TRF ~ Coffee Lovers Thread!

[GB-man]

Ethiopia is the homeland of coffee. I love the floral notes and acidity of African coffee.

[BNA/LION]

If you like a little milk froth in your coffee, this will do the trick.

https://www.zulaykitchen.com/product...WKYum5VSMi29JX

[GB-man]

Heck yeah I use one of those daily. Love it. One part espresso, two parts oat milk, swish swish, lots of ice.

[Barbara_C]

Living in Toronto for 3 years got me loving Tim Hortons coffee......still drink it today.....

[boa2]

Originally Posted by GB-man

That’s interesting. My experience at home is that when I heat the milk then ice it I get a flavor profile that’s less desirable. If I want some froth on an iced latte I typically just use a little battery operated frother which I find works quite well, before adding the ice.

A lot of cafes I find lately are offering this cold foam stuff (Starbucks effect me thinks) where they use a standalone frother with some blend of cream and milk and pick your sweetener then layer that on top. To me, this is too much but I have to admit I had one recently on vacation that was damn near an affogato and was delicious lol

This morning, I tried the steam approach I recently saw in Mexico with my iced coffee. Our machine steams like a jet engine so I gave it about 2 seconds with the wand and the result was a nice froth with better blending of the coffee and milk (homemade almond milk, in this case). Really like this.




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[Maleg]

Originally Posted by boa2

This morning, I tried the steam approach I recently saw in Mexico with my iced coffee. Our machine steams like a jet engine so I gave it about 2 seconds with the wand and the result was a nice froth with better blending of the coffee and milk (homemade almond milk, in this case). Really like this.

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That looks good. How do you make your almond milk?

[boa2]

Originally Posted by Maleg

That looks good. How do you make your almond milk?

Soak a cup of raw almonds overnight (or boil and strain if in a hurry)
Blend the almonds with water, 3-4 dates, pinch of salt, vanilla
Strain through nut milk bag
I pour the milk into a jug and then add more water to the bag to get an additional liter of almond milk.
It takes maybe 5-10 minutes to make and stays fresh for 6-7 days.
It tastes much better IMO than any store bought product.

If you want to steam it for hot drinks, add some almond oil or a tsp of sugar to get more froth.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by boa2

This morning, I tried the steam approach I recently saw in Mexico with my iced coffee. Our machine steams like a jet engine so I gave it about 2 seconds with the wand and the result was a nice froth with better blending of the coffee and milk (homemade almond milk, in this case). Really like this.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yum. I’ll have one.

[Maleg]

Originally Posted by boa2

Soak a cup of raw almonds overnight (or boil and strain if in a hurry)
Blend the almonds with water, 3-4 dates, pinch of salt, vanilla
Strain through nut milk bag
I pour the milk into a jug and then add more water to the bag to get an additional liter of almond milk.
It takes maybe 5-10 minutes to make and stays fresh for 6-7 days.
It tastes much better IMO than any store bought product.

If you want to steam it for hot drinks, add some almond oil or a tsp of sugar to get more froth.

Awesome. Thanks.

[boa2]

Originally Posted by GB-man

Yum. I’ll have one.

Anytime!

Originally Posted by Maleg

Awesome. Thanks.

You're quite welcome.

[espanol]

Originally Posted by GB-man

Ethiopia is the homeland of coffee. I love the floral notes and acidity of African coffee.

I lived in Eth for 2 years. Boy do I miss the local coffee. Imported Ethiopian just isn't the same (albeit still great).

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by espanol

I lived in Eth for 2 years. Boy do I miss the local coffee. Imported Ethiopian just isn't the same (albeit still great).

I can only imagine! I’ll have to settle for what gets exported.

[nyc2la]

[boa2]

Originally Posted by nyc2la

Living the good life. Nice, Stephen!

[BNA/LION]

Picked up 8 lbs of freshly roasted New Guinea whole bean coffee yesterday.

They deliver UPS and FedEx. Highly Reccomend this bean!

https://www.lacostacoffee.com/

[Rock]

Originally Posted by GB-man

Ethiopia is the homeland of coffee. I love the floral notes and acidity of African coffee.

I find myself gravitating more towards Kenyan and Rwandan bean these days for the same reasons you mention. I have been finding the Ethiopian bean a bit uninteresting and the lighter roast Kenyans with their fruity character more to my palate. I wouldn't ever want to drink the same thing all the time and try to keep finding something new and interesting.
In Australia we have a specialty roaster called 'ONA'.

https://onacoffee.com.au/

They source high quality green bean from all the significant coffee producing regions in the World and make it available for online purchase. I wish I had another lifetime to explore all the different beans they offer.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by Rock

I find myself gravitating more towards Kenyan and Rwandan bean these days for the same reasons you mention. I have been finding the Ethiopian bean a bit uninteresting and the lighter roast Kenyans with their fruity character more to my palate. I wouldn't ever want to drink the same thing all the time and try to keep finding something new and interesting.
In Australia we have a specialty roaster called 'ONA'.

https://onacoffee.com.au/

They source high quality green bean from all the significant coffee producing regions in the World and make it available for online purchase. I wish I had another lifetime to explore all the different beans they offer.

That’s nice to be able to get what you want delivered. Lately I’ve been buying from the local roaster/coffee shop. They do a great job and always have 5-6 varietals on tap. I also go back and forth a lot because my wife prefers more medium/dark central and South American stuff. I don’t mind as I like it as well.

This thread cost me an arm and a leg as I caved and ordered the LM. I assume it will be a month or two. Just researching accessories I quickly realized coffee is by far the nerdier hobby relative to watches.

[Rolextellstime]

Got a Rocket machine about three weeks ago and absolutely love it, I wish I had done it sooner. Coming from a superautomatic machine this coffee is on a whole new level.

Learning curve wasn't too bad, the latte art I am still working on, but the taste is incredible. I am addicted. 20240923_212448.jpg20241018_161912.jpg20241017_153517.jpg

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[Rock]

Congrats Ken. That is the same machine as I bought in Jan 2021.
"Rocket Mozzafiato Cronometro Evoluzione R"
I had a good single-boiler prior to that purchase (Diadema Perfetta) but the Rocket is so much easier to use and with a good bean, seems to produce a good to great result even when I stuff up grind/dose/tamp. And it's Sooo pretty....

[1William]

Very nice.

[uscmatt99]

Originally Posted by GB-man

That’s nice to be able to get what you want delivered. Lately I’ve been buying from the local roaster/coffee shop. They do a great job and always have 5-6 varietals on tap. I also go back and forth a lot because my wife prefers more medium/dark central and South American stuff. I don’t mind as I like it as well.

This thread cost me an arm and a leg as I caved and ordered the LM. I assume it will be a month or two. Just researching accessories I quickly realized coffee is by far the nerdier hobby relative to watches.

Yessssss. Which LM did you get? Did you get a new grinder as well?

[boa2]

Originally Posted by GB-man

This thread cost me an arm and a leg as I caved and ordered the LM. I assume it will be a month or two. Just researching accessories I quickly realized coffee is by far the nerdier hobby relative to watches.

Congrats. We ordered from LM directly and were open to a few color options. Didn't take long at all. Looking forward to your impressions.

When we upgraded our machine and grinder for the first time in 15 years, I was introduced to a slew of new gadgets and tweaks for espresso. I have my limits, however. Between coffee and audio, you could drive yourself cuckoo fiddling with the system.

[GB-man]

I went with a white mini r and the white pico grinder as they gave me 10% off for buying the pair. I hear mixed reviews. Was going to get an lagom but this will surely be good enough as I don’t do pour overs etc upgraditis is real in coffee.

[boa2]

Originally Posted by GB-man

I went with a white mini r and the white pico grinder as they gave me 10% off for buying the pair. I hear mixed reviews. Was going to get an lagom but this will surely be good enough as I don’t do pour overs etc upgraditis is real in coffee.

Right on. You're gonna love it.

[uscmatt99]

Originally Posted by GB-man

I went with a white mini r and the white pico grinder as they gave me 10% off for buying the pair. I hear mixed reviews. Was going to get an lagom but this will surely be good enough as I don’t do pour overs etc upgraditis is real in coffee.

That’s awesome, great choices. I think you can get the Acaia scale and do brew by weight. It’s a nice feature for consistency. I wish they had it for the Micra as well.

[GB-man]

Thanks guys. Yes I added the brew by weight scale to the order. Kinda silly it’s like double the price for the one that pairs with the machine as both are virtually identical. Regardless that is my plan.

[boa2]

Originally Posted by GB-man

Thanks guys. Yes I added the brew by weight scale to the order. Kinda silly it’s like double the price for the one that pairs with the machine as both are virtually identical. Regardless that is my plan.

My wife demo'd the machine at LM with the brew by weight scale. She decided it was a must have and she was right. It corrected our guessing game and the shots are so consistent.

With some roasts, the pre-brewing feature is also excellent if you like a pull that has the density and flavor depth of a lever machine.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by boa2

My wife demo'd the machine at LM with the brew by weight scale. She decided it was a must have and she was right. It corrected our guessing game and the shots are so consistent.

With some roasts, the pre-brewing feature is also excellent if you like a pull that has the density and flavor depth of a lever machine.

The pre brew requires plumb in correct? I was thinking I’m going to plumb it in regardless as I like a tidy project.

[boa2]

Originally Posted by GB-man

The pre brew requires plumb in correct? I was thinking I’m going to plumb it in regardless as I like a tidy project.

The pre brew doesn't require plumb in, and can be set to start/stop/restart. We have ours set to run 4 seconds/stop for 4 seconds/restart for the espresso we use.

The pre infusion does require plumb in.

At around the 7-minute mark this video has a great explanation of both.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by boa2

The pre brew doesn't require plumb in, and can be set to start/stop/restart. We have ours set to run 4 seconds/stop for 4 seconds/restart for the espresso we use.

The pre infusion does require plumb in.

At around the 7-minute mark this video has a great explanation of both.

That is helpful thank you. I honestly wouldn’t have known the difference. It appears it’s just line pressure vs pump pressure for pre soak.