I'm a little confused about brewing temperatures - in particular how they are affected by the cooling effect of the coffee/vessel itself.

I live in the UK - make coffee almost exclusively with aeropress. I only have a standard kettle so water at boiling temp.

I've been reading that 90-95 is the ideal brewing temperature and so was wondering about different ways to achieve that - maybe adding a dash of cold water first... And also wondered how much the water would be cooled by the temp of the coffee and the aeropress itself.

I just did a test with a temperature probe and once the water was poured onto the coffee grounds - it was almost exactly 90c for the brewing/steeping.

Does that mean it's perfect, or is there an issue with the boiling water hitting the grounds at the start potentially burning/scorching them? But if the water was added at 90c - then it would cool down to 80 or so for the steep and that would be too low, no?

Hi - I'm an eBay seller who uses RM all the time - usually without any problems.

However - I had a delivery go missing - Tracked 24 - and after 'item recieved' - it just didn't update for a week. Seven days is the recommended time to issue a claim - so I refunded the buyer and made a claim.

I just rechecked the tracking and it's now showing this:

Pending

We normally expect to deliver to your address between 10:45am - 2:45pm

**Sorry, either the sender didn't pay enough postage for this item or there's a customs charge due. We're holding your item at  Knowle DO and will leave a card at your address with more information. **

This is infuriating in many ways - firstly this only updated TWO WEEKS after it was due to be delivered - it's also bizarre because I've sent hundreds of the same items with no issues - it's not oversize/weight and it's not a customs issue.

I also don't appear to have any way to get access to the item - there's no online way to pay whatever fee they are wanting - it seems to rely entirely on a physical card that the buyer never received.

Is there anything I can do to get this item back?

Does anyone have any tips for making cocktails in warmer weather?

Starting to get towards summer here in the UK - which means that when making a cocktail the base ingredients are warmer, and the ice is melting more... Some of the drinks are significantly different with more dilution.

Is that just something you get used to - or do you start refrigerating more things? Any tips?

Hi - I've really been enjoying Negronis made with Gran Classico - I still enjoy the classic Campari version, but the GC version is a bit more subtle - less a slap in the face and more savory/caramel. I also enjoy splitting the amaro base with half GC and half Campari.

Are there any other similar Amaros that make a diffent kind of Negroni style drink that anyone can recommend?

Many thanks.