OMG - Rabbit Holes!

You are only just inside the rabbit hole.  It is very, very deep with many twists and turns. No use fighting it, just surrender to it. Mwah ha ha!

I'm down there too.

Careful you don't bump in to me scrabbling around in the dark!

The family clubbed together and bought me a Gaggia Classic for my 60th and I'm now on the hunt constantly for tools, methods and tips. As blokeuptheroad says, it's a very, very deep rabbit hole.

Anybody else managed to overcomplicate something that should be pretty simple??

Err.. bikes? Most of us?

At least you have a machine already and it works! I’m now contemplating a new machine and just peering into the abyss. Gaggia bean to cup or Sage “in-between “ device….. or Delonghi bean to cup. But the Sage might make better coffee.. But the Gaggia is very reliable and has a cup warmer with independent timer…. The Delonghi Rivelia makes the best coffee for a true bean to cup without portafilter….

Oh and the Delonghi Rivelia is on offer at Amazon…

Having fallen down the coffee rabbit hole a few year's ago, I'm now considering upgrading my fairly basic espresso machine. I'd really like one of the proper Italian machines with dual boiler and adjustable everything...but they won't fit in the kitchen. So now we are discussing ripping out the kitchen and starting again!

I can't afford any of this!!

But I do like fannying about with my coffee 🙂

Nice ground coffee and an Aeropress.

All you need for great coffee.

Keep your rabbits bruv.

The family clubbed together and bought me a Gaggia Classic for my 60th and I’m now on the hunt constantly for tools, methods and tips.

Very similar story. My Profitec Go which I've had since April was a 60th birthday gift which family and friends clubbed together for.  I had been enjoying good coffee from an Aeropress, Bialetti etc. for a few years before that, but really wanted an espresso machine. I use it every day without fail now if I'm at home and really look forward to my morning coffee.

I still brew with the other methods but I've grown to love my morning double espresso hit, and fancy I've got quite adept at making it. For my tastes at least, I'm sure James Hoffman would critique it quite vigorously!  I make milk drinks too, for my wife mostly but a cappuccino is weekend thing for me too.

I can't see me getting upgradeitis, which a lot of people seem to get, any time soon. I'm really happy with my set up.  Enjoy OP,  it's a bit geeky and unfathomable to the Nescafé drinkers but then so are 3 or 4k bicycles to those riding £200 BSOs.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/product/ambiano-espresso-machine-000000000000602779

How bad can it be?

Nice ground coffee beans and an Aeropress  outrageously expensive espresso machine.

All you need for great coffee.

FIFY

Have you tried film photography?

I bought a Delonghi expresso maker a few weeks ago after asking, on here, about making flat whites.

I've concluded it's too much faff for an everyday coffee and mostly just stick with a cafetiere BUT that's mostly because I can't get the required strength and volume from the Delonghi

So if someone knows an efficient way of making a very strong, mug sized flat white, I'm all ears - a double expresso (max size of this machine) is insufficient...

A "very strong" mug of flat white will need more than 36g of extracted coffee. 36g being a standard double.

Which Delonghi out of interest?

Oh, and it’s espresso… no x, sorry.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/205141859336?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=hUqkZqU1SGm&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=LJIqZ7XGTkq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

stanley

Full Member

A “very strong” mug of flat white will need more than 36g of extracted coffee. 36g being a standard double.

Yeah, I now realise that. Not sure what the solution is apart from double batch of double expresso (but first batch goes cold in the meantime...)

oceanskipper

Full Member

Which Delonghi out of interest?

ECP3X20 is the model number - it's a cheap one

Nescafe instant, strong. I’m a ’70s sort of chap. No rabbits, no holes.

I’ve now found myself looking at coffee forums and ordering pocket scales to measure grind

Not sure you want to go there.  A couple of guys at a place we were staying last year had their personal hand grinders and weighing machines out for every cup of coffee they made.  The coffee may have been good but I'm not really sure they achieved the look they were aiming for

Stove top mocha pot, Good coffee beans, electric grinder. That's all you need for good coffee. Drink it black.

For Sale

Delonghi coffee machine with milk frother, one Aeropress and two Cafetieres Frst reasonable offer will be accepted

Stove top moka pot, Good ground coffee.

FTFY

Coffee sounds like stereo equipment. I hear that gold plated spoons for the final stir make a real difference.

I have a conical burr for the darker chocolately roasts my wife likes. A hand grinder, originally for pourover now mostly for travel as I also have a DF54 flat burr for pourover. I have a Flair Pro2 for making shots, a Hario switch for pours, a temp controlled kettle with gooseneck, scales the original mini set and then a set with a timer built in. Then there's the office kit (April and aeropress).

Honestly though, a single decent grinder and brew method and decent beans make the biggest difference.

I love making coffee and drinking coffee though and given beer wants to kill me, my sugar and milk free coffees are a pleasure I can still indulge in without any guilt.

I hear that gold plated spoons for the final stir make a real difference.

<whistling innocently emoji>

They are a great way to keep your mind off how crap the world and life in general is nowadays,

Anybody else managed to overcomplicate something that should be pretty simple??

Riding bikes. It should be a simple, carefree slightly childish pursuit.
But somehow it now involved carbon, suspension, tyre choice, workshop stands and endless fettling plus driving to far away locations.