Rok GC - A Customer Review
The ROK GC Coffee Maker is a beautifully designed modern piece of equipment for a flawless coffee extraction. The Rok GC is an award winning manual coffee machine, brings cool design and coffee making joy to any coffee lover. Rok GC is a perfect addition to any kitchen. Here our independent customer reviewer gives us his top notes on the Rok GC:
It’s been a while since my last proper espresso machine gave up the ghost. I’ve been getting my fix from the very good Technivorm Moccamaster KGBT 741 filter machine with the thermos flask with an occasional Aeropress for variety.
Cost and kitchen space have held me back from getting another espresso machine but, in the end, I found myself really missing a good strong shot of coffee!
The Rok GC is compact, easy to clean and has a great look to I,t so it can happily sit in view in the kitchen.
I quite like my line up of Moccamaster, Eureka Mignon grinder and Rok.
A couple of presses through and I’m already getting a deep and smooth espresso out of it. It tastes really good.
I’m using the same grind as for my filter machine and it still gives a great brew. There isn’t much crema as the grind is quite coarse but tastes fabulous!
I remember reading an article suggesting using a coarser grind for espresso machines as it can give a more interesting taste. Seems true to me so far. There is less force needed and a shorter extraction time.
I’ll try a few finer grinds over the next weeks.
Update after a week: A quick twist of my grinder knob and I can switch between filter and a much finer espresso grind and there’s a great load of crema! The espresso I’m getting is rich, strong and as good as any I’ve had. Fabulous stuff.
Tips and directions for use:
Freshly ground beans are a must. I’ve tried a wide range of beans and roasts from Redber and they have all produced a tasty espresso so give them all a go and see what you like.Warm all the equipment up before using. Filter into a mug of boiled water and boiled water into the machine and cup to heat them up.
Put the filter onto the Rok and press the water through.
Boil the kettle again so you’ve got really hot water for your espresso.
As most espresso machines need to warm up properly before you use them I find the Rok quicker to get my fix. An espresso is ready to drink in about 5 minutes and I find the process quite relaxing.
I love the manual aspect of it so that each brew is hand-made and pressed to what you want at the time. You can get into the whole thing of weighing your ground beans and water but life’s a bit too short for that I think!
Tamp the grounds down to the line inside the filter holder and fill the machine with water almost to the top and press away.
Try out a slightly coarser grind that you’d normally use and see what you think. You might lose a bit of crema but the flavour profile can be quite different!
Variations in the grind make quite a difference to the pressure you need to force the water through so there’s plenty of room to tinker till you get your perfect espresso. A finer grind and a fuller filter mean more pressure needed and a longer extraction time so you have the chance to vary the brew in a way you never can with an automatic machine.
Review by Stefan Moody
