Any Coffee Nerds on the forum?

[4String.]

How times have changed.

Proper Sheffield folk drink tea and eat bread and dripping for their snap, and "lunch" is for office wallahs or soft southern Jessies...

 

[redlig]

How times have changed.

Proper Sheffield folk drink tea and eat bread and dripping for their snap, and "lunch" is for office wallahs or soft southern Jessies...

Please don't say they live in shoe boxes in the middle of the road and use old newspaper for bedding.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Please don't say they live in shoe boxes in the middle of the road and use old newspaper for bedding.

Shoe boxes? I would have given my right arm for a shoe box! We had to make do with old chip 'oyl papers to huddle into.

 

[ajlelectronics]

I'll never forget that first day at t'pit.
Me an' mi father worked a 72 hour shift, then wi walked home 43 mile through t'snow in us bare feet, huddled inside us clothes med out o' old sacks.
Eventually we trudged over t'hill until wi could see t'street light twinklin' in our village.
Mi father smiled down at mi through t'icicles hangin' off his nose. "
Nearly home now lad", he said.
We stumbled into t'house and stood there freezin' cold and tired out, shiverin' and miserable, in front o' t' meagre fire.
Any road, mi mam says "
Cheer up, lads.
I've got you some nice brown bread and butter for yer tea."
Ee, mi father went crackers.
He reached out and gently pulled mi mam towards 'im by t'throat. "
You big fat, idle ugly wart", he said. "
You gret useless spawny-eyed parrot-faced wazzock." ('
E had a way wi words, mi father.
He'd bin to college, y'know). "
You've been out playin' bingo all afternoon instead o' gettin' some proper snap ready for me an' this lad", he explained to mi poor, little, purple-faced mam.
Then turnin' to me he said "
Arthur", (He could never remember mi name), "here's half a crown.
Nip down to t'chip 'oyl an' get us a nice piece o' 'addock for us tea.
Man cannot live by bread alone."
He were a reyt tater, mi father.
He said as 'ow workin' folk should have some dignity an' pride an' self respect, an' as 'ow they should come home to summat warm an' cheerful.
An' then he threw mi mam on t'fire.
We didn't 'ave no tellies or shoes or bedclothes.
We med us own fun in them days.
Do you know, when I were a lad you could get a tram down into t'town, buy three new suits an' an ovvercoat, four pair o' good boots, go an' see Frank Randall at t'
Palace Theatre, get blind drunk, 'ave some steak an' chips, bunch o' bananas an' three stone o' monkey nuts an' still 'ave change out of a farthing.
We'd lots o' things in them days they 'aven't got today - rickets, diptheria, Hitler and my, we did look well goin' to school wi' no backside in us trousers an' all us little 'eads painted purple because we 'ad ringworm.
They don't know they're born today!!!

 

[Maker]

How times have changed.

Proper Sheffield folk drink tea and eat bread and dripping for their snap, and "lunch" is for office wallahs or soft southern Jessies...

I buy my beans from a proper Sheffield coffee roaster.

 

[Rannsachair]

I was given a bean to cup and find it pretty good:

I get bags of beans from the canteen at work, very reasonably priced:

I may not have good taste in coffee: I do not like Costa and think McDonalds is pretty good.

 

[Morris]

A stall in Newcastle Grainger (200 year old, indoor) market grinds beans for you.
Shelves of beans in glass jars behind the counter, you tell them what you want and how fine you want them ground.
Great service and the smell of the fresh beans when you get anywhere near is amazing. They also advertise a bassista training day / experience.

Excellent Coffee Bar in Newcastle's Grainger Market - Pumphreys Coffee Centre & Brewing Emporium, Newcastle upon Tyne Traveller Reviews - Tripadvisor

Pumphreys Coffee Centre & Brewing Emporium: Excellent Coffee Bar in Newcastle's Grainger Market - See 56 traveller reviews, 34 candid photos, and great deals for Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, at Tripadvisor.

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View attachment 489235

The market also has a maze of tunnels under it that were used as bomb shelters in ww2, very occasionally open to the public during "Discover historic Newcastle" weekends.

Grainger Market is great. As is the rest of the Toon.

 

[GrahamGKD]

I have just been permitted to purchase an espresso machine, after finally convincing my partner that coffee can be good (the kitchen is more my domain than her's, but she gets a veto on bringing appliances/gadgets into the house, to save me from my own bargain hunting if nothing else).

A really awful first cup of coffee later, I looked up what the hell I was doing... And holy hell, people are the topic unnecessarily complicated!

After further research, I concluded that whilst people are buying all manner of insanely priced coffee gismos, all that's actually required is spoon, a bit of stainless steel wire, and a 58mm round disk with a handle on top...

As far as I can tell, making an ok espresso comes down to some basic skills you can learn in half an hour, and making a really good one is down to developing experience by making a lots of it.


Anyway... I figure that I can't be the only member here who has been lured in by the promise of more, stronger, and better coffee. Plus based on normal standards for members here, at least one of you must be an expert barista just casually on top of your day job.

We use an ECM Synchronica. I think the key to decent coffee is to freshly grind the beans. When we started out with home espresso we used pre-ground coffee but the change when you grind immediately before making the coffee is transformational. We also have an AeroPress (for use away from home), but again, results improved dramatically when we invested in a hand grinder to go with it. We buy our coffee (5Kg at a time) from Grindhouse Coffee who are cheaper than any other roastery I have found.

 

[Cobbler]

I love the smell of roasting coffee, there used to be loads of places, old style grocers shops & similar that did it, you have to hunt for them now, quite a loss.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

I buy my beans from a proper Sheffield coffee roaster.

The guys who are unaccountably in S9, even though everyone with money for fresh coffee beans lives on the other side of the city?

 

[Farside]

I spent a few years abusing an Elgento electric coffee pot to death. It went through several leak repairs and eventually the element gave up.
I went to buy another but couldn't find one except for silly money.
As far as the contents go, Aldi supplied me with some fairly decent ground beans, much to my surprise.
I can't really be bothered with it much now, although I still have a thermos steeper and a stove-top percolator, should I get back the notion for it.

One interesting side-effect of the whole debacle is that I can't stand instant coffee now. It still has uses as a film developer, but that's about it.

 

[skotl]

I await the flack from those wiser than me on here, but having had a few different machines, for consistency I have a Nespresso, perfect espresso every time, life’s too short to faff around.

This. I have two - an original nespresso for short espresso drinks and a Vertuo for full mugs worth.
Life is too short for faffing with coffee grounds, and nespressor tastes good.

 

[Maker]

The guys who are unaccountably in S9, even though everyone with money for fresh coffee beans lives on the other side of the city?

Frazer's coffee, it's near the train station now but a few years ago was S9, on an industrial estate in Attercliffe. I used to cycle along the Don every couple of weeks for a top up.

 

[Farside]

I wouldn't say nerd, just because I enjoy the occasional daily hand ground single origin small batch locally roasted filter coffee.

But are the beans roasted between the thighs of hill-maidens on the sunny side of the hill?

 

[m_c]

I may not have good taste in coffee: I do not like Costa and think McDonalds is pretty good.

A mate is really into his coffee, and he says it's a decent coffee.
I never drink the stuff, but I do like to watch how brand snobbery clouds peoples judgements.

 

[Endeleus]

I had been using a Krupps bean-to-cup machine for some years before it sprung a leak a few months ago (I've not got round to stripping it down yet to identify the culprit).

Anyway, turns out I"m quite happy with instant. I use one of the stronger Nescafé ones and only takes a minute to make.

I watched a programme recently about a guy who had set up an "artisan" coffee shop for commuters and was bemoaning the fact most of his customers didn't appreciate the nuances of his bean and roasting choices. It didn't seem to register with him that most people just want a caffeine hit on the way to work.

I view coffee connoisseurs a bit like the high-end hifi nerds - as long as they're otherwise decent company, I'll politely excuse myself whilst they discuss their artisan roasting preferences / audiophile specs amongst themselves.

 

[Maker]

A mate is really into his coffee, and he says it's a decent coffee.
I never drink the stuff, but I do like to watch how brand snobbery clouds peoples judgements.

I agree McD's is one of the better ones, but the problem with all big brands is they need consistency, which means they buy a lower quality green bean because there's thousands of tonnes avaliable, where a small roaster doesn't mind if they can only have 60kg of one harvest from the Ugandan hilltop which saw the perfect conditions over the last year.

This is why an independent high street coffee shop will tend to be nicer than say a Costa (and one of the reasons it will be twice the price).

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

Frazer's coffee, it's near the train station now but a few years ago was S9, on an industrial estate in Attercliffe. I used to cycle along the Don every couple of weeks for a top up.

I was thinking of Forge... I rarely bother to go into the city centre since the CAZ was implemented.

I don't know what magic they use, but the grinder is your main adjustment for an espresso machine, the biggest variables you have control of are grind size, amount of coffee in the basket, and about of liquid out. Giving up grind adjustment is like painting a room but letting the staff at B&Q tell you what colour you're having.

I think the "magic" is doing a lot of sensory testing with different configurations of various manufacturers machines to come up with a blend and grind that works well with what Italians consider the "standard" parameters (1:2 ratio, 2.3ml/sec ratio, 92°C, 9 bar).

It's like any other formulation process in that regard, and for a commercial cafe, or a person who just wants coffee, results in a product that ticks the box neatly.

It's obviously not going to fully satisfy someone who is really into their coffee... Much the same as someone with their own sense of aesthetic taste wouldn't be happy to just buy whatever colour of paint is in vogue this year.

A mate is really into his coffee, and he says it's a decent coffee.
I never drink the stuff, but I do like to watch how brand snobbery clouds peoples judgements.

Since they implemented the "McCafe" thing it generally is pretty good, I think they invested a fair bit of money in completely idiot proof bean to cup machines which are carefully matched to a specific bulk bought roast that's hard to mistreat.

When they still served filter coffee it was utterly dire, which may have put some people off for life...

Although maybe not for Finn's, whenever I am in Finland I notice that their preferred form of coffee is made with beans that have been roasted just short of being charcoal and left to stew in a percolator.

Have I logged into Mumsnet by mistake?

Not enough misandry, middle class predjudice and and general "won't somebody think of the children" BS for that.

@Jelly_Sheffield - as you have probably realised there are as many answers as there are contributors. I’ve been an avid coffee brewer for years and have spent much time chasing the perfect brew. Ultimately it comes down to what like. If you like it, it’s the right way. The only advice it would offer is to buy whole beans and grind them yourself rather than buy ground coffee. The usable life of ground coffee is measured in minutes as opposed to months for beans. Good luck with your quest.

This was largely why I fancied having an espresso machine, it gives me a way to experiment with all the nuances of coffee.

I view coffee connoisseurs a bit like the high-end hifi nerds - as long as they're otherwise decent company, I'll politely excuse myself whilst they discuss their artisan roasting preferences / audiophile specs amongst themselves.

Hahaha, it's all about knowing your audience when you're that deep into something like that.

I have all manner of niche interests that I know better than to bore someone who isn't interested in them with, but if I meet a fellow aficionado, will rabbit on for hours about.

 

[Seadog]

I have the best little coffee shop in London, nearby.
The blend was developed by the owner's great uncle in 1948.
He eventually sold it to coffee company and it's available nearly 80 tears later.

She used to sell ready-ground but these days keeps only the beans.

 

[123hotchef]

I recently got a little areopress gadget to make a quick single coffee for myself. I will take it camping too.
I grind my own beans too.