Rattleware

Coffee Hit are pleased now to be offering the Rattleware range of products in the UK. Rattleware are makers of some of the finest and most innovative coffee wares available.

They make everything from Cafe Organisers to Frothing Pitchers to Aprons. All products are of the highest quality and better than nearlly anything availbale in the UK today for the speciality coffee market.

To see our full range of Rattleware products head over to Coffee Hit.co.uk

ACF Cups

I first came across these cups on a trip to Rome in a Rome department store, I then had the pleasure to drink out of one at a restaurant in Rome. They are the most lovely cups, I think, you will ever touch.

We got in touch with FAC Spa about getting these cups to the UK. They have been extremely helpful and excited to help us.

We're really excited about bringing these cups to the UK market. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

To see and purchase our range of ACF cups then head over to Coffee Hit.

Mazzer Mini Grinder

Next up is the Mazzer Mini Coffee Grinder. This version we will take a look at the timer version. It also comes in an Automatic version and an Electronic version. 

The timer version has a timer knob on the side which if you turn fully on will grind coffee for up to 1 minute. To end the grinding process early just turn the knob back towards you.

As with all Mazzer grinders it well boxed and packaged. Hopper and grinder in their own separate housing and well protected.

If you've worked on or seen a Mazzer Super Jolly first thing you will notice is how much smaller it is. But you straight away notice the Mazzer body which is pretty standard shape for Mazzer.

Out of the box it will take a little work to get it dialled in. With the Super Jolly you can pretty much set it to the mid-point  and it will produce something close to 50mL is 25 seconds. With Mini it took a little while longer and while with the Super Jolly you only need to move the adjustment collar a few minutes on the collar the Mini took a turn of about 5-8 minutes.

Once set up and locked in its is a great little grinder. It would work perfectly as a quality home grinder or for a small restaurant or a low volume location that wants to add coffee to their menu.

Its a very strong, solid grinder that will withstand years of abuse. Parts are easy to come by making it a great investment.

See the Mazzer Mini grinder at Coffee Hit.

Grindenstein Coffee Knock Box

The Grindenstein is knock box for home espresso enthusiasts. 

It is designed and produced by Australian company Dreamfarm.

First thing you notice out of the box is the colour. Strong, durable looking colours.

The next thing you notice is how compact it is. Or should I say small..!

But it is very sturdily built. It feels like you could drop it from a tall building and it would still survive. 

When using the bar to knock out your puck the sound is deadened by the use of heavy rubber and thick plastic walls. it will hold about 4-5 pucks before you will need to empty it. Which may not sound like a lot but for home use it will probably last a day and then just empty the contents into your compost.

The Grindenstein is dishwasher proof and it comes out looking like new every time. The other thing with it being compact is that it can sit on your drip tray, out of the way.

The Grindenstein is the perfect knock-box for home users. A good investment that will last a long time.

See our range over on Coffee Hit.

Coffee Taste from Different Regions of the World

In this blog I will highlight the different coffee producing regions and try to describe what the coffees taste like from these regions. 

This will of course be a very general overview and taste will differ from farm to farm and crop to crop. But it will arm you with a general overview of what tastes to expect when you purchase coffee from a region, you can then explore the region country by country, farm by farm and discover all the taste's available in coffee.

First of all lets discover what makes a coffee growing region. Coffee trees like a moderate amount of sunshine and steady reliable rain. They like the temperature to stay around 20c - 30c. They also like the soil to be rich and porous. 

Most coffee growing occurs around the equator and between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. These area's provide the rainfall and rich soil needed. But often these areas are too hot so most coffee growing is done at altitude, mostly above 1000ft. This moderates the temperature and gives good rainfall.

Africa

The two biggest producers of coffee in Africa are Ethiopia and Kenya. Most coffee producing nations occur on the East coast of Africa.

Coffee from Africa tends to have a wine like flavour, also some citrus and floral fragrances. They have good levels of acidity which leave a lingering taste in your mouth.

Central and Southern America

Coffee from this region are mild, smooth and easy to drink. Most people will be familiar with coffee from these parts. They have low to medium acidity levels so they lack the floral and wine punch of the Africans but they are smooth in your mouth.

Indonesia & Surrounding Islands

Coffees from this part of the world are very heavy bodied and very low acid levels. The major taste characteristics are of earthy flavours, like mushrooms and strong dark fruit flavours.

India

The famous coffees from India are the Monsoon coffee's. These are full bodied with low acidity. They give a big mouth feel. They have woody flavours with some having spicy notes.

As with most things the best way for you to discover the different tastes of coffee from different regions is to buy some and get brewing!!

For our range of specialty coffee visit Saints Coffee page on CoffeeHit.co.uk

Pallo Coffee Tools

Having been a user of the Pallo Coffee Tool we had no hesitation in stocking the product on Coffee Hit.

The Pallo Coffee Tool comes a variety of colours. We went for the one that caught our eye the most. The deep red is Ferrari like in colour. A great match for your Italian Espresso Machine.

The tool is really three tools in one.

Its first and primary use is as a brush for the grouphead. The stiff black bristles come in a cartridge that can be unscrewed from the brush and replaced without having to buy a new tool.
The handle is perfectly angled so the face of the brush sits flat against the shower screen if your grouphead. It also has several fins on the handle so that hot water get deflected and doesn't scald your hand when cleaning.

The way to use the brush is by removing your portafilter from the grouphead. Perform a backflush, then hit the manual button on your grouphead keypad so that water runs continuously out of the grouphead. Now take your brush and vigorously brush around the grouphead, paying particular attention to the shower screen and gasket area. This will remove all the left over coffee and oils from the grouphead.

The second use of the Pallo Coffee Tool is to clear the holes from your steam wand tip. During service these can get clogged and effect your steaming capabilities. Take the little black cap off the needle and poke into the steam tip holes to clear.

At the end of the tool is the third use. The spoon. Use the spoon to measure our your backflushing powder. Use one heaped spoonful per backfklush.

Whether you make coffee at home or in a coffee house this great little tool will help keep your equipment clean and your coffee tasting great.

To see and buy the Pallo Coffee Tool visit Coffee Hit.

Mazzer Super Jolly

The Mazzer Super Jolly is probably the most used grinder in coffee outlets. Either as a main grinder or a back-up grinder for high output locations. I liken it to the mid-point of the coffee grinder solar system, its what everything else is judged by. When evaluating a different grinder people will ask 'How does it compare to the Super Jolly?'. Mainly because everyone has seen or used a Super Jolly.

And for good reason. It really is a a workhorse of a grinder. It wont let you down. Parts are easy to come by and every coffee technician worth his salt has good knowledge of a Super Jolly.

First thing we noticed is how well Mazzer pack the grinder and hopper in its box. The hopper cracking is the biggest complaint when shipping grinders. We've never had a Mazzer hopper crack on us, no matter hard couriers throw the box around..!

As for setting up the Super Jolly it really is Plug & Play. Set the grinder up next to your machine near a standard 13 Amp plug and plug it in.

The default grind setting is pretty accurate too. We set it to the default arrow and got good results straight away. We ended up turning about 1 minute finer and that was perfect, just turn the lock-in screw and it wont budge. As the room warmed up and and we noticed, especially if your near cooking kitchens, you will need to turn it about 2-3 minutes finer to compensate for the increased humidity.

The movements to adjust are very small but they make a noticeable difference. When we set it up in 'ideal' conditions, low humidity and about 19c it was extracting perfectly (55ml in 25seconds). As the humidity rose we adjusted the grind finer to compensate, then next morning with the grinding setting still in the 'humid' position, the extraction time blow out to 50 seconds and that was only a 2 minute turn of the grind setting.

The Super Jolly looks and feels well made and solid. The doser handle feels solid to use, although it does occasionally seem pull air then catches the dosing mechanism again. The ground coffee look nice and fine with only the smallest amount of clumping.

The one complaint I would make of the Super Jolly and is true of all the Mazzers is the doser. When you pull coffee from the doser it tends to throw the coffee very noticeably to the left. You can compensate this by putting a slight angle on your portafilter and moving it as far left as the forks will allow but really this shouldn't be necessary on a grinder of the quality. I estimate for every 18g of coffee you dose into the portafilter you waste about 2g, about 10%. Which is great for coffee roasters but not so good for commercial business. To illustrate if you go through 10kg a week I estimate you will waste about 1kg of coffee.

Of course the solution is to sweep up the spilt grounds and throw them back in the doser. But if you have any pride in your coffee and coffee making this doesn't cut it. What if you sweep up some foreign objects and they go into your coffee! Not too mention the staling process may have begun on the coffee.

But overall I highly recommend the Mazzer Super Jolly. If you were looking for alternatives to the Mazzer I would also highly recommend the Anfim Caimano. A fantastic grinder with a superior dosing mechanism. But that's for another Blog time.

To view and buy the Mazzer Super Jolly visit CoffeeHit.co.uk