Yeah I dunno because I’ve gone through two bags and 200 filters this year and they’ve fit perfectly. I’m checking the bag for markings now and noticed this
MADE IN JAPAN
right under the barcode. That’s odd, I thought the tabbed filters were allegedly made in some Euro country. Barcode reads:
VCF-02-100W
4 977642 723320
and the only other mark I see that may indicate anything is on the bottom of the bag:
10157 4
I tried another one today. The speed of this machine caught me off guard again, and I’m impressed by how quickly water is hitting the grinds after I flip it on. I went finer (8F), used 450g water to 25g coffee (their recommended ratio of 18:1), and pulled the carafe at the start to get a bloom / immersion. Allowed it to sit for about 30 seconds and stirred the slurry gently, and this resulted in a more even final bed.
The coffee is pleasant enough but lacking sweetness, not sour but “leans sour” in the acid profile, and has a slight chocolaty bitter finish. Overall impression tracks with your observation that this makes a clean, crisp cup. Reminds me of a Chemex. If I had to guess, the first part of the brew is UE due to the flat bottom like you said, and then the bitterness is coming from the high ratio or too much contact time at the end.
So my next adjustment would be to lower the ratio and use a longer steep time. I think the ability to pull the carafe and turn this into a hybrid immersion / perc like the Hario Switch or Clever Dripper is the most interesting aspect. Can also play with the flow rate switch which I haven’t done yet. I will say this: experimenting on this machine feels like a lot less work than pouring V60s.
I thought I might be getting some of this just looking at the bed. The water was only hitting about half the grinds for a while until the water level rose above the entire bed. Stirring the bloom seems important.
I wanted to grind finer for my second try but I forgot so I tried some other variables instead. Prerinsed the filter using the machine (just used hot water before cause I thought the select switch meant the machine would demand an entire half carafe at minimum - realize now there’s a lot of flexibility in water levels or turning the machine off). Gave the bloom a stir and turned the machine off until it degassed. End result tasted a lot more similar to my v60 brews. I wonder if it would also make sense to start the brew with the carafe removed if you think the filter shape is resulting in some initial underextraction? Theoretically I would think there’s some amount of time you could let the water stay in the filter bowl until it’s ideally extracted?
I’ve started it twice now without the carafe, letting the water get to about half cone height. Like maybe a full minute of infusion. Got really flat beds and pretty good cups but still haven’t nailed it. Optimal immersion time will heavily depend on the coffee and profile you’re going for I’d imagine. Also hu: I picked up some of the Walmart house brand #4 filters and they seem thinner and faster.
Yeah weird must be batch variability. I’ve definitely had that problem you’re showing before but not in a good while. However, maybe your pulling trick is something we should all be doing.
Getting non-BS info on tea in the west has been somewhat dubious ime. The “ceremonial” grade designation is mostly a western marketing thing afaict, but I take it to mean quality that is high enough for koicha, the thick paste preparation style. So the problem here is you have to use several grams of powder to just a few ounces of water to get that consistency, and that can get costly.
I haven’t ordered matcha in years but think this was supposed to be a reputable source? I’m borrowing some tips from the coffee universe here: they provide a farm/source name, it’s single cultivar, and they have some details on selection/processing.
@Ikioi might have better insight about where to buy from. Like, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the best of the best can only be found on non-English sites.
Even that product is $60 for 15 servings (it says $78 in your post link, but when you get to the site the price is $60…maybe it’s on sale). $4/cup doesn’t seem that terrible. But I guess these probably aren’t Starbucks-sized cups.
Right a “cup” in this case is a 1 oz beverage. Of course, you can dilute it to usucha and get a 3-4 oz drink. My cup costs drinking 10.5 oz of the best coffees in the world is $1.50. Advantage in matcha is the simple preparation and low equipment cost though.
Yeah I’ve just been following this thread passively, but your commitment to the coffee game is quite impressive. I think your quality per $ ratio is going to be hard to top.
Even thought I don’t drink coffee, I’m pretty sure I’d pay $100 to drink one cup of one of your brews where you think you knocked it out of the park. I just really want to see what all the fuss is about.
It seems like it is something that is impossible to get in a store. Maybe that guy in LA with the small store you mentioned.
My absolute favorite comes from the lesser-known Yame region, made by Hoshino Seicha. Excellent as Koicha or Usucha. However, it’s not organic. Not sure how good the linked grade is, but their highest grades are wonderful.
My go-to organic matcha, which I prefer drinking on a daily basis due to lack of chemical fertilizers, is this one, as I know the operators and have confirmed it’s a quality, certified-organic matcha from Uji, which is the most popular tea region in Japan, and it’s a good ceremonial-grade matcha at a reasonable price.
In terms of flavor, non-organics will tend to have a naturally sweeter flavor than organics, which tend to be more “earthy” all else being equal, as the fertilizers used in non-organic matchas enable a longer shade-growing period, which produces more umami.
But since matcha involves consuming an entire tea leaf as opposed to just steeping it, and that means also potentially consuming chemicals, I prefer healthier organic tea as my daily go-to beverage.
Another matcha-drinking tip. In Japan, matcha is usually enjoyed with wagashi, or traditional Japanese sweets. But these are unavailable in the US and can be quite pricy.
As an alternative, matcha pairs well with dark chocolate.
Also, use either a bamboo whisk or motorized frother to whisk. Nothing else will work properly.
So there are some sellers in the US advertising such matcha varieties that cost something like $200/oz. or whatever. Breakaway Matcha is the main one I’m familiar with.
I’ve never seen such high-priced matchas in Japan. My guess is they are just buying these retail and then reselling them at outrageous prices.
I tried one such matcha here in Japan that was about $50/oz. US, and while it certainly had a unique and interesting flavor, I didn’t think it was that much better than a high-quality grade I can get for about $30/oz.
In short, you should be able to find perfectly acceptable high-quality matcha in the $25-$40 range, and if you’re paying more, you’re not getting significantly more in terms of taste for your money.
Jasmine Oolong tea. Dry tea expands from 1/8-inch tall to 2-inches after steeping. Tastes like the stuff my wife orders at dim sum. David’s Teas if anyone is interested. Haven’t been disappointed with anything I’ve tried, tho they did discontinue the citris oolong tea that was my favorite. Ordered it from another vendor and it wasn’t quite as good.
Was looking for a coffee I could serve to friends and family and went with this Dunkin’ Donuts whole bean since several people told me they prefer coffee from there. DD calls it medium roast but it looks a shade or two darker, and they claim to use 100% arabica sourced from Central and South America. Of course, it’s an economical blend, and the price reflects this at $9 / 12oz.
It’s been years since I’ve had this but it’s better than I remember. It opens fairly dark with some chocolate notes, woodiness, and only a hint of acidity. Balanced and unobjectionable but not too interesting with a medium(ish) body. If I was forced to call specific notes, I’d say smoked cedar and chocolate-covered (dark) cherry, but that’s stretching it. Then it opens up a bit with more of the woodiness coming through while the acids increase from faint to a low/medium level through the finish. I enjoy that acid curve (monotically increasing) and think this is the most redeeming quality of this coffee. There’s a comp I thought of immediately from April 2020:
It’s sort of like that Sumatran, just not as good because the flavors aren’t as clear or defined. That’s the difference between a cost-saving blend and a good single origin that costs a few bucks more. Of course, one could argue this is a psychosensory effect since that’s exactly what I’m expecting the difference to be, but I’m pretty certain I’d prefer that Sumatran blind 10/10 times. My review of it was especially favorable and it’s still vividly in memory more than two years later.
Note: The DD was worst at max temperature (undrinkable imo) and only opened up as it cooled. In fact, I thought it was probably still improving as it cooled below serving temperature for hot coffee. Maybe that makes it’s a good candidate for iced coffee. There’s still some left in the bag so I’ll give that a shot next.
Final takeaway: If you enjoy this style of coffee, try one of La Minita estate’s Sumatrans. They have a few different ones, but I believe the Aceh Gold I had was the Mutu Batak product.
Looks like a lot of places are roasting this now, but Klatch is the only one I’m familiar with. Just remember to look for big coupon codes if you order from Klatch since they’ll often have 20% to 30% off.
