# Filament Coffee - Edinburgh (Victoria Street)



## shrink (Nov 12, 2012)

An interesting place. Started up by a chap who's worked his way around most of the decent coffee shops in Edinburgh as a Barista, and has finally chosen to open his own place.

Some interesting kit and interesting ideas about coffee. He has a NS Mythos1 grinder, and the first retail outlet I've seen with one. Quite an impressive machine. The Espresso machine is also a Nuova Simonelli, not sure on the model, but a perfectly capable two group machine.

What's interesting is the approach to the coffee itself. He believes that theres an inherent problem with espresso blends, and as such only uses single origin for all espresso, milk or not. The issue he feels, is that if a blend is say 50/50 of one bean to another, that in a 3 kilo bag, taken from a larger batch, you may not actually get exactly that 50/50 ratio. Then of the 18g you pull into a shot, you are again, not guaranteed to get the same ratio and indeed in a smaller dose the ratio could quite drastically be altered from one shot to the next.

The issue then being that you get that god shot where the grinder seems to be dialed in perfectly, and then the next shot pours completely differently. Something that may be as simple as a different mix of beans in the basket.

Not sure how much of it makes a difference in the cup, but it is interesting logic and certainly makes sense. The drinks themselves were tasty, the single origin (a has bean) was dark and punchy enough to push through the milk as he deliberately over extracts slightly on milk drinks to maintain balance.

Clearly a chap who's very serious about his coffee and is trying new ideas and approaches.

Recommended!


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## Wando64 (Feb 28, 2011)

Interesting. I've always thought exactly the same about blends. The problem is potentially even worse when there are three bean types in the blend.

I aired this opinion on the forum but the general consensus seem to be that in practical terms it is not a problem.

This has not stopped me from using blends, but I disagree that it is not a problem when you are grinding 9g at a time as I do.

The potential exist for a significantly different blend every time I pull a single.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

I roasted some blends last week, i tested one last night, it was a 50/50 of MM and Brazilian bean.

When i poured the beans into the grinder i did notice more MM than the Brazilian, so i agree that you can never be 100% that the blend will be the same every shot.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Wando64 said:


> Interesting. I've always thought exactly the same about blends. The problem is potentially even worse when there are three bean types in the blend.
> 
> I aired this opinion on the forum but the general consensus seem to be that in practical terms it is not a problem.
> 
> ...


What are you doing with 9g?


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

jeebsy said:


> What are you doing with 9g?


Either using 2 presses of the grind button to get an 18g dose or making single shots at a guess.


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## Wando64 (Feb 28, 2011)

jeebsy said:


> What are you doing with 9g?


I am a single kind of person me.

My motto is "why have a double when you can have two singles?"


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