dstr8 Posted December 24, 2015 Report Share Posted December 24, 2015 ...over black walnut ice cream on Christmas Eve afternoon. Only mid-westerners understand the choice of ice cream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted December 25, 2015 Report Share Posted December 25, 2015 Looks tasty:) What kind of espresso maker is that? It's new to me:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted December 25, 2015 Report Share Posted December 25, 2015 Kewl! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstr8 Posted December 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2015 Looks tasty:) What kind of espresso maker is that? It's new to me:) Its an EspressoForge (manual, pour over style espresso press). For camping or impromptu afternoon espressos at home (my commercial machine takes an hour or more to get heat soaked) it works great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted December 25, 2015 Report Share Posted December 25, 2015 Thanks, dstr. I'll have to check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstr8 Posted December 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2015 MacKenzie, not that you couldn't easily have found it on your own: http://espressoforge.com Andre is the inventor and owner...and is working on his third iteration of his EspressoForge with his next small scale production run next month. I've owned more manual/pour-over/non-electric espresso "machines" over the years than I can count/remember and Andre's is IMHO the best by far. And like Dennis backs his products with five star service commitment and continual refinement of the product...so does Andre. Ok...off my little soap box now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted December 25, 2015 Report Share Posted December 25, 2015 dstr, I never tire of the soapbox from someone in the know, thanks. It certainly looks interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 26, 2015 Report Share Posted December 26, 2015 Looks tasty. Sent from my QTAQZ3 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted December 26, 2015 Report Share Posted December 26, 2015 Yes, they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skreef Posted December 26, 2015 Report Share Posted December 26, 2015 I'm from the South and I remember eating blk walnut all my life.it was one of my favorites. And to add coffee to it sounds great Sent from my QTAQZ3 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstr8 Posted October 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 Today's Afternoon Delight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 Oh my, wouldn't I love one of those right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 (edited) So do you have your Reg Barber tamper yet? Reg Barber coffee tampers I'd go with the Decent Espresso double baskets, which call for a 58.5mm tamper. My friends argue endlessly about the best tamper shape, but I went flat. Decent Espresso basket That Espresso Forge looks very interesting. I like how it uses standard parts, like my Venetian Bigolaro pasta extruder. My morning ritual involves a Pavoni Europicola lever espresso machine, and an Orphan Espresso Pharos grinder. That's a $300 manual grinder that sports conical burrs normally found in $3,000 motorized grinders. It was a nightmare to get into a routine (Dewalt small trigger clamps to fix it to my butcher block, a mister to prevent bean static, a 600ml Bamix immersion blender beaker to snugly receive the grinds while I shake) but now I have it down, and the routine is what wakes me up. The coffee is a bonus. Orphan Espresso Pharos Edited October 29, 2016 by Syzygies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pequod Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 I also use the Pharos grinder with a mister. Best burr for the buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstr8 Posted October 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 (edited) Syzygies, several different tampers ... RG, Mahlgut, Kafatek (favorite right now) and a Dozer and Buzzer from Mahlgut on the way. Had one of the original Pharos with voodoodaddy mods and the past year+ have been using the Mahlgut Grist MG-1 for all grinding for my machines. I'm waiting for a Kafatek Monolith Flat which is supposed to be here next month ... then light roasts won't be such a chore to grind Edited October 29, 2016 by dstr8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 13 minutes ago, dstr8 said: the past year+ have been using the Mahlgut Grist MG-1 for all grinding for my machines. I'm waiting for a Kafatek Monolith Flat Wow. I actually believe that my coffee activities are casual, get in and get out, but you're probably the only person who would see it that way. The Kafatek looks amazing but out of budget. Where did you get the Mahgut Grist? It looks like what Orphan Espresso meant to do. (I left out the part of the story where my blind return sat on Orphan's country house porch for months while they were in Asia, because I stripped the adjustment screw and I was too pissed to fix it myself.) At the dawn of the internet (around the time Jeff Bezos decided to open an online bookstore) I wrote this Pavoni web page as an experiment in web authorship: Coffee: Resources for home espresso Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstr8 Posted October 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 Ok Syzygies, looks like we are on the same all things coffee/espresso 'page'! Nice work on the LP article! A little over a year ago I put together a Group Buy for 15 of the grinders, primarily sold through Home Barista, direct from Michael & Timo, the owners and machinist of Mahlgut. Yes it is like a "balanced & blueprinted", terminology from the drag/race car world I'm sure you know, Pharos. Its a wonderful hand grinder without the nagging design issues of the Pharos. Having said that Doug & Barb's contribution to all things hand grinders are without peer. Espresso is the only "thing", all things food related and not, that has been a constant in my life each and every day for 30+ years. It is something I never get bored with nor tired of tasting. It sounds like you are on the same path Different espresso machines have come and gone from my counter and I recently acquired the Slayer, a supreme indulgence, and added a newer Cremina to use as my mobile camp machine in addition to other levers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstr8 Posted October 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 How does the Decent baskets compare to VST, IMS and LM baskets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 Thanks, Syzygies and dstr, I just spent the last hour or so looking at coffee sites. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 18 minutes ago, dstr8 said: How does the Decent baskets compare to VST, IMS and LM baskets? I don't actually know, because I can't use a 58mm basket. Your post sent me into an exploring spiral, and I believed what EspressoForge proposed was an upgrade. For the La Pavoni, I just ordered a couple of larger capacity 49mm Elektra Microcasa double baskets. It appears my portafilter is deep enough, but if not I'll get a bottomless portafilter. Being able to use 58mm baskets is parallel to my home torchio pasta extruder taking standard "Dolly" brass pasta extruder dies. Pricey but lots more choices. Pasta has actually been the constant in my life; we grind our own flour using a KoMo Classic Grain Mill (nothing less expensive works acceptably), sieving out some bran for a fixed extraction using a Gilson 12in Round Test Sieve over a Vollrath 69080 8 Quart Mixing Bowl. (I have several sets of these fine bowls. A friend cut corners matching them, and his wife could tell.) To be honest, barbecue is a peripheral hobby for me, like coffee, I just have this issue where I get obsessed with whatever I'm thinking about at the moment. In other words, this is all your fault. How does the EspressoForge actually compare (critically, if you're counseling someone who might spend the $300 but doesn't have to) with other machines not costing thousands of dollars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
