen for a 'double-riz'! The micro settings allow for much smaller adjustments (in which I'm still playing with to determine their effect).

My first few shots were great, but then it started to get quite erratic in extraction output, so then decided to run about 1kg of old coffee through the burrs after a bit of research. Many opinions on seasoning, but thought it wouldn't hurt to.

Grind consistency and particle size is awesome too by the way! (Not that I have done microscopic tests hehe)

And the most important thing....... taste. After all, you can buy a grinder for all these wonderful whizz-bang features, but if the end product, the coffee you drink, is shocking, what's the point! It's safe to say..... the coffee is unreal. Am using a Profitec Pro 500, and initially in my inconsistent shots in early days it would taste great then some shots would not be very pleasant... but after a little tweaking and much more coffee put through it is settling. Still getting some odd results from grind changes as I'm still finding how a certain grind change will translate into yield, but I'm hoping it will settle further as more coffee goes through.

There's much talk of conical vs. flat burr grinders in terms of flavour profiles, and at this stage I can't overly tell. The shots have been lush, fruity, full, and overall very flavoursome. Been getting them more consistently too.

One thing that is always at the top of my priorities too is durability, so I really hope the grinder lasts a good amount of time. The plastic housing etc doesn't bother me one bit. It's as though Baratza put more time and money into the essentials and practical functionality (apart from the earlier model issues :P) rather than just the housing exterior, which I like. Of course we'll see how we go.

And recently I've had a fractured ankle and been hopping around on crutches, and this grinder makes the process so, so much easier. So if anyone out there had an injury like that, it's perfect for that situation! [emoji14]

I'll also do a little video review at some stage so you can see it in action. I've seen alot of commercial reviews but only a few user reviews, and I find video reviews so helpful to me so I hope it helps others in seeing how it operates.

And I'm well aware of people 'fanboying' to justify and validate their purchase of a grinder, but I'm legitimately impressed with its functionality, grind consistency, and espresso it produces.

I have used it only once for coarser grinds/pour over (still usually use my other grinder for that), and compared to my flat burr it made a nice enough brew, but I'd have to play with it more and get the right grind setting. It also overshot the grind weight by like a gram or two (which I've heard it's a bit harder to dose right for a coarser grind), but I'm sure if I consistently used it it would learn, like the clever cookie it is.

So in terms of cons, the only cons (for me personally) is the slight mess it can make at times, which to be honest I think it's hard to find a grinder that won't make a little mess. If you're filling a relatively small portafilter it's a given to have a few strays, some people go a funnel (which may be tricky with the Sette) or dose into a canister if they wish to avoid that. To each their own! I don't mind the little mess. After I'm done, I just brush it all into my knock box.

Another thing is there isn't really an on/off switch. So when you plug it in and switch on at the wall, it automatically switches on, and then after a certain time period (couple of minutes) it switches off. But not really a big deal, and to get the display back on you can just push any button. Just no off switch apart from at the wall.

It also at times can be tricky after a clean to get the burr carrier back in place haha. I'm still unsure what the secret is, but you just have to fit it right and line up SOMEthing correctly and it pops back in.

I can't think of any other cons at this stage if I'm being honest!

But any questions anyone has about it feel free to ask and I'll do my best. I know I researched a LOT on a few of forum threads, articles, videos etc (seriously... too much), and found it really helpful to get a wide range of user experiences. I've found at times with certain grinders many people quick to write negative experiences and issues about grinders, but not as many write positive ones (on many different forums, just from what I've seen), or moreso those folk who have loved their grinder have often kept it to themselves. So here's hoping that someone may get some benefit from this. I wanted to be honest with my experience of the grinder, and if I have any negative occurrences I'll post those too.

(I also wanted to be as thorough and extensive as possible haha, so if you've gotten this far through my ramblings, well done ;D)

Best wishes for festive season!

admin — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 13:04:19 +0000

HI guys, I'm only one of a team of volunteer mods, but can I take the opportunity to wish you all the best for the Christmas period, however you intend to celebrate it (hopefully with a shot or two of the good stuff)!

cheers
A

Ordering Cuba beans with PayPal, beware!

Simon — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 22:00:41 +0000

Hey guys! Recently had a strange experience I thought I'd bring to everyone's attention. Trying some new green beans, some Colombian, Cuba, and Uganda.

I put through the order, paying through Paypal, and got an email saying they had to review the transaction. Few days later it was rejected and refunded to me without explanation! Very very strange, as PayPal had never done this before...

So I tried again. Same thing, review, and then rejected. They then sent me a message, and it basically said that:

"U.S. regulations currently prohibit the purchase or sale of various goods and services originating from or being shipped to Cuba."

I was so puzzled haha... and then it occurred to me that PayPal is a U.S. based payment system. Then I looked it up and apparently there's some embargo between the U.S. and Cuba and their products. Had no idea about that, nor do I even know what's going on between the two! Perhaps some rocky relationship of sorts...

And they also asked me to kindly not send this payment again, and will close my account if I violate the terms again.

So if you ever order Cuban green beans from anywhere (even if the beans are currently in Australia and aren't being sent from Cuba!), you may have PayPal troubles! Using other payment methods are fine.

Very bizarre!

Cold Brew Coffee - who's doing it?

askthecoffeeguy — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 03:51:04 +0000

Ok so not so long ago I was selling into stores had 50 clients in Melbourne and was making cold brew coffee using the cold drip slow filter process, but things slowed down a bit since I've moved to Queensland, and I sold off most of my glass towers I used for preparation.

I did coffee catering for about 1000 people at an event last weekend, however, and I thought it would be a good time to crank out the cold brew again !

Couldn't bring myself to assemble the tower for a once off event though, so I made a batch using the immersion method, with a hot water 'bloom' to get things started !

I found and article that interviewed 50 of the world's top baristas about their cold brew methods, so I used an amalgamation of their methods to inform my technique, using a single estate Honduras coffee roasted for filter, and it produced a smashing result which I was very happy with !

Thankfully I even had a little leftover from the event, which I have been enjoying daily over ice with milk!

Anyone else on the cold brew coffee train?

If so what's your process? And are you happy with the results?

Pat

Diadema machine is dead - bugger!

admin — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 13:56:48 +0000

Hi guys, I've got a Diadema 'Junior' which is still making a noise but not pumping through any water...

Now those of you who know me will realise that unlike most of you, I have absolutely no technical expertise (remember my background was from publishing!).

I rang Cosmorex in Canberra (I'm based in Adelaide) and they said they could ship me a new pump, but it also 'could be the capacitor'. Have taken the lid off (even that stretched my technical capabilities :D ) and a friend of mine with a meter said it's actually a solenoid coil not a capacitor, but still seems to be holding charge ok (.97)... so presume the pump is stuffed, except if it's still making a noise, could it be something else - for instance I haven't descaled for ever ???

Problem is, I don't know any good repairers in Adelaide; do I buy a new pump from Cosmorex and get them to ship over (around $250) in the hope that I can fit it myself & this will fix things, or do I need to bite the bullet and start investigating couriers from ADL to Canberra and back?

The problem is that it's obviously pretty heavy, so if there was any way I could fix it myself that would be great but as I mentioned, I'm not the most technically competent of people!!

All and any thoughts/ideas much appreciated!

pic attached