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Frankston
Jul 27, 2010


I find myself using my french press more and more these days because it's imo the quickest and easiest way to make coffee and I can't be bothered with all the faffing that comes with pourover.

Saying that, can anyone give recommendations for a good cafetiere or is it a case of "they're all pretty much the same thing don't spend more than £10 on one you dummy".

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porktree
Mar 23, 2002

You just fucked with the wrong Mexican.

bizwank posted:

Well that new $300 boiler plus a $20 insulation wrap will turn it into a v5, but for $350 less then a new one, so if you like the Silvia it makes sense to fix the one you got. If you're anywhere near Seattle I can do it for you, otherwise Google is your friend, but there aren't a lot of Espresso Machine repair shops out there. You could probably sell it for parts on Ebay as a last resort.

The CC1 has a stainless steel boiler, and the Silvia also has a 3-way valve. Last CC1 I had in the shop ended up getting scrapped because it took so long to get parts that the customer just gave up on waiting for it and bought a Nuova or something instead.

I spent yesterday taking apart, moving and reassembling a floor loom for my wife, and so was unable to 'dig' deeper into my Silvia. This last night when I turned it on, it was about 5 seconds before the GFI tripped. This morning, I left it on for more than a minute and it never tripped. I'm feeling hopeful.

Full disclosure - I would have probably not replaced the boiler/heating element. Mainly do to my confidence in being able to reassemble the unit and to not have leaks. I'm reasonable comfortable with electronics and mechanics, but plumbing is always a challenge. I would have still taken it apart and looked inside, but the risk of me ending up with 2 boilers, out $300 and no espresso machine seems high. Also, my wife has already written the machine off, which gives me license to replace the 9 year old machine with something newer. (Ignoring the fact that my daughter is using the Audrey that Silvia replaced, and was probably made in the 90's).

In light of that, I'm probably going to order a new machine today, and put the Silvia on my work bench for convenient late night espresso.

So, what's the main downside of a steel boiler? Heat retention? What went out on the machine you scrapped. I notice that the CC1's on the market now are v1.5 - I can get no sense of how old that is. Looking at Crossland's website makes me less confident in their gear.

Anyone here using the CC1? I'm leaning that direction for the PID. The only time make a latte or cap, is for guests, I drink 2 doubles every night. I feel like bizwank is attempting to steer me away from a bad decision. Who can say nice things about Crossland?

And a ton of thanks to both bizwank and Scaramouche - I really appreciate the help.

Tippecanoe
Jan 26, 2011

rockcity posted:

Try starting with it on low and let the beans go for a minute. Then hit the cool button and let that go for 30 seconds. Them turn the heat to medium and roast as normal. I leave the fan about 75% power. I almost never use the high heat. You might be unevenly roasting the beans internally which would definitely leave grassy notes in the coffee. Also, I always did my beans by volume rather than weight. I used about 1/3 of a cup.

Thanks! I stuck to medium heat this time, will report back soon. I kinda forgot that I had heard that the SR500's heat sensor is a little wonky and will trip constantly if you leave it at high heat. Hopefully this resolves that problem!

Ultimate Mango
Jan 18, 2005

Welp, I'm up to using four shims on my Sette.

I'm kind of regretting not just getting a Eureka or one of the better Baratza Vario grinders. The Sette is just so loud and it's not nearly as adjustable as I was hoping. The range of adjustment just isn't all that wide.

That being said, the workflow is easy and I love having basically no retention. It is nice having the built in scale, really good for my amateur use.

a mysterious cloak
Apr 5, 2003

Leave me alone, dad, I'm with my friends!


Frankston posted:

I find myself using my french press more and more these days because it's imo the quickest and easiest way to make coffee and I can't be bothered with all the faffing that comes with pourover.

Saying that, can anyone give recommendations for a good cafetiere or is it a case of "they're all pretty much the same thing don't spend more than £10 on one you dummy".

I have a cheap glass one and a nice stainless steel one, they're all pretty much the same.

sellouts
Apr 23, 2003

Geisha from Dark Matter via pourover is really, really good.

Scaramouche
Mar 26, 2001

SPACE FACE! SPACE FACE!

I don't know if I'd jump right into a Crossland CC1. If it matters to you they're a thermoblock machine instead of a SBDU like the Silvia. I almost think I'd take a chance on a Quickmill EVO 70 if I was into thermoblock in the first place since it's a newer machine, and they have more market penetration that would hopefully translate into better part availability/repariability/etc.

bizwank
Oct 4, 2002

porktree posted:

So, what's the main downside of a steel boiler? Heat retention? What went out on the machine you scrapped. I notice that the CC1's on the market now are v1.5 - I can get no sense of how old that is. Looking at Crossland's website makes me less confident in their gear.

Anyone here using the CC1? I'm leaning that direction for the PID. The only time make a latte or cap, is for guests, I drink 2 doubles every night. I feel like bizwank is attempting to steer me away from a bad decision. Who can say nice things about Crossland?
Don't get me wrong, the CC1 is a lot of machine for the money and is well designed, and Bill Crossland is a great guy who does his best to support them. One of the biggest determining factors in the life of a machine though is if you can get parts and service for it, and since the CC1 is a one-off machine the only source of parts is Bill. That's a big red flag in my line of work. If he gets hit by a bus, or goes on vacation, or just gets tired of the coffee industry it becomes an expensive boat anchor. Compare that to Rancilio where I have three vendors I can get parts from on the West coast alone, a bunch more on the East coast and I can even order direct from the factory if I need something nobody stocks (which happens occasionally). I'd be surprised if there's an espresso machine repair shop in the country that hasn't seen and worked on a Silvia at some point or knows where to get parts for it. Just something to consider, as every machine eventually needs parts, and I see machines with plenty of life in them end up in the dumpster on an almost weekly basis for this very reason.

Steel vs. brass is mostly about heat retention, yeah, but the PID goes a long way towards this not mattering very much. A brass boiler will have slower temperature swings but it will still swing whereas a steel boiler with a PID should stay within one degree of where it's set. The CC1 has been at 1.5 for several years now, I believe it was a pretty early design change and only two components. The one that I had in the shop had a leaking steam thermoblock which had corroded several other fittings, in a way that necessitated replacement, and I was waiting on parts for about 4 months before the customer gave up on it.

Scaramouche posted:

I don't know if I'd jump right into a Crossland CC1. If it matters to you they're a thermoblock machine instead of a SBDU like the Silvia.
Only the steam boiler is a thermoblock, it has a standard (SS) coffee boiler.

Scaramouche
Mar 26, 2001

SPACE FACE! SPACE FACE!

So Baratza dropped the deets on the Sette 30 today:
https://www.baratza.com/grinder/sette-30-ap/

Still haven't received my price lists so not sure what it's going to be, but looking like around $250-280 USD.

The interesting thing is back in May they changed the emphasis of it. It was initially described as being designed for Brew-specific methods (pourover, V60, french press, etc.) but they walked that back:
https://www.baratza.com/upping-the-entry-level-home-espresso-grinding-game/

Unfortunately some vendors still haven't go the memo on that yet ;)
https://clivecoffee.com/product/baratza-sette-30/

rockcity
Jan 16, 2004
Speaking of espresso machines in that price point. I'm finishing up a rather large tattoo with my tattoo artist and I'm planning to tip her with an espresso setup. I'm looking to keep it under $1k for the machine and grinder. I'm looking for something somewhat approachable to someone who isn't really a gearhead, but would generally like to have a machine at home that is relatively easy to use. I have a Silvia that I'm quite fond of that I put a PID into and that would be a solid setup for her, but with a PID, that wouldn't leave a whole lot to spend on a grinder. The CC1 does have the PID built into it which is nice and would still leave an decent amount for a grinder. The other machine that seems to get a lot of love for the price point, but I've never really seen mentioned here is the Breville Infuser. It has PID-esque internal components that apparently do a good job regulating temp and Sweethome and Seattle Coffee Gear seem quite fond of it for the money. Has anyone here used it and have any thoughts on it? Also, what grinders should I be looking at if I just need it to do espresso? I bought her a Capresso Infinty a while back for drip/french press use so she's good there, so a dedicated espresso grinder would be just fine. That Sette AP 30 would actually be a nice option, though I'd need to buy it before Sept 7th.

Molten Llama
Sep 20, 2006

Frankston posted:

I find myself using my french press more and more these days because it's imo the quickest and easiest way to make coffee and I can't be bothered with all the faffing that comes with pourover.

All that faffing about is what keeps you from forgetting you have coffee brewing!

Frankston posted:

Saying that, can anyone give recommendations for a good cafetiere or is it a case of "they're all pretty much the same thing don't spend more than £10 on one you dummy".

Bodum's got the market on lock pretty much worldwide and their replacement parts are widely available. Unless you hate all of their designs, just buy a Bodum at nearly any shop.

porktree
Mar 23, 2002

You just fucked with the wrong Mexican.

bizwank posted:

Don't get me wrong, the CC1 is a lot of machine for the money and is well designed, and Bill Crossland is a great guy who does his best to support them. One of the biggest determining factors in the life of a machine though is if you can get parts and service for it, and since the CC1 is a one-off machine the only source of parts is Bill. That's a big red flag in my line of work.

Yes, This. I called up Seatle Coffee and talked to them about repair frequency and parts access. This is the biggest downside I saw an the CC1.

bizwank posted:

Steel vs. brass is mostly about heat retention, yeah, but the PID goes a long way towards this not mattering very much. A brass boiler will have slower temperature swings but it will still swing whereas a steel boiler with a PID should stay within one degree of where it's set. The CC1 has been at 1.5 for several years now, I believe it was a pretty early design change and only two components.

That makes sense. According to SCG there've been some fairly recent unpublished revisions of the CC1 - I don't think they were bullshitting me; it was understood I'd be getting either a Silvia or CC1 and Bill is a frequent visitor at SCG.

We'll see, I should be getting the CC1 Saturday :) - I hope it wasn't too foolish of a choice. At least the Silvia is working again, so I have a backup. My wife (a chai latte drinker) will like the thermoblock steaming. The PID was a deciding factor, I could surf the Silvia pretty well, and would have likely never added a PID to her. But, part of the fun is getting into something new and different, and tinkering with the process. Thanks again for your insight - it has been good to hear.

Mr. Mambold
Feb 13, 2011

Aha. Nice post.



Apropos of Baratza grinders, I may have a Precisio available (discontinued) with minimal usage- talking under 10 grinds total. I picked it up a few weeks ago thinking my Virtuoso was toastio, but lo n beholdo, it was refurblio. And it's all we need in a grinder. So I can offer the Precisio on S.A. Mart (a forum I've never done) or if anyone has a nice, slightly used espresso maker that's in the ballpark and wants to talk trade...? Otherwise, its going on eBay and/or CL.

Let me know if this post is inappropriate, I'll delete post hastio if so.

Kalsco
Jul 26, 2012


I've been looking to indulge my addiction and finally break into making coffee for myself ever since I found a place that serves coffee that actually has flavour. I'd like to be able to do something similar at home. There are a few considerations though before I want to plunk the money down, namely:

1) Budget. I'm looking to spend somewhere around or south of $100 for initial startup. I've nothing at the moment with regards to equipment outside of a temperature gun and a popcorn popper.
2) Flavour. If I'm not able to actually get something that is more than whatever bland, bitter crap I can pick up from most any corner around here, I'm not interested. I'm not expecting incredible results, just something noticeable and pleasant to enjoy while also drinking coffee.
3) Importance of roasting your own beans. Is there no hope unless I actually do it myself? Mostly a cost consideration, here, if my own roaster doesn't work or if I feel that's a step I can potentially cut out. I am in an urban metro so finding specialty vendors isn't an issue if that's the road to go for pre-roasted, but again, cost.

I've no issues with having to wait and deal with filters and times and temperatures. I already put up with it for tea and I'm very pleased with the results so I'm fine without having the coffee making process automated/streamlined. I'm thinking of a hand-grinder and a pour-over. Would this be a reasonable start to achieve what I'm going for? And if so, what should I look towards? I'm not looking to make more than one or maybe 2 cups a day.

I'd just refer over to the OP, but I'm curious to see if opinion has changed/what variation in opinion there is/better products are available for this now. Thanks for any help!

Qubee
May 31, 2013




quote:

Any stimulant or depressant, like caffine, will disrupt your sleep architecture from its normal patterns, even if you feel you have a pretty solid tollerance for caffine. Over time, the caffine causes your mind to linger much longer in Stage 2 sleep (or even Stage 1, very light sleep) rather than deeper sleep because the stimulant effects have not completely worn off from the day. This causes a reduction of time you spend in REM, because the mind needs Delta/Stage 3 (deep) sleep before moving on to a REM sleep session.

So, when you stop using caffine, your mind will then not have a stimulant blocking it from the natural sleep architecture that allows REM to occur. On top of that, a phenomenon called "REM rebound" occurs wherein the mind lingers longer in very vivid REM because it wants to catch up on all the REM time lost while you were taking shots of espresso.

I found this super interesting. I haven't been drinking coffee as much, and I've noticed this a lot. These past 3 days, I've had the deepest and most refreshing sleep, I wake up in the mornings now and actually feel energetic without taking caffeine, and going to bed at night leaves me waking up in the morning alert and energized, as opposed to feeling like a zombie. I've been having real vivid dreams too, which is so so. it's kind of annoying not dreaming of pitch black anymore, but it's strange and good being able to sleep solidly through the night, whereas I'm used to waking up 5 or 6 times in the night for no reason. vivid dreams kind of suck, cause they're mentally draining in their own ways, but I can live with that.

I've drastically toned down my caffeine consumption due to a bunch of reasons. keeping on top of dehydration was a chore and I'd get a migraine every two weeks which would cripple me for a day or two, morning time was an absolute nightmare, I'd be in a hazy fog for about 3 hours after waking up, even when drinking coffee. I'd also get a weird combination of jitters / jolt of energy to the brain, but I'd still feel lethargic. I also noticed lately that I was getting anxiety from my caffeine consumption: I didn't even notice it at first, but then I started seeing patterns, harmless arguments or discussions with friends would get me really agitated and worried, going out to university, shops, friend's houses would make me a ball of nerves.

I've got an interview in an hour or two, so I really lowered my caffeine consumption about 3 days ago. I felt like a nervous wreck when the woman called me and said to come in for the interview, but having dropped my consumption, I'm feeling rock steady and calm which is great. I'm also like this now in other aspects of my life. I can go out now without a feeling of impending doom, I can chat with random strangers and it's all good, my mind isn't racing at 1000 miles a minute, so I'm not having a constant internal monologue in my head when I'm out.

I initially only wanted to do this just to get through the interview without spontaneously combusting, but I'm actually really liking the effects of dropping caffeine. I might keep my coffee consumption toned way down from here on out, and instead of having 200mg of caffeine, I'll have 80mg which is the equivalent to a cup of tea. and having a cup or two of tea, or a weak cup of coffee these past few days has kept the headaches at bay, but I can feel it in the back right of my skull, so if I quit cold turkey, I'd be in for a bad time.

withak
Jan 15, 2003


Fun Shoe
Drugs aren't for everyone.

Frankston
Jul 27, 2010


I refuse to drink coffee after 5pm but I'll go nuts before then. Works for me!

Frankston
Jul 27, 2010



Skip the home roasting and get your beans from local roasters/the internet. Seems like a lot of work if you're just getting into it for the first time.

If you want to go pour over then V60's are very cheap and you'd do well to put the rest of your budget towards a decent electric grinder - a baratza encore is a decent entry model and is going for $130 on Amazon but you could probably find one a bit cheaper if you look around. I say go for electric because hand grinders are a pain in the rear end and you'll quickly get bored of it. Also the cheaper models just flat out suck and you won't be getting consistent grinds.

Oh and you'll need a gooseneck kettle for pour over. Well not need, but it helps a lot. That's more cost.

Other options that wouldn't require a gooseneck would be an aeropress or a clever coffee dripper. Both will give you good cups of coffee and are very easy to use.

Personally I started with an aeropress and a hario skerton hand grinder. I upgraded to an electric grinder after a few months though because as mentioned above I got sick of it and the grinds were just inconsistent.

There Bias Two
Jan 13, 2009
I'm not a good person

Q8ee posted:

I found this super interesting. I haven't been drinking coffee as much, and I've noticed this a lot. These past 3 days, I've had the deepest and most refreshing sleep, I wake up in the mornings now and actually feel energetic without taking caffeine, and going to bed at night leaves me waking up in the morning alert and energized, as opposed to feeling like a zombie. I've been having real vivid dreams too, which is so so. it's kind of annoying not dreaming of pitch black anymore, but it's strange and good being able to sleep solidly through the night, whereas I'm used to waking up 5 or 6 times in the night for no reason. vivid dreams kind of suck, cause they're mentally draining in their own ways, but I can live with that.

I've drastically toned down my caffeine consumption due to a bunch of reasons. keeping on top of dehydration was a chore and I'd get a migraine every two weeks which would cripple me for a day or two, morning time was an absolute nightmare, I'd be in a hazy fog for about 3 hours after waking up, even when drinking coffee. I'd also get a weird combination of jitters / jolt of energy to the brain, but I'd still feel lethargic. I also noticed lately that I was getting anxiety from my caffeine consumption: I didn't even notice it at first, but then I started seeing patterns, harmless arguments or discussions with friends would get me really agitated and worried, going out to university, shops, friend's houses would make me a ball of nerves.

I've got an interview in an hour or two, so I really lowered my caffeine consumption about 3 days ago. I felt like a nervous wreck when the woman called me and said to come in for the interview, but having dropped my consumption, I'm feeling rock steady and calm which is great. I'm also like this now in other aspects of my life. I can go out now without a feeling of impending doom, I can chat with random strangers and it's all good, my mind isn't racing at 1000 miles a minute, so I'm not having a constant internal monologue in my head when I'm out.

I think these are very, very extreme effects for a bit of caffeine. If this were my situation, I would cut it out completely. It's possible that you have a low tolerance for it genetically, or maybe it's exacerbating underlying anxiety problems already. Either way, talk to your doctor before downing another cup, maybe?

Qubee
May 31, 2013




There Bias Two posted:

I think these are very, very extreme effects for a bit of caffeine. If this were my situation, I would cut it out completely. It's possible that you have a low tolerance for it genetically, or maybe it's exacerbating underlying anxiety problems already. Either way, talk to your doctor before downing another cup, maybe?

I drink an awful lot of coffee. It was fine at the start, but I guess after a few months my tolerance got so high that I was having to down lots and lots and that's probably why I ended up with whacky side effects. it could also be because caffeine was still in my system so I wasn't getting deep enough sleep and that started making me a little cracked. It's not severe enough to warrant talking to a doc though. like you said, I could just be more sensitive to caffeine due to genetics, so I'll keep that in mind and tone down the amount I drink.

Colonel Taint
Mar 14, 2004


Kalsco posted:

I've been looking to indulge my addiction and finally break into making coffee for myself...

Aeropress + electric grinder will probably get you the most bang for your buck. Also something to heat the water with. I use an electric kettle but you could probably just use the stove top and a kettle or small pot. Shouldn't be more than $60 or so. You can go pretty crazy with high end burr grinders but I've been using a $20 Mr. Coffee blade grinder from walmart for a few years and it's fine.

As far as the beans go, home-roasting can be slightly cheaper if you already have the equipment, but I'd wait till you're at least comfortable with whatever brew method you settle on. Otherwise it's too many variables to deal with.

With buying pre-roasted I think the most important is that they roast to order. Nothing beats a good cup of coffee from beans that were roasted a day or two ago. There is quite a bit of variety in terms of what roasters offer/how they roast, so it's a bit of a journey to find roasters/blends that suit your preferences.

Scaramouche
Mar 26, 2001

SPACE FACE! SPACE FACE!

One thing I noticed about coffee consumption is that I changed from drinking first thing in the morning to until about an hour after I get to work. Apparently just after you wake up your body is still in a post-sleep/pre-fully awake mode due to the lingering presence of cortisol, and grabbing coffee right away messes with that process of becoming fully awake. After about a week I noticed greater alertness in the morning, and not feeling to "need" that first coffee of the day to get going.

There Bias Two
Jan 13, 2009
I'm not a good person

Scaramouche posted:

One thing I noticed about coffee consumption is that I changed from drinking first thing in the morning to until about an hour after I get to work. Apparently just after you wake up your body is still in a post-sleep/pre-fully awake mode due to the lingering presence of cortisol, and grabbing coffee right away messes with that process of becoming fully awake. After about a week I noticed greater alertness in the morning, and not feeling to "need" that first coffee of the day to get going.

I tend to wake up with plenty of energy, so I like to drink closer to noon to combat the usual slump.

ILikeVoltron
May 17, 2003

I <3 spyderbyte!

Scaramouche posted:

One thing I noticed about coffee consumption is that I changed from drinking first thing in the morning to until about an hour after I get to work. Apparently just after you wake up your body is still in a post-sleep/pre-fully awake mode due to the lingering presence of cortisol, and grabbing coffee right away messes with that process of becoming fully awake. After about a week I noticed greater alertness in the morning, and not feeling to "need" that first coffee of the day to get going.

Yea, my wife is one of those: "I'm not myself until I've downed three cups of coffee first thing in the morning" but I tend to wait until I feel a bit of a slump. Usually around 10am or so. With that said, I'll still stand at my espresso machine and make myself two shots before I do anything else.

Scaramouche
Mar 26, 2001

SPACE FACE! SPACE FACE!

I found the article I was thinking of so you guys know that I'm not just pulling it out of my rear end:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/why-drinking-coffee-first-thing-in-the-morning-is-a-bad-idea-10291621.html

The takeaway is apparently you slowly process cortisol in the morning after you wake up, and people can use coffee to "jumpstart" or avoid this. Your body then starts to rely on the external jumpstart (caffeine) instead of the internal one (cortisol), and it leads to habituation, a less "natural" start to the day, etc. According to the article your body does this when you get up, 12pm, and 5pm, so you should drink coffee in the troughs in between those times.

Democratic Pirate
Feb 17, 2010

I vary my morning coffee intake depending on if I have morning meetings or if I'm free to poop as I please.

Pigsfeet on Rye
Oct 22, 2008

I'm meat on the hoof

Scaramouche posted:

I found the article I was thinking of so you guys know that I'm not just pulling it out of my rear end:
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/why-drinking-coffee-first-thing-in-the-morning-is-a-bad-idea-10291621.html

The takeaway is apparently you slowly process cortisol in the morning after you wake up, and people can use coffee to "jumpstart" or avoid this. Your body then starts to rely on the external jumpstart (caffeine) instead of the internal one (cortisol), and it leads to habituation, a less "natural" start to the day, etc. According to the article your body does this when you get up, 12pm, and 5pm, so you should drink coffee in the troughs in between those times.

A graph to back you up more:

Qubee
May 31, 2013




Scaramouche posted:

The takeaway is apparently you slowly process cortisol in the morning after you wake up, and people can use coffee to "jumpstart" or avoid this. Your body then starts to rely on the external jumpstart (caffeine) instead of the internal one (cortisol), and it leads to habituation, a less "natural" start to the day, etc. According to the article your body does this when you get up, 12pm, and 5pm, so you should drink coffee in the troughs in between those times.

Drinking coffee doesn't really avoid it, it'll happen either way. The only difference it makes drinking at 9am is the fact the cortisol (which is somewhat similar to adrenaline, but slower acting) will negate the effects of caffeine, so you end up needing to drink more coffee, and not feeling the effects as much. Kind of like fighting an uphill battle. But if you hold off until after your body has done away with the cortisol, the same cup of coffee you would have had, will have a much bigger effect on waking you up.

Also, why does coffee make you poop? Not only poop, really satisfyingly poop.

There Bias Two
Jan 13, 2009
I'm not a good person

Q8ee posted:

Also, why does coffee make you poop? Not only poop, really satisfyingly poop.

I don't think there's a consensus on this. It affects some people this way and not others, possibly by stimulating colonic contractions.

Scaramouche
Mar 26, 2001

SPACE FACE! SPACE FACE!

I think it's because caffeine is a peripheral vasoconstrictor (and a primary vasodilator), which causes internal blood vessels to constrict possibly increasing pressure/frequency of peristaltic pressure.

Mr. Mambold
Feb 13, 2011

Aha. Nice post.



Scaramouche posted:

I think it's because caffeine is a peripheral vasoconstrictor (and a primary vasodilator), which causes internal blood vessels to constrict possibly increasing pressure/frequency of peristaltic pressure.

Kalsco
Jul 26, 2012


Colonel Taint posted:

Aeropress + electric grinder will probably get you the most bang for your buck. Also something to heat the water with. I use an electric kettle but you could probably just use the stove top and a kettle or small pot. Shouldn't be more than $60 or so. You can go pretty crazy with high end burr grinders but I've been using a $20 Mr. Coffee blade grinder from walmart for a few years and it's fine.

As far as the beans go, home-roasting can be slightly cheaper if you already have the equipment, but I'd wait till you're at least comfortable with whatever brew method you settle on. Otherwise it's too many variables to deal with.

With buying pre-roasted I think the most important is that they roast to order. Nothing beats a good cup of coffee from beans that were roasted a day or two ago. There is quite a bit of variety in terms of what roasters offer/how they roast, so it's a bit of a journey to find roasters/blends that suit your preferences.

Frankston posted:

Skip the home roasting and get your beans from local roasters/the internet. Seems like a lot of work if you're just getting into it for the first time.

If you want to go pour over then V60's are very cheap and you'd do well to put the rest of your budget towards a decent electric grinder - a baratza encore is a decent entry model and is going for $130 on Amazon but you could probably find one a bit cheaper if you look around. I say go for electric because hand grinders are a pain in the rear end and you'll quickly get bored of it. Also the cheaper models just flat out suck and you won't be getting consistent grinds.

Oh and you'll need a gooseneck kettle for pour over. Well not need, but it helps a lot. That's more cost.

Other options that wouldn't require a gooseneck would be an aeropress or a clever coffee dripper. Both will give you good cups of coffee and are very easy to use.

Personally I started with an aeropress and a hario skerton hand grinder. I upgraded to an electric grinder after a few months though because as mentioned above I got sick of it and the grinds were just inconsistent.

Thank you! I wasn't quite sure on the Aeropress but if it's a cheap way to get noticeable results, I figure it's worth a shot. Worst case scenario it's merely coffee which I'm still OK with.

I'll shop around and see what I can get for a grinder. Cheaper, the better, obviously, but this is a great start.

Big Beef City
Aug 15, 2013

Kalsco posted:

I've been looking to indulge my addiction and finally break into making coffee for myself ever since I found a place that serves coffee that actually has flavour. I'd like to be able to do something similar at home. There are a few considerations though before I want to plunk the money down, namely:

1) Budget. I'm looking to spend somewhere around or south of $100 for initial startup. I've nothing at the moment with regards to equipment outside of a temperature gun and a popcorn popper.
2) Flavour. If I'm not able to actually get something that is more than whatever bland, bitter crap I can pick up from most any corner around here, I'm not interested. I'm not expecting incredible results, just something noticeable and pleasant to enjoy while also drinking coffee.
3) Importance of roasting your own beans. Is there no hope unless I actually do it myself? Mostly a cost consideration, here, if my own roaster doesn't work or if I feel that's a step I can potentially cut out. I am in an urban metro so finding specialty vendors isn't an issue if that's the road to go for pre-roasted, but again, cost.

I've no issues with having to wait and deal with filters and times and temperatures. I already put up with it for tea and I'm very pleased with the results so I'm fine without having the coffee making process automated/streamlined. I'm thinking of a hand-grinder and a pour-over. Would this be a reasonable start to achieve what I'm going for? And if so, what should I look towards? I'm not looking to make more than one or maybe 2 cups a day.

I'd just refer over to the OP, but I'm curious to see if opinion has changed/what variation in opinion there is/better products are available for this now. Thanks for any help!

Here it is.

Big Beef City fucked around with this message at 18:48 on Aug 12, 2017

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

I drink a cup in the morning and right before bed and it doesn't nothing to me. I also stopped drinking when I went on a trip for a week and felt nothing. I just drink coffee for the taste.

Mr. Mambold
Feb 13, 2011

Aha. Nice post.



So with reading about espresso snobs and having most of what's needed to do that right (imho)- I got the roaster, I got ya grinder right hyeah! I was looking online at Saeco's, Breville's, etc. Someone itt said he works on Saecos and they're crap, so there's that.
Anyway, my wife starts getting Amazon prompts for espresso machines- I'm not getting them, mind you. So she throws a hissy about counter space- it's a pre-empt because she leaves empty jars and poo poo on the counters for weeks, but she mostly shuts me down on this notion.

She's also a bit passive/aggressive, so yesterday she comes home from the thrift shop fully ready to fight over a $5 Hamilton Beach (new in box) thrift shop find. Says it's a learning experience, for 5 bucks, then get serious or w/e; all of which is totally reasonable. So the fight evaporates and we try to figure it out.
This morning after 2 cups of regular pour over, I decide to try this effete habit, and put in some fresh Costa Rican, powdery fine. And also, being Lucy, she sticks her hand under the machine where the Portafilter snugs in, and burns the heck out of her finger.

I got a nice pull from it, I guess and :wow:zers

bizwank
Oct 4, 2002

Saeco makes some of the best entry-level machines on the home market and have been doing so since the 80's. Either you read wrong or someone doesn't know what they're talking about.

Mr. Mambold
Feb 13, 2011

Aha. Nice post.



bizwank posted:

Saeco makes some of the best entry-level machines on the home market and have been doing so since the 80's. Either you read wrong or someone doesn't know what they're talking about.

Very likely I read a post wrong, or I could've gotten the brand wrong. I was looking at some of them, and liked what I saw. Can you compare them side by side to, say, Breville, or is there too much sliding scale to even go there?

dik-dik
Feb 21, 2009

Does Saeco make any machines that aren't superautos? Looking on online shops I've used before I can't find any.

rockcity
Jan 16, 2004

dik-dik posted:

Does Saeco make any machines that aren't superautos? Looking on online shops I've used before I can't find any.

The Saeco Aroma was the default cheap entry level machine for quite a while. I think it is still around.

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dik-dik
Feb 21, 2009

rockcity posted:

The Saeco Aroma was the default cheap entry level machine for quite a while. I think it is still around.

I think it was discontinued: https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/saeco-aroma-espresso-machine

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