Coffee

I mainly want the blacknessof the bean to be true - a French roast - a real one, jet black

yeah, I can't go there, but I am mostly liking a roast right down the middle. Light roasts are a little too delicate for me sometimes, although I do enjoy them.

was thinking about getting an espresso machine once I saw how cheap (and small ) they are, I assumed they were huge and cost $$$

― a (waterface), Thursday, November 10, 2022 4:00 PM (twenty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Anything below a few hundred bucks is probably not going to be satisfactory quality though

yah that's what i'm worried about. if anyone has one they dig???!!!

My father has done a lot of study of home espresso, and according to him the least expensive option for real espresso at home is the Flair manual espresso maker. However, its a much slower and more manually intensive process than you might want:

https://flairespresso.com/products/espresso-makers/flair-classic/

I've come to prefer blends as well. Agree that the mentioned Stumptown blends are excellent. I also enjoy Verve, which I think is based out of Santa Cruz, so not sure how widely available they are. Their 1950 and Streetlevel are favorites - always buy them if they are on sale.

Never used it but the Breville Bambino seems to get good reviews and is not super expensive, if you just want a small machine to make espresso for yourself or you and a couple other people. Rancilio Silvia seems like it's the long-running favorite for modest sized kitchen espresso machines but it's gotten pretty pricey. I loved my La Pavoni Europiccola (which I'm sure I waxed extensively about in this thread in the past) but it was such a pain in the ass at the same time.

we have had the Saeco Aroma for 10+ years … seals are starting leak now but it has been a solid workhorse, love it

i dont think they make them anymore sadly but there are used models floating around sometimes on ebay

the bambino is good but bambino + decent grinder is still $$$$$

we've got a great burr grinder

i almost typed butt grinder

Capresso Infinity. $100

I got a free Cuisinart via Nextdoor (it's not all racist paranoia) and it does a pretty good job. Don't remember the model but when I googled it it went for about $200, I think.

My current pet peeve is these “boutique” “small batch” roasters that make really unevenly roasted light roasts that have a funky overtone. I just spent too much money on one that came highly recommended by a barista. I definitely do not taste berry pie or dark chocolate, maybe sort of caramel, and a whiff of funky stank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D58mKG0FkY

my <3 goes out to u

i'm struggling thru a cup of "new orleans-style" iced coffee, which i guess has got roasted chicory or whatever in it, and is bitter as hell. probably meant to counteract the sweetness of a lovely little dish of beignets. BUT I HAVEN'T GOT ANY BEIGNETS. what a world, what a cruel sad world

factoid the chicory goes back to the civil war when they did not have enough/any coffee

imagine trying to fight a war without coffee, just awful

Why the south lost probably

yeah the north had coffee by virtue of being the ones who were doing the naval blockade rather than having it done to them

apparently confederate soldiers letters home are full of bitching about it lol thats what you get

ken burns lied to me

its a great documentary but there are a lot of lies in it tbf

I recently started grinding my own beans again and I can tell you the freshness is noticeable not to mention the aroma. The kitchen is filled with the delights of the roast in the cup simply loves the mouth with flavor aroma and merriment.

factoid the chicory goes back to the civil war when they did not have enough/any coffee

― lag∞n, Saturday, 21 January 2023 18:59 (one hour ago) link

New Orleans coffee is stepped on, basically

ya

You can get used it it and even like it. Someone gave me a can of whatever the classic New Orleans brand is and I got a taste for it. Before the hurricane damage, there was a NO coffee window on the Rockaway boardwalk. An iced chicory coffee was a nice reward for biking to the beach.

I finally splurged and got a glass carafe to brew my coffee into. I'd been using a plastic pot from a French press. I could be imagining things but I think there is a difference in flavor: a bit more brightness. Maybe the acids in the hot coffee were reacting a bit with the coffee residue on the plastic pot.

I was buying canned cold brew from Costco but they haven't had it in weeks, back to making cold brew in a French press overnight and then straining again through a Chemex filter.

I'm doing light roasts/third wave coffee in a french press. I weigh coffee and water, but I don't measure temp. Is Chemex any better?

It’s really just preference. A paper filter is going to filter more than the screen in a French press. I like pour over/Chemex better than French press but both are good. More because I find it easier to control.

imo a pourover with a is for when you want your coffee to make you go aha mmmm and French press and drip coffee are for when you want your coffee to make you go ohoho

Thanks. I like that sort of sweet flavor you get when you really dial in the proportions on a light roast. Might get a chemex and see if I get more of that.

still have never found the home setup for brewed coffee that makes me happy and i've tried drip, french press, and chemex. just espresso now.

The combo of Chemex plus a Bonavita 1800 maker was ideal for me when I had an ice maker - it's temperature certified by some fancy coffee organization and has a shower head so it's automated pourover. I can't be bothered with keeping ice trays filled for Japanese iced coffee but I miss it.

Yeah bonavita is magic

I started doing single cup pourover at home and it's the best result I've had, better than chemex, drip, or aeropress.

you can make a single cup in a chemex

do ppl put their chemexes on the stove to heat it up? i heard they’re pyrex but never seen anyone do it. i lived in a place with one for a while and the coffee went cold super fast so there was never a reason to make more than the cup. and even the first cup was colder due to the additional pour, compared to pour-over straight into the cup

I have a ceramic top electric stove and I put my chemex on there set to low when there is extra coffee I want to keep warm

I would just run some boiling water t through the chemex to warm it up first. Never did a single cup in it because it seemed like a waste of a big filter, idk. Now we mostly use it for batch cocktails when we have a party.

We switched from French press to Chemex a few years ago and I do prefer it, I think it's smoother, but obv I don't turn my nose up at French press either. After we're done brewing, we pour off fresh cups and then put the rest in an insulated carafe, which keeps it warm for as long as it takes us to finish out the pot. An extra step but well worth it imo.

can’t stand cold coffee

i think if you make more it stays warm longer, because the volume gets bigger faster than the surface area. but yes, that’s the classic pitfall with chemex, that the coffee cools down pretty fast.

i have the handblown glass one and would not put it on an electric coil or gas stove. even pyrex can crack if it’s not thick (the chemex isn’t) and heated too quickly

what i do is heat my kettle to boiling and pour the whole thing in my chemex before i wet the filter. then i heat the kettle to 204. then i pour out the water. it cleans the chemex and warms it up enough that it doesn’t cool down too fast. i also put boiling water in my mug while i make my morning three cups. i also don’t like scalding hot coffee anyway!

there are people that make snuggies for chemexes that look like cute like zip up sweatshirts. bit twee for me!

not wanting to waste a paper filter for a single cup is a good reason not to use a chemex!

flopson you want the technivorm moccamaster which brews directly into an insulated carafe

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0528/3545/1043/products/MoccaMaster_Set_79317_KBGT_StoneGrey_3467-02_1001f408-c325-46d1-93d5-ce8190fd620e_800x.png?v=1672772472

Technivooooooooorm

i do the heat-up tricks (and also tend to drink smaller stronger cups) on ceramic hario v60. i don’t really mind making coffee multiple times a day; always looking for a reason to procrastinate

https://i.etsystatic.com/8112681/r/il/67f318/789872660/il_1080xN.789872660_kcog.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/HEXNUB-Compatible-Versions-Pour-Over-Coffeemaker/dp/B0844NBCTG?th=1&psc=1

who’s a handsome boy

I stayed at a friend's place who has a Moccamaster and it was truly good coffee, as good as a good pourover.

Another friend got one, liked it, then became disillusioned with it, cleaned it, and then liked it again, lol.