Next Stage in My Coffee Life

Mistress Silvia and Rocky live well together ...... [smile] Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Would you say that's a bit of a step up from a bottle of chicory esence and a spoonfull of Sunshine milk powder.

This is considered to be a good cup of coffee by some shearers cooks.

Turist

Bob, You know what is really scary ? I have chicory/coffee essence and Sunshine milk powder in the pantry ..... oh ... and Nestle Condensed milk in the tube ! The chicory still comes with the red/blue label and the black liquid gold still smells great to me. How sad is that ...!!! [smile] Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Anthony/Bob I guess I must be a little sad as well 'cause I like the old coffee and chicory essence with condensed milk. I must say I am also very partial to the great taste of stroooong black coffee and I await the exhibition of the great Baristas in action at Copeton (I think I can smell it now). Regards Jeff

Anthony That looks great. It would be very hard not to take them with you, but 26kg... surely you could just let the air out of the spare tyres to save that weight - you have a compressor after all !! I am sure that Joan would insist I made some sacrifice to include them. Let's see, that would have to be a dozen reds - no way! Perhaps her dozen whites would be ok !!! Ken gottabjoaken

Ken, Guess what ? I just put my eldest daughter on the scales .... waddya know 25.5 kg !!! [EvilDaddyCoffeeGrin] Trouble is ...her comment was just as evil .... [smile] Quote: Hey Dad ...Copeton is about 8 weeks away ...you could lose 3 kg per week til Copeton and take the Espresso machine to make us Chococcinos ... Unquote: She's 10 going on 20-25 as usual .... [Smile] Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Hey Anthony, if you really can't take your Miss Silvia to Copeton....ya can always have a go on ours! She is a permanent fixture to our rear bench space courtesy of 8 strong screws and some aluminium angle iron. I would be most interested in obtaining the name and phone number of your coffee supplier as I want to get my hands on some really good beans. My supplier in Tassie is good, but a change is in order. What's the name of the beans you use? Mine seem to have become a bit insipid now, or maybe I have just developed a taste for stronger flavour?? The beans are fresh, and I also grind just before I make the cuppa, but I can't seem to get that lovely rich crema any more. Any hints as to what I am doing wrong? The grind seems right...had the coffee supplier set the grinder up for me, and yes it too uses the burrs to grind. It's a smaller version of yours, different brand, but a commercial jobbie just the same. Ciao for now from Jan O

G'day Jan, Ah yes ! Mistress Silvia .... I'm not sure of your experience/s with her or espresso in general so take from this anything you need ...disregard the rest. I will scribble a few principals for espresso and you might see where the elusive crema has gone ? An espresso by definition for a single shot .... is 28ml (+/- 2.5ml) of liquid ending up in glass ... 7g of freshly ground coffee bean (+/- 5.g) ...extracted over 25 seconds (+/- 2.5 seconds) ...at 90 degs C (+/- 3 degrees) ..at a pressure of 9 bar (132psi) (+/- 1 bar). This a called a "single shot". Wether you're shooting for an espresso or a milk type drink this is the base to form all drinks from the machine. For a traditional Cappuccino (Italian) you use a double shot (60ml of liquid with 14g of coffee in the double basket) 60 ml of steamed milk and 60ml of foam making a traditional Cappa 180ml. For most Aussie tastes you will use a single shot (30ml) of coffee and then top up with milk and foam. The thing to get right first is the grind ...as the grind and tamping of it determine the extraction time (25 secs). When trying to get the grind and tamp right it is best to use the double basket and a double shot (60ml). Ok !! Grab a glass and mark 60ml on it by Nikko pen or a bit of tape. After machine is up to temp (at least 30 min for Silvia) grind 14 g of coffee and place in double basket. If you dont have scales ...Silvia's double basket holds about 14 g level with the top of the basket ..so just let it fall from grinder into the basket to above rim and level off with doser spoon. This needs to be pressed down (tamped) with the black tamper to the fill line about 7mm down inside the basket. It takes about 12-15 kgs of force ... remind me to show you my custom stainless steel tamper I got for birthday .... Lock the Portafilter into the Grouphead .... place glass with 60ml measure under portafilter .... look at watch with second hand ... start shot and time it ...it should be about 25 secs for 60ml. If it is 15-20 secs, the shot is too fast meaning the grind is too course .... if it is 30-35 the grind is too fine. Adjust grinder up a notch if too fine and try again .... til, 25 secs is reached. This should produce a good shot with fresh roasted and ground beans. The crema from Silvia can be substantial so the 60ml is for the liquid plus the crema above that ... The tamp and grind setting are harder to control with the single basket as its edges of the "coffee puck" are thinner than the centre so it can be inconsistent. The principals are the same though .... 25 secs ... 7g coffee ... good tamp and 25 secs. If you want to go a bit further Miss Silvia needs to be "temp surfed". Boiler espresso machines have a thermostat to control the temp of the boiler. They usually have two which supplies a boiler temp range. My Silvia turns the boiler element on at 87 deg C and turns it off at about 113 deg C. The dead space doesnt help you pull the shot at 90 C as the 90 C is the "group head temp" not boiler temp. There are mods you can do to espresso machines to keep the dead space to 1 degree but requires electrical mods, PID controllers and solid state relays ... as soon as mine is outta warranty it will be fitted. I pull my shots at 106 deg C boiler temp which gives me 90 deg C at the group head and portafilter as best I can achieve. To pull your shot at the right temp ...lock the portafilter in as normal ready to pull the shot .... instead of turning on the shot button ... open up the steam wand ...(the boiler should be full here as you are pulling a shot not steaming) and start the hot water switch and run hot water into a container until the element light comes on .... (this is 87 deg C boiler temp) count 40 seconds on a clock (the temp is rising while you are counting) at 40 seconds hit brew switch this will be about 90 c in the grouphead/portafilter and 106 deg c boiler temp. You know you've pulled a good shot and everything is fine when you see the crema as a red brown colour .... the twin stream coming out of the portafilter looks like a curved mouse tail (thick to thin) and you see a Guinness effect as the crema rises ... and it tastes and smells like heaven. We can do some shots at Copeton to put ya right if above is too much ... My best experience with storing coffee is as follows .... beans already ground are discarded after 2 hours max preferably 1 hour. Fresh roasted beans are not that good after 4 days at room temp in a container. I seal my beans in cryovac after getting them home from roaster and then into deep freeze (minus 18 or better) this will give you about 8-10 weeks. In the BT freezer this would give 6-8 weeks if in cryo ...if no cryo but in a sealed container around 4-6 weeks. As far as beans go .... MMmmmmmmm !! How long is a piece of string ...[smile] I not up with regions of the world verses flavour of the bean (check with me again in two years [smile]) so I use the principal ...buy small quantity ...if it tastes yum buy bigger lots to suit method of storage. What suits you as a nice cup might not suit me or vice versa. I do have a preference for medium roasts not dark as they taste a little burnt to my palate. My favourite at the moment is a blend from Di Bella (a roaster in Bris ). It is called Dolce Sapori which means in Italian sweet taste. It is $24 a kilo or $66 for 3kg. The blurb goes .... sweet aftertaste, full bodied, medium strength. Try www.dibella.com.au Hope this helps .... Regards Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Once again he has excelled and the problem is soved! On ya maaate! Just waiting for my coffee beans to get here from Brisbane. Due in today...tongue's haging out because I have run out! Ciao for now. Jan O