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Hexigrammus posted:I`m going to offer a dissenting opinion and expose myself as a philistine with an uneducated palate. The best mochas I`ve had were from a shop that uses coffee from the drip pot and (good) chocolate milk from a local dairy. I think the quality of the chocolate is as important as the coffee once you get into sweet and milky. Good point. I like to experiment (I always add dark chocolate to my Mocha anyway), and $60 is not the end of the world. Thanks thread.
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Jul 9, 2016 20:09
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theHUNGERian posted:If it doesn't taste like the real thing, I will regret the purchase. At the same time, I have ~1 cups of coffee per month, so it would be foolish to buy the real thing. Espresso quality requirements are greatly reduced when you start adding crap to the espresso. The caramelized milk is going to deliver a lot of the flavor, along with the chocolate. You're issue is not going to be getting good enough coffee, but in getting the proper milk. The Moka pot, or an Aeropress will deliver on the fake espresso. Also an opportunity for me to snobbishly declare, gently caress mocha. You want some chocolaty loving coffee roast up some Yemen Mocha Raimi. All kidding aside, it's going to be the steamed milk.
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Jul 11, 2016 15:45
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We retired the ECM Elektronika II Profi from active duty last week, had a guy come in saying "I've been getting coffee from you every day for months from that machine and it's the best coffee I've ever had so I'm buying it no matter how much it costs." It was with a tear in the eye and glad hand on the wallet we serviced it, cleaned it, packed it up, and loaded it into his car. Godspeed little profi, godspeed. So now my daily driver is a QuickMILL Vetrano 2B Evo. They're around the same price (roughly $3k CAD), but the Quickmill is a newer revision, and you can really tell. The double boiler makes it chufty as hell, and it's a manual shot (with LED shot timer and independent PIDs) which makes it a bit more interactive than the "push a button" style of the ECM. It's kind of neat to mess around with timings, chasing that perfect over/under extraction and temperature. The ECM was an odd beast, an expensive semi-automatic with pre-defined timings, it almost felt like a super automatic that you have to put a portafilter on and froth your own milk. The QuickMILL is a bit more demanding, but I think there's a reward there with the additional control. It runs hot as hell, with both upsides and downsides. You can get a super hot, distinct coffee out of it with no waiting or mucking about with pressure. You can also burn yourself by touching nearly any part of it, including the "anti-burn" steam wand. It's not a raging inferno danger or anything, but it definitely runs hotter and something you should be careful around. Even the portafilter (which I find a little ... underwhelming? not as meaty as some others) gets hot halfway up the handle after 3-4 pulls in a row. The Quickmill certainly feels like a more "active" machine that you have to engage with, whereas the ECM was just there and would spit out the brown stuff if you pushed a button.
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Jul 11, 2016 21:57
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Home-roasting on a West Bend and I'm curious, after the roast, how long do you guys let the gases out before sealing? 12 hours?
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Jul 12, 2016 02:50
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porktree posted:
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Jul 12, 2016 04:51
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Does grinding in the store vs. grinding manually at home really make that much of a difference? Currently I buy whole beans, grind in the store, and generally use them within a week. I only make coffee for myself via a CCD, generally 1-2 batches per day. If it'll make a huge difference I'm happy to buy a grinder, I just don't know. And if it will, what's the current best buy for a manual grinder? Thanks!
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Jul 12, 2016 09:45
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Shooting Blanks posted:Does grinding in the store vs. grinding manually at home really make that much of a difference? Currently I buy whole beans, grind in the store, and generally use them within a week. I only make coffee for myself via a CCD, generally 1-2 batches per day. If it'll make a huge difference I'm happy to buy a grinder, I just don't know. It is easily the biggest improvement anyone can make for coffee. Not sure what the best deal in manual grinders is though.
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Jul 12, 2016 09:55
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Hand grinders really suck. If you're making more than a drink a day save up for a Baratza.
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Jul 12, 2016 09:59
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The main issue with a Baratza is that I live in a very old place with few kitchen outlets and a small kitchen to boot. A battery powered grinder would be fine - one that needs to be plugged in, not so much. The only outlet I have that is at a countertop is covered by my toaster oven (which sees very frequent use). If there's a reasonably priced battery powered burr grinder, I'm all ears.
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Jul 12, 2016 12:19
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Shooting Blanks posted:The main issue with a Baratza is that I live in a very old place with few kitchen outlets and a small kitchen to boot. A battery powered grinder would be fine - one that needs to be plugged in, not so much. The only outlet I have that is at a countertop is covered by my toaster oven (which sees very frequent use). Maybe an extension cord...? No battery powered grinders I know of. Probably the same reason there aren't battery powered blenders (battery big enough to power a strong motor long enough for use isn't going to be portable)? If you really want a powerless option, and you don't mind the price - look into a OE Lido. I hear it doesn't take that much effort to grind, and the consistency is that of much higher-priced powered grinders. I'd discourage you from getting one of the Hario hand mills though. Cheap, sure, but it's a PITA to grind, and the consistency is pretty bad once you get into the drip range. Fine grinds are better, but it takes twice as long to grind, etc. I had to go from using a Virtuoso at my home to using a Hario Mini every morning during my Army time. NOT. FUN. (Ghetto option: Hand drill + hario)
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Jul 12, 2016 12:35
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I love my LIDO hand grinder but I don't think most sane people are going to spend $200 on a hand grinder. I wish there was a better option because the Hario and Porlex grinders are hot dog poo poo in comparison. They are strictly for travel or camping purposes only IMO.
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Jul 12, 2016 12:40
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My Lido is my favorite coffee thing.
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Jul 12, 2016 15:46
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The ROK manual grinder is p legit but A)probably overpriced B)overkill if you're not doing espresso C)kinda huge so doesn't help with counter space
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Jul 12, 2016 20:54
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As somebody that used a Hario mill for a year and just upgraded to a Baratza Encore, JFC gently caress hand mills and get a burr grinder. Best upgrade I could have made and I'm embarrassed it took me so long to do it. I think most people are better served by the convenience of a blade grinder than a cheap mill, for pretty much anything. My hand mill was super inconsistent, I could never make the same cup of coffee two days in a row.
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Jul 12, 2016 22:03
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I would be completely okay with a blade grinder, if there's a recommended battery powered one.
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Jul 12, 2016 22:09
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There's not really any reason why your coffee stuff has to be in your kitchen. You could just set up a little coffee nook elsewhere and use an electric grinder like a civilized person.
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Jul 12, 2016 22:53
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It would probably also take you less time to walk to where there is an outlet to use the coffee grinder than it would to use a hand grinder.
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Jul 13, 2016 00:22
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You'll make better coffee with a Hario hand grinder than an electric blade grinder. The electric will just make a random mish mash with no consistency whatsoever. The Hario will make suitable grounds for stuff like pour over and aeropress. Basically don't buy a hand grinder and don't buy a blade grinder.
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Jul 13, 2016 03:45
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Counterpoint: A Lido is really fast, 1,000 times easier to clean and maintain, and cheaper than an equivalent-quality electric burr grinder.
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Jul 13, 2016 14:35
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I'm not a fan of hand grinder, but if you're doing those cheapy little electric blade grinders you might as well just put a rag over the beans and smack it with a hammer or something, because you're going to get the same inconsistent crappy grounds that will clump and unevenly extract.
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Jul 13, 2016 18:03
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bengy81 posted:As somebody that used a Hario mill for a year and just upgraded to a Baratza Encore, JFC gently caress hand mills and get a burr grinder. Best upgrade I could have made and I'm embarrassed it took me so long to do it. Hello, me from back in January.
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Jul 13, 2016 19:40
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Scaramouche posted:I'm not a fan of hand grinder, but if you're doing those cheapy little electric blade grinders you might as well just put a rag over the beans and smack it with a hammer or something, because you're going to get the same inconsistent crappy grounds that will clump and unevenly extract. True that. Also, I used a Zassenhaus hand grinder at work for ages. I could grind enough for a vacpot of coffee in less than a minute.
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Jul 13, 2016 22:27
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Yeah I have an old kissing und möllman that's pretty great all things considered. The grind is fairly consistent across a decent range, it sucks if you have to change fineness frequently though. Easy to make small tweaks, but if you're going from like espresso to French press it takes a lot of fiddling with a tiny crank in a hard to reach place, and the only way to replicate a setting is by counting turns. It's also exponentially faster to grind for something like pourover than for Turkish or espresso. I still kept it dialed in for espresso for a long time before I bought a Vario and got some pretty good shots with it. Also something satisfying in hand grinding a single and pulling it on a manual lever.
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Jul 13, 2016 23:44
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Anyone have a recommendation for espresso in Edmonton?
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Jul 14, 2016 18:05
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porktree posted:
I prefer to think of it as coffee flavoured chocolate. I recently over-roasted (to my taste) a batch of Sumatran beans so I ground some of them fine and used them to make Vietnamese coffee. I didn't like the results. Turns out that months-old pre-ground robusta floor sweepings that taste like carbonized battery acid on their own make better tasting coffee than high quality arabica beans when you drip them over  I assume this is like the phosphoric acid in Coke. Without it a normal person would puke trying to consume that much sugar in an 8 oz drink.
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Jul 14, 2016 18:52
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Surprisingly good article in the NY Times about making coffee: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/02/23/dining/how-to-make-coffee.html
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Jul 14, 2016 21:32
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finally visited the starbucks reserve roastery. i bet 3rd wave coffee shop owners breathed a sigh of relief when they checked it out.
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Jul 14, 2016 21:53
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Bronze posted:finally visited the starbucks reserve roastery. i bet 3rd wave coffee shop owners breathed a sigh of relief when they checked it out. Fwiw, I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It was chaotic in there, but I chatted with one of the roasters there for a good 20 minutes and he really knew his stuff.
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Jul 14, 2016 23:16
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It's a good alternative to the lovely "first" Starbucks at Pike Place. When friends from out of town have visited we let them walk by the market one to see the stupidly long line then take them to the roasters later for an actually fun coffee experience.
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Jul 14, 2016 23:44
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rockcity posted:Fwiw, I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It was chaotic in there, but I chatted with one of the roasters there for a good 20 minutes and he really knew his stuff. i didn't chat with anyone too long but the barista running the clover was pretty friendly. the coffee was decent too. yea, chaotic is right. i was expecting a classy vibe but got an earful of modern electronica with a confusing ordering experience. i think with some tweaks the place could be really neat.
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Jul 14, 2016 23:53
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Bronze posted:i didn't chat with anyone too long but the barista running the clover was pretty friendly. the coffee was decent too.
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Jul 15, 2016 00:30
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I just recently accepted coffee into my life. Like I'm not even sure if I truly like it yet but I went and got myself a French press and will probably start down this rabbit hole. Reading about grinders and self roasting is scary. I just want something better than office garbage keurig. Feels like college and starting with natty and upgrading to craft brew
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Jul 15, 2016 02:51
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Steve Jorbs posted:Were you up top or down on the lower level? When I've been there the lower level was significantly quieter. lower was better. it's not a disaster in there but i can't imagine they expect local repeat customers buying their beans at those prices with that atmosphere when victrola is right there. i think i priced 10oz of reserve beans to be over 20 bucks.
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Jul 15, 2016 04:44
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I am looking to upgrade from my modified skerton to a Baratza. I only really do drip, and doubt I'll get into espresso. I'm looking at their refurbed units. Is there any one I should ignore or specifically go for between the encore, virtuoso, and preciso?
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Jul 15, 2016 12:38
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Their ~$200 model is the best one IMO if you're not doing espresso. Works great for drip and french press.
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Jul 15, 2016 13:16
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SaltLick posted:I just recently accepted coffee into my life. Like I'm not even sure if I truly like it yet but I went and got myself a French press and will probably start down this rabbit hole. Reading about grinders and self roasting is scary. I just want something better than office garbage keurig. Not to talk you out of the coffee rabbit hole, but there are several brands of re-usable K-Cups that you can load with your own coffee grounds. My wife uses one at work, because she doesn't want to deal with a full coffee setup in her lab, and it's significantly improved her coffee experience.
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Jul 15, 2016 15:50
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foxxtrot posted:Not to talk you out of the coffee rabbit hole, but there are several brands of re-usable K-Cups that you can load with your own coffee grounds. My wife uses one at work, because she doesn't want to deal with a full coffee setup in her lab, and it's significantly improved her coffee experience. I tried using one of those for about a week when I lived with a family member for a summer and I gave up. I forgot what the actual gram weight those re-usable cups hold, but it's very small, maybe like 8-10 grams, which at a normal brewing rate makes like 5oz, which I believe is a smaller portion size than you can even select when brewing. I think there is a 6oz option which gets you in the neighborhood, but I toyed around with grind size and I just couldn't get a cup out of it that I liked at all. I ended up going and digging my french press out of storage and used that the rest of the summer.
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Jul 15, 2016 16:31
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foxxtrot posted:Not to talk you out of the coffee rabbit hole, but there are several brands of re-usable K-Cups that you can load with your own coffee grounds. My wife uses one at work, because she doesn't want to deal with a full coffee setup in her lab, and it's significantly improved her coffee experience. The other big issue with keurigs, especially those in an office, is how disgusting they are. I once decided to clean one that we had in an often used conference room and vowed to never touch one again after that. Disgusting.
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Jul 15, 2016 16:58
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rockcity posted:I tried using one of those for about a week when I lived with a family member for a summer and I gave up. I forgot what the actual gram weight those re-usable cups hold, but it's very small, maybe like 8-10 grams, which at a normal brewing rate makes like 5oz, which I believe is a smaller portion size than you can even select when brewing. I think there is a 6oz option which gets you in the neighborhood, but I toyed around with grind size and I just couldn't get a cup out of it that I liked at all. I ended up going and digging my french press out of storage and used that the rest of the summer. Yeah, it's far from perfect, but it's an option. Espeically for someone who isn't s sure how deep they want to get into Coffee. One of the people who uses the Keurig with my wife consistently over-grinds the coffee he buys, which can cause the water to seep out of the top and make a huge mess. qutius posted:The other big issue with keurigs, especially those in an office, is how disgusting they are. I once decided to clean one that we had in an often used conference room and vowed to never touch one again after that. Disgusting. This one is used by less than a half-dozen people, and the only real issue they've had with it was scale from the hard water locally (wife brought it home to run a gallon of vinegar through it over one weekend to descale it as much as possible). I've never worked in an office that had a ton of people using one, but I bet they get really gross. Again, I'm not really 'defending' the Keurig. I'm just saying that there are options to improve it for people who don't really care much.
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Jul 15, 2016 17:11
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My office has terrible Foldgers coffee that they make strong as hell every day. One of my coworkers I share a room with brought in a Keurig the other day with a box of different pods, and they were universally worse than the Foldgers. I want to bring my set up in but having a grinder with the possibility of throwing coffee grounds everywhere as well as a kettle and a glass chemex probably isn't the best idea in the IT office. Guess I'll continue drinking the Foldgers 
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Jul 15, 2016 23:50
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