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seravid posted:I got one of those, but it's pretty old. How did you clean yours? I disassembled it with a Phillips screwdriver and washed the parts in plain dish washing liquid - it wasn't in that bad of shape, no rust. I got it in the condition in the pics posted. Like pork never goes bad said, it took about an hour. Yours looks like it's in good shape, it could use a good dis-assembly and cleaning probably, but otherwise it looks good. For tougher areas I'd use household stuff to clean it: dish washing liquid, vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda are a few things you can use to clean it with.
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# ? Dec 9, 2011 03:13 |
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# ? May 15, 2024 04:43 |
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GrAviTy84 posted:Waste is but one point, but sure, get fixated on it. It's just that it's wasteful, it's that they claim that they're environmentally sound, when they're not. Woah there cowboy, nobody is being attacked here Just about every company out there claims some sort of green credentials nowadays, and they probably believe it too, not worth stressing over and the main thrust of that article was mostly at the waste aspect rather than the quality, which most people would know isn't as good as freshly ground beans. People who buy those types of machines want them because they want a cup of coffee thats a step up from instant in 20 seconds and without having to deal with cleanup after, sure its going to be crappy compared to freshly ground and brewed but thats their choice, I don't think many people genuinely think its going to be coffee shop quality (Well maybe Starbucks ) and trying to convince them otherwise is a bit fruitless and slightly smacks of snobbery. Anyhow, to keep things light, here is a funny article about Nespresso.
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# ? Dec 9, 2011 11:38 |
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I use a refillable coffee bag that I bring to my local roasters and then compost the grounds/chemex filters . Greener than a green bean.
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# ? Dec 9, 2011 17:09 |
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I've been looking at grinders and various brewing gizmos but it seems I forgot the most important part: where the hell am I going to get freshly roasted beans? I'm in Portugal, no such thing as a local roaster in my tiny town and the few portuguese online stores I've found don't seem very trustworthy. I've checked the link in the OP and the closest roaster is located in France/UK, so we're talking about a 5 working days average for the stuff to get here. That doesn't sound very viable, does it? I suppose buying green beans would solve my problem (right?), but that complicates things as it means I'd have to spend even more time and money for this crazy experiment. Last week I was perfectly satisfied with my space-age capsuled coffee, now I'm thinking about roasting imported coffee beans
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# ? Dec 10, 2011 00:49 |
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http://www.baristaguide.com/coffee-industry-directory/coffee-roasters/portugal
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# ? Dec 10, 2011 01:43 |
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traveling midget posted:http://www.baristaguide.com/coffee-industry-directory/coffee-roasters/portugal I'm confused. I knew about these companies, but discarded them as they're major players (hell, one of them is owned by Nestlé). They supply pretty much every restaurant, bar and supermarket in the country, so I'm assuming they produce in very large quantities and stash their stock in warehouses for who knows how long. If you guys say it's fine since I'll be doing the actual grinding and brewing with a decent system instead of buying the powdered stuff and using a $10 drip machine, that's cool, but I thought buying coffee as freshly roasted as possible was a pretty big deal...?
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# ? Dec 10, 2011 05:15 |
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seravid posted:If you guys say it's fine I get the feeling the link was offered without further qualification. Those roasters do look like the sort of place I'd avoid. I will have a look around for roaster recommendations, but I have never heard good things about Portugal. Five days post-roast is not the end of the world, and is actually preferable for espresso. More important would total cost after shipping and how quickly you can get through a bag. You can always freeze in batches and take out a bag when the previous one runs out.
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# ? Dec 10, 2011 07:13 |
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Yeah I just googled 'portugal roasters', my bad.
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# ? Dec 10, 2011 18:54 |
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How durable is the Hario Mini Mill? I need something to take to work daily but not leave there, and I don't want to have to buy another one in 6 months.
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# ? Dec 10, 2011 22:43 |
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Loucks posted:How durable is the Hario Mini Mill? I need something to take to work daily but not leave there, and I don't want to have to buy another one in 6 months. I use one when I travel for business and it hasn't broken in over a year now, travelling by plane or driving long distance at least two times a month. I keep it in the box it came in during transport.
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# ? Dec 10, 2011 22:55 |
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I noticed that Stumptown's Indonesian coffee sticks to my grinder more than an another coffee I've ground from a local roaster. When I set the grinder to the finest grind, nothing came out. The coarser the grind, the less it seems to stick. Sometimes there's also a chunk left unground stuck to a burr. Is that a sign of an oilier coffee?
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# ? Dec 11, 2011 02:20 |
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Bob_McBob posted:I have never heard good things about Portugal. Haha, well, that's not surprising. Anyway, a fellow portuguese coffee enthusiast from the HB forums is helping me out so I'm all set regarding coffee beans Now, regarding brewers for a slightly skeptical, cheap bastard like myself, would this Kalita glass dripper be acceptable? (I guess I'd need the carafe too) If anything else on that site has more bang-for-the-buck, please, be my guest.
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# ? Dec 11, 2011 06:15 |
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Glad to hear you are set for fresh coffee. I use a Kalita Wave dripper all the time, but I prefer the #155 size metal one for individual cups. You emphatically do not need to buy the carafe unless you actually want it. It's basically a pretty container to brew into when you are doing multiple cups at once. I almost always brew a single cup straight into the mug. Remember to order filters! For pourover, you ideally want one of those fancy (i.e.expensive) pouring kettles like the Hario Buono. I've got by okay with metal steaming pitchers, or anything with a decent enough spout to let you pour slowly with good control.
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# ? Dec 11, 2011 07:13 |
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#155 stainless steel it is! I have a good (though small at roughly 500ml) kettle with a narrow, long-ish spout, I think that should do it. So, I guess I'm ready for this thing. Kalita steel dripper, wave filters, kettle with decent spout, vintage grinder and I'll start with the Ethiopia Shakiso (best seller at Hasbean). My goal here is to have the best possible first impression, wouldn't want a lousy coffee to ruin my fragile enthusiasm! If this works out as well as my venture into quality headphones a couple of years ago (started with 150€ cans, I now have 1k€ worth of stuff), I foresee a new, very expensive hobby edit: can't disassemble the grinder to clean it, they used nails everywhere. Guess I'll have to buy one :/ seravid fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Dec 11, 2011 |
# ? Dec 11, 2011 19:38 |
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Just to be clear, the smaller size Wave dripper is great if you like brewing small cups. I use 10oz (~300ml) mugs, and it's a perfect size. If you want to fill a travel mug or brew a couple cups at once, the larger size is probably a better choice. I don't have a problem brewing a smaller cup with it, but I think the overall design works better when matched to an appropriate brew size. You are in good hands if you are ordering beans from Hasbean. I am not sure what to suggest about the grinder. Baratzas are pretty pricey in Europe, but they are a good choice. There is always the hand grinder option, especially if you are willing to mod a Hario as described earlier in the thread. One minor thing I would strongly recommend buying (if you are willing to put a minimal amount of effort into consistency) is a cheap digital scale. This one is only $6 shipped. P.S. Welcome to coffee-fi, sorry about your wallet
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 09:18 |
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Here in southern Europe we almost exclusively drink (watery, needs-half-a-kilo-of-sugar) espresso. Anywhere you go, if you ask for a coffee you'll get a shot of espresso. Drinking this stuff by the mug-full will be a new experience in itself, I think I'll be fine with the smaller size. I did look for a Baratza but they really are crazy expensive around here. I'm sure I'll get one eventually, but for now I ordered a Hario mini mill. I'll mod the hell out of it if necessary. Funny you should mention digital scales, I ordered one from ebay yesterday. With practice I'm assuming people can simply eyeball it, but for a beginner it just makes sense to have a scale handy. Maybe I should get a thermometer too, not sure how long I should wait after boiling the water... Bob_McBob posted:P.S. Welcome to coffee-fi, sorry about your wallet some guy on Hasbean posted:This is a really weird, but wonderful coffee. It's got excellent sweetness and balance but is nicely complex. A bold front end of strawberries and pears poached in red wine and sweet almond cherry frangipane, which turns to a mind-blowing intense strawberry jam on wholewheat toast finish. Really good break from the norm, and something to hold your attention. Love it to bits. What the... (what's the coffee equivalent of $10k cryogenically-treated interconnects?)
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 20:00 |
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seravid posted:Funny you should mention digital scales, I ordered one from ebay yesterday. With practice I'm assuming people can simply eyeball it, but for a beginner it just makes sense to have a scale handy. Maybe I should get a thermometer too, not sure how long I should wait after boiling the water... Using a scale only takes a moment, and ensures maximum consistency. Some people have a mental anti-sperg hang-up about the extra 10 seconds. Personally I think if you are buying expensive coffee and taking the time to grind and brew properly, you might as well make it as consistent as possible. It's pretty standard in the specialty coffee industry these days. seravid posted:What the... Coffee cupping is kind of like wine tasting. Some people like to just blurt out absolutely anything that comes to mind, and others stick to more defined flavours. The SCAA has a big wheel to describe this stuff, which might give you a better idea of what cuppers are looking for. Sweet Maria's has it online here. I don't think there's anything directly comparable to the sort of voodoo magic nonsense you get in the audiophile industry.
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 20:27 |
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Oh, so comparing coffee to flowers and chocolate and berries is actually a thing? Well, now I'm super-hyped.
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 20:51 |
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Anyone else pair coffees with cigars? We used to have a great cigar thread in GBS, but it died out a while back. A lot of the regulars always posted that cigars go great with a good cup of coffee, but I never followed through with it (usually Scotch took precedence). Your mentioning of odd flavor nuances reminded me of cigars, I promise this isn't a derail.
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 21:02 |
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seravid posted:Oh, so comparing coffee to flowers and chocolate and berries is actually a thing? Well, now I'm super-hyped. You clearly haven't had good coffee yet. Ethopians in particular seem to have distinct fruit or floral notes. Enough that even before I became a snob, I noticed (and that is why I'm a snob). You won't taste them in overroasted beans, but a good city roast they come out.
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 21:16 |
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nm posted:You clearly haven't had good coffee yet.
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 21:27 |
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seravid posted:Oh, so comparing coffee to flowers and chocolate and berries is actually a thing? Well, now I'm super-hyped. Chocolate, specifically, is probably thing that is closest in flavor to coffee that is not coffee. If you've ever had a really good cup of Vietnamese-style coffee with sweetened condensed milk, it's hard not to notice the resemblance to a bar of very good milk chocolate. However, coffee certainly doesn't resemble Hershey's or Nestle or anything like that. More of a 71+% cacao bean content chocolate bar.
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 21:48 |
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Bob_McBob posted:I don't think there's anything directly comparable to the sort of voodoo magic nonsense you get in the audiophile industry. You forgot about cat poo poo coffee!
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 22:11 |
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nm posted:You clearly haven't had good coffee yet. So I'm noticing I just made a Ristretto from my Dolce Gusto machine. I tried it black for the first time, to see if I could pick up on something and it definitely had a note of jesus-christ-this-tastes-like-crap. Thankfully I always have a Lindt 85% cacao chocolate bar handy, which made the world right again. Cue goons telling me in detail why I'm worse than Hitler for buying Lindt chocolate in 3...2...
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 22:20 |
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Corla Plankun posted:You forgot about cat poo poo coffee! It was the closest thing that came to mind, but I didn't want to make it sound like anyone who actually knows anything about coffee promotes it. In the audiophile world, there are plenty of "experts" who use $10,000 power cables and magic crystals, and cable "upgrades" are a big industry at all levels of the hobby.
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 23:03 |
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Does this seem like a good value for $200? Thermoblocks got poo-poo'd in the OP, but they claim theirs is different? http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zpmespresso/pid-controlled-espresso-machine?ref=category
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 23:29 |
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Jalumibnkrayal posted:Does this seem like a good value for $200? Thermoblocks got poo-poo'd in the OP, but they claim theirs is different? I've been following it since yesterday, but I'm waiting for them to post temperature and pressure curves before passing judgement. It sounds promising. Their productions schedule is extremely ambitious, though they already have a working prototype that's undergone extensive testing. If they can provide some solid data to back up their claims, I'd seriously consider funding them at the $200 level. An innovative and capable machine at that price point would be great.
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# ? Dec 12, 2011 23:37 |
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Jalumibnkrayal posted:Does this seem like a good value for $200? Thermoblocks got poo-poo'd in the OP, but they claim theirs is different? Wow, I love the look of that thing. Bob_McBob, post more about this if/when you learn more, please!
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# ? Dec 13, 2011 00:01 |
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AriTheDog posted:Wow, I love the look of that thing. Bob_McBob, post more about this if/when you learn more, please! This is exactly what I thought. I've put it in my calendar to check a few times over the next, err, 38 days!
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# ? Dec 13, 2011 00:11 |
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Bob_McBob posted:I've been following it since yesterday, but I'm waiting for them to post temperature and pressure curves before passing judgement. It sounds promising. Their productions schedule is extremely ambitious, though they already have a working prototype that's undergone extensive testing. I would buy one in a instant, I'd love a small espresso machine but can't justify spending $600 on something which while lovely, at the end of the day is a beverage maker, and everyone seems to say the consumer grade machines are generally rubbish.
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# ? Dec 13, 2011 11:06 |
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Corla Plankun posted:You forgot about cat poo poo coffee! I had some in my usual coffee shop. I think it was 9 euros / cup. The chick dumped the grounds in an aeropress and filled it to the brim with hot as gently caress water from their espresso machine. 15 minutes later I was still trying to down the bitter and burnt tasting muck in front of the shop. "So you like it?" "Sure................... "
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# ? Dec 13, 2011 13:48 |
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seravid posted:What the... I've got some Coava Rophi with a somewhat distinct strawberry nose right now. (Seattle goons, get down to Milstead & Co. right the hell now this stuff is delicious.)
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# ? Dec 14, 2011 00:54 |
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I just got a French press for my birthday and it makes a drat good coffee. How the hell do you clean it?
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# ? Dec 14, 2011 02:38 |
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Neptr posted:I just got a French press for my birthday and it makes a drat good coffee. Water?
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# ? Dec 14, 2011 02:39 |
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Neptr posted:I just got a French press for my birthday and it makes a drat good coffee. Pull the top out of the bottom, scrub the glass part with some soap and a bottle brush, then unscrew the plunger thing and clean the individual parts. I'm assuming you were wondering how to separate the mesh filter from the things holding it together and not how to wash dishes in general.
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# ? Dec 14, 2011 03:05 |
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Gravity Pike posted:I've got some Coava Rophi with a somewhat distinct strawberry nose right now. (Seattle goons, get down to Milstead & Co. right the hell now this stuff is delicious.) I don't even live close by, but I've started making excuses to travel there on weekends.
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# ? Dec 14, 2011 03:05 |
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If 5 Year Olds Can Make Espresso...
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# ? Dec 14, 2011 04:11 |
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30 Goddamned Dicks posted:Pull the top out of the bottom, scrub the glass part with some soap and a bottle brush, then unscrew the plunger thing and clean the individual parts. I was wondering more what to do with the grounds after brewing. I've got a layer of compressed grounds that don't dump into the trash easily.
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# ? Dec 14, 2011 05:16 |
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Neptr posted:I was wondering more what to do with the grounds after brewing. I've got a layer of compressed grounds that don't dump into the trash easily. Run a bit of water on the grounds to loosen them before dumping. Rinse any remainder down the drain.
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# ? Dec 14, 2011 05:19 |
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# ? May 15, 2024 04:43 |
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We talked about this a ways back, and the consensus was pretty much that if you rent, you you can just wash the entirety down the drain with the spray nozzle. It is much easier that way. I usually just rinse it off every morning and give it a full-blown soap scrub every week or so.
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# ? Dec 14, 2011 06:13 |