Scientician Posted July 22, 2011 That layer of crema looks so good that I can almost taste it from here. Well done. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chnt Posted July 22, 2011 that looks very very nice Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foo Posted July 22, 2011 Good job. Coffee is evil though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sapito Posted July 23, 2011 Is that a popcorn maker or something similar? Great pictorial Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted July 23, 2011 Coffee is evil though How so? It reduces your risk of, among other things, cancer and alzheimer's disease. The consensus at the moment seems to be that the health benefits outweigh the costs. Is that a popcorn maker or something similar? Yep, spot on. It's not a bad one for the job either. Roasts most beans to full city in about 9 minutes. Considering some popcorn makers set the beans on fire after 3 minutes, and others refuse to get them to crack, I'm pretty happy with this. I may be buying a Behmor soon. I'm quite happy with the quality I can get from the popcorn maker, but if I want an even roast I can only do a third of a cup of beans in one go. The Behmor can do a pound or something in one go. It's about $400 which is a fair bit of money for me, so it's not a decision I will take lightly. The Presso was the turning point though. You can make better coffee in it than you can in a lot of the expensive machines. The only shortcoming of it is that it can be less consistent than a good machine, but that can be overcome with practice. Considering that an espresso machine that would make coffee as good as the Presso (which was about $150) would cost at least four grand, I think it's a great little device, not to mention that you can take it camping or whatever. A good grinder helps. Ours is the Breville Smart Grind. I think it's not too shabby for the price (about $250). It has some idiosyncracies in terms of the flexibility of its settings etc, but the grind is beautiful and consistent. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
obtuse Posted July 23, 2011 damn dude, my mouth is watering looking at the amazing end result. im jealous as. you got me thinking, its time i took my coffee appreciation to the next level. You've outlined some good starting points. love the popcorn maker idea, what a winner! Cheers, Obtuse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted July 23, 2011 There's heaps of info on various internet fora, but as with all topics, sometimes it's difficult to sort through it all when there's conflicting information. I actually had trouble finding any of the most recommended popcorn makers in Australia, and couldn't be bothered waiting for delivery from overseas, so I went with the generic one from Target that's in the pictures. I'd certainly recommend it if you can find it. Apart from the beans and the end result actually being better than most pre-roasted stuff you can find, it is also a lot cheaper. The green beans range from about $5 a kilo to $15 a kilo, with some more exotic ones being closer to $50 a kilo. I'd say for the same quality of bean, even accounting for the loss of weight during roasting, you're paying about 4 or 5 times as much to buy them already roasted. Plus, the green beans stay fresh for up to about a year, so you can keep them on hand and have freshly roasted beans whenever you want. Shame it's too cold down here to grow coffee properly, that would be the next step. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rabaelthazar Posted July 23, 2011 Awesome, Ballzac. I love coffee, but don't put that sort of effort in at home. You're making me uber jealous. I've never seen one of those Pressos before. Looks really good, Shall have to investigate. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coin Posted July 23, 2011 (edited) for the sake of discussion (not my laziness, of course) could you talk about the presso? I honestly don't think I've ever seen one I'm a coffee ignoramus Just hot water and press down hard?? Edited July 23, 2011 by coin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonstn Posted July 23, 2011 Oh man that looks good, and here I am drinking my pissy nescafe boo for instant!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ballzac Posted July 23, 2011 for the sake of discussion (not my laziness, of course) could you talk about the presso? I honestly don't think I've ever seen one I'm a coffee ignoramus Just hot water and press down hard?? Yeah man. I think that's how espresso was originally. It has some design flaws, but it produces the best coffee I've ever had at home. The main design floor is that the bit where you fill the water up is uniform all the way up, this means there's nowhere for the water to get in around the seal, and you have to 'jiggle' it to get the water in. All it would take is some grooves, or maybe a widening of the plastic bit near the top, for it to be easier to fill up. Probably the next main problem with it, though not so much a design flaw as simply a limitation of the process, is that if the grind is too fine it is impossible to press (or you feel like you're gonna break it by putting all your body weight on it). On the Smart Grind, it is actually two notches coarser than the coarsest espresso grind, though it still looks quite fine to me, and smells gorgeous prior to pressing, and makes a beautiful espresso. But you can definitely go finer on an electric machine. As I said earlier, consistency is the biggest issue. If you have a consistent grind, and a consistent tamp (you can tamp on scales to get the same pressure each time) the main variables are water temperature and pressing pressure. I used to heat the thing up before using it, but I haven't found a huge amount of difference between using it when it's cold or when it's hot. Even if it's just been used, I find boiling water cools down quickly enough in it that it doesn't scorch the coffee. As for pressure, once the other variables are accounted for, then a consistent rate of flow will give you a consistent pour. It's also important to stop before it goes watery. Fifty mL or so will be really nice and rich, sweet and strong, and after that, even the next twenty mL or so will start to go sour and watery and ruin it a little. There's a cheaper version (I think it's called the Aeropress or something). I'm very happy with the Presso. So the basic process is, fill it up with water (I make sure it's at least up to the start of the plastic bit), press the water through the ground coffee, then after pulling your shot, you need to squeeze the rest of the water through the portafilter so that it doesn't make a mess when you take the portafilter off. If you don't put enough water in to start with, you won't get enough pressure, and it will take too long to go through and the coffee won't be as nice. I think it's hard to go wrong with this thing as long as your grind is right. If it's too fine you will have difficulty getting it through, and if it's too coarse it will taste more like French press than espresso. I don't think you need to spend quite as much on a grinder as we did, but you certainly need one that you can set and it will produce a consistent grind, not one of those cheap ones that just chops it up and you hold it longer to chop it more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
