In praise of the Aeropress

[Stokey Sue Profile]

As seen on Countryfile recently, exotic mushrooms can be grown using old coffee grounds:

https://grocycle.com/

I would never have though of that, but thinking about it - if anyone left the grounds in one of the big filter machines at work over a long weekend, they'd be wearing a fur coat when finally cleaned out so it is obviously a good base for fungi

[Pampy Profile]

A local pub/restaurant puts their used grounds in plastic bags and leaves them on the bar for anyone to take (free).
I saw a programme on tv recently (may have been the One Show) where a chap had started collecting used grounds from coffee shops in London and then used them to produce various varieties of oyster mushrooms which he then sold. At the time, he was producing about 80 kg a week. The coffee shop owners were pleased for someone to take the grounds off their hands so that they didn't have the task of disposing of them and the mushroom grower provided them with bins to put the coffee in, which he exchanged for an empty bin when he collected them every day. The collections were made by someone on a rickshaw bike, so the whole operation was quite environmentally friendly.
I've also recently read an article about coffee pods, which highlighted how environmentally unfriendly they are as they are made with plastic and in some cases, aluminium. Something I've never thought of, I have to admit.

[Pampy Profile]

Just found this - http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/beanb ... ange-blend

[Renée Profile]

How interesting, Pampy!

[kavey Profile Website]

A local pub/restaurant puts their used grounds in plastic bags and leaves them on the bar for anyone to take (free).
I saw a programme on tv recently (may have been the One Show) where a chap had started collecting used grounds from coffee shops in London and then used them to produce various varieties of oyster mushrooms which he then sold. At the time, he was producing about 80 kg a week. The coffee shop owners were pleased for someone to take the grounds off their hands so that they didn't have the task of disposing of them and the mushroom grower provided them with bins to put the coffee in, which he exchanged for an empty bin when he collected them every day. The collections were made by someone on a rickshaw bike, so the whole operation was quite environmentally friendly.
I've also recently read an article about coffee pods, which highlighted how environmentally unfriendly they are as they are made with plastic and in some cases, aluminium. Something I've never thought of, I have to admit.

Our local Starbucks have been giving grounds away (intermittently) for a couple of years at least, so we take some for compost now and then.

[Sakkarin Profile]

I'm not a enough of a connoisseur of coffee to be able to express the differences the way wine buffs do in terms of honey and blackcurrant and flowers, but the latest beans I've tried (Morrisson's The Best Brazilian Beans, £2.99) say "Sweet and nutty roast coffee beans with a hint of almond" on the pack.

And it really does, although I make it hazelnuts not almonds - the aftertaste is like that hazelnut syrup that you can buy to add to coffee...

Tesco Finest Sumatra beans are still my favourite though.

[Renée Profile]

That's another one to try, although Morries isn't close to where I live. I changed from Tesco Finest Sumatra to the Finest Columbian, which I'm using at the moment and also has a sweet nutty flavour, but not the almond as mentioned with the beans from Morrisons! I find that my coffee is much better now that I am using whole milk, rather than semi-skimmed.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Synergy
I bought the Morrison Brazilian recently and really liked it, but my local branch keeps selling out
Currently I have Segafreddo Intermezzo, I tracked some down as it always used to be my favourite of the standard Italian brands, very nice with a hint of vanilla, almost creme brulee, possibly almost too smooth and sweet for my current taste

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Finished the Segafreddo
Bought some of Lidl's new premium beans, I have Guatemalan but there are others
Very nice, excellent value, worth looking out for, they come in 1lb brown paper sacks, I think £3.99

They also have Deluxe in fancy drums, £3.49 for 250 g, think a Christmas special, but haven't tried those

[Sakkarin Profile]

I had another bash at Tesco Finest Colombian following Renee's post, but it just confirmed for me that although they are good (I originally gave them 4 out of 5), the Sumatran is still my favourite.

I thought I'd cross test, so to compare with the Tesco Colombian, I bought some Taylors Colombian. Completely and utterly different. Very light bean, very dry-looking, and gave a very weak brew, surprisingly weak. Maybe they had been sitting for a while because nobody buys them. Anyway, they merit equal bottom with (I think) the Sainsburys ones.

On the Aeropress side, my second plunger seal has worn out, should have bought one at the same time as I replenished my filters. I wonder if it may be time to buy a complete new "machine". No, I'll give it one more chance, it's currently pressed about 800 cups of coffee. If the new seal I order has any hint of play, I'll get a new one at 1000 cups.

[Renée Profile]

I have tried one or two packets of Taylors beans and also the ground coffee, but have never been impressed. What a shame Tesco isn't close by, but I will buy a few packs when I visit.

Thanks for doing all the testing! It's much appreciated.

[Sakkarin Profile]

"The Week" magazine had an article on "Best Coffee Gadgets".

I was sad to see that rather than my revered Aeropress, it featured the "Clever" (doh) filter funnel, which in itself is a good idea as it has a valve so you can dictate when the filtering starts.

But the scariest item by far was a home coffee roaster. Only £850. Sheesh! EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY QUID.

http://www.ikawacoffee.com/about/#homescroll

The other item, not quite as scary but still a scary price was a Dualit milk frother for £50. Not bad when you consider that the Krups milk frother is £99! I'll stick with my 50p charity shop Gill-type handheld.

[Pampy Profile]

...and when it's "physically" available, it will cost about £1200! My eyes haven't stopped watering yet!

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I think Taylor's under roast generally which is why the lookalikes are often better than the Rich Italian, for my taste
They used to make a very rich blend called 1886 but they haven't done so for years, it was really good (well, at the time it was my favourite but tastes change)

It's a shame

Mind you if they don't get rid of that daft lad in the hairnet on the Yorkshire tea ads, I'll consider Boycotting them, really makes me cringe

[Sakkarin Profile]

Hairnet? How about a bloke with a bin liner knot?

[Sakkarin Profile]

Taylor's under roast generally which is why the lookalikes are often better than the Rich Italian

On that note, I've just finished a pack of Morrisons Italian Style beans, which were very good, both strength and flavour (remembering that TOO strong is a minus for me). Still not quite as good to me as the Tesco Java, which I'm back on till I get another contender to try out.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

I've been sticking with the Ethopian for too long. I need a change.

So that coffee roaster, doesn't even deliver a cup of coffee at the end. It just roasts, right?
Tell me, can you shake some beans in a dry pan like you would with spices to make them roasty? Or have I missed something.

Those frother sticks are great aren't they.
Still makes me chuckle when I make a froth-uccino. I have tall glass cups for the event.

[Renée Profile]

I love the bin liner knots!!!

Did anyone watch Rick Stein, the other night when he visited Vienna? The man that he met told him that he was underdressed for the place that they were in and it was a sin just to order coffee, because there were 12 different ones and you had to know which one you wanted.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03tn26g

[Sakkarin Profile]

Oh dear, there's no hope. Now we have Jack Daniels coffee.

The strangest thing is that there should be a decaffeinated version - seems almost as silly to me as an alcohol-free version of Jack Daniels.

Mind you, I imagine this coffee IS 0% proof - can you have freeze-dried alcohol?

http://www.jackdanielscoffee.com/

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

I saw that Renee.
My ordering a cappuccino is likely to go down badly then.

Sakkarin.
What's that all about.
Although I do like decaf, (which means I cannot tell the difference when I drink it). I'm thinking of going decaf again, as I've got a new fitbit watch that lets me know my heart rate when I check the time.
After a cup of coffee, it does appear to spike.

Or I could just turn off the heart rate widget.