Help me spend money on new coffee gear!

RE*AC*TOR

I need advice, reviews, suggestions.

I currently have a Gaggia Cubika. I use preground illy, lavazza or palombini. It produces a nice espresso.

However, I am thinking of moving up in the world. Perhaps investing in a grinder, perhaps investing in a home roaster. Before I do this though, I need the help of my fellow coffee-obsessed.

1. Can you buy green-coffee beans readily in Dublin?

2. How long do these keep without being roasted?

3. Assuming I get the roasting and grinding right, am I going to notice an improvement in espresso quality?

4. Which grinder? Mazzer Mini, Rancillo Rocky, or other....

5. Which roaster? (looking at the iRoast2)

6. Most importantly which espresso machine. It has to be a decent step up from my current machine, but I'm not taking out a second mortgage either. I'm looking for good price/performance ratio.

jimmytwo

I recently went through some of the same decisions as yourself. I went for the Rancilio Silvia and Rocky and have not looked back since - very happy with them. Think they give some of the best performance for the price.

Gran Hermano

Best upgrade without blowing a large wad of cash would IMHO be to
purchase a decent grinder. You'll notice a vast improvement in your shots
if you move from buying preground coffee to freshly grinding your own.
Buy a decent grinder now and then you can always use it if/when you
upgrade the espresso machine.

Have a look at the sticky at the top for my recent review on my Iberital
MC2. I'm delighted with it and am sure I'll still use it even if I upgrade my
Gaggia. Mr Magnolia on here also purchased one and last I heard he was
happy with his.

RE*AC*TOR

The Iberital sounds like a good grinders, but I really would like a grinder that would do coarse grinds for french press aswell without too much hassle.

Does anyone know if anyone sells Green coffee beans in dublin? Do they keep well once bought, before roasting?

RE*AC*TOR

Got a Gaggia MDF in Brown Thomas. I can't justify buying a grinder which I can't easily do french press as well as espresso. Will report later on the results.

RE*AC*TOR

I haven't nailed down the best grind size yet, but I have to say, the flavour is superb. Just picked up some of Fallon and Byrnes Espresso Blend Beans last night. Unfotunately waisted a bit with messing around with grind sizes.

Anyway, have decided to get the iRoast 2. Ordered it this morning from Hasbean.co.uk along with a couple of big bags of green coffee (apparently they keep for years unroasted - yay).

Oh - and I'm gonna hold off on a new machine for the time being. I reckon with a bit of attention to detail, I've yet to see the best from my Gaggia.

Must say, apart from Gran Hermano this forum is awfuly quiet. Almost feels like I'm talking to myself.

Gran Hermano

Sounds like a successful shopping trip!

I agree with your thoughts on there being life in the old Gaggia, the
MDF is a good grinder and perfect for what you were looking for as it'll
easily allow you to change from espresso to french-press grinds.
It will give you much better results than the pre-ground you were using in the past. I wasted a decent sized bag of coffee tuning in my MC2 when I
got it - haven't wasted any since. You may notice you'll need to adjust the
grind to allow for variations in the beans (I have to finely tune mine if the
beans are in the hopper a couple of days). Different beans will also need different grind settings. The weather and humidity will also alter your results. Try and get some freshly roasted beans for best results,
Ristretto are pretty good.

Keep us posted on the home-roaster, I've looked at the model you just
ordered and am toying with purchasing it shortly. I too have heard the
green beans last for months.


Glad I'm not the only one who feels they are talking to themselves in here

dudara

A grinder is something that I've been thinking about recently, so it's good to read your opinions. Now that the sales are here, I'll be checking out some options.

Mr Magnolia

dudara wrote:

A grinder is something that I've been thinking about recently, so it's good to read your opinions. Now that the sales are here, I'll be checking out some options.

As Gran Hermano said, I bought the MC2 recently too and am very happy with the espresso grind and great cremá too. I haven't tried adjusting it for a grind suitable for a press so can't advise you on that one.

I'd be interested to see how you get on if you did start roasting.

As for traffic in the forum, it's holiday season at the minute. Also, a link in your sig might help bring traffic round.

Gran Hermano

IMHO, a good grinder is probably the most important purchase.

It doesn't matter how much you spend on an espresso machine,
if your grinder is outputting poor quality/inconsistently sized ground
coffee you'll end up with poor results.

From the grinders I've tested and backed up by numerous reviews online,
I'd say the best are the Gaggia MDF or the Iberital MC2. (Unless you
are looking to spend €300+)

Don't bother with the cheaper Gaggia MM or the Braun, Krupps or such-like
conical blade grinders, it's a false economy and it'll drive you crazy.

You really are looking at spending €200+. I have recently read good
feedback about the Aerolatte Coffee Grinder, it shares a lot of it's innards
with the MC2 and shipping to Ireland is pretty cheap, approx 5 euro.
Aerolatte also do a home-roaster for GBP149 (inc VAT) + GBP3 delivery.
From what I can gather they are the UK/Irish distributor for Hearthware who manufacture the iRoast.


i-roasthttp://www.i-roast.com/pro_01.php

RE*AC*TOR

I have no doubt the MC2 is a great grinder. In fact there are a lot of very good stepless grinders out there. However, IMHO you either need to be exclusively espresso drinking or have a second grinder for French Press / Filter etc.

The Gaggia MDF, doesn't offer the same minute precision adjustments as the MC2 or similar, so at least in theory it isn't as good for espresso. But its very easy for me to dial up to 17 for French Press and back to 6 for espresso, or even down to 3 for Turkish coffee.

billyblanks

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

I
Anyway, have decided to get the iRoast 2. Ordered it this morning from Hasbean.co.uk along with a couple of big bags of green coffee (apparently they keep for years unroasted - yay).

That's good news, you will be amazed with the results. Took me a while to get the hang of it, first few roasts were dodgy (under roasted) but soon got confidence with the machine.
Don't think there are any official green bean suppliers in Ireland but If you contact any specialist roasters they may sort you out?

RE*AC*TOR

I just pulled a double of the Blasket blend (i think) from Ariosa that I just ground with the MDF. I have never ever gotten crema like this. I almost had to eat it out of the end of the cup with a spoon. I almost don't want to use the roaster now as I feel these guys deserve my support (that an I have doubts about whether I'll be able to meet, let alone pass, their standards).