it was clear that E was a curveball but i obviously don’t know shit about coffees to guess.
the guy is so good though. i basically watched an hour of a skinny tall british dude drinking a liquid i don’t even enjoy that much and found it entertaining and educational.
Actually more like an eephus pitch in terms of coffee. It’s that tranquil Christopher Robin voice that keeps me hooked onto his stuff for too long.
Fancy coffee day is here! Currently on the menu (rest in freezer):
El Salvador Las Mercedes Pacamara Honey (Lemon verbena, caramel, green apple)
Hawaii Rusty’s Ka’u (molasses, milk chocolate, macadamia)
Panama Altieri Natural ASD Geisha (peach, mixed berries, caramel)
Kicked off with the El Salvador this morning. Amatuer review, NICE!, much better than the swill I normally drink. Had a lemony aroma (but thankfully not a noticeably lemony taste) and a subtle tangy kick.
Currently enjoying the Hawaii Rusty’s, also Nice! Subtle creamy texture and choclatey taste.
Like that the flavors are very subtle, was worried it would feel like I was eating a lemon or chocolate bar, which would be gross, imo.
Grinding seems pretty straightforward, instruction manual recommended a 6 or 7 setting (out of 10 with lower being finer, higher coarser) if using a coffee machine to brew and went with a 6. Seemed to come out well. Anything more to it than that?
Yeah the flavors are tasting notes like fine wine, not main flavors. It’s still coffee after all. You can try filtered water if you aren’t using it already. Then there’s recipe water if you want to go all. You can try pre-rinsing the filter to remove any paper taste. And finally, try different grind settings: if you think you could pull more flavor out of it then grind one setting finer right up to the point before it starts to taste bitter or worse. All of the coffees may have a different optimal grind setting.
Also, what’s your water:coffee ratio? You might be toward the high end (18:1) if it’s extremely subtle. For my palette, 15:1 is the best. You can play around within that range. Try to change only one thing at a time and take notes.
Visited my parents in what my brother assured me was a “coffee desert” but managed to stock up on some new beans anyhow. Heard good things about the Joshua Tree coffee but only managed to find the beans in a smoothie/açaí bowl place, we French pressed them a few times and they were good although my brother makes coffee weaker than I like so I’ll see how they are when i run them through my setup tomorrow. Koffi was the shop we liked best there so I picked up a couple of bags that seemed promising ($15.75/lb isn’t a bad price point either). Didn’t realize the last bag was blank until I took it out to photograph but apparently it’s dark Brazilian from Tectonic coffee that my brother ordered for me.
Well my grinder is dead. Was traveling Wednesday and tried to grind a batch to last through Sunday and it jammed up. Disassembly and thorough cleaning today didn’t rectify the problem as it won’t power on at all now. Probably a bad motor but I need to disassemble again, check with the multimeter, and look at the switches, connections, and solder points. The good thing about the Baratzas is they are very easy to work on.
I have a backup which is the manual Hario ceramic one. People complain about it a lot but I swear mine produces a better grind than the Baratza in the medium-fine range that I grind at. In the medium-coarse to coarse range it’s pretty awful, so I wouldn’t use it for French press and probably not Chemex, but I’ve been brewing toward the fine end of V60 for a while now. The biggest problem with the Hario is that it takes a ton of effort to grind–the premium grinders are way smoother and cut like butter.
So that gives me a good excuse to buy a premium hand grinder while I wait to sort out the failure point in the electric. There are a lot of ways to go here, but features I rank highest are grind quality, build quality, and portability, in that order. People swear by the Commandante for pour overs but it’s a $250 USD hand grinder, almost twice as much as the electric grinder I’m using. Pay to see I guess?
I mean I want you to buy it for the trip report but it’s up to you if that’s worth $250 or not. I almost bought a less expensive burr grinder I saw on sale from Bodum but enough people said it’s not worth vs a blade grinder that I passed.
there’s no way I’m paying $250 for a grinder I have to manually crank. That has to be light years beyond the point of diminishing returns, especially for pour overs. If you’re not making espresso or working in a commercial setting then there’s no conceivable reason to more than like $150 on a grinder.
I’ve changed my thinking on this lately. I had S&W grind part of my last order on their Ditting so I could compare with my modded Baratza and there really was no comparison at all–the same beans tasted like an entirely different coffee. Whether it’s better is subjective but it certainly had far more clarity and separation. $250 is a ridiculous price point but I’m drinking these super light coffees with delicate notes that tend to disappear with very subtle changes in grind and brew. There are certainly cheaper options that produce comparable grinds, but they are Chinese knockoffs (one a hand grinder and the other an electric with GHOST BURRS). Trying to decide now.
I’m definitely getting something so there will be a TR. If you’re looking at electric, the latest find from the DEEP COFFEE WEB is this thing called a Xeoleo 520N. It’s a straight ripoff of the Fuji Royal R220 at 25% of the price but these dudes are absolutely gaga over the drip cup it produces. I’m not big on Chinese knockoffs and their fly-by-night support though so kind of torn.
After some searching there’s not much premium coffee gear in stock right now anywhere. I still want to pick up a premium hand grinder as a backup / travel option but might have to wait.
I assumed the problem with the Baratza was the motor so I inspected it today with the multimeter. I did this about a year ago suspecting something was up but it tested good. This is a 12-pole motor and we want to get a resistance reading < 100 ohms at every position, so here you can see me carefully rotating through the poles and the dial jumps from ~25 ohms to infinity. It actually choked out in about a third of the positions. Plugging it back in, I can get it to start by twisting the drive shaft to a different position and powering back on. No bueno. Now I’m wondering if it was just slowly failing over the past year or two and affecting my grind.
One thing I like about Baratza is their design philosophy: fix things, don’t throw them away. These grinders are really easy to tear down and are modular, so the parts are pretty easy to swap out. Not too happy about having to dig out a Torx T10 when I disassemble but w/e.
My last order was from Beanfruit Coffee out of Jackson, MS - really enjoying it so far. The standout so far has been this bag, but I’ve tried three different roasts and all have been good:
https://beanfruit.com/products/kenya-gachuiro-nyeri-ab
FWIW I use a large French Press and drink with a little milk and brown sugar, so your results may vary.
Asking for help:
I have never been a coffee drinker but I spend money on good green tea.
My GF loves coffee but just buys pre-grinded stuff from the grocery store.
I want to get her a coffee grinder and some good coffee for Christmas.
For a beginner to grinding their own coffee, does anyone have suggestions for a good place to start?
#1 thing is to get fresh beans. Most small-time roasters will put the roasting date on their bags. There are lots of good roasters, probably some in your area. I’d recommend starting with someone local. A good roaster will be able to help you pick varieties that line up with your tastes.
As for grinders, you can spend a lot but the returns from spending more diminish EXTREMELY fast IMO. This grinder is probably good enough for anyone.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CSKGLMM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
How is she brewing?
With filters in a coffee maker. Not a Keurig type setup.
Not sure if that answers your question.
Good call on checking for local roasters. I’m going to search now and might even buy a grinder from them if they have one.
I still use Amazon but I’m trying to limit it.
What is your budget?
What kind of pre-ground coffee is she buying and has she ever tried “good” coffee before?
Whatever is on sale. A lot of times dunking donuts french vanilla.
Does not take sugar but likes milk or creme.
I’m sure she has had “good” coffee but I doubt she has ever brewed it herself or had it on a regular basis.
Budget: I would like to keep it under $150 for grinder and coffee but I can be sold on spending more.
I’m starting to scroll the thread a little and realize that there is way more to this than I realized.
How much you need to spend on a grinder depends on a lot of factors that neither you nor she will know the answer to yet. At minimum, you need a conical burr grinder like the one pvn linked. They come in both electric and manual (hand grind). The most-frequently recommended entry-level grinder is the Baratza Encore. Here’s what r/coffee says in their price tiers guide:
If you want us to recommend one entry-level grinder, this is it. “The” entry-level burr grinder, from a celebrated manufacturer. A workhorse, excellently made and excellently supported, this is the only entry-level grinder most users never feel they need to upgrade. (We take no responsibility for “want”.) Don’t wait on sales, this product rarely goes on sale and due to Baratza’s distributor agreement, sales will almost never be advertised. Asides, it’s more than worth it at full price. US residents can try for a refurbished model, usually posted on the Baratza website Thursday mornings.
The refurbs go for $99 but sell out fast and they don’t have stock right now. Would recommend buying from an authorized dealer and not Amazon (because you’re going to get something that’s open-box/damaged or two generations old). Lemme check a few retailers and see if they have any deals right now.
