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30 Goddamned Dicks posted:I just recently switched to a drip system, which is awesome and I like better than the French press. How important is it to get one of those kettles with the long thin spout? Right now I just pour direct from the kettle while trying to keep the water as close to the coffee as possible. It's more important with the Hario V60, bonmac V60 clones, and Chemex with non chemex filters. The problem with these is that their holes are so big that they drain very fast, and therefore are more grind, and pour dependent. If you have a narrow, single hole pourover filter holder, or use the chemex brand filter (super thick), then the accurate slow pour of a buono type kettle won't be as noticeable.
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Jan 7, 2012 03:57
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dik-dik posted:Does anyone know a good place to find a small single hole ceramic or glass pour over brewer? I like the Bonmac #2 at Sweet Maria's but I don't really like the idea of paying $10 to ship a $15 item. http://www.amazon.com/Cilio-Porcelain-No-Filter-Holder/dp/B002CX2UCO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2KLM5WYQYNQP9&colid=3GZ8PSPLBT5TR If you've got prime, it's free ship!
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Jan 7, 2012 07:46
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dik-dik posted:Yeah, I was looking at that one, but there seem to be a lot of reviews saying it's thin/cheap/will crack. Since I've got Prime, though, and returns are free, I'll probably try it out. I prefer electric, heats faster, more efficient.
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Jan 8, 2012 02:13
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hotsauce posted:Niiiice. You just reminded me I need a knock box. 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. Wait are you saying that the shot is pulled in 11 seconds or 30 seconds?
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Jan 8, 2012 05:45
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that Vai sound posted:The other option for me would be to get something like a Hario V60 (I already have a Chemex and press pot), but I do hear the Clever and Aeropress make a better tasting cup, so I'm looking for affirmations on their safety. I think the leaching thing is a non issue. These should be* food safe plastics that won't leach, also the contact time is so small I don't think it matters.
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Jan 12, 2012 04:10
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Gravity Pike posted:People expect Starbucks to "taste like Starbucks," every time, wherever they are in the world. The only way to get such a consistent roast is to burn away any of the origin characteristics, so only the roast characteristics remain. Consistency is more important than quality. In the same vein as consistency. It's easier to tell an unskilled laborer : wait until second crack finishes than to tell them somewhere between the start and finish of second crack such that it is a full city roast.
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Jan 15, 2012 23:02
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that Vai sound posted:Why does my coffee always taste the same? How quick is your brew? Shoot for 4 minutes. How filtered is filtered? If it's too clean the water will taste flat, maybe try with tap water, assuming your tap water doesn't taste like sewage. Are you prewetting and letting the coffee bloom? I generally rinse the cone twice, prewet for 30 sec then add water slowly enough that the brew lasts 3:30.
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Jan 20, 2012 00:51
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Anderron Shi posted:I hate the days when I wake up and realize that I was too lazy to refill on coffee the day before, and I have to make a pot of my girlfriends's Starbuck's. I, my friends, fed the machine today. This is one reason why it's great to have a large stock of green coffee and a roaster.
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Jan 24, 2012 16:35
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El Disco posted:It's great to have that, but sadly it does you little good on that lazy morning when you didn't roast a batch the night before. meh, I know you're not supposed to, but I've roasted then brewed a few times, it's not that big of a deal, just allow for more bloom time.
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Jan 24, 2012 17:31
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Steve Yun posted:Someone tell me what is the big deal about Intelligentsia They're one of the best roasters in the country. Although people from LA will think they are an LA only thing, they are actually from Chicago. They are known for being incredibly spergy about their coffee and espresso. Fresh roasted coffee roasted by multiple international award winning roasters and blenders brewed by multiple international award winning baristas, they are arguably one of the best if not the best coffee purveyors in the country, and one of the best in the world. This does not come cheap, and they tend to be pretty pricey. That is not to say that they are the end all of coffee, but it suffices to say that you will most likely not have a bad cup if you go there. I wish they had a manual machine though :/
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Jan 25, 2012 21:09
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If you finish first crack it is safe to say, they will not be under roasted.
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Feb 6, 2012 19:43
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Shadowhand00 posted:I bought the Kyrocera Hand Grinder. That being said, is my bag of pre-ground beans ruined because they were ground at the store? Should I just finish off the bag and then go about buying unground bags moving forward? Yes.
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Feb 6, 2012 21:56
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Bobx66 posted:Any recommendations for a grind and brew (drip) automatic? Yeah, don't get one. get a Baratza Maestro Plus refurbished and a Bonavita BV1800
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Feb 9, 2012 06:31
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Set an alarm, get up, and make it.
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Feb 9, 2012 06:55
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rockcity posted:Pre-wetting a filter does two things, it warms up the housing that holds the filter so it's not cooling down the water as much and the more important thing is that it's giving the filter the shape of the filter housing. If you put a dry filter in and just start pouring water onto the grounds, the filter can buckle and bend in ways that aren't good. I find this actually happens even more in traditional drip machines. Even if you're not using hot water, just dampening the filter a bit to make sure the sides are fitted to it is a good idea. prewetting also rinses some of the loose paper dust off of the filter reducing filter taste. I usually fold over the edges (melitta filters), fill the filter, dump the water, then fill again and dump. I have a low effort gray water system (read: I have a few buckets) for my coffee/tea excess water so it's not that big of a deal for me to use that much water.
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Feb 15, 2012 18:58
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Steve Yun posted:Okay, so in my newbie testing... Hario is a bit of a mine field. It can make really good coffee, but the problem is that it drains so fast that pouring technique matters a lot, in addition to the other stuff. I fully support your decision to buy a burr grinder.
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Feb 15, 2012 22:23
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that Vai sound posted:I've been looking into brewing at the office, but the hot water source only gets to 190 when pouring out. Is that too low to bother with? There's probably a mini potentiometer that controls the temp, pop the back open and mess with it. 
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Feb 18, 2012 05:56
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Forumpost posted:Just recently bought a Bonavita BV1800TH. I was looking at buying a permanent filter for it, a goldtone. rinse the filter before using, a lot of what you're tasting is just paper dust on the surface of the filter from manufacturing that gets washed into the cup, rinsing the filter removes a lot of this. Gold tone filters negate the biggest strength of drip coffee and that is the clean cup. They also get gross over time because the holes get clogged with the fines and eventually start getting stale coffee taste going into the cup. Stick to paper.
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Feb 21, 2012 06:08
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Did you even read the OP?Alleric posted:Now, real deal espresso machines can be pricey. Way pricey. But, there's a way to eeeeeeeaaase into the espresso end of the pool at home. All you need is a machine: That grinder is absolute rubbish. The grinder is the most important part for espresso. The minimum grinder you should be getting is either a Baratza Vario or a Rancilio Rocky, preferably the former. While something like your "nutjob" Capresso will work fine for press pot and pourover, its consistency isn't nearly good enough for proper espresso. You can probably get by with a Virtuoso Preciso but in the long run, if you plan to make the upgrade to non pressurized portafilters, the Vario is the way to go. quote:http://www.wholelattelove.com/Gaggia/espresso_pure.cfm This espresso machine still has a pressurized portafilter, they rename it as "crema enhancer" but it's the same thing. This is the bare minimum type of machine someone should have if they want to get real espresso. For those paying full price, you can get a similar machine in the Saeco Aroma, refurb at SCG for $200. Again, you should at least be using a Vario or a Rocky as your grinder. quote:Costplus beans Really? Surely this is a troll. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 01:59 on Feb 24, 2012 |
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Feb 24, 2012 01:55
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Corla Plankun posted:Alleric I think your post was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise totally elitist espresso circlejerk. Thank you for posting it. At $6.66 bucks a pound, I'd say that stuff is probably worth testing out before I go ballistic about how much it sucks, but maybe that is just me. A $6.66/lb I can get top quality beans that I know are ethically sourced and I can roast myself to get coffee that is miles better than any Cost Plus coffee I've ever had and yes I've had a few. Why would I waste my money on something I know went stale weeks ago? What espresso circlejerk are you talking about? We've not talked of espresso in over 5 pages itt. This thread has been largely pourover discussion which does not need a ton of money to get into, quite the opposite. If you want a machine on a budget, the Delonghi EC155 is an espresso machine with a pump and a boiler not a thermoblock like that Mr Coffee. The EC155 is the same price and has been modded to have a naked portafilter by a few people.
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Feb 24, 2012 05:44
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My apologies if you think it's dickish but from my POV you came into the thread with words blazing, most of which was already said in the op. I didnt know why you were saying it if not to splice in what I would consider to be things I disagreed with so I replied. Anyway, yes there is room for budget stuff, but I think you should be open to criticism and not bitch about people saying something contrary to what fits your taste. This is a food sub forum on something awful, snide dickishness comes with the territory. Steve Yun posted:How does the hario manual grinder compare to the electrical burr grinders? They don't. I use one for making coffee when when I'm traveling but I don't think they are a good everyday grinder. Get an infinity or a maestro.
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Feb 24, 2012 08:19
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Steve Yun posted:Hmm. Is a manual burr grinder at least better than a blade grinder? Yeah, but I'd still hold out few weeks to save the money for an electric. Think about it this way, you won't need to buy a new grinder for at least a few years, where as there have been a few people in this thread already that decided to settle for a hario manual and ended up getting an electric because they were fed up with it, you don't wanna be cranking at a manual first thing in the morning anyway.
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Feb 24, 2012 09:38
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Residency Evil posted:The sweet maria's coffee sampler seems perfect for getting into roasting. Is there a big advantage to getting something like the FreshRoast SR300 over a popcorn popper? IIRC The SR300 has a chaff collector and a catalytic converter so you can use it inside. If that kind of stuff matters to you, then yeah, it's a big advantage. I just roast outside with my air popper, or under a kitchen hood with my whirley pop. I haven't hit a point where I needed something better yet, though I may just hack something when that time comes. I've been roasting for a while now and I still order the samplers from SM, you get a lot of good stuff, sometimes stuff that's not available on their seasonal list, and the overall price is cheaper than buying individual lb bags of beans.
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Feb 27, 2012 23:31
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dhrusis posted:Trip report on dhrusis's first foray into roasting. Nice roast! Keep us posted on how the cup tastes.
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Mar 2, 2012 04:09
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ovanova posted:That's like saying your duxelles will come out radically different if you leave the mushrooms out of the fridge an extra 3 minutes nope, it's like saying reheated scrambled eggs will be gross. and they are.
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Mar 6, 2012 08:48
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ovanova posted:I don't know how thoroughly they did it or how good the beans were or the brew methods etc etc, but I know they tested on America's Test Kitchen whether burr ground vs blade ground beans tasted different and they didn't. I know that won't appease the coffee elites but it's better than idle speculation. They used an automatic drip machine  Yeah, that result is rubbish.Edit: this ATK article is just  bad. They used an infrared thermometer to measure the temperature of the beans. I don't think they understand thermodynamics. They never mention coffee:water ratios, they never talk about water temperature, they don't survey and separate the testees into groups, those who prefer bold or roasty or acidy or "smooth" or floral or sweet or whatever, they just took run of the mill schmucks.quote:These combined forces caused what coffee experts call overextraction, which occurs when too much flavor is extracted from the beans. In our tests, we were less likely to encounter this problem if the coffee was ground coarse, more so than even the coarsest setting on the burr grinders could accomplish. hahahahaha GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 09:42 on Mar 6, 2012 |
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Mar 6, 2012 09:35
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ToG posted:This screams 'coffee for people who need coffee, but don't like it.' Depends on what you're going to use it for. There will be a difference, but if you don't plan on espressoing, arguably the Maestro will work just fine for you.
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Mar 6, 2012 10:06
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can get borosilicate glass dropping funnels and flasks for significantly less than any of that. Just buy from a laboratory supply store.
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Mar 7, 2012 03:40
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geetee posted:Yes! I was just thinking that wine has a similar effect -- it's more extreme with coffee. Now I have an actual keyword to use in my google adventures. Thanks! sounds like you're using too much coffee for how much water you're using. What is your ratio like?
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Mar 9, 2012 09:06
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Jmcrofts posted:This video compares Hario and Chemex filters. They seem pretty favorable towards the chemex ones. Keep in mind that while SCG has a fantastic selection of coffee goods, they are quite decidedly espresso people, not necessarily coffee people. The "FRESHLY GROUND COFFEE" quip Kat makes is in reference to previous videos where they were using preground and people (including yours truly) yelled at them for being dumb. They also have a tendency to only care about things like "smoothness" and have a propensity to sperg out considerably more with espresso than they will for pour over or drip. They will pull shot after shot to get a machine dialed in but they will only do one run of pour over with preground coffee and leave it at that. Now, they also joke about how it's kind of sarcastically, but really it is, so I don't know why they're so catty about it. Chemex filters are thicker, as a result they will have more paper taste and coffee will flow through them slower than it will a thinner filter. This is goes with the fact that the Chemex itself has a gigantic hole, so that slower drain is more important. The hario, while having a large hole with respect to all other cones, is smaller than the Chemex, but it still drains fast. This is why Hario users insist on using the gooseneck kettle with a Hario, because you have accurate control over pour rate. As to which one is better. Sweet Maria's did a pourover shoot out and they are considerably more spergy about pourover. They used a refractometer to nail the extraction and found, more often than naught, that the cheap ol small single hole Melitta filter cone is the best. While I'm not as experienced as Tom, I agree that the Melitta is a fantastic brewer and just because it's cheap doesn't mean it sucks.
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Mar 9, 2012 23:06
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that Vai sound posted:Are you referring to the Melitta filter or the brewing device? Either way, I think they've changed their mind because they don't sell any Melitta stuff. The latest videos I've seen tout the Bonmac single hole dripper and the Filtropa filters. the cone the Bonmac single hole is p much the same thing as the Melitta single hole cone.
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Mar 9, 2012 23:14
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Just a heads up. New Baratza entry level grinder on the way: http://prima-coffee.com/grinder/baratza-encore-conical-burr-coffee-grinder
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Mar 22, 2012 22:31
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Steve Yun posted:So what are the necessary grinders for a legit espresso, and what makes them different from other burr grinders? depends on who you ask. Better grinders use better burr sets. They will be installed in the machine with sturdier components, machined metal, etc to reduce side to side play. They will have more, and finer adjustability steps, even nicer ones will be completely stepless. This is all in the name of getting "consistent" results. Often people focus on if it goes "fine enough for espresso". Well, that's pretty easy to do, what's hard to do is to get "fine enough, with consistency, that you can reproduce over and over again, and adjust very precisely to accommodate changing beans, tamp pressures, machines, etc".
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Mar 23, 2012 01:43
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If it is paper it is compostable. There is no special "compostable" filter. The metal filters otoh get grimy, clogged with fines, and let cholesterol raising compounds through. Buy good filters, rinse them, compost them. The "filtering out" of essential oils thing isn't as big of a deal as you think. The thing you're actually tasting as an edgier coffee isn't actually those oils, it's suspended coffee particles in the unfiltered coffee. The essential oils are most certainly still in the cup when you use a paper filter. If that grittier cup is what you're after, just get a press pot. They're cheaper than the kone and aren't as finnicky as a pour over system.
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Mar 24, 2012 09:59
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ephori posted:So, I've been using a Camano coffee mill with a moka pot for a while and was pretty happy with the results, but thanks to this thread I've ended up with a Chemex, and then an Aeropress, and now last night I even ventured into uncharted territory with some home roasting: wildlele posted:Just want to say thank you to the OP and everyone else who answered my questions in this thread. I'm not quite at the level of espresso myself yet but I've got a decent lot of gear for drip. Congrats on the new coffee gear guys! I'm glad that they're serving you well and that the improvements in quality met the hype.
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Mar 31, 2012 19:54
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Gordon Cole posted:I've never been much into coffee most of my life, but recently I've gotten hooked on lattes and steamed milks, and I've decided I want to try to make some drinks at home. Does anyone have any specific recommendations for espresso-making equipment in the ~$500-$600 total range? nm posted:I suspect the recommendation will be to hold off until you can spend at least $800-1000 for both machine and grinder combined. That's not true. I think that if Gordon Cole is content with making milk drinks he can get a suitable rig for $500-600. As per usual the advice goes: Get the best grinder you can afford. For this price range, ideally, I'd get a Baratza Vario ($450), but you could go as low as a Virtuoso (but I wouldn't). In this range, you also have the Rancilio Rocky ($350), Nuova Simonelli Grinta ($340), and the Ascaso i-Steel i-1 (stepless, $350). On the machine front, you can go as low as a DeLonghi EC155 ($100) to the Saeco Aroma ($150). These options might not get you the best possible espresso, but for adding steamed milk, these will be just fine. Should you want to upgrade to a non-pressurized system later, a Vario, a Rocky, or that Ascaso should serve you well for a while.
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Apr 6, 2012 08:20
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1up posted:edit: vv My dad is a factory worker, so his hours kinda cockblock fresh grinding in the morning because it's 3 am. That's the reason he's really into a timer at the moment. It's a little bit baby steps with regards to him and coffee, so the fresh ground coffee thing is the goal for later this year when he goes back to 2nds regularly. Back in college when I had roommates, I put my grinder in the garage so I could use it when I had early classes without waking up the whole house. I've also done similar in an apartment situation by using it in the bathroom. Then just bring the hopper of ground beans to the coffee maker.
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Apr 9, 2012 21:34
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gwrtheyrn posted:I've got $120 in rebate cards to spend, and I was thinking about buying my own coffee stuff since I won't be able to use my brother's next semester. I'm also toying around with the idea of roasting my own coffee, since I'll be able to do it for my roommates and family, but I don't know if I'll be able to deal with the smoke indoors. Will just about any range hood be enough to take care of whatever fumes/smoke that comes out while roasting? I would get at least a capresso infinity, I wouldn't use a hand burr grinder as a main grinder, and with that budget, I'd skip the blade altogether. As far as roasting is concerned, you really only need the whirley pop to get started, and you can get those at thrift stores for, like, $5, maybe even try posting a freecycle "wanted". As far as brew methods are concerned. I think a cheap melitta filter cone is just fine, you can get them almost anywhere for about $5. Just be sure to thoroughly rinse your filters.
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Apr 11, 2012 05:02
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gwrtheyrn posted:Okay, so let me fudge with some stuff then: Sure, if you're impatient, or you can just keep searching. I just did a search on CL and found 2 for around $10 near me. Then just buy samplers from SM, their sampler deals are awesome. Good luck!
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Apr 11, 2012 05:45
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a handful of dust posted:Do you use the same level of technique with these that you would with something like the Hario, or does the smaller hole make it more forgiving? I find the smaller hole is more forgiving on technique yes... (still talking about coffee, really)  gwrtheyrn posted:Thanks a lot for your help. I'll keep an eye out for cheap poppers around, but I doubt anything will come up on craigslist because if a college student wouldn't have it, it's probably not on craigslist anywhere near here and saving $20 on it isn't worth hours searching for it. Last question: would I get a better value buying the capresso or waiting around for a refurb baratza maestro/encore? Before the line up switch I would've said that waiting for a refurb baratza was a sure thing. Now...well I'm not so sure. They're very communicative though, you should shoot them an email: "Hey, just wondering if there's any likelihood of one showing up anytime soon."
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Apr 11, 2012 05:56
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