What's In Your CoffeeLab???

[shadow745]

So do tell... what type of equipment you have in your coffee lab/kitchen..... as well as how often you use this equipment.....

I'll start by naming off what I've been blessed with. Have 2 espresso machines in the kitchen... one is a KitchenAid Pro Line that hardly ever gets touched. This is paired with a heavily modified KA Pro Line grinder. Reason this combo hardly gets used is because my go-to machine is a 1977 Olympia Cremina lever machine. IMO nothing can touch what this think is capable of cranking out. I paired this with a 1950s KyM Turkish style copper bodied hand mill. Nothing is quite as exciting as working for every shot made... If I had to pick one machine and grinder to keep for life that would be it... provided I can find/afford parts for it. But wait this machine is close to 33 years old and has never needed anything except for the usual seals/gaskets as part of a routine touch-up. Amazing that something is that old and has been used thousands of times and still works so well that temperature control is still within 1 degree... Later!

 

[PaulLovesCoffee]

A modified tin can. 8)

I'm not joking, either. My home made vietnamese drip/press I made from a chicken&dumplings can, a bolt, a specific type of nut(from an old bunk bed) and the top part of the can. It took about an hour to punch the holes for the bottom and half an hour for the "top" part that screws down. The reason the bottom took longer is because I had to get hundreds of extremely tiny holes(so I could use any grind, I like flexibility), all the holes are hand punched. It looks ridiculous, but it produces a cup of coffee I'd gladly pit against any drip machine you can buy for any price. It produces a smoother, more flavorful brew than anything else I've had and I can use it with any reasonable(i.e. not turkish) grind.

I recently made a matching mug to go with it. It's a wide metal mug with a decent wire handle that holds a lot of coffee and is pretty handy. I prefer a wider short mug to a tall narrow mug.

Both will get a plain black enamel finish to match the rest of the appliances, or maybe tan/olive to match my bugout/survival and camping gear. If I had the money to buy some, I'd use durabake(it's a bake on enamel used for custom paintjobs on firearms), but I don't, so I guess they're going to end up with high temp engine enamel. Neither would affect the taste any.

The setup is very portable, anywhere I can get hot water I can have coffee, and there's nothing to break. It "rides with me" when I travel. If I could ever find a shooting range around here with power(for an electric tea kettle), I'd be in heaven since I could have hot, fresh coffee on site all day while doing what I love.

I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't just buy a coffee maker. The answer is that I love to tinker and I love to make my own stuff. Also, you can't beat "free" when it comes to price. Ordinarily, my stuff is much better made, but I've been sans-tools for a while due to losing them in a move. It works extremely well, and as such I have no reason to remake it in a better looking way.

Next on my list will be to make either a siphon coffee maker or a burr grinder. Probably the grinder, so I can have fresh ground beans.

 

[Alun_evans]

This is just the lab right??? OK- 1 1 group San Marino Junior, 1 2 group Rapallo Lever, 1 1 group San Marino Lisa R Auto, 1 1 group CKXE- multiple presses, a 1937 German electric grinder, 2 Mazzer Supers a Mazzer Mini. 1 3 drum sample roaster, 2 bravilor Mondo drip units....and a partridge in a Pear tree. Actually I have too much here not being utilised, my wife wants me to warehouse at least the 2 1 groups and the CKXE which I am loath to do

 

[PaulLovesCoffee]

Impressive, Alun! How did you manage to acquire so much equipment?