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So I am sitting here at work, it is 4 PM, my newborn is kicking my rear end all over the place, and thus I am seriously dragging right now. I am very seriously considering putting together a "make good coffee at work" rig. What I've got here: a Bunn Single Axiom 15 drip coffee maker that keeps water at 200ºF (so basically, I've just got my hot water source), and someone has a Breville Café Roma ESP8XL espresso machine that they've left in the kitchen for common use. I'm thinking that I don't want to bother bringing in a gooseneck kettle, so pour-over is probably out. I want to leave it here at work, so I don't want to spend a ton of money. As I run this idea through my admittedly barely-functioning brain, I come up with the following parts list: a cheap scale, a hand grinder, and probably a Clever dripper. Question: which is better overall, the Skerton or the Mini Mill? Is there another hand grinder that I should seriously consider?
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Jan 8, 2014 22:16
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| # ? May 14, 2024 22:30 |
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My wife got me this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008YK3IUM/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I really like it but I don't have any of the others so I can't talk about how it stands up to them.
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Jan 8, 2014 23:21
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So my Virtuoso just arrived in the mail - any gotchas about it that I should look out for?
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Jan 8, 2014 23:30
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becoming posted:So I am sitting here at work, it is 4 PM, my newborn is kicking my rear end all over the place, and thus I am seriously dragging right now. I am very seriously considering putting together a "make good coffee at work" rig. The Skerton sucks because it has no top cover. Adjusting the Skerton is also a hassle and guessing game. With the Mini Mill you can go nuts and grind really fast without problems. I also recommend the Porlex Mini mill. It's $40 on Amazon and looks way cooler than the Harios. As far as the internals I'm convinced the Hario and Porlex Mini mills are identical. They work exactly the same.
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Jan 8, 2014 23:42
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P.s. buy filtropa filters for the clever
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Jan 8, 2014 23:46
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o muerte posted:So my Virtuoso just arrived in the mail - any gotchas about it that I should look out for? Mine had the internal rings misaligned, so the hopper would not seat properly. At first I didn't realize this, and thought I just needed to turn the hopper with Hulk strength. Once I realized what was going on, I reached in with my fingers and rotated them around until it would seat. You should never have to do that again, and it only takes a few seconds, but if you didn't realize it/made the same mistake I did, you could put too much force on the hopper and strip one of the tits on the side. Fortunately I realized before I did any real damage. If the hopper seats level and turns freely (clicks between settings) then you are good to go.
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Jan 9, 2014 00:02
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le capitan posted:I'd try to use up all my coffee by a week or two after the roast date. This is typically a thing, yes. Actually the barista at Blue Bottle's siphon bar said that they don't use them after 10 days. (Also he made a super delicious siphon brew out of some Ethiopian Peaberry that was one of the best cups I have ever had, seriously)
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Jan 9, 2014 00:10
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Google Butt posted:P.s. buy filtropa filters for the clever I think the Technivorm #4s are identical and they stock them at Sur La Table if you lack a local retailer for the Filtropas. e: also they're five bucks so it is reasonably priced unlike sur la table
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Jan 9, 2014 00:10
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Wow. Fresh bought. Much taste.  
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Jan 9, 2014 03:20
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After being delayed a day, I got my green beans. My first roast!  Thanks to everybody in the thread for all the information about coffee. I went from cans of preground with flavored creamer to nothing but black delicious coffee. Started with an aeropress and hand grinder, then three days later ordered an Encore grinder. This stuff is fun to learn and a great little hobby for me. I do have a question about my first roast. Some beans are more done than others, should I have used to high setting half way through the roast? The Wagner HT1000 has low(750°) and high(1000°)
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Jan 9, 2014 04:05
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Slainhobo posted:After being delayed a day, I got my green beans. My first roast! High the whole time, holding the stationary, 1" above beans, backing off an inch when you reach first crack. Looks to me like you might need to experiment with your stirring technique. You'll get your technique down soon, don't feel bad if you have to dump a few roasts, it's just part of the process.
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Jan 9, 2014 05:03
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I was a roaster for a coffee company for many years. We used to use a heat gun like that to roast up samples. We had a large metal funnel we cut and pipe clamped onto the end. Over that we had some bendable wire mesh stuff that was bent over the top. All purchased at Home Depot, We would turn it facing up and the air would move the beans by themselves pretty good. Just give it a gentle shake every now and then. Would wait for the first crack then about 10 seconds or so it would be done, like a medium city roast for most of samples. Our big roaster we could go to whatever temp we wanted so didn't have to listen for cracks. Chaff flies all over the place though.  Pretty much this copen fucked around with this message at 05:36 on Jan 9, 2014 |
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Jan 9, 2014 05:27
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Hot drat is the Virtuoso an upgrade from the Infinity. Virtually zero fines on a pourover grind, this is great!
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Jan 9, 2014 06:15
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o muerte posted:Hot drat is the Virtuoso an upgrade from the Infinity. Virtually zero fines on a pourover grind, this is great! I just got a preciso refurb, haven't tried it with my ccd yet, just trying to get a decent shot. Might keep my infinity for ccd duty.
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Jan 9, 2014 08:37
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Google Butt posted:I just got a preciso refurb, haven't tried it with my ccd yet, just trying to get a decent shot. Might keep my infinity for ccd duty. My infinity was relegated to office coffee duty when I got my Rocky
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Jan 9, 2014 08:40
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GrAviTy84 posted:My infinity was relegated to office coffee duty when I got my Rocky True. I just haven't had the time to dial it in, I'll experiment this weekend.
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Jan 9, 2014 08:44
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Ground up 44g of Intelligentsia Organic Kurimi this morning. Went with a 22 on the Virtuoso, and brewed it with the Chemex. It came out pretty good, but it was still a very slow draw-down. It was probably slightly over-extracted, though I didn't taste bitterness in it. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I enjoyed the same coffee from the CCD yesterday morning. I'll bump the grind up a bit for tomorrow's Chemex batch and see how that comes out. I've started keeping a log book with my preparations and tasting notes. I want to be able to replicate particularly excellent batches, so I figure that's the smartest way. I'm currently logging coffee type, brew method, grind settings, amount of coffee, amount of water for bloom, length of bloom, amount of water added for the brew, length of pour, and length of draw-down. Anything I am missing? Mu Zeta posted:The Skerton sucks because it has no top cover. Adjusting the Skerton is also a hassle and guessing game. With the Mini Mill you can go nuts and grind really fast without problems. I also recommend the Porlex Mini mill. It's $40 on Amazon and looks way cooler than the Harios. As far as the internals I'm convinced the Hario and Porlex Mini mills are identical. They work exactly the same. This is great feedback, and I appreciate it. After you posted, I went and read more user reviews, and almost all of them agreed with you, so that settles that. I actually slightly prefer the look of the Hario Mini Mill, so that's what I'll go with. Bonus that it's a little cheaper. Through a shipping snafu with Amazon, I have a spare AeroPress, so that might become my work brewer. Just need a little case to hold the whole shebang and I'll be set.
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Jan 9, 2014 18:33
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The only obvious thing I'd say you're missing is water temperature as well
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Jan 9, 2014 19:22
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becoming posted:I've started keeping a log book with my preparations and tasting notes. I want to be able to replicate particularly excellent batches, so I figure that's the smartest way. I'm currently logging coffee type, brew method, grind settings, amount of coffee, amount of water for bloom, length of bloom, amount of water added for the brew, length of pour, and length of draw-down. Anything I am missing? Water temperature if you have an accurate way to measure it and of course, an enjoyment level.
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Jan 9, 2014 19:22
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Hollis Brown posted:Water temperature if you have an accurate way to measure it and of course, an enjoyment level. Yeah, I'm an idiot. I was listing them from memory. Definitely logging temperature, and then writing tasting notes below all the stats. Sure did forget to mention those two. I'm in Maryland and work fairly near Annapolis, home to Ceremony Coffee. Has anyone here had any experience with their beans? I am thinking about making a trip down there in the next week or two, once my Intelligentsia runs out.
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Jan 9, 2014 21:01
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becoming posted:I'm in Maryland and work fairly near Annapolis, home to Ceremony Coffee. Has anyone here had any experience with their beans? I am thinking about making a trip down there in the next week or two, once my Intelligentsia runs out. On the same topic: I asked a page ago but got no responses, has anyone been to Mad City Coffee in Columbia, MD?
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Jan 9, 2014 21:23
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Timid posted:On the same topic: I asked a page ago but got no responses, has anyone been to Mad City Coffee in Columbia, MD? Google reviews seem to indicate that it's meh. They are on my way home. I'm willing to stop and check them out, take one for the team.
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Jan 9, 2014 21:31
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Got my Behmor 1600 and SM sampler and that is going to make roasting very easy. I'll still have to crack windows and vent my house and run my whole house fan as it did make my CO sensors go apeshit with only the range hood running and the unit on top of the stove roasting a small 1/4 lb batch at P2. R.I.P. Whirly Popper, your budget saving roasting for the last 16 months made the $300 for the Behmor less painful.
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Jan 9, 2014 21:40
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Just curious, why p2? I've read pretty much every tidbit of information I can find on the behmor and I think the only profile worth using is p1, except for the absolute softest of beans, then I'd use p3 for that.
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Jan 9, 2014 21:43
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becoming posted:Google reviews seem to indicate that it's meh. They are on my way home. I'm willing to stop and check them out, take one for the team. Ah thanks a lot! I saw the meh reviews too, but I was kinda hoping that their beans would be at least decent. I was planning on buying a backup bag from them some time in the future. It's the closest coffee roaster/shop to where I live, but I don't really have a reliable way to get there at the moment. I've read good things about Ceremony though, so hopefully you'll get some good beans. 
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Jan 9, 2014 21:55
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Timid posted:Ah thanks a lot! I saw the meh reviews too, but I was kinda hoping that their beans would be at least decent. I was planning on buying a backup bag from them some time in the future. It's the closest coffee roaster/shop to where I live, but I don't really have a reliable way to get there at the moment. I've read good things about Ceremony though, so hopefully you'll get some good beans. No problem. I'll swing by tomorrow on my way home. Any bean in particular that you want me to check out? I'm thinking the Yirga Cheffe, but I'm open to suggestion. becoming fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Jan 9, 2014 |
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Jan 9, 2014 22:03
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Google Butt posted:Just curious, why p2? just a test batch per their instructions
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Jan 9, 2014 22:10
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becoming posted:No problem. I'll swing by tomorrow on my way home. Any bean in particular that you want me to check out? I'm thinking the Yirga Cheffe, but I'm open to suggestion. I don't really have a preference, so just get whatever you want!
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Jan 9, 2014 22:26
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Mu Zeta posted:The Skerton sucks because it has no top cover. The Skerton comes with a top cover. I got one for Christmas and it's a silicon slip-on that encloses the whole top chamber. Works great, nothing comes out.
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Jan 10, 2014 06:23
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The top cover is a pretty new thing. The one I got a couple years ago didn't come with one.
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Jan 10, 2014 06:27
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becoming posted:
I live in Maryland and go there for their drinks and beans whenever I have the chance. I think they're fantastic. Don't skip that one. Although the inside looks kinda gaudy and strange.
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Jan 10, 2014 07:49
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The recommended grinders in the OP aren't easily found in the UK (out of stock in most places or only sold second-hand). I ended up getting the De'Longhi LG79, which is really impressive: it's a burr grinder, the grind is super consistent and covers everything from French press to Aeropress via pour-over, it's also really compact if space is a concern, as well as being cheap. You could probably do espresso with the finest grind setting if you have a pressurised portafilter but obviously you'd be better off with a higher-quality grinder. e: just note that the burrs are plastic so eventually you'll have to bin the grinder and get a new one when they wear down
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Jan 10, 2014 10:36
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I'm sure you guys know how it is, but being that coffee is a new hobby for me, I have been spending hours each day reading. I went back and re-read the first few pages of this thread the other day, and decided that I'd like to give cold brewing a try. The Toddy looks pretty awesome, but as pointed out on page one, it's not absolutely necessary. I've already got a bunch of mason jars for canning, so I'm gonna give it a go. Question: what is a good water-to-grounds ratio for cold brewing? Toddy recommends 9 cups of water to 1 pound of beans, which comes out to a 4.7-to-1 mixture. Nick Griffith suggests 8-to-1. Anyone that's doing this in mason jars have an opinion they care to share? Also, my planned method is this: put water in jar, grind beans, put beans in jar, put top on jar, let sit for 12-14 hours per Nick Griffith's suggestion, put filter in CCD and rinse, put CCD on top of second jar, pour first jar through CCD. Sounds easier than buying cheesecloth and all that nonsense. Any obvious problems with that plan? script kitty posted:I live in Maryland and go there for their drinks and beans whenever I have the chance. I think they're fantastic. Don't skip that one. Although the inside looks kinda gaudy and strange. Thanks. A friend of mine goes to church with the owner and personally knows the head roaster, so I wasn't sure whether to write off his rave reviews. Good to hear from a goon. I also saw that they are mentioned on The Wirecutter's Coffee Gear article. All in all, sounds like it's worth the short trip down there. becoming fucked around with this message at 15:53 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 15:46
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I like 140 grams coffee to 1000 grams water. My fav way to make it is to just use a french press, then you can just plunge when it's done.
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Jan 10, 2014 16:28
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becoming posted:I'm sure you guys know how it is, but being that coffee is a new hobby for me, I have been spending hours each day reading. I went back and re-read the first few pages of this thread the other day, and decided that I'd like to give cold brewing a try. The Toddy looks pretty awesome, but as pointed out on page one, it's not absolutely necessary. I've already got a bunch of mason jars for canning, so I'm gonna give it a go. Nope! I even used the Hario cone +filters when I found out that I was out of No.4 filters after doing one cold brew batch. Do be careful in pouring; sometimes the coffee grounds come out in one big blob with a splash, possibly upsetting the filter/cone. Actually, it might be interesting to compare cold brew tastes from a FP and the various filters.
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Jan 10, 2014 16:33
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If you're in DC and haven't heard yet: http://dcdisloyal.tumblr.com Basically a scavenger hunt. Visit Filter, Peregrine, Chinatown, Coffee Bar, La Mano, and Blind Dog and get a mark at each, and then get a free drink from any of them. Also try Ceremony's Worka. Hella juicy.
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Jan 10, 2014 16:35
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For the first cold brew batch, I put 100g of french press grind into 450g of water. I'm going to do another one now and put 70g into 500g of water (to get your ratio, Hollis Brown). I'll do a third alongside these two and do 62.5g of beans into 500g water, for a 1-to-8. I am sitting on, no joke, about twenty pounds of Starbucks beans, so I am willing to make a bunch of batches and experiment. Edit - hosed up and stopped paying attention while pouring the last batch, so instead of 1-to-8, we're looking at 1-to-10. We'll see how this goes. beanbrew posted:Also try Ceremony's Worka. Hella juicy. That is exactly the one my friend was raving about yesterday. I plan to swing by and pick up a bag once I'm getting near the end of my Intelligentsia stash. becoming fucked around with this message at 17:44 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 16:50
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I might give the 175 degree thing a try. http://features.slashdot.org/story/14/01/05/2032240/interview-alan-adler-answers-your-questions-about-coffee-and-throwing-objects quote:Adler: We get a lot of resistance on two fronts relative to the AeroPress. There are people who buy AeroPresses who use it differently, and the first way they use it differently is they don't use 175 degree water. They say, oh you can't possibly brew coffee at 175 degrees. My answer always is, well, you can use any temperature your heart desires, but you owe it to yourself to try 175, because whenever we do blind tasting, whether it be for just average people or professional coffee tasters, they invariably choose 175. I would say that the average person who had an AeroPress, has never tried 175, even once. They go hotter, and you get answers like 'I don't use boiling water. I boil it, and then I wait a minute before I brew.' Well, with the average kettle, if you wait a minute, the temperature goes from 212 to 210. It takes 17 minutes for the average size kettle to go down from boiling to 175.
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Jan 11, 2014 00:21
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 I got lazy and didn't feel like grinding the coffee by hand today.
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Jan 11, 2014 05:01
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Casull posted:
Did the coffee turn out any good?
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Jan 11, 2014 10:15
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