Gilly

I post quite regularly on here but with some trepidation as the default setting seems to be overtly male. Past and present comments can include ‘the missus’; /‘want to upgrade but the missus doesn’t share my enthusiasm’; / ‘ I am allowed my small corner of the kitchen’; / ‘ the missus thinks it’s ugly’ et al, anyway you get my drift. It seems to be the male preponderance to indulge in the technical aspect of say making a ‘drink’ rather than the consumption of. Its interesting; and this follows in so many aspects of hobby/ism. Maybe it stems from a male subconscious rivalry; a ‘need’ to outdo and to be seen to exhibit a concrete awareness of ones standing amongst peers, hastened by the fact that one doesn’t want to appear foolish or inept at any point. I don’t have the answers; but it is an interesting point; as a side it also seems to be that ‘milky coffees ‘ seem to be the go to choice of female purveyors of our beloved drink; again interesting.

Go for a Classic circa 2002-2004 with Auber PID which will give you the pre infusion you want, Mr Shades PID unfortunately doesn’t do this. Swop out the OEM wand for a mk2 or 3 Rancilio, lower the OPV to 9 bar, stick a brass filter holder on with a silicone gasket and you have with your Niche grinder or equivalent an excellent set up. In order to ‘better’ this you are in the realms of really big bucks for diminishing returns. Good luck with your search.

Absolutely agree with Planty21. Newbies asking basic questions are sometimes replied to in a manner which Is unbecoming to a forum which is supposed to be super friendly. Its a shame the forum seems to be losing core members because of the frequent and insidious postings of a few seemingly intolerant male contributors. For f***s sake it’s a forum about a drink.. Plenty of other forums for bile and prejudice elsewhere; KEEP IT COFFEE.

So?

It’s a COFFEE FORUM. IF I WANT POLITICAL DEBATE THERE ARE PLENTY OF SITES FOR THIS AND TO BE HONEST THEY OFTEN JUST GET NASTY. LETS TRY TO KEEP TO THE WORLD OF COFFEE AND ALL IT ENTAILS. Thanks

Double shot INDIAN MALABAR straight into hot water; no milk, no sugar, just pure coffee nirvana.

I only drink AMERICANO; black no sugar so it’s all about the bean. After years of tasting I only now have a dark roast: Indian Monsooned Malabar from my local roastery. Strong but low in acidity. Absolutely delicious. Get some!!

If you like your Coffee to taste of Coffee! then try Indian Monsooned Malibar; very low in acidity, strong but mellow. After tasting many beans I always come back to these. Try.

Pizza. Sourdough. Gaggia. mmmmh. Gaggia coffee machine quite decent, what’s not relevant?

The problem here is that these huge companies basically don’t care about the quality, it’s all about quantity, bums on seats sort of thing. Of the three giants of the High St, Starbucks is possibly the worst; as soon as you open the door it’s smells usually of sour milk, yuk. Basic machines, horrible huge mugs and a taste that to my mind must be acquired (black AMERICANO). Costa comes in second; basically dirge water. Old beans, sour taste and served by ‘baristas’ who are so rushed that the coffee is thrown at you. AMERICANO weak, sour, the total absence of any CREMA makes this a not too enjoyable coffee break. First place goes to Nero; their AMERICANO at least has some strength to it and on a good day some CREMA. It tries to be all things Italian, but again the staff seem to rush their drinks. If you like atmosphere this is perhaps the best at playing Italian. To be honest, if you really want a half decent brew you are mostly better off visiting an independent. Of course once home brewing gets seriously underway you can NEVER want a High St coffee again. Unfortunately the masses gather at these watering holes because they really know no better; it’s not their fault. These huge companies have sold us a dream; they can afford to. Think on; get a decent set up and you will never look back.!!

So how much is it in sterling?

Spot on.

Ok I personally didn’t take offence to the post, thought it could be quite funny; however as soon as a politically skewed post is put out there on a non political site one is invariably on a sticky wicket. See the one thing here that unites us all is good coffee; it’s a drink, and that’s something we all share on here, coffee nirvana being the goal. I’m on three political sites myself, and to be honest it gets raw; my parents always told me there are two things you never discuss: MONEY AND POLITICS. I see why now, they’re divisive. Having a hobby is a shared non divisive element that tends to unite . Though:- From a female perspective I could get my knickers in a twist every time I read a post that says “ the Mrs doesn’t like all this coffee equipment in her kitchen” et al, or her indoors just wouldn’t understand why 1k on a grinder is a sound investment. I get it, it’s a male dominated arena , but I too can’t stand bad coffee(Costa’s dirge water comes to mind), but I just suck it up and move on(not their coffee yuk). So without discourse on my political leanings or how minted I may be I’ll bid you all farewell.☕️☕️☕️

Hello How do I convince someone that is slagging off their 2002 1425watt Classic 9bar with RANCILIO wand, that the reason their shots are too fast/slow and awful is their goddamn grinder not the Gaggia. Walk head bang. Help!!

Replaced steam thermo still same problem. When both switches toggled and steam knob open water flows freely then switch off brew button Thanks all. Problem resolved. The actual OPV valve seemed at fault despite descale/clean. Swapped out for another-bingo lots of steam!! On examination the valve looks to be ok and it’s definately clean.Maybe it’s pressure valve had been turned so low that it somehow is stuck there.