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I generally don't flog for particular companies but https://www.tinkercoffee.com/ here in Indianapolis has been donating tons of stuff to local health care workers and they roast some really good coffee. If you're in the midwest and need to get some coffee shipped, give them a shot. I've liked everything I've bought from them over the last few years. I'm going through some of their Ethiopia Dur Feres natural right now and it's 
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Apr 24, 2020 20:46
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Notahippie posted:Some espresso dumbass questions - I got a Pavoni EPC-8 for my birthday/our kid isn't nursing anymore so my wife can drink coffee again gift. So far we love the thing but I'm getting my head around how to use it. 2) Did you notice this yourself before or after you read about the issue? It sounds like you may need to learn to temperature surf it based on the heating/ready light, so it's brewing when the temperature is at the top of it's range, and/or run some water through the empty portafilter first to make sure everything is well pre-heated. 3) I have no idea but an instant-read digital thermometer is generally the only tool that will give you an accurate, real-time read on machine/water temp. There may be some temp gauge mod you can do to that machine, that's beyond my knowledge though. Snapshot posted:I have a (hopefully quick) espresso machine troubleshooting question. I have a Silvia M, which makes good espresso - no off tastes. If I run water out of either the group head or out of the steam wand, it has a salty taste similar to dissolving just enough salt into tap water to notice it. Steamed milk also has the same flavour. Also you don't need to back flush it weekly nor use milk cleaner...ever, unless you're making hundreds of coffees a day on it. Back flush it when you descale and just blow a little steam and hit it with a rag to keep the wand clean. bizwank fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Apr 24, 2020 |
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Apr 24, 2020 23:27
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I know someone else in this thread evangelizes for the Lido hand grinders, and I'll be joining them. Just got my lido e-t and I've been playing around on a commercial machine, I've been better able to dial in and pull more consistently delicious shots with this thing than the ancient (but well maintained) mazzer super jolly by a notable amount. It's a notable amount of work to grind 18-20g of espresso, but not terribly much. This thing really shines with my v60 though. Hitting extraction% higher than any pour over grinder I have access to other than an ek43 and it's a coin toss vs the Vario with the steel burrs that might just come down to variance in pour overs. $200ish grinder that hangs with $800 equipment is definitely worth the extra elbow grease! Note, I've only used single origin beans, and they're all roasted for transparency of flavor, maximizing origin characteristics etc.
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Apr 25, 2020 13:24
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If I'm not using such high quality beans, and only do pourover so far, would it still be worth getting? Trying to figure out if I want to splurge on coffee related stuff during these times.
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Apr 25, 2020 13:32
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It's hard to say. If you're using dark roast beans, even high quality ones, they're easier to grind and extract by virtue of their dark roast. So you can easily get excellent results with $40 hand grinders or the entry level electrics you see recommended all over.
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Apr 25, 2020 13:49
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silvergoose posted:If I'm not using such high quality beans, and only do pourover so far, would it still be worth getting? Trying to figure out if I want to splurge on coffee related stuff during these times. Which grinder do you have right now? The LIDO is great but it's not noticeably better than a Baratza for pour over in my opinion. Manual grinders are definitely a niche within a niche. Also if I was looking at an expensive toy right now I'd consider the new Kinu Simplicity. Looks to be more compact and much easier to adjust the grind settings. It's also made in Germany instead of Taiwan which explains a bit of the cost increase. There's really no reason for the LIDO to be so big. Who the hell is grinding like 60g of beans by hand. Mu Zeta fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Apr 25, 2020 |
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Apr 25, 2020 19:40
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Mu Zeta posted:Which grinder do you have right now? The LIDO is great but it's not noticeably better than a Baratza for pour over in my opinion. Manual grinders are definitely a niche within a niche. Skerton pro, which is why anything good would be a solid improvement. It's fine, and I do up to 40g at a time and don't mind, but if the lido would be substantially better from a taste perspective... But yeah I'm not really wanting to drastically increase my bean cost, nor really am in the right place (counter space, maintenance requirements) to consider espresso at the moment.
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Apr 25, 2020 21:39
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Yeah the Skerton is trash. The first thing I'd purchase is the Baratza Encore before anything else. It's substantially better for aeropress/pour over/french press.
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Apr 25, 2020 21:57
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Mu Zeta posted:Yeah the Skerton is trash. The first thing I'd purchase is the Baratza Encore before anything else. It's substantially better for aeropress/pour over/french press. I mean, sure, unless I should just get the lido. I don't particularly want to get a grinder that I will then replace, and don't mind hand grinding at all.
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Apr 25, 2020 22:29
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I have a Baratza Encore and the Lido 2 and definitely use the Encore more. It's easier and faster and better value for the money. I do use the LIDO as well but it's because I'm crazy during the pandemic and manually grinding is like my meditation while the kettle is boiling. A Baratza is a long term purchase.
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Apr 25, 2020 23:30
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Mu Zeta posted:I have a Baratza Encore and the Lido 2 and definitely use the Encore more. It's easier and faster and better value for the money. I do use the LIDO as well but it's because I'm crazy during the pandemic and manually grinding is like my meditation while the kettle is boiling. A Baratza is a long term purchase. Needs work, but a suitable thread title....
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Apr 26, 2020 01:00
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I ended up getting a Kinu Simplicity a few weeks ago. Grinding one drink is okay and adjustment is easy. Part of my coffee drinking is "I want to take a break now" so spending an extra 40s grinding isn't really a downside to me. I wouldn't want to grind for multiple drinks back-to-back though.
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Apr 26, 2020 01:52
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Mu Zeta posted:Which grinder do you have right now? The LIDO is great but it's not noticeably better than a Baratza for pour over in my opinion. Manual grinders are definitely a niche within a niche. I've been grinding 45g most mornings with my ET and it takes me about a minute to a minute and a half. Doing 60g now and it's about 2 minutes. Definitely much better than the Skerton I had before. Much more consistent, and grinding 60g with that took like 4 or 5 minutes.
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Apr 27, 2020 02:25
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I bought a Bambino (found it new for €330!) and it is definitely a tiny machine. It surely does not offer much control but it is idiot proof and produced a decent shot on the first go. So far so good I say. I ordered a grinder as well but it has not arrived so for now I still must use the porlex hand grinder. I also have a limited supply of beans so not much experimenting can be done. Down sides are that it is so tiny and light that you have to hug the entire thing to get the portafilter on and off. And the top "shelf" of the machine doesn't get warm at all so is useless for heating up the cups. And you can't actually put anything on the top shelf anyway since you'd knock anything off doing the portafilter hug. Also I found a place selling non-pressurized baskets so when I have those and the real grinder and more beans I can play around a bit more. The automagic milk frother did... something. But all we have is oat milk so I wasn't expecting much. We have some "oatly barista" oat milk that I will try to use next time to see if it does any better.
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Apr 27, 2020 10:46
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Associate Christ
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other people posted:
You're leaving out a step between oats and milk. Try feeding the oats into a mammal; preferably one with self-grinding.
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Apr 27, 2020 12:39
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other people posted:Bambino Not sure if you’ve noticed the thermo-jet stuff or not yet, but the best way to get everything up to temperature before pulling a shot is to just fire through a couple of blank shots first. I find 2 shots to be totally fine for getting the portafilter and group head up to temperature. I mention this because I noticed a bunch of people complaining that the usual “leave it on for 30 minutes before use” was achieving absolutely nothing. It’s just not designed to work that way. So, 2 blank shots immediately after you turn it on and it’s golden. Way faster than older traditional thermo block stuff. Oh, and I found the auto steam to be fine with normal cows milk, but did get better results with the manual steaming option. It’s pretty amazing how good it is for such a tiny thing. I just wish it had a bigger drip tray.
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Apr 27, 2020 14:50
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Gunder posted:Not sure if you’ve noticed the thermo-jet stuff or not yet, but the best way to get everything up to temperature before pulling a shot is to just fire through a couple of blank shots first. I find 2 shots to be totally fine for getting the portafilter and group head up to temperature. I definitely noticed that it is ready to go super quick just like me and I let it do a single blank shot like the manual said. I'll try with two and see if I can tell a difference.
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Apr 27, 2020 16:12
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Has anyone had good luck brewing fruit bombs in an Aeropress? I'm out of v60 filters so I'm going to tinker with it some, but I'm guessing I need to keep the water temp pretty low?
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Apr 27, 2020 16:13
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Maybe Breville can take a lesson from those Beats headphones and put some weights inside to make it feel more solid and premium.
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Apr 27, 2020 17:59
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bizwank posted:1) That's up to personal preference. If you like how it tastes, don't worry about it. If you find the second shot is weak and unappetizing, put new grounds in there. I noticed the first-shot issue before the thread, but I've figured out that I just have to let it warm up a little longer than when the light goes off. So far I love the thing, and while I appreciate espresso I don't think I've ever developed much of a palate - I keep finding youtube videos insisting that lever machines are tricky, but I've only pulled a couple of shots i didn't actively enjoy so far and those were fixed by letting it warm up some.
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Apr 27, 2020 23:51
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How do I account for the water that coffee soaks up when doing a pour over? Do I just ignore it or do I add more to actually fill the cup? The first few sips are also really bitter no matter how I brew it. Is that normal? I'm pretty new to brewing my own coffee.
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Apr 28, 2020 14:32
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fknlo posted:How do I account for the water that coffee soaks up when doing a pour over? Do I just ignore it or do I add more to actually fill the cup? What are: Your Ratio Your Brewing cone Your grinder and grind size Your brew temp Also are you using a scale? Are you putting both the brew cone and cup/vessel on the scale or have the cone on a stand and just measuring the finished liquid?
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Apr 28, 2020 15:33
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Crain posted:What are: 16:1 The mugs I use hold about 420 grams of water at a good fill level V60 glass Baratza Encore on about a 16 setting. Going to a coarser grind did not remove the bitterness of the first few sips. 201 on the brew temp right now. I'm at 5000 or so feet so the boiling point is like 203. I am using a scale with everything on there when measuring out when I pour.
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Apr 28, 2020 16:29
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I highly recommend you let your coffee cool for one minute before drinking. I swear it gets sweeter and it's easier to taste the flavors when it's not so hot. Hey it's what the pros do when they are cupping.
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Apr 28, 2020 17:24
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Mu Zeta posted:I highly recommend you let your coffee cool for one minute before drinking. I swear it gets sweeter and it's easier to taste the flavors when it's not so hot. Hey it's what the pros do when they are cupping.
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Apr 28, 2020 22:51
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RichterIX posted:Has anyone had good luck brewing fruit bombs in an Aeropress? I'm out of v60 filters so I'm going to tinker with it some, but I'm guessing I need to keep the water temp pretty low? I quite like this recipe from my regular cafe. I'm not sure if it'll work for anything suuuuuper fruit heavy, but they've never made me a bad coffee before. https://youtu.be/rcXhKdaZ3F4
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Apr 28, 2020 23:35
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cptn_dr posted:I quite like this recipe from my regular cafe. I'm not sure if it'll work for anything suuuuuper fruit heavy, but they've never made me a bad coffee before. I will give this a shot tomorrow morning! Since it's a lower temp and a much longer steep, it's pretty much the opposite of what I've been doing lately which is something like Tim Wendelboe's recipe. This is a higher dose than what I would normally use for only ~220ml of water, so I'm interested to see how it comes out.
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Apr 29, 2020 01:36
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Don't normally post in here, but I got some Monsooned Malabar in the mail today. Very different looking bean than I am used to, much larger, but not dense, and light in color.
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Apr 29, 2020 20:13
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BlackMK4 posted:Don't normally post in here, but I got some Monsooned Malabar in the mail today. Very different looking bean than I am used to, much larger, but not dense, and light in color. Uh you know you bought green beans that need to be roasted, right?
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Apr 29, 2020 21:52
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nwin posted:Uh you know you bought green beans that need to be roasted, right? 🤔 not sure if serious post. I currently use a behmor and have an aillio on order
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Apr 29, 2020 22:24
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BlackMK4 posted:🤔 not sure if serious post. I currently use a behmor and have an aillio on order Haha ok. Just since you said you don’t normally post here and the beans looked lighter in color than others.
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Apr 29, 2020 22:35
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BlackMK4 posted:Don't normally post in here, but I got some Monsooned Malabar in the mail today. Very different looking bean than I am used to, much larger, but not dense, and light in color. They are definitely distinct! I like them but not for every day.
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Apr 29, 2020 22:51
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That is what I was kinda worried about, I figured they might be a novelty more than anything. Worth a try though 
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Apr 29, 2020 23:28
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nwin posted:
Shipwrekt. BlackMK4 posted:That is what I was kinda worried about, I figured they might be a novelty more than anything. Worth a try though Follow up with a review, pls. They look interesting.
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Apr 29, 2020 23:43
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BlackMK4 posted:That is what I was kinda worried about, I figured they might be a novelty more than anything. Worth a try though Oh I mean I will probably buy them again. I love being able to try all this stuff.
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Apr 30, 2020 02:36
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fknlo posted:16:1 The mugs I use hold about 420 grams of water at a good fill level How long does it usually take you to brew your cup? If for some reason you're getting a lot of fines it could be clogging up the filter and making the brew take longer, making it over extract. But you have a decent recommended grinder, so unless it's acting up that shouldn't be an issue. I'd say try just swirling or stirring your cup after brewing and give it a minute to let it cool, like everyone else said. Most likely you're just getting those last few mils of brew sitting on top since it's just a few sips. Alternatively: You could just be sensitive to bitterness. I know first thing in the morning for me my tongue doesn't have a reference point for flavor so coffee tastes extra bitter vs. drinking some later in the morning after having some water/food.
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Apr 30, 2020 16:02
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I'm spending a lot of time at home due to WFH now, and I'm getting tired of my drip coffee maker. I was considering maybe getting a pour-over, or splurging a lot on a fully automatic machine (these things that cost a few hundred euros and grind beans themselves). I was wondering, can I simulate and/or practice the pour-over process with the parts from my drip machine? That is to say, put a filter in the cone of the machine, pour hot water over the coffee grounds to get a feel for how it'd work and taste? e: also, I don't have an air fryer or anything like that, it is possible to roast beans in a pan/wok? e2: also, if you don't roast your own beans, is there any advantage to grinding beans yourselves? I imagine the bags/tins of roasted beans you get in specialty shops already should have a lost a lot of flavor, shouldn't they? Lord Stimperor fucked around with this message at 12:01 on May 3, 2020 |
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May 3, 2020 10:27
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Experiment report: I just placed a funnel over a mug, and placed a drip coffee filter in the funnel. The drip coffee filter was cut to size because it was far too big otherwise. Filled it up with maybe a tablespoon of coffee grounds, and then carefully poured just-not-boiling water from a water cooker over it. What came out sort of was coffee, but it wasn't great 
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May 3, 2020 12:18
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Beans are good for a month or two after roasting before you notice much loss of quality in the taste. Ground coffee drops off after a day or so after grinding and it's really noticeable. Getting a grinder and grinding your beans fresh before you brew is the single biggest thing you can do to improve your coffee.
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May 3, 2020 12:21
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Gotcha, will try that. e: Just ordered a selection of nice-looking Arabica beans from different origins and a Hario grinder. I figure that I can see where I go next from there. Thanks for the advice so far. Lord Stimperor fucked around with this message at 21:57 on May 3, 2020 |
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May 3, 2020 13:01
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