|
Looking for some new online roasters. I’m in Boston and anything local seems to be overpriced or not really what I’m after. I have an intelligentsia by me but I don’t want to spend what they charge. Anyways, I used to be into Kenyan and Ethiopian and the other bright cups of coffee where I would use my CCD, but now all I really care about is normal Columbian coffee through my aero press. Honestly I had been using Trader Joe’s Costa Rican Tarazzu for a while but they’ve discontinued it-for $7 a pound of coffee it did the trick just fine. Other times I’ll just use my Nespresso. Any recommendations? I’m kinda over the whole third wave thing of paying $18 a bag, but want better and fresher quality than just grabbing a bag of Peet’s beans or whatever at the grocery store. I’m also not living in a place where roasting at home is an option, as I used to do that too. nwin fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Aug 22, 2018 |
# ? Aug 22, 2018 01:17 |
|
|
# ? Mar 29, 2024 08:11 |
|
If Trader Joe's is ok for you just stick with that. I also think coffee costs way too much now. I still buy it but I just drink less of it. Just one cup a day for me.
|
# ? Aug 22, 2018 13:39 |
|
Yeah I started looking online last night and all the recommendations I came across were for $16-20+ a bag, which is ridiculous. There was a recommendation on reddit for happymug.com. They were $11 for a one pound bag, so i decided to try them out. I would stick with Trader Joe's, but the one by them I liked was discontinued and all the others I've tried haven't been great.
|
# ? Aug 22, 2018 14:22 |
|
We go with Tony's Coffee for our 11-13$/bag needs. They have free shipping at $50, but if you drink as much coffee as my house does it's not a problem with having stale coffee. Spending $100 on coffee a month is probably an issue, but it's better than if we were buying coffee from any coffee shop in the city. My wife wants to try roasting our own again, so she may solve that for us. I've not found anything sub-$10 that really does a decent job for me, but Tony's is a bit better than the TJ's stuff I've had and their shipping is very quick. Usually get my coffee within 2 days of ordering via USPS and it ships usually same day.
|
# ? Aug 22, 2018 15:45 |
|
Someone mentioned Aldis 12 ounces for $5. It's not frou frou, but its organic, good stuff, and if not fresh enough cook them beans a tad darker and tada born again fresh. That's been my experience. Even if you don't have a roaster you can throw them in a frying pan for a few minutes and fake it. Anyone want to troll, feel free.
|
# ? Aug 22, 2018 16:04 |
|
Mr. Mambold posted:Someone mentioned Aldis 12 ounces for $5. It's not frou frou, but its organic, good stuff, and if not fresh enough cook them beans a tad darker and tada born again fresh. Ethiopians have roasted beans on a frying pan for centuries. It's not that great IMO. They seem to love burning the gently caress out of their beans and they don't leave any room for the beans to de-gas since they grind the beans immediately.
|
# ? Aug 22, 2018 19:52 |
|
I'm having a hard time settling on a grinder. I had a Breville Smart Pro before, but decided not to move it because I felt it was a little too inconsistent. (Though that may well have been my espresso machine.) Now that I have a fancy Rocket, I need an equally fancy grinder to go with... I'm looking for something that will work well for espresso but is also usable for pourover or French press. I've been looking at the favourites that come up in the thread and from what I'm piecing together between different reviews, the Rancilio Rocky is more solid than the Baratza Vario, but isn't quite as consistent? I was also looking at the Barataza Sette, which besides looking like a prop from the Jetsons, Seattle Coffee Gear advises against for non-espresso?
|
# ? Aug 23, 2018 08:17 |
|
Jan posted:I'm having a hard time settling on a grinder. I had a Breville Smart Pro before, but decided not to move it because I felt it was a little too inconsistent. (Though that may well have been my espresso machine.) Now that I have a fancy Rocket, I need an equally fancy grinder to go with... I'm looking for something that will work well for espresso but is also usable for pourover or French press. What’s your budget? I went through 5 Settes and gave up. When they worked they were good but jet engine loud. I am now a manual grinder convert, if you are so inclined there are many options.
|
# ? Aug 24, 2018 05:48 |
|
What's a good scale that's more durable than the $20 american weigh? I've gone through 2 of them (3 including one my roommate gave me when she moved away) and I'm tired of throwing $20 away on something that's going to die in a couple of years. Willing to spend up to $100 or so if lasts a long time and is accurate. Bonus if it includes stupid espresso-specific features like a shot timer or whatever that I'll probably never use.
|
# ? Aug 25, 2018 18:30 |
|
What went wrong with them? Mine has been going for 5 years.
|
# ? Aug 25, 2018 21:10 |
|
nwin posted:Yeah I started looking online last night and all the recommendations I came across were for $16-20+ a bag, which is ridiculous. There was a recommendation on reddit for happymug.com. They were $11 for a one pound bag, so i decided to try them out. I would stick with Trader Joe's, but the one by them I liked was discontinued and all the others I've tried haven't been great. Check my thread in the mart. You help a goon, a small biz, and my price is stupidly affordable because jersey coffee is so goddamn terrible people complain I’m too high. The code makes it pretty close to free shipping and If you order a bunch over time like some have I usually add coffee I have hanging around just because it’s fun for me. In general coffee from tj is a local roaster roasting for them at extreme volume money. I get hit up by these places because I look big I guess. Look around your area and you’ll find some local roaster with a huge facility. That’s your tj/Aldis roaster. It’s literally pennies over cost so all it ever leads to is them buying as bad of a coffee as possible since margins are so tight. I’m a bit there with you on price points because even if I have a $5.00 coffee carving out $11 towards costs is entirely reasonable. Bags, labels and ties at .50 or even $1 makes 6. Labor at a beefy $2 a bag with 1-2 for over head and you’re at 10. $5 profit. It’s why I think 16.99 is the most anyone should be selling at except for silly geishas. The bs I cal is when those places don’t really wholesale and sell out of their cafe so they don’t even need to bake in the wholesale cost. Don’t even get me started on 10oz bags.
|
# ? Aug 25, 2018 21:35 |
|
MasterControl posted:Check my thread in the mart. You help a goon, a small biz, and my price is stupidly affordable because jersey coffee is so goddamn terrible people complain I’m too high. The code makes it pretty close to free shipping and If you order a bunch over time like some have I usually add coffee I have hanging around just because it’s fun for me. Actually I used to buy from you and liked your stuff. There was something that you were selling that was amazing, but I remember you posting that you were running low on the green beans and weren't sure what you were going to use to replace it as it was one of your best sellers at the time-it might have been a blend. I'll try and check out what you guys have. I was able to login to my account and it only shows one order: The Royal Mile Espresso and a Kenya Nyeri Peaberry, but I don't think it was either of those as I haven't been making espresso for a long time.
|
# ? Aug 26, 2018 01:36 |
|
Ultimate Mango posted:What’s your budget? I went through 5 Settes and gave up. When they worked they were good but jet engine loud. Noise-wise, supposedly the latest/current Sette Wi (vs. W) model is better? But yeah, durability is one of my concerns (more than budget). I could spring $600 on a grinder, not so much if it breaks within a year or two. As for manual grinders, I can't say I've tried many of them, but the ones I have felt like it took 5 minutes to grind a a double shot.
|
# ? Aug 26, 2018 21:54 |
|
nwin posted:Any recommendations? I’m kinda over the whole third wave thing of paying $18 a bag, but want better and fresher quality than just grabbing a bag of Peet’s beans or whatever at the grocery store. My first suggestion would be go with goon roaster Mastercontrol. Help a goon, he is focused on shipping fresh, and it isn’t too expensive. My local roaster continues to win me over because they do pound bags at $12-15 (2 for $25). Roast dates on the bag with a weekly schedule so I can stop in the day of or after if I run low. I use about 10-14 ounces in two weeks so I just get a new bag and keep the leftovers for cold brew. Apparently they offer a subscription service, too. Obviously you are a ways from Southern California... so go with the goon roaster! https://www.kofficoffee.com/pages/shop
|
# ? Aug 27, 2018 18:21 |
|
El Jebus posted:My first suggestion would be go with goon roaster Mastercontrol. Help a goon, he is focused on shipping fresh, and it isn’t too expensive. Who do you use in SoCal? I am in the Temecula area and have been using Augies but it's ~20 usd for 12 ounces. edit- I am an idiot and didn't see you posted a link to the Palm Springs store. Hekk fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Aug 28, 2018 |
# ? Aug 28, 2018 05:44 |
|
Yeah, Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage locations only, I think? Bit of a hike from Temecula. We just got a stumptown out here and its roasted in LA. I forgot how expensive it was compared to Koffi.
|
# ? Aug 28, 2018 22:24 |
|
Mu Zeta posted:What went wrong with them? Mine has been going for 5 years. The display died on two of them and the tare button died on the third.
|
# ? Aug 29, 2018 00:19 |
|
I like the Brewista smart scale - my first gen one has been trucking along solidly on both espresso and filter duties for a long time now. I don't know how the new model with all the upgrades is though and USB charging is a turn-off for me versus being able to chuck in some rechargeable AAAs.
|
# ? Aug 29, 2018 06:36 |
|
kim jong-illin posted:I like the Brewista smart scale - my first gen one has been trucking along solidly on both espresso and filter duties for a long time now. I don't know how the new model with all the upgrades is though and USB charging is a turn-off for me versus being able to chuck in some rechargeable AAAs. I have the gen 2 Brewista Smart scale. First one wouldn’t charge via USB but their excellent customer service took care of it. The modes are great and has really helped me with espresso production.
|
# ? Aug 30, 2018 04:39 |
|
Anyone ever use the Flaire espresso press? Considering one.
|
# ? Sep 3, 2018 02:37 |
|
Munkaboo posted:Anyone ever use the Flaire espresso press? Considering one. What do you want to know? I've used one for awhile and like it a lot, but I'm not an espresso expert. I moved to the Flair after using an Aeropress for a long time. It has a weird sized portafilter and the new bottomless portafilters are really finicky, but you can leave the bottom on them and they work like the old ones. I have a Capresso Inifinity which is the absolute minimum grinder you'd need but I'd recommend a better grinder as it's challenging to get a good grind/bean combo with the Infinity. With my poo poo grinder (for espresso; it worked great for regular coffee) I've found that 'Big Trouble' from counter culture coffee has the best results. I'm planning to get a Kinu M47 at some point which will probably help expand my capabilities and use a wider range of beans.
|
# ? Sep 4, 2018 20:47 |
|
AbsoluteLlama posted:What do you want to know? I've used one for awhile and like it a lot, but I'm not an espresso expert. I moved to the Flair after using an Aeropress for a long time. I've got a Baratza Encore with a Virtuoso burr so I think thats about the minimum. Does it take a comparable time to make compared to a V60/Kalita?
|
# ? Sep 5, 2018 13:17 |
|
Are the suggested grinders in the OP still the way to go? Or are there newer options?
|
# ? Sep 5, 2018 17:59 |
|
AbsoluteLlama posted:What do you want to know? I've used one for awhile and like it a lot, but I'm not an espresso expert. I moved to the Flair after using an Aeropress for a long time. How do you like using it to make two espresso shots back to back? Does it seem finnicky? How does the overall time to make compare to a pour over, or aeropress?
|
# ? Sep 6, 2018 00:30 |
|
Munkaboo posted:I've got a Baratza Encore with a Virtuoso burr so I think thats about the minimum. Does it take a comparable time to make compared to a V60/Kalita? I've never done a pourover so cannot compare there. I have a Bonavita BV1800SS which is a nice drip coffee maker, and the Flair is faster than setup/brew/cleanup on that. I usually heat water as I grind and pack the portafilter. After that, it only takes ~30 seconds to pull a shot so maybe a minute max including placing the cylinder and pouring the water. Ethereal posted:How do you like using it to make two espresso shots back to back? Does it seem finnicky? How does the overall time to make compare to a pour over, or aeropress? It's fine. I always heat the cylinder in an electric kettle along with the water. When I do two back-to-back I just prep two portafilters beforehand, and then put a new cylinder in the kettle after I pour into the first cylinder. Cleaning takes a bit longer than the Aeropress, and you'll want as many extra brew heads as you need to make at once. There's basically no way to reuse the brewhead quickly.
|
# ? Sep 6, 2018 14:54 |
|
AbsoluteLlama posted:What do you want to know? I've used one for awhile and like it a lot, but I'm not an espresso expert. I moved to the Flair after using an Aeropress for a long time. What is cleanup like? You mentioned it’s longer than the aeropress, which is a loving cinch. How much worse/longer is it?
|
# ? Sep 6, 2018 22:44 |
|
nwin posted:What is cleanup like? You mentioned it’s longer than the aeropress, which is a loving cinch. How much worse/longer is it? After it cools you just pull the cylinder off the portafilter, dump the puck, rinse the parts, and let it dry. Every week I'll take the o-rings out of the cylinder and clean up anything that may get inside. The main issue is that you cannot really clean it immediately after brewing without burning yourself, so you need X# of brewheads to make X# in a row. The Aeropress is pretty easy to do any # in a row since it basically cleans itself as you brew. I'd say the Flair is faster making shots in a row since you preload the portafilters and just run them through. With the Aeropress it's probably a bit longer since you need to dump more grind in and replace the filter before brewing again. Of course at that point it's sort of apples to oranges and it'd probably be more fair to compare X# brewheads to X# Aeropresses. AbsoluteLlama fucked around with this message at 01:39 on Sep 7, 2018 |
# ? Sep 7, 2018 01:36 |
|
obi_ant posted:Are the suggested grinders in the OP still the way to go? Or are there newer options? More or less. The grinder market hasn't had a lot of new players for a while.
|
# ? Sep 7, 2018 02:16 |
|
rockcity posted:More or less. The grinder market hasn't had a lot of new players for a while. Thank you.
|
# ? Sep 7, 2018 03:26 |
|
Anyone have any advice for roasting coffee at home? I'm looking to buy something to do it and came across this. Freshly roasted coffee is super appealing. - How long do unroasted coffee beans last if they're stored in a sealed glass jar in a dark cupboard? - How long does it take to roast coffee beans? - Is it a pretty simple and straightforward process?
|
# ? Sep 8, 2018 17:07 |
|
https://youtu.be/sZrdOZKUIKU Is the least expensive method I've been recommended. I've not seen anyone use other machines but the whirley pop thing is well liked.
|
# ? Sep 8, 2018 17:47 |
|
Qubee posted:Anyone have any advice for roasting coffee at home? I'm looking to buy something to do it and came across this. Freshly roasted coffee is super appealing. Standard advice is 15 months after processing. IE 15 months including transit time from where they were harvested. But you can notice a fall off in flavor month after month, although that might not actually be something you notice depending on what coffee you buy and how you roast it.
|
# ? Sep 8, 2018 17:51 |
|
Nostalgia4Ass posted:https://youtu.be/sZrdOZKUIKU Whirley pop is the perfect method for the first-time home roaster. Or the heat gun/dog bowl method. Honestly I prefer the coffee I make with the Whirley Pop to what I can do with my Behmor but that might just be because I’m Very Bad at the Behmor. Seriously though Whirley Pop owns.
|
# ? Sep 8, 2018 18:55 |
|
dik-dik posted:Whirley pop is the perfect method for the first-time home roaster. Or the heat gun/dog bowl method. Honestly I prefer the coffee I make with the Whirley Pop to what I can do with my Behmor but that might just be because I’m Seconding this. Condolences if your stove doesn't have a good hood/exhaust fan tho.
|
# ? Sep 8, 2018 19:46 |
|
Does anyone have any experience with the Breville Barista express? I just spent a while trying to get a decent shot and having a lot of trouble. Here's what I'm running into: If I use the default Double-Shot option it will get me pretty close to the correct pressure, for just about 30 seconds, but will output like 95-110 grams of espresso, when I'm inputting 17 or 18 grams of coffee. I started experimenting with the manual mode, and to get the ~45 grams that I'm aiming for takes only about 20 seconds, including the 5 second pre-infusion. Anybody have any tips for fixing this? Is it a grind or tamping issue? My coffee is almost a month old, so I need to buy a fresh bag and try again, but beyond that is there anything else I'm running into? Thanks!
|
# ? Sep 9, 2018 05:33 |
|
Gstu posted:Does anyone have any experience with the Breville Barista express? I just spent a while trying to get a decent shot and having a lot of trouble. Here's what I'm running into: I've never used that machine, but I know for darker (not italian dark!) "espresso blends" 20 seconds isn't impossible to get good extraction. For an example of a common coffee, La Columbe's Nizza blend generally comes out decently dosed ~18 grams brewing for 21-26 seconds to produce a 40 gram shot of espresso. E: Really at the end of the day, the time it takes to brew is the most variable part of your recipe and shouldn't be something you bend over backwards to change. Sextro fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Sep 9, 2018 |
# ? Sep 9, 2018 05:41 |
|
Gstu posted:Does anyone have any experience with the Breville Barista express? I just spent a while trying to get a decent shot and having a lot of trouble. Here's what I'm running into: I believe that's the model my daughter got her husband last year. It supposedly auto-senses the correct water pressure up to 15? He's had complaints also that it's inconsistent, but more the opposite of your experience. Depending on the source of the beans, it sometimes won't push a shot through at all, or a very meager one.
|
# ? Sep 9, 2018 15:25 |
|
Gstu posted:Does anyone have any experience with the Breville Barista express? I just spent a while trying to get a decent shot and having a lot of trouble. Here's what I'm running into: 20 seconds is fine but if you get that much coffee (the 95+ grams) you either have severe channeling or grind way to coarse. Look at the puck before you knock it out and see if there are little holes in the top.
|
# ? Sep 10, 2018 04:45 |
|
I got the Flair but I only have light African roasts, so the shots are pretty drat strong and not balanced. I am wondering if I should have spent that $200 to get a Lido 3 or something instead. Right now I have an Encore with the upgraded preciso/Virtuoso Burr. Thoughts? Munkaboo fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Sep 16, 2018 |
# ? Sep 16, 2018 01:07 |
|
|
# ? Mar 29, 2024 08:11 |
|
Manual grinding for espresso sounds like hell.
|
# ? Sep 16, 2018 01:08 |