Wish I had the palate you guys do. I don’t think I could discern the difference between a high quality roasted bean from a cheap one. I’m currently using a pour over method on a 2.5 lb bag of whole bean Kirkland house medium blend brand I picked up for I wanna say $15 bucks. It does the job of a morning coffee for me
think my kettle is a goner. it still heats but just decides to … stop at about 195F. Normally if you set it to 205 or whatever, it cuts off when it gets there. Now it gets to 195 and the heating stops but it doesn’t beep and the button is still lit like it’s still trying to heat up more. But it never gets there.
guess I’ll just pull the trigger on the EKG
instant cafe reviews: austin edition
(pretty disappointed overall with the downtown austin coffee scene, was expecting a higher level)
houndstooth (congress avenue): very nice, seating kinda sucked, but the shot was good, barista was excellent and a little snarky, A- (went here twice).
hideout coffeehouse: pretty sure I’ve been here before (my last trip to austin was pre-covid), shot was mid, no spoon or water offered, C+
merit coffee (near the power station): got here right after they opened, which is fortunate because the line was literally out the door by the time I sat down, decent space, lots of doggos, very good shot, good baristas (not very chatty since they were obviously getting ready for the friday morning onslaught of yuppies that came in after me), A-
Carpenter Coffee Bar: nice space, in a hotel, great light, shot was above average but not particularly noteworthy, demitasse with saucer but no spoon or water, seating was cramped, B.
Bennu coffee: very good shot (victrola arduino), nice big space, 24/7 (!), nice barista, A-.
Halcyon Coffeehouse and Lounge: grumpy barista (it was pretty early), good space, good shot, no spoon or water, nice soundtrack, B.
Intelligentsia: pretty standard intelligentsia experience, good barista, great shot, meager seating, B.
Mañana Duo: mid shot, served with sparkling water but no spoon (I reached over the counter and grabbed a little spoon), nice seating, B.
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fellow has a drip machine that looks like the thing lawnmowerman has been trying to hack together (showerhead doodad over a v60 cone):
I love my aeropress but really I want it overengineered by 900x
this thing is 4000x more complicated than the aeropress but according to doug weber it’s “simple and easy”
near the end weber says somethng that sort of implies that he doesn’t grasp that immersion and percolation are different concepts which was just really weird but he’s admittedly an espresso guy so whatever
bonus guest appearance by jonathan gagne
What does that thing cost? I have enough parts to probably build one except for the solenoid valve (which complicates the build a lot if you try to control it with an Arduino or whatever). These people need to go to design school though. Oh wow look another matte black rectangle how edgy.
@pvn have you tried this plastic Hario Mugen device? I dunno if we talked about this but it’s basically a V60 02 with zero bypass due to having smooth sides. However, the people are saying you can get true (actually for real) zero bypass by putting it in your Switch to get a zero bypass bloom. If you think about it that way, it’s getting close to the NextLevel Pulsar without the built-in Melo Drip. Would only cost you the $13 or whatever to try it.
The fastest non Sibarist paper is supposed to be the Origami dripper paper made by Cafec. Haven’t tried it yet but people say it’s faster than Cafec Abaca which I’ve used before and was fast. Rogue Wave is a good place to get filters since they have a HuGe FiLtEr SeLeCTiOn ZoMg although maybe someone out there has a better deal on any one particular paper.
What are we doing here?
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I think the fellow drip machine is like $360 or so, they say near the very end of that part of the video and it ships in September IIRC. Seems like a decent price considering what their other stuff goes for.
The Weber thing is probably $2k idk
Yeah I bought a mugen and it sucks. I think I sent it back but I might still have it in the back of the pantry
What was wrong with it?
I don’t remember, I didn’t like it though. It drained like super crazy fast IIRC. I only used it two or three times and didn’t try attaching it to the Switch.
Weird I would have guessed the opposite since it should air lock the filter.
Re: Mugen
How is this thing different than a general purpose plastic food funnel you can buy for $2? That should also make a “no bypass” brewer. As long as it’s a foodsafe non-leaching plastic rated > 100C (probably all of them) and has the 60-degree geometry seems like it would do the job.
Oh man this was the deal of the century. Was reading the description and thinking wow didn’t know I was spending $1200 today but of course.
FYI they’re selling a bag of coffee and Tricolate brewer combo for $30. What? It’s a no bypass brewer but downside that brews take 7 to 10 minutes. Some pimp it as a travel brewer. Filters kind of expensive. Dunno if I’ll bite but that’s a crazy price.
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I bit on the Tricolate + beans as I was just reading about them the other day. Looks like they also have a few other grinders for sale around $900, but I missed a $125 Moccamaster!
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The “German-engineered” filters are kind of expensive so might want to keep an eye out for sales. Normally about $15 for 100. Even if you hate the brewer and never use it, that shower head would make a nice Melodrip and you’re out $8 for the whole device since the included coffee is $22.