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Whats the best grinder I can get reasonably in the UK. All the brands recommended are prohibitively expensive over here it seems. I quite like the look of the Baratza virtuoso but it seems over the top considering I use a £20 french press 90% of the time The best 'rated' model on Amazon UK is a twin blade unit. Edit: Should mention I'm on a budget but not willing to skimp on quality. ToG fucked around with this message at 07:41 on Mar 6, 2012 |
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Mar 6, 2012 07:15
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ToG posted:Whats the best grinder I can get reasonably in the UK. All the brands recommended are prohibitively expensive over here it seems. I quite like the look of the Baratza virtuoso but it seems over the top considering I use a £20 french press 90% of the time What does a Maestro Plus cost. That's about the price range you're in, the Virtuoso is quite a few more bucks.
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Mar 6, 2012 07:45
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ToG posted:I quite like the look of the Baratza virtuoso but it seems over the top considering I use a £20 french press 90% of the time That's the wrong way of thinking. The grinder is far more important than how fancy your coffee brewer is. A $5 press pot works just as well as a $100 press pot, but the same is not true for grinders.
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Mar 6, 2012 07:46
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Bob_McBob posted:That's the wrong way of thinking. The grinder is far more important than how fancy your coffee brewer is. A $5 press pot works just as well as a $100 press pot, but the same is not true for grinders. I think it's just the mental effect of seeing models for £300+ ($450USD) thats deterring me. I do know it should cost alot more. There's also the girlfriend effect. Try explaining to a non coffee drinker than you're spending money on a grinder when pre-ground coffee exists. nm posted:My grinder costs oodles more than my brew method (clever). Which is should, because it is far more important than the actual brewer. I had a look and found that there's only ONE decent online seller for these in the UK. The official online store wont ship to Ireland because the 10lb unit doesn't 'weigh more than 4oz' Baratza Maestro Plus - £114 (~$180) Baratza Virtuoso - £145 (~$229) edit: I kinda like the price of the Maestro but reading this thread makes me think it may be worth the extra £31 (~$49)
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Mar 6, 2012 08:10
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Can I kindly disagree? Obviously a burr grinder is definitely preferable. You have control, it's precise, consistent. I can do a French press grind or a beehive or espresso and not have to worry about consistency or anything. In my experience though, a mediocre blade grinder, if you pulse and shake, will give you a good enough and consistent grind for a pour over. I refuse to do French presses with blade grinders because it's nearly impossible to get it both consistent and coarse. But a pour over? Blade grinders do a good job with that. The whole heating the beans thing changing the flavor? Some silly myth coffee elitists like to say to sound sophisticated. That's like saying your duxelles will come out radically different if you leave the mushrooms out of the fridge an extra 3 minutes. An automatic drip brewer or not using a thermometer will make your cup worse than a blade grinder.
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Mar 6, 2012 08:11
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ovanova posted:That's like saying your duxelles will come out radically different if you leave the mushrooms out of the fridge an extra 3 minutes nope, it's like saying reheated scrambled eggs will be gross. and they are.
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Mar 6, 2012 08:48
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I don't know how thoroughly they did it or how good the beans were or the brew methods etc etc, but I know they tested on America's Test Kitchen whether burr ground vs blade ground beans tasted different and they didn't. I know that won't appease the coffee elites but it's better than idle speculation.
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Mar 6, 2012 09:25
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ovanova posted:I don't know how thoroughly they did it or how good the beans were or the brew methods etc etc, but I know they tested on America's Test Kitchen whether burr ground vs blade ground beans tasted different and they didn't. I know that won't appease the coffee elites but it's better than idle speculation. They used an automatic drip machine  Yeah, that result is rubbish.Edit: this ATK article is just  bad. They used an infrared thermometer to measure the temperature of the beans. I don't think they understand thermodynamics. They never mention coffee:water ratios, they never talk about water temperature, they don't survey and separate the testees into groups, those who prefer bold or roasty or acidy or "smooth" or floral or sweet or whatever, they just took run of the mill schmucks.quote:These combined forces caused what coffee experts call overextraction, which occurs when too much flavor is extracted from the beans. In our tests, we were less likely to encounter this problem if the coffee was ground coarse, more so than even the coarsest setting on the burr grinders could accomplish. hahahahaha GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 09:42 on Mar 6, 2012 |
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Mar 6, 2012 09:35
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GrAviTy84 posted:hahahahaha This screams 'coffee for people who need coffee, but don't like it.' Can I get an opinion on these two grinders. Baratza Maestro Plus - £114 (~$180) Baratza Virtuoso - £145 (~$229) Is it worth the extra $50?
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Mar 6, 2012 09:49
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ToG posted:This screams 'coffee for people who need coffee, but don't like it.' Depends on what you're going to use it for. There will be a difference, but if you don't plan on espressoing, arguably the Maestro will work just fine for you.
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Mar 6, 2012 10:06
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GrAviTy84 posted:Depends on what you're going to use it for. There will be a difference, but if you don't plan on espressoing, arguably the Maestro will work just fine for you. Just every-day coffee. Maestro it is.
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Mar 6, 2012 10:11
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ToG posted:Whats the best grinder I can get reasonably in the UK. All the brands recommended are prohibitively expensive over here it seems. I quite like the look of the Baratza virtuoso but it seems over the top considering I use a £20 french press 90% of the time I bought a manual Porlex Mini grinder from here for my work grinder. It's under £30, and will be perfectly good for your french press. I wouldn't want to grind for espresso manually, but it's a perfectly awesome little grinder for french press/filter. I took it camping this weekend, and there was a surprising amount of coffee envy for my filter cone and grinder set up.
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Mar 6, 2012 10:58
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GrAviTy84 posted:They used an automatic drip machine I use an average burr grinder myself for the record, but aside from ease of consistency and being able to finally do good French presses I see no difference between it and back when i used a blade grinder. just bein honest. Sorry if that, like, disqualifies me from coffee discussion or anything.
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Mar 6, 2012 11:00
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Death of Rats posted:I bought a manual Porlex Mini grinder from here for my work grinder. It's under £30, and will be perfectly good for your french press. I wouldn't want to grind for espresso manually, but it's a perfectly awesome little grinder for french press/filter. I took it camping this weekend, and there was a surprising amount of coffee envy for my filter cone and grinder set up. I know I'd be sick of the manual grinder so quickly. I'm a university student and make up a litre of so of coffee for uni every day before my commute starts. I also drive a coffee non-friendly car so having to grind it every morning would really push me over the edge.
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Mar 6, 2012 11:21
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ToG posted:I know I'd be sick of the manual grinder so quickly. I'm a university student and make up a litre of so of coffee for uni every day before my commute starts. Fair enough. The other cheap alternative is the Delonghi KG79, which is only about £35. I have one of those too, but I prefer the manual at work (because otherwise I'd have to bring in pre-ground coffee, which goes stale super quickly).
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Mar 6, 2012 13:27
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I can get one even cheaper. How do you feel it compares. Reviews claim its not very consistent? edit: Turns out the price I saw was ex VAT so the proper prices are: Baratza Maestro Plus - £147 (~$230) Baratza Virtuoso - £184 (~$289) Which is a tad more than I wanted to pay. I think the delonghi will suffice for now until I can get a hold of more disposable income. ToG fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Mar 7, 2012 |
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Mar 6, 2012 17:21
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Oof, I want one.
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Mar 7, 2012 02:49
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Astronaut Jones posted:Oof, I want one. $400? Are they loving high?
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Mar 7, 2012 03:14
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traveling midget posted:$400? Are they loving high? Very high, they are going to be $599 after kickstarter. The Hario is $240 and I thought that was ridiculous.
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Mar 7, 2012 03:25
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I'm guessing it's being sold at the price based on the aesthetic since the sum of the parts of that thing is a tiny, tiny fraction of the asking price. Either that or they expect people to be stupid enough to shell out that much.
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Mar 7, 2012 03:38
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can get borosilicate glass dropping funnels and flasks for significantly less than any of that. Just buy from a laboratory supply store.
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Mar 7, 2012 03:40
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traveling midget posted:$400? Are they loving high? They are pretty, though. On the other hand, I'm perfectly content with coffee cold-brewed in a mason jar in the back of my fridge, so I'd probably lean towards spending $500 on other artwork. If I had $500 to spend on art. Which I don't.
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Mar 7, 2012 03:41
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Gravity Pike posted:They are pretty, though. Honestly I think the frame itself looks really boring, almost cheap because there's not that much visual interest to it - it's all just square. looks kind of like a "fancy" lampstand from Ikea or something to me. The dripping mechanism looks cool, but like someone else said you can buy the dripper / funnel anywhere. i'd say they're preeeeetty high
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Mar 7, 2012 05:24
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I roasted some coffee! Beans from El Salvador by way of Sweet Maria's. My setup:     This is where I decided to stop:  First crack had been going on for awhile, but with this method there is a lot of variation in the temp of the individual beans.  Without the flash, so the roast level is clearer: 
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Mar 8, 2012 05:18
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Picked up a Hario Mini-mill and an Aeropress: Finally got a good coffee setup going. Also grabbed some beans from a local roaster I just found out about. This is basically my first coffee purchase other than k-cups. It's plastic and ceramic, so can I clean it by just rinsing it out under hot water or do I need to buy one of those grinder brush things? The manual is in loving japanese or something. What's a good grind setting for brewing with the Aeropress? The manual says to use a "fine-drip" grind, but I'm not sure how many clicks that is on the Hario. help how do i make a coffee
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Mar 9, 2012 01:45
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Anyone have any experience with the Bodum Bistro burr grinder? I need a new grinder and amazon had one listed for $70 and it's got pretty good reviews. Or am I better off getting a Baratza refurb?
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Mar 9, 2012 04:54
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a handful of dust posted:What's a good grind setting for brewing with the Aeropress? The manual says to use a "fine-drip" grind, but I'm not sure how many clicks that is on the Hario. To give another answer to your question, choose something between the middle and finest setting.
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Mar 9, 2012 05:08
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Cyborganizer posted:Anyone have any experience with the Bodum Bistro burr grinder? I need a new grinder and amazon had one listed for $70 and it's got pretty good reviews. Or am I better off getting a Baratza refurb? I have one. I like it with a few nitpicks: 1) Bean storage on top is too big and useless because it's clear and not air tight. 2) Only supposed to run it 20 seconds every 5 minutes. You only need about 10 seconds for a cup's worth of grinds. I've lived on the wild side and went over 20 seconds a few times without any problems. 3) Last bit of grinds get stuck inside and you need to tap the grinder to get them out. that Vai sound posted:A handy thing I've learned for evaluating brews is distinguishing sour from bitter. Coffee that is over extracted is bitter. Coffee that is under extracted is sour. Adjust your grind or pour as needed to counteract those. This is my biggest problem. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I'll make a great cup one day and the next few aren't totally enjoyable. I weigh the beans and follow the same process. I vary the grind but can't find consistency in my brew. I'm not sure how to explain the feeling left on my tongue after taking a sip. It feels dry and unpleasant. It's not sour like a lemon or bitter like leafy greens.
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Mar 9, 2012 06:17
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geetee posted:I'm not sure how to explain the feeling left on my tongue after taking a sip. It feels dry and unpleasant. It's not sour like a lemon or bitter like leafy greens. Like tannin?
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Mar 9, 2012 06:39
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hoboerotic posted:Like tannin? Yes! I was just thinking that wine has a similar effect -- it's more extreme with coffee. Now I have an actual keyword to use in my google adventures. Thanks! Edit: Astringency! geetee fucked around with this message at 08:17 on Mar 9, 2012 |
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Mar 9, 2012 08:11
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geetee posted:Yes! I was just thinking that wine has a similar effect -- it's more extreme with coffee. Now I have an actual keyword to use in my google adventures. Thanks! sounds like you're using too much coffee for how much water you're using. What is your ratio like?
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Mar 9, 2012 09:06
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Cyborganizer posted:Anyone have any experience with the Bodum Bistro burr grinder? I need a new grinder and amazon had one listed for $70 and it's got pretty good reviews. Or am I better off getting a Baratza refurb? I use it everyday and it works great. It is limited to grind about 2-3 cups of coffee at once, so if you're making a big pot each morning, I would probably look at something else.
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Mar 9, 2012 13:30
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GrAviTy84 posted:sounds like you're using too much coffee for how much water you're using. What is your ratio like? I'm using 20g of grinds to 10 ounces of water.
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Mar 9, 2012 14:58
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geetee posted:I'm using 20g of grinds to 10 ounces of water.
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Mar 9, 2012 15:45
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Can I use Chemex cone filters ( http://www.amazon.com/Chemex-Folded-Circle-Coffee-Filters/dp/B0000CF2WP/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1331322221&sr=8-3 ) with my Hario dripper ( http://www.amazon.com/Hario-VDC-02W-Dripper-Ceramic-Funnel/dp/B000P4D5HG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1331322323&sr=8-5 ) ?
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Mar 9, 2012 20:46
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Thufir posted:Can I use Chemex cone filters with my Hario dripper? Presumably, but I'm not sure why you would want to do that.
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Mar 9, 2012 22:23
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Bob_McBob posted:Presumably, but I'm not sure why you would want to do that. because they look pretty similar and a store near me has them cheaper than the Hario filters are on Amazon. Is there a downside?
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Mar 9, 2012 22:50
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Thufir posted:because they look pretty similar and a store near me has them cheaper than the Hario filters are on Amazon. Is there a downside? This video compares Hario and Chemex filters. They seem pretty favorable towards the chemex ones. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO6L9PXrBcs
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Mar 9, 2012 22:52
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Jmcrofts posted:This video compares Hario and Chemex filters. They seem pretty favorable towards the chemex ones. Keep in mind that while SCG has a fantastic selection of coffee goods, they are quite decidedly espresso people, not necessarily coffee people. The "FRESHLY GROUND COFFEE" quip Kat makes is in reference to previous videos where they were using preground and people (including yours truly) yelled at them for being dumb. They also have a tendency to only care about things like "smoothness" and have a propensity to sperg out considerably more with espresso than they will for pour over or drip. They will pull shot after shot to get a machine dialed in but they will only do one run of pour over with preground coffee and leave it at that. Now, they also joke about how it's  kind of sarcastically, but really it is, so I don't know why they're so catty about it. Chemex filters are thicker, as a result they will have more paper taste and coffee will flow through them slower than it will a thinner filter. This is goes with the fact that the Chemex itself has a gigantic hole, so that slower drain is more important. The hario, while having a large hole with respect to all other cones, is smaller than the Chemex, but it still drains fast. This is why Hario users insist on using the gooseneck kettle with a Hario, because you have accurate control over pour rate. As to which one is better. Sweet Maria's did a pourover shoot out and they are considerably more spergy about pourover. They used a refractometer to nail the extraction and found, more often than naught, that the cheap ol small single hole Melitta filter cone is the best. While I'm not as experienced as Tom, I agree that the Melitta is a fantastic brewer and just because it's cheap doesn't mean it sucks.
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Mar 9, 2012 23:06
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GrAviTy84 posted:Sweet Maria's did a pourover shoot out and they are considerably more spergy about pourover. They used a refractometer to nail the extraction and found, more often than naught, that the cheap ol small single hole Melitta filter cone is the best. While I'm not as experienced as Tom, I agree that the Melitta is a fantastic brewer and just because it's cheap doesn't mean it sucks. If you want to try a comparison at home, pour plain water through the filters and see how it tastes.
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Mar 9, 2012 23:13
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