Thread: Coffee Roasting

Pedro, the main street was also the Pac Hwy until about 13 years ago when a bypass was completed.

Every May in celebration of the bypass, Bangalow holds its billcart derby, which is a blast.

Cheers, GQ



Thats my boy, winning yet another race!
(Its quite a long run down the hill, but the telephoto effect has bunched it up....)

I can appreciate the design of your cart for speed, GQ (and the skillful steering) but the Bobcat - that's the most imaginative billiecart I've ever seen

I am a coffee head as well and am delighted to see other Land Rover owners are even more into it than me. Don't know why I'm surprised, good taste is good taste.

I'd rate the importance of good coffee on a camping right up there with and Engel to keep grog cold. People I camp with made fun of my obsession but I've managed to convert a few.

Put me down for a few bags of AULRO beans. That would blow minds on a camping trip or make great Christmas presents.

sorry about the delay guys some muppet up the road put his bucket through the phone lines, been off 24 hours just come back on and the first call was indian call center, ron the general rule of thumb with the grind is if its cooler go coarser and if its hotter go finer, echidna your spot on we use various DI-BELLA blends which is a maximum of 2 days old which is the key really. if you go for lavatza or any imported italian blend the freshest it will be is 6 months old and ive seen it up to 2 years old. another big misconception is that italian blends are no good in oz because 90% of italian coffee is drunk black or heavily waterbased (machiattos etc) where 90% of australian coffee is milk based which requires a completly different roast, i use a blend for short/long blacks which is full of flavour but its a bit average flavour wise when you bung some milk on it. we should all meet up for a coffee appreciation nite, never get to sleep after it tho

the place here that used to make my favourite brew had fresh beans at least every week or more often from Toby's (IIRC Wooloomooloo blend)
Not sure that the current owners adhere to this. Upon finding out thye'd bought the cafe I recommended that they keep an eye on the coffee as that was the key to the cafe.

"How hard can it be ? You press the button on the machine and the water goes through......."

It's never been the same since....

Interesting Neil 90. I've always suspected the Italian blends weren't as fresh as they should be and I also believe in supporting local roasters ("local" could include those on AULRO now I know they exist). I use beans from a guy here in Mt Lawley though becasue I don't make coffee at home often I do tend to break the freshness rules but always grind fresh even though it is with a blade grinder.

One imported brand that seems to be popular amongst my friends is Illy. I must say i enjoy it myself too.

The ultimate coffee experience is a macchiato made by Paul at Pellegrini's, Bourke Stree Melbourne.

Originally Posted by JamesH

Interesting Neil 90. I've always suspected the Italian blends weren't as fresh as they should be and I also believe in supporting local roasters ("local" could include those on AULRO now I know they exist). I use beans from a guy here in Mt Lawley though becasue I don't make coffee at home often I do tend to break the freshness rules but always grind fresh even though it is with a blade grinder.

One imported brand that seems to be popular amongst my friends is Illy. I must say i enjoy it myself too.

The ultimate coffee experience is a macchiato made by Paul at Pellegrini's, Bourke Stree Melbourne.

there are some top notch local roasters about thats for sure, your right about illy tho but they do go to great lenghts to keep it fresh as in they supply a sealed can that goes on the top of the grinder in place of the hopper, great idea but you pay for it. a good compromise is if you grind some and find its good for home use then grind a bit up and as long as you keep it airtight in the fridge it will last a couple of weeks, the beans biggest enemy is heat and light, if you leave beans at room temp especially in summer then it starts to slowly roast again changing the flavour, keep everything in a fridge never freeze as the water content alters the beans when defrosting and ruins the flavour. i like conical burr grinders as you have stepless adjustment but they need daily cleaning. mazzers are very good. just been looking at a new machine that can adjust the group head temp by 0.5 degree c incruments, you wouldnt believe the difference in flavour by varying it from say 90c to 95c in 0.5 steps would make, very impressive 18k tho

Thanks for your comments, Neil. I keep my beans in a sealed jar in the cupboard and out of the fridge. I heard the change in temperature causes the sweats which can adversely effect flavour.

You grinder sounds like a Range Rover vogue compared to my Series 1. I don't make coffee a lot at home but I do love a good brew.