Coffee

[MercuryT]

Hi all.
Down here in Tassie noone cares about Coffee or it's "standard".

My various workplaces are tea or water.

Yet I hear Victorians in particular "love" Coffee, and part of their lifestyle and fussy etc.

Is it true or not?

Even McDonald's have a current Ad saying Australians "love their coffee" yet I know not one person who even cares the slightest bit about Coffee?

[AMB]

Yeah coffee drinking has become a big thing, the cafe culture and all that, its a social activity, similar to having drinks at a pub I suppose, but generally a morning thing. Melbourne strongly influenced by Italian, Greek and other coffee drinking cultures. The funny thing is many often rave on about being really fussy about their coffee, but they drink latte! "Latte" is for kids, or for breakfast. Its equivalent to someone pretending to be a wine connoisseur, and drinking only fine wines, then adding lemonade to it.

[T3rminator]

You won't get it until you've been in it.

Many years ago when I first started working in an office, I would drink freeze dried coffee that most workplaces provide free in the kitchen. To me, it was just coffee. The more experienced members of the team would never touch it, and would head out for coffee runs 2-3 times a day, to me, on a graduate income, it was just a waste of $10-12 every day.

Not exactly sure how it started, but I did start to join them later on, I think more for the social reasons. And the more "real" coffee you drank, the more you realise how bad freeze dried coffee was. From there, you move on to "oh this shop is better than that"....and before you know it, you become a coffee snob

Melbourne coffee is bloody good. You don't realise how good it is until you live away. What makes it good? Is it the beans? The beans come from all over the world, I don't think we grow our own, so it can't be that. Is it the way its roasted? Is it the way its made? I dunno. Its just different to other places.

The McDonalds coffee here are pretty darn good too, and I think they use trained baristas.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by T3rminator

You won't get it until you've been in it.

Melbourne coffee is bloody good. You don't realise how good it is until you live away. What makes it good? Is it the beans? The beans come from all over the world, I don't think we grow our own, so it can't be that. Is it the way its roasted? Is it the way its made? I dunno. Its just different to other places.

Coming from Sydney, I remember the first time ordering a Soy Mocha in Melbourne and being asked, did I want it Cappuccino style of Latte style. Thought they were taking the p*ss.

In Sydney Mocha is usually served in a glass, guess you would call Latte style.

North East Victoria is regarded as the gourmet region so here places like in Beechworth askes what blend you would like served.
So many good places to have proper coffee but there are some bad ones still selling milky dishwater Vittoria coffee.

[T3rminator]

It has to be asked....anyone tried cat **** coffee? Gees, a shot gave me a buzz for the afternoon.

[roKWiz]

No, is that like Charcoal coffee that seems to be a thing now.
Or bulletproof Keto coffee made with MCT oil and coconut milk.

[Itsme]

Yea you guys in Tassie need to catch up with mainland Australia; does all your shops still close at 6.00pm?

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by Itsme

Yea you guys in Tassie need to catch up with mainland Australia; does all your shops still close at 6.00pm?

Yeah Tassie been lucky.

No lock downs yet (yet!)

[Pis-ton broke]

can you still marry your sister in tas?

[mad2]

Originally Posted by Pis-ton broke

can you still marry your sister in tas?

[slowsnake]

Originally Posted by Pis-ton broke

can you still marry your sister in tas?

You can marry yourself if the constant inbreeding has turned you into an hermaphrodite!



Cheers M14X

[AMB]

Originally Posted by Pis-ton broke

can you still marry your sister in tas?

She's still waiting on the divorce from his brother

[prydey]

No matter how big a coffee snob you think you are there is always someone more extreme.

I'm in the category that smiles to myself reading some of the comments on here regarding what some people think is good coffee (maccas? Please no) and even what is good equipment (heat is the enemy of beans so a grinder has no place being packaged inside a coffee machine) but as a member of coffeesnobs.com.au (yes its a thing, and the owner is a multi award winning roaster in Melbourne) I would not be considered even slightly a coffee snob by some of the standards on there.

Having said that, all that matters at the end of the day is that you enjoy what you drink. Nothing else really matters.

Except fresh beans

[AMB]

Originally Posted by prydey

.....Nothing else really matters.

Except fresh beans

Once you add milk to espresso not much matters. Might taste nice (or not), but its still just coffee flavoured milk.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by AMB

Once you add milk to espresso not much matters. Might taste nice (or not), but its still just coffee flavoured milk.

To be fair, coffee is a broad term covering all drinks. No milk = espresso. Add milk and you can have a whole range of drinks.. Piccolo, macchiato, latte etc. All coffee.

Espresso drinkers often fit right at the pointy end of coffee snobbery

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by prydey

No matter how big a coffee snob you think you are there is always someone more extreme.

I'm in the category that smiles to myself reading some of the comments on here regarding what some people think is good coffee (maccas? Please no) and even what is good equipment (heat is the enemy of beans so a grinder has no place being packaged inside a coffee machine) but as a member of coffeesnobs.com.au (yes its a thing, and the owner is a multi award winning roaster in Melbourne) I would not be considered even slightly a coffee snob by some of the standards on there.

Having said that, all that matters at the end of the day is that you enjoy what you drink. Nothing else really matters.

Except fresh beans

Haha you say that, but pour it into an unmarked mug and you'd probably not be able to tell it apart from a lot of the shops ranked "pretty good". But then again I wouldn't exactly classify myself as a coffee snob. Not sure if maccas quality is the same across all states, although I can't imagine what general coffee would be like with SA water

It does remind me of the time I had a visitor from London. Picked her up early in the morning, and we were both desperate for a coffee (now they have some pretty ordinary coffee over there). She was ready for a Melb hit, but I couldn't be assed driving around looking for a shop opened at that hour, so I pulled into the maccas right at the exit of Melb Airport. She yells at me, came all the way over and the first stop is maccas haha. I said stfu and just try it. Priceless reaction. Obviously not the same quality as the boutiques with a fancy name type cafes, but still pretty good.

Best coffee I've had was actually at a friend's house. She is of Italian background, and she made me a coffee from her moka pot. Espresso obviously. Amazing. Not sure what she did, cos I bought a moka pot after that and could never get it the same regardless of how expensive the beans were.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by T3rminator

Haha you say that, but pour it into an unmarked mug and you'd probably not be able to tell it apart from a lot of the shops ranked "pretty good".

That says more about the shops than it does about maccas, but i agree. I've sampled a few places and very few are anywhere close to what I make at home.

If you follow a few basic principles its not that difficult to make superior coffee at home.

you don't need mega expensive equipment, but there is an element of you get what you pay for, so decent grinders are quite pricey. The grinder is actually more important than the espresso machine.

Once you have the equipment all you need is fresh beans of a flavour that you like. If you drink espresso, beans have a much smaller window of freshness as well. 2 weeks from roast date is getting close to the limit. Once you add milk, its not so critical however most would recommend using beans within 3-4 weeks of roast date.

Do not buy beans from a supermarket. There are plenty of roasters around australia selling very high quality beans.

Once you have your equipment and supplier sorted, then it becomes about technique. This isn't that hard to learn. The 3 main things to learn are grind, dose and tamp. These 3 all go together but should only be adjusted one at a time so you know the effect that change had.

grind = the size of the grounds. Too coarse and it pours too fast. Too fine and it pours too slow. You need to find a sweet spot that achieves approx 30ml in 30sec, give or take.

dose = the amount of ground coffee in the portafilter. Some tampers will have rings around them to act as a guide for consistency. Correct dose should allow about 1mm of space between the top of the puck and the shower screen when the handle is locked in to the espresso machine. An easy way to determine this, is to put a 5c coin on top, lock the handle in, then release and have a look. The coin should not be pushed in but just leave a slight impression in the top of the coffee. Once you have established that, take note of how far in your tamper goes, and don't vary by too much. Its all trial and error.

Tamp = the pressure you push down on the grounds with your tamper. This is probably the one step with the greatest variation in opinion. A friend of mine, who invented Pullman tampers (the best) did numerous tests and found that a pressure of between 5-15kg was ideal. Between those numbers made very little difference. When learning you can tamp on scales to get a feel for it.

It all sounds long winded, but once you get those 3 steps all working in unison to produce that magic 20-30ml in roughly 30sec, then good coffee at home should follow.

If you drink coffee for the taste etc and you regularly buy it, then buying your own equipment can pay for itself in short time. If you drink for the social aspect, then you'll probably end up drinking a lot more coffee

Sorry for long winded post. I do not have expensive equipment as I can't afford it, but I do enjoy the art of making it and trying to teach others as well. My machine is a breville dual boiler (bes920) which has all the features of the best high end machines and is great for domestic duties for those on a tight budget. Its paired with the breville smart grinder, which I can only say 'does the job'. When I win the lottery, that will be getting upgraded, but given I have milk, its not that critical.

[MercuryT]

Originally Posted by Pis-ton broke

can you still marry your sister in tas?

Now that isn't very nice.

[jaydee]

Perth is big on coffee too, lots of coffee snobs.
I'm a fan, but happy to drink instant at home, but do like one from a mobile van or a coffee shop.

[DFB FGXR6]

I was never a coffee or tea drinker until about five years ago. I always loved the smell but just didn't have the taste for it.

I started with instant and transitioned to Nespresso pods, made at work and home. Once I got a taste for the pods, I could not see the point in instant.

This what is offered at work, so no wonder I hate instant -



Of course, once I had gained my coffee adiction and started to know what I liked in Cafe's, the natural progression was to get a coffee machine. And yes, now dislike the pods.





A machine like that takes a while to master though. Each different brand of bean requires a specific grind amount and grind size to get a palatable result. And it has taken me a lot of coffee's to produce something like this -



And it also took a while to find the beans I like. These Mio ones are used in a couple of Cafe's I frequent.

[slowsnake]

Originally Posted by MercuryT

Hi all.
Down here in Tassie noone cares about Coffee or it's "standard".

My various workplaces are tea or water.

Yet I hear Victorians in particular "love" Coffee, and part of their lifestyle and fussy etc.

Is it true or not?

Even McDonald's have a current Ad saying Australians "love their coffee" yet I know not one person who even cares the slightest bit about Coffee?

I do, 3 cups every morning then tea all day, I just have a coffee plunger but it cool, coffee of choice Harris Black No 4, Arabica and satisfying, pretty cheap too!

Use teabags not loose tea, have about 12 cups a day, have 8 different types of tea, my favourite is Twinings Darjeeling Tea, but my go to everyday tea is Nerada Tea, picked 4 times a year, so flavour changes during the year, been drinking it since about 1981, stopped at Innisfail Nth Qld after 18 months in the NT, its grown there, used to be loose only and came in the old style milk carton, even took a tour, lol, pretty cool!

Then of course had to tour the Bundy factory, 3 times lol, oh how my life has changed in 40 years.


Cheers M14X

[mad2]

Originally Posted by slowsnake

I do, 3 cups every morning then tea all day, I just have a coffee plunger but it cool, coffee of choice Harris Black No 4, Arabica and satisfying, pretty cheap too!

Use teabags not loose tea, have about 12 cups a day, have 8 different types of tea, my favourite is Twinings Darjeeling Tea, but my go to everyday tea is Nerada Tea, picked 4 times a year, so flavour changes during the year, been drinking it since about 1981, stopped at Innisfail Nth Qld after 18 months in the NT, its grown there, used to be loose only and came in the old style milk carton, even took a tour, lol, pretty cool!

Then of course had to tour the Bundy factory, 3 times lol, oh how my life has changed in 40 years.


Cheers M14X

hmm .. 3 maybe 4 cups of coffee a day [strong & brown not black or white. canna fit anymore coffee on spoon], tea . . . . . 'about' 3/4 cups a day ..... which works out to 6/8 normal cups a day as i don't have a "small" cup. the large cup holds a litre of water ..... takes about 2 hours to drink & not into twinings blah. main is a dilmah black tea with an occasionally a peach flavoured one. they no longer sell the peach/mango i used to drink





the can on the left fits inside the 'cup' next to it. i used to drink from the 'normal' cups but found the drink finished too quick, so upscaled to the red cup on the right & all was gooood. but then i found that i slopped to much of the tea walking to where i was walking .. so upgraded to the middle cup. the larger has been used once, at work

[MITCHAY]

I crack a tin of Coke Zero every morning and that is my cofee. Hate the stuff, must be one of few desk jockeys that doesn't like cofee around here

[marty351]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

I crack a tin of Coke Zero every morning and that is my cofee. Hate the stuff, must be one of few desk jockeys that doesn't like cofee around here

Philistine!

[ford71V8]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

I crack a tin of Coke Zero every morning and that is my cofee. Hate the stuff, must be one of few desk jockeys that doesn't like cofee around here

Im with you, can of coke is my heart starter.... never got the coffee fascination

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by ford71V8

Im with you, can of coke is my heart starter.... never got the coffee fascination

Opposite for me, I never got the Coke or Red Bull fascination.

[ford71V8]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Opposite for me, I never got the Coke or Red Bull fascination.

Ive made a conscious effort to reduce the coke intake....nearly every morning was not good, these days i can go a couple of weeks without one. I mentioned once in the Bakery thread how much i love a can on the brink of freezing

Never tried a redbull or monster type drink, and cant see a day that will change

[DJR-351]

Originally Posted by ford71V8

Im with you, can of coke is my heart starter.... never got the coffee fascination

I sometimes work with an ships engineer who has 2 full strength cans for breakfast every day, without fail, and is then on a steady drip of 8 to 10 cans or more during the day.......he complains he can't sleep and needs the coke to get him through the day!

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by DJR-351

I sometimes work with an ships engineer who has 2 full strength cans for breakfast every day, without fail, and is then on a steady drip of 8 to 10 cans or more during the day.......he complains he can't sleep and needs the coke to get him through the day!

Following the NSW Commonwealth Cycling Classic from years back the teams would road race into town. First port of call was the coffee shop and order expresso mixed with a can of Coke. Sounds horrible but its what got them through the evening criterium race.
First time I ever saw a very young Jan Ullrich (Bosch team) drink this combo.

[ford71V8]

Originally Posted by DJR-351

I sometimes work with an ships engineer who has 2 full strength cans for breakfast every day, without fail, and is then on a steady drip of 8 to 10 cans or more during the day.......he complains he can't sleep and needs the coke to get him through the day!

I had a can of coke this morning while watching local U14s play (we won by 2 pts, putting us in the grand final!).
First can for a while and really noticed how sweet it is and couldnt stop thinking about this post.... up to a dozen cans in a day, his teeth must be trashed