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So I bought a stainless steel French press the only issue is that I can't really see the plunger so it makes the Hoffman method quite difficult. I think I'll probably return it and get one that is glass with some metal on the outside so that I can see the plunger. Not to mention I could taste some of the metal although maybe that will go away over time.
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Aug 15, 2020 16:45
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Can you not just judge it on how far the plunger is down?
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Aug 15, 2020 16:58
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You also don’t have to necessarily put the plunger on the surface of the liquid. As long as it’s far enough down that the edge seals, that should be good.
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Aug 15, 2020 17:04
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Data Graham posted:Yes, that is attached.
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Aug 15, 2020 17:08
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i own every Bionicle posted:You also don’t have to necessarily put the plunger on the surface of the liquid. As long as it’s far enough down that the edge seals, that should be good. Fair point! The taste is super close to the cupping taste which makes sense since the Hoffman method is literally the same as what you do when you cup.
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Aug 15, 2020 18:30
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bizwank posted:There's something wrong with your pitcher then, I'd call support/return it. I've got one of those and with the spring insert it makes a super dense foam I practically have to spoon out. Thanks, it's good to have some comparison data to work with. I've found in the last couple of days that some of the whole milk (and I also tried light cream, with similar results) gets me a bit of foam, but it just pours, it's not enough that I have to spoon out. Compared to the Souvia (which would make like 1.5" of structural foam I could build a gingerbread house on) it's nothing. I wonder what could possibly be faulty though, it literally just spins the deely
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Aug 15, 2020 22:41
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New hand grinder from the company that made the Helor. Still looks like an attractive Apple product but I see literally zero reviews about it anywhere. https://prima-coffee.com/equipment/option-o/hg38-optio-sp
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Aug 16, 2020 23:18
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Data Graham posted:Thanks, it's good to have some comparison data to work with. I've found in the last couple of days that some of the whole milk (and I also tried light cream, with similar results) gets me a bit of foam, but it just pours, it's not enough that I have to spoon out. Compared to the Souvia (which would make like 1.5" of structural foam I could build a gingerbread house on) it's nothing. Lower fat milks foam better.
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Aug 17, 2020 00:22
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torgeaux posted:Lower fat milks foam better. I mean maybe, but the 2% version of the same brand / same expiration date of the whole milk I usually get produced no foam at all, whereas the whole is actually doing ok now after having run the machine a few times (and using the fourth button instead of the third one). Trying to vary only one variable at a time in this experiment is maddening
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Aug 17, 2020 01:00
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Data Graham posted:I mean maybe, but the 2% version of the same brand / same expiration date of the whole milk I usually get produced no foam at all, whereas the whole is actually doing ok now after having run the machine a few times (and using the fourth button instead of the third one). Trying to vary only one variable at a time in this experiment is maddening Skim does the easiest foam, but it's thinner, of course. Fat actively hurts foaming, but if you can get the foam, it's more stable. I'm just suggesting skim as a first step to get the foam, then move up.
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Aug 17, 2020 01:51
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Mu Zeta posted:New hand grinder from the company that made the Helor. Still looks like an attractive Apple product but I see literally zero reviews about it anywhere. Looks sexy as hell. In related grinder news I managed to get the Vario gift working! Need to order a new hopper and give it a good clean but it’s very consistent on the grind.
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Aug 17, 2020 03:14
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The Bonavita 1L is on sale for $60 again and mine is starting to just boil instead of stay at the temp I want. Any reason to try the newer Oxo variable temp gooseneck or should I just stick with the Bonavita for $40 less?
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Aug 18, 2020 19:21
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The OXO adjustable gooseneck was on sale for $55 at Macy's recently. I'm kind of done with Bonavita and if there's a sale again I'm grabbing the OXO.
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Aug 18, 2020 23:12
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Speaking of OXO, has anyone tried the coffee dripper they do? I prefer THE PROCESS of doing my V60 but danged if that OXO ain't a little quicker and easier for when I've got other stuff going on.
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Aug 18, 2020 23:25
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I come for advice. I would like to be into coffee. I like having rituals (like wet shaving), love the smell of it, and would like to get my caffeine in the morning from something other then diet Mountain Dew. My problem is I don’t know poo poo about good coffee, or really where to start. I have had poo poo coffee from a hotel bar that I had to add a ton of cream and sugar to make it palatable. I like Carmel Macchiatos from Starbucks. And I like pure sugar stuff like a frapacino or Tim Hortons Iced Capp. I would like to lower the sugar I am drinking, while teaching myself to love coffee (as a kind or reference point I also drink unsweetened iced tea and like it). Eventually I want to drink as close to black as I can get, and have a nice daily routine. So what should I do/get. Money is not a huge issue, but I would like build up to buying a couple grand rig (and I read the op, and the last few pages. I know that is nothing). Our neighbors are in love with their new Nespresso, but after reading around a bit I am not sure that’s they way to go. I like espresso and milk, but those machines look really complicated. Anything you guys would suggest? A plan of attack? Also I love that the forums have been such a big part of my life for so long that when I started googling the best coffee makers my wife just said “ask something awful. They will have a big nerdy thread about it.” And she was right.
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Aug 19, 2020 04:53
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You should find out if you actually like coffee before going down the rabbit hole. The best way is to find a good specialty coffee shop, though that might be tough right now. The first time I found out black coffee could taste incredible was a pourover at Blue Bottle. It's what got me started in this stupid thing. Just let it cool down a minute before drinking. It brings out the sweetness and you can better taste the actual flavors especially if it's a single origin.
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Aug 19, 2020 05:35
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Espresso and coffee are two different beasts, and I have little experience other than a consumer of the former so I won't touch base on that. I never really liked coffee until I had good coffee. For whatever reason, one of the cafes at my university had stupidly amazing drip and I got to experience coffee that had, y'know, flavours? Other than "oh god" and "smokey ash" and "bitter water". Most of what you're describing falls into that camp, unfortunately. It's unpalatable because it's made for circumstances where the key motivators are caffeine, having warm drink, or possessing a very particularly learned taste if I'm to be euphemistic about it. Probably my first earnest recommendation for someone wanting to make a foray into """"""serious"""""" coffee in earnest, is go to whatever third wave coffee shop you have around and just try a pour over from some African, if you like fruity, or perhaps Central/South American, if you want to stay in something that hits more chocolate or nutty or classically roasty notes, single origin varietal. These'll be shops that at the very least can point out where a bean originated and what cupping notes it has, or should have if they're brewed accordingly. Of all the tools/methods I've tried for coffee, the pour over, I think, has the greatest potential yield for really driving the natural flavour of the beans home, so I think it's the best for sorta opening your perspective to what coffee can be. If I'm allowed to prod you into African stuff, I will, because it's a really wild ride if you're used to pre-ground, from a can and from a cheapo coffee machine coffee. I'm all about ever widening perspectives, and hoo boy is a well executed Ethiopian pourover a real eye-opener if you're used to Starbucks. This is infinitely more winding and effort post than was called for and I apologize in advance, but I genuinely really like coffee outside of my caffeine dependence so I love to talk about what (little) I know!!
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Aug 19, 2020 05:44
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I would recommend buying a nice hand grinder and a French press and some nice beans You can get all that for under $150 You can very quickly get into the ritual and work out what is your jam taste wise and tune
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Aug 19, 2020 05:58
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Seconding this. I started with a French press and the cheapest electric flat burr grinder at Target in college, and it was miles ahead of Folgers and automatic machines.
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Aug 19, 2020 06:07
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Yeah I think you have two ways of going about starting coffee seriously and one is drinking good coffee prepared for you the other is buying good coffee and brewing it correctly. If you want to go for espresso you’re generally looking at dropping 2k on a setup, which is why folks are discouraging that. You might be able to make it work with 1k but that probably a minimum especially considering cost of grinder. I think starting with a French press or about aeropress is a good start. I started with an aeropress before moving on to a bonavita drip. I was not in love with a hand grinder so I might encourage you to get an entry level burr grinder. I’ve been very happy with my eureka. You should find a local roaster if you have one and get a medium roast. I really like Guatemalan but really all coffee can be great. If you are used to drinking with sugar try just adding some cream or half and half. You don’t have to drink it black, it’s not a competition. My setup now is a eureka mignon grinder , profitec pro 300 espresso machine, and a gene cafe roaster. Altogether it’s about $3k but my house consumes 3-4 drinks a day so it’s paid for itself since we got it 5 years ago. It would be great to have a machine that could be plumbed. I do like having a dual boiler because we mostly drink americanos. The grinder and roaster are both great.
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Aug 19, 2020 06:22
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Is a cheap moka pot as good as any? Toying with the idea of making some espresso-like so I can dabble with something other than black coffee for my girlfriend.
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Aug 19, 2020 06:51
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The Postman posted:Is a cheap moka pot as good as any? Toying with the idea of making some espresso-like so I can dabble with something other than black coffee for my girlfriend. There is a difference, also they are fiddly and hard to clean, and have set outputs Just buy an aeropress
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Aug 19, 2020 07:00
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Jestery posted:There is a difference, also they are fiddly and hard to clean, and have set outputs God drat it they are not hard to clean stop saying that you baby. You just rinse all the bits under the tap (much like an aeropress I imagine) and it doesn't look like some moron's bong. A good moka pot (like a brikka) makes something as close to espresso as you can get without an espresso machine, tastes great, and is easy as poo poo to clean. It might be a few bucks more than an aeropress but I suggest that is because it is made of metal instead of plastic and therefore there is no reason it shouldn't last you forever. I am sure there is nothing wrong with an aeropress but buying one instead of a mokapot because you think the moka is hard to clean would be Dumb.
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Aug 19, 2020 08:11
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Associate Christ
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The aeropress looks like a penis pump. The Moka pot looks so much cooler too.
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Aug 19, 2020 08:18
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other people posted:God drat it they are not hard to clean stop saying that you baby. The process for cleaning , as you described, is fiddly It's seriously no contest Like, the Moka pot has far more intercies , threading, hot part that retain heat because grounds, a funnel that often needs to be knocked out, a clear "inside portion" with gaskets that can retain water and has a deep clean element to it, time to dried cont be ignored. I concede that there is absolutely a difference between a good quality Moka pot and a bad one. But I can't imagine this extending to the cleaning process significantly The aeropress is almost hydrophobic and It nearly fires out the puck into the bin or drain hole when I clear it. Like the geometry of it is a one way piston and even that helps with the cleaning process, the grounds don't get stuck in little holes or where they shouldn't. It almost shakes dry and I've had it not by wet in the time it takes to finish my coffee It is incredibly simple and quick to clean and every clean is a deep clean. I use a metal filter in my aeropress because I don't like clarity of a paper filter and even then cleaning a small metal disk/shower screen type thing is a far easier task than any Moka pot I have cleaned As an aside, having used both for morning coffee and work coffee. I found the ins and outs of an aeropress far easier to mentally track. Calling an aeropress "espresso" is definitely incorrect though, however in my experience it more than makes up for the lack of espresso-ness and it is a notably different drink to french press The aeropress bong is an idea though...
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Aug 19, 2020 09:01
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I'm beginning to think you don't know how to use a mokapot. I agree that due to the heat, a mokapot is Not Good if you need to repeatedly use it in a short timeframe. But then maybe you just need a larger mokapot. Any remaining water in the bottom piece should be totally clear; you don't need to scrub it, just rinse. Knocking the puck out is hard? ow my poor wrist. Man I would make a video but I can't do it one handed and I don't want to drag my wife into it and the postal service is on holiday this week (no really) so I'm low on beans. Maybe next week. Just maybe it could be true that both the mokapot and aeropress are easy to clean and use options? 
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Aug 19, 2020 09:17
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other people posted:I'm beginning to think you don't know how to use a mokapot. I agree that due to the heat, a mokapot is Not Good if you need to repeatedly use it in a short timeframe. But then maybe you just need a larger mokapot. I mean they both are not particularly difficult. quote:Any remaining water in the bottom piece should be totally clear; you don't need to scrub it, just rinse. Knocking the puck out is hard? ow my poor wrist If I have to leave it to cool down enough that I can twist it off without issue/enjoy my coffee, some coffee water invariably seeps down The fact that you even need to knock the puck out is a step that is absent in the cleaning process of the aeropress That you need to unscrew something potentially hot (or unscrew anything at all) is another thing that add to the fiddlyness of a Moka pot, relative to an aeropress That the parts while cleaning are large and regularly shaped aid in control under the tap and the shaking dry that I mentioned. It's all these little things that add up to make the whole experience far less labour intensive Like we are comparing minutes here of clean up time but , arguing about minutae in our hobbies is the poo poo we both live for I imagine
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Aug 19, 2020 09:48
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I have a manual burr grinder and a Sage Bambino Plus machine. Should I be using the single walled or double walled portafilter?
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Aug 19, 2020 10:58
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Anjow posted:I have a manual burr grinder and a Sage Bambino Plus machine. Should I be using the single walled or double walled portafilter? I think without a fancy grinder you will probably achieve the best results with the double wall (pressurized) filter. The single wall filter will be much less forgiving about the quality of the grind.
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Aug 19, 2020 11:07
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Jestery posted:I mean they both are not particularly difficult. It is normal for there to be some water left in the bottom chamber but it should be clear, not murky or brown. If it is then the grind is probably too fine. Anyway, I don't really like debating minutiae I just don't want to see the poor mokapot unfairly denigrated by the lazy <3. It can readily make great coffee and is easy to manage for all but the most exacting people.
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Aug 19, 2020 11:10
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Anjow posted:I have a manual burr grinder and a Sage Bambino Plus machine. Should I be using the single walled or double walled portafilter? If you can get a good 2:1 extraction with the single walled then use that (e.g. 18 grams of coffee in, 36 grams of liquid out in ~25-30 seconds). You'll probably find that you're getting way too much liquid out too quickly and under-extracting, in which case use the pressurised one.
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Aug 19, 2020 11:23
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I'm an experienced barista who recently started a job at a new place, in charge of their coffee section. Every place I've worked at in the past my shots will drop at around 8 seconds. Here they drop around 3.5-4 and I can't figure out why. My baseline dose/yield/extraction time are all really standard, the same as I've used elsewhere: around 20g in/30g out/30 seconds. The machine is a La Marzocco Linea with a Robur grinder, both of which I've used before and never had this issue. The barista who was in charge of the coffee section before me says her shots were dropping around 8 seconds and thinks it's just my tamp, but: a) I don't believe tamp can make that much difference, in fact I tried basically doing a hand-stand on the tamp and it still didn't take 8 secs to drop, and anyway I'm tamping the same way I always have. b) She was dosing ~23g and pulling ristrettos because that's apparently what the roasters told her to do, but other staff have confided that her coffee isn't great, and I'm not sure she actually knows what she's talking about at all. I tried the coffee ristretto and didn't think it tasted any good. c) I'm not convinced she's actually timed her shots or that they were really taking any longer to drop than mine at all. When I first started, before I brought my scales in and realised how high it was, I was using her dose since that's how the grinder was set, and it was still dropping just as quickly. The coffee tastes fine to me and feedback from customers and other staff has all been great so I guess it's not really a big issue. It's just strange and I can't figure it out and kind of wonder if, despite the positive feedback, maybe I'm doing something wrong and this coffee is weird somehow and I should be using a different recipe and making it even better.
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Aug 19, 2020 11:44
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Hahaha, thanks for the recommendations from all sides. I already own an aeropress and didn't realize I could use that to get some near espresso. I'll start there.
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Aug 19, 2020 12:35
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Thanks for all the advice. I will try some real coffee from a legit place before I spend some cash. But the other discussions going on about moka pots vs Aeropress make me think that making near espresso vs real espresso may be the way to go (and save like 2800 bucks). Any particular moka pot or Aeropress people suggest?
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Aug 19, 2020 18:07
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Snowmankilla posted:Thanks for all the advice. I will try some real coffee from a legit place before I spend some cash. The standard Aeropress is incredibly easy to use and clean. Cheap too.
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Aug 19, 2020 18:39
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The Moka pot industry has been flooding this forum with shills for years. Don’t listen to them.
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Aug 19, 2020 20:02
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Big Mokkka keeps me flush with beans.
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Aug 19, 2020 20:06
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I'm funded by big aerobie
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Aug 19, 2020 20:17
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Snowmankilla posted:Thanks for all the advice. I will try some real coffee from a legit place before I spend some cash. For a moka pot I like my Bialetti Brikka; it will probably get you the closest to espresso out of all of them. There is only one Aeropress and I've never tried it, though I do have one stashed somewhere.
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Aug 19, 2020 20:23
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Wafflecopper posted:I'm an experienced barista who recently started a job at a new place, in charge of their coffee section. Every place I've worked at in the past my shots will drop at around 8 seconds. Here they drop around 3.5-4 and I can't figure out why. My baseline dose/yield/extraction time are all really standard, the same as I've used elsewhere: around 20g in/30g out/30 seconds. The machine is a La Marzocco Linea with a Robur grinder, both of which I've used before and never had this issue. Who is the roaster? What bean/blend is it from them?
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Aug 19, 2020 20:26
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