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George H.W. oval office posted:Have you tried the multi step mod for dialing in the fiber end? You can get passable espresso but those fine adjustments are why it’s considered not a great pick for espresso. It could be the beans, freshness, whatever are just sitting between the two adjustments that it craves. I’m the one in the thread that has the double step mod. I’ve been using the grinder for about 10 months for espresso with no issues, including with this bag of beans for while. This was a new problem after adjusting from 8 > 25 > 8.
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May 2, 2022 17:26
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So I tried to do the burr alignment on my Baratza Vario, and after fully stripping the grinder down, cleaning out all the old coffee grounds and clumped up stuff, and then trying the "wood clamp" method of loosening the grind chamber and then squeezing the burrs together while tensioning the belt and screwing everything back together I see gently caress-all difference. I was never able to get a perfect scrape using the dry erase marker method. I still see that part of the lower burr is contacting the upper burr. Perhaps disassembling it again earlier in the day when I'm less tired might yield better results, but I am still getting extremely fine grinds mixed in with my coarser grinds. Anyway, coffee grinders are frustrating, and Baratza used some very soft philips head screws that were very at risk to stripping.
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May 3, 2022 07:59
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I’ve been drinking Blue Bottle’s Night Light Decaf and even though my bag’s a little old it’s still delicious as poo poo. Any other fancy decafs i should try?
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May 5, 2022 15:19
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I have been trying to get things right on a v60 setup. I set my water temperature to 200F and my grind on a Baratza Encore is 14. Bean to water ratio is 15:1 (375g water to 25g coffee). I bloom at about 60g of water for 30 seconds and then spiral-pour at a medium speed the rest of the way, with the dripping down finishing somewhere around 3 minutes. The coffee tastes good but the flavor could be brighter/more explosive, so I am trying to figure out what to tweak. I tried grinding at 12 and it didn't make a positive difference. Perhaps bean ratio?
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May 8, 2022 20:53
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You've tried with different beans? It's especially good to drink a bean done well at a café so you know your target.
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May 8, 2022 22:57
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Three minutes is pretty long. Most recipes includling James Hoffman's is ~2 minutes. Try his recipe first. Do the beans taste brighter in other brewing methods?
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May 8, 2022 23:06
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I use the same ratios for V60, but when it’s not bright enough I bump up the temp to hotter and/or a finer grind. Only change one variable at a time of course. I don’t change heat much anymore and it’s usually about 205 when I start pouring.
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May 8, 2022 23:12
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BrianBoitano posted:You've tried with different beans? It's especially good to drink a bean done well at a café so you know your target. Of course. I use beans that are as good as beans can get.
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May 9, 2022 00:47
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Mu Zeta posted:Three minutes is pretty long. Most recipes includling James Hoffman's is ~2 minutes. Try his recipe first. Do the beans taste brighter in other brewing methods? Beans taste brightest I think with v60 and Chemex but I haven't done Chemex in a while. If 3 minutes is too long a time then I will coarsen the grind a bit and go from there.
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May 9, 2022 00:48
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Mu Zeta posted:Three minutes is pretty long. Most recipes includling James Hoffman's is ~2 minutes. Try his recipe first. Do the beans taste brighter in other brewing methods? I might be misremembering but I thought JH's times were around 3:00, he has you finishing the pour at 1:45
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May 9, 2022 00:53
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Ok so 3 sounds about right then. fawning deference posted:Beans taste brightest I think with v60 and Chemex but I haven't done Chemex in a while. I mean that you are probably just tasting the real flavor of those beans. No way to know if it should be brighter unless you have another brewing method to compare it to.
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May 9, 2022 00:57
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fawning deference posted:Beans taste brightest I think with v60 and Chemex but I haven't done Chemex in a while. 3 minutes is the target time for james's v60 recipe with hario paper filters, though as always, tweak to taste. I usually aim for around 3:15-3:30 for the last drops. You probably are not grinding too fine unless you are getting undesirable bitterness and astringency, and you may even want to grind a bit finer. Are these light roast beans? Maybe try hotter water first; 93*C out of the kettle could mean the brew is anywhere from a few degrees less to mid-80s depending on various factors.
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May 9, 2022 01:01
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fawning deference posted:Of course. I use beans that are as good as beans can get. Mu Zeta posted:I mean that you are probably just tasting the real flavor of those beans. No way to know if it should be brighter unless you have another brewing method to compare it to. yeah i think it's always hard to say if you're doing something wrong or if you just got a less-than-great bag of beans until you've cupped it (or a hoffmann-style french press, or even like an aeropress). even the nicest roasters out there occasionally make mistakes or send you a bag that just isn't quite as nice as you'd hoped for
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May 9, 2022 02:03
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I do about 40g of water for bloom and then two pours, one to 180 and then one to 300 (with 20g of beans its 1:15). I also make a little well in the beans with my finger because its fun and swirl the last bit of water also for fun
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May 9, 2022 02:52
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Bright might be the wrong word, I just find that there isn't as much definition in dynamic flavors as I would get if I ordered it at a cafe. I've used many different bags from different roasters who I know are excellent, and the coffee IS good. Maybe I'll just keep tweaking the little things until it's where I want it. Hotter temperature is a good place to start and I didn't think of it.
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May 9, 2022 03:10
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fawning deference posted:I have been trying to get things right on a v60 setup. I've had a lot more success with Scott Rao's method than with Hoffmann's. It's a bit more fiddly when it comes to pouring, but the result (also with an Encore) is a noticeably more clean and distinct taste. It's always a matter of fine-tuning the grinder for that particular set of beans, but once that's done, and once the coffee's cooled a bit, the result is amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjsGf3R9mc0
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May 9, 2022 10:54
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Anybody else back that LOCA ceramic filter kickstarter? I got mine last week and it's interesting. I'm still toying around with grind size and I've only used it a few times, but it definitely changes up the flavor. Also this might just be me getting over a cold, but the aroma is way more noticeable.
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May 9, 2022 12:54
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The Postman posted:Anybody else back that LOCA ceramic filter kickstarter? I got mine last week and it's interesting. I'm still toying around with grind size and I've only used it a few times, but it definitely changes up the flavor. Also this might just be me getting over a cold, but the aroma is way more noticeable. how do you find cleaning it? those seem a bit more maintenance-heavy and involved compared to paper filters
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May 9, 2022 13:14
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So far it's just been a matter of dumping the grounds and running water through until clear. Nothing too crazy, but I've only used it 4 times.
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May 9, 2022 13:59
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I was looking at Moccamaster automatic machines to save some time in the morning before work; they seem to range from 1 cup (300ml) to 1.25 litres or even 1.8 litres. Is there anything in the range of up to 500ml? Doesn’t have to be Moccamaster.
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May 10, 2022 09:13
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adeadcrab posted:I was looking at Moccamaster automatic machines to save some time in the morning before work; they seem to range from 1 cup (300ml) to 1.25 litres or even 1.8 litres. Is there anything in the range of up to 500ml? There are a ton of cheap generic two-cup drip coffee makers out there but seemingly no good ones, which is a bit of a weird gap. Fortunately a lot of 8-10 cup coffee makers have an option to brew a smaller quantity, sometimes down to 2 (5 oz) cups. I use the oxo 8 cup which comes with two baskets (a small cone and a bigger flat bottom) and has two dedicated buttons (2-4 cups and 5-8 cups) depending on how much you want to make. The slightly nicer oxo 9 cup looks like it has a similar setting and I think the breville precision does too. If you want a technivorm specifically, they do have a 1L brewer (KBTS) which will probably brew a perfectly acceptable, if slightly sub-optimal, 500ml by just putting in your desired amounts of water and coffee. The 1.25L will also brew 500ml but that's getting far enough from its optimal range that the coffee might be noticeably underextracted.
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May 10, 2022 18:47
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Why not get a clever dripper? Not much work and it can do 500ml easily.
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May 10, 2022 18:50
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Mu Zeta posted:Why not get a clever dripper? Not much work and it can do 500ml easily. you can technically fill the clever with 500ml of water + coffee but you have to be extremely careful when you pick it up
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May 10, 2022 19:03
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made a frankencoffee with three bags of leftover beans of varying age, and it was surprisingly non-terrible
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May 10, 2022 19:04
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hypnophant posted:you can technically fill the clever with 500ml of water + coffee but you have to be extremely careful when you pick it up e: jk off by 100
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May 10, 2022 19:13
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I've been using my Flair for a couple weeks now, and I love it. I kind of wish I had gone for the Classic instead of the Neo, so I could eventually upgrade to the Pro brew chamber, but the pressurized training wheels are probably helping. I've got the bottomless portafilter on the way, but I think I'm currently limited most by my 2g precision kitchen scale. Which basic .1/.2g scale do folks in this thread prefer? Bonus if it fits on the drip tray.
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May 10, 2022 19:39
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Qylvaran posted:I've been using my Flair for a couple weeks now, and I love it. I kind of wish I had gone for the Classic instead of the Neo, so I could eventually upgrade to the Pro brew chamber, but the pressurized training wheels are probably helping. I've got the bottomless portafilter on the way, but I think I'm currently limited most by my 2g precision kitchen scale. Which basic .1/.2g scale do folks in this thread prefer? Bonus if it fits on the drip tray. this one purely based on its superficial resemblance to the decent espresso simple scale, which is what I would recommend except it now costs $30 to ship from hong kong. but really any cheap scale off amazon will be using mostly the same guts and have mostly the same quality
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May 10, 2022 19:55
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hypnophant posted:There are a ton of cheap generic two-cup drip coffee makers out there but seemingly no good ones, which is a bit of a weird gap. Fortunately a lot of 8-10 cup coffee makers have an option to brew a smaller quantity, sometimes down to 2 (5 oz) cups. I use the oxo 8 cup which comes with two baskets (a small cone and a bigger flat bottom) and has two dedicated buttons (2-4 cups and 5-8 cups) depending on how much you want to make. The slightly nicer oxo 9 cup looks like it has a similar setting and I think the breville precision does too. The OXO 9-cup can do any amount between “2 cups - 9 cups”, except it’s not actually real cups. 3.85 Cups on the OXO 9 scale is about 500ML of water, or about 2 cups if measured properly. So your range on the 9 cup is somewhere around 250ML-1.15L. It’ll brew exactly any amount of water you put in, you do have to select between 2-4 cups and 5-9 cups, but I don’t know what the difference is. Both settings work well.
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May 10, 2022 20:12
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:The OXO 9-cup can do any amount between “2 cups - 9 cups”, except it’s not actually real cups. brewer manufacturers consider a cup to be either four or five ounces. oxo uses 5 and technivorm uses 4, so oxo's 9 cup brewer (45oz) has a larger capacity than the 10 cup moccamaster (40oz). it doesn't make any sense, but that's customary units for you. hypnophant fucked around with this message at 20:48 on May 10, 2022 |
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May 10, 2022 20:44
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hypnophant posted:this one purely based on its superficial resemblance to the decent espresso simple scale, which is what I would recommend except it now costs $30 to ship from hong kong. but really any cheap scale off amazon will be using mostly the same guts and have mostly the same quality Would it be worth getting one with a timer to help measure flow rate? I was looking at a Hario model, but your recommendation is about a third of the price.
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May 10, 2022 21:10
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Qylvaran posted:Would it be worth getting one with a timer to help measure flow rate? I was looking at a Hario model, but your recommendation is about a third of the price. For sure. Especially as you are getting started, you are going to want to time your pulls as well. Finding something that both fits the space and your budget is the trick, but its worth it.
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May 10, 2022 21:34
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Qylvaran posted:Would it be worth getting one with a timer to help measure flow rate? I was looking at a Hario model, but your recommendation is about a third of the price. i just use a separate digital timer (the lavatools one, which i like a lot). there’s no real need to have them on the same device but some of the cleverer ones will start the timer when you start the pour, which is helpful for pourover but not espresso since you want to measure from the start of preinfusion. the hario one is very expensive for what it is, and it doesn’t do the auto start trick with the timer. it’s also a bit too big for most drip trays. if you want to spend that kind of money i might try this nice looking escali. if you want a barebones one but with a timer, kitchen tour had a couple linked from the one i linked upthread, but i recommend just getting a separate timer if you don’t already have one hypnophant fucked around with this message at 21:50 on May 10, 2022 |
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May 10, 2022 21:47
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You already have a timer it's called your phone.
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May 10, 2022 23:46
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no phone before coffee
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May 11, 2022 00:14
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There are a few versions of this that are the only ones I could find after extensive searching other than $$$ acaia stuff that fits under a Flair nicely. Has a timer too.
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May 11, 2022 01:17
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I have that one, works fine. Just FYI, mine always starts accurate but can drift if you leave it still for too long. So I can pull a 35g shot, then froth my milk and suddenly it's 32g. I've checked the initial reading using known volumes of water and it's good, just don't trust "stale" readings. Since I know its idiosyncrasies I just deal with it, good enough for the price. Could be just mine too 
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May 11, 2022 01:41
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Qylvaran posted:I've been using my Flair for a couple weeks now, and I love it. I kind of wish I had gone for the Classic instead of the Neo, so I could eventually upgrade to the Pro brew chamber, but the pressurized training wheels are probably helping. I've got the bottomless portafilter on the way, but I think I'm currently limited most by my 2g precision kitchen scale. Which basic .1/.2g scale do folks in this thread prefer? Bonus if it fits on the drip tray. I don’t remember paying this much but I did, works well for my espresso machine. Pretty low-profile, I can measure mine if you want exact dimensions.
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May 11, 2022 03:32
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amenenema posted:There are a few versions of this that are the only ones I could find after extensive searching other than $$$ acaia stuff that fits under a Flair nicely. Has a timer too. This was the one I went with. Thanks for the recommendations everyone! I already feel like I've been investing in the wrong upgrades (The steel drip tray is nice, but hardly necessary), so I wanted to make sure I didn't over- OR under-spend on a scale.
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May 11, 2022 20:27
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I absolutely wasted money buying an Acaia Lunar. It is nice, and it fits perfectly under my Gaggia Classic Pro if I use a bottomless portafilter. It is just entirely too small for most other uses though, with the bonus of still being to wide to fit under some manuals like the Robot. (I don't have a Robot, but I'm pretty tempted to get one for fun. The fact that my fancy scale doesn't fit it annoys me greatly.) I ended up buying another cheap-ish scale for my Clever because I've accidentally nudged the Clever off the Lunar with my kettle a couple times and made a huge mess.
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May 11, 2022 21:00
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| # ? May 9, 2024 16:20 |
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Bandire posted:I absolutely wasted money buying an Acaia Lunar. It is nice, and it fits perfectly under my Gaggia Classic Pro if I use a bottomless portafilter. It is just entirely too small for most other uses though, with the bonus of still being to wide to fit under some manuals like the Robot. (I don't have a Robot, but I'm pretty tempted to get one for fun. The fact that my fancy scale doesn't fit it annoys me greatly.) If you are looking for an easy solution to this people make slim drip trays for the gaggia classic. I use this extremely cheapo scale for my espresso. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O37TDO?psc=1
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May 11, 2022 23:48
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