Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

[mbg963]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

The problem that I have is that I love Coffee, Fishing, Boating (21 Seafarer Vagabond from the 70s that is now fully modern!), 4 wheeling, welding, and the list goes on....so I work for my toys!

I hear you... I probably forgot to mention that I am married too, which means I aint in control of our finances, expenditure, HECK! I aint in control of anything anymore. The missus is the real boss. How I managed to continue getting my high end fishing stuff as well as even the basic coffee stuff I have so far, I wouldnt want that scene replayed anywhere. Basically, it involves a lot of grovelling, begging, pleading, making ridiculous deals like, "if I lose 3 kg, can I get that GLX?". A long drawn out negotiating process.
Ive been recently throwing out names like Silvia and bordering on nagging on the inadequacies of the BCG450, but when I get asked, "so, how much is the Silvia?" and I answer it, I get a look that basically says "Dream on..." So, Ill have to make do with what I have and persist at eating away at the resistance...

You have to artificially up the price of the Silvia and then say you got it ON SALE for $X and that it was a bargain and explain how you SAVED $X by buying it at the reduced price. My wife uses it all the time....

[nunu]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

Maybe its time you used it Matt. A nice shiny new Diadema Junior will look good on your bench mate. :P

[NewToEspresso]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

I think my nagging has gained some ground towards the desired end, the missus is now more open to the idea of a new grinder. I was commenting on how the Veneziano Estate beans that we got fresh over the weekend would be wasted by putting them through the inadequate grinder and shes said that we can consider the upgrade with a small condition... I have to sell the Breville grinder first... How the heck am I suposed to do that? Maybe I havent gained groundafter all...

[Wushoes]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

What kind of grinder is it...Ill consider it...I was a french press and cupping grinder.

[NewToEspresso]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

Its a burr grinder. Ive managed to convince my missus to let me keep the Breville for rock slat & spices when we eventually get a proper one. I must say though, that the Breville is doing a good job for me at the moment. With fresh beans from Venezianos Im actually getting 20-25 second shots on the Carezza single basket without the crema disk and the shot comes up beautiful....

By the way, the ideal shot time is 25-30 seconds for a 30ml shot. Now, is that 25-30 seconds from the time the first drops appear from the PF or is it 25-30 seconds from when the brew switch is turned on?

[telemaster]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

Its a burr grinder. Ive managed to convince my missus to let me keep the Breville for rock slat & spices when we eventually get a proper one. I must say though, that the Breville is doing a good job for me at the moment. With fresh beans from Venezianos Im actually getting 20-25 second shots on the Carezza single basket without the crema disk and the shot comes up beautiful....

By the way, the ideal shot time is 25-30 seconds for a 30ml shot. Now, is that 25-30 seconds from the time the first drops appear from the PF or is it 25-30 seconds from when the brew switch is turned on?

Hi NewToEspresso
My understanding is that its from the time you hit the brew switch- thats what I use anyway and it works well. It is like any rule- best observed but can be deviated from if you want- just watch for when the pour starts to go blond.
Brett
ps will you change your name to SeasonedAficionado when you feel a bit more at home?

[NewToEspresso]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

Seasoned Aficionado, yeah right. That will be a while yet I reckon. Ill start to feel like Im getting somewhere once Im able to create a rosetta or even a heart. My milk consistency is not quite good enough for that. I dont know if its in the pouring technique as well, but I cant seem to get anywhere with the art stuff. The closest I actually got to it was the Queens Bday weekend where I almost got a rosetta going. Analysing what was different that day, I was using a week-old milk (IGA version home-brand), and I barely did the milk-sucking-in-air thing at all before I did the swirl thing with the wand deep. The milk came out silky smooth. I wasnt able to replicate that again with Pura milk in the office. With Pura milk, Ive had to do that shhh-shhh part a bit longer before immersing the wand to bring it up to 65degs.

The reason I hardly did the sshhhh thing on the Queens Bday weekend was because it was that weekend that I went to Venezianos and the barista there barely did the milk-sucking -in-air thing before the immersed swirl and proceeded to form rosettas in a latte glass with ease! The commercial machine he was using put out steam with enough power to run a train I reckon, which is why I reasoned that the stretch time was a lot shorter (<5 seconds), the domestic Carezza is seriously piss weak in comparison but when I emulated that with a week-old brandless milk, the end result was not far off. Since that weekend, I have unable to replicate that. Some of the times I tried that (short stretching time and longer immersed swirl time) I ended up with a flat white more than a latte. When I did more of the shh shhh thing until the temp hit 40 degs before immersing, I got latte type foam but could not get the art going. the milk would cut through the crema all the way until its nearly full and then the white blob would sit on top near the end.

So, changing my name to Seasoned Afficionado is going to be a while yet!

[spope]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

Hello all.
Although not being new to espresso coffee, I am new to making it at home.
Started small about 6 months ago, bought a Sunbeam Ristretto - which as it turns out was probably a better purchase than I initially thought.
Initial plans to replace it with a $300 or so machine have been delayed until such times as I can buy myself a Sylvia, I think.
Found this forum a couple of weeks ago, and as a consequence, I now also own a EM0480 grinder (which I am loving,) modified filter baskets for the ristretto (WOW! What a difference!) and a Grindenstein knock-box. I have also just ordered a Pullman tamper.
This is becoming a problem.
Just placed my first order for some beans from Bean Bay Brown.
Now I am getting very curious about home roasting. There are a couple of places around here that advertise "fresh" roasted coffee beans - although I think the CS definition of "fresh" would vary with theirs. Especially when they keep the beans in big exposed dispensers.

I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone on this forum - users to numerous to mention - but the discovery of non-pressurised baskets and freshly ground coffee has opened my eyes - the difference now to the Lavazza bricks I was using is almost indescribable - virtually two different drinks. Almost not worth going out to cafes anymore.

[scoota_gal]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

Welcome, spope! Glad you have found us and that weve been able to see you on the straight and narrow path to great coffee!

[Dimal]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

Yep,

Same here "scope"..... Welcome to CoffeeSnobs [smiley=thumbsup.gif]. I think most of us started out the way you did, discovered what Fresh Coffee really is and now the journey to coffee nirvana really begins, but it sounds like youre well and truly on the way. Be sure to post in often as you progress along the well worn path, all of us like to read about each others experiences.

Happy brewing!!

Mal.

[K-Man]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

Hello all.

Be proud of me, I have bought my first Coffee kit.

Breville BES400XL - Boiler no Thermoblock ;-)
Sunbeam ES0480 - Love the Auto feature.

Now, I was keen to get a knock knock box (Im a sucker for novelty factor) but the way my "puck" ends up after a brew, the Knock box would be full of this yuky sludge instead of a little "coffee cake".

Does anyone else have this happen.

PS=> Im a newbee but have worked in coffee shops before so I kninda know the deal. eg, Grind is on 12, and have Tamped fairly hard.

Kman.

[blue]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

hello all.
I have just opened my own cafe (Day 2 today), on a steep learning curve with regard to food/coffee/stock etc. (have a retail shop weve just combined with the coffee shop) I am a shameless coffee snob so am loving having a commercial machine to play on. we are still setting up, stumbled across this site when searching for product... really informative !

[TC]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

Good luck Blue- its a steep curve, but if youve done your homework and have the passion, youll do well...

After 4 cafes....Im over them, but once youre doing it, theyre fun

[lattegirl]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

Hi everyone,

Ive been reading all the posts in this forum and must say that it has been a very valuable and informative experience. So finally decided to sign up since were looking to buy a good espresso machine soon and what better way than to get in touch with the site sponsors.

Hubby has always been a lover of good coffees so when we moved into our new house 3 years ago, we got a $250 krups machine from Myer. Now that we have more than paid for the machine with all the coffees we have made since, we decided its probably time to upgrade.

Started with the iberital doserless and a good quality jug about a month back and results are promising with the ability to pour latte art. Looking forward to drippingly good espresso soon!

[reubster]

Re: Hi! Im new here. Go easy on me!

K-Man,

Im guessing, your sludge pucks are probably due to the lack of a 3 way valve in the BES400XL. [I dont know the machine though]

With a 3 way valve machine:
At the end of a shot, the 3 way valve opens and the built up pressure/water is diverted away from the puck.
Without a three way valve, the puck stays soggy.