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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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Corla Plankun posted:We talked about this a ways back, and the consensus was pretty much that if you rent, you you can just wash the entirety down the drain with the spray nozzle. True, I've done that in the past and never had issues. I just try to avoid dumping stuff down the drain if possible these days. I have a little covered pail for compost in the kitchen, so it just goes straight in there and into the main bin at the end of the day.
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Dec 14, 2011 07:05
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I either compost the bulk of my grounds, or pour them down the drain. Reading online suggests it won't be a problem for drains, but I can understand being careful. After the grinds are out, I usually put a little bit of soap in, run very hot water about halfway up, and plunge up and down several times to clean out the filter. Works great, and is pretty fast.
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Dec 14, 2011 08:17
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I drain it. Scoop the grounds out with a paper towel, toss them in the trash. Then, rinse with hot water. Assuming you use it every day or two and don't do anything stupid like put milk in there, you will be fine. I went a good year without using soap or anything on mine. /shrug
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Dec 14, 2011 09:28
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Hey. Hey guys. Look at this thing.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxVYe-TE2eU
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Dec 14, 2011 10:02
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overdesigned posted:Hey. Hey guys. Look at this thing. This is basically one of the company's regular super-automatic vending units shoved under a counter with a faucet sticking out the top. And a touch screen.
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Dec 14, 2011 10:13
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overdesigned posted:Hey. Hey guys. Look at this thing. I don't know about you guys but I totally want this just for the juice/milk.
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Dec 14, 2011 10:26
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Is this the write thread to talk about latte art? My girlfriend has a gallery of some that she has made. I've tried to make some of my own, but more often than not they turn out to be blurry messes. Anyone else have some charming cups to share?
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Dec 14, 2011 13:08
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Oz_Bonus posted:Is this the write thread to talk about latte art? I typically like freepour latte art better, but some of those are awesome. I love the abominal snowman looking guy.
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Dec 14, 2011 15:02
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Thanks for posting that kickstart espresso machine, very tempted to jump in on that. Glad that funding will run into next month, hopefully they can get more info out and actually get a demo unit in the hands of some folks before the deadline! They are getting a TON of backers, over $30,000 from when I first looked yesterday and checked again today. Impressive...
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Dec 14, 2011 18:12
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Quick! Someone talk me out of this so my wife doesn't divorce me: http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BES900XL-Automatic-Espresso-Machine/dp/B005I722YC/ Reviews seem to be glowing. Would this machine be a wise top-end investment for a drat good shot of espresso? Is it overkill for a morning coffee ritual for a one-person household? (wife doesn't like coffee) Yes, it's expensive and yes I have Amazon gift cards to burn, so, Edit: or would the kickstart link be a much more logical option for a great fraction of the cost? Edit2: Uh-oh. There's an open box sold my warehousedeals for $1000. I may be in... hotsauce fucked around with this message at 00:00 on Dec 15, 2011 |
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Dec 14, 2011 23:48
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The Breville dual boiler machine is certainly an interesting development. I am not sure how I feel about buying an espresso machine that's designed as a consumer appliance. I like that most traditional espresso machines in that price range are designed with off-the-shelf components, so you can pretty much use and service them indefinitely. If my current machine is maintained, I will happily be pulling shots with it in 30 years, unless I am a dumbass and upgrade more. Not so sure about the Breville. There are lots of excellent machines at the $1200 level, so you don't necessarily have to limit yourself to the Breville. Do you want to be able to make a lot of milk drinks, or even a couple milk drinks in a row? Not being able to steam and pull shots at the same time is a serious limitation of cheaper machines (including the Kickstarter project). Have you budgeted several hundred more for at least a Baratza Vario?
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Dec 15, 2011 00:12
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Bob_McBob posted:The Breville dual boiler machine is certainly an interesting development. I am not sure how I feel about buying an espresso machine that's designed as a consumer appliance. I like that most traditional espresso machines in that price range are designed with off-the-shelf components, so you can pretty much use and service them indefinitely. If my current machine is maintained, I will happily be pulling shots with it in 30 years, unless I am a dumbass and upgrade more. Not so sure about the Breville. I also have the Breville machine in my cart and the price is down to $298 shipped overnight after my credits. I may not have a choice in the matter...about to buy it now... Edit: just bought it. I could not reason myself away at this price-point. hotsauce fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Dec 15, 2011 |
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Dec 15, 2011 00:14
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hotsauce posted:I have the Baratza Starbucks version grinder that I will need to hack for espresso. No, you'll need to get a better grinder, or you just wasted a bunch of money. Once you are beyond the steam toy level, the grinder is by far the most important piece of equipment, not the espresso machine itself. You should be looking at at least a Baratza Vario.
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Dec 15, 2011 00:26
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Bob_McBob posted:No, you'll need to get a better grinder, or you just wasted a bunch of money. Once you are beyond the steam toy level, the grinder is by far the most important piece of equipment, not the espresso machine itself. You should be looking at at least a Baratza Vario. Hmm. I'm looking at spending an additional $360 for a refurb (when they are back in stock). Maybe I should have thought this through more. I just couldn't resist at the price... Thinking... Edit: I canceled it. Going to think more about if it's really something I want...at that price, it's hard to resist though. Is the Breville grinder worth a drat? Or is the Vario the only real choice? http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BCG800XL-Smart-Grinder/dp/B0043EWFAM/ hotsauce fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Dec 15, 2011 |
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Dec 15, 2011 00:32
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hotsauce posted:Hmm. I'm looking at spending an additional $360 for a refurb (when they are back in stock). Please do. There is nothing worse in the coffee world than an expensive espresso machine with a crummy espresso grinder. I am really not exaggerating/sperging here. You'd get significantly better coffee from a $1200 grinder and a $100 refurb Saeco Aroma than the other way around. Where will you be getting your coffee? Keep in mind you will probably want a few minor accessories like a knock box (for spent pucks), bar towels, cups, a digital scale for weighing doses...
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Dec 15, 2011 00:44
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Bob_McBob posted:
Open to suggestions. Although I did cancel this order, I will eventually step up to a quality machine. Suggestions on a machine are also welcome. I just want to be able to pull a high-quality shot at home. I'm tired of lovely espresso (have had cheaper machines in the past and hated them).
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Dec 15, 2011 00:51
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hotsauce posted:Is the Breville grinder worth a drat? Or is the Vario the only real choice? I know it might seem backwards to you, but you should be considering the grinder before the machine. The Vario is probably the best choice on the market for home espresso use, and you will not see any significant improvement in shot quality until you get to the $1000+ level (where the grinders are also significantly less practical at home). I am not sure how serious you are about espresso. With a semi-automatic machine you will have to put some time into learning how to pull shots and steam milk properly. It's not just a matter of pushing a button and getting a drink. However, mid-level machines like the Breville or this new $995 E61 HX machine tend to be significantly more forgiving than cheaper machines. Do you want to make espresso, or are you going to be making girly lattes exclusively?
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Dec 15, 2011 00:55
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Bob_McBob posted:I know it might seem backwards to you, but you should be considering the grinder before the machine. The Vario is probably the best choice on the market for home espresso use, and you will not see any significant improvement in shot quality until you get to the $1000+ level (where the grinders are also significantly less practical at home). 95% Espresso and the occasional latte.
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Dec 15, 2011 00:56
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The wife approved. I'm going to re-order and get the Breville Smart Grinder to go along with it. $468 for both. Cannot resist. If the Breville grinder turns out to suck, I'll just get the Baratza. This review (vs. the Vario) suggests the Breville will be fine: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1M9LZAJUBH65N/ref=cm_srch_res_rtr_alt_1
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Dec 15, 2011 03:24
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Dec 15, 2011 03:37
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Bob_McBob posted:Why? Is the Breville grinder really junk?
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Dec 15, 2011 03:38
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hotsauce posted:Why? Is the Breville grinder really junk? I think people are more sad that you're spending $1200 on a consumer espresso maker. You're just justifying it in your head because you have amazon money to spend. It's still a $1200 overpriced machine, just because you're only spending $300 on it doesn't mean that that is all it's costing you. I'd personally use the amazon money on something else and if you're willing to invest in espresso, spend less money on a better unit. Sadly most of what you want to look for isn't on amazon. Edit: If you want to go the amazon route, I'd look at this Rancillo Silva. http://www.amazon.com/Rancilio-Silvia-Espresso-Machine/dp/B00076SCVG/ref=sr_1_19?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1323923554&sr=1-19 rockcity fucked around with this message at 05:33 on Dec 15, 2011 |
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Dec 15, 2011 05:31
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Thanks rockcity. Amazon ended up loving with the open box price and delivery dates so I didn't buy either. I'll sit on the sidelines until I find a better machine for my needs. Thanks for the recommendation.
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Dec 15, 2011 06:37
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seravid posted:some guy on Hasbean posted: I'm starting to be unhappy with the uneven grind I get from my grinder. I'm thinking of getting either a Baratza Virtuoso or Preciso, but I'm not sure how much of a difference I'd notice between the two when grinding on the coarser side. Any thoughts?
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Dec 15, 2011 21:23
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So I apparently just lost my second Freshroast SR500. My first came from Sweet Maria's not working -- plugged in, no lights, wont turn on. Got a replacement and its been working for months, until today. Same symptoms as the previous. Is this a known issue with the 500? Anyone have suggestions on fixing it? Now I have 2 dead SR500 bodies to play with so I don't mind cracking one open. Also can someone suggest a comparable roaster if i need to buy one?
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Dec 15, 2011 23:03
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Uhh it just turned on so nevermind I guess? Maybe I can get the old one running too...
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Dec 15, 2011 23:07
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Does anybody have any tips on using or taking care of a manual grinder? My parents have a second one around the house (my mom uses the first one as a pepper grinder), so I may use the second one for myself whenever I want coffee (I drink mostly tea, so it isn't something I'll be drinking all that often). I found a place in town that serves decent coffee, and I ended up buying a small sampler bag of their bold blend.
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Dec 19, 2011 03:23
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Uh... don't break it? There isn't really anything special you need to do with a hand grinder other than not grinding other crap in it. If it has nasty old coffee stuck to the burrs, you could try grinding some minute rice to clean it. I assume it isn't some rusty old antique that will need further attention.
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Dec 19, 2011 05:18
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Bob_McBob posted:Uh... don't break it? There isn't really anything special you need to do with a hand grinder other than not grinding other crap in it. If it has nasty old coffee stuck to the burrs, you could try grinding some minute rice to clean it. No, it's pretty clean. It's certainly in better condition than the pepper grinder.
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Dec 19, 2011 05:29
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My refurb baratza virtuoso came 99% clean, a few specs of coffee showing that they tested it before sending it out. That thing rules, by the way.
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Dec 19, 2011 06:11
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mojo1701a posted:Does anybody have any tips on using or taking care of a manual grinder? My parents have a second one around the house (my mom uses the first one as a pepper grinder), so I may use the second one for myself whenever I want coffee (I drink mostly tea, so it isn't something I'll be drinking all that often). I found a place in town that serves decent coffee, and I ended up buying a small sampler bag of their bold blend.
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Dec 19, 2011 07:46
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Help me, goons, for I have tasted this quality coffee you so praise and... it was pretty drat bad. Here's what I did, hope you guys can help me figure this out  The stuff I received: - Ethiopia Shakiso beans, roasted on December 12th. - Hario mini mill - Kalita Wave steel dripper I adjusted the mill somewhere in the middle position, ground 15g of beans (mug holds 250ml), boiled some water and heated up the mug. For the actual brewing, I did pretty much what this dude did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyknoezUCNg The result? A watery mess with a pronounced bitter aftertaste. No sign of the "bucket of red fruits" or any other quality people talk about when they describe this coffee. I can still taste the bitterness, though, I guess that's something 
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Dec 20, 2011 15:55
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seravid posted:Help me, goons, for I have tasted this quality coffee you so praise and... it was pretty drat bad. Check your water temp and try a much finer grind. Drip likes a nice fine grind, not espresso fine, obviously, but much finer than what I use for my french press. If it's not one of those two, maybe you got a bad batch of beans?
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Dec 20, 2011 17:00
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seravid posted:Help me, goons, for I have tasted this quality coffee you so praise and... it was pretty drat bad. I thought bitterness is often a relation to extraction time, usually meaning it was too slow and you'd want a coarser grind. It might just seem bitter because it didn't extract enough so you're not getting the enough of the coffee flavor with it in which case, yeah, go finer. Edit: That's also a fairly acidic coffee if I remember which might also be why it's coming off bitter. If you're not used to acidic coffees you might want to try something smoother like an Indonesian or Brazilian. rockcity fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Dec 20, 2011 |
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Dec 20, 2011 17:29
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For the Kalita Wave I actually get pretty good results (both subjectively and objectively on the sperg-o-meter) using a fairly coarse grind. 15g coffee and 250g (not ml) hot water is an excellent starting brew ratio that should put you right in the sweet spot if you get your grind and pour method right. My normal Wave method is to pour 20% of the water on to pre-wet, then at each 30 second mark pour another 20% on in nice circles, right to the edge of the filter. I then let it drain by itself. There isn't really one "right" way to do it, but if you pick a consistent method you should be able to alter your grind until it tastes good. Remember to make fairly large adjustments to start so you have a good idea of how it affects things. Keep in mind that bitterness is an inherent component of the taste of coffee. When people talk about sweet, fruity tasting cups of coffee, they don't mean it literally has no bitterness whatsoever. Think of a nice bittersweet chocolate and how the sweetness and bitterness complement each other. If you are just getting bitterness and not much else, you're probably overextracting the coffee. Back off on the grind.
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Dec 20, 2011 18:02
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seravid posted:Help me, goons, for I have tasted this quality coffee you so praise and... it was pretty drat bad. How dark is the shakiso roasted to? Taken too dark, you could get burnt flavors no matter how you brew it. Also, the minimill can have a bit of problem with grinding coarser grinds without modification. This has been discussed a bit, but basically, the inner burrs are only attached at one point along the shaft and this causes a lot of play as you turn the crank, resulting in many large particles and fines. Modding is easy enough though, and cheap. Inconsistent grind can lead to the finer particles being over extracted, larger ones, under.
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Dec 20, 2011 19:57
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Thanks for the help, I'll try different grinds/temps/pour methods and see how it goes. I can't stop thinking about the watery part, though. Any thoughts on that? Maybe it's because I've been drinking espressos all my life, but this coffee had no texture at all, it was like drinking (crappy) flavored water.
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Dec 20, 2011 19:59
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rockcity posted:I thought bitterness is often a relation to extraction time, usually meaning it was too slow and you'd want a coarser grind. It might just seem bitter because it didn't extract enough so you're not getting the enough of the coffee flavor with it in which case, yeah, go finer. Bitterness can be related to extraction time, but can also be related to too fine of a grind, and too little quantity of coffee used. Any photography people can think of proper extraction kind of like proper exposure. Like exposure there are independent variables that can be adjusted to acquire proper extraction. These are coffee quantity, grind size, water temperature, brew time. If the brewed coffee tastes overextracted this is usually due to too fine of a grind size with too little coffee, too hot water (rarely a problem with pour over), or too long of a brew time. Overextraction, to me, tastes watery, hollow, and has a bitterness that I can best describe as "cardboardy". The thing about acidity is also something to think about. It can be hard to decipher people's impressions of coffee as there is a such thing as a pleasant bitterness, that Bob_McBob is talking about, and a pleasant acidity (most often found in Africans and especially dry processed Africans, Kenya AA is notoriously acidy, sometimes called wine like) that rockcity is talking about. And there is such thing as bad bitterness (obviously) and sourness which can be construed as acidity. seravid posted:Thanks for the help, I'll try different grinds/temps/pour methods and see how it goes. Yeah, sounds overextracted. December 12th is also over a week ago, how was it stored?
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Dec 20, 2011 20:10
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GrAviTy84 posted:Yeah, sounds overextracted. December 12th is also over a week ago, how was it stored? Here's a pic of the beans:  It took 8 days to get here from the UK (to Portugal), I received it today. I order a lot of stuff from the UK and shipping is usually faster, guess the holidays are taking their toll.
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Dec 20, 2011 20:14
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