It was poorly adhered so we stuck it back on with sticky tape, looks crappy but its still there. The second thing we noticed was that the amber coloured shell around the ‘cycle indicator light’ fell off. This is good because you don’t have to bend as far. The first thing we noticed about our new Eswood was that the dish tray is higher than our old Hobart's was. We previously had an old Hobart that we bought at auction which, though very good, slowly became more and more expensive to repair. We bought our Eswood undercounter dishwasher new. It does great espresso and the exercise is free! Don't know the exact retail price yet as this was suppled as a sample for us to try, but I expect it to be about $100. Recently I have been using a Kyocera (Japanese) hand grinder for espresso coffee with very good results. An industry benchmark for high volume cafés is the Mazzer Robur grinder, at $3400 they are not often used domestically but I have seen one in an office. If you do not need such a fine grind a cheaper grinder can produce good results for plunger coffee. As a rough guide expect to pay at least $500- for a good quality electric conical grinder to grind coffee to home espresso standard. This is because prices and quality vary so much between manufacturers and models. This where it gets a little confusing, a good flat burr grinder will produce a better grind than a poor conical grinder.

Conical burr grinders used to be only used in high volume cafés but now they are also used domestically.

There is some evidence to suggest that conical burr grinders are superior, they work more slowly and can provide a more even grind. Just to make things a little more complex, there are not only two types of grinders - blade and burr - there are two types of burr grinders - conical and flat. It is impossible for foreign suppliers to get freshly roasted beans to Australia fast enough to compete with local roasters before their coffee has gone stale! One of the reasons why there are coffee roasters in each major city and even in many country towns is that coffee goes stale fast. How long do roasted beans last? About a week, beyond that the loss of flavour becomes increasingly noticeable. This enables the coffee to be packed immediately after roasting before degassing has finished, the carbon dioxide can escape the one-way valve and air is prevented from entering. The coffee we sell comes in a pack that has a one-way valve. Transfer to a new container exposes all the beans to air, and this will increase the rate of deterioration.Īfter coffee is roasted it releases carbon dioxide, this as called degassing. Thus, the best way to store beans is in a cool, dark place in the same package they were sold in. The factors that make coffee beans deteriorate are exposure to heat, light, and air. We are often asked what is the best way to store coffee beans? A long black (also called, caffé lungo and caffé americano) can be served at up to 95˚C. Aiming for 72˚C gives a little latitude so as to avoid ruining your coffee.įor those that want much hotter coffee try a long black with milk on the side. The thinner the fat, the less it coats your tongue, what you will miss is that luxurious creamy feel that correctly heated milk provides to milk based coffees. A second effect of overheated milk is that the fats become much thinner, just like when you heat olive oil in a pan it gets thinner. This is because at over 75˚C the proteins in the milk begin to curdle and this affects both the flavour and the fineness of the foam. You may wonder why not a higher temperature? Milk boils at roughly the same temperature as water 100˚C, but the difference is that milk begins to deteriorate at around 75˚C. If you ask for your coffee 'very hot' we aim for 72˚C. The milk is still luxuriously thick and full, and you can start to drink it almost immediately. This is the ideal temperature for milk based espresso coffee. This is poured over an espresso shot extracted into a warm glass or cup. At Cactus we aim to produce foamed milk that is at 67˚C. I'll restrict this discussion to coffee with milk - cappuccino, caffé latte and that peculiar Australian invention 'flat white'. We occasionally get requests for coffee hotter than usual, but what is usual?

Espresso bar