Coffee
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@Finn666 That's the thing about most coffee brewing recommendations, they assume a lot of variables as a constant that might not be. While it appears that @Snowy and I see eye to eye for our own brewing preferences, I know he's got a great grinder + is using very good beans, and I'm assuming that he's brewing with a scale, has some reliable form of temperature control (or at least a boiling/pouring method that delivers a consistent temperature), and is using a dedicated pouring kettle…all things that factor heavily into my own personal preferences for brewing device.
While I agree that the Chemex is finicky compared to the other two with all else optimal...I actually think it's the best of the 3-options for a setup that isn't fully optimized. Though I haven't experimented with it for awhile, and it lacks the sex-appeal of the other 3 options at hand, the Abid Clever Brewer is pretty capable, and it's ability to control dwell time is friendly to a winder range of grinders, plus it obviates the need for a dedicated pouring kettle. Check it out: https://prima-coffee.com/equipment/abid/clever
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I've never had a disaster with Kalita or v60. I've had some total shockers with a Chemex.
Finn, I thought you already had a kettle for some reason. Yes, you'll need one of those, and a grinder :). Kettle is a 1-off. Grinder you can work to incrementally, or jump right into the deep end of it…..
tmadd, yes I use scales. On weekends for Chemex :). During the week I eye ball it with a Kalita. It's pretty consistent naturally and I've got an okay read on it to get a great profile out most mornings without too much care...
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What's the harder world to understand… denim or coffee?
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Coffee is a complete fucking mystery to me. I can go miles out of my way to have a coffee at a highly recommended hipster joint or have coffee made with all the paraphernalia @finn is buying and had the brew timed to the nano-bleeding-second and the water heated to the correct temperature (to 76 decimal places) by the guy making it with his iphone. And it still just tastes like a good drinkable coffee to me.
Luckily my lack of sophistication (hipness?) in this regard is also so the same with wine. And that DOES save me a fucking fortune….
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@grandmasterben I think the further I continue to get into both…the more I feel like they are equally difficult to understand in the comprehensive way that a true professional should. I haven't done anything else with my life for 10 years and I feel like I'm just scratching the surface on both things. For a consumer, I think jeans are easier because you have to purchase less often, you don't have to deal with the reality of day to day variation (whether brewing at home, or visiting even the best of the best cafes in the world), and most importantly, it's relatively easy to find the actual best retailers in the business and if you do that, you're nearly guaranteed a pair of jeans that are world-class, will fit you well, and which the experience of owning will inform all things from that point on.
@Giles I think that's actually part of the awesome thing about coffee…like denim, there's a lot to love about even the mediocore expressions of it...while I have very high expectations of a cafe with a slick build out, "all the right machines" and a swagger that conveys they really know what they are talking about, a diner coffee at the right time and place can be very pleasing even if I don't think it's the pinnacle of what coffee can be. I'd say the same thing about jeans...it's different because the purchases are bigger and last longer, so I'm not interested in owning something that I don't want to use heavily, and I want all my dollars spent on jeans to go to companies that I believe in and want to grow, and none of it to go to crummy giant corporations using dubious labor practices. That said, I've seen many beautiful pairs of Rustlers that were heavy and solidly (not elegantly or precisely) constructed, that had developed a beautiful patina over the years. Though this wouldn't drive me to buy a pair of Rustlers, it's a great reminder of all the things I loved about jeans (first pair I loved was Gap 1969 distressed denim in early high school) before I knew about the incredible brands I favor today, and how many of the most crucial things to my appreciation have always been there.
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Yeah, coffee should taste like coffee.
I was at a pretty hip spot in Hannover yesterday, the V17 and had some Rocko Mountain NATURAL (Ethiopia) and it tasted like strawberries and smelled like Glühwein, it was kinda cool but it was feckin tee and not coffee
You don´t need cool hardware (@finn666 your set-up is great, no dissing here) , you need some feckin COFFEE beans and hot water, the rest is up to you. I still use a Bialetti (2 cup), make 100ml Moka with 14g grinded beans (SCHWARZMAHLER - Pechschwarz or Heimat), add some hot water (without bubbles) and I have 250ml wonderful strong coffee in the morning
Maybe I´ll buy an Aeropress + Hario 600ml server, could be my cup of coffee haha
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tmadd@ agree with you 100%. With coffee going back to farms/plantations/weather conditions/processing conditions/roasting conditions (down to seconds and degrees, and how fast it cools!). It'd be like caring about the meters above sea level for cotton, what day of the year it was picked, how it was treated. Cotton, whilst it has variables in growing and post processing, has a lot less factors that impact the end result. A barista I know can taste the difference between the type of fertilizer used, with all other factors equal. He's a consultant on the side and can pick out 250 characteristics from seed to cup.
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@Finn666
I have the V60/1 for brewing up to 300ml and a Kalita wave for brewing up to 800ml.
I would take the Kalita wave pot. It has the better waterflow. I switched from Hario to Kalita.
If you want to go deeper into the coffee-thing, go for a OE LIDO 3: http://coffeehit.co.uk/lido-3-hand-coffee-grinder . It´s well built, fast, easy to use and delivers great results.
Or you take a look at the Commandante C40 MK3 : http://www.amazon.de/COMANDANTE-NITRO-BLADE-Kaffeemühle-Stahl/dp/B019C9KFTU . -
@ChuckDenim interesting RE: Kalita wave pot, how do you find the water flow/spout control? It looks pretty 'loose'/'wide' to me. Looks like water would fly out of it..would love to hear more here!
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@Snowy With the Kalita you have more control and you can pour much slower with a even water flow. It fits perfect to the small V60.
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@ChuckDenim you're such an enabler :|. Will pick one up in a few months. Not sure how I can justify a 3rd pour over kettle in 2 years. Will find a way :). Thanks.
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I would not go with a automatic grinder, because you can´t take it to travel. I own the Lido 3. First I tought the foldable handle and the case were useless, but now I´m so happy with it. I take the Lido everywhere, at work, to friends, to my mom and to travel, it´s with me. If I brew 600ml coffee, I take 38g beans. The Lido need 20 sec.
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I’ll add that I managed to write this post twice and delete it before successfully getting it posted. I guess that’s proof-positive that I’m too long-winded, and punishment for it on the side.
@Snowy +1 on the Kalita Wave Kettle. It’s a beautiful object in addition to being incredibly well designed for the work at hand. I’ve poured with a fair share of kettles, including some heavily modified by their owners, and some of the most popular (and most esoteric) Japanese designs, prized by the most detail oriented hand pour devotees I’ve encountered, and for me the Kalita is head and shoulders above the rest.
Since starting to post in this thread, I’ve taken a good look at my home brewing setup, and it’s definitely started the gears turning:
- I need to upgrade the dual-purpose designed ceramic burrs in my Vario-W for the Ditting manufactured steel burrs that are optimized for brewed coffee. They produce a more uniform grind particle size with significantly less fines, which is ideal for the way I like to brew. Hopefully this will stave off my inclination to start looking at actual shop grinders. Hopefully.
- I would probably have results I liked more if I moved from my Kalita Wave 185 to the much harder to find, more annoying to source filters for Kalita Wave 155. The smaller brew bed would allow me achieve a much deeper brew bed at the same dose, allowing me to grind coarser, while still achieving longer brew times (and fuller extraction). I can imagine that paired with the new burrs for my Vario, this could lead to easily and consistently brewing the tastiest coffee I’ve made at home in what is now a 10 year history of manual brewing at home!
- I’m super curious about the Bonavita BV1900TS, and suspect that it may also be a means for more consistently delicious coffee than I’ve been brewing at home. Even if the result of experimenting with it is to realize that I just enjoy the ritual and feeling of manual brewing at home, I’d like to be better acquainted with an option that is totally viable for consumers that don’t want to get into the rigors of pour over brewing, but do want delicious coffee at home. It seems like a Baratza Preciso/Jennings CJ-4000 (scale)/and Bonavita BV1900TS could be the ultimate straightforward home brewing rig for +/-$500, which might seem like a lot, but is an insane value if you drink coffee at home regularly (or would if you could easily get great results)
- I don’t travel enough (when I do, it’s invariably to a coffee city, and more often than not, I’m staying with coffee industry people) to justify a nice hand grinder, but you guys have definitely got me sweating a Lido 3 (I’ve always been enthralled by the OE Hand Grinders…very nearly pre-ordered a Pharos when it was announced years ago). Perhaps my Lido-lust will be justified by my claims that this’ll be the summer that I get serious about 1 overnight bike camping trip per week!
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Thanks guys.
@tmadd I've been looking @ that style of brew as well. I enjoy the human element to it. Was (am?) tempted to get a semi-commercial one for work considering how much we brew there. Moccamaster is what I've been looking @ http://www.nordcoffee.com.au/about/products is where I've been looking.
I'll pick up a Kalita Wave Kettle in Japan in May ::). Don't tell Mrs Snowy it was planned tho
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Anyone has the Kalita Pelican Pot? Love the look and the material (Enamel) but don´t know if the flow is slow and steady enough…
EDIT: Ordered!
