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Please Note - You must be signed in to Vote in this Poll - Register for FREE Coffee Forums UK started little over 2 years ago and already has a member base of over 900 members. We are keen to understand where you heard about Coffee Forums UK, and ways that we can become more visible. With an increased membership comes additional benefits, such as more competitions and prizes, group buys (discount opportunities), and greater sharing of knowledge, and assistance from other members in your area. Please take a few moments to choose the reason in the poll that you identify with, or choose 'other' and leave a comment below Thanks for taking the time to help us plan to serve you better

You may have noticed a few new badges have popped up next to some peoples names in the past few hours. The badges we have introduced are; Admin, Moderator, YYYY Supporter and Super Supporter The Admin and Moderator buttons are assigned by Admin to those who help maintain Coffee Forums UK and keep the site free of spammers The Advertiser and Supporter buttons are in recognition of supporting Coffee Forums UK financially. Advertisers will have their status displayed for the period in which they contribute towards the running costs through banner advertising. Details of advertising rates can be found here Supporter status can be obtained using the Donate link at the top of most forum pages Donations are completely voluntary, yet help to keep the forum free of intrusive adverts. Once a donation has been validated the badge will be assigned. (There is also an option not to display the badge if you wish) Thank you to those who have advertised with Coffee Forums UK or donated over the past few months. We are now reaching a wider audience than ever, and hope to continue to enhance the website month-by-month.

We're constantly striving to improve your browsing and interactive experience What new features would you like to see on Coffee Forums UK? Are there other forums that you visit that have something funky that keeps you returning time after time or a feature that adds to your enjoyment? We are open to all suggestions and will consider each option put forward. Please leave your suggestions below, or PM Glenn if you wish to remain anonymous We will not be introducing karma, betting or instant chat mods - but may look at holding scheduled chat sessions in the future, on specific topics - which can be recorded for later viewing.

Phil Wain has reached part four of his fascinating history of speciality coffee in London. It's 2009 and Glenn and the Forum get a well-deserved acknowledgement. The whole article is here, and well worth a read, wherever you live, as the previous parts, but this is the sentence about the mighty Glenn and CFUK: 'This was a time when new coffee enthusiasts used mostly word of mouth, or occasionally my map or Young & Foodish’s top ten coffee list to find new places to explore. Another source was Coffee Forums UK which had been founded in 2008 by Glenn Watson and was beginning to grow.'

How did you find Coffee Forums UK?

We're giving away 2 Limited Edition Coffee Forums UK KeepCups To enter; Nominate a member who has helped you out over the past couple of months Please briefly describe why you have nominated that person. I will draw a winner (and may check on the likes tallies for each as well ) and both parties will receive a KeepCup Deadline for entries is 31 January 2014

New Badges have been rolled out today to create a uniform look across the site. Awarded to members with 5000 posts of more Awarded to members with 2000 - 4999 posts Existing badges have been remodelled Badges may be stacked if you meet more than 1 criteria Further badges may be added in the near future

We're excited to announce that we have commissioned a Limited Edition* Coffee Forums UK KeepCup The Coffee Forums UK KeepCups are 8oz in size and will be given away as prizes on the forum throughout the year A small number of Coffee Forums UK KeepCups are available to purchase for £11.00 incl p&p Click Here to order These will be sold on a first-come-first-served basis I have been a fan of KeepCup for many years and have a small library of them, collected from various events that I have visited I take a KeepCup with me everywhere I go, and have only used 1 or 2 takeaway cups in the past 12 months Please check out the Sustainability page on the KeepCup website to see why everyone should own a KeepCup *The KeepCup colours used in this combination are available to purchase elsewhere, however the printed band is a limited edition, commissioned especially for Coffee Forums UK We cannot sell the band separately but you are free to use it on other KeepCups that you may own KeepCup and the KeepCup symbols are trademarks of KeepCup Limited (UK)

Save the date - Saturday 28 September 2013 Coffee Forums UK members are invited to a Meet the Members day on Saturday 28 September 2013. Times: 1100 till 1700 Cost: Free This will be a great chance to meet fellow members, try out a range of HX, dual boiler and possibly lever coffee machines under one roof Drink some great coffee, watch or have a go at roasting and maybe walk away with a prize or two. Light refreshments will be provided More details to follow... Spaces will be limited if interest exceeds expectations RSVP to [email protected] Venue: Bella Barista, Nene Court, The Embankment, Wellingborough, NN8 1LD image courtesy of Google Maps

coffee_forums: Coffee Forums UK is pleased to announce that we have our own KeepCups! We'll be giving some away as prizes http://t.co/wZ6a1Agbe5 More... Follow Coffee Forums UK on Twitter @coffee_forums

Just registered hoping for some good advise. Mike

I know we have a good number of cycling fans and cyclists on Coffee Forums UK, along with a healthy level of visitors from cycling forums too I'm sure a fair few of us will be watching the ITV4 #tdf highlight show each evening that racing takes place - whether sat on a turbo trainer or in the comfort of the sofa or your favourite chair Maybe you'll be enjoying it over a coffee Today started with a number of surprises so this thread is to talk about #tdf13 My wife and I support different teams - for me it's about Team Sky's performance, whilst she whoops and hollers when Orica Greenedge is in the action (or mentioned) So, who do you support, and who would you like to ride with (or have ridden with) Are you a recent convert or have you been following since Eddie Mercx days (or even before)?

A new version of Tapatalk has been installed This brings us up to the latest version, making browsing Coffee Forums UK from mobiles even easier

John from Rugby, just learning the ropes

The Grindoff is little over 3 weeks away so its time to reveal the 15 grinder line-up for the Grindoff - arranged by coffeechap Definite: Anfim Caimano Bezerra BB105 Brasilia RR55 OD Compak K10 Compak K6 Eureka Mignon Iberital MC2 La Cimbali Magnum Mahlkonig K30 Mahlkonig Vario Mazzer Major Mazzer Mini Mazzer Royal Mazzer Super Jolly OE Pharos Hand Grinder Possible: Rancilio Rocky The Coffee Forums UK Grindoff Evaluation Form is available for download and provides a platform for the comparison using standard tests Hosted by Rave Coffee in Cirencester, the Grindoff starts at 1100 Due to the level of interest in this event an RSVP is required Current attendees are; coffeechap Glenn tcr4x4 Bubbajvegas Spukey Ronsil Osrix Dwalsh1 Garydyke1 Andy S Bigben Big Tony Trueksuk Glevum Beebah inaboxmedia Drude To express an interest in attending please visit http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?9554-Grind-off-update-set-confirm-and-venue Transport from North London is available - PM Glenn for details

Welcome aboard as a Coffee Forums UK Advertiser - Smokey Barn Coffee Roasters Please consider Smokey Barn when buying your next batch of coffee beans

Hi folks After lurking for a bit I wanted to jump in and start posting myself. It's great to find a passionate UK community and I'm looking forward to learn a lot - both for personal enjoyment and to help develop what my partner are hoping to start off as a weekend / hobby coffee business into something full time. See you in the threads! -Henry

We're always trying to improve your browsing and interactive experience. What new features would you like to see on Coffee Forums UK? We have some ideas we are working on but would like to hear what you would like. If it's feasible gains enough support then there's a good likelihood it will get done. Simply reply with your ideas. The best one submitted and implemented will win a prize too!

Hello everyone Am Portia and am new in the group, looking forward to learning and sharing........

Christmas is a time for reflection and this year I thought it might be nice for members to nominate or thank a fellow forum member who has helped them enjoy coffee this year, through their time, advice or generosity. We have some really lovely members on Coffee Forums UK and constantly get messages from new members saying how friendly everyone on here is, and how welcome they are made to feel. I look forward to seeing which names pop up over the next few days. I will kick this off by nominating RobD - Super Supporter and 2012 Sponsor who hand delivered a pressure measurement naked filter basket to me. I know several members have benefitted from using this to calibrate their espresso machine.

"Where can I buy Nespresso capsules" and "cheap Nespresso" are 2 of our most popular searches on Coffee Forums UK. The best place we have found is here. By purchasing from this link you are also helping keep Coffee Forums UK free for members.

This is my new favourite forum! I'm Al from Edinburgh - my mission is to make my mug of breakfast coffee as good as I've tasted in Italy - really strong, hardly any bitterness or acidity and bursting with flavour. I wish I'd asked how they made it.. I've been buying pre-ground from various online places and from my local roasters (Artisan Roast) and making french-press. So far Sumatran Lingtong is closest to what I'm after in terms of flavour. So I'm now trying to talk myself into buying a grinder - probably a Mazzer Mini E since I know I'll get upgradeitis sooner or later otherwise. I'll try not to ask too many stupid questions!

Hi all, Im fairly new to the world of coffee. Loved drinking it for years but after a visit to a friends house am now looking at my own home set-up. Joined here to check out opinions and advice before spending my hard earned cash. Looking forward to reading everyones views. Cheers

Hi Coffee Newbie here Will be asking a lot of boring questions to you experts so apologies in advance

Im currently enthused, erm ok, obsessed (!) with watching extractions through my Bottomless portafilter, from the first provocative drips of the rich-dark-honey ..teasing me until they join together to create a flow .....through to the tiger stripping and cone and then the climax of blonding. I find if it looked good then its likely to taste good....most of the time. I keep meaning to get some of these video'd (along with the whole process prior to flicking the switch). Anybody else care to post a few up? This isnt just an excuse for some blatent coffee-p0rn, im hoping it will start conversations going about what a good shot looks like and maybe helps others to improve or refine techniques...nothing like looking up the skirt of a gaggia classic non-bottomless extractions are also encouraged!