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Serious Delirium - the coffee thread (Read 211960 times)

andy_e

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Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 05:40:07 pm
I have, in the past year or so, began to drink coffee regularly, and so I got a cafetiere at Christmas to take things to the next level. Can anybody recommend any good coffees and any good places that often have offers on coffee? I like it strong so don't give me anything mild. I'm currently on the Hot Lava Java which is like rocket fuel, is there anything similar to try for a change?

Adam Lincoln

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#1 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 05:44:47 pm
Hot Lava Java

This sounds good. do you get in from a supermarket? Will have to keep an eye out next time i am in Asda/Sainsburys

205Chris

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#2 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 05:50:24 pm
If it's this then you can get it from most supermarkets.

It's what I'm mainly using in my cafetiere at the moment too.

chris05

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#3 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 05:53:12 pm
Hot Lava Java

This sounds good. do you get in from a supermarket? Will have to keep an eye out next time i am in Asda/Sainsburys

Yep its a Taylor's of Harrogate coffee widely available. I rate most of their coffee's, although I have had to move on to their 'take it easy' which is half decaf for work, the amount I drink meant that sleep was not happening. Save the properly strong stuff for the weekend, when alcohol will cancel out its affects!

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#4 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 05:58:55 pm
I'm struggling to restrain myself here. I'm a complete coffee addict/snob. Big into fine coffee.

If you're interested in trying some really good shit:

www.hasbean.co.uk

Ok, so I can't restrain myself very well, I'll give you some more advice. If you want to improve things

A. Cafetieres are one of the hardest and most limited ways to brew good coffee. Get yourself a single cup (or larger) filter or an aeropress from hasbean or plenty of other places, or for that matter a siphon pot or an espresso machine if you're feeling rich

B. Get a grinder. The only downside of this, is that once you grind your own, you realise how shit and stale all pre-ground coffee is.

There ya go, that's a start, i'll sod off now

 :oops:

andy_e

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#5 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 06:35:59 pm
Cheers for the purchasing advice, but funds mean I'll be limited to a cafetiere until I've got a job! Good website though, thanks!

rginns

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#6 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 09:15:32 pm
Would agree with the Harrogates concensus, was really impressed with this recently: http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/frameset/redirect.jsp;GROSESSIONID=NLhVFGKmKn1CGJ6Xp6VP1hssg2VwLpzGyLxCgVp3zV7LnBpMH50r!-2041082410?bmForm=deep_link_groceries_search_javascript&bmFormID=1296767509087&bmUID=1296767509087

tommytwotone

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#7 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 09:46:28 pm
What Sam said - get a grinder.

And then buy some of the excellent stuff from here:

http://www.yorkcoffeeemporium.co.uk/

Highly recommend the Cuban Serrano and the excellent Ethopian Harrah.

Supermarket coffee? You'll never look back!

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#8 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 10:33:43 pm
I get my coffee from a wee place run a by a family in Perth - awesome wee shop and nice people. Best coffee in Scotland too!

I've got a stove-top espresso which is great for camping and when I run out of beans (Lavazza red is the best of the pre ground stuff). But I mainly use a gaggia espresso machine and a reasonable grinder (would love a better one).

When you say you're using a caffetiere  - is it the "pour hot water into a glass jar with a  press style"? With those, I can;t say I've ever noticed the difference between fresh ground and pre ground - like others have said, that harrogates stuff is quite decent for that.

I got my dad a Gaggia classic off Ebay a couple of years back and it is noticeable how much better it is than mine - keep meaning to get one...

Mmmmmmm - love my coffee!

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#9 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 11:01:23 pm
Farrah's mate! Kendal's Finest! Columbia! Two bags on the way to leeds (£3 a bag)..... you interested?

Adam Lincoln

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#10 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 11:08:56 pm
Time to buy a Gaggia classic. The bullet needs to be bitten!

Richie Crouch

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#11 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 11:16:36 pm
Good thread Andi!

I was wondering Tommy, if I order whole bean on the drop down menu - I'm assuming its roasted and ready to grind as I only have a grinder and not my own roasting machine!

Always keen to try some new coffee at home and drink the cheaper stuff in work in the cafetiere  :)

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#12 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 11:22:19 pm
I can second the aeropress, looks a bit like a penis pump so avoid getting them mixed up.

My main weapon of choice is the stove espresso maker. Cheap, and as Fultonius said, ideal for camping.

With a cafetiere, make sure you put a bit of cold water on the coffee before adding the boiling water to prevent a bitter taste.

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#13 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 03, 2011, 11:52:12 pm
You're all mad, caffeine is a nasty drug. I'd rather a good dose of acid any day, look what it does to spiders in comparison to other "drugs"....

Normal


LSD


Mescaline/Peyote


Marijuana


Speed


Sleeping Pills


...and the one you're all craving for Caffeine


P.S. - I don't drink tea or coffee (but have dabbled with drugs a bit).

sjw

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#14 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 04, 2011, 12:03:00 am
B. Get a grinder. The only downside of this, is that once you grind your own, you realise how shit and stale all pre-ground coffee is.

You may have just solved my problem of what to spend the £30 John Lewis voucher I have left from Christmas! We drink the preground Illy stuff in a stove top, does grinding your own really make that much difference?

psychomansam

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#15 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 04, 2011, 12:18:42 am
Well actually, Illy in a tin is about as good as pre-ground tends to come for freshness, but yes you do notice the difference, and of course you can order yourself a whole range of single-estate beans with much more interesting flavour profiles than any blend allows for.

On the other hand, if I was getting a grinder, I'd generally want to spend more than £30. The exception would be one of these http://www.coffeesmithscollective.co.uk/products-page/coffee-and-tea-making-equipment/hario-slim-coffee-mill/ ...but they do require a minute or two of hand grinding. Mine is a portable back-up to my main grinder (a commercial coffee shop jobby).

But I'm being a snob of course, basically you want to get yourself a burr grinder, not a blade grinder*. John lewis do the Krups, which'd do you for 35, or the cuisinart for 50 which'd be a bit better.


*blades scorch coffee, sad times.

psychomansam

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#16 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 04, 2011, 12:25:38 am

You may have just solved my problem of what to spend the £30 John Lewis voucher I have left from Christmas! We drink the preground Illy stuff in a stove top, does grinding your own really make that much difference?

Mind you, if you change to any other method of brewing coffee you'll see an even more notable improvement. I honestly sincerely promise you I could get better coffee with an old sock than you can with a stovetop*. Fact. If we ever meet, i'll happily demonstrate. So get a sock, or an aeropress, or a hario plastic filter and some papers, or any bloody filter and papers for that matter, or a swissgold filter, or even a cafetiere if you have to. Or a cloth brewer, or a bloom brewer, or an espresso machine or anything but a fucking ibrik. If you use a stovetop, you should really stop wasting your money on Illy and just put some nescafe in it. At least you can't defile nescafe any more.

*This is because stovetops burn the holy shit out coffee. In comparison, a blade grinder would be cuddly to the poor beans

Paul B

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#17 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 04, 2011, 12:52:07 am
*This is because stovetops burn the holy shit out coffee. In comparison, a blade grinder would be cuddly to the poor beans

I've got a stainless stovetop and I'm happy with it, do they really scorch coffee that badly? The huge machines I see rely on a similar process of forcing steam through the coffee and then condensing?
Illy I find a bit overrated (and not just when drunk at home) the stuff I've currently got; Malongo (purchased in France) is far far better.  I drunk tonnes whilst travelling but these days I opt for green tea as espresso just leaves me jittery.

The best Coffee I've ever had was at the Luna hut in Mello where the view is fantastic and the people freindly (although I wouldn't stare too much at the sisters that work there, those ashtrays are homemade by their machete wielding father!)

butters

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#18 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 04, 2011, 01:04:51 am
I have my doubts about this and also the blades scorch coffee statement as well  but what the fuck do I know? I suspect brewing coffee is the same as audio set ups - you get to to certain point where it is noticeably better and then proceed to chuck lots more money at it for ever diminishing increases.

Even having said all that I really would like a random device that looks like a penis pump and a Gaggia and all that stuff.

tommytwotone

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#19 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 04, 2011, 08:13:51 am
Good thread Andi!

I was wondering Tommy, if I order whole bean on the drop down menu - I'm assuming its roasted and ready to grind as I only have a grinder and not my own roasting machine!

Aye Mr Crouch, it's roasted and ready to grind - they import the beans themselves and roast onsite at their place. They even post it out to you in funky resealable bags!

Think you can order pre-ground if you want it, but I've got my own grinder so just go for whole bean every time.




psychomansam

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#20 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 04, 2011, 08:40:41 am

I've got a stainless stovetop and I'm happy with it, do they really scorch coffee that badly? The huge machines I see rely on a similar process of forcing steam through the coffee and then condensing?

Nope, espresso machines don't use steam (except for frothing milk). Water is pumped through the grounds under high pressure at around 90 degrees C or jusr under. Boiling water burns coffee and makes it cry.
But of course, with supermarket coffee it doesn't matter as much.

Think of it as being like wine. If someone matches a £3 bottle of merlot with a bag of haribo, so what.
If someone matches a £10 chianti with sweets, it's going to ruin a good experience.

Supermarket £2 coffee getting burnt, so what

http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/products/santa-lucia getting burnt, I'll come commit some kind of coffee-based Jihad

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#21 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 04, 2011, 08:46:49 am
Java coffee beans from Busters Coffee Co: strong, rich, bold and slightly spicy:

http://www.silverserviceconsultancy.co.uk/Busters/

SA Chris

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#22 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 04, 2011, 08:48:36 am
P.S. - I don't drink tea or coffee

There you go, Mr S & S again.

Not drinking them means you are missing out on some of the finer things in life.

sjw

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#23 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 04, 2011, 08:49:03 am
If you use a stovetop, you should really stop wasting your money on Illy and just put some nescafe in it. At least you can't defile nescafe any more.

*This is because stovetops burn the holy shit out coffee. In comparison, a blade grinder would be cuddly to the poor beans

I love your level of enthusiasm for coffee, it's brightening up my morning. I'm going to get the espresso machine out and do a blind taste comparison between that and the stove top. I like the stove top though because we have a 9 cupper and it makes two perfect mugs of 'blow your cock off' coffee.

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#24 Re: Serious Delirium - the coffee thread
February 04, 2011, 08:57:12 am
Not drinking them means you are missing out on some of the finer things in life.

Just the smell makes me

 

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