In praise of the Aeropress

[Stokey Sue Profile]

As I went to Soho on Saturday I bought some (ground) coffee from Algerian Coffee stores

I have some Veluto Nero (which I've been drinking in for years, but haven't tried in my new espresso machine) and some Café Napoli

[Sakkarin Profile]

Was thinking of bidding for this grinder on eBay, which finishes in 30 minutes, but unfortunately it just went over my bid limit. Probably just as well as it's a trifle huge!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131700310329? ... EBIDX%3AIT

[Renée Profile]

I don't think that you need to spend so much on one and it has been used. Probably a lucky escape!

[Sakkarin Profile]

I was going to bid £80... with half an hour to go (when I posted) it was £81... then shot up!

[hungryhousewife Profile]

Did you get the grinder in the end? Which one did you end up with? I use my old Kenwood grinder for coffee, and its very good. If you haven't purchased a new one, you may find a good old Kenwood one on ebay - that is assuming you have a Kenwood mixer? (mine is a 1972 from a charity shop! I love it!)

HH

[Sakkarin Profile]

Thanks very much to Renee for sending me some Booths coffee beans, both the legendary Monsoon Malabar and the Mocha, much appreciated. Will report back soon...

Grinders; no I didn't get one HH, the two I had my eye on went for way more than I had in the kitty , but then they were proper fully-blown coffee shop grinders. The first Mazza one scored a whopping 95% on the Coffee Geek site, where my Hario Skerton hand-grinder scores about 7.6 (more than all the budget electric grinders), the Krups 5.8 and DeLonghi 4.9.

[Renée Profile]

I'm pleased that the coffee has arrived safely, Sakkarin. If I'd thought about it, Booths have a coffee grinder in the store that customers can use and I remember that coffee beans for the Aeropress have to be ground on a certain setting. Anyway, too late now!

[Sakkarin Profile]

Reporting back on the Booths Monsoon Malabar (BMM), and as Renee was so kind to send me some, I didn't want to let her down with a bad review, but the first cupful I made with the BMM did not particularly excite me - it was good, but not as good as I remembered the Tesco Java Sumatra (TJS) as being. This was first thing in the morning incidentally...

I thought I'd reserve judgement, and got in some fresh TJS, and the first cupful of it really reinforced my original assessment, in fact it was so good that I fancied another cupful as soon as I'd finished the first. That's something I don't usually get, so I guess that is my recipe for a perfect cupful. It has only previously happened coffee-wise with the local Italian deli's Arabica I mentioned a week or so ago.

However it struck me that there might be other factors, time of day, things I'd eaten, etc, and I gave the Booths another try the following day, this time in the afternoon as per the TJS, and this time it hit me very similarly to the TJS, even to the extent of wanting another cupful! A full round deep taste with a slight bitter aftertaste. However by a small margin I still prefer the TJS, even though they are both top of the pile, and put the Arabica from my local deli on equal footing with the BMM.

Renee, I've popped a sample of both the TJS and the Deli arabica in the post to you, interested to see what you make of them!

[Renée Profile]

Oh that's very kind of you Sakkarin.

I am glad of your very honest opinion, which I really wanted, but I'm glad that you eventually liked the BMM. Obviously I haven't tried all of the beans available, so I'm very glad of your recommendation for the TJS, which is one that I haven't tried, also I'm not near a Tesco these days.

I'm sure that the BMM beans aren't as good as they were and I preferred the Mocha, which I sent you as well, so it will be interesting to hear what you think of that one.

[Renée Profile]

Sakkarin, I tried the Tesco Java Sumatra beans tonight and thought that the flavour was superb! I did a medium/fine grind and used my over-the-mug drip filter.

I've tried so many different beans over the years and the BMM beans were the best that I'd found, but I don't think that they are as good as they used to be. Maybe a different supplier or they roasted differently. Tesco isn't my nearest supermarket, but I will certainly go there in the future.

I'm so glad that you sent me those samples and I'll try the other beans tomorrow.

[Renée Profile]

I tried the Italian deli beans this morning, using the same method and although I enjoyed it very much, I thought that the TJS had a slight edge on it.

I had been thinking that my sense of taste/smell wasn't as good as it used to be regarding other coffees, so it was a relief to find that there's no problem there. It will be worth driving an extra few miles to get the TJS beans, so many thanks for the sample!

[Sakkarin Profile]

It's been quite hard getting through all these coffees, as I'm limiting myself to 2 cups a day, as the caffeine sets my heart racing! I'm also finding very much that I need at least a couple of tastings before getting the full effect.

I've still got two unopened packs, the Waitrose Java/Sumatra and the M&S Colombian, but with six other bags still on the go, I think I'll wait a bit before opening them! Probably about Easter at this rate!

Although I'm tempted to open the Waitrose one to compare it with the Tesco one...

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Did anyone see What to Buy and Why on the BBC on Friday?

The AeroPress beat 2 espresso machines as their choice of coffee maker
I'm not entirely convinced, having both a DeLonghi espresso machine, and an AeroPress, they make different coffee, like them both but it is comparing apple so to oranges

Actually I'm not convinced by that programme at all
They tested food processors the week before

They tested their ability to slice & grate (fair enough ) and to whip a pint of cream (why ? ) but they never actually tested the basic processing functions (i.e. using the rotary blade )

Therefore an entirely pointless exercise in my view - I had a nasty feeling that the "tests" were designed to prove that a cheap one was as good as an expensive one, but as I don't think they tested any of the leading brands (they only test 3 machines) they achieved nothing but 10 minutes of irritating TV

I was so annoyed I actually phoned to complain

[Sakkarin Profile]

I'll have to check that programme out, let's hope it's transferred to iplayer...

[jeral Profile]

TBH one reason I don't subscribe to Which? is that their reviews never seem to match what's in the shops (matching model numbers) despite I'm sure they test well.

Programmes on TV rarely include more than half a dozen people as tasters or tests on machines and openly admit the results aren't "scientific" so could sway the findings whichever way they wish.

Personally I think Amazon reviews are brilliant about products they sell being neutral reviews plus you can ask questions. Whatever you think of Amazon's dominance, tax arrangements etc, that service is worth its weight in gold to me whether you buy from them eventually or not. Ditto Youtube pictorial walkthroughs. Have to be gullible IMO to believe (as being truly representative)the results of minimal tests on TV and also some of the so-called "tests" shown for equipment on shopping channels.

If that sounds like a rant about shallow TV programmes, it probably is.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Totally agree jeral

As a working scientist, Which? has always annoyed me by not "showing their workings"

They also used to (and probably still do) sell subscriptions by inertia, i.e. they give you a free trial, but it goes to paid subscription without any reminder that it is switching, which I don't think is a good thing for the "Consumer's Association"

Amazon reviews are much more helpful, and even ones on other online retailers (AO for example)l

[Renée Profile]

Jeral, maybe Which only reviews new models, because I'm sure that a lot of products around are older models, hence the price reductions.

I once looked at the Canon camera website to look up the one that I have and was amazed at how many models had been brought out.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Meant to say I've now got the DeLonghi burr grinder and I love it

Not a looker, but very compact , grind very adjustable and even, and now I have fine tuned the thingy that sets the number of cups all I have to do is touch a button to get a dose of fresh ground coffee

Very happy

[Renée Profile]

That's good news, Stokey Sue!

[hungryhousewife Profile]

Oh Good Sue! That's the grinder I use for my spices. It is excellent IMO! I hope you get on well with it. I love mine.

I heard someone say that they had bought a 'Nutribullet' for grinding spices, which I thought was quite novel.

Have any of you tried Lavazza Rosso coffee? It is totally my favourite for espresso. Mmmm

Sakkarin, I am a 2 cups a day max person too nowadays, ever since I gave up coffee for Lent a few years ago. More than that makes me feel a bit yuck!

HH