Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Javaphile
    replied
    Re: After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    Originally posted by robusto link=1167116446/0#9 date=1167198521
    Returning from a holiday/trip and lamenting that its all over has one big, big, consolation, Javaphile, and that is the stainless steel friend near the sink busting a boiler to say "welcome back".

    -Robusto
    Indeed Robusto. Indeed! My Shiney Steel Friend!


    Java "Just dont try to get warm and fuzzy with it!" phile

    Leave a comment:


  • robusto
    replied
    Re: After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    Returning from a holiday/trip and lamenting that its all over has one big, big, consolation, Javaphile, and that is the stainless steel friend near the sink busting a boiler to say "welcome back".

    -Robusto

    Leave a comment:


  • Javaphile
    replied
    Re: After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    I was away from home for the Holidays and survived on a gallon of CP while the rellies abused my beans in a percolator.


    Java "Glad to be back home with my buddy Cimbali" phile

    Leave a comment:


  • lucinda
    replied
    Re: After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    I have done party runs on the gaggia, basically I preground the coffee, then I pulled all the espressos first then steamed the milk in a larger jug - I managed to steam enough milk for 4 coffees. Like you say, it still tastes better than anything that they will get in a shop and the group head doesnt get too hot and burn the coffee that way.

    I also made sure the cups, glasses etc were all soaking in very hot water to keep warm and than placed on top of the stove that was warm from the oven when filled with espresso.

    It was also a lot quicker than pulling 2 shots and steaming milk, pulling 2 shots and steaming milk etc etc.

    Leave a comment:


  • telemaster
    replied
    Re: After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    Originally posted by scoota gal link=1167116446/0#5 date=1167174558
    Well, evidently, we all had a house full over the past few weeks and of course, I was happy to oblige those who wanted coffee, mainly so as to keep my skills up!

    I thought that the Silvia did admirably but I was also careful that I did only a couple of drinks at a time, made the espresso and long blacks first and gave it a chance to catch up with me temp wise! There were praises all round of course and I did have a couple of coffee snobs amongst them!


    Cant wait to go back to making 50+ cups per day as opposed to 3!

    And my boss told me yesterday that the Monday after Marks accident, they hardly sold any coffee at all, the comment coming back from one regular customer that it didnt seem right! (Theyre back with a vengance now of course, cant keep them away from good coffee for too long!)
    Well done SG- Ive been converting my prospective son-in-law from instant to real coffee- initially he said there was no difference. I made him an espresso on the botticelli. His comment was that it didnt taste like the ones he was used to. He now complains when the Bezzera isnt on. Interestingly yesterday he made a mug (not cup) breaking all the rules, saying it wouldnt make any difference.
    The result- It tastes like that instant ****!"
    All the best O Converter of the North
    Brett

    Leave a comment:


  • scoota_gal
    replied
    Re: After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    Well, evidently, we all had a house full over the past few weeks and of course, I was happy to oblige those who wanted coffee, mainly so as to keep my skills up!

    I thought that the Silvia did admirably but I was also careful that I did only a couple of drinks at a time, made the espresso and long blacks first and gave it a chance to catch up with me temp wise! There were praises all round of course and I did have a couple of coffee snobs amongst them!


    Cant wait to go back to making 50+ cups per day as opposed to 3!

    And my boss told me yesterday that the Monday after Marks accident, they hardly sold any coffee at all, the comment coming back from one regular customer that it didnt seem right! (Theyre back with a vengance now of course, cant keep them away from good coffee for too long!)

    Leave a comment:


  • Metreo
    replied
    Re: After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    After the first year with my single boiler machine and the disaster trying to do 30 milk based espresso coffees in about 1 hour, we put this machine away now when the family comes over.

    We provide a beautifully brewed filter coffee - which went down a treat on our cold Christmas Day this year, or we do Greek Coffee to order which is just as satisfying when prepared correctly.

    Leave a comment:


  • telemaster
    replied
    Re: After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    Ive tried the big party runs with 4 machines now- my old Saeco V V, my daughters Quaha, my Botticelli and the Bezzera.
    Obviously the Bz wins hands down but the Botticelli copes. Interesting the Quaha and the V V have smaller boilers and even not allowing the boiler light to go out, they run out of steam. The Bott has only 1/3 bigger boiler than the Quaha (400ml as against 300) but has much more and much drier steam.
    Its with the big lots that a commercial wins out- surprise surprise!
    But would I buy a used commercial? Probably not (mine was a much appreciated gift)- a prosumer Giotto, yes, as it sits somewhere in between.
    I think they all work but need different allowances to be made.
    Brett
    Go with what youve got!

    Leave a comment:


  • robusto
    replied
    Re: After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    Richt on, Luca. I did my espresso very last, and it was burned all right.

    --Robusto

    Leave a comment:


  • luca
    replied
    Re: After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    Nice one!

    I remember trying to make coffee with guests when I had my silvia. It was an utter PITA. I used to limit it to four and it would still take an inordinate amount of time. It would have been great to make the milk drinks first so that the espresso drinkers wouldnt shoot them down and then be standing there with no drinks whilst the others finished their cappuccini. Problem was that doing the espresso last was impossible. With all of the water passing through the group and all of the heating to steam temp, the group would get hotter and hotter throughout the set. My temp probe was on the top of the boiler, so it received no useful information about the extra heat being stored in the metal of the group. Id imagine that your PID would be the same - normal temp readout, but by the end of a series of shots they would start to taste burnt. Right?

    After all of the Xmas food I have to confess that all that I could be bothered with this year is a giant french press of some very aromatic Kimel. I guess that I should at least have pulled the Vac Pot out!

    The doser on the mazzer really helps to do multiple drinks; even though I only grind for one drink at a time, I can do it whilst Im extracting a shot or steaming some milk.

    Cheers,

    Luca

    Leave a comment:


  • robusto
    started a topic After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    After Xmas dinner coffee, anyone?

    I should have learned my lesson Christmas Day 2005, but we all want to do the right thing by our guests and treat them to a good home-roasted, freshly ground  coffee.  :P

    Even though Miss Silvia isnt made for mass cafe-style production runs! :-/

    So I opened my big mouth, and most of the 20 guests jumped at the invitation. I made a list of who wanted what.  

    Many ordinary lattes, a small latte, a cocoa latte, lattes with lactose-free milk, several espressos, and a couple of teas for the oldies.  

    How did the equipment cope? Probably as good/bad as yours truly. We all know men cant do two things at one, dont we? Try doing about 20 things at once!  ;D

    I went for grouping the production runs: ordinary lattes first.  Doing two at a time was relatively easy, especially since most prefer only a single-shot espresso base.

    Problems arise when you miscalculate the amount of milk to be steamed, and when the last batch  is  for one cup, and youre saving your small pitcher for the non-lactose milk.
    The big pitcher is too big for one cup, but what do you do without contaminating the smaller? (I now remember I have a spare small pitcher which I never used. Drats!)  :-[

    I didnt make all the espresso bases first, then steam the milk, because that would have caused an inordinately long wait. Made two, served them, back for another two, and so on.

    So boiler temperatures fluctuated wildly, needing manual overriding of the PID with cooling flushes when going from steaming back to brewing .... helping things heat up again when filling the depleted boiler by using the steam switch...  I must say, that in such abnormal conditions where speed and mass production is of the essence, the PIDs value was mainly in providing a temperature read out so I knew where I was.

    Eventually, everyone got what they ordered --- in the fullness of time!   8-)

    I could have dusted off the cobwebs from the old 6-cup and 4-cup stove tops, and saved a lot of time and hassle.... but it was quality, not quantity I was aiming for.  >

    Will I do it again next Christmas?

    Mmmmm....perhaps by then Santa will bring me a three-group La Marzocco. Dream on. ;D

    What would I do differently? ---Insist (ever so diplomatically) the dozen dirty champagne flutes waiting to be washed NOT stand on my bench space!

    Pre-grind most if not all the beans.  An hour or so wont hurt and I doubt many would notice anyway.  Just seeing crema in the cups is novel enough for most!  

    --Robusto


Working...
X