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I went to a great coffee shop yesterday and they were selling the Peak Water jugs (I think the shop owner is the guy who created Peak Water). It got me thinking about my water and what I can do to improve it. Local water seems very hard, my water company says it’s 246mg/l of CACO3. 87mg/l of calcium and 7.2 of magnesium. I don’t really want to get into buying distilled water and remineralising. From what I’ve read that’s the best option but it’s also…a lot. What are my options without going down that route? Is a Brita going to do anything?
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# ? Jan 15, 2023 10:57 |
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 15:34 |
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Pantsmaster Bill posted:I went to a great coffee shop yesterday and they were selling the Peak Water jugs (I think the shop owner is the guy who created Peak Water). It got me thinking about my water and what I can do to improve it. There’s Third Wave Water sachets for faster water prep, but you could also get a Peak Water jug. From what I read, Britas don’t soften water effectively, but they do soften it to some degree, so it’s still better than nothing.
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# ? Jan 15, 2023 13:28 |
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I use a Zero Water filter jug to make reverse osmosis water (Basically interchangeable with distilled water) and then remineralise it with sachets of Third Wave Water. Works great.
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# ? Jan 15, 2023 14:44 |
Turns out that Best-of-Italy.com is less than legit. No grinder is inbound after all. Credit card dispute incoming. Good stuff! Meanwhile these guys aren't too far from me - are any of the $300 or below grinders worth jumping on? https://www.1st-line.com/shop/sale/sidewalk-sales/all-grinders/ The Mazzer Mini and Ascaso I-2 are stepless and doserless, and their flaws look like they're just cosmetic in nature. I'm totally down with that if it means a decent grinder at a decent price without this overseas garbo. MJP fucked around with this message at 15:16 on Jan 15, 2023 |
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# ? Jan 15, 2023 15:11 |
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Something worth remembering about water is that your local roasters are most likelt roasting their coffee to whatever your local water composition is. Some roasters (heart for example) roast to a common water profile but if you dont want to mess with water youre probably fine just buying local coffee.
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# ? Jan 15, 2023 15:12 |
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MJP posted:Turns out that Best-of-Italy.com is less than legit. No grinder is inbound after all. Credit card dispute incoming. Good stuff! What kind of coffee are you trying to make? 1st line is definitely reputable, and the mazzer is well-known. Espresso coffee shop .com is international but also very well known and sells their eureka grinders for much less than you can get them for in the states. I bought a specialita from them a year back with zero complaints-fast shipping too. https://www.espressocoffeeshop.com/en/
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# ? Jan 15, 2023 15:36 |
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I definitely noticed an improvement with the third wave water packs. They aren't that expensive so I'd say it's worth giving them a try and deciding if it's worthwhile.
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# ? Jan 15, 2023 15:51 |
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nwin posted:What kind of coffee are you trying to make? 1st line is definitely reputable, and the mazzer is well-known. I also bought a eureka from here and it came to the states in less than 48 hours. If you hit the “email us for a discount code” they will send you a 5%+ off code, knocking down the price even further.
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# ? Jan 15, 2023 20:07 |
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If you've already got a set of scales that do 0.1g (or 0.01), you could try making your own water mixes I've noticed a difference in taste, but that's just because tap water here is pretty hard
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# ? Jan 16, 2023 01:29 |
nwin posted:What kind of coffee are you trying to make? 1st line is definitely reputable, and the mazzer is well-known. It's for espresso, my bad. My current Secura grinder doesn't do fine and uniform enough for my Gaggia Classic - scroll a page or two back for the long story. I know of espressocoffeeshop but at this point I don't want to deal with shipping. I've got a Gaggia that I can't use due to lack of a decent grinder, and I'd like to swap out the Mr. Coffee that's in its place so I can reclaim some countertop.
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# ? Jan 16, 2023 02:06 |
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Hopefully I'm not de-railing too much, but It's been a minute. I picked up a Baratza Encore (in white) over the weekend for about $120 on Amazon (They normally sell for around $160, but I want to say that I've seen them marked up even $170). For those interested: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084HNY3BG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 I'm excited to try it out . I don't do espresso, and this grinder isn't great for that, but I've heard great things about it in this thread and in general. bredfrown fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Jan 16, 2023 |
# ? Jan 16, 2023 16:19 |
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hypnophant posted:Why do you want to upgrade, and why Profitec? Why those models? The 400 and 500 are heat exchanger machines with vibratory pumps, while the 700 is a dual boiler with a rotary pump... any reason you skipped the 600, which is a dual boiler with a vibratory pump? I want to upgrade because this machine is 20+ years old and seems like it has seen better days and my wife finds it very fussy to use. I've already replaced the pressure stat, pump, water level lead, and the boiler element. You have been very helpful for each of these. I find it some times challenging to get consistent shots from it as well. Why Profitec? Why not? I like the look of the machines I listed, which of course has nothing to do with coffee. They seems to be very sturdy and well built and they offer machines that would do what I want in the price range I want apart from the 700, which is more expensive than the others. Why those machines? I make mostly milk drinks so I want robust steam and I know I can get that from a HX or DB machine. They came out with the 400 recently and seems like a pretty good value but I had been passively shopping the 500 pro pid already for some time. The 700 would be a buy once cry once type of machine. Better temperature control and great steam. That is good information about the E61 style group head. I had not seen this mentioned elsewhere in reviews of espresso machines. I'm not dying to have an oven running on my countertop more so than I do already with the machine I have.
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# ? Jan 16, 2023 16:41 |
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You can also take a look at Bezzera. They are supposed to be high quality as well, and they have some models with a saturated group (not e61) that don't have the associated problems. The BZ13 specifically is one I've had my eye on.
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# ? Jan 16, 2023 20:19 |
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bredfrown posted:Hopefully I'm not de-railing too much, but It's been a minute. You'll be happy with it! Leave the grounds alone for about 30 seconds, then give the grounds bin a good smack to reduce any static as a result of the grind as a tip to keep things less messy.
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# ? Jan 16, 2023 22:00 |
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ThirstyBuck posted:That is good information about the E61 style group head. I had not seen this mentioned elsewhere in reviews of espresso machines. I'm not dying to have an oven running on my countertop more so than I do already with the machine I have. For what it's worth, I've been using an Astra Pro for the past couple of years and I don't feel like it heats my room up much. Maybe if the space was tiny it could? The grouphead is indeed "burn you" levels of hot but it doesn't feel like it radiates much heat.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 02:26 |
Best-of-italy.com is confirmed for not legit. Order cancelled. I found a FB marketplace person selling a Rancilio Rocky, and it's in my hands. The grinds are definitely consistent. I'm still getting the same squirting issue at the same point in the portafilter. I've had it happen at all ranges from roughly 4.5 to 12.5, with 18g and 19g of grounds. I'm still tamping with a good amount of force. I've not done the two-stage tamping, not sure if that would help, but at this point I'm thinking maybe I screwed up the gasket install. Should I disassemble and try that again or should I be looking at coarser grinds/smaller doses?
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 02:49 |
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MJP posted:Best-of-italy.com is confirmed for not legit. Order cancelled. I found a FB marketplace person selling a Rancilio Rocky, and it's in my hands. The grinds are definitely consistent. I'm still getting the same squirting issue at the same point in the portafilter. I've had it happen at all ranges from roughly 4.5 to 12.5, with 18g and 19g of grounds. Your grinds are too coarse still, don't overthink this. It's not a gasket problem. How long is it taking to produce 40g of espresso from your exactly 18g of grounds? It should be around 25-30 seconds, keep grinding finer until this is your reality. You need a tamp that fits the basket also, look online for a 58.5mm tamp or even a 58mm one would be fine.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 03:06 |
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Also you can figure out dose size by sticking a nickel on your puck, locking it in, then popping it out and seeing if there's a dent. If not keep add .5g until you hit the final dose that doesn't leave a mark. That'll help keep you from underdosing as well as make sure updosing doesn't cause the puck to swell and break on the grouphead. And yeah, just keep going finer- it's a bit of a meme at this point but grinding finer is usually the answer.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 03:11 |
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He's using unpressurized baskets though. I don't think it should be spewing out the portafilter spout like that regardless of how course he's grinding. Have you done a thorough descaling yet? It might also be worth taking the shower screen and group head off and scrubbing the crap out of them. Also are you doing a flush with no portafilter to dump steam out of the group head before brewing? What does your water flow look like with no portafilter?
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 03:25 |
Bandire posted:He's using unpressurized baskets though. I don't think it should be spewing out the portafilter spout like that regardless of how course he's grinding. A descaling was performed over the weekend: 1) Pour one 14oz container of Keurig descaling solution (it's what I was able to get) + 14 oz water into tank 2) Dispensed 8oz from the brew group 3) Dispensed 8oz water from steam wand 4) Killed power, waited 20 minutes 5) Turned power back on, dispensed 8oz at a time through brew group, then steam wand, alternating until the tank ran nearly empty 6) Filled tank, dispensed entire tank through brew group 7) Filled tank, dispensed entire tank through steam wand I'm 99% sure that after all this, I took the shower screen and group head and soaked them in the descale fluid dispensed in step 2, but I'll see if I can find some citric acid locally and give 'em a good soak. I have not flushed the portafilter before brewing, no - closest is I run it for like 3-4 seconds to pre-infuse the grounds. I flush after brewing to clean it out but will give it a shot momentarily. Water flow without portafilter looks like https://imgur.com/a/BMyYwku I was able to pull 40g out of 18g in around 52 seconds with the grind at 1.25, no spewing at all. Granted, it was crazy bitter, but that's probably me having roasted a bit too far. With dry grounds, a nickel basically sunk all the way into the puck. I'm tamping around the periphery with the stock tampers, I have a 58.6mm 3D printed one en route - figured I'd start with something basic before I drop big bucks on a depleted uranium tamper or whatever the zeitgeist Brooklyn barista opinion says is the metal of the week. MJP fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Jan 17, 2023 |
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 04:01 |
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MJP posted:A descaling was performed over the weekend: Wait you’re roasting your own beans? Is this something new or something you usually do? I’m extremely confused by this part. Its super bitter because you pulled 1:2 ratio in over 50 seconds. That’s insanely over extracted, but the good news is it has solved your problem and proven the issue was not grinding fine enough. Drop your dose to 16g, and move the grind size up until you hit 32 grams out in around 30 seconds. Don’t waste time with any other variable or loving around.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 04:26 |
Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Wait you’re roasting your own beans? Is this something new or something you usually do? I’m extremely confused by this part. Yep, I'm roasting my own. I've been doing it for only around a month or so, but I've been roasting my own at all points with the Gaggia and its Mr. Coffee predecessor. But yeah, definitely that's at least gotten non-spewy extraction and given me a guideline for further futzing. Just out of curiosity, should I be aiming for enough grinds to level off with a straight edge and not have any excess? Or is it OK if my 16g has a small hill over the top of the portafilter? It tamps in without any issues, FWIW.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 04:37 |
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MJP posted:Yep, I'm roasting my own. I've been doing it for only around a month or so, but I've been roasting my own at all points with the Gaggia and its Mr. Coffee predecessor. But yeah, definitely that's at least gotten non-spewy extraction and given me a guideline for further futzing. Learning how to espresso (and espresso in general) is an extremely finicky process with an enormous amount of variables. I absolutely do not recommend learning how while using beans that were roasted by someone with minimal (no offense) roasting knowledge. Now that you have the equipment, and you know it functions, your next step is to learn how to dial a bag. Get a good size bag of coffee no older than 1 month past roast date (and ideally no younger than 6 days past roast date), probably around 1lb. You want to learn the process on a single bag if you can because the results will change with each bag, even from the same company marketed as the same coffee. As far as your question, the mound is expected, but you should never remove coffee from the portafilter without understanding the weight. You’ll see in the below videos, but part of getting espresso right is intentionally changing one variable while keeping all the others as stable as possible. That means if you’re going to grind finer/coarser, you have to keep the exact same weight of grounds in grams to understand what change you made. I recommend these Hoffman videos as a good place to start and understand not only the how to, but the purpose of all these steps and why each one is so important (and which stuff may not be). I recommend the whole playlist, but the first couple are the most important and answer most if not all non-equipment questions you’ve asked. Yes, it’s over an hour of video. But I can pretty confidently say that those of us who have spent time figuring out good espresso have spent significantly more time watching video on how to do it than that because it’s just a lot of work, knowledge, and technique. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxz0FjZMVOl3ksLTyWsWNFdU1b73w1BUW
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 05:09 |
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Bandire posted:He's using unpressurized baskets though. I don't think it should be spewing out the portafilter spout like that regardless of how course he's grinding. If you had ever tried to make espresso from grounds that coarse, you'd know that it can and will gush out of the spout like that. I am surprised we're still trying to troubleshoot this. If the coffee isn't being ground any finer than what's in the original set of pics, the shots will always gush.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 06:32 |
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MJP posted:Yep, I'm roasting my own. I've been doing it for only around a month or so, but I've been roasting my own at all points with the Gaggia and its Mr. Coffee predecessor. But yeah, definitely that's at least gotten non-spewy extraction and given me a guideline for further futzing. I wouldn’t recommend roasting your own espresso beans while trying to learn both roasting and espresso. I’ve roasted for years (mainly for drip and French press) and don’t even want to deal with that headache. Depending on the flavor profile you like, I’d go to happymugcoffee.com and pick up a 2 pound bag of Big Yeti espresso. It’s $26 shipped, roasted very fresh, and has the classic Chocolate/syrupy espresso flavor. You might also consider getting a cheap WDT tool from Etsy. I’ve got this one for $10 and it works great: https://www.etsy.com/listing/123986...s=1&bes=1&edd=1 That will help remove all the clumps that the rocky is known for.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 12:02 |
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ThirstyBuck posted:I want to upgrade because this machine is 20+ years old and seems like it has seen better days and my wife finds it very fussy to use. I've already replaced the pressure stat, pump, water level lead, and the boiler element. You have been very helpful for each of these. I find it some times challenging to get consistent shots from it as well. Makes sense! Profitecs do have a reputation for being extremely well built and you will easily get another 20 years out of one, and not everyone is bothered by the issues I had - there have been a huge number of e61 machines made and many people are very happy with them. There used to be a couple posters with apartamentos who seemed quite happy with them. OTOH I do not tend to associate e61 machines with the word “unfussy.” You certainly can get good coffee out of them and the PID models take out a lot of the grief, but they’re still based around a 60-year-old design. It’s cool that they’re still around for those who love the aesthetic, but I think most people are better served with something a bit more modern. If you’re in that price range I would maybe look at the silvia pro x or the breville dual boiler, either of which will give you good steam and temp stability, and be more efficient and a bit less quirky than an e61. Or if you really want to buy one cry once, the linea micra.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 16:08 |
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consensual poster posted:If you had ever tried to make espresso from grounds that coarse, you'd know that it can and will gush out of the spout like that. I am surprised we're still trying to troubleshoot this. If the coffee isn't being ground any finer than what's in the original set of pics, the shots will always gush. Dammit, I meant pressurized baskets. I think he's still using pressurized baskets. I never had anything like that explosive spurting when I was still using pressurized baskets with unsuited grounds. Agree learning to roast and make espresso at the same time is way too much going on. You've got to minimize the number of variables.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 16:17 |
Fair enough. I did 16g at around 2.0 and again no spurting, so it's definitely looking like 5 is too coarse - I'll be doing a few more iterations. I've been doing OK roasting my own so far - started with a Turbo Crazy and did OK, and I just picked up a Gene roaster real cheap locally. The beans I'm working with now are just a little shy of Italian roast, but it was done on the Turbo - next batch I do will be a lot more controlled and I can back it off way sooner. It definitely makes wonderful non-espresso coffee; my Moka has been getting a lot of work. There's a cafe near me that roasts their own, I'll see if I can get some from them. The trick for me is I gotta have decaf thanks to medical reasons. Looks like Happy Mug has a decaf espresso blend, but if I can go local and save on shipping that makes life a little easier. I am also working through the Hoffman videos; it's definitely good to have the procedure laid out and quantified. Now that I can breathe a sigh of relief on basic non-squirty functionality, I can at least futz through the low end of the grind. Youse all were not kidding on how much of a difference the grinder makes - the Rocky may be clumpy but it's definitely consistent and finer compared to the Secura. Thank you again, thread. Having to go decaf was quite the kick and this is fun as hell. I guess once I get my yellow belt in dialing in, I should look into an unpressurized basket?
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 16:39 |
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MJP posted:Fair enough. I did 16g at around 2.0 and again no spurting, so it's definitely looking like 5 is too coarse - I'll be doing a few more iterations. Yeah, once you are a little more comfortable with the process, it is worth looking in to. Pressurized baskets are like espresso training wheels, and they limit the upper end of your results quite a bit. The trick is Gaggia's come from the factory with what is generally considered too high a brew pressure for unpressurized baskets. You can still get decent results, but you'd want to look in to getting it to 9 bar or lower. The pre-2018 US models make you half disassemble the OPV valve and just guess at what pressure you are setting it to, so it might be a pain to do without a way to measure pressure at the portafilter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghti27dMZb8 If you go that route and decide to tinker with the OPV pressure, you'll probably want a bottomless portafilter, a nice VST (or maybe IMS) basket, and a WDT tool like that Etsy link nwin posted. This is a good tamper that makes it easy to be consistent if that 3d printed one doesn't work out. https://smile.amazon.com/Normcore-58-5mm-Coffee-Tamper-Spring-loaded/dp/B09BTLP4P1
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 17:31 |
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Just wanted to say good on you for sticking with it. The espresso learning curve is loving steep and tons of things are thrown at you to help minimize the variables. It’s kinda good you’re limited to decaf because this way you’re not jittery as gently caress and irritated after pulling the tenth shot of the day, regardless of how many become sink shots.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 17:42 |
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MJP posted:Fair enough. I did 16g at around 2.0 and again no spurting, so it's definitely looking like 5 is too coarse - I'll be doing a few more iterations. Yes, focusing on one variable at a time is the only way you’re going to get through the process. Your goal should be to be able to make a shot taste nearly exactly the same multiple times in a row. That’s how you know you have all your variables controlled. Once you can do that you can focus on making it good because you’ll know what you’re changing. This is part of why it’s good to use the exact same bag of beans for a while because it means that variable is always controlled. You don’t need an espresso roast at all. espresso roast just means the roaster thinks it tastes good as espresso. Any dark or medium dark roast will do as darker roasts are much easier to work with. Once you can do that, IMO an unpressurized basket and a WDT are the next step. The unpressurized basket will amplify small changes a whole lot more so it’s good to learn basics with the pressurized. Pilfered Pallbearers fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Jan 17, 2023 |
# ? Jan 17, 2023 18:39 |
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I think he'll be surrpised at how affordable high-quality IMS baskets are. They're going to make so much of a difference than those crappy pressured baskets. Throw them out, or only use them to warm up your porta filter.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 19:30 |
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Corb3t posted:I think he'll be surrpised at how affordable high-quality IMS baskets are. They're going to make so much of a difference than those crappy pressured baskets. Throw them out, or only use them to warm up your porta filter. Yeah buying an IMS double basket was a no-brainer and I honestly don't know how much better the shots are but it's such a cheap "best" product that I wanted to do it to eliminate that ever being a problem.
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# ? Jan 17, 2023 23:15 |
nwin posted:Just wanted to say good on you for sticking with it. The espresso learning curve is loving steep and tons of things are thrown at you to help minimize the variables. The really fun part of this - at least, to me - is that it's quick changes to variables for a decent reward. You feel like you're Doing Science, and you get instant, quantifiable feedback that has equally qualitative experience. It's really fun in a way. Also, all the fancy coffee drinks I want, whenever I want. Plus the home roasting? New handmade gift to give and fundraiser for the video game orchestra.
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# ? Jan 18, 2023 02:38 |
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I'm trying to wrap my head around brew time, grind size, and ratio, how they affect extraction, and ultimately how that affects taste. I'm just focusing on my Aeropress with a fresh medium-roast and ignoring water temperature as a variable to keep it relatively simple. I've watched and rewatched the relevant Hoffmann videos talking about this, and about the Aeropress in particular. The thread's OP uses the analogy of a camera's exposure to talk about extraction, and that makes sense to me. Are there guidelines about which of these variables should be tweaked to achieve a certain effect? For example, changing the grind for an Aeropress shouldn't have the side effects related to time that it would with an espresso or pour-over, so is there a reason to not grind relatively fine for the Aeropress? That leaves me with brew time and ratio. Hoffmann says to get the taste right before messing with ratio, which to me means that the extraction needs to be right and then things can be fine-tuned with ratio. I don't see a reason to tinker much with grind size or water temperature, so that leaves brew time as the main variable to play with, followed by ratio. I do realize that ratio affects extraction, so there might be some tweaking (e.g., a stronger ratio would necessitate a longer brew time to get the same level of extraction). Does this sound like a reasonable way to "dial in" an Aeropress recipe? (In other news, the new Ode gen2 grinder is out for delivery!)
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# ? Jan 20, 2023 17:14 |
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so sick of coffee youtubers inevitably ending up shilling for stuff that costs more than a monthly salary, interjecting any statement about how expensive it is with their cheeky "but this is my favourite machine/grinder/whatevs ever. it is so insanely great" poo poo, in the hopes of triggering at least one whale with FOMO
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# ? Jan 20, 2023 17:20 |
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Easychair Bootson posted:I'm trying to wrap my head around brew time, grind size, and ratio, how they affect extraction, and ultimately how that affects taste. I'm just focusing on my Aeropress with a fresh medium-roast and ignoring water temperature as a variable to keep it relatively simple. Until I've tried out a few different combinations, the only variables I touch are grind size and dose size. If you're doing pourover, brew time will end up varying a bit, but don't worry too much about it unless it's really off. Basically, I just follow this: It's only after I've tinkered with that a bit and still don't have a satisfactory result that I start changing other things like water temperature—or in the case of the Aeropress, total steep time.
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# ? Jan 20, 2023 17:31 |
Easychair Bootson posted:That leaves me with brew time and ratio. Hoffmann says to get the taste right before messing with ratio, which to me means that the extraction needs to be right and then things can be fine-tuned with ratio. I don't see a reason to tinker much with grind size or water temperature, so that leaves brew time as the main variable to play with, followed by ratio. I do realize that ratio affects extraction, so there might be some tweaking (e.g., a stronger ratio would necessitate a longer brew time to get the same level of extraction). Does this sound like a reasonable way to "dial in" an Aeropress recipe? i think you've got the right idea but imo grind size is much less annoying to manipulate than time for immersion brews, all else equal. not that time doesn't matter, just that beyond a certain point you'll get rapidly diminishing returns as there is progressively less solvent available that is not already full of dissolved coffee -- sometimes when you've got something ultra light and really hard to extract, it's worth going for every bit of those diminishing returns anyway and having a really long brew time (e.g. Gagne's 10 minute aeropress). but usually i just brew for three or four minutes or whatever and go finer next time if I think it's under
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# ? Jan 20, 2023 17:34 |
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Easychair Bootson posted:I'm trying to wrap my head around brew time, grind size, and ratio, how they affect extraction, and ultimately how that affects taste. I'm just focusing on my Aeropress with a fresh medium-roast and ignoring water temperature as a variable to keep it relatively simple. Grind size is your #1 absolute adjuster of extraction. All other variables can change it, but nothing makes the difference in such large swing than grind size. When someone uses the term dial in, they are almost exclusively speaking about grind size. The way you should be dialing in a bag of coffee is by taste. Adjust the grind size until you get the best possible iteration of the bean you can get with grind size (or one you’re just happy with). This typically involves hitting the sweet spot, overshooting the next one, then moving back to sweet spot, and is done mostly by taste. It is likely at this point that your brew will already taste pretty good. Edit: Use the chart above, I wasn’t aware of it. Most of this advice still applies though. https://www.baristahustle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Espresso-Compass.pdf Once you have your grind at the appropriate size, then it’s time to adjust all the other variables one at a time. All of those adjustments will have significantly less impact than grind size did, which is why you do grind size first. At this point, you’re looking to take a great brew to an excellent brew. The chart above should still be helpful for this part, as long as you understand how those changes effect extraction (lower ratio=more extraction, hotter water = more extraction for light roasts, more time = more extraction, etc). For aeropress, where the chart talks about yield you’d look to increase yield by increasing the ratio rather than grind like you would for espresso.
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# ? Jan 20, 2023 17:41 |
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# ? Apr 26, 2024 15:34 |
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Easychair Bootson posted:I've watched and rewatched the relevant Hoffmann videos talking about this, and about the Aeropress in particular. The thread's OP uses the analogy of a camera's exposure to talk about extraction, and that makes sense to me. Are there guidelines about which of these variables should be tweaked to achieve a certain effect? For example, changing the grind for an Aeropress shouldn't have the side effects related to time that it would with an espresso or pour-over, so is there a reason to not grind relatively fine for the Aeropress? I've had the best aeropress results grinding on or near the finest setting of a non-espresso grinder. I haven't had to "dial in" beans for the aeropress because you don't have to hit the grind size exactly right as you do for espresso - small changes in the grind size don't matter so you don't need to tweak it per-bean. If it's too difficult to plunge then you've ground too fine. My rule of thumb there is if it takes you more than 30 seconds of constant pressure then you're slightly over-extracting and wasting your time and energy.
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# ? Jan 20, 2023 17:49 |