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seravid posted:My Brazilian coffee arrived. On the bag, a little description praises its "outstanding sweetness" with notes of chocolate, caramel and toffee. Sounds good to me. Do you ever taste other things like wine, whisky, rum, or tea? I mean taste, not just drink. These "notes" that descriptions like to brag about are just subtleties in the coffee, the coffee wont actually taste like a cup of toffee or caramel or hot chocolate or gingersnapcookies with wild berries. It tastes like coffee with a hint of fruitiness, or coffee with a caramel-like roastiness, or coffee with a rustic chocolate like earthiness, or coffee with a bright spicy nuance. These notes are just things that the cuppers, when cupping, think the coffee's subtleties remind them of. A vid on tasting vs drinking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npUErC5z9p4 some notes on cupping http://coffeecuppers.com/Tasting-Primer.htm
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Jan 4, 2012 22:20
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So I'm making my second foray into french pressing. I've got some coffee called "Bud's Buzz" (I'm told) that I scored off of a guy who owns a cafe next to where I work. I'm using 16oz of water and 4 scoops of the whole beans with the supplied Bodum 7g spoon. I've heard a lot of conflicting points on coffee:water ratios but this will be a fun experiment in strong coffee. e: I think these beans are too dark for my tastes. Had to add milk and a touch of sugar, it's bitter as hell but still flavorful in a weird way. TheFrailNinja fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Jan 5, 2012 |
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Jan 5, 2012 01:15
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GrAviTy84 posted:Do you ever taste other things like wine, whisky, rum, or tea? I mean taste, not just drink. These "notes" that descriptions like to brag about are just subtleties in the coffee, the coffee wont actually taste like a cup of toffee or caramel or hot chocolate or gingersnapcookies with wild berries. It tastes like coffee with a hint of fruitiness, or coffee with a caramel-like roastiness, or coffee with a rustic chocolate like earthiness, or coffee with a bright spicy nuance. These notes are just things that the cuppers, when cupping, think the coffee's subtleties remind them of. It's not something I usually do, no. That doesn't mean I don't know the difference between drinking and tasting, common sense told me early on to do more just gulping down the coffee. I do something similar to the "chewing" technique seen in that youtube clip. Hope I'm not sounding too whiny, if anything I was loving committed to this and did my best to get it right, posting only when I ran out of options.  I've tried three different beans (two from an online roaster, one from the local supermarket), two different brewing methods, using a regular grinder then heavily modded then back to regular, everything from espresso grind to boulders (grinding immediately before brewing), carefully measured coffee/water ratios, steeping times going from 2 to 6 minutes, water 30s/5min/10min/20 minutes off boil, rinsing the paper filter, pre-heating the cup, pouring the water at once or in phases, straight or in circular motions, stirring once or multiple times, blooming the grinds... To be fair, this coffee is much more pleasant than the Krups pods I'm used to, but that's really not saying much. Without a square of dark chocolate to go along it's actually quite bland, especially when you think about all the talk of sweetness and fruits. It's not like I was expecting coffee to taste like apple juice, but with people hyperboling the gently caress out of this - using terms like "outstanding sweetness", "huge mouthfeel" and "expect a blast of *insert fruit*" - I certainly was expecting it to be more than good old coffee with the slightest, subtlest hint of something vaguely resembling chocolate and fruits but not really. But I suppose that was my mistake and since I dabble in high-end audio - largest exporter of hyperbolic silly terms - I really should know better.
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Jan 5, 2012 01:27
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After reading this thread I have decided to dive in to the deep end. NO more shall my coffee be from Starbucks !!!!! I bought an Aeropress and a hand crank grinder, which will arrive tomorrow. I will also be getting some fresh roasted beans from my local roaster. I fully expect to be blown away by my first cup or this thread is the best form of false advertising ever  .
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Jan 5, 2012 01:48
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Goddamnnit, they are out of refurb maestro pluses. They're listed right there, but nooooo. . .out of stock.
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Jan 5, 2012 02:59
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lemoz posted:After reading this thread I have decided to dive in to the deep end. NO more shall my coffee be from Starbucks !!!!!
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Jan 5, 2012 03:02
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seravid posted:It's not something I usually do, no. That doesn't mean I don't know the difference between drinking and tasting, common sense told me early on to do more just gulping down the coffee. I do something similar to the "chewing" technique seen in that youtube clip. Don't read the reviews or descriptions, just find what you might like, by region and roast, and just enjoy it. I got beans from my local roaster that was nothing more than a paper bag with the word "Sumatra" written on it. Did it taste like grapefruit and allspice and lilac? I dunno, it just tasted like a good cup of Joe to me.
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Jan 5, 2012 03:46
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As someone who is a serious coffee snob, I think most of the tasting notes are total horseshit. Additionally, it's really difficult to brew great drip that is extracted just enough to really highlight the specific flavors. I've definitely tasted blueberries in coffee in a strong way, and it was really cool, but it's not going to happen unless you're really good at making coffee. To TheFrailNinja, it sounds like your coffee was ground too finely, causing overextraction (bitterness).
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Jan 5, 2012 03:50
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AriTheDog posted:As someone who is a serious coffee snob, I think most of the tasting notes are total horseshit. Additionally, it's really difficult to brew great drip that is extracted just enough to really highlight the specific flavors. I've definitely tasted blueberries in coffee in a strong way, and it was really cool, but it's not going to happen unless you're really good at making coffee. I don't think that was the problem, I think the grind was actually one of the most successful parts of the process. I think it was a combination of the bean being too dark for my taste, and the fact that I went for broke on the coffee : water ratio. I steeped it for 3.5-4 minutes pretty exactly. Another thing I'm wondering is, I measure out exactly 2 cups (16oz) of water in my tea pot, but how much is actually still there by the time it boils? It doesn't look like a whole hell of a lot by the time I pour it. I think that further over-strengthened the brew.
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Jan 5, 2012 03:54
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AriTheDog posted:As someone who is a serious coffee snob, I think most of the tasting notes are total horseshit. Additionally, it's really difficult to brew great drip that is extracted just enough to really highlight the specific flavors. I've definitely tasted blueberries in coffee in a strong way, and it was really cool, but it's not going to happen unless you're really good at making coffee.
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Jan 5, 2012 04:09
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nm posted:Goddamnnit, they are out of refurb maestro pluses. Hands off, they're mine. I'm pretty sure the guy who was supposed to sell me his used one locally died or something. I've been refreshing that page for the past few days and nothing. I think they officially update on Fridays?
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Jan 5, 2012 14:31
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Residency Evil posted:
Usually Fridays yes. For anyone interested I will be selling my Starbucks branded Maestro soon as my Vario will arrive today. I got the Maestro from Baratza's refurbished store 2 months ago and it's perfect. If interested PM although it's heavy and may be easier to sell locally.
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Jan 5, 2012 17:49
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Doh004 posted:Question! Is it illegal for my little studio apartment in NYC to not have a smoke detector? Because I definitely don't have one which I discovered after smoking up my kitchen the other night with roasting coffee. Sure looks that way! http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/faq/quality.html#smoke On a different note, does anybody know an easy way to clean a Contigo Autoseal? I forgot to clean it for a week or so and it has some gunk up inside the lid that's hard to reach.
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Jan 5, 2012 20:34
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New setup from Seattlecoffeegear.com is here! I've dialed in my Vario to pull a pretty drat good shot. Had a few now, hope I can sleep...looking forward to the AM though!  Edit: The Vario is made in Taiwan...thought these things were made in Germany?? Cheap labor FTW I suppose.... hotsauce fucked around with this message at 04:07 on Jan 6, 2012 |
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Jan 6, 2012 04:04
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TheFrailNinja posted:I don't think that was the problem, I think the grind was actually one of the most successful parts of the process. I think it was a combination of the bean being too dark for my taste, and the fact that I went for broke on the coffee : water ratio. I steeped it for 3.5-4 minutes pretty exactly. Another thing I'm wondering is, I measure out exactly 2 cups (16oz) of water in my tea pot, but how much is actually still there by the time it boils? It doesn't look like a whole hell of a lot by the time I pour it. I think that further over-strengthened the brew. Yikes. I just received a french press and grinder for christmas...am I really supposed to be thinking about it this much? 
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Jan 6, 2012 06:06
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Another Dirty Dish posted:Sure looks that way! http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/faq/quality.html#smoke Have you run it through the dishwasher? Cyril Sneer posted:Yikes. I just received a french press and grinder for christmas...am I really supposed to be thinking about it this much? Maybe at the start, just because you want to know what works and what doesn't. Once you get the hang of it, you don't need to be so precise and you'll learn how do it without exactly measuring. I know how much coffee to use by visually looking at how much goes into the grinder and I know how high up the water needs to be in the press. rockcity fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Jan 6, 2012 |
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Jan 6, 2012 06:08
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Well, I had an amazon gift cert and bought a new maestro plus for like $100 after the gift cert. It better rock my CCD world! hotsauce posted:Edit: The Vario is made in Taiwan...thought these things were made in Germany?? Cheap labor FTW I suppose....
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Jan 6, 2012 06:13
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hotsauce posted:Hot.
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Jan 6, 2012 06:20
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nm posted:Well, I had an amazon gift cert and bought a new maestro plus for like $100 after the gift cert. Let us know how it compares to the Hario mini.
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Jan 6, 2012 06:26
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Christ Baratza put up more refurbs and let me buy one. 
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Jan 7, 2012 00:22
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Cyril Sneer posted:Yikes. I just received a french press and grinder for christmas...am I really supposed to be thinking about it this much? I found that starting with 35g of ground coffee and 500g of water was a good jumping off point for my French press coffee. Then I could tweak ratios as I worked through a bag of coffee to get things just right. 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.
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Jan 7, 2012 03:26
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30 Goddamned Dicks posted:I found that starting with 35g of ground coffee and 500g of water was a good jumping off point for my French press coffee. Then I could tweak ratios as I worked through a bag of coffee to get things just right. I sometimes use a Pyrex measuring cup, seems like it works fine for me.
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Jan 7, 2012 03:39
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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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Yeah, they really just make pouring nice and gentle with no risk of dumping too much in at once but I've seen others just pour into a proper pitcher or pyrex instead with the same results. Sweet Maria's has a cool electric goose neck kettle I'm thinking of grabbing for my mom, since she liked my Hario kettle so much over the holidays. I will have a new Baratza Vario from Chris' Coffee next week, I only got it over a Rocky due to the insane reviews the Vario is getting. I feel a bit like a tool for spending so much and I know the coffee won't be $380 better than how it was with my Capresso Infinity but it will be fun anyway. Also: Was at Cost Plus today and noticed they have a shitload of coffee stuff including some simple ceramic pourover cones, Chemex systems, various filters, Ibriks...all kinds of stuff. Keyser_Soze fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Jan 7, 2012 |
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Jan 7, 2012 04:06
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Aeropress just came in today  . Makes pretty strong coffee when following the directions, but after adding water to get to "drip coffee strength" it seems significantly weaker. Any suggestions?
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Jan 7, 2012 05:04
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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.
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Jan 7, 2012 06:17
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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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This thread has basically helped me switch over to a Maestro Plus... I couldn't stand the grief my Hario mill was giving me. I'm glad I swapped it - so much easier to dial in the right grind size for press pot.
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Jan 7, 2012 08:04
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Got a grinder for Christmas and visited the Algerian Coffee Shop in London to buy a selection of beans to use with my french press.. Seemed to all be in big shelf jars so no idea how old they were, but got them home and they tasted good. I'll give Has Bean a try next to see if I can tell a difference. Is it normal for "full roast" beans to taste quite smoky? Some people that tried it commented that it tasted like an ashtray, which was a bit of a downer (luckily they liked the medium roasts)
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Jan 7, 2012 19:51
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GrAviTy84 posted:http://www.amazon.com/Cilio-Porcelain-No-Filter-Holder/dp/B002CX2UCO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2KLM5WYQYNQP9&colid=3GZ8PSPLBT5TR 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. Other question: do you guys recommend electric or stovetop kettles? I'm considering getting a Bonavita electric kettle or either the Hario Buono or the non-electric version of the Bonavita. Both of the latter look a bit thin, though, so I'm not sure if I'd be comfortable putting them on the stove... dik-dik fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Jan 8, 2012 |
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Jan 8, 2012 01:28
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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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Any recommendation on electric kettles with programmed temps? Or is a regular kettle and a thermometer easier/better?
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Jan 8, 2012 02:33
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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 know someone mentioned a Cuisinart electric kettle earlier in the thread. From what I can tell from the tea thread, it's accurate to +/- 2 degrees (but C or F?). I'm not too picky so I'm using the Aroma kettle and just going by cooling off from boiling.
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Jan 8, 2012 03:00
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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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mattdev posted:Sup, tamper, espresso machine, grinder and scale (not pictured) buddy? 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.
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Jan 8, 2012 05:44
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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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GrAviTy84 posted:Wait are you saying that the shot is pulled in 11 seconds or 30 seconds? Grind time 11 shot time 30. My bad.
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Jan 8, 2012 05:53
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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. The grind setting depends on so many factors that any numbers someone else gives you will be meaningless. Where you have the fine calibration set (see manual) and the dose weight will both have a major impact on this, but it varies quite a bit from machine to machine and coffee to coffee. What size dose have you been using? From what I recall, the stock Silvia basket doesn't hold much more than 14g without touching the screen. Have you learned about temperature surfing yet? traveling midget posted:Any recommendation on electric kettles with programmed temps? Or is a regular kettle and a thermometer easier/better? There is no reason to buy a fancy temperature-controlled kettle for coffee. If you want to get a new electric kettle, you'd be much better off buying something like the Bonavita, which has some serious utility for pourover. I assume you have some sort of kitchen thermometer. Just check approximately how long it takes to get to your chosen temperature after boiling, and keep that in mind for future reference.
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Jan 8, 2012 06:09
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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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