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El Disco posted:Are you saying that an Aeropress is hard to clean? I am not saying from personal experience! I am judging by customer reviews, but our customers are apparently the type that thinks dirty coffee tastes good. If it's easier, then I am definitely trading my french press for an Aeropress.
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Oct 6, 2011 23:30
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I find it to be much easier than cleaning a french press, and just as easy as cleaning a Clever coffee dripper.
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origami posted:Do any of you brew and then make your own iced coffee? Any tips aside from 'just add water and chill'? You're best off using a toddy maker, and cold brewing. I use this one, which is essentially a giant french press:  http://www.amazon.com/Bodum-French-Press-Coffeemaker-51-Ounce/dp/B003NG922U
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Oct 7, 2011 01:19
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origami posted:Do any of you brew and then make your own iced coffee? Any tips aside from 'just add water and chill'? I use 1 Tbsp (french press grind size) per 8 oz in my french press and put it in the fridge for at least 12 hours.
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Oct 7, 2011 03:49
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Weird customer situation at work today, haha. A guy comes in and asks for a decaf, which we make as a decaf Americano, so I start making it. He sees how much water is in the cup and says he doesn't want very much water, mostly espresso, as the shot's already pouring into it. He starts telling me to stop the shot, so I press the stop button, and then tells me to hand him his drink. He says this isn't what he wanted at all but he'll take it. I obviously offer to make him what he wanted, no problem at all, but he declines. I'm dumbfounded. He wasn't in a hurry or anything, as he was drinking it in the shop, but refused to let me make him what he originally wanted and sat and enjoyed his cup of hot water with half a shot of decaf. Which is the opposite of what he wanted, pretty sure.
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Oct 7, 2011 03:55
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Roots Radical posted:Weird customer situation at work today, haha. A guy comes in and asks for a decaf, which we make as a decaf Americano, so I start making it. He sees how much water is in the cup and says he doesn't want very much water, mostly espresso, as the shot's already pouring into it. He starts telling me to stop the shot, so I press the stop button, and then tells me to hand him his drink. He says this isn't what he wanted at all but he'll take it. I obviously offer to make him what he wanted, no problem at all, but he declines. I'm dumbfounded. He wasn't in a hurry or anything, as he was drinking it in the shop, but refused to let me make him what he originally wanted and sat and enjoyed his cup of hot water with half a shot of decaf. Which is the opposite of what he wanted, pretty sure. I think I know the reason behind this. I have a friend who does similar things all the time at restaurants and bars with his food/drinks. It's that they are incredibly reluctant to speak up about things they aren't happy with due to shyness/lack of confidence/whatever. Then after they speak up once they run out of willingness to continue doing anything other than being a completely normal customer with no special wants or needs.
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Oct 7, 2011 10:20
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origami posted:Do any of you brew and then make your own iced coffee? Any tips aside from 'just add water and chill'? I use a Toddy. I use about 4.5 cups of water per 6oz of coffee, mix and sit it on the counter for 24 hours.
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Oct 7, 2011 19:00
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So Baratza has three refurbs in stock right now: Maestro -$70 Maestro Plus - $95 Starbuck version - $69 Which one should I pull the trigger on?
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Oct 7, 2011 19:27
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origami posted:Do any of you brew and then make your own iced coffee? Any tips aside from 'just add water and chill'? I'm doing it in a mason jar, actually. I take 1/3 cup beans, coarse grind them, dump them in the jar, fill it with water, and stick it in the refrigerator for 12 hours. I use a paper filter - actually just put the filter in the top of a Mr. Coffee, and dump the cold-brewed coffee in that. Depending on how I'm feeling, I'll either mix it 2 parts coffee to 1 part milk or 1 part water, plus ice.
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Oct 7, 2011 19:47
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Anyone else try putting a little bit of chicory onto the puck of espresso before pulling a shot? I am experimenting with the amounts right now trying to get a decent amount, but I really like it. Great lattes and shots so far.
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Oct 7, 2011 20:52
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Thanks for the responses....PainBreak posted:You're best off using a toddy maker, and cold brewing. I use this one, which is essentially a giant french press: So with this I would not need a filter at all? If I wanted to use this for hot coffee could I just place the mix over the stove (in a safe container)?
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Oct 7, 2011 21:33
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French presses have a metal mesh filter in them, but it lets through a fair amount of sludge. I dislike sediment in iced coffee, so I always run cold brew through a paper filter, no matter how I brewed it.
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Oct 7, 2011 21:43
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PainBreak posted:You're best off using a toddy maker, and cold brewing. I use this one, which is essentially a giant french press: By the way, if you are in the US, you may be able to find this model in the clearance section at Home Goods. I think it's $8.
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Oct 7, 2011 22:00
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Bob_McBob posted:French presses have a metal mesh filter in them, but it lets through a fair amount of sludge. I dislike sediment in iced coffee, so I always run cold brew through a paper filter, no matter how I brewed it. So is there any reason to use a toddy or that bodum above? Can't I just mix up grounds with water, let it sit, then filter out the grounds?
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Oct 8, 2011 01:03
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I think I've finally reached the point where I want to buy a proper espresso machine and really learn how to use one. I've been using my moka pot for a good 3 years now and it just doesn't cut it for really great espresso. Since I find myself working from coffee shops quite often and ordering 2-3 every visit, it'll easily pay for itself in under a year. Plus, if it comes out lovely then it's either my fault or the roaster's fault. Any recommendations on a decent machine? I personally drink espresso almost exclusively, but I know my girlfriend will end up wanting lattes on the weekend. I don't really want to spend over $1200 but I'm not opposed to spending less. I've heard very good things about the Quickmill Alexia with a PID installed. http://www.clivecoffee.com/product/...spresso_machine  Also, people are hyping the new Breville Dual Boiler since it is quite a steal for the price. http://www.brevilleusa.com/beverages/espresso/dual-boiler-espresso.html  Any other suggestions?
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Oct 8, 2011 01:45
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I'll admit to not having used one personally, but the general consensus I've seen is that the Rancilio Silvia is pretty much top tier for the price. Especially if you're interested in hacking it for better temperature control. There's quite a community built up around it.
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Oct 8, 2011 08:45
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hotsauce posted:By the way, if you are in the US, you may be able to find this model in the clearance section at Home Goods. I think it's $8. I saw one there a few days ago. They're about $17 here, which is still cheap.
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Oct 8, 2011 16:44
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Happy Pizza Guy posted:I'll admit to not having used one personally, but the general consensus I've seen is that the Rancilio Silvia is pretty much top tier for the price. Especially if you're interested in hacking it for better temperature control. There's quite a community built up around it. This. I have one and it doesn't even need to be PID'd to make great shots if you're willing to cajole it with some temp surfing and the like.
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Oct 9, 2011 00:00
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Anyone have an experience with a Crossland CC1? It looks like a re-brand of a Gee and comes in around the same price as a Silvia but with a PID built in. I have been mulling around the idea of getting one but other than the Seattle coffee gear videos I haven't seen much about them.
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Oct 10, 2011 00:47
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biggfoo posted:Anyone have an experience with a Crossland CC1? It looks like a re-brand of a Gee and comes in around the same price as a Silvia but with a PID built in. I have been mulling around the idea of getting one but other than the Seattle coffee gear videos I haven't seen much about them. Not many people have experience with them yet since they're just starting to ship, but Crossland used to work for La Marzocco and designed the GS/3. For the money, the CC1 is a nice machine, and it's expected that it will probably outperform the Silvia at that price point. As a former PID'd Silvia owner, they are an admirable entry level machine, but if I were buying again in that price range, I'd probably get a CC1 or a Quick Mill Silvano over a Silvia. I went crappy rear end machine -> Silvia -> PID for Silvia ->Alex Izzo Duetto II. As a cappuccino lover, I really love the dual boiler. Having to pull a shot then wait 2-3 minutes on a Silvia for the boiler to get up to steaming temp really sucked. The Crossland CC1 is a thermoblock machine which means you are going to get up to steaming temp a lot faster after pulling a shot than you would on the Silvia.
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Oct 10, 2011 21:40
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mattdev posted:
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Oct 11, 2011 02:37
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hotsauce posted:Wow, that Breville looks great. Will it really be up to par or will it just be yet another Made in China kitchen appliance? There's a lot of talk about that Breville over at Coffeegeek, it is worth a look. Long story short, the Breville engineers actually made a machine that meets the needs of enthusiasts. It's not shipping in the US yet (is it?), but the Australians who have gotten them (and their new grinder) have been giving it favorable reviews. For the price, it looks like a nice machine, if you can get past the brand name, and how "untraditional" it looks.
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Oct 11, 2011 13:59
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.Z. posted:So is there any reason to use a toddy or that bodum above? Can't I just mix up grounds with water, let it sit, then filter out the grounds? No reason at all. When I used to work in a coffee shop we made iced coffee by dumping a bunch of ground coffee in some butchered pantyhose and tying it off and dumping it in some sort of supersized food container and leaving it in a refrigerator overnight. All you do is pull the grounds out and it's done. If you grind it coarsely enough you don't even really need to put it through a paper filter. Its important not to stretch the panthose around the grounds because it keeps them all packed together, in addition to making the holes larger, so you should leave space in there for the ground to move around and absorb water.
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Oct 11, 2011 19:14
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Please post what coffee shop that was so I can avoid it until "food grade pantyhose" has been invented.
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Oct 12, 2011 01:59
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Corla Plankun posted:Please post what coffee shop that was so I can avoid it until "food grade pantyhose" has been invented. No thanks. I actually only worked there for the summer before they opened for business, designing their menus and setup. I was curious so I asked the owner and now he uses the bags they sell at the homebrew store for hops. So you can use those if you are afraid of potential chemicals in your nylon. OnceIWasAnOstrich fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Oct 12, 2011 |
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Oct 12, 2011 23:09
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I'm having a huge problem with my Silvia. There is a very large difference in brew pressure depending on whether I've done any steaming. If I don't steam anything, the pressure is much higher. If I try to brew after steaming and cooling the machine down, it is very weak. I can't even use the same grind for just pulling a shot vs. pulling after doing some steaming. This seems to be a recent problem, or maybe it was always there and my skills are good enough to notice it now. Is there something wrong with it? Or am I just doing something wrong? I'm thinking about an upgrade and the Breville Double Boiler looks like such an amazing machine.
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Oct 16, 2011 15:39
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Pacific NW/Portland folks: Sterling Coffee Roasters, one of my favorite roasters in town, will releasing an espresso roast of some civet coffee in about 2 weeks. And not to much later than that, they'll be doing an espresso roast of Panamanian Esmeralda  . $5/shot on the Esmeralda too, which means they're losing a ton of money on that little experiment.
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Oct 16, 2011 18:46
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betterinsodapop posted:...and my Baratza Virtuoso seems to be busted for no apparent reason. I tried cleaning, unclogging, disassembling and reassembling the burrs, and nothing gets it to work properly. It grinds, but it just grinds EXTREMELY coarsely (ie: totally unusable) on all settings. It's really frustrating as hell. I JUST got my home roasting operation together, and now don't have a grinder. Gah. You should have taken it apart - it's VERY easy to take apart. You almost certainly have a broken/shredded gear (since the burr looked OK) and very likely it's a plastic gear. This model and Maestros usually come with plastic gears (if recently purchased), while the replacement part they sell ($3!) is heavy duty metal and it's very easy to fix (also order the metal post that fits it ($1, and ships in 2-4 days)). It is literally take off the cover, unplug a circuit, disconnect motor, use a pair of pliars to untwist a gear off the assembly. Then hammer the new gear onto the new post (they will fit better) and reassemble. If you have any issues with grind, you can add extra washers/shims in between the gear and burr area. You will need a wrench and a mallet/soft hammer. In fact I recommend anyone with any of the three lower end Baratza grinders to replace their gear with a metal one - the plastic gear is *miles* cheaper made and will eventually break down. I had mine break after about a year of use recently after a underdone bean (I roast my own in an air popper) got caught in the burr. The plastic gear shredded and it would do nothing but the loosest grind, and 1-2 beans at a time. It really is very very easy to fix. Easier to fix than a toilet imo (toilets have like two components...). Noricae fucked around with this message at 13:32 on Oct 17, 2011 |
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Oct 17, 2011 11:17
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Has anyone had any experience with the http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/accessories/ea4e/ presso? I have a handpresso, and was wondering if it would be a nice addition to my office at work or just not worth it.
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Oct 20, 2011 15:42
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Featured Creature posted:Has anyone had any experience with the http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/accessories/ea4e/ presso? I have a handpresso, and was wondering if it would be a nice addition to my office at work or just not worth it. I have heard that they are decent, but the general consensus is that the Mypressi Twist is the best option out there.
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Oct 20, 2011 20:04
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The Mypressi Twist is definitely the best option at the cheap end of real espresso. It's a much more serious machine than the Handpresso. See earlier in the thread for more comments from me.
OCCUPY GWS
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Oct 21, 2011 04:30
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Can anyone in the UK recommend/find a cheap burr grinder? Any grinder under £50 here seems to be all stainless steel blade grinders or burr grinders that say they are for coffee but seem more geared towards spice grinding and only have a coarse or fine setting. Any recommendations?
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Oct 22, 2011 19:05
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So I bought one of these: (also, Lord Dekks you might want to click that!) I've immediately noticed what many others have on the internet - namely, there's a lot of slop in the burr mechanism when it's not turned to super fine grind settings. As a result, the coarser grind sizes are uneven. People have pointed out certain DIY modifications to help with this issue, but I'm racking my brains as to how to find/fit/assemble parts to do it up properly. Any advice? I need some kind of gasket or bushing or shim type of thing to stabilize the grinding mechanism. Home Depot searching has so far proved ineffective, and people on coffeegeek can't string together a drat sentence with pictures. I know you can buy a retrofit kit online, but that's dumb and would require more money for shipping to my location than the cost of the parts themselves. strangemusic fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Oct 24, 2011 |
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Oct 23, 2011 22:21
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ok, I love coffee, but my favorite is coffee with chicory. Anyone have recommendations for ratios/coffee types?
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Oct 24, 2011 01:41
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Picked up a Silvia + Rocky + Stand off of Craigslist for only $500. Installed an Auber PID and it works really well. Still working on mastering grinding and tamping. Has anyone performed the teflon tape mod on their rocky? I did and now it's really hard to adjust the grind.
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Oct 24, 2011 15:42
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mysteryberto posted:Picked up a Silvia + Rocky + Stand off of Craigslist for only $500. Installed an Auber PID and it works really well. Still working on mastering grinding and tamping. You mean where you wrap the upper half of the burr carrier with tape? I never bothered when I had a Rocky, there was no play at all in mine.
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Oct 24, 2011 16:14
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My local favorite coffee shop and roaster (tearo.ca) recently got in a single batch of the CoE Columbia. That's right, the record priced and record graded coffee from this year. $70/lb or $5/shot I'm so sad that I'm already out of my 1/2lb bag, and that they've run out of what they roasted for shots. It was an absolutely fantastic coffee that was absolutely worth the price. If you can find some, go get it NOW.
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Oct 24, 2011 18:45
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Lord Dekks posted:Can anyone in the UK recommend/find a cheap burr grinder? Any grinder under £50 here seems to be all stainless steel blade grinders or burr grinders that say they are for coffee but seem more geared towards spice grinding and only have a coarse or fine setting. You could try either this (Delonghi KG79, £40) or this (Cuisinart Professional, £50). I just ordered this, because it was £20 refurbished and I was convinced (wrongly) that it was a burr grinder rather than a blade grinder. (Attempting to cancel now...) On a UK note, has anyone any suggestions for mail order coffee in small quantities (I'm the only coffee drinker in my house)?
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Oct 25, 2011 12:56
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Death of Rats posted:You could try either this (Delonghi KG79, £40) or this (Cuisinart Professional, £50). Square Mile and Hasbean are decent roasters, have plenty of variety and they mail in 250-350g bags
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Oct 25, 2011 15:56
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Lord Dekks posted:Can anyone in the UK recommend/find a cheap burr grinder? Any grinder under £50 here seems to be all stainless steel blade grinders or burr grinders that say they are for coffee but seem more geared towards spice grinding and only have a coarse or fine setting. If you're ok with grinding by hand the Hario Skerton is almost certainly the best grinder you can get for that amount of money.
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Oct 25, 2011 16:06
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I've never drank coffee before, but I'd like to give it a try. I'm not looking to make it a daily habit because of the cost and because I don't like too much caffeine. However, I'm interested in expanding my palette and trying something new. That said, how should I get started? I live near Seattle, so there's plenty of options. Getting something from Tully's or Starbucks would be easiest, but I don't know if that would help me come to appreciate coffee's flavor. Should I start with drip coffee or go with something like a cafe mocha?
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Oct 27, 2011 04:19
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