(GPGT)Espresso machine hoot

[The_King]

Was the beans dark roasted? I would like to try a 100% robusta for the kicks!

yes dark.


they don't sell to sg you need 3rd party forwarder.

i order from amazon and ship to comgateway then to me

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

I'm just wondering anyone tried those beans that one can buy from starbucks which is about $15. Is it pretty ok for cafe latte?

try a latte at starbucks to find out!

 

[derazor]

try a latte at starbucks to find out!

SB is like commercial coffee, kopitiam coffee but with proper pure coffee using fresh milk and not condensed milk

 

[MKfresh]

Anyone tried the cafe at Westgate before? The one beside Paul..

 

[Sylar22]

Anyone tried the cafe at Westgate before? The one beside Paul..

Cafe crema ? It's decent i would say , has a lot of different variety of coffees. But wouldn't come close to a coffee from a decent roaster/cafe.

 

[sohzai]

Anyone tried the cafe at Westgate before? The one beside Paul..

Level 1?

Sent from mobile using GAGT

 

[MKfresh]

Cafe crema ? It's decent i would say , has a lot of different variety of coffees. But wouldn't come close to a coffee from a decent roaster/cafe.

Ah yes. Cafe crema. I weekdays go there like empty only..

 

[MKfresh]

Level 1?

Sent from mobile using GAGT

Yeap. Next to Paul nia..

 

[Sylar22]

Ah yes. Cafe crema. I weekdays go there like empty only..

Yea weekdays quite empty, that time they got some promotion

 

[CTBR]

Has anybody tried other pourover methods other than V60 or Kalita, eg. Kono dripper? I'm kinda mesmerized reading about the different types of pour overs they have in Japan. Also, what kind of filter papers do you guys use?

 

[derazor]

Has anybody tried other pourover methods other than V60 or Kalita, eg. Kono dripper? I'm kinda mesmerized reading about the different types of pour overs they have in Japan. Also, what kind of filter papers do you guys use?

Kalita because of flat bed. I use white filter

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

Kalita because of flat bed. I use white filter

same. white filter for the win. brown filters need to wash alot to remove paper smell. i tried smelling the water that is used for washing the paper filter and there is really a strong paper smell.

would like to try clever dripper in future to see if there is any difference with a more immersion style dripper.

 

[Qingrong]

Cafe crema ? It's decent i would say , has a lot of different variety of coffees. But wouldn't come close to a coffee from a decent roaster/cafe.

i personally find that their beans are too dark.

 

[sohzai]

Cafe crema ? It's decent i would say , has a lot of different variety of coffees. But wouldn't come close to a coffee from a decent roaster/cafe.

I tried once too. I think they don't know how to make a proper drink. Tea was way too milky, and mocha was not well balanced. Taste more sugar and water than chocolate and coffee.

Not going back.

 

[NSforSG]

Can use it to grind blue mountain coffee? Or cat feces coffee?

 

[sohzai]

Can use it to grind blue mountain coffee? Or cat feces coffee?

? Use what?

 

[coolben]

Anyone tried espresso with arabica/robusta blends?

I like the taste of robusta, probably because of all the coffee shop kopi. Been doing french press and pour over for a long time, but wanna try espresso machines too.

This philips cheapo KYM?

 

[Lazy_Tiger]

Anyone tried espresso with arabica/robusta blends?

I like the taste of robusta, probably because of all the coffee shop kopi. Been doing french press and pour over for a long time, but wanna try espresso machines too.

This philips cheapo KYM?

I tried perfero unica strong. about 30% robusta i think. very good italian style espressos. strong, dark chocolate,some roast aromas but not burnt,powerful aroma that perks you up but smooth and not unpleasantly bitter if brewed correctly. U can get it from Coffee in a Place who sometimes have stock of it fresh. if not have to place an order and they ship from overseas.

i'm not familiar with the phillips but it seems it has a pressurised portafilter. better to use an unpressurised one so that you get proper extraction from a correct fine grind. Pressurised portafilters come in all kinds of designs but its purpose was to allow user to use preground coffee grinded too coarse for espresso (lavazza, illy supermarket stuff) to brew something that resembles espresso.

One of the members here modded one of his budget machines to use a unpressurised portafilter and it seems results are still pretty decent. some presurrised portafilters can be converted to a non-pressurised one simply by using a normal filter basket (eg ascaso dream).

 

[coolben]

One of the members here modded one of his budget machines to use a unpressurised portafilter and it seems results are still pretty decent. some presurrised portafilters can be converted to a non-pressurised one simply by using a normal filter basket (eg ascaso dream).

Yea, I've seen such mods for this model online...

Is it better just to bite the bullet though?
For a machine with non pressurized portafilter?
I always cheap out but sometimes it comes back to bite me

 

[Lastwishes]

that member Lazy_Tiger is referring to might be me

In my opinion, if the wallet allows and if you're serious about the espresso hobby (meaning you're sure that the machine wouldn't end up being left in a corner unused after a while), it would be better to bite the bullet and go for something better.

Modified low end machines can give decent results on a budget, but put aside the elbow grease and time spent tinkering, temperature stability is still pretty much non-existent on such machines unless you plan to PID it too (a PID kit is not cheap either; I decided not to PID mine and instead started saving for an upgrade).

Other than that, there is a huge learning curve with regards to the quirks of the machine (mainly due to the inconsistency), which might frustrate a lot of people starting out. While I have more or less nailed down my routine, there are still one or two days where I still end up pulling a sinkshot. Otherwise, the taste I get is fairly consistent (after nearly weeks/months of experimenting and wasting a good deal of beans). I'd have to say that a better machine would have saved me a lot of time; as well as on my daily routine.

You also have to consider if you're going to make milk-based drinks or just espresso, as well as if you have the requirement of making more than one drink back to back;
1. low end machines only have a single boiler, which means there is a good amount of waiting time between extraction coffee and steaming milk,
2. and since such machines usually lack a OPV, which means you usually have to wait fairly long after the first extraction is done before you can remove the portafilter without it 'sneezing' out coffee grounds and hot water due to the residual pressure.

Other than that, you would need a fairly good grinder to pair with the machine. I haven't tried full robusta, but I have tried 80/20 arabica/robusta - actually fairly decent tasting; dark, chocolatey, pleasantly so if brewed correctly. For curiousity, I've also tried extracting vietnamese coffee a few times using a machine. It was was fairly disgusting (best to stick with brewing for that).