# Truly horrible first home-made proper espresso



## Nick H. (Sep 21, 2014)

For years I've been happy with ready-ground Illy red in a moka pot. Now I'm exploring other things and have a new Rhino grinder, a Handpresso, some scales and a Has Bean espresso starter pack. Just made a cup of Jailbreak and it is effing revolting, with or without milk. Horrible sour taste and a smell of something like cellulose. I am seriously cheesed off. I bet I will hate all 5 beans in the starter pack. What a waste of time and money. Even McDonalds coffee is far nicer.


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## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

I'd say that those beans prepared with that grinder & espresso maker won't really shine.

To get the best balance of flavour (i.e. not sour or bitter) especially from lighter roasts, you need to use a very good grinder and have a machine that is pretty temperature stable.

If I were you and I wanted to taste all of those beans to see the difference, I would read the Hasbean guide on how to cup coffees. It is much easier, because all you need is a grinder, cup, kettle, spoon & timer. Essentially it is the most basic way to prepare and taste coffee. It is not filtered or brewed with high pressure, and so it shows the coffees characteristics much more clearly.

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/blogs/articles/6488501-coffee-cupping-a-basic-introduction

and

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/blogs/brew-guides/6552897-cupping-brew-guide

Let us know if you give it a go.

Michael


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## Nick H. (Sep 21, 2014)

Thanks Michael, I'll definitely try all that. I'm also getting a used MC2 this week.

Would you say a Handpresso is not temp stable? I use water from the kettle, within seconds of boiling.


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## sjenner (Nov 8, 2012)

There is nothing about a Handpresso that will allow it to be temperature stable... There is no heating elephant. You need a temperature somewhere around 92c, and your water straight from the kettle is too hot... If you measure your temperature and then pour when it is right, by the time you are ready to extract the water will have gone below the ideal temp.

A much nicer device is the Aeropress or SwissGold, the first can be used to make an espresso like drink (strong and short) but no crema, however they both allow good beans to taste good.

EDIT to add:

I reckon that the Handpresso, and the old MyPressi, along with the Rosco stuff all have the same issue, but if you are already a capable espresso chef, you will be able to use one of these devices in the field and make a passable shot. It is just not that suitable as a beginners machine... I went the MyPressi route, so I have some experience.... I reckon that if you want to make espresso, you need an espresso machine, and the better it is, the easier it is to pull good shots.

Lastly, starting at the lower end of the market, will teach one an awful lot about the skills required, and you are likely to pick up some of the subtleties that make a better machine sing.


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## Drewster (Dec 1, 2013)

sjenner said:


> ... There is no heating *elephant*.......


Titter, Titter. Made me giggle!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Barista -and - equipement at work here

Not the beans - there are a ton of people who enjoy has bean offerings on here ( some who prefer other stuff ) SO look at your technique and equipment your using , before such casual and harsh judgement of any roasters offerings ...

Low water temp = sour tasting coffee.

You'd be better off throwing brewing them another way and perhaps asking some advice on how to before brewing them .

Even with temp stable equipment you need to have a modicum of technique to make a decent espresso tasting espresso.

It is not as simple as whacking in some coffee, pressing a button or in your case pressing the handpresso and tasty espressol comes out .....

The fact that the handpresso thread has been dormant for 3 years gives you an idea of how many are being used now ..


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Would a sour taste also indicate under extraction?

If the OP can't change the brewing equipment would grinding finer be an option or brewing longer?

Never used a hand press but definitely have to use a higher temp for lighter beans and lower dark dark beans.


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Nick, I had been using a moka pot, then got an aeropress and then was weighing up what next, in part inspired by a review article by Maxwell Colonna Dashwood in an Observer tech monthly. It was through googling various options - including working out what a handpresso is and what it's capable and not capable of that led me to the forum and a decision that you might want to consider: a second hand Gaggia Classic through the forum. For not much more or even less than a handpresso you can start making the sort of espresso it sounds like you want to make - and an MC2 will work well with it.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

urbanbumpkin said:


> Would a sour taste also indicate under extraction?
> 
> If the OP can't change the brewing equipment would grinding finer be an option or brewing longer?
> 
> Never used a hand press but definitely have to use a higher temp for lighter beans and lower dark dark beans.


More likely in a thing with no heating element and water from a kettle that its the temp as Mr Jenner indicated,,,


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Mrboots2u said:


> More likely in a thing with no heating element and water from a kettle that its the temp as Mr Jenner indicated,,,


Cheers Boots, just a thought. Looks like the "element" in the room needs to be addressed


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

urbanbumpkin said:


> Cheers Boots, just a thought. Looks like the "element" in the room needs to be addressed


To be fair probably under extracting as well Urban = sour as you know .. but without a decent start temp I've no idea how we help change that as well


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

sjenner said:


> EDIT to add:
> 
> I reckon that the Handpresso, and the old MyPressi, along with the Rosco stuff all have the same issue, but if you are already a capable espresso chef, you will be able to use one of these devices in the field and make a passable shot. It is just not that suitable as a beginners machine... I went the MyPressi route, so I have some experience.... I reckon that if you want to make espresso, you need an espresso machine, and the better it is, the easier it is to pull good shots.


Plus one on this


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Trick, when making a shot, is to heat the gizmo with plenty of hot water first. Loss of heat to the body of the machine is the biggest problem with non-heated on the fly espresso machines.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Handpresso doesn't have a lot of metal parts in contact with the brew water, preheating may not make a big difference compared to water off the boil straight in & pull as quick as you can, certainly much less of an issue than with the other non electric gizmos.

Nick H. Are you weighing dose in & shot out? Maybe the Rhino can't get you quite in the zone, maybe it can, you have a finite amount of water to brew with, so it would be good to know brew ratio and how long the shot takes?

Do a sanity check with your Illy to see how that works in the Handpresso.


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## Vieux Clou (Oct 22, 2014)

sjenner said:


> There is no heating elephant.


Wouldn't work with ground rhino anyway.

Nobut seriously though, when I first used my Rok/Porlex combo I was grinding far too fine and you could have etched glass with the results. Hand grinding is such a pain that the whole thing turns into a chore. I'd probably never have spent hundreds on pukka kit if I hadn't remarked to the missus that the Rok looked pretty. She said "mmm". Thin wedge end.


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