Coffee - do you and how do you consume it?

[trl]

I mostly do coffeee for my wife, but I also drink some in the morning too.
I use freshly roasted beans + water without chlorine + Eureka Mignon Silenzio + Gaggia Classic w/PID + tamper + chronograph.
Also Skerton w/lower upgrade + V60 for vacations or as backup.

 

[antcollinet]

I should have made a disclaimer that I'm no espresso expert Just parsed the information from various coffee resources over the weekend while trying to educate myself in preparation for buying a new machine. My understanding is you can get good results with any of the prosumer grade machines available on the market, but some require more attention to details. The E61 criticism comes up often in discussions however, and I'm just relaying that information.

The E61 has been used in coffee shops for almost exactly 60 years, especially in Italy where they make probably the best coffee in the world. I suspect it works quite well enough. I guess the criticism is probably coming from spec heads rather than people who just get on and make coffee.

Perhaps I should coin the word coffools? (NO DON'T GO THERE - Ed)

Or maybe this is another analogue digital thing

 

[antcollinet]

....Eureka Mignon Silenzio w/PID +...

Grinder with PID? What the heck is the PID controlling and how does it measure it???


Never mind - I'll look it up.


EDIT - Ok i'm an idiot. I guess the PID is for the Gaggia?

 

[trl]

No, of course not, Gaggia is with PID...dooh me.. Let me edit my last post.

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

I do drink coffee in the rare occurrences when my friend makes one for us both.
Don't care much for the beverage otherwise, so one could say it's about him making it for me and not the coffee itself.

 

[gvl]

The E61 has been used in coffee shops for almost exactly 60 years, especially in Italy where they make probably the best coffee in the world. I suspect it works quite well enough. I guess the criticism is probably coming from spec heads rather than people who just get on and make coffee.

Perhaps I should coin the word coffools? (NO DON'T GO THERE - Ed)

Or maybe this is another analogue digital thing

The E61 is old and good enough, but not ideal for home use due to long heat up times and maintenance required. There was nothing else back in the days, now there are more options that are same or better than E61 for non-commercial applications.

 

[antcollinet]

The E61 is old and good enough, but not ideal for home use due to long heat up times and maintenance required. There was nothing else back in the days, now there are more options that are same or better than E61 for non-commercial applications.

Heat up time is a bit of a drag, admittedly. But in 6 years of daily use I've done no maintenance other than annual descale solution (that I would do with any machine) and occasional back flush.

 

[gvl]

Heat up time is a bit of a drag, admittedly. But in 6 years of daily use I've done no maintenance other than annual descale solution (that I would do with any machine) and occasional back flush.

Bezerra has its own smaller electrically heated group, ready to brew in just 8 minutes.

E61 Group Head Maintenance

In the sixty years since Ernesto Valente had the idea for this groundbreaking design, the E61 group head has become ubiquitous on espresso machines the world over. You can find this massive chunk of chrome-plated brass affixed to machines spanning all sorts of manufacturers and styles. Its...

www.chriscoffee.com

 

[Count Arthur]

Heat up time is a bit of a drag, admittedly. But in 6 years of daily use I've done no maintenance other than annual descale solution (that I would do with any machine) and occasional back flush.

You must have soft water where you live, if I didn't descale for a whole year my coffee machine would be a solid block of calcium carbonate with some metal and plastic parts embedded in it.

 

[mansr]

You must have soft water where you live, if I didn't descale for a whole year my coffee machine would be a solid block of calcium carbonate with some metal and plastic parts embedded in it.

Water filters help with that, and the coffee tastes better too.

 

[antcollinet]

You must have soft water where you live, if I didn't descale for a whole year my coffee machine would be a solid block of calcium carbonate with some metal and plastic parts embedded in it.

It's fairly soft - but then I also only ever put filtered water in the machine.

 

[pseudoid]

You must have soft water where you live, if I didn't descale for a whole year my coffee machine would be a solid block of calcium carbonate with some metal and plastic parts embedded in it.

There is this reusable steel-wool (SS) product named "tessy" that is specifically made for shoving it [where didja think?] in your water tank.
It is used to attract the scaling rather than them getting deposited/attached to the tank enclosure itself.
It may possibly be a snake-oil or comfort food.
Of course, using "filtered" water (Aqausana?) is a no brainer for some!

 

[Loron]

Bezerra has its own smaller electrically heated group, ready to brew in just 8 minutes.

E61 Group Head Maintenance

In the sixty years since Ernesto Valente had the idea for this groundbreaking design, the E61 group head has become ubiquitous on espresso machines the world over. You can find this massive chunk of chrome-plated brass affixed to machines spanning all sorts of manufacturers and styles. Its...

www.chriscoffee.com

I had a Bezzera. Actually two… a B2000 two g and a BZ02. Both heat exchanger machines. The B2000 was closer to the E61 and the groups were not heated with an electric element. I now used a Grimac Vitoria one group which has an E61 group and rotary pump. This replaced my BZ02. It doesn’t take that long to warm up. Maybe 15 minutes. I have a smart outlet turning it on every morning 15 minutes before I wake up.

I now roast my own beans. This is my last adventrue in the coffee world. For me this is as important as the measurements of my audio equipment. Lol.
i don’t think PID are really necessary as you can always start the pump if the machine has been idling a long time.

i just love my coffee. I was so crazy I kept the Bezzera as a back up for 5 years…. Just sold it 2 years ago and bought an amplifier with the money. Lol.
These commercial machine are built like thank and all the parts are available. This is my last machine…Lol. Should last longer than me. unless I decide I want to try a lever type espresso machine to add to it and experiment.

 

[antcollinet]

…Lol. Should last longer than me...

My plan also - as long as the parts are available I have no desire to upgrade, It does everything I need. +1 for the smart socket here also. I can turn the machine on as I leave for home.

 

[Loron]

My plan also - as long as the parts are available I have no desire to upgrade, It does everything I need. +1 for the smart socket here also. I can turn the machine on as I leave for home.

I do just like you and use a water filter. I backflush not as often as I should and descale…. every…. 2 ….years lol. Commercial machine making 4 espresso a day with filtered water….can go for a while between descaling if you turn it off like you and I do.
I did change the Sirai pressure switch, have porta filter gaskets, shower screen and a back up control board just in case.

You should give roasting a try if you don’t already do it…. Can be done with a rotisserie basket on a gas grill. Just need a faster motor to get around 60 rpm. I have seen even a battery drill used. Lol.
a coworker kept talking about how much better it was. I decided to give it a try. I loved it. I don’t remember if it was that much better but I haven’t bought roasted coffee in two years.
It is a little as if you could mix and master the music you love.

 

[Doodski]

A cool coffee shop/artisan bakery that I used to hang around roasted their own beans. The owner told me he buys beans by the tonne. They placed the roaster right in the middle of the coffee shop where people sit. DrOOL, what a smell. The glorious odor would waft right down the street. Now that's roasting! The machine was a bit bigger than this one and was red but you get the idea. A license to print money.

 

[Loron]

A cool coffee shop/artisan bakery that I used to hang around roasted their own beans. The owner told me he buys beans by the tonne. They placed the roaster right in the middle of the coffee shop where people sit. DrOOL, what a smell. The glorious odor would waft right down the street. Now that's roasting! The machine was a bit bigger than this one and was red but you get the idea. A license to print money.

Awesome! They make small ones that look just like that to do sample roasting or use at home! $7k…..lol. Like the small one to the right of your picture.

 

[pseudoid]

For a walk down the java nostalgia, one story comes to mind of legacy of the "Diedrich Family". Story starts in a Costa Rica coffee plantation in 1916, moving on to Naples in the 1940s, marrying into a German purveyor's family, in the 1950s. They buy an Antigua plantation again in the 1960s. For a century, the family has develop numerous techniques of growing, processing, and roasting to maximize coffee bean quality and flavor. In 1982, during severe political and economic turmoil in Guatemala, the Diedrich family’s coffee farm was seized.

Lucky for me, Old Man Diedrich opened his doors in 1983 in a seedy strip mall here in SoCal. For weeks, I would get this fresh coffee roasting smells at around 0300Hours every morning. Finally I was able to sniff out his store, and it felt like I was in java heaven. TL&DR
Today there are well over 2,500 Diedrich roasters operating in more than 50 countries worldwide. His family now operates under the Kéan Coffeehouse, which is the modern evolution of a pioneer and located caddy-corner from the old place!

The 2 roasters he had at the old place where all hand-hammered copper but very cool!

 

[antcollinet]

...You should give roasting a try if you don’t already do it….

I am lucky enough to have a local deli who roasts their own beans weekly, and have a wide selection. I can go there and get beans roasted within 1 to 2 weeks - about ideal for use. Streets ahead even of stuff from the online "gourmet" roasters, and about 2/3 the price. I'm not going to mess about with my own roasting when I have that facility within a 10 minute drive.

 

[rdenney]

A cool coffee shop/artisan bakery that I used to hang around roasted their own beans. The owner told me he buys beans by the tonne. They placed the roaster right in the middle of the coffee shop where people sit. DrOOL, what a smell. The glorious odor would waft right down the street. Now that's roasting! The machine was a bit bigger than this one and was red but you get the idea. A license to print money.

Back in the deeps of time, I worked across the street from the Duncan Coffee Company, founded in Houston over a century ago. They didn’t buy beans by the ton, they bought by the shipload, and their roaster looked like an oil refinery. The coffee roasting smell filled about two square miles.

You’ve never heard of them, but they made Maryland Club coffee in that roasting plant, Butternut coffee in a different plant, merged with Coca-Cola, and Charles Duncan of that era went on to become the President of Coca-Cola in the early 70’s. A later great-grandson re-established Duncan Coffee Company as a specialty roaster in Houston, and I still buy their coffee when I’m down there.

Rick “their Viennese Cinnamon is my favorite holiday coffee” Denney