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KirbyVanBurch posted:I received a Ninja Coffee Bar ( http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Brewer-Thermal-Carafe-CF085Z/dp/B0160R1LEK ) recently. I want a nice drip machine for when I'm too lazy to aeropress. Is it worth keeping or should I look into exchanging for a Goon Recommended model? It's probably fine, but unimpressive. It's got a lot of gadgetry that does a lot of nothing, so the price reflects that. if you can exchange it, I'd do that and move up to a Bonavita.
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May 11, 2016 01:51
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The only thing I've seen branded as Ninja that isn't lame was my Kawasaki ZXR6. Never heard of these guys, but my impression is a low-end consumer machine trying to do too much with too little. It'll probably "work" at doing drip brews, but I'd be skeptical about how good the espresso/ice options are. That said though, 236 reviews, 4.5 star rating, #50 best seller in a relatively competiive Home & Kitchen > Kitchen & Dining > Coffee, Tea & Espresso > Coffee Makers category, generally a trash piece of equipment doesn't review so highly, and if your price point is "free" certainly worth a try. If you're only interested in drip and don't even care about the expanded functionality of the Ninja it'd probably be better to get dedicated drip setup of some kind, since I'm guessing there's tradeoffs with the Ninja. Lolzy moment of the day, the default category for that product according to Amazon: Home & Kitchen › Kitchen & Dining › Bakeware › Decorating Tools › Icing & Decorating Spatulas listing our products on amazon is going to be a tremendous pain in the rear end
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May 11, 2016 22:09
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This is where the Ninja brand got their start, they're apparantly expanding into other appliances now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u3vccUrof8 The average user of coffee/espresso machines, or any other kind of machine for that matter, has little to no idea how they work or what causes them to break down. If pumps actually failed as often as customers blamed them for whatever problem their machine was having I would have sold my shop and bought stock in Ulka a long time ago. Point being, Amazon reviews, good or bad, are basically worthless when it comes to this stuff. I mean, a Bonevita doesn't show up until #19 in that category and there's a bunch of Mr. Coffees and a Kurig ahead of it. Standard disclaimer: I'm not hating on anyone's personal taste. But if you want a quality drip machine that will last more then a couple of years and give you consistent temperature and extraction, that Ninja probably isn't it.
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May 11, 2016 22:40
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The ninja blenders actually get pretty good reviews, as in they're the best there is at their price point. But that coffee maker looks gimmicky as poo poo.
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May 11, 2016 22:44
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Side question for bizwank: does your shop mostly cater to cafes or is home espresso popular enough in Seattle that it's a major part of your business?
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May 11, 2016 23:12
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dik-dik posted:Side question for bizwank: does your shop mostly cater to cafes or is home espresso popular enough in Seattle that it's a major part of your business?
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May 12, 2016 00:11
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bizwank posted:Home machines are actually 100% of my business, and a good number of them are shipped to me from other states as there just aren't very many people doing this. There's one other home machine repair shop in Seattle but we focus on different segments of the market so there isn't much overlap (he sends me the super-autos, I send him the La Pavonis). I do occasionally work with businesses that have a Saeco/Gaggia/Delonghi super-auto in the office but by-and-large my customers are normal people who bought a $200-$2000 machine at Starbucks/Costco/Maceys and can't live without it. We can take this to PM's if it's not appropriate for the thread, but how did you get into machine repair? Do you own your own business or do you work out of a shop?
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May 12, 2016 00:39
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bengy81 posted:We can take this to PM's if it's not appropriate for the thread, but how did you get into machine repair? Do you own your own business or do you work out of a shop?
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May 12, 2016 01:48
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Thanks for the advice everybody. Theres pretty much no way I'll use whatever dumb fake espresso features it has. I'll return and get a bonavita.
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May 12, 2016 12:59
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bizwank posted:I don't care if nobody else does. Long story short: I'm former auto mechanic / sysadmin, got hired on at a shop that needed a second tech, trained under a guy with about 8 years experience and also got some "official" training from a few manufacturers, that guy and another tech left and started their own repair shop so I worked for them off and on until one of them split and the other got tired of espresso and offered to sell it to me. That was about a year and a half ago and everything's still humming along; there's really no shortage of machines to repair, I enjoy the work and it pays the mortgage so I'll probably keep doing it until my hands give out or everyone switches to K-Cups. Thanks, I've worked as a technician in different industries for the last decade. Just curious how a guy gets into a niche market like that. I've thought about buying some broken CL machines and seeing if I could bring them back to life, not sure if it would be worth the effort though.
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May 12, 2016 13:27
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If you want to tinker I'd check thriftstores instead, you can usually snag something easily fixable for $10-20; an Estro Profi/Starbucks Barista/Via Venezia would be a great machine to start on and you could sell it on CL for $100 when done. The ailments basically fit into three categories: no power/heat, leaking and dispensing issues. If you can get the thing open and know how to use a multimeter you're halfway there.
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May 12, 2016 16:59
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so this exists http://dailycoffeenews.com/2015/10/22/seattle-coffee-gear-building-bold-multiroaster-retail-concept-the-wall/ 
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May 12, 2016 19:44
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That's from last Nov, I guess it was a success cause they just launched a larger version in their Bellevue store: 40 coffees paired with Baratza Varios. Pretty cool concept, I might have to stop by and sample all 40.
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May 12, 2016 20:35
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I go to the one at Alderwood all the time. At the Bellevue opening they gave away gift bags with Bonavita pour overs and tons of bean samples among other things. A couple of weeks ago my visiting friend bought 12 bags of coffee there to take home and distribute. They say you can pick 3 coffees to sample, but they're pretty flexible about giving you more if you intend to buy. We had 9 samples that day haha. SeXTcube fucked around with this message at 21:26 on May 12, 2016 |
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May 12, 2016 21:23
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bizwank posted:That's from last Nov, I guess it was a success cause they just launched a larger version in their Bellevue store: 40 coffees paired with Baratza Varios. Pretty cool concept, I might have to stop by and sample all 40. i went to the bellevue setup. the wall is pretty crazy. they offered to make sampler cups for up to 3 coffees made with kalita waves. to be honest all the samplers seemed sharply under-extracted. could just be something you can't get around when brewing only 3.5g doses. but the aromas between each cup was very unique which i guess is the point. the selection was excellent too and most were no more than 1-2 weeks from roast date. Bronze fucked around with this message at 21:44 on May 12, 2016 |
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May 12, 2016 21:42
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We're just setting up a crazy commercial pod machine for an office install that's pretty wack. The resulting coffee is quite good for full automatic, and uses those bio-degradable teabag lookin pods instead of k-cups et al. Haven't tried the ice drinks yet but the coffee/latte/mocha etc. are all some of the best I've had out of a commercial machine. Anyway the owner said it was programmable and asked me to poke around. It's one of these thingers: http://www.newcocoffee.com/family-cx.htm (click View CX Touch button to actually see it because thanks Javascript) He asked me to go in to change the logos on the touch screen. Looked at the instructions and realized that it's just a Nexus 7 tablet bolted in there, and the coffee machine "software" is just an android app, that's likely interacting with an internal web server to actually serve up the coffee, with all the settings likely saved in an internal SQLite db. Was pretty weird to have my app/software development past intersection with my coffee present. To change the logo I had to FTP into the coffee machine and upload a file into /data/data/(appname)/cache. I don't know if I want to admire them for repurposing existing tech or blame them for not making a custom board like some of the other high end machines. As an aside you know it's expensive because there isn't actually a price listed anywhere that has it.
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May 13, 2016 01:25
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I had no idea the Misto Box guys were funded by Mark Cuban on Shark Thank. I kind of want to try out their subscription service but I hate giving money to billionaires in coffee when there are so many other choices. Cuban bought 30% of the company for $75k Mu Zeta fucked around with this message at 05:21 on May 14, 2016 |
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May 14, 2016 05:18
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Mu Zeta posted:I had no idea the Misto Box guys were funded by Mark Cuban on Shark Thank. I kind of want to try out their subscription service but I hate giving money to billionaires in coffee when there are so many other choices. Good coffee, eh prices. If 12 ounces a week is enough (don't see how, I drink a pound a week myself, not counting my wife's consumption), and it doesn't matter if they slip deadlines pretty often, it's nice to experiment with different coffees. But, if you need the coffee on time, or you need a pound, they are not a good deal.
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May 14, 2016 16:19
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Hi Coffee Thread! I recently won the Aeropress competition for my country as an independent/home barista. That has allowed me to meet and make friends with a lot of the local roasters and specialty coffee shops, and it gives me an excuse to hang out and do cuppings at shops. After reading this thread, and the more I get into specialty coffee, I'm thinking about getting into home roasting. Should I bother with the stovetop popper route for a while to try it out? I'm thinking about just going all-in and getting some roasting equipment. Besides the couple of links that the OP provides, what's everyone's recommendations for getting started with roasting?
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May 14, 2016 18:49
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Might as well start out with something like airpopper or heat gun, since those methods are really cheap.
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May 14, 2016 18:53
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Yeah, if you're just looking to test the waters, I'd go the heat gun and dog bowl route. If you google around there are a lot of tutorials/videos out there.
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May 14, 2016 18:56
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Gstu posted:Hi Coffee Thread! So what's your aeropress technique?
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May 14, 2016 19:03
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:So what's your aeropress technique? Inverted, standard issue paper filter, 15.6g coffee. Hario Ceramic Slim, set to 10 clicks past 0. 1: Water to 90, remove kettle from element, remove lid from kettle. 2: Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the aeropress plunger/cylinder. 3: Add grounds. 4: Add just enough water to soak the grounds, remove lid from kettle. 5: 30 seconds after you pour the water on the grounds, stir for about 5 seconds. 6: Fill water completely to the top. 60 seconds. During this time, swish some water around in the mug, then dump it out. 7: Flip, plunge for 30 seconds directly into the drinking vessel. Leave the bottom two centimeters or so (just the grounds) unplunged. It was with a fantastic Colombian coffee- Finca Tamana farm, roasted by The Barn coffee Co. in Berlin. Everyone was using one of two coffees- there was a Brazilian and a Colombian, both provided by the competition. It looks like the West Bend Air Crazy (recommended by Sweet Marias) is going to be available as an online purchase here, and the shipping isn't too bad. I'll do some shopping around and look at that vs heat guns methods.
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May 14, 2016 19:40
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Gstu posted:Hi Coffee Thread! Roasting coffee is cool and good, even if you aren't a super-coffee-nerd. I'm still working with my FreshRoast unit, which I'd say is in the "stovetop popper" realm of things, and it produces good results. I am thinking about upgrading, though, so I don't know I'd recommend dropping the money on an entry-level product if you haven't already: in all likelihood, you will want to upgrade, and the money you spend will have been a waste. At least do what you can to minimize your initial outlay, if you don't want to go all-in right away.
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May 14, 2016 22:06
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If you use a heatgun & dog bowl, you also get to own a heatgun and that could be useful later if you do any DIY type things.
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May 14, 2016 23:10
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Welp, the lower gear on my whirley pop finally gave out. It's quite impressively warped from all the heat. Lasted about 21 months of abuse. Anyone here know how to get a replacement gear?
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May 15, 2016 01:05
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dik-dik posted:Welp, the lower gear on my whirley pop finally gave out. It's quite impressively warped from all the heat. Lasted about 21 months of abuse. Anyone here know how to get a replacement gear? Yeah, they sell them at most hardware stores and Amazon. They crazily list them as Dewalt heat guns. I don't get it either. (I have no clue where to source parts for those things. I think they're kind of considered disposable. I would take it as a sign to change direction  )
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May 15, 2016 18:56
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Alleric posted:Yeah, they sell them at most hardware stores and Amazon. They crazily list them as Dewalt heat guns. I don't get it either. I actually still have my heat gun.
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May 15, 2016 19:04
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Only have myself to blame for this one really. I just purchased some backflush solution and a blind filter to take care of my new Gaggia Classic 2015, and it turns out they've removed the 3-way solenoid valve on the new model, but I didn't find this out until I had the basket with the detergent under pressure. Thankfully I wasn't dumb enough to just open up the filter without hanging a towel around the machine so I didn't scald the gently caress out of myself, but I'm pretty disappointed that I can't take proper care of my machine. I bought this thing while also being a full time student so it was a great deal of money for me to save and spend in one go. Guess I should have saved up a bit more cash and bought the Silvia instead.
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May 17, 2016 00:27
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Megabound posted:Only have myself to blame for this one really. I just purchased some backflush solution and a blind filter to take care of my new Gaggia Classic 2015, and it turns out they've removed the 3-way solenoid valve on the new model, but I didn't find this out until I had the basket with the detergent under pressure. Thankfully I wasn't dumb enough to just open up the filter without hanging a towel around the machine so I didn't scald the gently caress out of myself, but I'm pretty disappointed that I can't take proper care of my machine. I bought this thing while also being a full time student so it was a great deal of money for me to save and spend in one go. If you don't have a 3-way solenoid there's no reason to backflush. You can easily remove the brew screen to clean it if necessary.
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May 17, 2016 01:23
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bizwank posted:If you don't have a 3-way solenoid there's no reason to backflush. You can easily remove the brew screen to clean it if necessary. Well, that's good to know. I've been removing the screen to clean it up once a week, so I guess I'll just keep on doing that!
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May 17, 2016 02:11
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That really shouldn't be necessary unless you're somehow getting tons of grounds above the screen and clogging it, in which case your grind is probably too fine or the screen bent/ not on tight enough. Otherwise I'd leave it alone as long as the machine is working fine; constant removing and replacing is just as likely to cause a problem as prevent one.
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May 17, 2016 08:08
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Hey, i got a sack of coffee beans as a gift and have been trying out roasting using the air popcorn popper method, but i'm unsure about the result. With darker roasts it looks fine, but with light/medium... Is this kind of color variance normal on light/medium roast?  I roasted 40 grams for 3 minutes with first crack starting at 2 minute mark. Is this an indication of not enough "mixing" of the beans, or inferior beans or just a property of beans in general?
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May 17, 2016 11:53
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White Rock posted:Hey, i got a sack of coffee beans as a gift and have been trying out roasting using the air popcorn popper method, but i'm unsure about the result. With darker roasts it looks fine, but with light/medium... This looks perfectly drinkable to me! If you're concerned about colour variance, you can try roasting a smaller amount + agitating more but to be honest that looks like a nice roast and I'd probably try drinking it first before you start adjusting your roast just yet.
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May 17, 2016 12:34
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goku i won't do what u tell me
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White Rock posted:Hey, i got a sack of coffee beans as a gift and have been trying out roasting using the air popcorn popper method, but i'm unsure about the result. With darker roasts it looks fine, but with light/medium... That's a super fast roast. Try slowing it down, 8 minutes to the first crack or longer if you can. Bite one of the beans, if it breaks up easy then you're good.
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May 17, 2016 14:20
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I'm adding kickstarter darlings ROK Kitchen Tools (manual Hand espresso maker and grinder) to the site today, anyone have any insights or have used them? I'm not sure if it's an egregious gimmick or something really cool.
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May 17, 2016 21:29
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bizwank posted:For home machines (single/dual boiler) a change in quality or quantity of steam produced is usually the first indicator of scale buildup; if you don't deal with it then you're on the road to a clog and/or an overheated boiler herniating a gasket or rupturing the heating element. Not trying to scare anyone but yeah, if you care about your machine, descale it. Just to jump back a few pages, Ive got one of those sunbeam espresso 6910's and the steam has pretty much just totally died. I was thinking the controller had just failed since its stopped making any noise at all when before you could head the chug chug chug of the pump when it was turned on. Does it going from this to nothing still sound like scale build up? And if so any idea how I can get it through the pipes since it isnt pumping?
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May 18, 2016 06:59
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Gstu posted:Hi Coffee Thread! I'd like to hear your Aeropress method. Or at least some tips!
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May 18, 2016 15:16
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chippy posted:I'd like to hear your Aeropress method. Or at least some tips! Uhhhhh Gstu posted:Inverted, standard issue paper filter, 15.6g coffee.
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May 18, 2016 15:24
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Ah, haha, ok thanks. I don't know how I didn't' spot that.
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May 18, 2016 15:29
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