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Google Butt posted:A good starting point is a 17:1 water:grounds ratio, I think this is explained in the op. Basically you'll be weighing the grounds, placing your chemex on the scale (tare it after you put it on) and then pouring the water until you reach the desired weight in grams. So as a specific example of this, you would grind, let's say, 21g of beans. Some are gonna get eaten up in the grinder, so you'll wind up with maybe 20.2g when you're ready to brew. 20.2 x 17 == 343.4, so tare the scale and slowly pour 343g (ml) of water through the grounds. You'll wind up with somewhere around 310ml of coffee, or about 10.5 ounces. If you want to make a bigger batch, just scale it up. 30g beans, 510g water. I always brew on the scale. It's the easiest way to be consistent. I also recommend keeping a log book of your brews. As you play around with ratios and methodology, you'll get different tastes. I log everything, and then revisit the ones I found to be particularly excellent. Don't get stuck in a rut, though - even if I'm making what I think is great coffee, I make it a point to change a parameter every now and then and see if I can make something better. Lately I've been brewing with a 1:16 ratio (instead of 1:17) and enjoying the results. That's one of the great things about manual brewing, you have this whole new world to explore.
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Mar 11, 2014 22:43
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You also get regular coffee drinkers who either think you're crazy or you've, to quote a friend, "elevated coffee-making to an art."
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Mar 12, 2014 02:11
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Casull posted:You also get regular coffee drinkers who either think you're crazy or you've, to quote a friend, "elevated coffee-making to an art." My dad stayed at my house for a night while he was passing through and I got up and made coffee with my vac pot and heard "I asked do you have any coffee, not do you want to do a science experiment."
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Mar 12, 2014 04:18
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My thought is, if you drink something everyday, shouldn't it taste as good as it possibly can?
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Mar 12, 2014 04:24
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rockcity posted:My dad stayed at my house for a night while he was passing through and I got up and made coffee with my vac pot and heard "I asked do you have any coffee, not do you want to do a science experiment." My dad absolutely loves the coffee I brew, but just has zero drive to invest any of the work needed to do it himself. So he drinks preground stuff from the grocery store brewed in a $19.99 Mr. Coffee, but then always reminds me when I'm visiting to bring my CCD & grinder so I can make him good coffee while I'm home. 
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Mar 12, 2014 04:43
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UC Davis might introduce a coffee sciences major: http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2014/03/10/36394/uc-davis-creates-center-for-coffee-science-study-c/
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Mar 12, 2014 05:06
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Mandalay posted:UC Davis might introduce a coffee sciences major: http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2014/03/10/36394/uc-davis-creates-center-for-coffee-science-study-c/ I'm going to quit my job and double major in beer (which Davis also has and is considered a great program that can get you a job, though for AB) and coffee.
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Mar 12, 2014 05:14
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nm posted:I'm going to quit my job and double major in beer (which Davis also has and is considered a great program that can get you a job, though for AB) and coffee. They also have a very highly regarded viticulture program if you want to class it up a bit and skip the AB career.
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Mar 12, 2014 14:40
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nm posted:I'm going to quit my job and double major in beer (which Davis also has and is considered a great program that can get you a job, though for AB) and coffee. Since science came up I wanted to share something I've been working on. Nitrogenated cold brew. Stumptown, blue bottle and cuvee all have done this so I wanted to give it a shot. Only tasted cuvee and it really tasted like a cold brew but not as thick. So maybe concentrate but about 25% more water added?  The setup is Beergas into a corny keg then out through a jockbox with a stout tap. Since coffee doesn't take to co2 as well as beer I'm still working on the right mix of gas and coffee. Getting a head is the easy part due to the tap and pushing out of gas. The tricky part is making it not taste like coffee soda. While slightly appealing it's just not something one should settle on as good enough. you have to prime the keg with psi at the nright temp then get it to be pushed out at the right psi. Don't want to over prime the keg but also don't want to under. I'm doing this because we want to take this to a farmers market in the summer. since we roast our costs are far smaller than any old person taking a bag of beans. To be totally truthful where we live in New Jersey is dry and seeing something that looks like a Guinness and a vendor with a stout tap will attract attention. Why a dry town? Simple answer: I have no clue. A dry town Means no alcohol sold in the town. It's weird. To be real about it you can drive a mile down the road and get beer. It's not hard to get but we think the gimmick idea would at the very least make people aware of a new roaster. And also good coffee.  Edit: posted from my phone. I realize those  are  but think it's a cool idea.
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Mar 12, 2014 18:25
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That's a really loving cool idea and if you get it dialed in, please post what you find out. I just bought a kegerator for homebrew for my kitchen, but if I ever do a nitrogen setup for a stout, I could use the second tap for a keg of cold brew.
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Mar 12, 2014 18:50
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rockcity posted:My dad stayed at my house for a night while he was passing through and I got up and made coffee with my vac pot and heard "I asked do you have any coffee, not do you want to do a science experiment."  And this is what I drink at home. Coffee is science dammit. 
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Mar 12, 2014 19:23
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I just got my chemex and made a cup of coffee that wasn't precision measured, used beans that were ground a few days ago and water that was probably at the wrong temperature. Based on the cup I had, I can't imagine how good it'll taste once I have a full setup. I think this is the first cup of coffee I've had where I could taste actual flavors in it, other than hot and bitter.
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Mar 12, 2014 19:41
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The thick chemex filters do a lot of the work for you and it's very forgiving. Get a grinder, stat!
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Mar 12, 2014 19:47
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rockcity posted:That's a really loving cool idea and if you get it dialed in, please post what you find out. I just bought a kegerator for homebrew for my kitchen, but if I ever do a nitrogen setup for a stout, I could use the second tap for a keg of cold brew. Nice! You can get away with a party tap just need the beer gas mix. Was using one for a little while until I got the jockbox. The tap does make the head better and overall effect look nicer. If you were curious how many beans to fill this 5 gallon, it's about 3 1/2 bags of coffee. since we home roast here costs can be brought down a lot. If anyone wanted to get into the coffee game this might be a nice sidestep in? Some farmers markets don't care where you make your stuff.
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Mar 12, 2014 20:12
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I have that digital scale but the individual segments of the LCD routinely crap out. Anyone else get this? Some days they'll all be there, others I'll just get a few. Usually there's enough for a decent guess at what its showing but not always. I probably just need to jiggle the contacts on the LCD in there sometime.
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Mar 12, 2014 21:38
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Corla Plankun posted:I have that digital scale but the individual segments of the LCD routinely crap out. Anyone else get this? Have you tried different batteries?
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Mar 12, 2014 21:46
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MasterControl posted:
There's a cafe in Toronto called Te Aro that keeps their cold brew in kegs, and I really want to go check it out, but I haven't had the chance yet. I've been trying to convince my bosses that we should do cold brew in the summer instead of iced espresso drinks, since it will almost certainly taste better, but I think I'll need to do some experimenting on my own to show off the results to really get my point across. I'd love any tips or advice anyone might have about cold brew.
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Mar 12, 2014 23:32
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ChiaPetOutletStore posted:I'd love any tips or advice anyone might have about cold brew. We actually just had a discussion about it two pages ago. Here's a link to the start of it. Feel free to ask any specific questions you might have afterward. It's pretty easy and really doesn't require a whole lot of forethought/planning. If you have the gear to make good coffee, you have the gear to make good cold brew.
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Mar 13, 2014 01:48
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Timid posted:^^ Hey Becoming have you ever been to Bean Hollow in Historic Ellicott City? I meant to post in the thread earlier about it, and your post just reminded me to do it now. I'm sorry man, I completely forgot to respond to this when I read it. No, never been. I'm always looking for neat places around here to hang out/spend money. I'll make it a point to get over there and give the Mexican a shot. I still owe you a report on the Mad City beans, which means I need to actually pick up some Mad City beans.
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Mar 13, 2014 01:52
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MasterControl posted:Since science came up I wanted to share something I've been working on. Nitrogenated cold brew. Stumptown, blue bottle and cuvee all have done this so I wanted to give it a shot. Only tasted cuvee and it really tasted like a cold brew but not as thick. So maybe concentrate but about 25% more water added?
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Mar 13, 2014 02:54
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I need that espresso glass in my life. MasterControl posted:Nice! You can get away with a party tap just need the beer gas mix. Was using one for a little while until I got the jockbox. The tap does make the head better and overall effect look nicer. If you were curious how many beans to fill this 5 gallon, it's about 3 1/2 bags of coffee. since we home roast here costs can be brought down a lot. If anyone wanted to get into the coffee game this might be a nice sidestep in? Some farmers markets don't care where you make your stuff. Yeah, I figured it would be a ridiculous amount of coffee. I've done a coffee stout before that came out pretty good. I also contemplated making a ridiculously coffee flavored milk stout to the point where it was just like a rich creamy coffee with a minimal amount of beer taste. Like a 3-4% milk stout with like a gallon or more of cold brew in it.
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Mar 13, 2014 03:15
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So I am finally getting around to watching Hannibal and saw this thing on the show : I found something that looks similar on amazon for $140. My question is how is the coffee from these?
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Mar 13, 2014 07:28
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ded posted:So I am finally getting around to watching Hannibal and saw this thing on the show : What even is that? Some sort of vac pot?
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Mar 13, 2014 17:24
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ChiaPetOutletStore posted:There's a cafe in Toronto called Te Aro that keeps their cold brew in kegs, and I really want to go check it out, but I haven't had the chance yet. Do you know if the people who own it are Kiwis? Te Aro is (one of) the weird arty hipster suburbs in Wellington, the coffee-est place in NZ.
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Mar 13, 2014 18:58
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ded posted:So I am finally getting around to watching Hannibal and saw this thing on the show : My question is whether those little balls spin around like I hope they do. After that, coffee is a bonus.
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Mar 13, 2014 19:03
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mirthdefect posted:Do you know if the people who own it are Kiwis? Te Aro is (one of) the weird arty hipster suburbs in Wellington, the coffee-est place in NZ. That's where they got the name from, for sure, but I don't how they landed on the name specifically. They're run by one of the roasting companies in the city.
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Mar 13, 2014 19:32
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dik-dik posted:What even is that? Some sort of vac pot? Yes it is a vacuum pot.
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Mar 13, 2014 19:39
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dik-dik posted:What even is that? Some sort of vac pot? http://royalcoffeemaker.com/newstore/how-it-works No spinning balls 
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Mar 13, 2014 19:42
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rockcity posted:I need that espresso glass in my life.
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Mar 13, 2014 21:35
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taqueso posted:http://royalcoffeemaker.com/newstore/how-it-works Holy crap the prices there.
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Mar 13, 2014 22:14
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ded posted:Yes it is a vacuum pot. Also from Breaking Bad 
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Mar 13, 2014 22:54
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Mu Zeta posted:Also from Breaking Bad Ya but that isn't pretty it's just geeky. 
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Mar 13, 2014 23:06
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So, I think this came up a few weeks back, but I can't seem to find it. Has anyone here used the metal filter for the aeropress? I assume I would want to grind a little more coarsely than I do now (#5 or so on my Encore).
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Mar 14, 2014 02:47
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Dukket posted:So, I think this came up a few weeks back, but I can't seem to find it. I use this. You do grind slightly less fine than normal and you do get a slight residue in the cup but you also get a brighter flavor. I prefer it to the paper filters.
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Mar 14, 2014 03:17
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I have the Able Disk fine model. It's thinner than the normal one but it has smaller holes. I use the same grind as I do for the paper filters and it tastes great.
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Mar 14, 2014 03:41
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I keep reminiscing about That One Cup of espresso I had in a small Italian cafe (in Italy  ). Served from an itty bitty ceramic cup more like an oversized thimble, very little coffee, I don't know if it was all that special really or even great espresso, but for a espresso-curious layman like me it was concentrate of awesome. I like coffee generally but the extent of my craft is going for the supermarket pregrounds for my drip machine (in my defense, at least it's one of those Technivorm Moccamasters?!?). I want to step up my game though, and maybe make that cup of espresso one day - or better.So I'm thinking of starting slowly by first getting my grind on with preroasted beans, so I can improve my drip machine life too. I started looking at burr grinders like the OP recommends, and Amazon has models ranging from £40 to £420, but even though the OP states that for espresso you need to get the best you can afford, I'm looking at these different machines and I can't really understand the difference between a £100 model and a £200 model. Both seem to grind beans, and both have fineness controls. One of the more expensive models has "variable programming" and "grind level 1-24" and "cable rewind" but these do not mean anything to me, and I think I can live without features like "cable rewind". Is the problem that cheaper models can't grind fine enough for a great espresso? The £100 models look pretty solid and I imagine not even build quality is an issue at that price. If there's something that justifies adding £100 or £200 extra to that, that's great, but it kind of feels like getting a Monster cable equivalent of a coffee bean grinder.
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Mar 14, 2014 10:22
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While there definitely are expensive grinders which aren't worth the money they cost, the main thing you're looking for in a grinder is consistency, and the better grinders are going to be more consistent. This means all your ground beans will be in similar sized granules and this means each will be extracted the same- no over or under extraction occurring adding flavors you don't want- or messing with the pull of the shot in the case of espresso. I know the thread recommends certain grinders and I'll leave them to do so, I haven't myself picked one up, having a 'burr grinder' that's fairly inconsistent, I wish I had listen to them when I had the cash to spare. It's probably the #1 investment you can make to improving your coffee. What I have is still better than a blade grinder, and a blade grinder is still better than using pre-ground... unless you spin it to the point it heats up your grounds, then it's worse because it's applying heat from friction alone.
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Mar 14, 2014 11:49
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I'm no coffee expert, but I'm pretty sure the issue is grind quality/consistency. A cheap model on setting 5 might produce a variety of grind sizes. A nicer model will (hopefully) make each piece of ground coffee exactly the same. e:fb...
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Mar 14, 2014 11:52
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Moskau posted:I keep reminiscing about That One Cup of espresso I had in a small Italian cafe (in Italy Since you've already got the Rolls Royce of drip machines, you will see a pretty huge improvement with a good grinder and freshly roasted beans ground right before you brew. It's also worth mentioning that most folks that are serious about coffee and espresso will recommend that you have a grinder solely for espresso. What I mean to say is, what you are brewing now is not espresso; if you get serious into espresso, you will want a grinder just for espresso; thus, you do not need a grinder for espresso right now. As the others have said, what you care about is grind consistency. This is important because different grind sizes extract at different rates. If you do not have a consistent grind, you will never make a consistent cup of coffee. One day you might make something that tastes absolutely amazing, and you could repeat the process exactly the same way the next day and get a cup of over-extracted bitter garbage. (You had too many fines in your grind!) The more you spend (to a point), the more consistent your grind will be. In manufacturing, tolerances are money. If you are going for precision, as a company like Mahlkönig is, you will pay through the nose for it. This gets passed on to the customer, which is why there are such wild variances in price. Spend what you can realistically afford to spend on a grinder. Get a model that is well-reviewed by coffee geeks. I'm not sure about European availability, but all of us like Baratza. I have their Virtuoso, which was $229 USD from Amazon and is pretty drat consistent. If I had it to do over, I would probably step up to the Preciso, but I didn't realize just how much I was going to love coffee. I wouldn't bother with a Vario, as that's more geared toward espresso and I'm not drinking espresso.
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Mar 14, 2014 14:16
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ded posted:I use this. You do grind slightly less fine than normal and you do get a slight residue in the cup but you also get a brighter flavor. I prefer it to the paper filters. Thanks, both of you - that is what I was hoping to hear...or not since thats more money spend.
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Mar 14, 2014 14:41
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