Any coffee/espresso nerds on here?

[srw]

Can any fellow coffee nerd tell me the correct temperature for the water when you pour it into a cafetiere? I usually try 93C and measure it with a digital thermometer, either on the way up to the boil or on the way down. (Yes, I'm sad.) I believe that you can buy kettles that stop heating the water at a temperature below 100C but that would just add to general kitchen clutter.

We went to a roastery for a coffee day a couple of years ago. Great fun, even if it did leave me high as a kite with the caffeine.

Their recommendation was 93C. For an ordinary kettle, the advice was 50g coarse coffee to 850g water. Start a timer when the kettle boils, pour over the water after 45 seconds and plunge after another 4 minutes.

 

[srw]

you cannot possibly "burn" or "scorch" your coffee with water that is too hot

But you can suppress some of the flavours you want and concentrate some of the flavours you don't want.

Good coffee the drink starts with good coffee the beans. Big brands are not good coffee - they are commodities blended down to a price for a bland consistency. They are the McDonald's of coffee.

If you start with good beans, roast them carefully (better done by a pro), use them within a couple of weeks and grind them shortly before making the drink you can't go far wrong. Everything else is just flimflam.

 

[Blue Hills]

When I was a kid in Merthyr in the 50s and 60s we had a lot of Italian cafes in the town. After school days an Saturdays we always used to go into one in the town centre to meet up with girls. It had a machine like this one and after school we would always have "frothy coffee" (no cappuccinos in those days!)

If I remember correctly many of those bars that originated in the 60s sold something that they called espresso that was nothing of the sort. The frothy stuff that wasn't even a cappuccino. Most of it pretty terrible.

 

[Blue Hills]

I've done that and chucked the Bailetti out. I only discovered that spares were available later. A kind parishioner on CC told me but I've forgotten who it was.

they used to be available very cheaply in lots of italian supermarkets, now less so. Chinese shops italy often have the basic bits. They can admittedly be somewhat pricey now on ebay for what they are - a fiver for something you could pick up for far far less in italy. after my last burning, i bought very cheaply on the bay an entire new el cheap knock off pot. very poor light thing, base poor but the top perfectly usable as it's not on the stove/the business end - just screwed that onto the old bialetti base.

 

[newts]

I set the the kettle 80/90c depending on type of coffee to achieve my preffered flavour. Currently using Sumatran no5 from Aldi, pleasantly surprised how good it tastes for the price☕

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

If equipment matters (steady @Fnaar) why do Costa, Starbucks et al make such awful coffee?

 

[Blue Hills]

If equipment matters (steady @Fnaar) why do Costa, Starbucks et al make such awful coffee?

i had the impression that starbucks' main products were:
lifestyle
milk

 

[srw]

If equipment matters (steady @Fnaar) why do Costa, Starbucks et al make such awful coffee?

Lowest common denominator standardised taste, produced down to a price.

Of the big brands, Nero is the nicest to drink, but it's easy to produce better at home.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

we’ve always had a filter coffee machine (so that’s since ‘94). we dallied with a krups espresso machine, which worked great, especially as a kitchen cupboard filler.

we loved the idea of the convenience of nestle’s dolcelatte and tried one out in store. coffee was shite.

in the meantime, nespresso machines have come down in price, and you can get the pods for very little if you shop around.

we love our coffee, but we look at our nespresso machine at giving a decent brew, con latte or otherwise, with little or no fuss.

for camping we take a moka pot when we’ve no electric, and a smaller nespresso machine for when we have.

 

[Dave7]

If I remember correctly many of those bars that originated in the 60s sold something that they called espresso that was nothing of the sort. The frothy stuff that wasn't even a cappuccino. Most of it pretty terrible.

How very dare you!!
Late 50s.....local coffee/milk bar.....a froffy coffee, some cinder toffee and a few 45s on the juke box. How could life have been better ?

 

[swee'pea99]

If I remember correctly many of those bars that originated in the 60s sold something that they called espresso that was nothing of the sort. The frothy stuff that wasn't even a cappuccino. Most of it pretty terrible.

Depended on the bar I suppose...


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXRLoJQK8f0&ab_channel=fisherclips123

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Try Happy Donkey Classic Italian as an alternative to the Lavazza beans.

I’ve been using Lavazza Rosso beans with a DeLonghi Bean to Cup machine for almost a decade now and fancy a change.

Where do you buy your beans from? Looking on their site I can only buy 1/2kg at £6 or 6kg for £52

Trouble is the 1/2kg incurs a £4.25 postage fee which is a bit steep.

 

[Blue Hills]

How very dare you!!
Late 50s.....local coffee/milk bar.....a froffy coffee, some cinder toffee and a few 45s on the juke box. How could life have been better ?

cinder toffee?
How very continental they were in your parts.
Pork scratchings as well?

Last time I saw a "milk bar" - (I well remember the neon sign beckoning through the gloom like a den of iniquity) was in Communist Warsaw.

 

[Rusty Nails]

If I remember correctly many of those bars that originated in the 60s sold something that they called espresso that was nothing of the sort. The frothy stuff that wasn't even a cappuccino. Most of it pretty terrible.

There were many Italian owned cafes (not trendy coffee shops) in Merthyr that had been established since the 1920s or earlier. My grandfather was from one of those families. They were not set up to ape the coffee bar trends of the 50s/60s, and most of them had their own recipes for ice cream as well. Delicious!

To make money they sold the coffee that the natives wanted in those days, latte equivalent, I suppose but they also sold strong espressos or cappuccinos (aka frothy coffee). Few survive these days.

 

[Blue Hills]

There were many Italian owned cafes (not trendy coffee shops) in Merthyr that had been established since the 1920s or earlier. My grandfather was from one of those families. They were not set up to ape the coffee bar trends of the 50s/60s, and most of them had their own recipes for ice cream as well. Delicious!

To make money they sold the coffee that the natives wanted in those days, latte equivalent, I suppose but they also sold strong espressos or cappuccinos (aka frothy coffee). Few survive these days.

Yes those were the ones I was thinking of.

I remember one or two in London in the very late 70s.

Seriously ahead of their time in a way - could have coined it in age of the latte/frappucino/crapuccino.

Me? i prefer a decent hit of caffeine.