|
Was cat-sitting for my mom this week and noticed she's only got a lovely $15 blade chopper even though she loves coffee -- grinds her own beans and drinks it black with no cream or sweetener. She even got me an Oxo Brew 9 for my birthday last month. So anyway, I cajoled my siblings into chipping in on a Baratza Encore for her for Mother's Day, mostly on this thread's recommendation. I'm a good son.  One of the best things about being into anything more than the average person is being easy to buy gifts for. Also I did Hoffmann's aeropress method this morning and it was, indeed, really good, and the best cup I've made with it. Imagined fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Apr 23, 2021 |
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 17:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 09:52 |
|
|
if people are really into being coffee nerds the flair or robot is a totally worthwhile purchase but like i have an americano every morning, as does my spouse. i 100% do not want to gently caress with a fully manual device that early and if i could only pick one i'd totally pick a semi-automatic over a flairbot not everyone will agree tho obvs i think the niche is kind of a ridic suggestion to someone who's total budget for everything is $600 though 9_9
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 19:09
|
|
|
imo, just do the needful. 600 bucks is nespresso territory and likely will be pretty decce?
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 19:55
|
|
|
aldantefax posted:imo, just do the needful. 600 bucks is nespresso territory and likely will be pretty decce? what? i honestly can’t tell if this is a troll no, do not spend six hundred dollars on a nespresso especially when op explicitly talked about getting into cool beans and better home coffee please disregard the above post
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 20:02
|
|
|
mediaphage posted:what? i honestly can’t tell if this is a troll you can buy reusable thingies for the nespresso so you can use your own beans, then it's just a matter of dialing in the grind because the rest will be robotically consistent. While I still buy capsules from nestle because some days I don't feel like going through the rigamarole, it delivers a lovely cup of coffee if you're willing to meet it halfway with the grind. They're also less than $200, the reusable capsules are like $25 a piece, and that's 375 you can spend on a good grinder!
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 20:30
|
|
|
FAUXTON posted:you can buy reusable thingies for the nespresso so you can use your own beans, then it's just a matter of dialing in the grind because the rest will be robotically consistent. On the other hand, gently caress Nestle.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 20:39
|
|
|
Please don’t feed the trolls.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 20:40
|
|
|
i am the first to recommend a nespresso if you just want decent coffee without effort but i don’t think that’s what op wants also i think it’s frankly dumb to just be like oh only spending $600 just a nespresso because you can absolutely start to put together nice kit and work up.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 20:40
|
|
|
El Jebus posted:On the other hand, gently caress Nestle. lol Hoffmann was talking about how Nestle's design went off patent, so they changed the design of their machines to a new patented one, resulting in only their official brand getting a proper seal on the new machine and every third party brand being unable to produce as good results because they can't use the Patented Design
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 20:42
|
|
|
eke out posted:lol Hoffmann was talking about how Nestle's design went off patent, so they changed the design of their machines to a new patented one, resulting in only their official brand getting a proper seal on the new machine and every third party brand being unable to produce as good results because they can't use the Patented Design lmao ofc
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 20:44
|
|
|
Saw that the nifty cerulean blue V60s were selling out everywhere and finally jumped on buying one, along with a Skerton Pro (which I am now to understand is only “ok”, and apparently no longer recommended, but I wanted to get free shipping and it’s what they had, and $37- the cost of the grinder minus the $13 shipping I would’ve otherwise paid- isn’t too bad) Any recommendations for where to start getting coffee? Ideally good supermarket-available stuff. I’ve got Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Costco in my rotation but am happy to go to Whole Foods, Market Basket, etc as well if there’s something there worth getting. If there’s like a good store in Massachusetts, or a web store I’ll check those out too, but I guess I feel a bit weird having coffee shipped to me. trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 21:08 on Apr 23, 2021 |
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 21:05
|
|
|
i don’t know what city you’re in but i would absolutely check for small time roasters near you before anywhere else
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 21:14
|
|
|
Ok Comboomer posted:Saw that the nifty cerulean blue V60s were selling out everywhere and finally jumped on buying one, along with a Skerton Pro (which I am now to understand is only “ok”, and apparently no longer recommended, but I wanted to get free shipping and it’s what they had, and $37- the cost of the grinder minus the $13 shipping I would’ve otherwise paid- isn’t too bad) places like Whole Foods tend to feature some local roasters, I bet there's some 12oz bags from somewhere not very far away from you there that actually have roasted-on dates that you could find? that'd probably be one of the best options, since finding something that isn't months-old is often the hardest thing to do at supermarkets. could also look out for the bigger names in the specialty scene that distribute all over, like counter culture or blue bottle but tbh i doubt they're any cheaper than ordering from a local roaster or ordering from a somewhere online that you feel good about supporting, even with shipping eke out fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Apr 23, 2021 |
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 21:19
|
|
|
mediaphage posted:i don’t know what city you’re in but i would absolutely check for small time roasters near you before anywhere else I’m around Boston, so if there’s a roaster anywhere in eastern Mass or the rest of New England I’m pretty much within distance of a store carrying their stuff I imagine eke out posted:places like Whole Foods tend to feature some local roasters, I bet there's some 12oz bags from somewhere not very far away from you there that actually have roasted-on dates that you could find? that'd probably be one of the best options, since finding something that isn't months-old is often the hardest thing to do at supermarkets. could also look out for the bigger names in the specialty scene that distribute all over, like counter culture or blue bottle thanks for the advice Am I gonna be happy with my Skerton? It’s my first grinder. I’ve ground coffee at the supermarket before but never really at home. I get the impression from some negative or indifferent reviews that I’d be doing good beans a disservice by using it though 
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 21:26
|
|
|
I, on advice from this here thread, got a skerton pro years ago and still use it and have no issues, so YMMV. It's really a question of where you are in your coffee journey; I don't know if I'm ever going to get to espresso or expensive beans territory, but maybe you're already there. I make pourover and it's so many steps beyond lovely (electric blade or preground or fast food) coffee that I haven't had the motivation to go further.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 21:36
|
|
|
Ok Comboomer posted:I’m around Boston, so if there’s a roaster anywhere in eastern Mass or the rest of New England I’m pretty much within distance of a store carrying their stuff I imagine i would look around and try to purchase directly from the roaster if possible. some might even be doing local deliveries! you’ll like the skerton just fine i’m sure. if you decide to upgrade down the road there are other manual grinders to try but this is a fine first step and should last you some time
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 21:38
|
|
|
El Jebus posted:On the other hand, gently caress Nestle. fwiw nestle sends capsules that have grounds like 3 months old so not only are they bond villains their coffee is mediocre at absolute best. Use a reusable capsule and a third party machine.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 21:46
|
|
|
The Skerton and other grinders like it are fine unless you are being really picky and want to blame something. Take some time to dial it in and get a feel for how it handles and if it's something for you. One trick I have learned from the local roasters around Austin is to get a small sample of "reference" grind for whatever you're trying to make and then try to dial in getting to that ballpark consistency, and then fiddling with the grind in small ways until you really get to where you like it. Since you're going to be using a v60 then one of the ways to check if you're grinding too fine or too coarse is the drain time. The Hoffmann v60 video is a good indicator for time and weighing, I just do 30g ground beans for 600ml water and aim for a full brew time (using that method) of about 3:00 to 4:00 minutes. For sourcing supermarket available stuff, if you can't go to a roaster, figure out first what you like in terms of coffee roast. Some people are very happy with Cafe Bustelo even though it's cheap as gently caress. If you're looking to expand your horizons, looking for cafes nearby may help. Costco's inventory varies from location to location. One of my coworkers loves Ruta Maya and buys it in bulk from Costco. Trader Joe's has a few different kinds of beans, so just try all of 'em to see if you like those. Whole Foods also will have fancy beans that are priced fancy, but you could likely get better quality from a roaster directly as already mentioned. If you live in the greater Boston area there are very likely some pretty dope roasters that you can go make friends with and start ordering from. If there are cafes that have a coffee you find you like, ask the baristas about if you can get some, or who does the roasting, then go for that. I dunno if it is the same around Boston, but in Austin the baristas are chatty and love recommending each other's places to people who are curious. If you get a good idea of the kinds of coffee flavors you want, a lot of places will be more than happy to point you in the right direction, including roasters.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 21:53
|
|
|
mediaphage posted:if people are really into being coffee nerds the flair or robot is a totally worthwhile purchase but like You can make very good espresso with a cheap machine and a good grinder, but you can't make good espresso with a bad grinder no matter how good your machine is. Even the sette 270 and rancilio rocky struggle with the lighter single origin roasts that are now popular and those are $400. For that price they're also loud, messy, and tricky to dial in. The next step up is the mignon silenzio/vario and those are around $480. One of those plus a flair neo plus the pro basket comes in at $625 before tax and shipping and whatever accessories you want to add in. The alternative is a hand grinder, maybe the jxpro, and gaggia which will be right around the same price point. Some people don't mind hand grinding but it's hardly zero hassle, and the gaggia adds its own routine with temp surfing. I would call it a wash between the two setups, and if you pick up a vario or silenzio, you'll have a lot more room to grow than the hand grinder and the flair could be a very nice accompaniment to an eventual heat exchanger or dual boiler. The niche is as much grinder as most people will ever want for espresso. The gaggia, on the other hand, is going to show its limitations sooner or later - like the silvia, the temp stability just isn't there.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 22:37
|
|
|
Ok Comboomer posted:If there’s like a good store in Massachusetts, or a web store I’ll check those out too, but I guess I feel a bit weird having coffee shipped to me. I've enjoyed the coffees that I've had from this place. Other side of MA from you, but still MA. https://sixdepot.com/
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 23:25
|
|
|
What's the cheapest machine you can buy that can properly extract a light roast espresso? I know my old Sage Barista Pro couldn't get hot enough.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 23:34
|
|
|
Gunder posted:What's the cheapest machine you can buy that can properly extract a light roast espresso? I know my old Sage Barista Pro couldn't get hot enough. I have managed it on my Silvia, but it's mostly a miss. I'd expect you'd need something with good temp and pressure control, and you have to try to temp surf on a Silvia to get the heat you'd want.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2021 23:42
|
|
|
Jhet posted:I have managed it on my Silvia, but it's mostly a miss. I'd expect you'd need something with good temp and pressure control, and you have to try to temp surf on a Silvia to get the heat you'd want. This is what I worry about when giving espresso machine recommendations in this thread. Personally, I'm really only interested in drinking lighter roasts, and so I own an expensive heat exchanger machine and grinder, but it took me a long time to realise that the cheaper machines I owned previously just weren't capable of extracting what I wanted. It sucks that home espresso is so expensive. If you don't already own a decent espresso capable grinder, you can't really spend less than $1000 to get something that can tackle everything.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 00:20
|
|
|
like i said, it’s a combination to grow with. i’m sorry but i think it’s silly to just flat out deny the possibility of getting pretty good results with those suggestions. because you will. regardless if stability is that big of a concern - for most people it isn’t but if it becomes one - it’s not that hard to mod the gaggia with a pid kit. unless that still isn’t sufficiently stable for you?
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 00:21
|
|
|
Ok Comboomer posted:I’m around Boston, so if there’s a roaster anywhere in eastern Mass or the rest of New England I’m pretty much within distance of a store carrying their stuff I imagine You should be able to get coffee from Flight Coffee Roasters in Whole Foods by you. They fantastic, and are in southern NH and sell through Whole Foods. George Howell is also a great roaster in that area.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 00:37
|
|
|
Gunder posted:This is what I worry about when giving espresso machine recommendations in this thread. Personally, I'm really only interested in drinking lighter roasts, and so I own an expensive heat exchanger machine and grinder, but it took me a long time to realise that the cheaper machines I owned previously just weren't capable of extracting what I wanted. It sucks that home espresso is so expensive. If you don't already own a decent espresso capable grinder, you can't really spend less than $1000 to get something that can tackle everything. Well of course you don't get something to make great everything for sub-$1k money. That's not the price point where the tolerances and bells and whistles are going to show up. It will get you a really solid machine that will make very good espresso for most roasts out there. Really light roasts are difficult to get a good shot out of to begin with, and most people won't be wanting to do that anyway. There's nothing wrong with wanting that rare amazing light roast shot for yourself, but the Gaggia and Silvia are both still good entry level espresso machines for the majority of people who'll end up using them. And something that can pull good shots from the darker side of roasts is what most people are going to be looking for in a machine anyway. I could install a PID in the Silvia and it would probably be a lot easier to pull decent shots from light roasts. But I'm just going to reach for my pour over to make those 9/10 times anyway. Hell, the Silvia and Gaggia have been around long enough that most people wouldn't even have thought about sticking a light roast through it when they designed them. It's like any hobby though. The cheaper equipment will be good enough for the majority of the people buying it, but people who are deep into it won't be happy and will end up buying that top of the line equipment because they know what they want and need from the tool. It's a lot like buying kitchen knives. Most people don't notice that their knives suck. And then there's the Wustof Classic crowd that loves what they have and will be well served by it. But you won't be cutting perfect sashimi until you roll up your sleeves and open your wallet for a nice yanagibas.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 00:38
|
|
|
Bilirubin posted:OK gonna watch this if only to see if he explains why the numbers are on the side when the entire thing won't fill an 8 oz cup as it is. OK. So YMMV of course because its loving coffee but I have been using a recipe that goes like this: Coffee: Kicking Horse 454 Horsepower (dark roast "Indonesian", tastes like Sumatran but its probably variously sourced) Grind: Baratza Maestro @ 13, Rounded scoop of beans, levelish scoop of grinds into Aeropress Inverted method with plunger as fully out as will support the entire enterprise Water 100C Add water to cover grinds, stir, rinse stirrer into Aeropress, top off, cap, invert onto cup, press. Coffee tastes well balanced, with a wonderful sweetness that I love. Following buddy's method suggested for dark roasts @ 90 C, wait for a minute and a halfish (he says 2 minutes for light roasts so I guestimated), and the sweetness drops out and a more acidic astringency comes out. Its not terrible, its just light around the margins of the ton and it does lend a depth that was lacking earlier, but its not ideal. Of course that was one try and I'm sure I could dial this in better but eh, I'm happy where I am at this point. I'd certainly like additional input of folks think there are other must try approaches. (new to the thread, have only read back a page)
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 02:34
|
|
|
Maybe climate change might not kill off all decent tasting coffee after all?
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 14:15
|
|
|
Okay, first attempt at espresso with the Cafelat Robot: I'm pretty sure I underfilled the filter because it extracted very quick and with minimal pressure - the gauge didn't even hit 2 bar. The process was pretty simple, honestly - grounds go in basket, add the screen, water in basket, basket on robot, press down with constant pressure to extract, remove puck - but there's definitely going to be a learning curve getting to a good or great espresso. Still have not tried the Bripe, though.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 14:50
|
|
|
Canuck-Errant posted:Okay, first attempt at espresso with the Cafelat Robot: I imagine grinding finer would also help, as that's where most of the resistance comes from. Also, how did it taste?
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 14:54
|
|
|
Canuck-Errant posted:Okay, first attempt at espresso with the Cafelat Robot: Was there a tamp somewhere in there?
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 14:58
|
|
|
I recently upgraded from an electric blade grinder and hand-me-down kettle to a 1Zpresso JX (not pro) and a proper goose neck kettle. My quality of life has improved drastically--I already enjoyed the ritual of brewing coffee, but now it just feels so comfy. The only problem I'm having now is that my V60 brew times are clocking in around 4:30. They probably were before, too, but I was lazy and never timed them, but my new kettle has a convenient timer on it so I'm more conscious of it now. I've been tweaking the grind setting on the JX to try to drop the brew time, but it doesn't seem to be helping too much, and I worry about going too coarse for pour over. For reference, I started at a setting of ~66, and over the course of the last week I've steadily bumped it up to 96. My brew time has improved by... maybe 30 seconds? But that's 5:00 --> 4:30 so not amazing. I use 24g of coffee to 375g of water at 205°F, and pretty closely follow Hoffman's method, but maybe I'm pouring too lightly and not getting enough agitation? I don't know if it's fines settling and clogging things up, or needing to go even coarser with my grind, or maybe the paper I'm using? The cups I've made have been ok but a little bitter, but I always buy single-origin coffees chasing the high of interesting flavor notes, and both through random chance on my own part in the past and comparing to my local roaster's cups, I know I can get those flavor notes out of the coffee. I'm just struggling a bit to dial things in. Any suggestions?
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 15:15
|
|
|
Baron Fuzzlewhack posted:I recently upgraded from an electric blade grinder and hand-me-down kettle to a 1Zpresso JX (not pro) and a proper goose neck kettle. My quality of life has improved drastically--I already enjoyed the ritual of brewing coffee, but now it just feels so comfy.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 15:21
|
|
|
That is hella coffee for that water amount, so try Adjusting the ratio, temperature of water, amount of water you pour at once, time for agitation I would say add more water or decrease coffee amount. Try 15g to 300ml and see if that will work better for you with whatever your grind settings are. If you do want to futz with the grind, go intentionally super duper coarse and dial back and see what happens. All of these things can impact total brew time as well as the coffee you're brewing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 15:22
|
|
|
aldantefax posted:That is hella coffee for that water amount It's slightly weaker than a 1:15 ratio. Pretty standard. That's what I generally brew with. A 1:20, as you suggest, will taste very weak by comparison. Gunder fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Apr 24, 2021 |
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 15:25
|
|
|
Gunder posted:What coffee are you brewing? Where is it from? Some coffees generate a lot of fine particles, and will generally drain a lot slower. The Brazilian coffee I'm currently drinking has the opposite "problem" and will fully drain by about 2:50. As long as it doesn't taste hugely bitter and astringent, you're probably doing okay. From Burundi. Here, have the label with some nice info because it's one of the reasons I like this roaster  : aldantefax posted:I would say add more water or decrease coffee amount. Try 15g to 300ml and see if that will work better for you with whatever your grind settings are. I'll probably give this a try tomorrow. I landed on 375g after measuring out how much my usual coffee vessels could comfortably hold, converting that to a 1:15 ratio, and dropping the coffee amount by a gram to get slightly less than 1:15. If using less coffee helps out, well, that means I can stretch my coffee bags out juuuust a little bit longer.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 15:47
|
|
|
Gunder posted:I imagine grinding finer would also help, as that's where most of the resistance comes from. Also, how did it taste? I ground at an 8 on my Baratza Virtuoso+, so I might try taking it down a few notches. Was definitely underextracted - sour but not in a pleasant way. dedian posted:Was there a tamp somewhere in there? I did tamp it, yes. Puck looked very flat and even so I don't think I hosed that up, at least.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 16:13
|
|
|
Canuck-Errant posted:I ground at an 8 on my Baratza Virtuoso+, so I might try taking it down a few notches. Was definitely underextracted - sour but not in a pleasant way. From my distant memory of trying to get a Virtuoso+ to work for espresso, I think 8 would be pretty coarse. I'd try to go as fine as possible until it chokes the machine, then loosen the grind up from there. Gunder fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Apr 24, 2021 |
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 16:20
|
|
|
Gunder posted:From my distant memory of trying to get a Virtuoso+ to work for espresso, I think 8 would be pretty coarse. I'd try to go as fine as possible until it chokes the machine, then loosen the grind up from there. I'm still waiting on my grind size ruler to show up from Kruve, but the Honest Coffee Guide suggests 4-9 as the range for espresso; that said, on second thought it does seem likely that the grind size is too coarse over the basket not being full enough, so I'll start there instead. e: Tried at a 5. Still quite fast, maxing out at 2 bar. Very little crema, quite sour. I wonder if it might be the age of the beans? I'll have to see if I can pick up something more freshly roasted. e2: I did put the shower screen in before putting the water in the chamber, and aimed the gooseneck at the pin to avoid disturbing the puck. I might not have tamped it well enough as it did look like there was channelling, but that 
Canuck-Errant fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Apr 24, 2021 |
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 16:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 09:52 |
|
|
Canuck-Errant posted:Okay, first attempt at espresso with the Cafelat Robot: the first two times i used the robot i a) forgot the screen and b) put the screen on after pouring the water in (this is what the directions on the box say to do). both times i wasn’t able to get much pressure. i did finally get my coffee dialed in pretty ok. had to go to a 3.0 ratio with it to get acceptable results. i had picked up a coffee that the shop sells for espresso instead of my usual because they said it was for espresso. i now recall i hated when i got it some years ago and made it as pour over. i’m gonna go back and get my usual, which i should’ve done in the first place.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2021 16:42
|
|
