The coffee fanatics thread...

How do you like your coffee best?

  • with milk or cream and sugar or other sweeters

    Votes: 24 19.7%
  • with milk or cream

    Votes: 60 49.2%
  • with sugar or other sweeters

    Votes: 4 3.3%
  • without milk and sugar - black and not sweetened

    Votes: 34 27.9%
  • no coffee at all

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    122
I have the Sage Duo Temp Pro (with separate Sage Smart Grinder Pro) and it makes excellent coffee.

There's a "Sage look" - as-in they're a bit "appliancey" but if you can live with that, they make great coffee. That's what I'm planning on using the bottomless PF on (now ordered :facepalm:).

It's also worth noting that the Duo Temp, like the Barista, uses a 54mm portafilter, so there's not such an availability of tempers, distributors, etc, as the more usual 58mm.

I'm lucky to have an excellent roaster nearby so I can pop in when I need to get more.

Speaking of home roasters, my Facebook regularly has an advert for a Kickstarter home roaster, but it's £500!! I'm not sure I could "smuggle' that into the house ;)

I think if I were in the market for a new grinder, I'd be looking the Niche Zero.

As you say.......... rabbit-hole.....
 
Is the duo temp just the barista without built in grinder?
I think so - as near as makes no difference apart from the pressure gauge, and similarly, I think the built-in grinder is pretty-much the same as the Smart Grinder Pro. Price-wise, the combination almost matches the Barista Express. The Barista Pro & Touch are steps up (and priced accordingly).

When I bought my Duo Temp, I already had a grinder (Dualit). Then, about 3 weeks later I dropped it onto the kitchen floor and it smashed to pieces... Hence i bought the Sage grinder.
 
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I think so - as near as makes no difference apart from the pressure gauge, and similarly, I think the built-in grinder is pretty-much the same as the Smart Grinder Pro. Price-wise, the combination almost matches the Barista Express. The Barista Pro & Touch are steps up (and priced accordingly).

When I bought my Duo Temp, I already had a grinder (Dualit). Then, about 3 weeks later I dropped it onto the kitchen floor and it smashed to pieces... Hence i bought the Sage grinder.
Steps up in what way?
 
Worth checking their website to confirm, but they have touch screens, so more control, faster heat-up times. I think the Barista Touch does auto milk frothing too.
 
I have had my Fracino Cherub for around 12+ years and its used twice per day and its never missed a beat.
 
They look good. They are a lot more than £600 at the moment though.
 
I have a bean to cup machine that I use everyday.
I have tried lots of beans at different prices but I think the Lavassa ones are great value and return to them more often than not.

I recently bought some syrups to add to mix it up a bit.
 
If you ever call in to TKmaxx, then they do large (900lb-1kg) bags of beans and some of them have a 'roasted on' date. They are a decent price too (£7.99-£11.99).
I have had some good success with beans form there.
 
I have tried lots of beans at different prices but I think the Lavassa ones are great value and return to them more often than not.
If you have a Costco card, they do Lavazza beans at a very good price.
 
I think I must have been unlucky with my one and only purchase of Lavazza beans as I thought they were very bland and tasteless. Maybe I should try again :)
I did buy them from a supermarket so no idea how long they’d been on the shelf to be honest.
 
Lavazza beans, like most big brands could have been roasted a number of months before. They won't compare to a proper coffee roasters.
I went through a fair amount of supermarket beans when I first got my espresso machine, but they aren't a patch on fresh beans.
 
I need to stay away from this thread, I now want a bottomless portafilter for my machine, it will need a new portafilter basket to get rid of the pressure valve, the rest is easy to do.

Then I need proper espresso ground coffee, and one day a grinder. I have a tamper now... Rabbit hole indeed
 
I know there are better beans than Lavassa but for the price and taste I can't complain.
I have bought beans twice the price with a roasted date on them and didn't think they were great.
 
We all have different tastes and like different things. It would be a boring world if we all liked the same :)
 
Plus you get the biggest taste difference as espresso. With longer drinks and drinks with milk it dilutes the taste of the coffee anyway so less likely to notice older beans. I only drink espresso so always try for fresh beans. Brazilian beans are my fave.
 
Just buying beans with a 'roasted on date' isn't good enough if they were roasted 6 months ago.
You need freshly roasted and the most recently they were roasted the better.
 
Brands like Lavazza who've been roasting and selling coffee for >125 years have built their brand on consistency. It may not be the freshest or most artisan roast you'll get, but they will be working incredibly hard to get each tin of beans to taste of "Lavazza coffee" and for that taste to be resilient to some pretty poor handling. The industrial processes may mean you'll never get a truly amazing cup but they also make it very unlikely you'll get something terrible.
If you like that taste then you're quids in as you can get a cup all over the world with a reasonable chance that it will taste how you like it :thumbsup:

It's a bit like Cognac (of which I'm a fan) where the master distillers spend a lifetime working out how to blend different years so their VSOP always tastes like their house VSOP despite variations in crop year on year. When you buy a bottle of XO you can be guaranteed it will taste like the last XO you drank from that house. Unlike wines where vintages can be very different year on year.

I've been trying coffee from Old Spike and more recently from Union. Both are on a completely different scale. I've had some lovely coffee and some that I actively disliked :/. It's a lot more like buying wine where you can find a gem amongst a grape or region you usually like or one that just disagrees.
One thing that has puzzled me about both is they tend to favour lighter roasts, as I'm a fan of darker roasts perhaps that's one of the reasons I've found some of them to be disappointing.
I'm not far enough down the rabbit hole to know if my fondness for dark roast with a thick crema makes me a pleb and I'm happy to remain ignorant :D
Also long as you can drink something you enjoy then more power to your elbow!
 
I've done a small exercise this morning, when i made my mid-morning espresso.
Recently, I've been grinding on a "single-brew" basis, rather than leaving beans in my grinders hopper. I think I'm getting more consistent grinds, as well as being able to try different beans easily.
So - today's process for a double-shot espresso, served as a "long-black" (which, if you're not aware, is like a "small" black Americano):
Weigh out 18g beans and grind at my preferred setting ("15" on my Sage Smart Grinder Pro). I grind into a stainless steel cup and then use a metal "stick" to de-clump and get a more consistent portion.
With 18g in, I'm also getting 18g out, which suggests virtually zero retention.
Adding the ground coffee to the pre-heated portafilter I shake and roughly level and then use my shiny new distribution tool to get an even bed. It then just needs a light tamp to settle the puck.
I then measure 120g of hot water into my cup, and pull the espresso directly into this.
The Sage Duo Temp Pro does a pre-infusion, so I don't start timing the shot until I see the first drip from the portafilter. I ran the shot for 25-26 seconds which delivered 40g of coffee.
Excellent flavour. :D
Mrs BTB think's I'm mad. :facepalm:
 
I've done a small exercise this morning, when i made my mid-morning espresso.
Recently, I've been grinding on a "single-brew" basis, rather than leaving beans in my grinders hopper. I think I'm getting more consistent grinds, as well as being able to try different beans easily.
So - today's process for a double-shot espresso, served as a "long-black" (which, if you're not aware, is like a "small" black Americano):
Weigh out 18g beans and grind at my preferred setting ("15" on my Sage Smart Grinder Pro). I grind into a stainless steel cup and then use a metal "stick" to de-clump and get a more consistent portion.
With 18g in, I'm also getting 18g out, which suggests virtually zero retention.
Adding the ground coffee to the pre-heated portafilter I shake and roughly level and then use my shiny new distribution tool to get an even bed. It then just needs a light tamp to settle the puck.
I then measure 120g of hot water into my cup, and pull the espresso directly into this.
The Sage Duo Temp Pro does a pre-infusion, so I don't start timing the shot until I see the first drip from the portafilter. I ran the shot for 25-26 seconds which delivered 40g of coffee.
Excellent flavour. :D
Mrs BTB think's I'm mad. :facepalm:
I’ll take a double of your strongest please!
 
I’ll take a double of your strongest please!
You'd be welcome. :D
Although, today I have been mostly using my V60..... That's a whole other recipe.. ;)
 
just been going through my cupboard and came across this Baby Gaggia.
It turns on and heats up but no water through the group. Has a hairline crack on the back but just cosmetic
Don't have the time or inclination to strip down

May be an excellent startup or may suit someone with a retro kitchen.
Going to pop it on Ebay but thought I'd try you guys first shout if anyones interested.
Happily take a couple of 4k discs in swap. 🤣
 

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It's probably just the solenoid stuck.
I have a Gaggia Coffee in the loft with a similar issue.
 
So I've gone bottomless on my Delonghi ECO310 with a portafilter basket from the EC145 and cutting off a small bit of the plastic portafilter (bit with spouts, easy to screw back on still).

Now I need some proper espresso ground coffee, as regular is too coarse as you all know. I have Small Batch coffee near-ish to where I work so I think I'll pop by and grab a bag. I do have a tamper now too, and have got the hang of frothing the milk (sort of).

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