coffee / coffee makers

[alphahydro 334]

28 minutes ago, Chopper said:

Did you happen to read the Washington Post article a couple weeks back about the guy who wanted to build himself the finest audio system and listening room? free link if not https://wapo.st/3UkZ8ce header: He spent his life building a $1 million stereo. The real cost was unfathomable.
Ken Fritz turned his home into an audiophile’s dream — the world’s greatest hi-fi. What would it mean in the end?

 

 

that's wild.  thanks for sharing. i know people like that - though not in audio.  more in business.  i will say i have heard amazing audio systems from time to time, and i can see why people would want them.  but the really amazing ones i've heard are always insanely expensive. 

[alphahydro 334]

21 hours ago, dcbc said:

 

lol. You made me pop this open this morning. It’s really good. And if you haven’t tried it, I rec you do (maybe at a fancy coffee shop or whatever if you see it as an option one day - not necessarily worth hunting down a bag). If you don’t like it, nbd. But it’s just remarkably different, imo, from what most of us are used to as coffee. 

[alphahydro 334]

back on topic, if anyone wants to mess around with espresso  - like, mad scientisty, and try out some of the newfangled espresso recipes the coffee nerds are experimenting with, i got one of these when deciding whether i wanted to shell out for one of the newer, more customizable espresso machines.

https://www.uniterra-nomad.com/product-page/nomad-espresso-machine-silk-white

it's not built to last, but it works really well.  kinda dorky, but easy to control the water pressure over the course of the shot.  espresso is a pain to get right, but like i said, if you reduce pressure on the back half of the shot, it's easy to pull espresso that is really sweet and tasty, imo. 

and if you're on the fence about whether to buy an espresso machine, idk, something to consider. 

[Rimbo 26174]

Yeah, funny how coffee and audio are similar rabbit holes, with a combination of science, personal taste, and absolute gibberish that you have to comb through to get to what you want. And you can spend insane amounts of money, or nothing at all if you want garbage. But you don't have to spend a lot to get great results.

A good grinder ($80), a good water boiler ($75), a Brita filter ($30) and a good French press ($85), and whatever whole beans you can grab will change your coffee experience for the better permanently for under $300.

Keep the used grounds for your garden.

[Rimbo 26174]

oh man you know what else is like that? shaving. fuckers be out there telling you that you should get a these diamond-tipped DE razor blades with a handle made of pure Amazon rainforest mahogany with a blade holder of the finest dwarven mithril; the shave brush must use wood from the highest branch of the sacred baobab tree (terabytes of the Internet have been wasted on arguing over whether it should be harvested at the crack of dawn or just as the sun sets) with bristles cut straight from a young male unicorn's pubic fur. The soap should be served in 200-year-old Chinese ceramic mugs with soap made exclusively from the fat of harp seals no older than 3 years old. Water should come straight from the sacred hot springs of Roman Baths (though some say any sacred hot spring shall do) and you might as well grow your face wild and unkempt if you're not going to do this exactly.

Which is, more or less, how the beard fashion started; nobody could be buggered to do a proper shave any more.

[52-80 19275]

12 minutes ago, Rimbo said:

oh man you know what else is like that? shaving. fuckers be out there telling you that you should get a these diamond-tipped DE razor blades with a handle made of pure Amazon rainforest mahogany with a blade holder of the finest dwarven mithril; the shave brush must use wood from the highest branch of the sacred baobab tree (terabytes of the Internet have been wasted on arguing over whether it should be harvested at the crack of dawn or just as the sun sets) with bristles cut straight from a young male unicorn's pubic fur. The soap should be served in 200-year-old Chinese ceramic mugs with soap made exclusively from the fat of harp seals no older than 3 years old. Water should come straight from the sacred hot springs of Roman Baths (though some say any sacred hot spring shall do) and you might as well grow your face wild and unkempt if you're not going to do this exactly.

Which is, more or less, how the beard fashion started; nobody could be buggered to do a proper shave any more.

Fuck it. We’re doing 5 blades. 

[Chopper 17318]

13 minutes ago, Rimbo said:

oh man you know what else is like that? shaving. fuckers be out there telling you that you should get a these diamond-tipped DE razor blades with a handle made of pure Amazon rainforest mahogany with a blade holder of the finest dwarven mithril; the shave brush must use wood from the highest branch of the sacred baobab tree (terabytes of the Internet have been wasted on arguing over whether it should be harvested at the crack of dawn or just as the sun sets) with bristles cut straight from a young male unicorn's pubic fur. The soap should be served in 200-year-old Chinese ceramic mugs with soap made exclusively from the fat of harp seals no older than 3 years old. Water should come straight from the sacred hot springs of Roman Baths (though some say any sacred hot spring shall do) and you might as well grow your face wild and unkempt if you're not going to do this exactly.

Which is, more or less, how the beard fashion started; nobody could be buggered to do a proper shave any more.

I like the Zero Water filter over Brita. For drinking and coffee, not shaving.

[dcbc 14565]

1 hour ago, Rimbo said:

Yeah, funny how coffee and audio are similar rabbit holes, with a combination of science, personal taste, and absolute gibberish that you have to comb through to get to what you want. And you can spend insane amounts of money, or nothing at all if you want garbage. But you don't have to spend a lot to get great results.

A good grinder ($80), a good water boiler ($75), a Brita filter ($30) and a good French press ($85), and whatever whole beans you can grab will change your coffee experience for the better permanently for under $300.

Keep the used grounds for your garden.

I learned my lesson brewing beer for nearly 15 years.  I still haven't learned the lesson collecting guitars and amps.  Somehow, I was able to behave in a reasonable fashion when it came to coffee.  The audio rabbit hole had an end in sight, thankfully, since I was restoring a system and didn't want for more apart from more vinyl.

Edited January 30 by dcbc

[dcbc 14565]

22 minutes ago, Rimbo said:

oh man you know what else is like that? shaving. fuckers be out there telling you that you should get a these diamond-tipped DE razor blades with a handle made of pure Amazon rainforest mahogany with a blade holder of the finest dwarven mithril; the shave brush must use wood from the highest branch of the sacred baobab tree (terabytes of the Internet have been wasted on arguing over whether it should be harvested at the crack of dawn or just as the sun sets) with bristles cut straight from a young male unicorn's pubic fur. The soap should be served in 200-year-old Chinese ceramic mugs with soap made exclusively from the fat of harp seals no older than 3 years old. Water should come straight from the sacred hot springs of Roman Baths (though some say any sacred hot spring shall do) and you might as well grow your face wild and unkempt if you're not going to do this exactly.

Which is, more or less, how the beard fashion started; nobody could be buggered to do a proper shave any more.

I short circuited that as well.  Standard Merkur handle.  Derby xtra blades at $8 for $100.  Did the brush for a while, but I'm lazy and just use Barbasol.  $8 worth of blades lasts between a year or two.  Better than $ Shave club.

[dcbc 14565]

13 minutes ago, Chopper said:

I like the Zero Water filter over Brita. For drinking and coffee, not shaving.

I mentioned this upthread, but why would you want essentially RO water for coffee?  Filtered for sure.  But you want some mineral content to interact with the flavor profiles of the coffee.  I could understand if it were the height of coffee nerdieness stripping your water, then rebuilding it to match/compliment a bean's flavor profile.  But brewing anything with 100% RO with 0 TDS seems like it would lead to some dull-tasting results.  

 

Admittedly, I've never tried this with coffee.  But I've built some pretty tasty water profiles for beer.

Edited January 30 by dcbc

[Rimbo 26174]

38 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I short circuited that as well.  Standard Merkur handle.  Derby xtra blades at $8 for $100.  Did the brush for a while, but I'm lazy and just use Barbasol.  $8 worth of blades lasts between a year or two.  Better than $ Shave club.

Same same, only Feathers instead of Derby. And I got cheap soap cup and brush from Rite-Aid.

[Rimbo 26174]

37 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I mentioned this upthread, but why would you want essentially RO water for coffee?  Filtered for sure.  But you want some mineral content to interact with the flavor profiles of the coffee.  I could understand if it were the height of coffee nerdieness stripping your water, then rebuilding it to match/compliment a bean's flavor profile.  But brewing anything with 100% RO with 0 TDS seems like it would lead to some dull-tasting results.  

 

Admittedly, I've never tried this with coffee.  But I've built some pretty tasty water profiles for beer.

Because the water in San Diego tastes like shit.

Visited Arrowhead Lake last Winter, and regretted not bringing some 10-gallon jugs to drag the tap water home in for our coffee and tea.

[dcbc 14565]

6 hours ago, Rimbo said:

Same same, only Feathers instead of Derby. And I got cheap soap cup and brush from Rite-Aid.

If we're honest, most hobbies are susceptible to pretty high levels of absurdity.

6 hours ago, Rimbo said:

Because the water in San Diego tastes like shit.

Visited Arrowhead Lake last Winter, and regretted not bringing some 10-gallon jugs to drag the tap water home in for our coffee and tea.

Filtered spring water then.  Gotta have some mineral content.  Filtered store water even.  Or blend RO with your filtered tap water (start 2:1 and see how that goes).  That's what the San Diego breweries were doing back when I was paying attention.

Edited January 31 by dcbc

[alphahydro 334]

1 hour ago, Rimbo said:

Yeah, funny how coffee and audio are similar rabbit holes, with a combination of science, personal taste, and absolute gibberish that you have to comb through to get to what you want. And you can spend insane amounts of money, or nothing at all if you want garbage. But you don't have to spend a lot to get great results.

A good grinder ($80), a good water boiler ($75), a Brita filter ($30) and a good French press ($85), and whatever whole beans you can grab will change your coffee experience for the better permanently for under $300.

Keep the used grounds for your garden.

i think that's about right.

only thing i would add is i personally would pick this technique over french press or pour over, but it could be a matter of preference.   

the equipment you need is only $30 (plus filter paper, which isn't expensive). 

https://www.amazon.com/Dripper-servings-coffee-extract-dripper/dp/B07NS2SV3W?th=1

as i think about it, maybe better to start with french press, and then this would be something else to try next.  *shrug*

 

[Chopper 17318]

1 hour ago, dcbc said:

I mentioned this upthread, but why would you want essentially RO water for coffee?  Filtered for sure.  But you want some mineral content to interact with the flavor profiles of the coffee.  I could understand if it were the height of coffee nerdieness stripping your water, then rebuilding it to match/compliment a bean's flavor profile.  But brewing anything with 100% RO with 0 TDS seems like it would lead to some dull-tasting results.  

 

Admittedly, I've never tried this with coffee.  But I've built some pretty tasty water profiles for beer.

I must've missed seeing it upthread. In general, as plain drinking water, it tastes far better to me than Brita. Then the question is, is it worth it to have a Brita pitcher for the coffee (or some other solution), or just go with Zero for the espresso machine. My understanding is that water  through just a Brita is much more corrosive than water through a Zero. I did taste tests with the Brita, the Zero, and also the Zero but adding back Third Wave minerals. I couldn't taste the difference between either. However the Zero removes a couple heavy metals the Brita doesn't but it's not anywhere in the same ballpark as RO or distillation. My conclusion was to go with the Zero for longevity of the machine because the taste held equal and that the Third Wave minerals made no difference with the Zero filter. YMMV.

[Deej 77005]

On 1/29/2024 at 2:11 PM, jimmyjazz said:

Dang, this guy has typed more about coffee since Friday than I've thought about coffee my entire life.

Doctors, lawyers, nurses, cam girls, rock throwers, baristas...Surly is truly a melting pot. 

[52-80 19275]

6 hours ago, alphahydro said:

i was at CES one year and this guy was selling stones that you put on your speakers to make them sound better.  i think this is them.  https://www.shakti-innovations.com/usesofshakti1.htm

If this isnt a money-laundering operation ill slap my own grandmother. 

[jimmyjazz 46352]

10 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

If this isnt a money-laundering operation ill slap my own grandmother. 

It's not money-laundering.  It's just pure grift.

[Deej 77005]

44 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

If this isnt a money-laundering operation ill slap my own grandmother. 

That gives me an idea...stones with the SEC logo on them that if you set them on your seat in Kyle Field, will make aggy win a conference title. 

I could retire. 

[alphahydro 334]

1 hour ago, 52-80 said:

If this isnt a money-laundering operation ill slap my own grandmother. 

lol.  if you haven't read that article someone posted above, it will give you a good idea of how crazy audiophiles are:

https://www.suncoastaudio.com/products/audioquest-dragon-zero-speaker-cables-pair?variant=36353923612836&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync

you could be right tho.  people used to sell (maybe they still do sell) little stands that would lift your cables off the ground.  apparently the claim was the cables worked more efficiently if they didn't touch the ground.  i never bought any but i definitely rolled up some index cards and made my own.  lol  

i was like, no way i'm paying for that, but i'm gonna make my own just in case.  

(not surprisingly, i couldn't hear a difference, so I got rid of the index card stands). 

those shakti guys were bold tho.  i definitely walked into a room they rented at CES where they had music playing and those stones set up all over the room.  I didn't ask them to take away the stones, so I could A/B. but i should have.  lol. 

[Rimbo 26174]

4 minutes ago, alphahydro said:

lol.  if you haven't read that article someone posted above, it will give you a good idea of how crazy audiophiles are:

https://www.suncoastaudio.com/products/audioquest-dragon-zero-speaker-cables-pair?variant=36353923612836&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync

you could be right tho.  people used to sell (maybe they still do sell) little stands that would lift your cables off the ground.  apparently the claim was the cables worked more efficiently if they didn't touch the ground.  i never bought any but i definitely rolled up some index cards and made my own.  lol  

i was like, no way i'm paying for that, but i'm gonna make my own just in case.  

(not surprisingly, i couldn't hear a difference, so I got rid of the index card stands). 

those shakti guys were bold tho.  i definitely walked into a room they rented at CES where they had music playing and those stones set up all over the room.  I didn't ask them to take away the stones, so I could A/B. but i should have.  lol. 

Audio cables? Those actually affect your sound.

Try the POWER cables they sell. Laugh at this effusive advertisement masquerading as a review: https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/audioquest-dragon/

 

[alphahydro 334]

there were audiophiles who would like redo the powerlines from their house to the box out front to make the power as clean as possible.  TBH, for a while I had a spectron "digital" amp and when i lived at one house in particular where the power wasn't clean i would definitely get an annoying buzz through the speakers with that amp.   having said that, never occurred to me to rewire the house.  

maybe that's the equivalent of the coffee guys who strip their water then remineralize it before brewing coffee.  anyone here have thoughts on brewing water? 

I htink it's kinda like the power deal - if you live in a house with decent tap water, there's less need to mess with the water.   also, once you go nuts and start spending a bunch of money on grinders, you are willing to go the extra step and "fix" your water.  idk, but i bet none of the guys who rewired their house had cheap speaker cables. 

the norway guy i followed said the water in oslo is like impeccable, and he claimed that even at Tim Wendelboe, they make their coffee with tap water.  

i made coffee a couple times with water from the tap and it was nasty, but i'm fine with whatever filter is in my fridge.  *shrug*

i think when they ship my espresso machine i get a free packet of third wave water, and i'll try it.  kinda hope i can't tell a difference. not something i wanna mess with. 

 

[52-80 19275]

5 minutes ago, alphahydro said:

the norway guy i followed said the water in oslo is like impeccable, and he claimed that even at Tim Wendelboe, they make their coffee with tap water.  
 

 

this part is true. tim wendelboe says so himself on his youtube channel. 
 

the kicker is…i didnt enjoy the coffee at his shop nor his beans. 

[dcbc 14565]

5 hours ago, Chopper said:

I must've missed seeing it upthread. In general, as plain drinking water, it tastes far better to me than Brita. Then the question is, is it worth it to have a Brita pitcher for the coffee (or some other solution), or just go with Zero for the espresso machine. My understanding is that water  through just a Brita is much more corrosive than water through a Zero. I did taste tests with the Brita, the Zero, and also the Zero but adding back Third Wave minerals. I couldn't taste the difference between either. However the Zero removes a couple heavy metals the Brita doesn't but it's not anywhere in the same ballpark as RO or distillation. My conclusion was to go with the Zero for longevity of the machine because the taste held equal and that the Third Wave minerals made no difference with the Zero filter. YMMV.

If the Zero doesn't strip your water down to RO, it's probably fine.  I don't know what mineral cocktail makes up "Third Wave."  I'll look, but I doubt it's going to tell me.  Bottom line, if your filtered tap water tastes good, it probably will make good coffee.  But if you strip your water bare of all minerals (RO/Distilled), it's like eating an unseasoned steak.  I understand it a little better when it comes to beer, but I'm guessing the amount of calcium in the water as well as the ratio of chlorides to sulfates is important to the extent it accents the sweetness and the bitterness of the beans.  I tried one of those water treatment packets when I was brewing beer and it was more an acidity adjustment for ideal mashing.  Ultimately, I sent my filtered tap water to Ward Laboratories and, for $10, I had a water report that allowed me to doctor up my water for a variety of styles or blend it with RO for some more delicate styles. 

 

Edit:  Third Wave is formulated with magnesium sulfate, calcium citrate, and sodium chloride.  That's all fine and well.  Those are the minerals you want to have in various proportions in a good brewing water profile too.  But if you don't know what you're starting with, even having blends for different roast levels doesn't take into account your starting point and, therefore, is basically useless.

 

 

2 hours ago, alphahydro said:

lol.  if you haven't read that article someone posted above, it will give you a good idea of how crazy audiophiles are:

https://www.suncoastaudio.com/products/audioquest-dragon-zero-speaker-cables-pair?variant=36353923612836&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync

you could be right tho.  people used to sell (maybe they still do sell) little stands that would lift your cables off the ground.  apparently the claim was the cables worked more efficiently if they didn't touch the ground.  i never bought any but i definitely rolled up some index cards and made my own.  lol  

i was like, no way i'm paying for that, but i'm gonna make my own just in case.  

(not surprisingly, i couldn't hear a difference, so I got rid of the index card stands). 

those shakti guys were bold tho.  i definitely walked into a room they rented at CES where they had music playing and those stones set up all over the room.  I didn't ask them to take away the stones, so I could A/B. but i should have.  lol. 

 

I zip tied my cables that touched the floor to the underside of my console just to keep the robot vacuum from eating them.

Edited January 31 by dcbc

[Chewbacca 7788]

6 hours ago, Rimbo said:

Same same, only Feathers instead of Derby. And I got cheap soap cup and brush from Rite-Aid.

Before I grew a beard, I was on team Feathers as well.  Haven't shaved in a few years at this point.  Just use my trimmer once a week.

[alphahydro 334]

1 hour ago, 52-80 said:

 

this part is true. tim wendelboe says so himself on his youtube channel. 
 

the kicker is…i didnt enjoy the coffee at his shop nor his beans. 

same.  the espresso i had there was fine.  the aeropress they made was not great.  i thought i might get a bag while i was there but walked out empty handed.  i'm not gonna say it was the water, but....heh

[alphahydro 334]

randomly came through on reddit

[dcbc 14565]

12 minutes ago, alphahydro said:

randomly came through on reddit

It makes sense.  RO water, use an online calculator add some CaCl, MgSO4 (Epsom Salt), CaS04 (Gypsum), Baking Soda (NaHCO3).  You wanted a rabbit hole for this hobby.  This is a fun one.  Water is the main ingredient.  Might as well.

 

Or just cut your filtered tap water with RO.  Unless one of the notable minerals in the water report (Ca/Na/Mg/Cl/S04/HC03) is severely out of whack, diluting it works great.

[Rimbo 26174]

1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

Before I grew a beard, I was on team Feathers as well.  Haven't shaved in a few years at this point.  Just use my trimmer once a week.

A Philips Norelco lift-and-cut rotary is my daily. Self-sharpening, easy to use, easy to clean, no cuts. And a fraction of the cost of razors in the long run.

Usually don't shave until after my morning coffee, though.

[Rimbo 26174]

1 hour ago, dcbc said:

Water is the main ingredient. 

Words to live by. The fewer the ingredients you have, the more care you have to have with 'em.

[alphahydro 334]

16 hours ago, dcbc said:

 You wanted a rabbit hole for this hobby.  This is a fun one.  Water is the main ingredient.  Might as well.

I get it.  the water at my current place is really hard.  idk if that's why, but filtered water out of my fridge dispenser tastes perfectly fine and I've never had issues with my coffee.  I can get my coffee tasting delicious.  so water is not something I want to mess with.  

not saying my water is Oslo quality, but there's no hum in my speakers, so I'm not about to rewire my house (or order any shakti stones). 

for other people, it may make sense to look into messing with the water.  I'll try the free third wave packet that's heading my way.  but honestly, I hope I can't notice a difference, because my coffee routine is really simple and I'd like to keep it that way. 

(having said all that, the filter in my fridge makes a huge difference.  I tried using tap water, and the coffee was much worse.  I think it has something to do with the shit they put in water in my neck of the woods - which gets removed by most water filters)  

if any of you guys are just using tap water, maybe worth trying filtered water/brita and see how that goes. 

[52-80 19275]

They say that time is a flat circle, or whatever. Today 2 unintentional things happened that made me think of this thread:

1. in the bicycling world, used to be, there were 2 brands of chain lubricants you can buy, and they cost $3 each. now, theres literally 20 artisanal “scientifically formulated” lubes and waxes you can buy, and they cost $30 each. i was listening to a bike podcast this afternoon and turns out some guy tested melting literal *candle wax* on the chain and it outperformed all those products. 
 

2. my electric shaver started shitting itself in the morning, so i browsed on the local electronic store to check things out and what the fucking hell is this…

[dcbc 14565]

1 hour ago, alphahydro said:

I get it.  the water at my current place is really hard.  idk if that's why, but filtered water out of my fridge dispenser tastes perfectly fine and I've never had issues with my coffee.  I can get my coffee tasting delicious.  so water is not something I want to mess with.  

not saying my water is Oslo quality, but there's no hum in my speakers, so I'm not about to rewire my house (or order any shakti stones). 

for other people, it may make sense to look into messing with the water.  I'll try the free third wave packet that's heading my way.  but honestly, I hope I can't notice a difference, because my coffee routine is really simple and I'd like to keep it that way. 

(having said all that, the filter in my fridge makes a huge difference.  I tried using tap water, and the coffee was much worse.  I think it has something to do with the shit they put in water in my neck of the woods - which gets removed by most water filters)  

if any of you guys are just using tap water, maybe worth trying filtered water/brita and see how that goes. 

LIke I said, if your filtered tap water tastes good, don't mess with it.  I don't know what your filter is doing to make that big of a difference in taste, but it probably is stripping chlorine and/or chloramine along with some undesirable flavor components.

 

If you have hard water, I don't know what good adding more salts/minerals to the equation is going to accomplish, but you'll be able to tell pretty quickly.  Diluting it with RO is an easy way to lower the hardness, but again, if it tastes good as is, why bother.

 

I adjusted the shot time down on the old Gaggia Brera last night.  I've got it dialed in at 3:1 for now and the shots never have tasted better.

Edited January 31 by dcbc

[Superhero 8872]

I have a Nespresso Vertuo machine which is great for my purpose since the rest of the family doesn't drink coffee. The pods are expensive, but I've been refilling used pods with coffee and sealing then with foil lids that I buy off of Amazon. At the end of the week, it'll take me about 30 minutes to clean and refill the pods, all the time while watching a show. It's a nice way to wind down from the weekend and also saves a lot of money.

[Bateshorn 9942]

On 1/30/2024 at 2:18 PM, dcbc said:

I short circuited that as well.  Standard Merkur handle.  Derby xtra blades at $8 for $100.  Did the brush for a while, but I'm lazy and just use Barbasol.  $8 worth of blades lasts between a year or two.  Better than $ Shave club.

I've got a 25 pack of Gillette silver blues and an old family handle I found in my parent's attic that has lasted me years. I went to razorblades when I was broke as fuck after my divorce and realized I could save money.  Never went back.  I use Headslick because I like it, but yeah, can cream is fine. 

[Captainant 27882]

I got a Breville Bambino Plus over black Friday last year to replace an old and dying Delonghi Dedica, and I've really happy with the shots I'm getting. The auto milk steam functionality is pretty solid and easy to use too, so I can tidy up and whatnot while it's doing the milk. 

I have a cheap $30 hand grinder that does a nice job on the beans, but it's a pain if I'm making coffee for more than one person

[Chopper 17318]

On 2/1/2024 at 9:42 AM, Bateshorn said:

I've got a 25 pack of Gillette silver blues and an old family handle I found in my parent's attic that has lasted me years. I went to razorblades when I was broke as fuck after my divorce and realized I could save money.  Never went back.  I use Headslick because I like it, but yeah, can cream is fine. 

Are you using brita water with that or just straight from the tap?

[Bateshorn 9942]

4 hours ago, Chopper said:

Are you using brita water with that or just straight from the tap?

Brita.

Edited February 3 by Bateshorn

[Longhorn94 2458]

Baratza Encore grinder + Breville Bambino plus is perfection.

Edited February 3 by Longhorn94

[Butch Had Not 2998]

SIAP, but does anyone have a good recommendation for 100% Kona K Cups available online? Amazon features a brand called Blue Horse. 

[Mo Horn 8875]

25 minutes ago, Butch Had Not said:

SIAP, but does anyone have a good recommendation for 100% Kona K Cups available online? Amazon features a brand called Blue Horse. 

Not a K cup situation, but I bought Mrs Mo a bag of Blue Horse coffee for Christmas. She loves it. It's always rated as one of the best coffee in the world. I don't drink coffee, but she knows her stuff, and she would highly recommend it. 

[Butch Had Not 2998]

9 minutes ago, Mo Horn said:

Not a K cup situation, but I bought Mrs Mo a bag of Blue Horse coffee for Christmas. She loves it. It's always rated as one of the best coffee in the world. I don't drink coffee, but she knows her stuff, and she would highly recommend it. 

Thanks for the endorsement. 

[Captainant 27882]

On 2/2/2024 at 8:58 PM, Longhorn94 said:

Baratza Encore grinder + Breville Bambino plus is perfection.

How's the espresso grind and noise levrl? I've got an old delonghi grinder where it's finest setting takes a couple of minutes to grind 17g of beans and it's LOUD! My hand grinder gets a good consistent grind size and is quiet, but I wouldn't mind automating it again

[Longhorn94 2458]

30 minutes ago, Captainant said:

How's the espresso grind and noise levrl? I've got an old delonghi grinder where it's finest setting takes a couple of minutes to grind 17g of beans and it's LOUD! My hand grinder gets a good consistent grind size and is quiet, but I wouldn't mind automating it again

It's the best grinder out there so the espresso grind is great. It is loud but that's the fun part! Lol

[C-Man 27293]

Wife and I drink mostly lattes at the house. We have a Nespresso Vertuo machine. Our countertop Aerocinno frother has shit the bed. Should we just replace with the Aero 3 or the Aero 4 or maybe there’s something really cool that I don’t even know about.

[Dbeasy 15162]

So, as a coffee snob addict, I had stepped away from my coffee preparation obsession for the last few years because it was getting out of control. 

I bought a decent quality pour over electric Cuisinart coffee maker, stopped grinding and went with McDonalds already ground coffee (actually good), and filtered water from the fridge. I stowed the chemex, French press, metal filters, and other equipment. 

It worked pretty well for a few years. Occasionally we would have a spectacular cup of coffee, believe it or not, but most often just a good enough cup. Never a bad cup of coffee, which was our goal. So it worked. Low effort. Low cost. Good enough. 

Well, now I’m obsessed with trying to figure out why we sometimes get a great cup of coffee and sometimes don’t. It seems like a tiny tiny difference in grounds used makes a massive difference. That, or the water temp in the cuisinart is on the fritz. Or the water. Or the freshness of the grounds, or….

[After irth 1245]

3 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

So, as a coffee snob addict, I had stepped away from my coffee preparation obsession for the last few years because it was getting out of control. 

I bought a decent quality pour over electric Cuisinart coffee maker, stopped grinding and went with McDonalds already ground coffee (actually good), and filtered water from the fridge. I stowed the chemex, French press, metal filters, and other equipment. 

It worked pretty well for a few years. Occasionally we would have a spectacular cup of coffee, believe it or not, but most often just a good enough cup. Never a bad cup of coffee, which was our goal. So it worked. Low effort. Low cost. Good enough. 

Well, now I’m obsessed with trying to figure out why we sometimes get a great cup of coffee and sometimes don’t. It seems like a tiny tiny difference in grounds used makes a massive difference. That, or the water temp in the cuisinart is on the fritz. Or the water. Or the freshness of the grounds, or….

McDonalds from a Cuisinart?  When you start slumming, you REALLY start slumming...!

No middle ground, huh?

[Rimbo 26174]

3 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

So, as a coffee snob addict, I had stepped away from my coffee preparation obsession for the last few years because it was getting out of control. 

I bought a decent quality pour over electric Cuisinart coffee maker, stopped grinding and went with McDonalds already ground coffee (actually good), and filtered water from the fridge. I stowed the chemex, French press, metal filters, and other equipment. 

It worked pretty well for a few years. Occasionally we would have a spectacular cup of coffee, believe it or not, but most often just a good enough cup. Never a bad cup of coffee, which was our goal. So it worked. Low effort. Low cost. Good enough. 

Well, now I’m obsessed with trying to figure out why we sometimes get a great cup of coffee and sometimes don’t. It seems like a tiny tiny difference in grounds used makes a massive difference. That, or the water temp in the cuisinart is on the fritz. Or the water. Or the freshness of the grounds, or….

 

The reason the good coffee stuff is better than the bad coffee stuff is consistency.

 

22 minutes ago, After irth said:

McDonalds from a Cuisinart?  When you start slumming, you REALLY start slumming...!

No middle ground, huh?

 

Don't knock it.

When Canadian legend Tim Hortons was bought out by investors intent on replacing all the good stuff with bottom barrel cheap stuff and cashing in on the name, it was McDonald's that grabbed all the coffee from Tim Hortons' old supplier. Thus begat McCafe.

But even before that, I remember being in China - and the locals go to McDonald's for two things:

1. Fresh brewed coffee

2. soft serve ice cream

... neither of which were easily available there.

tldr McDonald's coffee is what used to be Tim Hortons legendary coffee. It doesn't suck at all

[Dbeasy 15162]

1 hour ago, Rimbo said:

 

The reason the good coffee stuff is better than the bad coffee stuff is consistency.

 

 

Don't knock it.

When Canadian legend Tim Hortons was bought out by investors intent on replacing all the good stuff with bottom barrel cheap stuff and cashing in on the name, it was McDonald's that grabbed all the coffee from Tim Hortons' old supplier. Thus begat McCafe.

But even before that, I remember being in China - and the locals go to McDonald's for two things:

1. Fresh brewed coffee

2. soft serve ice cream

... neither of which were easily available there.

tldr McDonald's coffee is what used to be Tim Hortons legendary coffee. It doesn't suck at all

Yes, we were shocked. It’s a little hard to find because I guess the rest of the world thinks it probably stinks. 

[jimmyjazz 46352]

So . . . McDonald's bought a specific amount of coffee?  If so, how long would that last?  Or did they buy some super secret Tim Horton process that can be produced inexpensively enough for them to care?