Life is too short for bad coffee - The Off Topic thread

megaten

I bought a moccamaster semi-recently and its bigger than I was expecting. (Shouldn't have been surprised though) I might have been better off buying one of those fancy kettles and an insulated jug instead.

MacronvFrugals

If you like buying things that last the MM is the way to go, my dad has had his for 25 years now and only needed to replace 1 part.

I grind the night before, then set the timer to come on before waking up.

Agree with megaten though, theres nothing special going on apart from perfect tempature regulation and top notch reliability.

caviardreams

Just getting to open the latest subscription bean from WCC.

Decided to renew for another year and glad I did - an 87 natural Peruvian bean.

https://www.westcorkcoffee.ie/shop/perunatural

Love the way WCC always put top beans in their subs - no filler or cheaper beans.

More generally, maybe worth locking into a year long sub now at current prices before they increase even more, though probably largely built in at the point in time. Wonder will most switch to month to month so they can increase prices more often - couldn't blame them to be fair.

Hodors Appletart

Lucky you, natural SA beans are my new obsession

caviardreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119360429#Comment_119360429

It's a lovely bean, really recommend it.

They have a nice looking natural Brazilian at Badger & Dodo as one of their staples: https://badgeranddodo.ie/coffee/brazil-conesol/

Do you have any recommendations Hodors?

Hodors Appletart

I was over in Bristol for a while and found my way to Wogan Coffee

https://wogancoffee.com/

Pretty highly rated roastery, picked up 3 bags. A Columbian, An Ethiopian and a natural Nicaraguan. I've only arrived back late last night so opened the Ethiopian this morning and it's really good.

The thing that struck me the most was the price

here's the Ethiopian

https://wogancoffee.com/product/ethiopian-lekempte/

£5.65 (five pounds and sixty five pence) for 250g - all of their coffees were similarly priced. That is less than 7 euro for freshly roasted, top quality Ethiopian beans, the same style of bean is routinely double that price here.

Luckily my relations are visiting Ireland in September, by which time I'll need a re-up so I'll be ordering a few more bags of different stuff for them to bring back for me.

cmac2009

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119479608#Comment_119479608

Rip-off Ireland eh! Beans are significantly cheaper in the UK it seems, perhaps it's because there's so much competition.

caviardreams

New WCC monthly sub arrived - looks an interesting Ethiopian natural though always find Ethiopians a pain to dial in the grind for - any tips for grinding for filter (clever dripper)?

https://www.westcorkcoffee.ie/shop/hades

Hodors Appletart

My wife recently arrived home with a bag of this

https://b2bcoffee.ie/coffee/wholesale-coffee-beans/uasal_gorm/

it's 40% Robusta, so I was intrigued to try it. When I poured some beans out to weigh them it didn't appear to be some crazy dark roast that you might expect from beans supplied into offices, more of a medium to light looking roast.

Made up my usual 21g/325ml Clever Dripper James Hoffman Method.

It's not bad, the sour note reminds me of black cherry, but overall it's a sweet-ish cup, and does finish kind of creamy. If I worked in an office where this was the free coffee in the B2C machine, I'd be happy enough

Hodors Appletart

Anyone else got the Prismo attachment for the Aero?

I got one a few months ago, and do 13g/50 boiling water, stir for 40 seconds, rest for 40 seconds and then press, for a yield of c35g coffee, topped up to 150g

I'm getting excellent results from it

DaveyDave

I was looking into replacing our Barista Express but all the usual entry level machines are boilers and there seems to be a lot of messing about with them. People suggest smart plugs to solve the warm up times but if you need to pull blank shots or purge steam every time to get the machine ready it's probably a no go.

My girlfriend just wants to pull a shot and steam milk, no messing around. Both of us wake up, make coffee and go to work. Realistically is there anything out there as easy to use as the Barista Express? There's nothing wrong with our machine, I'd just like a smaller machine since we have a grinder and it's a good excuse to upgrade.

saabsaab

Coffee with the full Irish? Is it a thing now?

alec76

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119779417#Comment_119779417

Probably no point to buy another entry level machine. Especially if you do lots of milky drinks. Stay with Barista Express until you ready to spend bulk cash and get DUAL Boiler or Heat exchanger espresso machine.

If you only drink black coffee I would suggest you to get Lelit Anna with PID.

https://www.homecoffeemachines.ie/products/lelit-anna-pl41tem-with-pid

But if it is about steaming then single boiler ( 250ml) not great for this , your girlfriend won't be happy 😊

Realistically , if you want a step up then

1# Single Boiler PID plus thermocoil for steaming. ( €800-€1100)

2# Heat Exchanger ( normally it is 2L boiler for steaming and exchanger inside this boiler for brewing

3# Dual Boiler with PID ( brewing boiler from 300ml and 1L+ steaming boiler )

cheapest would be Rancilio Silvia Pro Vs Lelit Elizabeth

Hodors Appletart

Will definitely be seeking out a few more Honey Process coffees over the next while, I got a Costa Rica in Old Barracks and it's really nice and tasty, really funky flavours it's almost like an aged Jamaican Rum

Hodors Appletart

I was watching the recent Hoffmann video where he deep-fried some green beans, but at the start he mentioned that an airfryer is the closest thing to a commercial roaster, so I'm going to buy a kilo of green beans off discount coffee and give it a go in my Ninja Dual Zone airfryer, see what comes out.

BalboBiggins

Hi lads, which roasters are considered the best in Ireland now? I used to buy from Bell Lane and Ponaire and preferred Bell Lane.

Hodors Appletart

I'm loving the coffee I got from The Old Barracks recently. Badger & Dodo are usually very consistent too.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119852315#Comment_119852315

A courier dropped off a box with 7Kg of beans this morning, 6 of those being green. I have neither a popcorn maker or airfryer and am happy with the results from just using a fan forced oven.

The cost saving is pronounced, basically half the price.

Hodors Appletart

good to hear, I think I'll probably take them out and shake them at 90-120 second intervals until they are at a level of roast I want.

How long do you leave them after roasting until you use them?

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119853568#Comment_119853568

About as long as it takes them to cool to room temperature 8-)

To save on energy, I'm doing 500g at a time, so most of it get's left for a more decent length of time, spent mostly in the freezer.

You'll be busy with that schedule. I take them out of the oven after about 20 minutes, dump them in a wok, pour back on the trays and back into the oven. I pre heat the beans in the microwave to get them up to speed quicker.

Krusty_Clown

I still have a popcorn maker going for free, if anyone wants it. It's been quite a while since I used it, but IIRC it's good for roasting batches of around 80-125g at a time. I'm still going strong with my Behmor - roasting batches of around 400g at a time and getting amazing results. The only risk of using an air-fryer is the amount of flammable chaffe that's produced. Like the popcorn maker, you'd want to be comfortable with a fire extinguisher. 😀

My last order was 12kg from mondodelcaffe (cnocbui's recommendation), and it works out really good value in larger quantities. Wish their range was a little wider with some more naturals, but can't argue with the value. Packaging is in decent 1kg bags (better than the 5kg bags I had been ordering previously). Didn't try their roasted stuff. Discountcoffee are definitely worth a try if you want to dip your toes in home-roasting. Most of their green coffees seem to be almost permanently out of stock, but their Columbian Supremo green coffee produces a great roast.

Hodors Appletart

I got a Brazilian natural off Discount Coffee

I might come back to you on that popcorn maker though

caviardreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119852345#Comment_119852345

I used to love Belle Lane but they only do single origin in 250g bags which put me off.

Badger & Dodo and West Cork Coffee are a good price point and always freshly roasted from experience. Good selection too. Coffee Angel is a good shut but more limited choice. All round teh €35-40 per kg price point. If budget is higher Old Barracks, Carrow, Roasted Brown, Bear Market all worth a look

caviardreams

Starting to look for a nice bean to order for over Xmas in teh next couple of weeks. I have a WCC sub but will need extra beans for over the holiday period.

Anything on the filter front people would recommend? Has anyone tried the Honey processed BRI from coffee angel?

https://coffeeangel.com/collections/coffee/products/butegana-intenso-bri?variant=43537815666922

Hodors Appletart

Can't speak to that particular coffee, but I had a honey process Costa Rica from Old Barracks and loved it.

that looks a decent price too

Hodors Appletart

actually, I've just bought a bag of that, the natural brazilian they have and a pog milis too

was looking for a few bags, so nice one for pointing that one out.

Hodors Appletart

coffee angel are amazing!

ordered those 3 bags at ten to nine, sand they've arrived already with a nice handwritten note.

that is incredible service

caviardreams

I know - I think they started it during the pandemic and glad they have kept it up.

If you ever run short and live in dublin you will have it next day at the absolute latest. Some places would charge you an extra fiver for express delivery!

They also have the filtropa papers at a good price!! WCC charge a tenner for 100 which is wild

Hodors Appletart

I get my papers from amazon, I love the Militta Gourmet ones.

323

Very happy with a Fracino Piccino (with the PID option) & Piccino Grinder we've been using for over a year.

After trying various suppliers use mostly the hatter coffee company in Donegal's Brazilian Roast,