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COFFEE

Nonick

Nonick

Sputniks orbit planet face
Group Buy Associate
With the great influx of coffee fans another thread is needed to unburden our poor overworked SOTD etc threads.


My favorite machines are the expobar and Giotto.

I really liked peaberrys coffee up at new castle, and Morgans coffee is roasted near home in emu plains. I do like campos though apparently it's big brand now.
 
After 12 years in the espresso catering game serving at events in the Townsville/Charters Towers region (NQ Cowboys, rodeos, movies etc and couple of Brisbane markets when down on holiday) I sold my 2 vans recently and only have 1 machine these days - 1 x Rancilio single group on the kitchen counter paired with an Iber Ital grinder. The roast we use is called Australian, a blend by local specialty coffee roaster Bounce Coffee. Australian is roasted with Australian beans and took out a medal at one of this years roasting comps. I prefer their Colombian roast (I drink straight shots and this roast is still smooth while having an oomph kick to it without being bitter) but as my wife loves the "gentler" Australian, that is what we drink. All our guests thoroughly enjoy it however. Hmmm ... ... ... Coffee.

Dale.
 
I don't know a lot of the crop regions but up in the hills behind Byron Bay and also at Mareeba I know there are growers who roast their own plus on-sell their beans to other roasters. If you see my mate Mr Google, he'd be only too willing to tell you about coffee plantations in Australia.

Dale
 
I'm a home roaster too - been doing it for around 5yrs. Just use a 'coretto' (bread machine + heat gun with some modding). Generally get my green either from CoffeeSnobs or BeanGreen, used to use Ministry of Grounds as well.

Went through a slew of home machines before I got a Rancilo Silvia V3 a while back, but cut a long story short I ditched it a few months later before we moved to Coffs Harbour - my Missus is a strict 1 coffee a day person and I was getting pissed off preheating, cleaning etc just for myself and her 1 - so tried an Aeropress with coava disc.

Cut another long story short, I think the Aeropress is largely smoke and mirrors (obviously it's no where near as good as a decent espresso machine) but the ability to produce respectable coffee is IMHO almost exclusively due to the technique changes it gets people to adopt (not using boiling water, not steeping for long than 2-3mins etc) rather than any real benefits it imparts via its design.

So being a bit of a utilitarian, I went with a stainless steel plunger but used all the techniques from the Aeropress. Traditionally people who use plunger absolutely MURDER their coffee as they do nearly everything wrong (espresso ground supermarket coffee thats preground, boiling water in, steep it for 5-10mins, way too much water etc) - so it does scratch my itch which is very good coffee, minimum hassle and fuss. I've a cheapie Sunbeam burr grinder which works well enough with this.

I have to admit I DO miss textured milk and the richness of an espresso shot but it's all about trade offs I guess. :unsure:
 
Nick,

The whole "holistic, dramatic production" of grinding, tamping and extracting the nectar of the gods is akin to wet shaving. Something every man should relish and spend in "me time", deep in contemplation of achieving the ultimate cup or shave.

Dale
 
I turn my machine on during my journey from the bedroom to the shower, and then by the time I am dressed it is almost ready to go. A quick purge of steam to bleed off the false pressure (as it doesn't have a vacuum breaker) and then while I am grinding the beans it gets up to temp. Admittedly not much cleanup for me as 9/10 I will have a couple of espressos, and you can't backflush a lever. The water is also soft enough up here that I've never had to descale it either.
Would have thought it would be even easier with a pump machine as you could just set it to turn on each day using a timer.

If going manual I prefer the aeropress as I find the fines that get through a plunger make the coffee taste / feel too muddy.
 
I like stovetop coffee to. Avanti make some great little stainless 2 cup units. It gets a nice flavour unless you boil the stuffing out of it
 
Agreed, moka pot coffee can be nice if you allow it to heat gently instead of full blast.
 
eggbert said:
I turn my machine on during my journey from the bedroom to the shower, and then by the time I am dressed it is almost ready to go. A quick purge of steam to bleed off the false pressure (as it doesn't have a vacuum breaker) and then while I am grinding the beans it gets up to temp. Admittedly not much cleanup for me as 9/10 I will have a couple of espressos, and you can't backflush a lever. The water is also soft enough up here that I've never had to descale it either.
Would have thought it would be even easier with a pump machine as you could just set it to turn on each day using a timer.

If going manual I prefer the aeropress as I find the fines that get through a plunger make the coffee taste / feel too muddy.
Click to expand...
I had a small brevill jobby up there for a few years and you're right, the water is awesome compared to all southern waters. I never had to descale.
In Perth I do it every six months.
 
Melbourne water is meant to be pretty soft too.
 
Yeah, Perth water is as hard as nails. Have got a Saeco fully automatic double boiler. This will be our second Saeco. The first (a pain in the butt single boiler jobbie) was given to our son who's now up to 10,000 odd cups. Ours has done something like that too. They're pretty well indestructible, make a really good cup of coffee and if you can find decent locally roasted beans you can't really go wrong.
 
You prefer the automatic machine PJ? I enjoy the variables of a Manuel machine. I know most automatics have a lot of options for changing the grind etc, but it just doesn't seem to happen. I guess once you get it dialled in and use the same beans you wouldn't need to touch it much.

'Making' the coffee is half the fun
 
Nonick said:
I enjoy the variables of a Manuel machine.
'Making' the coffee is half the fun
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Si Señor?
manuel.jpg
 
Nonick said:
You prefer the automatic machine PJ? I enjoy the variables of a Manuel machine. I know most automatics have a lot of options for changing the grind etc, but it just doesn't seem to happen. I guess once you get it dialled in and use the same beans you wouldn't need to touch it much.

'Making' the coffee is half the fun
Click to expand...

Well I've never really tried the whole self roast, separate grinder, miniature professional machine thing. I like what the Nespresso does which would be sacrilege in the eyes of some. Pity the pods are so damn expensive but it's a stupidly simple concept and some really nice coffees.
 
How do you drink your coffee PJ?

I ask because I think a lot of the fuss about artisinal roasted, single origin, fair trade, organic coffee is lost when you add milk to a coffee. Admittedly in a lot of cases a lot of the fuss is just a lot of fuss about not much at all.

I really enjoy the different flavors coffees from different areas provide in an espresso when roasted well, but barely notice them if I have milk with the coffee. My personal preference is for the fruity/ winey flavors you tend to get from African coffees

I am not suggesting that good roasts are wasted on milky coffee drinkers, but I think you need a different style of coffee, a blend which will punch through the milk.
 
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I home roast, and while I think I am not too bad at it, my roasts don't compare to those from people that know what they are doing on $20000 gas roasters
 
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