Coffee Channel - reviews and how-tos

Pronto From Strandvejsristeriet

2014-04-09T19:00:00.001+02:00

Pronto

The third and last coffee from Strandvejsristeriet is called Pronto.

This is a blend containing Robusta. Not something that's common in these days with light roasts. I've heard many good things about this blend on our Danish coffee community Espressobar.

Many people has an opinion about robusta, mainly because it's used for discount coffee and it's very bitter.

But what many seems to forget, is that also high quality Robusta is produced by micro lots with great passion, not only minding profit.

A gentle and well considered amount of robusta, in a blend, can be very very tasty. Especially if the consumer enjoy milk in their espresso. Luckily I fit that description, and that's why I look forward to this blend.

Strandvejsristeriet describes it as sweet and fat, suitable as straight espresso or cortado.

Pronto contains 15% high quality Indian Robusta, and 85% arabica.

It's a lovely dark roast, and the smell is pleasant, the characteristic smell of Robusta, rubber'ish, is also present, but not in a way that makes it bad.

I'm a little gentle with the dosage, expecting it to be strong and powerful. I dose 16 grams trying to hit 25 grams of espresso in 25-30 sec.

After dialing it in which required a few shots, because it's a bit darker than my last bean, it ran very good, didn't see blonding at all actually.

It's a very heavy espresso, super rich and lots of crema. As I assumed its a strong one. The flavors that come to mind is, chocolate, almonds and more chocolate. Last but not least sweet ! It's a well balanced blend, especially considering the robusta. Not drinking much straight espresso, it's a tad strong for me. A little like a high percentage special brew ale. I love the taste, but when I'm half way thru the taste is too overwhelming. Luxury problems i call it.

It's a long time since I've had an WAUW feeling with espresso, but Pronto as a cappa sure made my day. A superb balance between the taste of coffee and hot chocolate is what I got. The strong coffee and robusta cuts right thru the milk and blends in with perfection. Did the suggested Cortado as well, and it was good but still a little too strong for me. But that's a matter of opinion and taste.

The main thing about this blend is, that Strandvejsristeriet has made a statement, trying to compete with Brazil based blends. And they have indeed succeeded. My biggest recommendations to Pronto, and Strandvejsristeriet in general. What I have seen and tasted is a convincing handling and distribution of quality roasts.

Once again we thank Strandvejsristeriet for giving us the opportunity to review their coffee.

Pronto can be purchased at

http://www.strandvejsristeriet.dk/produkt/espressoblend-pronto/

Rocket Cellini Plus v3

2014-04-08T07:31:00.001+02:00

Rocket has released the successor to the Rocket Plus v2, and is offering a PID to control the HX-boiler, so you can reach the optimal brewing and steaming temperature. The picture above shows that Rocket strategically has placed the PID behind the drip tray, so the classic aesthetics of the machine isn't ruined by this mini computer.

Seattle Coffee Gear has once more been up front and provided a video of the newly launched v3 version - see the video above.

The Rocket Cellini Plus v3 is now for sale in Denmark for only 10.500,00 DKK with free delivery in DK, buy it here.

Dominican Republic, Karoma Estate From Strandvejsristeriet

2014-03-25T22:30:00.001+01:00

This second coffee from Stransvejsristeriet is from the Dominican Republic.

They describes it as a coffee with good dept and strong coffee flavor. Suitable for filter and press.

Again a nice and dark roast, very even with a strong and lovely smell.

The first try is with my aeropress. I have a special way of brewing AP, i grind pretty coarse, almost as coarse as frenchpress.

I use a small dose and I only let it soak for 2 minutes.

This one is 15,7 gr with 220 ml water, soaked for 2 minutes.

Look at the lovely dark color.

The result is usually a light brew with bright notes.

This coffee is no exception. A nice bright cup, but still with a strong flavor of coffee from the darker roast.

It's not the most lively coffee with many different aromas. Just a solid coffee, that's easy to work with.

With this AP recipe I get lots of lemon, apple and a nice bitterness in the end ! I do like it, but i enjoy my AP roast a bit lighter.

Did one Press a bit finer in grind and upped the dose to 17,5. The result is much sweeter, and a lot stronger. I think that suits the bean better. But it's not really my thing.

Then I tried some frenchpress.

Used 38 grams for 800 ml of water.

A really great pot of coffee. This bean is ment for frenchpress. No doubt about it.

It's a very subtle coffee. Not wild or crazy notes that needs a lot of thoughts into it. As mentioned earlier; a solid coffee that works for everybody. Even my father in law who is very conservative liked it. Usually he doesn't have much joy of my fresh specialty coffee. Not like his supermarket pot à coffee he says. But this one was different. I think it's because it's not all that fancy. Just basic and solid. Yes, I sayid it again. Solid.

Again I would just have to agree with roast master. It's a strong and good taste of coffee, the balance is perfect when the grind isn't to fine. Not to bitter with strong hassle nut flavors.

But if it's to fine it easily gets to bitter. So be aware of that.

If you want a coffee that works for everyone, this is the one. If you want a coffee that's simple, still good, fresh and great quality, this is it.

If you want to do lots of precision and experiments with volatile floral aromas, this is not it ! It's to dark for that in my opinion.

I have served it in the frenchpress at three different occasions to different guests now and everybody enjoyed it.

I'm sure you will too.

It can be purchased at

http://www.strandvejsristeriet.dk/produkt/dominikanske-republik-karoma-estate/

Stephen Sweeney´s TPF - Transparent Portafilter

2014-03-25T19:45:00.002+01:00

Kenya AA - From Strandvejsristeriet

2014-03-22T10:04:00.001+01:00

Our newest friends, Strandvejsristeriet, has supplied us with three different coffees, all with different qualities.

The microroastery opneded their doors in 2006 with a vision, of delivering fresh quality coffee to their part of the country. The last few years they have had a busy day to keep up with demand, and they are now delivering global in Denmark.
I haven't been at their shop yet, but it's a thing I am looking forward to. The roastery is located in beatiful surroundings at Kronborg Slot.
Strandvejsristeriet also provides different barista and roasting traning sessions.

In this post i will review a Kenya AA.

Strandvejsristeriet description of this Kenya is; well balanced, complex, taste of black currant and a touch of lime. Suitable for precision brew

Looking at the beans I think their a bit dark roast, not that it's a bad thing, many roasters would ship this as espresso. Not my thing. I'm glad to see a darker roast, also for v60 etc.

I have used my 1 cup v60, standard recipe 14,5 grams/220 grams water.

I tried changing the dose a bit up and down, but the 14,5 grams leaves the best outcome.

Freshly poured, this coffee doesn't bring much flavor to me. It has to cool a bit, but when that's done it's a lively thing with many impressions.

I can only agree with Peter, who is roast master, black currant and lemon is the flavors to catch. Typical African I'm tempted to say.
Bright and very tasty notes of berries, the aftertaste of lemon isn't as strong as many other Kenyan coffees. The complexity of the coffee is in my opinion, that it changes quite a bit from pour to cold. It's common that coffee gets stronger and more defined as it cooles. But it's just like this one is a bit more tricky than usual.

Because of the many different notes thru the temperature drop, it's very versatile. Good strong taste of coffee when fresh poured suits great as my morning coffee. The bright acid and freshness is what I enjoy in the afternoon.

A lovely coffee with many great qualities. Enjoyed every bit of it.

It's a 250 kr (45$) a kilo coffee. That's pretty stabdart price.
The coffee among many others can be bought at:
http://www.strandvejsristeriet.dk/produkt/kenya-aa-gaturiri/

Mazzer Kony Clumbing Issue

2014-03-19T18:31:00.003+01:00

I have upgraded my previous grinder, Mazzer Major, to the Mazzer Kony, which has 63 mm conical burr grinders, instead of the Majors 83 mm flat burrs. The specs actually makes the Kony worse then the Major, if you think that size is everything. Luckily, this isn't the case and the Konys low RPM is a giant step towards achieving a sweet and delicious espresso.

Nevertheless I thought that this upgrade would eliminate the common problems with "home" grinders, but I was in for a disappointment. The Kony was clumbing right from the start and hasn't approved over the 1800 shots, that I have pulled over the last three months.

I therefore added the antistatic filter for the Kony Electronic, but this hasn't any affect on the clumbing issue (this is the marked as the "old" in the video below). But is the antistatic filter for the Major Electronic better?

I afterwards got the tip, that I should buy the antistatic filter for the Major Electronic instead, because of its smaller holes, which should eliminate the clumbs.

What is an antistatic filter?? Well, an antistatic filter is a device that keeps your espresso grounds loose and static free - its installed between the body and the doser.

The antistatic filter for the Major is shown to the left and for the Kony on the right.

I have learned that the actual filter for the Kony had to big holes to eliminate the clumbing issue and as you can see in the above picture, the Major filter - on the left - has much smaller holes.

The reason why I would like to eliminate the clumbing is because that it causes weak spots in the puck, which can lead to channeling, if you aren't using WDT (Weiss Distribution Technique) to take care of this issue and its a bit annoying to perform this technique every time an espresso shot is extracted - especially considering that the grinder is a professional / high-end grinder.

The Mazzer Major antistatic filter is mounted

The result of the two different antistatic filters is shown below, where the Kony filter is on the left (the one with the bog holes) and the Major filter is shown on the right (the new filter, with the smaller holes). The pictures speaks for itself and there is a clear improvement, but nevertheless the holes could be a bit smaller, cause there still is some small clumbs left. Positive upgrade!

How To Brew The Best Coffee On Your Coffee Machine

2014-02-13T19:22:00.000+01:00

When most people think of coffee, it's made on a machine like this

Stationary in most households and used several times a day.

What many people don't know, is that it's possible to enhance the quality many times by following some simple and easy steps.

The single most important of all things is, fresh coffee that's freshly ground. There's nothing that's more important than that, if you want the best cup from your coffee maker. Doesn't mater if it's a cheap or super expensive machine. It's fresh coffee that maters. A coffee grinder doesn't have to be expensive. As long as it's a burr grinder, then your better off than pre ground coffee.
A bur grinder has two burrs that crush the beans in a size of your choice. Most cheap grinders has a blade, that blends the beans. This type of grinder/blender is not good enough. The partikels will end up in many different sizes, leaving you with an uneven extraction of the coffee.

Blade grinder

Burr grinder

Some people just want their morning fix without weighing and grinding coffee. We understand that as well.

In that case there are other ways to improve your coffee. These steps should be done if you grind your own coffee as well.

Use bottled water. It may seem ridiculous to buy a bottle of water to make some coffee, but there are more than one point to this.

You will end up with a better and more clear taste in the cup.

It will spare your machine for a lot of scale, and a lot of descaling

If you choose not to use bottled water, make sure you pour water on from a clean pitcher, and not from the machine pitcher. Explanation further down in the post.

Rinse your filter thoroughly with plenty of water. There's a lots of flavor and other nasty stuff in the filters from fabrication.

When your brew is finished, drink it within 20 minutes, or pour it to a thermos, when it's on the heater the aromas quickly go harsh and bitter.

With any kind of coffee brewing, clean equipment is of great importance. Coffee oils are bitter, and as they build up, they will leave a bad flavor.

Clean your machine every two month if you are sure no oils are in the water. Clean every week if you use the coffee pitcher to refill water. Every two weeks you should clean the pitcher and all plastic parts, that's in contact with coffee. Descale every week if you dont use bottled water. With bottled water every third month should do.

To clean the machine, use Urnex Cafiza. It's a soap made especially for coffee oils.

Here's a full review on Cafiza

Just add 3-5 gr to the water in a full reservoir, and turn the machine on. When it's done, repeat three times with fresh and clean water and end the session with a pot of coffee, which you then pour to the sink. Now your machine is clean, and ready to make the best coffee possible.

Just made a photo session from a cleaning of the coffee machine at my workplace. It has never been cleaned with Cafiza - just regular soap once in a while.

This picture displays the main issue with using the coffee pitcher to fill the reservoir. Everytime you fill the pitcher and pour it in the reservoir, a small amount of coffee and coffee oils ends up in the reservoir, and will build up in the system as the coffee brews.

Build up coffee oils in all the plastic parts, and in the pitcher can'd be avoided. But it can be taken care of.

5 grams of Cafiza in the reservoir with 1 liter of boiling water, I cleaned the reservoir with this batch and made a new one to run thru the machine.

5 grams of Cafiza with 1 liter of cold water in the reservoir and turn the machine on. The reservoir were clean before the solution ran thru, so this color is made by oils from inside the machine.

First round of clean water

Third round if clean water. Notice the pitcher is completely clean now.

Before Cafiza

After Cafzia

British Fraud By DPS-Logistics.Com

2014-01-12T10:07:00.000+01:00

Be aware of the company

www.dps-logistics.com

It's a fake cargo company. It's a very well performed page, with a working track and trace system.
The persons who want's to use this company are performing some kind of fraud..

Looking closely at the site, shows that it's only the T&T sektion that actually works. The rest i just for show.

So be aware everyone, it's a well played act of fraud..

Temperatures When Brewing Coffee

2013-12-30T20:19:00.002+01:00

Verve Coffee Roasters has made some very interesting tests regarding water temperatures.

It seems we don't have to be to worried about the boiling water.

It deffiently gives me somethings to keep in mind further on when brewing black.

Enjoy.

/Caspar

Whats In My Roaster

2013-12-28T09:34:00.005+01:00

MIn this tread I will upload my different roasts. I plan to upload all of them, drip, espresso, SO's and blends.

If I have the time, and I remember, I will share how the beans develops during roast.

I will give my thoughts of the beans after brew.

I roast on my Gene cafe - sadly my "Coretto" past away this summer, so I had to buy something new. I desided to get a Gene because of the possibility to adjust thru the roast. And it's a lot easier to buy in EU than the Behmor.

I cool externally in a bucket connected to a vacuumer.

Almost all the coffee I drink is home roast. Until now all my green beans is from different bulks from Bella Barista Uk.

Roast #1

I haven't put much thought in to this roast. Basically I just put them together in the way I think of them separately. Not so much how I think they will develope together. Doesn't have the talent for that. I really like the deep notes from the Nicaragua. The Costa Rica is not one of my favorite beans, but it does well as a base in blends. I hope the Ethiopia will work its acidity well with the depth of the Nicaragua.

Roasted 20 seconds in to 2nd

Start of 2nd

1 minute in to 2nd

After resting for six days I made my morning cappa with a 100% brew ratio.

It's a very mild blend considering all three coffees roasted in to 2nd.

It's actually a bit doll....

Second I tryed a 80% BR- a little better but still very neutral. Not exciting in any way, but not bad either.

Subtle notes of nuts, the balance is very good. A bit to the acidic side.

After resting for ten days now, it has developed some more, and improved in taste. I upped the dose to 18,5 gr for 22 gr of coffee. Its very silky and smooth.
A good coffee for guests i think, because of the subtle power.

Roast #2

This roast is made by 50% Brazil Daterra Sunrise and 50% Costa Rica Tarrazu.

Many roasters use Brazil as a base in blends, as they think it's a coffee with little excitement in it.

I think that Brazilian coffees, especially the Deterra ones, is delicious. Maybe it's because I drink cappas mainly, and the Brazilian coffees is rich in sweetness.

I hope the Brazil will ensure high sweetness and power. Again the Costa Rica is a base, with the acidic qualities.

20 seconds in to 2nd, this coffee is very ugly and uneven in structure during roast. But as it hits 2nd it evens out and gets all smooth. Not a difficult coffee to handle.

30-40 seconds in to 2nd. In my experience all Brazilian coffees roast fast. From starts of 2nd till very (maybe too) dark usually happens fast.

Not a mind blowing experience...

Unfortunately I had some troubles dialing in my grinder, that resulted in many sink shots and only a couple of descent shots to evaluate properly.

What I got was another mild blend. Clear taste of hazel and a nice creamy chocolate. Not enough chocolate though, so that's something to improve on.

Roast #3

Roasted 1,5 min in to 1st

This is a yirgacheffe from Ethiopia.

I have had this coffee from Øristeriet roasted for drip, once before and I really loved it.

I knew it was very bright, and I have decided to use it for drip only.

I took the roast a bit further than I usually do with my drip coffee, because I knew its bright.

And it's just the best drip coffee I have ever consumed.

I'm brewing on V60, 14,5 gr for 220 gr water.

It's a flawless lemon taste with no sourness, it developes in to a well balanced rich coffee with deep honey.

Try it if you should get your hands on a yirgacheffe.

Roast #4

Well into 2nd - about 1,5 min

45-60 seconds in to 2nd developes rapidly when entering 2nd

Till start of 2nd

A late and rather short review of the roast above...

This blend didn't do well for me...

The taste were a bit sour, no matter what I tried to overcome the sourness, it just staid sour and doll at the same time. Didn't put much thought in to it further than that. Just on to the next one.

Roast #5

With this roast, and propertly many others, I have decided to go a lot further in to 2nd. Many of the roasts above was okay, but just a tad to doll.. With this dark strategie I hope to get much more, and powerful flawor.

1,5 min in to 2nd

1 min in to 2nd - roasted harder than ussual

The dark strategie did a huge difference :)

The chokolate came, and It was full of power.

Lots of chokolate and nougat in this one.

Must admit it is a bit to dark. A little bitter in the end, and it seems there's more to get out of this by going a little lighter.

The Perfect Capucinno

2013-12-14T19:51:00.000+01:00

As many of our readers know, I'm a dedicated capucinno consumer.

I would like to describe to all of you what a perfect capucinno is in my opinion.

It may seem straight forward to brew and make a cappa, but I have tried many different approaches, and found that these steps make my favorite.

I use a 180 ml cup, always preheated.

My beans are always roasted to 2nd crack.. Doesn't matter if it's a blend or SO, always take it to 2nd. More sweetness and deep flavors to support the rich milk.

I have learned that a ristretto is the best for my cappa. For a long time I used a regular espresso with a 50% brew ratio.

But it became to powerful and bitter many times. Had a hard time controlling it, and getting continuos results.

The ristretto is easier to handle for me, and simply tastes better.

I have my grinder timed to deliver 18 grams.

With those 18 grams, I get a ristretto weighing 18-22 grams in 25-35 seconds - including 2-3 seconds of preinfusuion.

That's the base and most important thing in every espresso drink.

A good tasting shot.

No matter how flawless your microfoam is, the taste of under or over ecstracted espresso will be dominating to the flawor.

I top the shot with perfect microfoam. If I'm lucky I draw a descent piece of art to satisfy the eye as well !

I have made a smal video of myself making a cappa, to visualize my descriptions.

I hope you've found this usefull, also I hope you too like this recipe as much as me !

Enjoy...

Adjusting the Pump Pressure on Rocket Evoluzione v2

2013-11-28T15:38:00.001+01:00

I have owned a Rocket Giotto Evoluzione v2 for about 1,5 year now and therefore have brewed a lot of espressos in that period. During that time I had tuned the extraction process and thought that things couldn't be better. Nonetheless I found that the second manometer only showed the pump pressure and therefore not the pressure at the brew head.

During the extraction process, the arrow of the pump pressure manometer would show a satisfying 9 bar and I assumed that the brew pressure at the brew head would be similar to the pump pressure. I was in for a chock when I discovered that this wasn't the case.

I have thereby created a short and simple how-to guide, that will show you how to adjust the pump pressure on the Evoluzione v2, so you will achieve the correct 9 bars of pressure at the brew head. To perform this guide you will need a portafilter with a manometer/pressure gauge (above picture).

The Rocket Evoluzione v2 comes with a rotary pump and therefore has the ability of connecting the machine directly to a water source, instead of using the water tank. Rocket have designed the machine so you easily will be able to adjust the pump pressure from the outside of the machine.

1. Turn on the machine.

2. Locate the adjustment screw (above picture).

3. If you want to increase the pump pressure, turn the adjustment screw clockwise and anti clockwise to decrease the pump pressure.

4. Mount the portafilter and start the brewing (Remember to tighten the portafilter firmly, because it will unmount when the pressure is building up).

The pressure gauge will now show you the actual pressure at the brew head, and if your machine delivers 9 bar at the brew head, then all is perfect. If your machine - like mine - was providing a pressure of 8,0 - 8,5 bar at the brew head, then you should adjust the adjustment screw like described at step 3.

When I was done adjusting the pump pressure, the pump pressure showed about 10 bars of pressure, to perform the optimal 9 bars of pressure at the brew head.

Did the adjustment have any affects on the espresso?
YES - the main change was the extraction flow! Before, the espresso could run perfect in the start off the brewing process and afterwards the water could soak though the puck, causing a very thin and bitter extraction. The pressure is now creating a firm puck and therefore preventing channeling, which leads to a way better extraction.

// Hendrup

Just Received My New Reg Barber Tamper

2013-11-26T16:39:00.002+01:00

Just received my beautiful new Reg Barber Tamper in Bubinga Wood and Custom Art Work from Canada --> Happy as hell!!!

Review coming in the nearest future.

// Hendrup

Espro Toroid Steam Pitcher - Review

2013-11-18T08:50:00.001+01:00

At Coffee Channel we came across this pitcher. It seems to good to be true. Luckily Øristeriet has supplied us with one, we can test.
Basically Espro claims that your able to produce flawless microfoam with very little effort.

First off is the official presentation
http://espro.ca/toroid/

Following this link, you can see a full presentation and a video
For some reason I can't insert the video directly
Only our pitcher is a version one !

As shown in the video, the steamwand could be placed right in center, and the bump in the bottom of the pitcher should do the work.

What made me wonder, is that the pitcher isn't used in the video. There's only animated illustrations of the functionality. Also, there's no actual latte art pouring. Only pictures, of latte art drawn with chocolate ?

I have tried approaching the steaming in different ways, and also filmed the attempts.
It can be rather difficult filming and steaming simultaneously, but you should be able to get the bigger picture.

First off I tried like the presentation, right in the center. No movement at all.

The result is actually pretty good. It's hard to capture all the details in the video. But the foam is pretty shiny, there's a bit of hard top foam - and some bubbles.
The foam is descent, and any one should be able to do that. With months of practice I can only imagine improvement.

Of corse I have done several attempts before shooting the videos.

To get the above result, you have to fill up at least till the spout. Any less, results in to much power at the bump in the bottom. And this

Way to much air in the milk, no way to control it either.

Next off I steamed with the same technique as I do in my standard pitcher. A small angle, wand resting on the side, introducing a small amount of air all the time.

The result are defiantly better. Much more smooth and less bubbles.
I believe this shows, that the technique the pitcher is sold upon isn't the best one available.

Now a video of my standard pitcher and routine

No bubbles, very shiny and wet foam. I believe this is much better than with the Toroid.
That said, keep in mind I am very used to this pitcher, and I know exactly how to hold and rotate it to get the effect I want.

Conclusion
Well... I don't think the pitcher lives up to its promise.
I doesn't produce perfect microfoam with the technique shown in the presentation video. But, it does make descent foam with no effort what so ever.
Also because of the bend walls, it's tricky to pour from. You have to tilt the pitcher quite a bit to get anything out. I couldn't make any kind of art. But then again, if I gave it two months - I'm sure I would be use to handling it.
If you are an ambitious upcoming barista, I would recommend buying a standard pitcher recommended by known baristas. Then work towards the correct technique and nice microfoam. Flawless foam requires practice and many tries. Maybe you would be able to get flawless results in the Toroid, but as a novice it doesn't make it for you.

If you would like a latte without being a geek about it, this is defiantly an option. Also my wife is fond of it already. She couldn't get the hang of my technique, so she has always done mediocre foam with a very hard top. With the Toroid she can make foam exactly like the first video. Time after time.
And honestly I have to agree with the misses. It is a prettier pitcher than the standard ones !

It can be bought from Øristeriet following This Link

Enjoy..

How To Install Thermosyphon Restrictor In a Rocket Giotto (HX)

2013-11-13T15:40:00.001+01:00

Ever since I bought my Rocket Giotto I have been annoyed with the need and amount of flushing involved.
My pressurestat are set at 0.9-1,1 bar, which gave me an idle temperature of 98-100 degrees Celsius. I flushed about 1,5 oz before every shot. Not only did I use a lot of water, I also spend a lot of time doing it.
So I bought a thermosyphon restrictor.

A small piece of brass, designed to reduce the water flow to the group head, and lower the temperature. Very simple, inexpensive and relatively simple to install.
After installing it, my machine idles at 88-90 degrees Celsius - and I now flush UP in temperature. Just like a dual boiler. My flush time is 2 seconds. I think the upgrade has been awarding in a very big way.

First of take of the top.
Remove the tank, sides and rear.
It's a lot easier when the work space is as big as possible.

Locate the pipe, coming from the boiler to the brev head and take it of.

The restrictor is suppose to fit inside the 90 degree bend on the boiler.

Make sure the inside of the bend is clean, if there's a bit of scale on the walls, the restrictor won't fit.
Even though my walls were clean, the restrictor didn't fit. I had to grind it a bit. You should be able to push it inside, but still have a tight fit, so that it doesn't tilt inside.

Install the restrictor with the small end in the bend.

Remount the pipe, lube the ends a bit with food grade lubrication, and be gentle with the tightening.

Turn on your machine and activate the water, do a couple is bachflushes to make sure it doesn't leak anywhere.
When you are certain everything is sealed properly, let the machine heat for 30 minutes.
When it's heated install your pressurestat at 0,9 when it's at the lowest. That way you should end up with a "cold nose" !

With the low pressurestat setting, my steam power went down a little. To compensate for that, I removed the silicone hose inside the steamwand. Basically the silicone hose make sure the metal doesn't heat when steaming, providing you with a no burn steam wand. But at the same time it makes a lot of resistance in the steam.

The easy way is to take of the steam tip, and just pull hard in the hose.

The better way is to take it all apart and lube everything at the same time.

Disassemble the wand from the machine, be careful with the spring.

Take of the ball joint and remove the hose.

Assemble everything in the same order, but lube the Ball joint and spring with food grade lubrication.
Now your wand will rotate flawlessly and still deliver a lot of steam.
But remember its hot now !

As mentioned this is a profitable modification to any HX machine that idles at high temperature. So get going and do the mod.

Enjoy

Panama - Duncan Estate Review

2013-11-08T20:34:00.001+01:00

After visiting Great Coffee in Aarhus, we took a bag of their new Panama home with us.

The Panama Duncan Estate is a Arabica Bourbon, 100% organic bean. Roast master Søren Stiller describes it as tasty orange peel, blueberrys with sweet milk chocolate and notes of lemon.

Great Coffee is a very respected and recognized roastery.Like many other roasters in the north, their doing the Nordic approach which is very light for espresso.Looking at the bag I'm just amazed. This is a clear sign, that the roast master wants nothing but perfection. A recipe for the perfect extraction.

18,5 gr dose. Extract to 34 gr espresso in 26-28 seconds, giving a brewratio at 0,54%

This tells me, that someone has made a lot of effort to make my experience with this coffee, as good as possible.But I came to miss some sort of closing system.. I had to use a bag-clamp, which is meant for the purpose I know, but the thick structure of the bag made it impossible to seal completely with the clamp. Besides that, only positive about the bag.

Still a bit worried about the light roast though.Honestly, this color would be my home roast drip coffee....

It took me quite a while to dial it in. I had to adjust, a lot, towards finer.But when I hit the recommended brew ratio, I could actually see that it ran just about perfect.

Nice dry, and hard pucks

The texture is fantastic, an the color of the crema is unbelievable ! The smell is surprisingly doll. Notes of lemon mostly.. And, if it smells like lemon, it usually tastes like lemon.

My first taste, and I looked like someone who just eat an lemon ! Really, really not my thing these light roasts.

However I have a feeling that I have to get used to the new flavors for a while. Of course I tried it as a capucinno as well, did pretty good.

So for the past week I have been sipping a bit from every shot, before turning it in to my cappa.I have to say it grows on me, there's much more flawor, liveliness and fun in a light roast.I'd still prefer my own an other darker roasts in the future.. To me they taste better. I'm just a more in to chocolate and sweetness, than fruit and apple acid.

The Panama has a medium body, with a lot of power in it. The notes of blackberry, oranges and lemon are as mentioned almost overwhelming. Getting to know the coffee, sipping it the right way, and at the right temperature, it's very tasty.When it's cooled a bit it tastes better to me. The high notes of fruit has toned down a bit. At that point the body enhances, and the darker notes are more visible. At that point I can also sense the blueberries and chocolate that the roast master describes.

I mainly consumed it as capucinno, and it was actually nice getting some variation in my coffee routines. A light fruity roast combined with rich milk is a great combination. For a while. But, for every espresso consumer there is a different opinion in taste, luckily !! This is just my opinion.

Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Nordic Approach, I do like this coffee, and I can tell its a superb roast with a lot of dedication in it.

If you are fond of light roasts, fruit, high acid and perfection. You should defiantly try this.1 kg costs 250 kr/40$ - and that's cheap for premium coffee like this !

A small bonus is, that I seem to make much better latte art with this coffee, and much easier. Maybe it's just me, but still worth mentioning !

Still have some troubles with bubbles in light roasts

Enjoy !

NEW PRODUCTS, from the Host Fiera Milano (Oct 18th-22nd)

2013-10-22T18:39:00.001+02:00

Host Fiera Milano 2013 has just been held, which means exciting product announcements from the global coffee manufacturing companies. Coffee Channel will therefore list some of the more spectacular announcements below, but first off, lets starts clarifying what the Host event is?

Host is the biggest hospitality industry expo in the world and takes place every other year, where thousands of vendors from different industries (Ex., Furniture and home wears, food service equipment, tea and coffee) collides under the same roof.

1. Victoria Arduino 388 Black Eagle, Espresso Machine

Victoria Arduino - owned by Nuova Simonelli - is the espresso machine manufacture that produces the most aesthetic and delicate machines, and the release of the new concept prototype of the 388 Black Eagle is only a statement of that. This newly announced espresso machine is essentially a re-design of the great Nuova Simonellis Aurelia T3 machine, where the aesthetics is taken to a whole new level.

James Hoffmann (2007 World Barista Champion), have in cooperation with Nuova Simonelli designed the 388 Black Eagle and the most exiting feature is the machines built-in gravimetric weighing system, which is incorporated directly into the grate above the machines drip tray.

"The gravimetric capabilities of the Black Eagle are designed around individual load cells, stored inside the machine and mounted within the drip tray grates using a simple and easy to remove latch. These load cells weigh the volume in a cup, which is the displayed in a digital read out above the group head, featuring both time and weight data. Software inside the machine tells the load cell what to read and what to ignore for example, the software can distinguish between reading shot volume and a barista´s hand inadvertently bumping the drip tray. Smart software is the key to making this gravimetric system work as advertised." Quote from sprudge.com

The new 388 Black Eagle is therefore a result of James Hoffmanns opinion that beverage mass is the most important factor in extraction and the beverage mass is king - we´re not as obsessed with brew time as we once were.

2. Sanremo Opera, Espresso Machine

The Opera espresso machine is made by the Italian company, Sanremo, based in Treviso. They have together with John Gordan (UK Barista Champion), developed an impressive new beast of an espresso machine.

The monstrous machine has impressive five individual insulated boilers, one for each of the three group heads, one steam boiler and another boiler, the pre-heates the circulating water over the top of each group. The spectacular about this machine, is that is holds the option of two different flow rates!

3. Nuova Simonelli Clima-Pro, Grinder

James Hoffmann, Colin Harmon, Fritz Storm and Gwilym Davies have together worked on the Clima-Pro project, where they have tested and tweaked for two years. The main concern was that the majority of espresso related problems can be traced back to the grinder (Everything like, speed of service in the cafe, effectiveness of that service, morale of your staff, roast profiling, how we explore coffee and learn about coffee - it all comes back to grinding says Colin Harmon). The group noted that their had been some remarkable changes on the espresso machine side lately, but unfortunately not on the grinder side.

The group was therefore determined to locate the main factor to improve and found it - ideal temperature for grinding espresso. Along with researchers from University of Alcona, the determined the best grinding range was between 35 and 45 degrees Celsius. The Clima-Pro grinder from Nuova Simonelli is therefore able to keep the temperature at 35 degrees for about 10 minutes, at intensive grinding.

4. Marco JET, Coffee Brewer

The newly announced coffee brewer is from Marco Beverage Systems, and is a new batch brewer. The JET model is a filter coffee brewer, with a vacuum insulated dispenser and a touch-screen interface, and can brew between 2,0-6,0 l. of coffee per brew. The JET is designed to match the SCAE Gold Cup brewing standards, and is able to deliver less than 1% variance in water volume delivery and +/- 1,5 degrees temperature delivery (at the spray head). The announced JET brewer is currently a prototype, says David Walsh from Marco Beverage System, but the coffee firm is edging closer to locking in the final design. The Jet will therefore hit the coffee market in the early 2014.

5. Mazzer "Kold", Grinder

The Italian grinder manufacture, Mazzer, has announced their new grinder, which is called the Kold. This grinder uses the same burr-set as the notorious Mazzer Robur, but the burrs is mounted offset on a belt-drive system, so that the heat from the motor doesn´t affect the coffee or burrs - thereby are Mazzer now mainly focusing on keeping the temperature of the burr-set and coffee grounds low.

You have properly already noticed that the well known Mazzer collar system in the above picture is gone and therefore re-designed, so you know are able to adjust the grind setting at the side-mounted dial. Mazzer have also received a lot of criticism, cause their previous collar system wasn't easy to adjust, so hopefully the new side-mounted adjustment dial is way better.

6. Marco Single Cup Brewer, Splurty

Marco Beverage System which also announced the JET coffee brewer, has also presented the Splurty. The Splurty is a minimalistic designed one cup brewer, that demands a minimum of counter-top space. The coffee brewer uses the Marco Pillar technology and is designed for Kalita filter baskets, - but is not limited to this particular brewing device - which is being held in place on the machines back panel using a magnetized basket holder.

The brewing device functions like many other, where the heated water is dispensed over the top of the basket, where coffee volume and timing standards is selected by the user.

All pictures are from sprudge.com

// Hendrup

Home Made Coffee Syrup

2013-10-18T14:46:00.000+02:00

During the last three years I have taught my wife to drink coffee. It started with a latte made with a strong 2 oz brew from my Aeropress.

Now, however, she has become so accustomed to the taste that she drinks her latte with a double shot of espresso .

But, from the very first latte, and still going, she always adds coffee syrup in her coffee . She simply can't live, or consume coffee, without it. We have tried .

Coffee syrup is tremendously expensive , considering what it really is. So I decided to try out the production of my own homemade coffee syrup.

My wife's favourite is the vanilla syrup, which very convenient is one of the easiest to make.

It's super easy and cheap to make your own syrup. Furthermore both my wife and I thinks, that the new homemade one tastes better and stronger than the ones we have bought so far.

So, here goes with the recipe

Ingredients:

400 g of white sugar

3 (dl) cups water

1 pinch salt

2 fat vanilla pods

That's it !

Steps:

Split the vanilla bars and scrape out the seeds.

Add bars and seeds in a large pot with the sugar, water and salt.

Turn on the heat and bring the contents to a boil.

Time it. The syrup is ready after 5 minutes of boiling.

Don't stir it, just leave it to boil.

Let the syrup cool slightly in the pan.

Then pour it through a fine-meshed sieve - into a bottle you like.

The taste of this recipe is very sweet, so you don't need to add much syrup in a latte. Furthermore, this way your absolutely sure that it's free of additives.

Notice all the fine vanilla grains floating in the syrup, you wont' find that in the ones you can buy - and don't worry, their supposed to be there.

I haven't tried out any other flavours. But in theory you could add anything you like in the sugar/water mix.

Enjoy

Espresso Extraction; Measurement and Mastery by Scott Rao

2013-10-18T13:32:00.001+02:00

The book is only available as an e-book and can only be purchased through amazon.com, which has the following description.

"Measurement and Mastery is the highly technical follow-up to The Professional Barista´s Handbook. Baristas who have mastered Scott´s earlier work will enjoy this compact ebook´s new material and numerous original ideas. EEMM examines topics such as pressure profiling, portafilter basket design, and advanced use of the coffee refractometer. Scott also discusses the current popular topic of how to produce delicious coffee at extractions as high as 23%, an idea he pioneered in 2010."

We know that not all coffee knowledge can be found in coffee books, but of course we have bought it and will post a review in the nearest future, meanwhile enjoy our Instagram update. You can also have a quick look inside the book; simply click here.

Have a great weekend everyone!

//Hendrup

Mazzer Major/Kony/Robur "interlock" mod

2013-10-10T16:51:00.003+02:00

When you ask around in the coffee environment, the grinder is often pointed out being the essential part of achieving a good espresso, but the average home sets limits for which grinder you are able to choose, due to the height of the kitchen cabinets.

Therefore some buyers are bound by the height of the grinder, which is quickly inserted as below,
Mazzer Major - 61 cm.
Mazzer Kony - 65 cm.
Mazzer Robur - 72 cm.

Due to this problem, I have received some questions about the Mazzer grinders - especially is the Mazzer Mini extra short bean hopper, will fit on the Mazzer Major?

Well lets start with the interlock modification. The Major, Kony and Robur grinder has an interlock collar, where the back of the collar has a tab that enters a slot on the grinder - if the tab isn´t slotted, the motor doesn´t run.

I will demonstrate below how to remove this interlock and thereby be able to use the grinder without any bean hopper at all.

1. The interlock assembly is held on with two screws, simply unscrew them - as shown on the below picture.

2. Lift the plate up off the body - the switch is attached to the outer plate. The red contact is the actual interlock and if its press down, the grinder will run.

3. Put a chunk of something in there to hold the switch down - I use a piece of eraser, because its elastic and can be cut into a appropriate size, but you can also use other pieces.

4. Now simply place the plate back onto the grinder and screw the screws back. You are now able to grind without a bean hopper and can therefore also attached a smaller hopper without an interlock collar - read more below the picture.

So back to the question regarding if the Mazzer Mini extra short bean hopper, will fit on the Mazzer Major? Well, it will fit, but note that the diameter of the short hopper throat is smaller than the Majors collar opening, so it will rattle around when grinding. To solve this problem you can wrap the Mini hopper with a band of electrical tape, so it will hold everything tight. So the answer is yes :)

The Mazzer Major height with a Mazzer Mini extra short bean hopper is 51 cm.!

Hope this guide was helpful.

// Hendrup

Jailbreak Blend

2013-10-05T13:09:00.000+02:00

I'm well into the 2 kg bag of green Jailbreak Blend, I received from HasBean.

The blend contains

(40%) Guatemala Finca Cuidad Vieja Los Jocotales Red Honey Bourbon

(40%) Nicaragua Finca Los Miligros Washed Caturra

(20%) Guatemala San Patricio El Limon Washed Caturra

This is the mk6 blend

I have had some difficulties at the beginning, in how much heat to add. My first two roast got pretty uneven, because of the different sized beans of the three bean sorts. But when I found the right settings to my coretto I could go for the start of 2nd that Has Bean recommends.

I also got a small bag of roasted beans, which I used as reference to my own roast.

At my third try of 300 gr batches I got close to the color of the pre roast, but it didn't get in to second.

At this color I got to 199 c temperature

Roasting more batches, I found that the best temperature for me is 211 c. It's a bit darker than what Has Bean roasts, but it just hits 2nd and then I cool it.

With this temperature I get a espresso roast very suitable for capucinno. Just a tad darker and stronger than the pre roast. That's why I love roasting at home. The possibilities to change a great blend to my own preferences.

The blend is round and very mild, with a hint of fruit and bright acid.

The taste is balanced, rich chocolate, bright plum and the feel of almonds in the very end. Gives a full cream feel with steamed milk, especially when cooled down.

I have done brighter and darker than my favorite 211c.

The brighter 200-204c is also great, but not with milk. Many of the bright flavors are more powerful, the body is lighter and the acidity kicks in way more.

Going darker than 211 isn't good for this blend. Getting half way in to 2nd is too much, almost all flavor is burned away.

It's a great blend of high quality beans. When roasting at home you have the possibility of doing light and dark. That gives you an opening of roasting a batch for milk based drinks and one for stand alone espresso. The blend is great for both things when roasted for the purpose. The pre roasted beans are very tasty as well, but mainly for straight espresso. I liked my own roast better than the pre roasted though.

Instagram: Drop Coffee

2013-09-14T09:54:00.003+02:00

Received five coffees from @dropcoffee and looking forward to cupping them this weekend ! ☕

Øristeriet - A2 Espresso Review

2013-09-08T20:18:00.000+02:00

Øristeriet has been kind enough to send me an example

of their new espresso blend - A2

The blend contains

50% Yirgacheffe Misty Valley & 50% Sidamo Wotona Bultuma.
And it's organic !

Dealer describes it as a lively, fruity and fresh espresso. Very rich sweetness with deep notes of chocolate.

Suitable for cortado in particular.

As always with Øristeriet, I received the beans fresh from the roaster. I have had them resting for 8 days.

Opening the bag I'm surprised how light the roast is. It's very popular these days doing light roasts - keeping as many volatile aromas as possible.

Well, since I'm primarily a cappuccino consumer, light roasts usually doesn't suit me that good.

But the description claims it to be a great cortado blend. Besiddes, my crawing for milk shouldn't get in the way for a adequate review.

The smell from this blend is very powerfull. Sweet almonds, and a distinguished spicy smell, in the end I sense tobacco..

When I try new coffee, I always go for a 50% brewratio. Usually that's what makes the best results all over for me.

I notice once again the light roast when grinding - the noise from my major is significant louder than usual. Another thing to keep in mind buying light roast, not all grinders (small burrs) can chew its way thru light beans.

I think the coffee is pretty easy to handle and I didn't have any problems getting the right flow. How ever I did strugle a bit with distribution. In the picture you can see a spritz from my naked filter. Usually I just grind and tamp, with this coffee i had to distribute with a finger, to prevent lot´s of sprints.

The crema is light and a bit thin, as expected of a light roast I would say. But I do have some problems with a lot of bubbles in the crema. I'm not sure if its the coffee, or my brewing. But it is consistent.

The taste of the espresso is light and fresh. A delightful medium body, suited to the bright taste.The notes of fruit is defiantly clear. The taste, maybe more the feel, of chocolate is coming thru at the back of the tongue. At the third or fourth zip I could clearly taste tobacco notes. It did very good for the bright espresso. It's a good espresso, easy to get thru with lots of flavor.

I wouldn't recommend it for cappuccino and latté. Not enough deep and strong flavor for that. Of course that's my opinion. Doesn't taste bad though - just not enough.

I also tried the recommended cortado. Better than cappa, and not a bad experience at all. The richness combined with light notes does very well.

But, I actually liked it best as macchiato or stand alone espresso.

Another tiny thing. Showed from my latte art progress thread I have had a really hard time, doing descent art. It's defiantly the thin bubbly crema that's tricking it for me. So, not good espresso for latte art :)

You can buy the blend at Øristeriet - or another of their always high quality coffees

Latte art progress

2013-08-26T18:43:00.001+02:00

Ever since I started with espresso, I have been fascinated with latte art.

I have been practicing and trying ever since.

I have come to learn, that the milk texture is the important thing in the process.

To get the best possible microfoam I have set my Giotto pressurstat at 1,3-1,5 bar. That's pretty high, and I do have to flush quite a bit. But the foam I make after the adjustment is all worth it.

In this post I will show my progress in art. I will start with the basic. A heart.

When I conquer the heart I will advance :)

Some where along the way I will show a video of my steam and pour technique - but I'm not quite there yet.

Furthermore I have bought new cups. They look pretty, but the surface is rather small, which makes it even more difficult. So I'm actually back to basics

Day one

Heart

Actually pretty good, need more structure though.

Bad in many ways :) hope for better results tommorow

DAY 2

More structure - but pretty far from center.

DAY 3

The last couple of days art work.

I'm getting a better feeling of introducing the milk now, wich makes it easyer to create the right shape. Though it may not look like it yet :)

My latte art has never looked this bad, or caused me so many troubles !!

I'm starting to blame the coffee. It's rather thin and bubbly..

I'm gonna keep trying - but really lookin forward to try some new beans.

New coffee- new progress

I feel pretty confident in the heart now ! And, it's getting a bit boring doing

From now on I'm gonna try the tulip. Maybe I'm doing a heart once I a while aswel

Apparently the tulip is easyer for me than the heart

Great results with the tulip.

Vacation cappas

Overall symmetries are getting a lot better. Still struggling a bit with the endings though.

Coffee channel are attending a latte art course with Soren Stiller Markussen at the end of the month.

I sure hope to provide beautiful art after that !

My best tulip so far !!

I tryed pushin some more rings in there.

Need some more practice. Another regular one, I think I got these under good control by now...

Startet practicing the Rosetta.. This I my first try. Hooping to get it a bit better, before our course with Søren Stiller Markussen

Brand new cups from Great Coffee, used by Mr Stiller in his shop..

Hopefully my latte art technique will improve !!

It may be beginners luck, but this is the best Rosetta base I have ever made.

It feels a lot easier to break the crema with these cups.

It's still not pretty - but never the less my prettiest one yet.

Still got a pretty long way ahead of me, before I can present a nice Rosetta

From the past week

A couple of swirl hearts

Some of the throws from tha last couple of weeks. Still trying for the Rosetta. Got a lot of problems with that....

I thnk this is my best one so far

Belkin WeMo - Brilliant Invention

2013-08-26T17:35:00.000+02:00

In my summer holidays I have spend a lot of time working with coffee at home.

I have acquired a gadget which I, at first glance, was sure I could not live without.

The amazing thing is called Wemo swicth

When you open the box, the first thing in hand is the manual, which is so simple it's made with four drawings.

First thing is to downloade the WeMo app. Go to app store and search for WeMo.

It is pretty simple to setup. Plug it in to the device you want to control, find the WeMo wireless network on iPhone and connect. If you can not find the WeMo, just press and hold the reboot button in the end,while you put it to power, and then hold for at least 15 seconds. Then the firmware reboots, and you should be able to find the switch.

Here after you go into the app and setup the switch. Everything is made super straightforward.

It is also possible to receive a notification if the switch is activated manually.

Once you have selected the options you want, you can explore.

There are the first page where you manually turn on and off, response time is less than 1 second no matter how far away you are.

Furthermore, you can set up rules for the contact.

Here I have set it to 06:20 - the machine is then warm when I get up at 07.00. A routine can be set for it, every day, every Thursday, etc. However, one must remember to disable it if you only need it once.

Of course the machine must always be ON - so that the socket can supply power and remove it to an always on machine.

If you are standing at the switch and must have power, press the power button. As mentioned previously made so it can not be done wrong.

I have enjoyed the switch so much already. One can certainly do without it, no doubt about that, but when I drive home from work, it's really nice there is a warm machine to come home to. You quickly get used to the comfortable luxury, working in the garden, it's also nice just to pick up the phone when you get your urge for coffee.

If you do not have an iPhone to control with, you can also use IFTTT. It still requires an Apple product to connect and set up WeMoen. I have not used or tried IFTTT but have heard of several who use it without major problems.

Bottomline for me; this is a great gadget with many opputunities. I can only recommend it. The price isn't to bad, and the functionallity is beyond expectations.