Yeah I have the 12 cup and I’d say it makes a very “polite” cup of coffee. Although that can be good b/c not everyone likes getting kicked in the face with acidity and it can help separate the flavors. But the thing about French press and other manual techniques is that he is the one making the coffee for her, so I sort of wonder what “getting into coffee” actually means in this case. Does it mean bro here is gonna be back in a few weeks looking for coaching tips on a V60 pulse pour? Because I think he’d prefer to just press a button that says “make coffee.”
bump, is there any good scientific discussion about blooming (for pour-overs mostly but in general is fine)? I’m not really clear on the theory but I’d like to see if there are any real double-blind tests on whether it actually makes a noticeable difference.
My gut is that it’s bunk (though I do let it bloom when I make pour-overs)
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I think I am just going to buy some freshly grinded beans from a local shop and if she likes it get into it more at that point.
Thanks for all the advice from everyone.
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The theory is that the extraction rates of solids can vary whether they are dry or in aqueous solution. That effect is discussed for caffeine in the paper below, for example. What is your bloom technique?
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jsfa.2740460313
Most of this is obviously bro science though because it’s pretty hard to measure in repeatable and meaningful ways. Actual solids measurement requires some really serious lab equipment and blind taste tests have a lot of problems from an experimental design standpoint. The one that tilts me the hardest is the 4:6 method.
Ok, nice. So this would indicate that immersion is a better method that pour-overing, wouldn’t it (assuming you get the timing correct)?
I use Hoffman’s pour over method, wet the grinds (2ml water/gram of coffee) and let it bloom for 30-45 seconds. It seems fine but wasn’t really sure if it accomplishes anything. This is a an interesting paper.
I’m also probably going to get one of those clever coffee drippers.
Hahahah yeah we probably need one
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That I don’t know and would assume they are just different. All of my favorite cups have been from percolation but it’s a biased sample.
IIRC Scott Rao does 3:1 and Perger does 4:1 on a pour. I think 2:1 is a bit light on the water because, while that may be the true absorptive capacity of beans, in reality I think it takes a bit more due to some of the water escaping. Your goal should be to soak all of the grounds evenly in the “bloom” (it’s more like a prewet) and let them degas. IME the only way to get there is stirring or swirling somewhat aggressively, but you have to be careful because too aggressively and the fines move to the bottom and clog a cone filter. Not stirring at all can lead to the opposite problem: a channel that the water quickly escapes through. You should be able to tell if your coffee will be relatively over or under extracted almost immediately just by the flow rate from the filter into the vessel.
I haven’t tried that one. Thought about ordering the Kalita Wave due to the problem mentioned above since the Wave is flat bottom and not cone, but then that’s a third set of filters I’d have to buy into and meh.
yeah, in practice, I always use more than 2:1 because even with agitation I don’t think everything is really getting wetted. In any case it doesn’t matter too much because I very rarely use the V60, probably 95% of the time I’m using the aeropress.
Alright I need the UP coffee connoisseur hive mind. My sister recently started drinking coffee regularly for the first time in her life (she’s 34, no clue how she made it this long without caffeine). Right now she just does Starbucks sugary specialty shit, or loads up with cream and sugar for regular coffee. She wants to wean off of that and make herself like regular coffee without the frills.
She is moving to a new place today and asked me for a recommendation for a coffee machine. Her needs are:
Capable of brewing single serve or small amount
Option to make specialty drinks at home
Easy to use
Not too expensive
I am trying to steer her away from a Keurig because they are relatively expensive and bad for the environment. She does not plan on getting really into coffee so I’m not looking for anything that needs to be mastered like the Aeropress or self grinding or any of that fancy stuff. I’m thinking one of the smaller Ninja Coffee Bar models may be the best option but I’m not sure what else is out there. I have used the large Ninja Coffee Bar for the past 4+ years and it’s been pretty good, but I’m guessing you guys might have some better suggestions. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Just get a basic $20 coffeemaker and a grinder imo. I see no need to get fancy.
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For the coffee she probably wants either a drip coffee machine or a French Press imo. A milk frother will help with specialty drinks - you can make cafe au lait or make a concentrated batch of coffee in a French Press and you can get something close to a latte. We’ve got this one, and it works great:
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There are some Ninjas on the SCA certified home brewer list that I thought looked pretty competent. For home brewing, they at least meet some reasonable standards for brewing acceptable coffee (like proper water temp and timing).
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I have subscriptions with a couple of high-end roasters, one of them sends out orders on the first wednesday of the month (the 2nd this month). On the 7th I noticed that USPS tracking on the package had basically fallen into a black hole. On the 10th I contacted the roaster via email just to see if they had any better tracking info or whatever, they said they were going to refund my subscription fee for the month (which they did) and send a replacement on Monday the package didn’t resurface before then. No replacement tracking number and no response to my follow-up email from tuesday yet. I was not upset at all at the first package getting lost since it’s outside of USPS control but I’m pretty close to supermonkeytilt now. Gonna give them another couple of days before I write them off forever.
USPS has been a shit show for packages all year for us. Wife has a package that has been “out for delivery” for 11 days. The post office won’t do anything until the status hasn’t changed for 14 days. This has happened like 4 times this year and each time on day 14 when she calls them, it’s delivered to us that same day or the following day. Like, it’s almost certainly just sitting in the truck this whole time.
I have finally joined the pourover revolution. Not loving the extra kitchen gizmos it requires, but the brew is great.
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anyway, it got sorted. the 2nd package did get mailed out. I was definitely understanding when the 1st package disappeared, and their proposed remedy was way beyond what I expected (I just wanted a replacement, they offered replacement PLUS refund). The frustration came from the combo of replacement not shipping when they said it would plus no response to email (which, to be fair, they’re probably dealing with staffing problems and a glut of customer service issues). I decided to wait it out, which was the correct play. Very happy with the outcome and willing to overlook a completely understandable communication delay.
It’s seycoffee.com btw, their roasts are pretty top-notch. Only been to their brooklyn cafe once (it’s pretty out of the way for most of my NYC trips) but highly recommend them for the beans and now for the service.
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