Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

[lennier]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Hi all,

Im hoping to get there and meet some fellow snobs face to face for the first time, not 100% sure Ill be able to but Ill try. I have a friend who is also passionate about coffee (but is not a forum reader/poster), is it cool to invite him along Andy?

Cheers,

Dennis

[TC]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Speaking for the Academy, no problems...however I think that its best if we try to keep to 20pax max ....it will be very cosy in there.....

Chris

[lennier]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Cool, thanks Chris. Ill check the poll for attendance numbers before coming.

Cheers,

Dennis

[Robster]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Hi folks,

Unfortunately this months cafe day overlaps with something else Ive got on, which is a pity - it sounds like it will be a great afternoon, and Ive been wanting to check out the WA coffee academy for quite a while. Theres a slim chance I may be able to come for a little bit at the beginning but if you need to restrict numbers, better count me out.

Have fun!

- Rob

[TC]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Visitors always welcome Rob- pop in for a quick look!

Chris

[TC]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

I can now confirm that there will be some new top end domestic machinery to have a look at and play with. We have demo models of the dead sexy Unico Splendor, Diadema Junior Semi-auto and (if it gets here in time) an ECM Giotto. In addition, we are hoping that there will be an Expobar Minore in residence soon at the academy....

Ill bring my hottop, the Alp is always there and perhaps Andy might bring the Gene cafe if we ask really nicely??

Lets fire em all up and see what they can do! 8-)

Chris

[Andy]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

...Andy might bring the Gene cafe if we ask really nicely..

I would but I cant this weekend... the Gene is on holiday as of last night.  (Getting my old man into coffee roasting)

Like moths to a light and ants to a picnic the toys are a great idea Chris.  Can a CoffeeSnob have too many toys?

See you all there tomorrow arvo.

[joe]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Well done on yet another successful gathering. Good to see some fellow-coffeesnobs and share this illogical fixation of ours. The machine comparison certainly helped me to clarify what may succeed my Classic in the next 12 months. Thanks Chris and Luca on your detailed explanations and Andy on the supply of coffee.

[Matt_King]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Planned to make it (and pick up a starter pack), but didnt get to the city in time... oh well, some other time maybe. Made up for it by pouring my first successful latte art today

[lochness]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Well done to all involved in the Melb CS meetup. What a great bunch of people. As a (very) newbie to the whole home roasting, quality coffee and espresso scene I learnt a lot. Mainly that I need A LOT more $$$ ;D :

I also learnt that the "snobs" part of the name is just a name, cause there were certainly no snobs that I met.

I look forward to the next Melb gathering and hope to actively participate and join in next time.

Was interesting seeing the Hottop Roaster in action. A big leap in $$$ between popper/i-roast to upgrade to something like the Hottop. But very nifty and cool to watch.

Thanks again to all involved and those who organised and made it possible.

[luca]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Yes, a big thankyou to Andy and Chris!

I really enjoyed the opportunity to play around with Chris Diadema machines. I have heaps of opportunities to play around with crappy domestic machines and kickass commercial machines, but not much to use stuff thats inbetween.

Having just had a friend over for coffee and apologised as it took an ice-age to make half a dozen coffees, Im drooling over the convenience of the home-sized heat exchanger machines.

Using one grinder for three machines and, therefore, not even really being able to dial anything in correctly, I got some pretty OK shots out of each of the machines. Incredibly forgiving. With a decent grinder I cant see it getting much easier.

Steam performance was quite woeful until we took a look at the boiler pressure and saw that they came set fluctuating around a woeful 0.8bar. Chris quickly had the lid off one and raised it to 1.1-1.2 bar - which took about two minutes - and the steam pressure was a lot better. Shots also tasted a lot nicer than the other machine; unfortunately, that machine requires an allen key to get the metal plate off to access the pstat. So I guess that Chris is going to have to buy an allen key set ;P Steaming still wasnt as nice as on a La Marzocco or Synesso, but was about the same as on the Academys commercial machines. This is probably about right for most people; there is enough power to easily move the milk around, but it is weak enough that there is enough time to correct for stuff like accidentally introducing too much air. If you wanted more steam, Im sure that there would be an after-market tip that could be used. And steaming on the machine without the ball joint was a lot easier after Chris bent the steam wand ;P

... guess I should start saving my pennies ...

Cheers,

Luca

[Andy]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Chris and Luca did a great job on the day and everyone who attended enjoyed the arvo.

A huge thanks also to The William Angliss Coffee Academy for hosting us again.  I hope we can have a few events there during the year as its central and a great place to hang-out for CSrs with a passion.

...and a great place to get some training

[TC]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Chris and Luca did a great job on the day and everyone who attended enjoyed the arvo.

A huge thanks also to The William Angliss Coffee Academy for hosting us again.  I hope we can have a few events there during the year as its central and a great place to hang-out for CSrs with a passion.

...and a great place to get some training

Thanks Andy- if it wasnt for your drive in CS, these events wouldnt happen- and a big thank you also to Luca- resident tinkerer and critic  . We share knowledge and everyone gains as a result....

I have a ball every time I host a day for fellow CSers at the academy. We are fortunate to have such a great venue to use...

We will have our first home roasting and cupping day on Saturday 18th March: 
http://coffee.angliss.vic.edu.au/coffeemaking.htm#8. Methods showcased will be popper, alp, gene and hottop and we will talk about a few simple blend principles. Id love it if perhaps a couple of CS members who use different roasting methods could come and showcase their unique ways in a mini "roastarama" for the attendees also- volunteers?? (of course, this means that you get a freebie to the session   8-))

Jill plans to take the cupping session- and for those yet to do a cupping with Jill- this is where you will really begin to understand single origin coffees. I cannot recommend it too highly.

Chris

[csutak40]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Chris and Luca did a great job on the day and everyone who attended enjoyed the arvo.

A huge thanks also to The William Angliss Coffee Academy for hosting us again.  I hope we can have a few events there during the year as its central and a great place to hang-out for CSrs with a passion.

...and a great place to get some training

All I can say is DITTO   ;D [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[fatboy_1999]

Re: Melbourne Cafe Day - Feb 18th - Coffee Academy

Id like to add my thanks to Andy, Chris and Luca for their efforts.
A great day. Great to catch up with like minded people whose eyes dont glaze over when you talk about the finicky little details.

I had a great day. Perhaps soon Ill advance to the point that Chris can watch me steam milk without stressing :-)

(Yeah, yeah... Ill bend the wand!)

Brett.