Seasons Greetings

Thanks to our customers staff and pals for a wonderful year and heres to another cracker on the horizon x Alchemy

GS3 : 3DO

We've got a La Marzocco GS3 for sale. Used for only 3 days at SpinLCF. We're taking 100 quid off it for each day its been used. Still available as at 14th December.

Scales in a Busy Coffee Shop

Ever tried making espresso without scales? All baristas have. Sometimes they're not handy, but sometimes through fault of the gear you're using, it just isn't practical.

At the Alchemy café which is where we like to showcase our coffees to the best they can be, we fashion recipes each morning for each of the coffees we have in our grinders.
The Kochere's recipe today for example was 18.5g ground coffee, 28seconds, 30g brewed coffee - dialled in to taste of red berries & nice n sweet. But whats the point in having the recipe if we can't constantly check if we're on track?

We had previously been relying on a standard semi-pro piece of kit - MyWeigh scales which were perfectly fine in the Roastery for cupping and dosing, but didn't have the speed which is crucial in a busy cafe setting. Many cafés figure that weighing isn't for them, not really anyway. While places will weigh in every morning, they'll rely on eye afterwards as most scales are too slow to be used in a busy production environment.

To resolve all of this, we ordered and only just received our Ohaus Navigator XT scales via Switzerland.

In terms of efficiency and control when making espresso - they're next level. These babies have infra-red tare. What that means is you can swipe the sensor, without even touching it and the scales zero themselves off - but the key to these scales is they're faaaaaaaast.

Our new standard is using the expensive but great Ohaus and using cheap but reliable Myco-600s as shot scales.

Steps:

1. Place entire portafilter on scales
2. Tare off using IR or push button
3. Grind into portafilter and pop it back onto scales
4. Voila you have your basket weight balance. Adjust to get your desired dose with near instant feedback. 
5. Place your cup on the shot scales, tare, get your portafilter in the machine and GO!

OHAUS NAVIGATOR XT - Essential café kit.

Spin LCF London

Great time was had by all the the Spin x LCF collaboration over the weekend. This was where bikes coffee and of course hipsters combined in one. Good times. Never has so much Alchemy cold brew been consumed by so many people. Great tea as well [thanks to our neighbours Solaris who kept us full of antioxidants.

XMAS Tree or Muscle Car green - you decide.

Of course we were there to showcase our Roastery, brewing with our festive green La Marzocco FB80 - and we also had some of the domestic Rocket machines on show with Andrew Meo, the GM of Rocket Espresso on hand to demonstrate. The inside word on how the machines are made, the people who make them - and of course the inner workings of the machines themselves.

Paul Whitehead - master of the La Marzocco GS3 Challenge on Friday night.

Mark Colbourne MBE was with us during the weekend to meet all comers. 
Ever wondered what a gold medal feels like? Its hefty!

Loads of people have been wondering asking about the coffee they had so they can get some more:
On Friday and Saturday we ran the Elixir Espresso on one grinder and the Guatemalan San Sebastian Natural Espresso on the other.

On the Sunday we debuted the Kochere natural Single origin espresso and the Brazil Samambaia single origin - both complete opposite ends of the spectrum, the Kochere being all berries - the Samambaia is more of a classic coffee flavour with maltiness, caramels and big cocoa.

In short, a good time, we'll see you before then, but London Coffee Festival 2014 awaits!

Mark Colbourne at Spin LCF London

We are officially pleased as punch to be welcoming Mark Colbourne to our stand for Spin LCF which is happening this weekened at the Yard, in Shoreditch.

He'll be on hand to answer any questions you might have, sign some autographs and add to the atmosphere at what is likely to prove a great little event.

We'll also have Andrew Meo from Rocket Espresso Milano on site on the Saturday. He runs the company in Milan, so he'll be able to answer any questions you might have about the Rocket home espresso machines. Happily enough we have the hard to get Rocket R58 machines back in stock on the Alchemy shop from the first days of December.

alchemycoffee.co.uk
spin LCF London

Today we received the Mahlkoneg EK43 grinder. Quite a lot of song and dance has been made of it since Ben Kaminsky made headlines in the barista circuit with the new evidence and experimentation being put forward in barista comps. If you haven't tried a coffee shot, they're currently available in Craft Coffee in scatler St near brick lane and also at Bulldog edition just off Shoreditch High Street. They're basically lungos but using the extraordinarily consistent grind setting that the 'coffee' burrs on the EK43 offer. We are trialling the grinder in the lab first. When we're confident we're getting the most out of it expect the EK in the Alchemy Café.

La Marzocco - Alchemy's Preferred Choice

OK everyone has their preferences when it comes to coffee machine, but for us, as professional users, the La Marzocco tops the table as a brand. Hand built in Florence, Italy, these aren't produced in the same scale as other manufacturers - this is reflected not only by the price, but also the quality.

We use them throughout the company - the Alchemy Café has a La Marzocco with mechanical paddle finished in silver spirit - and we're also an authorised to distribute and service these machines.

Pictured here is a La Marzocco GS/3 which we've recently comissioned and sent to a very happy client.