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Did you not read the other complaints in the last page of this thread? I'm willing to say that my experience was an outlier, but it happened and people still seem to be getting sent non-functional machines. In any case, I'm done complaining about it. In other news, inverted Aeropress is great and I still haven't exploded scalding coffee grounds all over myself and the counter.
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Jun 20, 2014 18:34
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AriTheDog posted:In other news, inverted Aeropress is great and I still haven't exploded scalding coffee grounds all over myself and the counter. I had a few close calls doing this early in the morning before work, so I went to my CCD. The only problem was I was brewing it into this:  Most of the time I can get it to sit just right on that lip so that it's balanced. But, when you're making coffee at 5 am, you're bound to screw up once in a while. Sure enough one day I left it unattended to drip into my mug and as I was turning around I saw the CCD sliding directly off the travel mug...that was a bitch to cleanup.
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Jun 20, 2014 18:58
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Brew in a pint glass and transfer it
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Jun 20, 2014 19:40
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Happy Sunday, folks. Just bought me a kilo bag of this stuff that I got in my Craft Coffee subscription for June: http://www.kickapoocoffee.com/Fair-Trade-Coffee-Ethiopian-Yirgacheffe-Reko-p/SO-ETHREK.htm It's an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, from the Reko washing station. It cost me a pretty penny for the kilo, but I wasn't about to pay $5 shipping on an $18 12oz bag of coffee. Here's the description from Craft Coffee: "A lively Ethiopian with fragrant top notes of red licorice and raspberry lemonade that give way to flavors of peach, apricot, and dark chocolate, complemented by a delicate floral honey sweetness." I made a cup of it in my Kalita Wave yesterday (302g water, 19g beans, 22 grind on Virtuoso, 40s bloom, 3m30s total brew time) and was completely blown away. There were so many subtle flavors in the aftertaste. It was just incredible. This will be the first bag of coffee that I buy from a Craft Coffee roaster. All the ones in the past have been good for the most part, but none have made me go "OMG I'm gonna need a bigger bag of this PRONTO." I highly suggest you guys check out Kickapoo. They've always delivered good stuff for me, and they have a 3 month subscription, 12oz bags for $63. Pretty spendy, but about the same price as Craft Coffee's subscription. Granted, if you want variety, I'd go with Craft Coffee. also if someone does end up deciding to sign up for Craft Coffee please ask for my referral URL if you'd be so kind. you'll get 15% off and i'll get a free month 
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Jun 22, 2014 14:52
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Welp, today loving rocks: New Vario came in, and it works, and I've pulled the best shots so far from my Gaggia Classic. Still have no idea how to steam milk, but my (extremely thin) "cortado" was delicious nonetheless.
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Jun 26, 2014 03:37
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dik-dik posted:Welp, today loving rocks: New Vario came in, and it works, and I've pulled the best shots so far from my Gaggia Classic. Still have no idea how to steam milk, but my (extremely thin) "cortado" was delicious nonetheless. When you're not working with a dual boiler, higher end machine, steaming milk is even harder than pulling a decent shot in my opinion. A lot of it is just learning your machine and timing it right. A lot of it is listening and learning juuuust the right depth and angle to start the texturing process and then knowing when to plunge to the bottom and start the swirl. I tend to texture until I'm just shy of 100 degrees and then swirl the rest of the way to temp. When you're texturing, you want the tip just barely under the surface. It should make a hiss, but not make visible bubbles.
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Jun 26, 2014 04:05
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Did your old Vario not work?
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Jun 26, 2014 04:59
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Morning coffee the other day.
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Jun 26, 2014 05:49
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I know this is awful, but anyone knows a good & cheap coffeemaker? Because when my family visits me it really is a pain in the *** to make coffee for them all with the CCD.
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Jun 26, 2014 10:29
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DoBoMi posted:I know this is awful, but anyone knows a good & cheap coffeemaker? Maybe grab a Chemex?
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Jun 26, 2014 12:14
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DoBoMi posted:I know this is awful, but anyone knows a good & cheap coffeemaker? I picked up an old corelware stovetop percolator for exactly this reason - I can make (actually pretty good) coffee for four and it takes up very little space (especially compared to a drip machine) with no cables and no need for filters or anthing else.
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Jun 26, 2014 15:15
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Mu Zeta posted:Did your old Vario not work? Yeah, I ordered a refurb that came in about a week ago and shat itself on my first attempt at grinding. After running through their troubleshooting guides I determined the powerboard had died. Luckily Baratza was really helpful and sent me out a replacement machine that very day. Bob_McBob posted:Morning coffee the other day. That scale looks interesting. Is that an integrated drip tray? Speaking of scales—has anyone else had problems with their American Weigh where if you put something warm on it (e.g. a carafe with hot water in it), it starts counting up on its own? Very annoying. DoBoMi posted:I know this is awful, but anyone knows a good & cheap coffeemaker? You could always go the cold brew concentrate route. Make a shitton of 1:4 concentrate and then dilute it with 3 parts hot water for every 1 part concentration (by volume). Other than that, giant french press is another good way to go. Worst case, any cheap drip coffee maker will be okay if you're making a large enough batch for it to actually heat up the water to a decent temperature. My parents got a free coffeemaker from Gevalia a while ago, and I think they have that deal pretty regularly (you sign up for auto delivery of their coffee and the first delivery comes with a free coffeemaker; then you can cancel the service and never worry about it again). The coffee it makes isn't fantastic or anything but it's certainly not bad, if you get your grind right. dik-dik fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Jun 26, 2014 |
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Jun 26, 2014 15:20
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DoBoMi posted:I know this is awful, but anyone knows a good & cheap coffeemaker? You might consider a vacuum/syphon pot. I've got one that does a normal-ish sized pot of coffee (~8 cups).
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Jun 26, 2014 15:32
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Thank you for your answers! But to be honest, I don't want anything fancy like the chemex or the vacuum pot. Both look awesome and interesting, but I don't want to have to explain something to my family and friends. It seems like many coffeemakers produce bitter coffee, so I looked around what I could get for a bit more money.. Anyone ever heard something of the Moccamaster? It looks pretty awesome to me, even though it is a bit more expensive than the other solutions.
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Jun 26, 2014 17:20
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The Moccamaster is about as fancy as it gets. The Chemex is $35 and all you do is pour hot water on it. You don't need any special equipment except a way to grind coffee and a way to boil hot water. I think the Chemex looks a bilion times better than the Moccamaster too.
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Jun 26, 2014 17:22
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Chemex is my go to for making coffee for 4 people.
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Jun 26, 2014 17:58
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DoBoMi posted:Thank you for your answers! This is the best taste/value compromise for home drip makers, in my opinion: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005YQZNO8/ref=pd_aw_sbs_1?pi=SY115
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Jun 26, 2014 18:26
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dik-dik posted:That scale looks interesting. Is that an integrated drip tray? http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/bonavita-electronic-scale-drip-tray Pretty nice scale for coffee. They make one with an adjustable pourover stand that's not terribly useful IMO. Temperature drift is common with scales, especially if the load cell isn't insulated from the weighing platform. With the American Weigh scales, I usually take the platform cover, turn it upside down, and rotate it 45 degrees. Then you get a nice insulated platform for your mug or brewer and you don't have to worry about temperature drift. You can use anything that inserts an air gap. Keep in mind you will also see the weight go down noticeably at the end if you've finished pouring and liquid is evaporating.
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Jun 26, 2014 19:27
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Bob_McBob posted:http://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/bonavita-electronic-scale-drip-tray Alright, good to know that it's not just me being crazy. I've been using a small plate that seems to be working okay but I think the platform cover idea would probably work better, so thanks for that! I'll give it a shot when I next brew some pourover.
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Jun 26, 2014 23:37
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The key is to provide an insulting gap so the weighing platform doesn't transfer heat to the load cell. An air gap is probably easiest, but something like an insulating foam pad would work just as well. With my Jennings CJ-4000 I use one of the plastic coasters that come with the Clever Coffee Dripper.
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Jun 27, 2014 00:10
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Bob_McBob posted:Morning coffee the other day. That's a bag of beans from Monigram... I think.
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Jun 27, 2014 01:20
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DoBoMi posted:Thank you for your answers! Usually if the coffee is turning out bitter it means that you overheated it a bit.
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Jun 27, 2014 02:28
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VERTiG0 posted:That's a bag of beans from Monigram... I think. It is, actually. I'm in Waterloo so they're a bit far to visit regularly, but I finally made it out there the other day. I was in a hurry and got their Yirg to try, but it probably wasn't a good choice since I'm pretty picky about naturals. I also have a bag of their Mad Cat espresso I haven't cracked yet. I'll definitely try to get back there and sample more of their coffees before passing judgement. The cafe itself is pretty nice, with lots of neat equipment on hand. Definitely a step above anything in K-W. They asked me if I wanted it ground and I was too embarrassed to tell them I had the same grinder at home.
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Jun 27, 2014 03:00
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Anyone else hate when you brew an AMAZING cup of a particular bean/roast, and make a decidedly meh/unimpressive cup of the same roast the next day? It's like wait, is this the same coffee? I made a 600mL/37g batch of the Yirgacheffe from Kickapoo today with my V60 and it was fairly meh, flavors more muted than I expected. I ended up making a cup with my Aeropress after eating a banana and it tastes very different. Even after letting my palate acclimate to the coffee, it's not as bright as I remember it being. Oh, and I bought another BeanSafe since it seems the Kickapoo bag is somehow sucking air back in after I squeeze it out. I was already using both of the ones I have. Also check out the size of this bag. Was less than 24 hours old when I got it.  Edit: Attaching the picture apparently did not work, and I can't remove it from the post. Bah mr. yolk fucked around with this message at 13:35 on Jun 27, 2014 |
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Jun 27, 2014 13:33
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mr. yolk posted:Anyone else hate when you brew an AMAZING cup of a particular bean/roast, and make a decidedly meh/unimpressive cup of the same roast the next day? It's like wait, is this the same coffee? I made a 600mL/37g batch of the Yirgacheffe from Kickapoo today with my V60 and it was fairly meh, flavors more muted than I expected. I ended up making a cup with my Aeropress after eating a banana and it tastes very different. Even after letting my palate acclimate to the coffee, it's not as bright as I remember it being. If you have a bunch of crap on your tongue or you're dehydrated you'll get vastly different flavors.
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Jun 27, 2014 13:38
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What's the diagnosis and treatment for extremely sour shots (pulled on my Gaggia Classic)? I assumed it meant my grind was too coarse but making my grind finer (going all the way to 1A on my vario) doesn't seem to fix it, or even change it noticeably. This suggests maybe my brew temp is too low? I've been letting my machine preheat for a good 20-30 minutes and then flushing the group head with a decent amount of water, pulling the shot as soon as the light turns back on, etc., and it doesn't seem to be helping.
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Jun 27, 2014 16:34
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Bob_McBob posted:They asked me if I wanted it ground and I was too embarrassed to tell them I had the same grinder at home. Hah! They'll talk your ear off about gear if you let them. mr. yolk posted:Anyone else hate when you brew an AMAZING cup of a particular bean/roast, and make a decidedly meh/unimpressive cup of the same roast the next day? It's like wait, is this the same coffee? I made a 600mL/37g batch of the Yirgacheffe from Kickapoo today with my V60 and it was fairly meh, flavors more muted than I expected. I find it's pretty tough to be consistent with the V60, but I love it all the same.
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Jun 27, 2014 19:12
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dik-dik posted:What's the diagnosis and treatment for extremely sour shots (pulled on my Gaggia Classic)? Can you increase the brew time? it sounds like you're under extracting your shots, so you may just need a few seconds more. If that doesn't work I'd increase your dose a little, and see if that helps.
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Jun 27, 2014 22:14
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Has anyone tried cold brewing with a nut milk bag? I don't see why it wouldn't work, and I'm guessing it'll make filtering out the grounds a million times easier.
Argyle fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Jun 27, 2014 |
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Jun 27, 2014 23:19
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Argyle posted:Has anyone tried cold brewing with a nut milk bag? I don't see why it wouldn't work, and I'm guessing it'll make filtering out the grounds a million times easier. A friend of mine is doing this and says that it's awesome. One nice thing is you can give the grounds a good squeeze to get as much concentrate as possible out. I haven't bought nut bags yet but thanks for the reminder!
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Jun 28, 2014 00:12
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becoming posted:A friend of mine is doing this and says that it's awesome. One nice thing is you can give the grounds a good squeeze to get as much concentrate as possible out. I haven't bought nut bags yet but thanks for the reminder! Just bought one. Trip report in a few days!
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Jun 28, 2014 01:02
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Gumbel2Gumbel posted:If you have a bunch of crap on your tongue or you're dehydrated you'll get vastly different flavors. Yeah, I've gotten the full flavors from coffee after getting home from work (drinking a good amount of water during the day) but it's tough to get them in the morning. I have been making sure to scrape my tongue in the morning though. That poo poo is gross. On a high note, I just made a cup of the same Yirgacheffe with the Kalita and it tastes AWESOME. dik-dik posted:What's the diagnosis and treatment for extremely sour shots (pulled on my Gaggia Classic)? Same thing happened to me with my Saeco Poemia. I couldn't figure it out and didn't want to keep wasting coffee. I'm pretty sure it's just not getting hot enough and I'm not sure what I can do to get it up to temp. I did the same as you - wait til light comes on, run a good 4-8oz of water through it, wait for light to come back on, and pull shot immediately after. The first shots I pulled were disgustingly sour and definitely not hot enough, but I'd pull a second round of shots pretty much right after tasting the initial ones and they'd be way less sour and significantly hotter (but very weak in flavor). I don't want to keep wasting coffee trying, and I can't find anyone echoing my problems online with the Poemia. I wish I had something for you man -- but I'm pretty sure we're not idiots. At least I'd like to think so. There's got to be something we're missing. Or our machines just suck rear end, which I find a lot harder to believe with the Gaggia. Best of luck. Edit: Got inspired to try the Poemia again. Something's different - it heated up WAY faster this time and the water's actually hot. I pulled some sour-rear end shots using probably 16g of my Yirgacheffe beans - maybe you/we're using too much coffee? I put the grind on my Virtuoso down to 1 with 14g of beans and pulled the shots immediately after the light went back on. The draw time was a little fast, about 21 seconds when I had to stop it before it overflowed one of the shotglasses. The initial sip is a little sour, but the shots overall are actually not half bad! The flavor is actually pretty awesome, if a little weak. There's almost a silky chocolatey aftertaste. Mmm. A little milk and they'd make a pretty decent cortado or cappuccino! Now that I've done like 8 rounds on the machine... I might have to stop. I feel the back of my head twitching. mr. yolk fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Jun 28, 2014 |
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Jun 28, 2014 01:12
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Welp, I've found the world's worst coffee shop. It has no employees—so how does it work? It's a keurig! It's literally just a keurig and a thing for you to put money in. And it's making money. gently caress everything. E: Spent most of today moving, which means I was pretty tired, hot, and sweaty. brewed up a batch of becoming's Japanese Iced Coffee and boy did that poo poo hit the spot. dik-dik fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Jun 30, 2014 |
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Jun 28, 2014 02:25
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Curious, how does calcification in your kettle effect the taste of coffee? My last two bags of beans from different roasters have had a gritty tongue-feel after swallowing. I haven't changed my kalita recipe at all.
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Jun 29, 2014 01:54
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Responses for various things: Sour shots: The shot is an equation: amount of coffee + grind of coffee + tamp + amount of water + amount of time. You should be hitting 1.5 to 2.0 ounces of espresso in 20-25 seconds. I highly suspect though that you're hitting volume too quickly, and the solution is resistance, slowing the brew way down. The solution is one ore more of the following: finer grind, more coffee, tamp way (way) harder. I suspect your issue may just be the tamp. Regarding the tamp, I've never ever ever been able to tamp so hard that I've clogged the machine. Don't fear it, tamp like a boss once and see what happens. Most of the sweetness from a shot comes from the final fraction of volume. One thing you could do to test is run the shot out to like 3 ounces and see if anything changes. If it does sweeten up, then you know you can hit that, it's just taking too long. Associated with this (as a scaled up boiler and thermostat will think it has heated the water, but really it's heated the scale): Drip machine? Espresso machine? Machine machine? Descale it. Seriously. I personally use Dezcal I get off of Amazon for my Gaggia and the wife's drip machine. It can make a dramatic difference. When scale/chalk build up on the heating elements/thermostats, it can throw their performance way off. They will think they are up to temp and can be a little to a crazy amount off (clocked the drip machine down at 180F at the brew head once). This can absolutely cause funky brew flavors and definitely cause sour shots. Where we life the water is silly hard. Because of this, I descale both machines once a month. If I forget, it becomes very evident in the cup very quickly. Just to be clear, this is not coffee machine cleaner, which I also use, but this is specifically descaler. I can't tell you how many drip machines I've saved from the trash can because the people who owned them didn't know about this. An hour and some Dezcal later and it's back to its normal self.
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Jun 29, 2014 04:09
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Bronze posted:Curious, how does calcification in your kettle effect the taste of coffee? My last two bags of beans from different roasters have had a gritty tongue-feel after swallowing. I haven't changed my kalita recipe at all. I haven't actually CLEANED my kettle since I got it......... a few months ago. But I have hot water in it so it should kill cooties n stuff right? Only half joking. I really should clean it, I just haven't had a reason to yet. I think calcification does affect the taste though. Now, by gritty, do you mean kinda like chalky? Or like a sort of... [water] hardness to your tongue? Like when you move your tongue over the roof of your mouth, does it feel oily smooth, or is there resistance to it? And are there visible spots of calcification in your kettle? I only use filtered water to make my coffee because the water in my building is pretty hard. It leaves spots on EVERYTHING. My sink, the outside of my kettle, my Kalita after washing it, you name it. Hard water spots on everything. Also I'm not even sure if this post makes sense. I'm kind of hung over and I'm waiting for my first cup of coffee to cool down so I can drink it.
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Jun 29, 2014 18:41
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omnom    
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Jun 29, 2014 19:14
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Oh man, that looks amazing. Mind sharing the recipe you used? And maybe where you got those glasses? 
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Jun 29, 2014 22:24
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mr. yolk posted:I haven't actually CLEANED my kettle since I got it......... a few months ago. But I have hot water in it so it should kill cooties n stuff right? Only half joking. I really should clean it, I just haven't had a reason to yet. I think calcification does affect the taste though. Now, by gritty, do you mean kinda like chalky? Or like a sort of... [water] hardness to your tongue? Like when you move your tongue over the roof of your mouth, does it feel oily smooth, or is there resistance to it? And are there visible spots of calcification in your kettle? I only use filtered water to make my coffee because the water in my building is pretty hard. It leaves spots on EVERYTHING. My sink, the outside of my kettle, my Kalita after washing it, you name it. Hard water spots on everything. I'd describe it as a resistance on my tongue when I rub it on the roof of my mouth. I just bought an americano and it's much smoother like my coffee was about two bags of beans ago. There are marks on my kettle. I'm gonna clean it out with dezcal. Bronze fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Jun 30, 2014 |
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Jun 29, 2014 22:45
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Crud in the kettle doesn't result in cooties, it results in unwanted minerals in your coffee.
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Jun 30, 2014 00:51
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