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The grind with the Chestnut was easy to calibrate against the Encore for pourover, and I can't really tell if it's better than using the Encore, but it's certainly not worse. I had a good cup of decaf for 15g:300ml using the small Origami and that was a pretty solid all-round thingamabob.
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Mar 11, 2021 04:05
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Considering the Chestnut X retails for over €300, I'd want it to be a lot better than the Encore, something which costs a third of the price.
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Mar 11, 2021 04:24
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Does anyone have experience with reducing the KH (Carbonate Hardness) in their water? I recently moved and my brews have been more "muddy" and sure enough, my KH is very high. Is there anything between a brita filter and a complete reverse osmosis system that would be worth trying?
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Mar 11, 2021 04:51
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HappyHippo posted:Hey I've been considering this upgrade for a while. Do you have a link to one of these videos handy? For sure! https://youtu.be/vxbaS8UXCpk
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Mar 11, 2021 04:54
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In doing pour over, how important is having a thin spout? Is that something that's easy to overcome with a more normal kettle spout if it is important?
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Mar 11, 2021 04:57
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Carillon posted:In doing pour over, how important is having a thin spout? Is that something that's easy to overcome with a more normal kettle spout if it is important? You can do it with a regular kettle, just pour in pulses and you should be fine. I used a regular kettle for a long time because we have a communal one at work and it worked pretty well for me. The goosenecks are nice because you get more control over your pours. If you're really worried about a regular kettle, something like the gabi dripmaster or the melodrip can help with consistency issues.
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Mar 11, 2021 05:02
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Papes posted:Does anyone have experience with reducing the KH (Carbonate Hardness) in their water? I recently moved and my brews have been more "muddy" and sure enough, my KH is very high. By complete R.O. do you mean whole house or under the sink? Because the under-sink ones are pretty affordable and relatively easy to install.
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Mar 11, 2021 05:07
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Carillon posted:In doing pour over, how important is having a thin spout? Is that something that's easy to overcome with a more normal kettle spout if it is important? If you get a non-Hario dripper it's very easy to just use a normal kettle. I recommend the Beehouse, Bonmac, or Kalita drippers. e: and the plastic Melittle dripper at the supermarket works just fine Mu Zeta fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Mar 11, 2021 |
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Mar 11, 2021 05:40
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Gunder posted:Considering the Chestnut X retails for over €300, I'd want it to be a lot better than the Encore, something which costs a third of the price. It is a nice piece of kit and as long as it is properly maintained it is supposed to be zero retention and the micro-step adjustments is pretty nice. Integrated handle with knocker means that I don't need to worry about losing the handle (spoiler: I need to worry about losing the handle and lid assembly instead). The fact that I can get a nice brew again with a hand grinder compared to using a Porlex and so on is nice. I'm sure that the numbers speak quite well to back up the unique burr design or what not but I think if I view it as strictly a tool to use, does it do grinding better than the Encore? Probably. How much better is a lot better? I dunno because I don't have a spectrometer or a sifter to do a technical analysis. It make coffee.
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Mar 11, 2021 07:04
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What’s the current recommended way to cold brew? As it starts to warm up I’m trying to think ahead. I used to do it in a French press or a mason jar and the first way was sludgy and the second was annoying to clean. Are any of the cold-brew-specific things any good? (I’ll probably make Japanese-iced as well occasionally, but won’t want to bother all the time.)
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Mar 11, 2021 07:09
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Gunder posted:Considering the Chestnut X retails for over €300, I'd want it to be a lot better than the Encore, something which costs a third of the price. Lol at trying to shame someone for buying an expensive coffee grinder in the coffee thread.
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Mar 11, 2021 15:59
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AnimeIsTrash posted:Lol at trying to shame someone for buying an expensive coffee grinder in the coffee thread. I don't think Gunder, who owns a niche, was doing that Scythe posted:What’s the current recommended way to cold brew? As it starts to warm up I’m trying to think ahead. I used to do it in a French press or a mason jar and the first way was sludgy and the second was annoying to clean. Are any of the cold-brew-specific things any good? I've used a toddy before but it takes up a lot of space in the fridge when it's being used, and in the cabinet when it's not. It's ok if you want to make a big batch of concentrate. Nowadays I sometimes use a nut milk bag which saves some mess. You can also try the french press again and just pour it through a pourover filter to clean it up. hypnophant fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Mar 11, 2021 |
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Mar 11, 2021 16:30
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For me Aeropress cold brew works nice. Use invertedethod to brew concentrate in cold water (double duration), then add remaining weight in ice.
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Mar 11, 2021 17:01
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AnimeIsTrash posted:Lol at trying to shame someone for buying an expensive coffee grinder in the coffee thread. hypnophant posted:I don't think Gunder, who owns a niche, was doing that If it was a great grinder, I’d have no problems buying one for when I’m travelling.
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Mar 11, 2021 17:21
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Gunder posted:Yeah, I wasn’t trying to shame, I was merely trying to express that the Chestnut X should be a lot better than something that costs a third of the price. Ah my bad, I think I just misread the interpretation of your post. Apologies for coming off sounding like an rear end. On a more coffee related note I have been using a cloth filter with my v60 for the last month since my paper filters ran out and I think I have been made a convert.
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Mar 11, 2021 17:26
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I think we won't see the Chestnut X benefits until people use it for espresso. It has 120 grinder settings.
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Mar 11, 2021 17:53
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I finally found the Califia barista-blend oat milk locally and it’s pretty good. I’ve tried some other ones and they were way too sweet. The Califia has a much milder flavor, agree with the other poster it lets the coffee stand out. It was $6.99 a quart or some poo poo locally, Amazon sells a case of 6 for $21.
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Mar 11, 2021 21:50
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Thanks!
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Mar 11, 2021 21:55
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So I need to keep away from caffeine for a bit, which means I haven't had coffee for a month. Today I remembered that decaf was a thing and picked up a bag of Stumptown Trapper Creek. Oh my god is it nice to be drinking coffee. I tried tea, but it just wasn't the same. Are there any decent decafs I should know about? I was going to order the Royal Mile Guatemalan decaf and a Reddit search mentioned the Counter Culture Slow Motion.
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Mar 12, 2021 00:02
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Mr. Mambold posted:By complete R.O. do you mean whole house or under the sink? Because the under-sink ones are pretty affordable and relatively easy to install. Yes, it seems I may be overestimating the difficulty in installing one.
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Mar 12, 2021 03:35
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Papes posted:Yes, it seems I may be overestimating the difficulty in installing one. This might go without saying in this thread in particular, but if you go the RO route you'll need some way to add minerals back to the water in order to actually brew your coffee
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Mar 12, 2021 21:01
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I want to have a Clever brewer. Is there any disadvantage in using one that's a size too large? Most of the time I'm only brewing for myself, but for the occassion that I'm brewing for two or three, I'd like to have the 500ml one. Any downsides?
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Mar 13, 2021 15:49
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Lord Stimperor posted:I want to have a Clever brewer. Is there any disadvantage in using one that's a size too large? Most of the time I'm only brewing for myself, but for the occassion that I'm brewing for two or three, I'd like to have the 500ml one. Any downsides? I have the large size, no issues brewing a smaller batch in it
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Mar 13, 2021 16:04
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I remember people talking about the problem inherent with brewing smaller batches of coffee in a larger brewer being an issue of bed depth. Specifically, people were annoyed that you couldn't hit the extraction sweet-spot with a Kalita Wave 185 without a coffee bed of a certain depth. Having said that, you're using an immersion brewer, not a percolator, so it shouldn't matter. You might find that the larger structure leaches more heat, though.
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Mar 13, 2021 16:11
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Alright, after 4 to 6 grinds (haven't been counting) of 15-30g of beans in the Chestnut X I can say that I appreciate it: - Grind resistance on the burrs is less than the Feldgrind or the Porlex, which is likely due to a better bearing on the crankshaft as well as the spike to cut burr design - I don't notice any particular difference in silverskin/fines because I don't sift, but I'm guessing based on the shape of the resulting output is more consistent - Overall brew times are the same but I am enjoying the same beans with a little more clarity, so extraction may be more even as a result? Using v60-02 papers, Kalita Wave papers, and the last of my Origami papers and overall the performance is the same on all 3 in a Chemex or Origami M dripper - There is a niceness about having it grind in the hand. 30g of beans takes less than a minute and a half to grind and is a pleasing experience, as well as carefully adding/removing the catch chamber because it makes a very subtle click and tactile feeling. I would likely worry about the cross-threading problem that Sprometheus talks about only if I was in a rush, since unless you are really inattentive you can't mistake the thing closing. All in all, it's alright and I feel like it was a worthy addition to the grind arsenal. Likely will keep the Encore and such around but I may end up selling the Sette 270Wi eventually because while it's good in theory I just don't really do my lever espresso nearly as much as I do pourover. I gotta really want espresso, and I'm more quantity and quality both so a good pourover tends to beat out a latte and such a lot of the time.
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Mar 13, 2021 21:42
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I have a hario skerton pro and it is boulder city unfortunately. There's nothing really to adjust at this point, as there's plenty of fines clogging up the filter as well (gets quite slow going through my chemex) and the bulk of the coffee looks about right. Curious if anyone has one of the Eureka Mignon grinders? I was looking at those as an alternative to the Baratza, in the $200-250 max range.
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Mar 16, 2021 19:05
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I considered one but ended up getting the 270Wi instead. The coffee tech in town laughed and said "When you get tired of how loud the 270 is, hit me up and we can get you a Eureka instead." The Mignon was at the top of his list, but probably it should be for whatever is motivating that vs. Baratza (features, noise, aesthetic, dosing, etc)
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Mar 16, 2021 20:04
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I have eureka mignon specialita and it’s good, but a bit annoying to adjust sometimes. Once it is dialed in it seems quite consistent, but I’m only measuring that by the shots I pull... The adjustment numbers are pretty arbitrary (the knob can rotate around and hit the same number multiple times) and only useful as a reference once you “zero” it in. It doesn’t go from zero to 10 and that’s it, the knob will rotate however much you want so you will zero it manually by spinning the burr by hand (unplugged obviously) while adjusting the knob until the burr stops spinning. It is pretty quiet, when I make espresso it grinds 19g in 8 seconds or so, dont have clumping issues or anything like that. There isn’t much retention, usually get out just about what input in after a clean, < .5G I guess? I’m not sure what the top of the line grinders do here. It can be a bit messy, I bought a ring to go on top of my portafilter to catch more grounds to help with that. It can single dose, but I find it works much better if there are beans in the hopper. Happy to answer any questions, I think the mignon line is pretty similar?
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Mar 16, 2021 22:43
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I have a Specialita as well and the adjustment is very sensitive. The smallest adjustment can go from being ridiculously runny espresso to clogging my machine, and it’s just eyeballing a tick on the wheel with a nub on the grinder. Once you get it dialed in, you definitely don’t want to touch it again. It’s fussy enough I’m keeping my old Baratza for French press because no way am I dealing with dialing in espresso on this thing again. That said, it is whisper quiet and ridiculously fast grinding espresso and I do love it. Single dosing can be a bit tricky, as the hopper definitely works better full of beans since single beans tend to catch on the hopper door as it empties but if you keep an eye on it, it’s fine. I ended up flipping the portafilter hook upside down so my bottomless filter + funnel can fit, but my funnel has a pretty wide flare on it. I think the other Mignon grinders will be broadly the same. The adjustment knobs have slightly different markings painted on them, and the burrs get bigger as you move up the line but functionally they should be pretty similar.
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Mar 16, 2021 23:57
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I don't do espresso, just chemex pour over (might get a clever eventually). I could maybe see adjusting it a little finer for aeropress once in a blue moon. So I would be just getting the real basic Mignon Filtro. It sounds kind of annoying if you'd prefer to keep the hopper full. I guess tear the catch cup on my scale, grind some.. check on scale... repeat. Until you get the hang of it?
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Mar 17, 2021 00:02
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Rescue Toaster posted:I don't do espresso, just chemex pour over (might get a clever eventually). I could maybe see adjusting it a little finer for aeropress once in a blue moon. So I would be just getting the real basic Mignon Filtro. I’m assuming the filtro has the same interface, I just setup the two shot button to grind the amount I want, you adjust the time in tenths of a second. Once it is set for a bean I don’t touch it, it’s not super easy to get the grind where you want it and I’m not entirely convinced that if you turn it half a click right and then left you end up with the same grind lol
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Mar 17, 2021 00:25
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Sweeper posted:I’m assuming the filtro has the same interface, I just setup the two shot button to grind the amount I want, you adjust the time in tenths of a second. Once it is set for a bean I don’t touch it, it’s not super easy to get the grind where you want it and I’m not entirely convinced that if you turn it half a click right and then left you end up with the same grind lol Yeah, I had read it has something to do with how the mechanics work. I always adjust past where I want to go, then move back. It is absolutely fussy to get dialed in but once you do, it is a wonderful grinder. You just don’t want to go from pour over to espresso to French press to… Once you get it set you’re golden. Maybe small tweaks if you get different beans, just drastic changes to the grind are miserable to do. You don’t have to keep the hopper full, it can just be fiddly with single dosing with the stock hopper, but it can be done. I just noticed one or two beans catching on the hopper door and at 18g that can be significant. Less so at pour over doses, and it’s just wiggling the door to get the last bean to drop if it happens to catch. Not completely unworkable. And I really can’t overstate how quick and quiet it is. It’s really ridiculous. That alone made me happy with getting it over a Sette. Not that that’s a bad grinder either, but I still marvel at how quiet it is and oh, I blinked and all my coffee is ground.
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Mar 17, 2021 02:42
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Scythe posted:What’s the current recommended way to cold brew? As it starts to warm up I’m trying to think ahead. I used to do it in a French press or a mason jar and the first way was sludgy and the second was annoying to clean. Are any of the cold-brew-specific things any good? i just put it in a big plastic bowl in the fridge with a lid. then i pour it through a strainer, then through a normal brew coffee filter. pretty easy. the common wisdom is to do very coarse grinds and leave it to steep overnight or longer. i find that this uses an absurd amount of coffee relative to what you get, despite people calling it a concentrate. i've been experimenting with doing finer grinds and letting it steep for shorter periods as a result and i'm really enjoying some of the brews i get. tldr there's lots of room to experiment to find a way to do it that gives you a product you like.
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Mar 17, 2021 03:50
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Big Taint posted:I finally found the Califia barista-blend oat milk locally and it’s pretty good. I’ve tried some other ones and they were way too sweet. The Califia has a much milder flavor, agree with the other poster it lets the coffee stand out. It was $6.99 a quart or some poo poo locally, Amazon sells a case of 6 for $21. The Tom Thumb near me carries the Oat and Almond, and I've tried both. The Almond doesn't want to froth for poo poo for me, but the Oat comes out pretty nice. I don't really care for how different they taste versus dairy, but that may just take some getting used to. aldantefax posted:I considered one but ended up getting the 270Wi instead. The coffee tech in town laughed and said "When you get tired of how loud the 270 is, hit me up and we can get you a Eureka instead." The Mignon was at the top of his list, but probably it should be for whatever is motivating that vs. Baratza (features, noise, aesthetic, dosing, etc) I just ordered a 270wi too. I've had my eye on one for a while and love the idea of weight based grinding right into the portafilter. All recent discussions of it say there have been several refinements that make it not as loud as it was at launch. Either way, its just me and I don't think I care about the grinder screaming at me for 8 seconds. I have junk gear currently and am in the process of upgrading everything. My ~$100 DeLonghi espresso machine makes okay espresso, but the steam wand sucks so I bought a frothing pitcher that works pretty well. Currently trying to decide how big of a jump and price range I am willing to do on the espresso machine itself. I have almost convinced myself to go with something in the Profitec 300 Pro range but probably won't pull the trigger until after I move in a few weeks.
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Mar 18, 2021 17:42
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got an SR540 and it's been a ton of fun learning how to roast. been doing some beans that came with it and got okay at producing a standard medium-ish roast, but my extension tube and 7lb sampler from happymug came today and i just did my first batch of any kind of natural/dry processed beans (their ethiopian guji shakiso) to just the end of first crack. it's really unbelievable how different this stuff tastes and smells compared to what i think of as 'normal' coffee, it's such a massive difference (also definitely get the extension tube, it's so much better than the base product) eke out fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Mar 18, 2021 |
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Mar 18, 2021 23:29
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Any Oklahomans in the thread recommend a local roaster? In the last two weeks I've gone from "I like the smell of coffee but not the taste"* to trying it with a standard cheap Mr. Coffee and canned grounds, to buying an electric burr grinder and kettle, having a Bodum pour-over (with permanent filter), Clever Coffee Dripper, and Aeropress. Think Mom is getting me an Oxo drip machine for my birthday, so I'll have the whole arsenal if I get a french press too. So far I think I'd rank them Clever > pour-over > Aeropress > Mr. Coffee. The Aeropress tastes fine but doesn't make enough coffee at once to be worth the hassle to me, yet. Maybe on lazy Sundays or something. The Clever is just so foolproof and makes a perfect cup every time that barely needs any cream or sweetener. Honestly they're all good, even the Mr. Coffee if you just want lots of coffee without standing at the counter for 5 minutes. I realized the truth that the beans make the real difference after I tried the canned grounds again after having some of my own grind. So far though I've only tried Pete's Big Bang, and the "Great Value" (Wal-Mart store brand) Ethiopian and Columbian "single origin organic whole beans". I picked up some bulk Hawaiian and "French Roast" beans from Sprouts, too, but haven't tried those yet. But now I want to try getting some beans where I know the sources and the dates involved, so I'm looking for a local roaster. *It's interesting to me how closely this parallels dark beer, which I've always loved, where bad/cheap stuff is bitter and gross while the good stuff is rich and delicious. I don't know how I didn't make the connection before.
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Mar 19, 2021 16:15
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Not Oklahoma, but in far north Dallas https://www.coffeedelrey.com/ is pretty great and they ship fast. The personal evolution of coffee preference is funny to me. I viewed coffee as a tool back back when I had a drip machine and through my Keurig days. Eventually that Keurig died and I bought a Bunn MCU because gently caress DRM coffee. That Bunn had a bunch of different swappable brewing trays, one of which was a weird semi-pressurized grounds tray, so that got me to try good pre-ground coffee and it was significantly better than pods. Eventually I bought whole bean coffee by accident, and rather than throw it away I bought a lovely blade grinder. That was such a big improvement I bought a "cheap" Capresso conical burr grinder that was another noticeable improvement. A couple years later I bought one of those Mr Coffee mostly automatic latte machines as a Christmas gift for my (now ex) wife. We mostly used it on the weekend for treat coffee, and it produced a reasonable Starbucks subtitute. Eventually the Bunn developed issues, so I started making a double shot espresso with the Mr Coffee and just putting cold half and half in it. A kind of a lazy Cortado. Delicious. That's kind of where I've stayed for a while, and I really enjoy it. Now I've got the upgrade bug and am looking at spending a mortgage payment on an espresso machine. It's a journey for sure.
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Mar 19, 2021 17:03
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Imagined posted:Any Oklahomans in the thread recommend a local roaster? Don’t know Oklahoma, but I like these Texas roasters and they should all ship nicely: -DFW: Oak Cliff Coffee -Austin: Greater Goods -San Antonio: Merit
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Mar 19, 2021 17:13
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Bandire posted:Not Oklahoma, but in far north Dallas https://www.coffeedelrey.com/ is pretty great and they ship fast. i agree with pretty much this whole post. i got into better coffee because the guy who owned our office condo had a fancy burr grinder in the break room. it's been brought up several times in this thread alone but the gaggia classic pro is a great buy-in to the more serious espresso machines, and it's like $450 on amazon.
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Mar 19, 2021 17:14
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Imagined posted:Any Oklahomans in the thread recommend a local roaster? You can do much better than Great Value. Or Sprouts. I roast my own, so I can't recall offhand who are and who aren't well liked. You might check out these people- https://www.leapcoffeeroasters.net/ I think they're in the industrial sector by the tracks in OKC.
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Mar 19, 2021 18:09
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