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I haven’t used the Robot personally, but it’s probably the one I’d want to get if I was brewing lighter roasts. That or the flair 58 with its built in heater.
Gunder fucked around with this message at 03:50 on Sep 13, 2021 |
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Sep 12, 2021 21:48
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What is a good way to measure the temp of the piston on the robot? I’m interested to know how hot it gets, how fast it cools, and how much heat loss occurs. I’d get a laser thermometer but i’m worried it won’t work on the reflective surface.
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Sep 13, 2021 03:48
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Dren posted:What is a good way to measure the temp of the piston on the robot? I’m interested to know how hot it gets, how fast it cools, and how much heat loss occurs. several thermocouples but save yourself some time and look up paul pratt's posts on home-barista in the thread about preheating the robot where he already did that
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Sep 13, 2021 04:13
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Lord Stimperor posted:the bag of pads has been sitting open in the pasta drawer for several years This made me lol. Such an accurate description of visiting coffee-normal parents. It's fun that an Encore, a Clever and some scales make you a massive geek and mean you're putting more thought into it that 99.9% of the coffee-drinking population. But if my parents are happy I won't berate them like a goony goon  -- After a few months of enjoying coffee rediscovery, I thought it might be time to clean my Encore, so I checked the manufacturer video. "Use this included brush" they said. I recognized that. I used it to clean the cats' water fountain a while ago  Oops
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Sep 13, 2021 12:34
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Bobstar posted:This made me lol. Such an accurate description of visiting coffee-normal parents. I had a similar thought about my encore+clever+scales setup, but was more conservative with a top 10% estimate. Following Scott Rao on Instagram illustrates the gap between someone like me, who can make a decent cup, and someone who is chasing the diminishing returns at the end of an espresso shot. I don’t know how much of that stuff is pretentiousness - I’d like to visit the cafes he recommends or do one of his tastings to see if the difference in quality is noticeable.
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Sep 13, 2021 13:45
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Democratic Pirate posted:I had a similar thought about my encore+clever+scales setup, but was more conservative with a top 10% estimate. Following Scott Rao on Instagram illustrates the gap between someone like me, who can make a decent cup, and someone who is chasing the diminishing returns at the end of an espresso shot. I don’t know how much of that stuff is pretentiousness - I’d like to visit the cafes he recommends or do one of his tastings to see if the difference in quality is noticeable. It's similar to wine tasting. Some people have trained their brain to comprehend better what their tongue/nose is tasting. That makes it more fun to chase those diminishing returns on flavor, but also makes Folgers taste like hot fire. If all you do in life is make a pretty decent cup of coffee that's better than 90% out there, you're drinking some pretty good coffee and can very easily be happy with it. You will absolutely taste some really cool coffee if you go to a place that makes it. You maybe won't taste everything the same, and that's cool. But it'll taste really interesting and can be a ton of fun.
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Sep 13, 2021 16:40
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Hoffman’s world atlas of coffee is $1 for Kindle right now
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Sep 13, 2021 23:21
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Is the 1zpresso JX Pro a “better” grinder for drip than a virtuoso? On a whim, I used it to make my drip coffee yesterday and the coffee tasted better. It was much brighter in the cup. I’ve had the virtuoso for…5 years or so and probably used grindz in it 6 months ago. I just put another round of grindz through it today thinking maybe that’s the issue?
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Sep 14, 2021 17:03
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those are both roughly 30mm conical burrs, which doesn’t mean they’ll perform exactly the same but i don’t really know enough to compare them. however even with identical burrs the good hand grinders do an excellent job keeping the burrs in alignment and evenly spaced, probably better than an electric grinder of equivalent cost, and this tends to result in more consistent grounds and better coffee. if you want to find out exactly how much better, you can check out this extremely nerdy software package which will analyze photos you take with your phone or camera and spit out a bunch of numbers and charts that will probably confuse you even more
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Sep 14, 2021 21:10
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Our Appartamento should be here next week. I’ll need to get a knock box, tamp mat etc. any recommendations on this kind of stuff? Figure it’s all pretty samey so can’t go wrong. What about best cleaning solutions? I assume it comes with a little but we’ll need more for weekly cleans.
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Sep 15, 2021 07:16
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I use the Sage/Breville knock box mini because it's good looking, well designed, easy to clean and doesn't take up much counter space. I think I just bought a cheap Rhino Coffee tamp mat that goes on the edge of the counter. Clean it at the end of every day by backflushing with just water a few times. Here's a video showing how to do it on any E61 machine. Don't use the cleaning detergent more than once every 2-3 months or so. It's not great for the E61 group to use the detergent any more often than that. I like to make sure that the machine is fully up to temperature before cleaning it. I also keep some Urnex Wipz around for easy cleaning of any milk stains on the steam wand tip that I don't manage to clean off in time. It easily dissolves any milk residue left on the wand. I use Urnex Cafiza to clean my machine. It comes in both powdered form and a compacted pill form which makes dosing it out easier. PulyCaff would be another brand that makes a similar product. If it's a brand new machine, make sure you follow the instructions for the first time startup sequence. Gunder fucked around with this message at 12:05 on Sep 15, 2021 |
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Sep 15, 2021 12:01
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Red_Fred posted:Our Appartamento should be here next week. I’ll need to get a knock box, tamp mat etc. any recommendations on this kind of stuff? Figure it’s all pretty samey so can’t go wrong. Necessaries: I use a cheap knockbox off amazon. I used to use a cheap tamp mat but I got the cafelat one and it's much nicer, thicker and made of firmer silicone that doesn't attract quite so much grounds and dust. Not sure if the appartamento comes with a tamper - if it doesn't, the normcore one is nice. It's worth picking up a milk frothing pitcher even if you don't think you'll make a lot of milk drinks, just in case you want to do something fancy for a guest or something. Hopefully you already have a scale, if not any kitchen scale with 0.1g resolution will do. Nice-to-have: If you single dose grind and don't already have a little atomizer spray bottle, now's a good time to pick one up. A wdt tool is very useful - you can buy one (try to find one with thin needles and no loops on the end) or diy it by buying 3d printer nozzle cleaner needles and drilling some holes in a wine cork to stick them in. I recommend everyone to get a vst or ims precision basket - it's one of the single best upgrades you can make to your espresso setup. 18-20 gram triple baskets are easiest to work with but 14-16g doubles are fine too. Avoid single baskets (7-10g) as they are more difficult to pull good shots from. I like a pallo or urnex brush for daily cleaning, and urnex cafiza for weekly backflushing - make sure you have a blind disk for your portafilter (basically a basket without any holes). Don't forget descaling either, which depends very much on your water. If you live somewhere with naturally soft water - I'm in NYC - you will not need to descale more often than once a year. If you're on well water or something crazy you could be having to descale weekly. You can get around this by buying distilled water and remineralizing with third wave water or a similar product. For descaling you can use citric acid or buy urnex dezcal. hypnophant fucked around with this message at 14:49 on Sep 15, 2021 |
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Sep 15, 2021 14:42
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The cafeza and brewrite cleaners both are mostly sodium carbonate that you can make out of baking soda by baking it in an oven for about an hour or so.
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Sep 15, 2021 15:02
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This is a semi-followup to espresso chat but are there any recommendations for small rolling carts or similar that I can just put all my coffee stuff into? I have, uh, a lot of coffee stuff, and I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better served shoved into a bar cart instead of the Ikea thing it's in right now and sort of sprawling all over.
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Sep 15, 2021 15:23
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aldantefax posted:This is a semi-followup to espresso chat but are there any recommendations for small rolling carts or similar that I can just put all my coffee stuff into? I have, uh, a lot of coffee stuff, and I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better served shoved into a bar cart instead of the Ikea thing it's in right now and sort of sprawling all over. A bar cart I bought a month ago was delivered yesterday. I'll send pics when I'm done setting it up today! E: I gotta say I like it! Will report back in a week whether the workflow is better but it looks great. Cat stuff will move out of the kitchen after a flooring project is done so that'll help too. 
BrianBoitano fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Sep 15, 2021 |
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Sep 15, 2021 15:46
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Hello, coffee thread. First, I am not a coffee enthusiast. I'm happy with my Mr. Coffee, but I do buy whole beans and grind them. However, we now have a Keurig machine because the spouse likes the convenience and the built-in milk frother. The coffee it produces is not very good, but I've find myself occasionally using it when in a hurry (maybe this is a heretical take here). Not understanding the internal workings of how Keurig machines work, I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask. First, when the Keurig is set to brew a 4 fl oz latte/cappuccino "shot", what is the machine technically doing different compared to selecting it to brew a normal cup? Second, when I press the STRONG button the coffee is much more palatable. What exactly is that feature doing differently compared to the machine's normal process? Thanks.
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Sep 15, 2021 20:11
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Pioneer42 posted:Hello, coffee thread. First, I am not a coffee enthusiast. I'm happy with my Mr. Coffee, but I do buy whole beans and grind them. However, we now have a Keurig machine because the spouse likes the convenience and the built-in milk frother. The coffee it produces is not very good, but I've find myself occasionally using it when in a hurry (maybe this is a heretical take here). Not understanding the internal workings of how Keurig machines work, I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask. First, when the Keurig is set to brew a 4 fl oz latte/cappuccino "shot", what is the machine technically doing different compared to selecting it to brew a normal cup? quote:Second, when I press the STRONG button the coffee is much more palatable. What exactly is that feature doing differently compared to the machine's normal process? Thanks.
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Sep 15, 2021 23:34
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aldantefax posted:This is a semi-followup to espresso chat but are there any recommendations for small rolling carts or similar that I can just put all my coffee stuff into? I have, uh, a lot of coffee stuff, and I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better served shoved into a bar cart instead of the Ikea thing it's in right now and sort of sprawling all over. I got a 80+ lb heavy duty one that you can slam the portafilter into a knock box into without everything else bouncing off. just stain and paint, add wheels with stops https://www.homedepot.com/p/International-Concepts-Unfinished-Kitchen-Utility-Table-with-Drawer-WC-3624/204764463#overlay 
Keyser_Soze fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Sep 16, 2021 |
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Sep 16, 2021 00:37
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Used newer rancilio Silvia for $400 Gaggia classic with a PID for $360 Or the cafelat robot brand new at $450. What would you do? Wants: Don’t go down a rabbit hole. Espresso is not a hobby, I just want a good shot. Milk drinks are cool every now and then. I have a hand grinder (1jzpresso JX pro). nwin fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Sep 16, 2021 |
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Sep 16, 2021 03:24
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nwin posted:Used newer rancilio Silvia for $400 As a Silvia owner, maybe get the Gaggia with the PID. But espresso is a hobby unless you're buying something more automatic. You will have to dial it in regardless of machine. The robot won't do milk drinks. The Gaggia with the PID can help you get repeatable results with a little less fussing.
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Sep 16, 2021 06:36
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Keyser_Soze posted:I got a 80+ lb heavy duty one that you can slam the portafilter into a knock box into without everything else bouncing off. Holy crap, are you me? I have the same grinder and soon machine! What burrs do you have in the Vario? Thanks for all the recommendations on stuff. I bought a bunch of Cafelat stuff this morning. Figured the machine will come with a little bit of cleaning stuff so didn’t get that yet. Will also get a naked portafilter and vst baskets down the line I’m sure.
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Sep 16, 2021 08:16
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Jhet posted:As a Silvia owner, maybe get the Gaggia with the PID. But espresso is a hobby unless you're buying something more automatic. You will have to dial it in regardless of machine. The robot won't do milk drinks. The Gaggia with the PID can help you get repeatable results with a little less fussing. Hm, let me rephrase. I know it’s a hobby, but I’m looking for the least maintenance, the quickest results, and something that-over time- will be easily repeatable. I swear I should just get a nespresso.
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Sep 16, 2021 10:53
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nwin posted:Hm, let me rephrase. I know it’s a hobby, but I’m looking for the least maintenance, the quickest results, and something that-over time- will be easily repeatable. I have a gaggia classic without a PID. If you do the barebones measuring your coffee and your shot (I eyeball this now), you should end up with fine coffee. If you're initially starting out you will probably have to dial it in, but past that the only changes i've made have been small tweaks in the grind size. My dialing in was also spread out across a couple of days because I don't think more than 1-2 espresso drinks a day.
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Sep 16, 2021 12:51
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robots are really easy and forgiving when it comes to dialing in, and has the advantage of lasting forever without ever needing to worry about using specific water or descaling or any other maintenance. hand-grinding the coffee is really the part that's much more annoying than using a manual machine (and still isn't bad when you just want one shot you're happy with, just quickly gets tiresome if you're trying to make several back-to-back)
eke out fucked around with this message at 13:02 on Sep 16, 2021 |
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Sep 16, 2021 12:55
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Red_Fred posted:Holy crap, are you me? I have the same grinder and soon machine! What burrs do you have in the Vario? The Vario and Rocket Cellini Premium Plus were both bought in 2012. The Vario went back to them in 2018 for a tuneup that included new stock burrs. The Rocket needed a new steam wand valve in 2019 and luckily I sourced another one for the future (they are tricky to find). Keyser_Soze fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Sep 17, 2021 |
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Sep 17, 2021 01:32
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Keyser_Soze posted:The Vario and Rocket Cellini Premium Plus were both bought in 2012. The Vario went back to them in 2018 for a tuneup that included new stock burrs. The Rocket needed a new steam wand valve in 2019 and luckily I sourced another one for the future (they are tricky to find). Ah I mistook it for an Appartamento! Speaking of, it arrived today. I’ve wasted about 150g of beans getting it dialled in but I’m pretty happy with where it is at. 25-30s shots with ~36g out (18g dose). Tastes pretty nice I think. I’m pretty lost of the temperature of the group head and how to know when it’s right though, guess that will come with practice though. Also the Rocket double basket is insanely engineered in that it’s impossible to remove from the portafilter. Like I can’t find anything strong and thin enough to pop it off. I’ll try heating it up heaps in the machine and try again I guess. Any other ideas though?
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Sep 17, 2021 07:35
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So, blooming isn't a thing in a Clever Dripper, right? I'm asking because I've recently started not pouring everything in one go but wetting the grounds first. If I carefully soak the grounds before slowly pouring the rest, I get a much nicer flat=looking coffee bed. I have the impression that I like the cups better. But that must be my imagination, right? Blooming and a flat coffee bed for optimal extraction can't be a thing in immersion brewers can they?
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Sep 17, 2021 09:44
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Had my nerdy chemist PhD friend over yesterday and we ground up some samples. Today he sent me a Laser Diffraction Analysis report of the stuff. Having access to six digit price tag lab machines is cool. I'll post a TL;DR once I've had some time to sit down and have a look at it. bolind fucked around with this message at 12:48 on Sep 17, 2021 |
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Sep 17, 2021 12:38
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Red_Fred posted:Ah I mistook it for an Appartamento! A Flathead screwdriver is generally what people use to get those things out. I'd get one of those E61 grouphead thermometer kits. You basically unscrew that bolt on the front of the group and screw in a digital temperature probe. Works reasonably well. I got this one from Amazon, but there are other brands too.
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Sep 17, 2021 12:46
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Lord Stimperor posted:So, blooming isn't a thing in a Clever Dripper, right? I don’t bloom in an immersion brew but i do give the brew a stir after a minute or two, which knocks the co2 out of the floating bed of grounds and causes it to drift down to the bottom of the container. You don’t need to agitate much, just gently break it up with a spoon. If you’ve ever done a cupping, this is what you’re doing when you break the crust. The clever does have a percolation phase (when it drains) and i would want the bed to be as flat as possible for that. A quick stir followed by a 30-second wait for the grounds to settle achieves that, but doing a separate bloom phase might too. Red_Fred posted:Also the Rocket double basket is insanely engineered in that it’s impossible to remove from the portafilter. Like I can’t find anything strong and thin enough to pop it off. I’ll try heating it up heaps in the machine and try again I guess. Any other ideas though? thin screwdriver, if you don’t have one thin enough you can try the electronics repair standard of a guitar pick to wedge it open enough to get the screwdriver in there
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Sep 17, 2021 12:51
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Lord Stimperor posted:So, blooming isn't a thing in a Clever Dripper, right? In Hoffman's Clever Dripper video, he actually recommends adding the water first, then the grounds on top to reduce draw-down time. I've done it both ways and it definitely makes a difference.
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Sep 17, 2021 17:01
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bolind posted:Had my nerdy chemist PhD friend over yesterday and we ground up some samples. Today he sent me a Laser Diffraction Analysis report of the stuff. Having access to six digit price tag lab machines is cool. Aka the Gale and Walter report. This is the kind of fart sniffing I can g.... approve of.
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Sep 17, 2021 17:36
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How is everyone dealing with filtering water for their espresso? I’ve seen those Rocket packs you throw in your reservoir a couple of times a year which looks like a easy/cheap solution. Not sure how well they work or if there is a non-Rocket brand which might be cheaper. My water isn’t hard but if I’m going to all the other effort with this hobby then it makes sense to look into the water I figure.
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Sep 19, 2021 11:11
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Water treatment is incredibly local-specific. Your city should have public water quality reports available, I'd compare that data to the SCA brewing water standards (https://sca.coffee/research/coffee-standards) and then you'll know what you need to correct, and by how much. Seattle's tap water is super soft so I use a pouch in the tank of the Bezzera and everything else gets a traditional descaling maybe twice a year.
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Sep 19, 2021 18:34
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I have one of those BWT filter pitchers that remove the calcium and other poo poo and add back magnesium for flavor. It works fine, but I'm not sure I could taste the difference over distilled water.
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Sep 19, 2021 23:36
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Ok looking at that versus the water we get we fall into the acceptable ranges for everything. I’ll grab some test strips anyway to confirm. I assume hardness is the key thing to avoid for scale buildup too?
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Sep 20, 2021 01:17
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I've been using a Fellow Ode with SSP burrs for a bit. I love the coffee it produces but the retention and static of the Ode drives me insane. I do use RDT and it only helps so much. Would upgrading to the Lagom P64 help with my issue? I know the price jump is massive but it's to the point where I'd consider it. Also on the topic of that, would there actually be any noticeable jump in quality just from switching grinders? Maybe due to alignment or the RPMs or anything like that.
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Sep 21, 2021 01:13
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Have you tried the wet spoon trick? It's free!
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Sep 21, 2021 01:42
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Partial Octopus posted:I've been using a Fellow Ode with SSP burrs for a bit. I love the coffee it produces but the retention and static of the Ode drives me insane. I do use RDT and it only helps so much. Would upgrading to the Lagom P64 help with my issue? I know the price jump is massive but it's to the point where I'd consider it. You could look at the Niche Zero. It's about half the price. I got one about a month ago and love it. Glad I decided to go with that over the Ode
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Sep 21, 2021 01:52
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Partial Octopus posted:I've been using a Fellow Ode with SSP burrs for a bit. I love the coffee it produces but the retention and static of the Ode drives me insane. I do use RDT and it only helps so much. Would upgrading to the Lagom P64 help with my issue? I know the price jump is massive but it's to the point where I'd consider it. The p64 has low retention and very little static with RDT. I don't have an Ode to compare to but I have no complaints about the p64 in that area. I unfortunately can't tell you anything useful about grind quality. I expect any improvement would be pretty marginal, but it's a very subjective judgement.
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Sep 21, 2021 01:54
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