Never did say hello here :)
I used to be on CFUK when I didn’t really contribute much other than a run-through of total teardown and rebuild of my Quickmill Andreja Premium (images have sadly now gone, if anyone has any random reason to want them ask me, I still have them).
I only ever drink milky espresso drinks, very boring that way. I did do some Aeropress once, don’t really use it now. Espresso and milk is where my heart is at!
I probably started out with coffee when in 2003 I went to Norfolk and bought a coffee machine from Roys of Wroxham. I can’t remember what it was, a very odd little thing indeed though, seem to remember you had to add boiling water to, may be wrong..
Then moved on to a Gaggia Evolution in 2005, bought from House of Fraser. I remember the frequent trips to the coffee section, I was amazed - they had a Barista there and everything!
Then got a Rancilio Silvia in 2008, seemed to read the coffeegeek forums at that time. Also got a Mazzer Mini E from Hasbean. Also got some nice things like an Espro tamper. I can’t remember why but I sold the Silvia, I think I just didn’t use it enough, hey ho.
Then moved to London for a couple of years and had no room for a machine (well I suppose I did, but I just went out for coffee).
Came back home and after a while got the itch again and bought a second hand Quickmill Andreja Premium and (another) Mazzer Mini E, still have those - the Andreja is sitting in my garage, currently using the Mazzer. @Elcarajillo helped with advice when tearing this down actually, glad to see you’re still active on this forum now!
Now have bought an LMLU after telling myself I would spend about £1,500 max on a new machine. Oh well….
Just realised that maybe most of this should be in https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/d/572-my-coffee-journey