Coffee Drinkers Anonymous

Oddjob

Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
Start lurking on coffeesnobs and pick up something used or not so très cool anymore. If milk is your thing look for a heat exchanger machine rather than a single boiler like a Silvia, would be better (sorry to the Silvia lovers I've never been a fan of them myself drip tray is pathetic, temp surfing and waiting to be able to steam). If you can push the budget a bit look a Breville dual boiler that hasn't been abused.

If you can fix a bike and understand a bit about electricity and want a project (probably not at the moment you just need coffee!) these are built like tanks and make a good shot and can be not too hard to fix
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/bon...zzera-coffee-machine-made-in-italy/1248716894
At that price the Bezzera would probably be in need of a lot of love. I would personally avoid. If you do get an older machine like that, make sure its from a reputable dealer or service tech.

Also, heat exchangers and dual boilers use a lot of water to flush corrosive gunk out of their boilers so are a pain in a home setting.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
So many considerations. I'd prefer not to work on my coffee machines if possible. I'm a snob but only when I'm paying. If I'm making it, a lot of comrpomises haha.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
I've used a wide range of commercial machines, my favourite to operate is still the la marzocco strada. At home I use a mid priced Breville that I've had for many years and am able to make great coffee without over thinking things. Turn the machine on, wait for it to warm up, use it, enjoy life. Fortunately I'm not often making many coffees at home. Provided your happy to become deeply intimate with your machine and learn how to make coffee properly you'll be fine.

Anyone here actually able to deliver good latte art in their home machine? This is one thing I'm not so on top of a home. My home machine produces a very different texture in the milk. Some days it's ok, others not so much.
 

dirtdad

Wants to be special but is too shy
Honestly, the advice above (edit: @ausdb) is golden. Except I wouldn't be fixing anything (save for basic machine internals) without getting it checked by a sparky/machine service shop. 240v power, plus water, plus boilers under pressure are not things to fuck around with. If you can find a working one-group machine coming out of a small cafe/office they can be great value. But use up a fair bit of bench space.

Had a single group 4 litre boiler HX machine myself for a few years. Plumbed it into water and waste. Proper rotary pump (no thump-thump noise). e61 head. Biggest regret was selling the damn thing when moving house. Bought for about 1k second hand, and sold for 800 about 6 years later.
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
Trying to get the 4 shot latte into my blood stream ASAP at 5am, no time for art.
I run the cortisole method. Have to wait at least until 2 hours of waking up before I get my brew fix. I find it helps with any withdrawal (not prevent it completely) especially when I'm having a loaded morning or if I'm in asia where there is no coffee.
 

downunderdallas

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I've used a wide range of commercial machines, my favourite to operate is still the la marzocco strada. At home I use a mid priced Breville that I've had for many years and am able to make great coffee without over thinking things. Turn the machine on, wait for it to warm up, use it, enjoy life. Fortunately I'm not often making many coffees at home. Provided your happy to become deeply intimate with your machine and learn how to make coffee properly you'll be fine.

Anyone here actually able to deliver good latte art in their home machine? This is one thing I'm not so on top of a home. My home machine produces a very different texture in the milk. Some days it's ok, others not so much.
I'm not great at Latte Art at the best of times but I find consistency in milk is the biggest issue. Some milk no problems - Bannister Downs in WA has the most consistent milk. Sometime with regular milk there is nothing I can do to get it to microfoam properly, so we just have Dad's coffeee milk and the other milk at my place. Oh machine is a VBM Domobar Jr.
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
onsistency in milk is the biggest issue
All has to do with fat content imo. Surprisingly even with my pos standalone frother, the milk fat content makes a huge difference. Apparently UHT milk is better for consistency. But hands down the best latte milk I've had was New Zealand raw milk. That thing was so fatty and delicious it wasn't funny.
 

cokeonspecialtwodollars

Fartes of Portingale
Not mule at all. Gin based with rosemary and some other secrets...like soda water lemon vermouth and a little sugar. Oh wait...shhhhhhh.


On ginger beer though, had a great saxbys yesterday. It had lemon myrtle in it. So refreshing!
If you like Gin best I've ever come across is the Autumn Dry from the Farmer's Wife Distillery, this has completely ruined every other Gin for me.

EDIT: Back to the topic on hand, how good is coffee.
 

leitch

Feelin' a bit rrranty
Anyone here actually able to deliver good latte art in their home machine? This is one thing I'm not so on top of a home. My home machine produces a very different texture in the milk. Some days it's ok, others not so much.
Yeah find it pretty easy (Silvia user here). Not as silky as my old Linea PB :p but no problems with consistency. I just find you have to crank way more air in at the start than you would ever otherwise dream of, then use the way longer steam time to smooth it out.
 

leitch

Feelin' a bit rrranty
Dude, at least say "café latte" or else you're just asking for milk.
Aha fuck that, sure fire sign of a wanker in a cafe. Nothing screams boomer dickhead like ordering a caffe latte (or worse, any coffee but said with a faux-Italian accent) in Australia.

"Yeah g'day, we'll grab a coupla flat woites, a mugachino, and I'll have an espresso thanks pal"
 

leitch

Feelin' a bit rrranty
What if you speak Italian (or any of the romance languages for the matter)?
I bet you eat a "foh-car-sha" as well, and like the new "Mah-zo-chee" forks since Fox took them over.
It's not a lot of effort to pronounce things correctly...or maybe it is for some.
Ahhh that's how you pronounce it? All the Pinkbike videos made me thing it was Mar-zo-key!

I'm all for correct pronunciation, but language is fluid and words are regularly adopted and adapted across languages. "Latte" as a modern Australian coffee beverage has undeniably left its Italian origins behind and the word has been similarly adapted...

Mostly I was just taking the piss though, in my experience the vast majority of people who a) say caffe latte or b) put on a shitty accent to order a coffee are firmly in the centre of the venn diagram that also includes "shitty customer" and "over 50". But to be fair that venn is pretty much just a circle anyway. :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zaf

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
Coffee drinking has undeniable Italian origins, and that's reflected in the use of Italian words for most of the orders: espresso, macchiato, ristretto, cappucino, doppio, affogato, etc.
Latte is Italian for milk; cafe, obviously being the "coffee" part of that equation.

"Ch" in Italian is more of an Aussie "K", so yeah "Marz-zoh-kee". C followed by a vowel is usually what gives us an aussie "ch" so "fock-car-chee-ah".
And chinotto is obviously KIN (as in members of your family), and OTTO (as in "Von Bismark").

Pronunciation aside, over 50's are the worst! At least i'm being a pretentious 32 year old! :D
at the end of the day, it’s still going to be a wanker that orders a “café latte”.
 
Top