Coffee wankers thread

Got one of the KinGrinders arriving Weds, they all sold out after the video from Jesus, though this is the K2 (bigger burrs) not the P1 he reviewed. Looking forward to see if I can tell the difference from el cheapo grinder I'm currently using.

First impressions of the K2, it's quite the chunk of aluminum. Really quick to grind a dose, but comes set up for use with a drill for some reason, it's a quick swap of a couple of o rings is all. It leaves about 0.5g inside after grinding, would need brushing out every time. First attempt was 50 clicks (about 380 microns) aeropress on Union's Gajah Mountain a pretty dark roast, which was a bit too fine I think, had a slight bitter taste. The grind looked very consistent though, am sure this is a sizeable upgrade for the mini Hario hand grinder users of the world (me).

Anyone tried this? Apparently they resell surplus coffee from specialty roasters. Seems like a decent deal if it’s consistent

wonkycoffee.com/

Yeah, the result when I finally removed the shower screen on my espresso machine was... not pretty. Satisfying to get it all shiny clean again though, and looking forward to my next cup tomorrow morning.

I'm still going through the Roast Hero box of all the roasteries from the Glasgow Coffee Festival. It's been fun to just bash through the 60g bags, seeing what comes out and trying to get dialled in as fast as possible. I'm so backed up I only picked up one bag from Prufrock when I went to London last week! I nearly got this one Dutch one that came in a plastic jar but the roast date was a little old given that it's going to the back of the queue. (Also, no breakfast sandwich anymore? Eggs benedict was nice though)

Have not – super interesting. Did you go for it?

He’s definitely got me thinking about the canister of the espresso machine cleaner rather than the tablets. I kinda want one of those shower screen removers though so it isn’t all a money saver.

I’ve paused my squaremile sub. Their coffees are all really nice but at the same time they all seem similar and a bit safe. Going to try a couple of others over the month or two.

First incoming is one from Origin Coffee.

Vortex There are a few recommendations here:

www.risecoffeebox.co.uk/blogs/stories/top-10-coffee-roasters-in-scotland

Not coffee but make sure you check out Tantrum Doughnuts and Bare Bones Chocolate. The chocolate in particular is essential, and they've got a relationship with Tin Donkey roasters. Even if you can't bring anything back, make sure you at least have a hot chocolate with a marshmallow at the shop - wonderful.

In terms of coffee, just a few from personal experience: Gordon Street is fine, has good cakes and is very well located at Central but it can get very busy and when it's busy it gets slow. Us V Them's decent when they can be arsed to open, specifically the Gallowgate branch - nice thick long black for if you're heading off to the Barras or the Green. Good Coffee Cartel sell a good variety of coffee and their retail beans come in natty tin bottles - really good for souvenirs, but I've never been to their cafe. My sister lives near an Ovenbird and they're really solid, the kind of place you're thankful for if you're staying nearby. Godshot Studio is good wide-ranging coffee (I got a really eclectic selection box from them for Christmas) but I've heard grumblings about the owner. Frankie Coffee is Aussie style in Shawlands and very decent. I like Andina in the West End, they just do Colombian coffee and have some very sugary cakes. Grain and Grind do alright coffee but I like their food more. They used to have a great breakfast/brunch service at the Battlefield one but I think that stopped with Covid. They've got like 8 shops though so a safe option, I think.

On top of that, for non-roasting coffee shops I like Riverhill in the centre though it can be challenging to get a seat. Laboratorio's a good place to meet up with people, but small.

Vortex

Some roasteries from me:
Plot Roasting (expensive nowadays though!)
Curve
Artisan (Edinburgh based I think)
Dark Woods
Obadiah
UE Coffee

Ulythium seems to find all sorts of interesting roasters, if you look through some of his previous posts in this thread.

Awesome, thanks so much for the info uiruki, I will endeavour to try a few of those places out when we're down the road. I know a few decent ones in edinburgh, but glasgow is a bit more of a mystery. 

Definitely trying to revisit bread meets bread, but some cafes will definitely be required. I already like the sounds of these doughnuts and the hot chocolate may sit well with the missus who doesn't really do coffee as much as I do. 

Just went for the 1KG bag of the second one, so it'd better not be shit! Anything would probably be an upgrade on the random bag I picked up in homesense in fairness.

I got a La Pavoni Europiccola yesterday as I've been out of the 'spro game too long.

They are 'cheap' in the Fenwick sale atm, if anyone is in the market. Touch over 400 with an easily sourced 10% off code.

Anyway, after 3 or 4 shots I've actually pulled something semi-decent. It has about 3 things you can twist or pull so it's a very intuitive machine, which simplifies things.

I can see pulling a consistent pressure with the lever being an art rather than science, but tbh, I've always found Hoffman's obsessive scientific dedication to profiles and curves to bring marginal gains at best for my proletariat palate. Perhaps this will be a bit more freeing because it's harder getting a perfect 2:1 ratio or whatever.

Minor qualms: it's a death trap. The stainless still gets extremely hot. The group head is very close to the drip tray. I can just about fit scales and a small espresso mug.

Cheers for all the recommendations uiriki. It was much appreciated and let us get some guaranteed good snack scran along the way.

Tantrum doughnuts were great. Also made it to laboratorio which was nice, but not as nice as Us vs Them imo. Also got a bare bones hot chocolate at us v them, so double drinks for one stop. The missus really liked that as did i.

Dear green were shut today, which was a pisser, but got some us v them standard espresso beans instead. Look forward to trying them next week or so.