Or german porn.

Source.

We scientists drink a lot of coffee because otherwise how are we supposed to come up with all these great ideas like heart transplants, cancer treatments, and atomic weapons.

New morning ritual from the good coffe place in Melbourne Central, Plantation.

$5 for "The Awakening." Double shot espresso followed by a small Latte. More coffee, less milk than getting a large cap. Kinda works like a shot followed by lemon and such. The latte is so light on coffee, that it's kinda just a milk chaser.

Either way, fucking awesome, and a great way to start the day.

Mod74 wrote:

You might wanna forget the weapons and step up the colon cancer treatments.

Sadly, weapons dev generally has a much bigger budget. And nicer coffee.

Also you're not allowed any 'devices' on you on site at the defence contractors, everything has to be given up on arrival. So no personal internets to wile away your in-between time. You just end up drinking coffee.

Nice one Gav, I had one of those m'self.  'Til the pump packed up it was great, produced decent crema and kept a good heat.  The steam wand's got a built in cappuccino frother iirc, so latte art quality microfoam's gonna be a struggle I'm afraid.  It will produce awesome foam for standard latte's and capp's though, if you're a total girl and like that kinda thing .

A stainless steel milk jug is essential, so is a milk thermometer so you can easily judge the difference between the two foam types, you'll be able to do it by feel soon enough.

For coffee, ready ground stuff for espresso makers will do fine to start with.  Lavazza's okay, Illy's much better but pricey (the difference between Lavazza and Illy is less noticeable with a low pressure stove top).

Edit:  This guy on Videojug has some decent how to's for espresso based coffee types.

Cheers Stormy. She got us a Taylor's variety pack with 4 different types, and a jar of standard Costas stuff to start with.

Probably a stupid question, but what's the best place to get a milk jug and thermometer? Using an old stainless steel teapot just now, but it's shape makes it all a little cumbersome.

Finding it hard to hold temperature in the milk. Got it going under the wand for ages, but still have to microwave the finished product afterwards. I'm getting something that *looks* and *tastes* like a coffee I'd buy somewhere, but it's just not that blisters-on-the-tongue hot for the first few mins that I enjoy.

Nice one. Heading down the shopping centre with momma to try and find one, but if I can't get one, I'll hit that up.

Switched up to a travel mug for the milk. Done the trick, for now at least. Got a really nice one earlier.

Ah okay, I have been drinking the coarse shit. There's a massive Tesco down the road from the flat, I'll look for Lavazza Rossa there?

@gav: Stop burning your freakin milk.

If you can find somewhere that sells fresh beans I'd look at getting a grinder. We're lucky in that nearly every coffee place in Melbourne sells fresh beans now. Fresh ground FTW.

Facewon wrote:

The grinder. It's a little on the large side. I might find a new top bit for it, because really, when am I gonna fill that at home? Was having trouble getting the grind fine enough the other day, and then today I just twisted once and boom. Espresso machine next on the list.

Bump for ease of finding that pic.

Bought a bag of this earlier:

http://shop.ouseburncoffee.co.uk/product/sumatra-pure-lintong

They didn't advertise the price so I was somewhat taken aback when asked for payment.  Anyway, got home and brewed some up - by golly it's good stuff.  Think I still prefer their cheaper option but I'm certainly gonna enjoy these beans!

Make sure you use fine ground espresso blend,  Lavazza or Illy, and tamp it down a little using the back of a spoon.  

Standard grind for cafetieres ain't no good, acidic blends don't work either.  Hope this helps.

Edit:  There's a Tesco Finest espresso that's seriously good, the grind's a touch coarser than Lavazza but fine enough for my stove top and espresso machine.

n0face wrote:

I borrowed a stove top and took it camping looking forward to a lovely coffee fix. Every brew I made was shit, not sure if it was the coffee, the amount I used or the pot. I want to buy one and get the hang of it before my next trip. Advice please.

It might've been the water!

When brewing with moka pots there're a few things to bear in mind:
-Pre-heat the cups, milk etc. of poss.
-Use the right grind (not too fine though or the flavour will be all wrong - the bits should be slightly larger than the holes in the little coffee funnel thing)
-Make sure you don't put water in above the safety valve level!
-Make sure the flames aren't bigger than the base of the pot.
-Aim for a brew that takes 3-4mins, any faster it might be too hot and burn the coffee (some reckon that stove-tops burn the coffee anyway, I disagree).
-Remove from the heat when it starts to flow through evenly (I sometimes leave it a bit longer though).
-Pour it straight away, it'll turn bitter if left heating for too long.

Don't tamp it down!