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hbf posted:http://www.stumptowncoffee.com/ is another good  Caffe Vita is some really good stuff for sure. People in Portland like to hate train on them for some reason but I've never had a single issue with their espresso.
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Sep 29, 2011 05:16
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Joe Friday posted:I don't understand the Cafe Vita hate either. It makes a good latte and I have never had issues with a cup from them. I honestly just think it's a load of bullshit snobbery to help keep up coffee elite appearances. We only have one Vita location down here and I don't think they serve their coffee anywhere else. The problem most Yelpers have with their spot here is that they go in and order a double skinny iced vanilla latte and Vita goes all on them because they won't even taste the coffee underneath all of that poo poo. Yeah, they could handle it in a different way, but it still doesn't make them entirely wrong.There's been a lot of Stumptown backlash down here because they were recently bought out by some unknown group of investors. I don't really care that they got bought out, but as long as their quality stays the same then I'll still be drinking there semi-regularly. Do you guys get any of our micro-roasters up there? Specifically Coava, Water Avenue, Ristretto, Sterling or Courier? I head up to Seattle for work every so often so maybe we'll have to plan some sort of coffee meetup/exchange.
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Sep 30, 2011 01:09
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  But really, for the rare occasion that I'm actually drinking non-espresso, there's nothing better than a Contigo. This thing seriously keeps coffee hot for like 8 hours. 
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Oct 6, 2011 07:17
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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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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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that Vai sound posted: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? In terms of the beans, I would avoid Starbucks/Tully's since they're always overroasted and give you no sense of varietal at all. The lovely thing about THE INTERNET is that you can order beans that are shipped the same day they're roasted. This means that you don't have to play the guessing game as to how long the coffee has sat on the shelf before you purchased it and you're guaranteed a fresh bag. As for coffee recommendations, I know that a lot of people in this thread (myself included) really enjoy Stumptown and Intelligentsia. I'm personally very fond of Coava (La Guachoca is AMAZING right now), Water Avenue and Nectar. As for how to enjoy it, it all depends on your preference. I started with those mocha double nonfat whipped oversweetened bullshit many years ago, but I've evolved into a pure espresso/occasional macchiato drinker. I would personally try some sort of pourover (chemex) or french press method and sweeten/milk it until you find it palatable.
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Oct 27, 2011 05:33
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AriTheDog posted:I don't recommend trying to brew coffee yourself if you're just getting into it. Particularly not pour-over methods. It'd be like trying to brew wine to your tastes without ever having had any before. Actually, yeah, listen to this guy. Instead of dropping a bunch of money on a hobby you may not like, it might be a good idea just to head to some places. How far from Seattle proper are you? Here are a few rad places: Stumptown - An obvious first choice. Seattle Coffee Works - They even have vacuum pots! Also, the baristas are extremely well informed and they don't have the douchy attitude that a lot of coffee shops in the pacific northwest have. Victrola Caffe Vita - I know people hate on them for being dicks, but they do great coffee.
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Oct 27, 2011 06:04
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hotsauce posted:...Trabant... poo poo, I forgot about this place. I was up in Seattle for work and I ended up having a meeting at Trabant. The espresso there was so drat good that I could barely even focus on the conversation I was having. Really friendly people, too!
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Oct 28, 2011 06:34
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Meroin posted:Can I get a sense of peoples' opinions of different decaf coffee? I'd love to know what varieties (especially ones I can get a hold of in the US Northwest) could be mistaken for full caff coffee. Unfortunately, my girlfriend can't handle the caffeine at all, though she loves to drink it and is in fact a bit of a coffee snob! It seems like she's written off drinking it at all, but I'd love to defy her expectations. I drink a lot of decaf because I really enjoy the taste of coffee and how it compliments certain desserts, but I can't really handle the caffeine late at night. With that said, I've been on a quest for the best decafs around. My personal favorite is Ristretto's decaf. It's a Brazil and it rivals a lot of the non-decafs that I've had. In fact, 90% of the time I go into their shop I end up ordering decaf even if it's in the morning. It is seriously incredible. Stumptown has a decent decaf but it makes a pretty terrible espresso. It all depends on your preparation method, I suppose.
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Nov 1, 2011 21:51
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Ravingsockmonkey posted:Has anyone tried Civet coffee? It's pretty expensive, which I guess is understandable if I understand how it's obtained. Is it worth it, or is it just a gimmick? I have had it and I really do enjoy it a lot. The problem is, it has to be roasted extremely dark and it often loses a lot of it's "varietal" flavor. It's still there, but the roast covers it up quite a bit. Panamanian Esmerelda, however, is totally not worth the money. It's probably some of the best coffee I've ever had but gently caress paying $150/lb.
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Nov 2, 2011 01:50
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The other day, I got lazy and hooked a power drill up to my slim mill. That produced quite possibly the most uneven grind I have ever seen.
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Nov 6, 2011 01:02
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Alceste posted:Cool! I never thought to pre-heat the water, and the other guides I read never mentioned that. Mine comes out like what they say to avoid--harsh, bitter, thin, metallic. It looks like they use an IKEA pot just like mine, too. Thanks--I'm going to grind up some Red Bird and try this out later. Yep, preheating the water is an integral part of decent moka pot coffee. Also, if you're having trouble regulating the flow rate of the coffee, just be extremely attentive and regulate the temperature my pulling the pot on and off the burner. Also, you should completely remove it from heat maybe 2-3 seconds before it starts to make the finishing percolating sound.
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Nov 10, 2011 23:39
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Check out what I scored for $150  
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Nov 15, 2011 02:33
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I don't own one, but I've had it at their coffee shop and compared it to my paper filters at home. It's kind of interesting, actually. While it does provide the same, clean cup of coffee that you get from a typical Chemex, the Coava Kone does taste significantly richer. I'm not sure if it's completely worth the ~$50 cost, but if you do a lot of pourovers then you may enjoy it.
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Nov 26, 2011 19:56
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I usually go through beans fast enough to just store them in the hopper. It's fairly air tight and is colored to protect from light.
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Nov 29, 2011 22:14
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Santa Monica also has a few boutique shops/roasters.
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Nov 30, 2011 20:51
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Fuzzy Pipe Wrench posted:For fakepresso what would you guys consider to be better/closer to the real thing? Aeropress or a Moka pot? Definitely Moka pot. It's not going to be exact, but you can get pretty close to real espresso by carefully tending to a moka pot. Maybe I'll get around to making how-to video sometime. You'll never get crema though. edit: unless you get a brikka mattdev fucked around with this message at 05:32 on Dec 1, 2011 |
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Dec 1, 2011 05:27
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surrender posted:My brother and I want to get an espresso machine for my parents for Christmas, and we're willing to go up to ~$600 for one. The catch: they're hardcore Cuban coffee drinkers, so they only drink pre-ground La Llave coffee. Is an expensive machine wasted on them? We're looking at pricier machines because they've had a bunch of cheaper machines break down after a year or two. I wouldn't even bother if they're using pre-ground. It's probably the wrong grind for espresso anyway. I've never used that Breville, but I don't think I could trust something with an integrated grinder. quote:On a completely unrelated note: I'm a staunch tea drinker (loose leaf earl grey), but I'm open to trying coffee as long as it's sugar/milk-free. Any suggestions for good Houston-area coffeeshops? I was in Houston a few years back and this is the only coffee shop I went to. Fortunately it was pretty awesome. Back then, they almost exclusively did pour overs (a la Philz) but it looks like they diversified a bit.
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Dec 1, 2011 07:36
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Lord Dekks posted:I see a lot of people in this thread praising the pour over method, presumably the only difference between this and a normal drip coffee maker is that it doesn't have the heat source underneath scorching the coffee? Does this mean if I just poured off the boil water over the coffee basket and straight into the coffee carafe would be pretty similar? (The shut off valve spring on the filter basket stopped working ages ago). You have a lot more control over the extraction, so you can control your pour so that it will evenly over all of the grinds. Also, a lot of drip coffee makers tend to heat the water past the point of boiling, and steam is incredibly bad for coffee. With pourover, you can heat it to boiling, let it cool for about 30 seconds and then start pouring. This won't burn the coffee and extract any of those bitter flavors.
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Dec 2, 2011 23:44
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Rids! posted:I prefer french press or drip brew but my girlfriend is obsessed with the pod machines so I'm thinking about getting her one for christmas. She's not super fussy about her coffee, it just needs to be quick and easy to operate/clean. How much do you want to spend? Why not get an espresso machine that can also accept pods? They're a bit on the pricy side, but allow for a bit more versatility and the ability to make much better coffee.
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Dec 7, 2011 21:25
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I use a refillable coffee bag that I bring to my local roasters and then compost the grounds/chemex filters . Greener than a green bean.
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Dec 9, 2011 17:09
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Gravity Pike posted:I've got some Coava Rophi with a somewhat distinct strawberry nose right now. (Seattle goons, get down to Milstead & Co. right the hell now this stuff is delicious.) Coava is probably my favorite roaster. I've yet to find anyone who tops what they're doing. They've been crankin' out a lot of La Guachoca lately. Get some of the espresso profile and pull that poo poo. It will blow your MIND
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Dec 14, 2011 07:04
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hotsauce posted:New setup from Seattlecoffeegear.com is here! Sup, tamper, espresso machine, grinder and scale (not pictured) buddy? 
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Jan 8, 2012 05:36
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traveling midget posted:Any recommendation on electric kettles with programmed temps? Or is a regular kettle and a thermometer easier/better? I use this kettle but it has a pretty disruptive stream on the chemex. Just gotta be careful with it.
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Jan 8, 2012 05:38
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hotsauce posted:Just curious what are your Vario settings for espresso? I've been using about 4 notches up from the bottom on the left and one down from the top on the right. Timing is about 11 seconds for a double shot grind. Pulls in about 30 seconds but is pretty blonde the whole time. I'm sure I'll get better but as it is now the shots are decent just not great. Like Bob_McBob said, it GREATLY depends on the coffee and the calibration of the grinder. I had a single origin Yemen coffee on last time and it required the top setting on the macro and about halfway on the micro, with 13 seconds to grind 18g. My current coffee (a blend) is second from the top on macro and 4 from the bottom on the micro, with 11.1 seconds to grind 18g. I usually measure everything out during my first few shots and then just set it until that particular coffee runs out. Remember: finer grind on the vario = longer time to grind the same weight of beans. Speaking of which, have you calibrated your Vario yet? Usually they're fine out of the box, but I got mine used from a friend of mine and calibration made a huge difference in the fineness of the grind. Excuse the instagram filters, but check out this crema porn. 
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Jan 8, 2012 06:24
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Astronaut Jones posted:Heh, I keep seeing people say the Vario is heavy.. Whenever I move mine I think "god this thing is so light" compared to my old Rocky, or Mazzers. I totally have the LCD readability. I usually need to hunch down quite a bit to read it.
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Jan 10, 2012 07:47
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Anyone have a decent recipe for iced coffee by weight? I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but like others have said, I'm getting an awful aftertaste and it comes out terribly bitter. Nothing like the Stumptown coldbrew I'm drinking as I write this. I've tried different grinds, different coffees (all very high quality and make amazing hot coffee), and even filtered my water, but it always tastes like rear end. Any ideas?
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Aug 18, 2012 21:54
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