Boo shawl – Almost Autumn

Posted on Saturday, 4 May, 2013 by Velvet

Well it’s finally pinned out and drying.  This is the Almost Autum shawl by Boo Knits.   The pattern page in Ravelry is at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/almost-autumn-2

I thought I’d take advantage of having a recently-hoovered livingroom floor, a weekend day (so I can keep an eye on the cats, who would have it off the pins/wires & out the catflap otherwise), and no Mr V here till later (furniture had to be moved, and it still takes up a lot of room and needs tip-toeing around).

It was a fun knit, and I loved the yarn (it’s Posh yarn).  There’s still some left, so I may have to find something else to knit with it, I really like the colours in it.

The shawl is beaded, and I chose to do a beaded picot bind off too, after having seen other people’s shawls.  The picot bind off took forever to do though, since for every 2 stitches bound off, you actually cast on 3, and then knit 5 stitches.  It’s very time consuming, but worth it, I think.  Putting a bead in each picot ‘bobble’ takes even more time, of course, since it involves a tiny bead, with a tiny hole, and that means a very tiny crochet hook.

The only thing is… this shawl has turned out MUCH bigger than I expected.  It’s used more than half the skein I was expecting it to.  To be fair, I did accidentally do a few more rows of the stocking-stitch bit at the top, and then did the ‘medium’ size as far as the number of lace repeats goes, but it’s still a surprise just how big it is when pinned out.

I’ll be wrapped up quite well around the neck with that wingspan :)

Boo designs lovely lace shawls, and they’re easy and quick to knit too with very impressive results.  I’ll definitely be knitting others of hers!

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Coffee review – Fairtrade San Domingo

Posted on Saturday, 4 May, 2013 by Velvet

Today, it’s the turn of San Domingo which is a fair trade coffee from the Algerian Coffee Stores.  My stash of 100g trial coffees seems to be disappearing really quite fast – I’ve not checked, but I think I’m managing to go through these at about one a week, or thereabouts!  (This is surprising, because I’m not using *just* these beans when making coffee).

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The San Domingo is an interesting coffee.  I like it in the espresso machine, though it’s not the strongest.  It makes a medium to mild cappuccino, and I think I’d like to try it in a full or high roast at some point in the espresso machine.  I think they’d give it a little more bite, but not in an unpleasant way.

Once again, though, the aeropress, the San Domingo & I didn’t get on quite so well.  Slightly bitter edge to it.  I think there is something about the aeropress that tends to bring this out in the coffees, since both types of coffee include milk.  Which is probably my technique – I’m not the most patient when it comes to making coffee, and the aeropress is easy to rush.  If I have the time, I’ll always use the espresso machine (which is pretty impossible to rush), and while I’m quite careful about the temperature of the water with the aeropress, maybe I’m using too much water through the grounds, or it’s the different size of grind it needs (coarser than the espresso machine), or something.

I think it still worked better than the Panama, but it’s pretty close, and still nowhere near as nice as the Costa Rican Mild was with the Aeropress.

Aeropress:

  1. Costa Rican Mild
  2. San Domingo fair trade
  3. Panama
  4. Indian Mysore
  5. Lebanese

Cappuccino:

  1. Lebanese
  2. San Domingo fair trade
  3. Panama
  4. Indian Mysore
  5. Costa Rican Mild

 

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Coffee review – Panama

Posted on Wednesday, 1 May, 2013 by Velvet

Yes, it’s another coffee :)

This time, it’s Panama. Still medium roast (all of these are).

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I’ve tried it out in the espresso machine so far, and it makes a very nice cappuccino.  It’s a little stronger than the Costa Rican Mild, but a similar smooth taste to it.  I think I prefer it over the Indian Mysore, but I probably need to give it another go to be sure ;)

In the Aeropress – yeah. Not really a fan of it in this.  It’s mild, yes, but has a tang to it that I don’t really like in the Aeropress.  It’s got a thin sort of quality to the taste, too – I know that sounds strange, but it’s the only way I can describe it.  Not really a bitter edge to it like the Mysore had, but I still think the Costa Rican comes out top for the Aeropress.

Need to give it one more go in the espresso machine – and if the beans permit, one more go in the Aeropress to be sure, I think, but I’m going to stick the blog post up now, and come back with an edit if things change.

Aeropress:

  1. Costa Rican Mild
  2. Panama
  3. Indian Mysore
  4. Lebanese

Cappuccino:

  1. Lebanese
  2. Panama
  3. Indian Mysore
  4. Costa Rican Mild
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Coffee review – Indian Mysore

Posted on Wednesday, 24 April, 2013 by Velvet

So it’s another entry, and another coffee :) 100g packs don’t last long in this house…

Up today, Indian Mysore.  It’s actually been open for a few days, but I’ve held off posting till I’ve tried it with both the aeropress and the espresso machine.

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It’s another medium roast (all the current trial packs are).  The initial try-out was mixed half and half with some decaff (because I’d already had enough coffee really that day, and it was quite late in the day too) & in the aeropress.  That wasn’t so hot – it had a bitter edge to it that I didn’t like at all.

I’m not sure I have the patience required for the aeropress really. I can’t be bothered measuring the temperature of the water, so I tend to boil the kettle, dump some more cold water in to it, and call it good… if it’s still too hot, the coffee gets a bitterness, I think.

Today’s aeropress was 100% mysore beans though, and I must have got the temp about right, because it’s a nice coffee that has resulted.  Not *quite* as nice as the Costa Rican Mild, and it actually reminds me a little of the Lebanese bean (just without the spice) and not quite as strong.

This morning I also did a cappuccino with it in the espresso machine.  That was very nice indeed, but (as always happens) I kind of missed the spice of the lebanese…

So far, I’d put the Costa Rican at best for the aeropress, followed by the Indian Mysore.

Maybe I need a scoreboard…

Aeropress:

  1. Costa Rican Mild
  2. Indian Mysore
  3. Lebanese

Cappuccino:

  1. Lebanese
  2. Indian Mysore
  3. Costa Rican Mild

I’ll copy/paste that from entry to entry I think, and juggle positions as I try more of the coffees.

That’s about it for today :)

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Coffee review – Costa Rican Mild

Posted on Sunday, 21 April, 2013 by Velvet

I’m back, and blogging again.  Lots has changed in life, but all that can wait for later posts :)

Today, I’m talking about one of my favourite things – that little brown shiny bean of awesomeness called coffee!  I’ve always loved good coffee, but rushed mornings meant it gradually changed to drinking instant espresso stuff instead of making the real deal… I know, heinous crime.

Back to the good stuff lately though, and since I couldn’t decide what to get from the most recent order to the Algerian Coffee House in London, I went with their triple trial pack.  Well. I say pack. PackS might be more accurate.

Three different coffees, and nine to choose from. Did I mention I couldn’t decide?  So last week this little haul arrived:

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There’s 250g decaf for Mr Velvet, 250g of my all time favourite coffee – lebanese – and the rest are 100g trial packs of various medium roast.  I always get beans, unless I get some specifically for turkish, which needs a really really fine grind (some day, I’ll see if my grinder will do that – I think it will).

Today’s post is all about the first trial pack – the Costa Rican Mild.

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It lives up to it’s name – it is lovely and mild. I make coffee in a variety of ways – but most often with my gaggia classic espresso machine or with my aeropress.  Out of the two, I prefer the machine – the aeropress is easy to wind up with bitter notes in the coffee, I’m finding, even if I get the temp where it’s supposed to be.

I really liked this one with the aeropress.  It wasn’t bitter, just spot on for a lovely mug of drinkable smooth coffee (I top up the mug with hot water as per an americano, then add plain cold milk…).  Not the strongest WHOOFWAKEMEUPWAHEY taste but that’s not really what I was looking for from it.

In the Gaggia, it’s nice – smooth, not bitter, but a bit lacking in oomph.  I prefer a slightly stronger coffee since I turn them in to cappuccinos when I use the espresso machine.  It makes perfectly drinkable coffee – it’s just a little less flavoursome than I’d like.

In summary, I like this bean a lot.  I think it’d be good as a filter coffee too (which I have done when camping).  Definitely one to get again, I think!

 

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Twitter Updates for 2012-10-11

Posted on Wednesday, 10 October, 2012 by velvet-tweets

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