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After writing my previous comments I watched the last two pots drip and the shower head comes out as it always had which is not which seems fairly evenly distributed among the head "nozzles". Maybe slightly more flow through the center holes, but certainly not "all through the same hole" as in a standard drip. If the 1900TS's head truly doesn't work properly, I'm curious as to what they could have changed to make that occur. Having cleaned my 1800SS multiple times and taken apart the water distribution, it's dirt simple: Water is pumped up to a rectangular trough which is connected to the circular shower head, resulting in the distribution I described. Also, I hope my assessment about the carafe didn't sound negative. It matches up with exactly what Flash Gordon Ramsay said.
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Jul 2, 2015 12:24
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Just got my Bonavita 1900TS. $151 at Sur La Table thanks to a Bed Bath and Beyond coupon. First thoughts: 1. Coffee is decent, using a medium-fine grind on a Baratza Encore 2. Pouring the last 5 oz of coffee out of the carafe is a pain in the rear end. It's designed to pour only with the lid on, and the carafe has to be pretty much totally upside down to get the last ounces of coffee out. Lame. 3. I wish there was a convenient place to put the filter basket after brewing, since screwing the carafe's lid on prevents one from putting the filter basket in its brewing area.
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Jul 7, 2015 07:48
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There were two successful Kickstarters recently for manual grinders. One is from Kuissential and another one called Handground that are supposed to much more stable than the ones from Hario. The exciting thing is that they are really affordable, like $30. They are both several months late and haven't had any updates in a long time. I don't think they are scammers but probably just incompetent. Maybe there's a reason those LIDO grinders cost $180 even though they are made in Taiwan.
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Jul 10, 2015 16:01
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My Bonavita occasionally gives me the HI ERR error when the temperature gets close to boiling. Is that normal on occasion or do I need to replace it?
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Jul 12, 2015 16:33
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ded posted:Anyone have a Vario Mill by Baratza? I'm looking to upgrade my grinder since my current Capresso is starting to make too much dust and not very nice grinds. I just got a Vario-W and its awesome. $100 extra for grinding by weight instead of time was worth it to me.
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Jul 12, 2015 18:49
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Mu Zeta posted:I don't think they are scammers but probably just incompetent. Handground followed me (im no one) on Instagram the other day. It's definitely this.
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Jul 12, 2015 20:22
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My 6 year old Behmor is only giving me error codes - alternating between 1 and 3. I'm pretty sure the thermistor is shot, but I tried bypassing it with no joy. I'm going to play with it, and make a frankenroaster. Buuuuuut, I did order a new Behmor + from Burman, which I've been wanting to play with since the "+" released. Anyone else using the new model? More granular roast control likely means revitalizing my old roasting database.
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Jul 13, 2015 03:19
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porktree posted:My 6 year old Behmor is only giving me error codes - alternating between 1 and 3. I'm pretty sure the thermistor is shot, but I tried bypassing it with no joy. I'm going to play with it, and make a frankenroaster. Buuuuuut, I did order a new Behmor + from Burman, which I've been wanting to play with since the "+" released. I know some people had problems with early models, but I didn't hear much after that. I'm curious to hear some more recent input as that will likely be my next big upgrade. My freshroast still works great, but doing half a pound takes like 5 batches and probably an hour and a half.
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Jul 13, 2015 06:25
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Residency Evil posted:My Bonavita occasionally gives me the HI ERR error when the temperature gets close to boiling. Is that normal on occasion or do I need to replace it?
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Jul 13, 2015 08:38
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Trip report: If you find yourself near Orange, CA, you might want to check out Bodhi Leaf coffee's new location. They do wholesale beans, roasted beans, and coffee drinks. They used to just do wholesale coffee (to local shops and roasters like Demitasse and Trystero in Los Angeles) and some enthusiast sales on the side, but their new location really makes me think we now have our own version of Sweet Maria's in Southern California.     
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Jul 13, 2015 19:09
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Wow, that is a really nice facility they have going there. Sweet Marias has nothing like that. They're literally just a warehouse with limited hours for pickup.
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Jul 13, 2015 19:50
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rockcity posted:I know some people had problems with early models, but I didn't hear much after that. I'm curious to hear some more recent input as that will likely be my next big upgrade. My freshroast still works great, but doing half a pound takes like 5 batches and probably an hour and a half. Behmor got back to me - they think the circuit board is bad, I'm waiting for them to tell me what that and some replacement sensors will cost, because having 2 roasters can't be a bad thing. On another note, I was in Austin recently and went to a great "coffee" joint called Brew and Brew; the barista's were top notch, they weighed the coffee in the portafilter and pulled great shots. The bonus was the other Brew is beer, so there were 30 craft brews on tap. One morning I had a couple of espressos, and then a nice breakfast stout. A poor man's eight-ball.
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Jul 13, 2015 20:41
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porktree posted:On another note, I was in Austin recently and went to a great "coffee" joint called Brew and Brew; the barista's were top notch, they weighed the coffee in the portafilter and pulled great shots. The bonus was the other Brew is beer, so there were 30 craft brews on tap. One morning I had a couple of espressos, and then a nice breakfast stout. A poor man's eight-ball. Wish I had gone there instead of the butter coffee uber-paleo shop in Austin. The people there were perfectly nice, but drat, that taste was revolting.
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Jul 13, 2015 23:31
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Mandalay posted:Trip report: What a coincidence I'm low on green coffee right now...
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Jul 15, 2015 07:59
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My friend and I are trying to make a coffee advent calendar, featuring Canadian craft roasters - basically a festive sampler pack. We're currently up on Kickstarter (until August 6). We will ship to Canada and the US (overseas is unfortunately just too much at this point). Check us out if you're interested - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/twentyfourcoffee/craft-coffee-advent-calendar-curated-by-twentyfour (Sorry for the shill but this seemed like a good group of people to let know about the project)
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Jul 15, 2015 15:48
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Anybody know any good local roasters in the Orlando/Tampa area?
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Jul 16, 2015 21:01
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Above Our Own posted:Anybody know any good local roasters in the Orlando/Tampa area? Lineage is in Orlando at the East End Market. They're pretty awesome. Tampa has Buddy Brew which is really solid and they recently tripled the size of their shop and made it a legitimately nice space. If you just want an awesome shop, Vespr in the Waterford Lakes area of Orlando is amazing.
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Jul 16, 2015 23:53
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If you go to Buddy Brew watch out for sour as gently caress espresso shots. I was pissed when I got mine, expecting it to be great. I didn't go back and tell them though, this was my bad. Vowed to never let a sour espresso go unchastized again. I'd go back though, I'm assuming that this was a fluke given how much they clearly know about coffee.
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Jul 17, 2015 15:04
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I lived in Tampa a few years back, and I visit regularly still. I count a decent number of the buddy brew employees as personal friends, including their head roaster. With that said skip the espresso unless you've time and willingness (and it's not busy) to ask the barista for a new shot. Their house blend is a mess and it frequently doesn't get dialed in very well. The pour overs are significantly more consistent, and the tasting notes they provide are good guides to what to expect. If you dig cold brew, or even if you don't and are willing to try it again look up Commune and Co. They do a newish technique of brewing cold brew under pressure and serving it on nitro beer taps. Way more character of the original bean comes through than with any other cold coffee other than Japanese method.
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Jul 17, 2015 16:26
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Sextro posted:I lived in Tampa a few years back, and I visit regularly still. I count a decent number of the buddy brew employees as personal friends, including their head roaster. It is VERY different there than it was a few years ago. As of last fall they bought and expanded into the space next door and made all of that and the front of the old shop the new cafe space they have they bought a second, even nicer roaster along with a smaller one for test batches. I believe they bought a new espresso setup too.
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Jul 17, 2015 22:45
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rockcity posted:It is VERY different there than it was a few years ago. As of last fall they bought and expanded into the space next door and made all of that and the front of the old shop the new cafe space they have they bought a second, even nicer roaster along with a smaller one for test batches. I believe they bought a new espresso setup too. Oh I'm aware, the new shop is pretty cool. I'm in Tampa almost a week out of each month for work. You are correct they got a new espresso machine and new grinders all around. The new roaster, as well as some training from diedrich themselves, has done wonders for their consistency batch to batch as well. Sextro fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Jul 18, 2015 |
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Jul 18, 2015 01:37
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Well, coffeethread goons, my time as a professional barista is over. I'm gonna miss the Mirage, if I'm honest, but not the hours of slinging iced coffees for no tips. Still will be fooling around with the bruer and nel pot at home, and will one day get a real machine for myself.
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Jul 19, 2015 17:43
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Does anyone have the Yama Cold Brew Tower or something similar? I'm tempted to get it but I assume it makes the exact same coffee as the Toddy, but a million times more displayable.
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Jul 19, 2015 19:26
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Casull posted:Does anyone have the Yama Cold Brew Tower or something similar? I'm tempted to get it but I assume it makes the exact same coffee as the Toddy, but a million times more displayable. More displayable but also less consistent because the water does not flow through the grounds the same way every time, and sometimes doesn't even come into contact with all of the grounds. There are ways to get around that by layering multiple filters throughout the coffee bed, but the Toddy is more consistent. I don't like how either of them taste though so who am I to say really
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Jul 19, 2015 19:59
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Casull posted:Does anyone have the Yama Cold Brew Tower or something similar? I'm tempted to get it but I assume it makes the exact same coffee as the Toddy, but a million times more displayable. Bob_McBob does. I don't know the science of why, but I prefer the taste of drip extracted cold brew vs full immersion. Bob has significantly more objective data on the subject though.
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Jul 20, 2015 19:23
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My wife got me an espresso machine, and it looks like what the OP refers to as a "Thermoblock steam toy." I'm having trouble getting any crema - my shots pour very fast and look and taste like regular drip coffee. I am sure I am using 30 pounds of tamping pressure, and a fresh, properly ground beans. Is there anything else I can try, or am I out luck because it's a cheap machine?
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Jul 21, 2015 00:55
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If you have proper consistency grinding into your basket and are using the correct tamping pressure, I would try a finer grind. Also make sure your machine is operating at the right pressure. Something that got me when I first started out with my espresso machine was that my tamper wasn't a tight fit in my portafilter basket (it was listed as the same size as my basket so I assumed it was the proper fit), so the water was flowing quickly around the edges. I ended up noticing that once I got a bottomless portafilter to test with. Ended up getting a pair of electronic calipers to measure the basket and ordered a better-fitting tamper.
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Jul 21, 2015 01:16
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zenthursdays posted:Also make sure your machine is operating at the right pressure. How would I go about doing this? There aren't any controls or dials or anything, just off, pause, and brew.
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Jul 21, 2015 01:33
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Mine's got a pressure gauge on it that I use to check. Not sure how you'd go about doing that otherwise.  What machine do you have?
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Jul 21, 2015 01:59
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I am selling a Ratio 8 coffee maker that I received as a gift. I used it once right when I got it, and it works great, but I work in coffee and never make coffee at home. It's pretty much new. You can check out my SA-mart thread here if you are interested. It's a cool machine.
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Jul 21, 2015 02:47
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dantheman650 posted:How would I go about doing this? There aren't any controls or dials or anything, just off, pause, and brew. My Gaggia Classic was set to the wrong pressure. I had to borrow a pressure guage that went on the portafilter (it went in place of the spout) and got a reading that way. Others have measured the flow of water over time to get a rough estimate. I had to adjust Over Pressure Valve until it was rougly 9-10BAR of pressure. There may be a way to do this on your machine - let us know the Make & Model.
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Jul 21, 2015 03:28
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grahm posted:More displayable but also less consistent because the water does not flow through the grounds the same way every time, and sometimes doesn't even come into contact with all of the grounds. There are ways to get around that by layering multiple filters throughout the coffee bed, but the Toddy is more consistent. I don't like how either of them taste though so who am I to say really You can get very consistent results in terms of taste and TDS with drip towers, depending on how you use them. Just make sure the whole bed of coffee is immersed, and adjust the drip rate to match the changing flow rate as the coffee extracts. It's helpful to pre-saturate the grounds and stir everything up beforehand as well. They are really meant to be set up in cafes and monitored by a barista throughout the day, so it's not ideal for home unless you work remotely. It's also obviously not workable if you want to make coffee to sell in bulk. Cafes that run drip tower setups usually have multiple commercial size towers running all day just to make enough for the drinks they sell. The process is slow enough you don't really have to worry about uneven flow as you slowly dilute the slurry. I've been told off by industry people for suggesting this in the past. Apparently many people prefer to use drip towers with the grounds barely saturated and not immersed in liquid to intentionally create a very uneven extraction for vague reasons like "it's less bitter" (compared to who knows what control - unblinded tastes tests are next to worthless). I prefer to use a drip tower for brew ratios under 1:8 because the yield drops so dramatically with immersion brewing. At 1:4 you're losing about 40% of the extracted solids to grounds retention, and after figuring in the difference in loss it can cost basically twice as much for the same amount of immersion concentrate at that strength. Most commercial cold brew outfits seem to stay around the far more commercially viable 1:8 ratio. There is no point in going lower unless you really need a concentrate more than twice as strong as regular coffee. It is a little frustrating how often I see people wasting a bunch of coffee to make super high strength concentrates they immediately cut with water.
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Jul 21, 2015 03:57
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Bob_McBob posted:You can get very consistent results in terms of taste and TDS with drip towers, depending on how you use them. These are some good thoughts, but to me the Yama tower is just a flawed design. Unless you can guarantee the uniform distribution of the coffee bed and the flow of water, some areas receive more water and other areas receive less. In my experience, soaking the bed beforehand just creates the visual illusion of an even extraction. Even when TDS readings are consistent (and for me they were not always), taste was a mess -- my theory being that whatever pathways the water carves overextract some grounds and underextract others. You can end up with your target TDS if you have one part that's .5 over and one that's .5 under, but it will taste terrible. As I mentioned, I don't like how Toddy (or any cold brew method) tastes either, but for commercial use I have found the Toddy to be more consistent (unfortunately it is also very ugly -- the biggest advantage of the Yama IMO, though you do make a good point about brew ratio).
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Jul 21, 2015 06:13
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GrAviTy84 posted:Bob_McBob does. I don't know the science of why, but I prefer the taste of drip extracted cold brew vs full immersion. Bob has significantly more objective data on the subject though. Yeah, I'm not sure why, but "Kyoto style" coffee tastes way better than normal cold brew to me.
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Jul 21, 2015 07:04
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Halo14 posted:My Gaggia Classic was set to the wrong pressure. I had to borrow a pressure guage that went on the portafilter (it went in place of the spout) and got a reading that way. Others have measured the flow of water over time to get a rough estimate. I live in Korea and I don't know if it's a Korean or international model. It's a Saintgallen de cafe CM6811.
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Jul 21, 2015 14:53
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grahm posted:I am selling a Ratio 8 coffee maker that I received as a gift. I used it once right when I got it, and it works great, but I work in coffee and never make coffee at home. It's pretty much new. You can check out my SA-mart thread here if you are interested. It's a cool machine. That's a good looking coffee maker, but it's absurdly priced for what it does.
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Jul 21, 2015 14:53
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:That's a good looking coffee maker, but it's absurdly priced for what it does. Agreed. That thing is gorgeous and I'd love it in my coffee bar area, but I'm just not shelling out that kind of dough for it. dantheman650 posted:My wife got me an espresso machine, and it looks like what the OP refers to as a "Thermoblock steam toy." I'm having trouble getting any crema - my shots pour very fast and look and taste like regular drip coffee. I am sure I am using 30 pounds of tamping pressure, and a fresh, properly ground beans. Is there anything else I can try, or am I out luck because it's a cheap machine? What grinder are you using/are you grinding fresh? If you're getting your coffee ground for you, there's your answer. If you're grinding it yourself, it's either not evenly ground, it's too coarse or you're not using enough coffee. How long do your shots take and what kind of volume are you getting out of them.
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Jul 21, 2015 16:04
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rockcity posted:Agreed. That thing is gorgeous and I'd love it in my coffee bar area, but I'm just not shelling out that kind of dough for it. Bought the beans from the coffee shop and had them ground at the coffee shop speficially for an espresso machine. Pulled the shots right after coming home. My portafilter has markings on it for how high to fill it, so I fill it up to the line for 2 shots. The pot also has markings, so I fill it with water up to the line for 2 shots and add that much water to the machine. It pours in about 5 seconds and fills the pot exactly back up to the 2 shot line.
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Jul 22, 2015 02:15
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I'm thinking about getting this electric grinder, would it grind better for a french press than a cheap handheld burr grinder? Or would convenience be the only benefit?
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Jul 22, 2015 03:02
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uninverted posted:I'm thinking about getting this electric grinder, would it grind better for a french press than a cheap handheld burr grinder? Or would convenience be the only benefit? It will almost certainly grind better for a press pot, yes. Coarse grinds are a notorious weak spot of hand grinders. Add in the convenience of an electric grinder and it's well worth it to spend the bit extra.
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Jul 22, 2015 03:07
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