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Gravity Pike posted:Plus I got to offend like everybody as I stood in the temple gardens, sipping a coffee, waiting for my buddy and his bride to get out of the temple proper. That is a hilarious, uncle-esque story. For content, my budget espresso setup consists of the Bodum Bistro burr grinder and the De'Longhi EC155. My favorite out of town "it's Christmas time" beans are Thanksgiving Mahina Mele Kona, and favorite budget "who knows when it was roasted, but doesn't it make sublime espresso" is Trader Joe's Organic Five Country Espresso Blend. If you shop there you owe it to yourself to give it a shot.  Here's some of the latter in my De'Longi, ground on the 2nd to last dot setting with the Bodum on a day that was very low-humidity:  So for my < $200, I'm extremely pleased.
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Feb 26, 2012 01:41
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Bob_McBob posted:I assume you mean you got it with a triple basket. You can just swap it out for your usual double basket. After playing around with it, I was able to get just a little over 3oz at around 35 seconds with my current grind and tamp pressure. It tasted, OKAY but I was hoping for better. G-III fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Feb 26, 2012 |
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Feb 26, 2012 03:35
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kuskus posted:Here's some of the latter in my De'Longi, ground on the 2nd to last dot setting with the Bodum on a day that was very low-humidity: This kind of looks like an egg yolk in a shot glass.
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Feb 26, 2012 04:15
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withak posted:This kind of looks like an egg yolk in a shot glass. My thoughts exactly.
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Feb 26, 2012 04:36
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withak posted:This kind of looks like an egg yolk in a shot glass.  Crema Egg kuskus fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Feb 26, 2012 |
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Feb 26, 2012 17:28
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G-III posted:Well yes, I could do that. However, I'm trying to determine the right timings for a triple shot, because hey, why not? Well what is the issue? Shot timing is generally the same for a single, double, or triple. You don't have to adjust the machine, but you will have to adjust your dose and possibly grind setting. I don't know many people who actually use triple baskets to pull triple shots. Most just want massively updosed doubles.
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Feb 26, 2012 23:31
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I just jumped in head first to the world of coffee roasting. Bought an air popper after watching tons of youtube videos on it and reading about it on sweetmarias forums. Looking very forward to it.. Thanks thread! I think I want to roast some ethiopian beans.. does anyone have any recommendations? Since this is my first roasting experience, I really don't know what to expect. Are there any "starter" beans that may be a good idea? These will be going into a clever dripper after being chopped up (sigh) by a blade grinder. No burr grinder yet.
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Feb 27, 2012 00:38
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dhrusis posted:I just jumped in head first to the world of coffee roasting. Bought an air popper after watching tons of youtube videos on it and reading about it on sweetmarias forums. Looking very forward to it.. Thanks thread! I bought this infrared thermometer as I've just started roasting in my Poppery. It's helped me get a much more consistent roast because I didn't have the whole timing/color of the roast down yet. I've been pulling my beans at ~444f and they come out awesomely. Also, I found my Columbian beans to be super tasty to start out. I feel like Columbian is the standard for coffee for a lot of us in the US (not sure if you're from the US) and it gave me a good base to go from.
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Feb 27, 2012 05:22
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dhrusis posted:I just jumped in head first to the world of coffee roasting. Bought an air popper after watching tons of youtube videos on it and reading about it on sweetmarias forums. Looking very forward to it.. Thanks thread! You've been on sweetmarias but you're not getting a sampler pack? Shame on you. 
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Feb 27, 2012 08:03
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El Disco posted:You've been on sweetmarias but you're not getting a sampler pack? Shame on you. This is exactly what I need. Amazing. Thanks! Quick question.. are green beans subject to the same stringent freshness guidelines that roasted beans are? I'm thinking of buying some green local while I wait for sweet marias but I don't know how fresh they are.
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Feb 27, 2012 17:15
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dhrusis posted:This is exactly what I need. Amazing. Thanks! It's my understanding that green beans can keep for a very long time, something like 6 months or so.
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Feb 27, 2012 17:41
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Doh004 posted:I'm having the hardest time convincing my family that longer roasted beans is not what coffee should taste like, but they've been completely brainwashed by Starbucks Resurrecting this post to inquire about Starbucks Blonde roast. We have a Starbucks right next to where I work, so it's not uncommon to walk down there for a break. We also have a reasonable espresso machine, but some people want one of Starbucks' "fancy" drinks. In any case I've had the blonde roast now a few times. Every time I order blonde roast, they make it right there, in a pour over. Filter goes in the plastic case (two holes at the base), ground beans go in the filter, hot water slowly poured over the beans. Is this the case for every Starbucks? I'm certainly pleased with the results, but this takes quite a long time and the process seems too expensive to be replicated nationwide.
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Feb 27, 2012 21:05
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kuskus posted:
Now I really, really want to pour the creme from one of those into a shot glass and just hit that poo poo straight.
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Feb 27, 2012 21:10
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what is this posted:Resurrecting this post to inquire about Starbucks Blonde roast. What? No, around here they've got a 5-gallon thermos full of the stuff, same as they do for the other brewed coffees. Are you suggesting that, at you Starbucks, they both know and care enough to make decent coffee?
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Feb 27, 2012 21:32
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The sweet maria's coffee sampler seems perfect for getting into roasting. Is there a big advantage to getting something like the FreshRoast SR300 over a popcorn popper?
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Feb 27, 2012 23:05
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Residency Evil posted:The sweet maria's coffee sampler seems perfect for getting into roasting. Is there a big advantage to getting something like the FreshRoast SR300 over a popcorn popper? IIRC The SR300 has a chaff collector and a catalytic converter so you can use it inside. If that kind of stuff matters to you, then yeah, it's a big advantage. I just roast outside with my air popper, or under a kitchen hood with my whirley pop. I haven't hit a point where I needed something better yet, though I may just hack something when that time comes. I've been roasting for a while now and I still order the samplers from SM, you get a lot of good stuff, sometimes stuff that's not available on their seasonal list, and the overall price is cheaper than buying individual lb bags of beans.
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Feb 27, 2012 23:31
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what is this posted:Resurrecting this post to inquire about Starbucks Blonde roast. I wish they did that! I'm in the same boat as Gravity Pike.
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Feb 27, 2012 23:39
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My bet is that maybe they did a few large brew tests and it didn't do that well so they scaled it back at your location. Lucky for me the closest chain coffee place to my work for me is Barnie's and they do pourover for any of their coffees. I'd prefer to go to a local roaster, but those are hard to come by in my area.
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Feb 28, 2012 04:15
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The whole idea of pourover in a busy cafe seems pretty dumb to me. High quality commercial drip brewers (e.g. Fetco) with well-calibrated grind and brew settings produce consistently excellent coffee. If it's brewed freshly as appropriate for turnover, there is no reason why it should be viewed as inferior in any way. Pourover on the other hand depends quite a lot on the ability of the barista. If you go at a busy time you will probably get a mediocre cup of coffee. At a slow time when they can give it their full attention, you'll get a cup costs more and isn't really particularly better than the drip. I know some people enjoy the theatre and don't mind the extra cost, but it's not like you are getting a vastly superior product for your money. Unfortunately, pourover is "in" and it's basically expected that a high quality cafe will have a pourover station.
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Feb 28, 2012 04:45
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Bob_McBob posted:The whole idea of pourover in a busy cafe seems pretty dumb to me. High quality commercial drip brewers (e.g. Fetco) with well-calibrated grind and brew settings produce consistently excellent coffee. If it's brewed freshly as appropriate for turnover, there is no reason why it should be viewed as inferior in any way.
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Feb 28, 2012 05:53
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nm posted:The reason you do pour over is so you can sell 10 different varieties of coffee at a time. You can't brew that much without it going stale. Yes, I'm sure that's the only reason.
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Feb 28, 2012 06:00
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Bob_McBob posted:Yes, I'm sure that's the only reason. - One is a super-busy cafe; they do only single-origin pour-overs and their drip is a house blend - One does drip during peak hours but only pour-overs other times. (Albeit they do drip during peak hours too) - One is a highly pretentious cafe that insists religiously on pour-overs. - One is also highly pretentious and insists only on pour-overs but they're actually more of a storefront for a major roaster, not really a cafe per se, and it's not busy whatsoever. They don't even have seating. So even if it weren't so pretentious it makes sense to not have lots of drip on hand Not very single dimensional IMO
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Feb 28, 2012 07:18
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Bob_McBob posted:Yes, I'm sure that's the only reason. The only coffee place I've frequented in the past that did pour overs did it largely for this reason. They've also had a pour over station for about a decade 
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Feb 28, 2012 13:51
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Lots of weird hostility in the coffee thread.
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Feb 28, 2012 16:51
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Whisker Biscuit posted:Lots of weird hostility in the coffee thread. Sounds like some people should switch to decaf. Doh004 fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Feb 28, 2012 |
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Feb 28, 2012 17:37
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Trip report on the Gaggia Pure so far. For baskets, it ships with regular single, regular double, and then the pod pack is pressurized. The crema enhancer is a very small plastic piece that snaps into the bottom of the portafilter under the basket. I didn't use it. 15g double on the finest grind of my Infinity. Purged the steam wand to force a quick reboil on the boiler. Once that stopped, brewed after 2 seconds. 26 seconds hit 2/3's deep in my 3 oz demitasse. Nice amount of crema but it wasn't swimming in it. When I brew again in the morning I'll adjust the tamp and see what's what. As for the Pannarello frothing wand that comes with it... it's... ok. The froth on tonight's maiden voyage was way, way bubbly, not microfoam. I had read going in that this wand was like that, and that the Pannarello "coffee art" wand was the path to microfoam goodness (the mr. coffee rig actually has a pretty kick butt frothing arm if you take the rubber sleeve off of it. little bit of practice and you can make killer foam). I'll keep messing with this one for now in case there's some mystical secret to it, but I'd much prefer a small pinpoint wand and me working the air in. Anyway, the taste was a decided improvement, as expected. This was on beans the local roaster identifies as Brazillian Fazenda, roasted this past Saturday. Edit: I went right for the normal double, passing glances to the other baskets and I had a misperception. Apparently for US customers they provide a pressurized pod basket, a pressurized double basket and a normal double basket. I found this out this evening putting the things I won't be needing into storage (scoop, plastic tamper, etc...) Alleric fucked around with this message at 06:25 on Mar 2, 2012 |
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Mar 2, 2012 02:12
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Trip report on dhrusis's first foray into roasting. The Beans I went to Phoenicia Foods in downtown Houston for some Green Beans of unknown freshness or origin. Probably not the best idea, but its a local source, walkable for me and they are cheap. Oh, and I like the store because I'm a food nerd and the place.is.fantastic. The guy behind the counter weighed my beans out to 4 digits... 1.010lbs. The Equipment Purchased a West Bend Air Crazy 4 Quart Popper from Amazon. The comments in there had it on good authority that this thing works well for roasting. Sweetmaria's also vouches. It was cheap, under 30$ with Amazon Prime. It arrived today.. Fairly cheap build quality, and for some reason, doesn't look like it would pop corn real well. Good thing I didn't buy it for that. On Doh004's recommendation, I also picked up a digital thermometer from Amazon to track the roast temp. Thing is surprisingly solid for the price I paid. Seems to work well also. This budget roasting thing seems to be coming along... The Roast Went outside with the beans, a stirring spoon, bowl w/water for the chaff, metal collander, 2 small towels for handling hot things, timer, digital scale, and thermometer. My attempts all kind of varied in the time it took to get to first crack, and the general things I observed. I tried to take some good notes so that I can duplicate this going forward if I like the results. The roasting time seems to be very dependent on how many beans you put in the popper to start. Too many and they won't spin on their own, actually seeming to accelerate the roast, despite the fact that I was actively stirring. First attempt w/cold popper: 1.85oz of beans, 1st crack seemed to happen at around 2:00, and I stopped when the thermometer said 445 or so, or right around second crack. It's hard for me to tell the exact temperature. The readings jump around since the beans are moving, and results are obviously dependent on where you are aiming, so its not an exact science. If this turns out to be not the best tool going forward, I'll probably replace with a drop in thermocouple. 2nd attempt with warm popper: 1.5oz of beans, 1st crack seemed to happen at around 3:00, despite a warm machine. I checked the temp to see if I could verify when 1st crack should be happening and the thermo was jumping around. I wrote two numbers, approx 350, and potentially even 300. This can't be right, can it? The Results Welp, take a looksee at my fancy cellphone picture. If anyone can tell if this is in fact a Full City+ roast (as I intended), please let me know.  I'll update with my experiences with the CCD as soon as I grind and drink this stuff. Its been fun so far. dhrusis fucked around with this message at 04:04 on Mar 2, 2012 |
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Mar 2, 2012 03:58
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dhrusis posted:Trip report on dhrusis's first foray into roasting. Nice roast! Keep us posted on how the cup tastes.
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Mar 2, 2012 04:09
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dhrusis posted:Trip report on dhrusis's first foray into roasting. Hurray! You definitely do see some temperature jumping around with the infrared thermometer. I guess I'm not an overly technical person when it comes to coffee/cooking, so I'm okay with the guestimating the temperature. I can say though that I've gotten a consistent City+ with my setup, which is indoors so your mileage may vary, with almost half a dozen different beans. I've also started drinking my coffee black! The fresh roasted stuff really doesn't need much and it's great to actually taste the differences in the beans. Let us know how it tastes (I always wait ~24 hours, I know people say you can just let em bloom a bit before hand but the wait is fine with me).
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Mar 2, 2012 18:45
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Mar 2, 2012 20:53
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I haven't properly used my espresso machine for about... ohh, 5 months or so. I did it occasionally for a shot or two to put in my chili, but that wasn't all that often and I knew there was something wrong with it, and the Aeropress was a lot of fun and a nice change, so... Turned out it needed a really good clean. It's taken 4 packets of soluble cleaning gunk so far and it's still not coming out 100%... bought two more packs of that now and I think I'll tackle it again soon. But, since it was now a lot cleaner and performing nearly up to spec, I decided to get some clear glasses and give it a shot again. I don't exactly have the best camera, but I wanted to try and take some pics anyway. Sorry for the hugeness, I did try to resize them on imgur, but it... seems to have ignored that.    It sure tasted good, if nothing else. Here was the grind if anyone cares.  My grinder's the weak link in the chain right now, I think. It's a Bosch burr machine that I don't know the proper name of, not very expensive and it's been good to me, but I don't think it's fine enough for espresso. I'd love a Rancilio Rocky or something, but I just don't have the cash... The coffee machine's a Gaggia Baby Dose. Edit: And the coffee is hasbean's Bolivia Finca Machacamarca de Berengula which is loving amazing and one of the best coffees I've had in ages, to the point where I made a special order just for two bags of it instead of getting a selection... Dache fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Mar 3, 2012 |
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Mar 3, 2012 01:06
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dema posted:
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Mar 3, 2012 01:20
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Maestro Refurbs available: https://www.baratza.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action&category=RFRB Also, an update on my CCD experience for those curious... The coffee was good. I followed the instructions on SweetMaria's CCD page for a 15oz cup. 33g of beans, unfortunately ground in a blade grinder, placed in a pre-washed Melitta white.. Resulted in a very nice, clean up, with a strong, but fairly mellow flavor. Not much acidity to speak of and not a very 'powerful' flavor. I know its fresh and quality, because I can definitely taste nuances in this coffee that I've never tasted in any others. I think this coffee can be better, but it may be a product of the initial bean quality and the grind, as opposed to the roast or the extraction method. I've just ordered 8lbs from Sweet Maria's and a Baratza Maestro Plus to continue my ascent into caffeinated bliss. Let's get our coffee on. Bottoms up! dhrusis fucked around with this message at 15:40 on Mar 4, 2012 |
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Mar 4, 2012 15:20
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Can anyone who's used a Freshroast or similar machine indoors report on the levels of smoke produced? I've previously roasted coffee using an air popper and was able to manage the smoke by sticking the popper next to a fan by a window but I don't think this will work in my current apartment.
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Mar 4, 2012 18:14
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mystes posted:Can anyone who's used a Freshroast or similar machine indoors report on the levels of smoke produced? I've previously roasted coffee using an air popper and was able to manage the smoke by sticking the popper next to a fan by a window but I don't think this will work in my current apartment. "Smoke" like when you burn something on the stove is IMO not there, it's not a visible cloudiness. There's a distinct aroma that fills the air, but I wouldn't call it "smoky". I run my FR500 under the vent hood of my oven and that handles it, mostly. I generate more smoke when I cook on cast iron.
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Mar 4, 2012 20:06
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mystes posted:Can anyone who's used a Freshroast or similar machine indoors report on the levels of smoke produced? I've previously roasted coffee using an air popper and was able to manage the smoke by sticking the popper next to a fan by a window but I don't think this will work in my current apartment. This is my setup. As long as you have good circulation, you'll be fine:  *edit* I've found I don't need the smaller fan blowing the air above the popper. Getting a good flow of air is all you need.
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Mar 5, 2012 04:51
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mystes posted:Can anyone who's used a Freshroast or similar machine indoors report on the levels of smoke produced? I've previously roasted coffee using an air popper and was able to manage the smoke by sticking the popper next to a fan by a window but I don't think this will work in my current apartment. I have the SR500 and I use it indoors. The first time I used it I wasn't even thinking about the fire alarm and set it off. I was also only about 10 feet from it though so I'm sure that was why. I moved it over to much further away from the smoke alarm and a run the vent fan on my microwave to move some air around the room a bit and I've never set it off since.
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Mar 5, 2012 06:52
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Doh004 posted:This is my setup. As long as you have good circulation, you'll be fine: traveling midget posted:"Smoke" like when you burn something on the stove is IMO not there, it's not a visible cloudiness. There's a distinct aroma that fills the air, but I wouldn't call it "smoky". I run my FR500 under the vent hood of my oven and that handles it, mostly. I generate more smoke when I cook on cast iron. rockcity posted:I have the SR500 and I use it indoors. The first time I used it I wasn't even thinking about the fire alarm and set it off. I was also only about 10 feet from it though so I'm sure that was why. I moved it over to much further away from the smoke alarm and a run the vent fan on my microwave to move some air around the room a bit and I've never set it off since. Apparently, the Nesco Home Roaster, while somewhat less popular, is somewhat better in terms of smoke. It's main disadvantage is supposed to be that it's not great at darker roasts, but this isn't that much of a concern to me. Has anyone here used one?
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Mar 5, 2012 14:44
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mystes posted:That's very similar to what I what I did before, but in my current studio apartment the ventilation situation isn't great and I don't think it will work. Like I said, I only set it off when I was close to the smoke alarm. I've only had it go off that one time. I moved it to the other side of the kitchen and haven't had a problem with it since after a few months of use. As noted above it's not really a solid visible smoke, more of an odor.
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Mar 5, 2012 16:22
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Anyone who's in Michigan and enough of a nerd to be part of this thread needs to go to Grand Rapids and get a bag of Burundi Gackowe from Madcap coffee. It's holy gently caress good, a real wow cup even for non coffee nerds.
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Mar 5, 2012 20:44
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