Ok, before i start posting further on the ways of the world, and whats been going on in general, here in the land of raph, my coffee obsession has slowly been settling down. I have gotten significantly better at roasting my own beans, to the point where i can even successfully roast a indian monsoon malabar type bean. My coretto roaster is setup quite nicely, after i bought a tripod on which to balance my heat gun. Its an almost entirely hands free operation now. Three batches yields approximately 1Kg of roasted coffee. I have also started roasting for my brother, so I have a second voice to tell me if I am doing it write or doing it wrong.
I have also started using one way valve bags for my roasted coffee. This prevents oxygen coming in but lets the CO2 out. Initially I was not convinced it would make much of a difference but it really has. Especially with beans left for more than three or four days to rest after roasting, the flavour is noticeably better.
As far as coffee gear is concerned, I did end up upgrading. In the end, through ebay i got a Compak K6 grinder and through the buy and sell pages on Coffee Snobs, I got a very well cared for Nuova Simonelli Oscar. Dont get me wrong, the Gaggia Classic was a lovely machine but I was ready for the next level, especially given the fact that I often like to make coffees for friends and the unfortunate reality with the classic is that it just does not have enough oomf to steam milk for more than two coffees at a stretch.
Having been using the Oscar for about three months now, I have become fairly proficient in using it. The large one litre boiler and the fact that it is a heat exchange coffee machine means that I never run out of steam power and can make many coffees, always enough for guests, without any annoying pauses. People seem to have two gripes about the Oscar, one that it has no hot water spout, and two, that it has no vacuum breaker, so when turning it on, it requires that you open the steam wand up to allow air out. Now, when i want boiling water, i use the kettle, so not having a hot water spout is no issue for me, and while I have considered adding a vacuum breaker to it, I have decided that it is such an insignificant issue in the use of the machine that it is not worth it.
Probably my only gripe with the Oscar is that it seems to have been designed by a southpaw who didnt have the strength of conviction to go all the way. The steam wand is on the left side, but the portafilter also swings in as per standard, left to right, so you cannot place it on the group head, nor remove it without bumping into the steam wand. This little idiosyncracy is easily forgiven though. The steam power coming out of that wand is formidable, so much so, that the first time i used it, I nearly blew all the milk out of my milk jug.
As for the Compak K-6, i got it for an excellent price off ebay, and the maxim that the best upgrade you can get for your coffee machine is a better grinder, is totally true. The K-6 grinds consistently,quietly and quickly. Whilst the EM0480 was excellent, this is better. It is really hard to quantify how much it improves things, but suffice to say if you made five espressos with the k-6 and five with the EM0480you would notice the difference.
All told, money well spent.
As for the old gear, having spent hours modding and cleaning up the gaggia, I am loathe to sell it, so it is currently sitting in my spare room. I will probably force myself to part with it some time shortly. I need the money, however in the meantime, it is out to pasture. Oh to be able to put it out to stud, so it could just enjoy its retirement years 
The EM0480 is also there, but mainly because i suspect I will use it as a travel grinder next time I go away for any length of time. We shall see.
Till next…
Here is a pic of my setup.
0 Responses to “More Coffee”