Telling on myself but I have the white ceramic 02 and I leave it out on the counter next to the Chemex because I like to imagine that only the beautiful pieces of coffee kit are worth my time. I look at both of them when I’m making coffee with the brown plastic 02 every morning. Also have the stainless Buono but the copper one is the dream piece.
*For a time I used the ceramic, but I’ve managed to shatter all of my favorite ceramic mugs on the concrete floors so I decided to retire it.
Every time I order from Happy Mug in a pinch I’m amazed at the coffee they can put out for $11. Got a legit blueberry Ethiopian from them this time.
what’s the current grinder hotness for $200-300 for people doing mostly single cup brewing? I’ve got a conical burr breville which is fine and I’m not really looking to replace it but it has started making some weird noises (it’s probably five or six years old, which isn’t bad for a ~$150 machine?).
it seems that “single dose” grinders are now A Thing and they weren’t when I last seriously looked at grinders. Really the only thing I’ve seen grinder-wise are the $3k+ grinders that James Hoffman recently reviewed (lol).
Comandante C40. It does not use the electricity though. For electric, I think that price range is basically no-man’s land with a few possible asterisks. Bunnzilla is definitely out of the $300 range though.
*Fellow Ode (I know nothing about it other than it’s HYPE and I’m skeptical.)
*The Chinese knockoff of Fuji R220 w/ GHOST BURRS that I’ve written about itt
*A used Baratza Vario w/ steel burr swap
Of those options, the one I’d go for is the Vario if you can get it cheap enough. The steel burr set is $60 new from Baratza and it’s unlikely you’ll find a used one that has steel. You do not want the stock ceramic burr for drip, so the value play is get a beater that needs burr replaced. I’ve actually been looking for a broken one at a super low price since all of the parts are replaceable and they’re pretty easy to work on. I just rebuilt my hotrodded Encore recently with a new motor and upper burr flange which took all of about 30 minutes.
EK43? The thing about that grinder is that it is notoriously difficult to calibrate.
pretty sure this is the way I’d go if I had to do something today without diving into reading a bunch of stuff. I’m not really convinced that it’s worth spending more to move up to flat burrs but I’m open to the idea.
anyway, the ode is definitely what I was thinking of when I mentioned the new surge of single-dose brewers, it does seem kinda hype-y, not really sure what to think of it but I’m not intrigued enough to learn more.
among others!
(that’s the recap, there are links to the full reviews of each one in the caption)
Just got an entry-level Keurig mini!
I know you guys like to shit on Keurigs, but it’s very convenient and easy to use, and I probably couldn’t taste the difference if I grinded my own beans and french pressed them, or whatever y’all are doing
I seriously doubt that, but convenience could be a far more important factor to you. For example, today I did a 2-pass paper towel method to sieve fines out of my grind. The clarity improved tremendously and I finally tasted the real profile of this Peru single origin which I can best describe as blackberry juice with a hint of spiciness. I was actually stunned by how good it was tbh. There are plenty of roasters doing specialty K-cups now with single origins and quality blends. I’m also fairly certain you can buy empty ones and pack your own.
I dunno, people who are into the top shelf stuff seem to claim that this is where the jump in clarity occurs. I think Hoffman even alludes to it in that video you posted. If I remember right, you aren’t really into light roasts with delicate flavor profiles. I think it may just be those coffees in particular where it makes a noticeable difference, i.e., coffees that wouldn’t exactly taste like “coffee” to most people when extracted this way.
For example, I’m currently on a Peru city+ that I kept grinding finer until I got slight bitterness, then I stopped at that setting and sieved the fines out. It’s a lot of work to make coffee but an absolute home run at $11. Served it to my parents for Easter breakfast, which they proceeded to describe as “wild” and “overwhelming” (they drink Maxwell House). I have to agree with them because even I was shocked by it, but for them, those qualities make it undrinkable as a daily coffee, whereas for me it’s the exact level I’m shooting for in a daily.
The question for me is whether the Vario ($$) is good enough to produce this cup (and beyond) but Scott Rao likes the Forte which uses the same burr set. I still think it’s possible to put a Vario w/steel together in the $300 to $350 range. For comparison, Bunnzilla with Ditting ($$$$) costs over twice as much and requires a fair amount of DIY modding/hacking.
no, I have mostly been drinking niche-roaster light roasts, I guess it’s that I haven’t heard a good explanation of why the flat burrs are better (hoffman even admits we don’t really have any scientific exploration of this stuff yet). I guess I’ve always been under the impression that flat burrs were more important for getting superfine grinds for espresso, but like I said, I’m open to the idea.
FWIW I can’t really find a “good” grind size with my conical grinder now, I am constantly adjusting it and finding that the steep time and water ratio makes a bigger difference in what I’m tasting than the grind size, but then again I’m definitely not doing any blind tasting.
I definitely do not think there is any scientific answer yet. I’m treating it all like a black box and going strictly by cup quality. You may want to try what I’ve done a few times now which is place an order and ask if they’ll grind a portion of it on their shop machine so you can compare to your grinder.
Same exact process today and I can’t replicate the magic. If I knew I could get yesterday’s cup every day I’d probably throw $1,200 at flat burrs and a Fetco.
@pvn When you gonna start the watch thread lol? I’m accumulating a large backlog of posts I’ve been saving for it.
this was a running gag for years as he ‘refused’ to release an aeropress guide.
Hoffman also doesn’t believe the 80C water thing is real (there’s no good reason to).
I’m having the last Ethiopian from HM order now. This one is called Guji Shakiso natural with tasting notes of lemon myrtle and strawberry. Very prominent and sweet, juicy berry flavor throughout. I’ve paid nearly double for coffees that weren’t this good in the past few months.
Random observation: I’m been using the paper towel method to sieve fines for the past few weeks now, and it seems like coffees that I pull straight out of the freezer produce fewer fines. That might explain why the first cup of every coffee I’ve been freeze-storing seems to have the most clarity, but I think the more likely explanation is novelty of switching to a new coffee. Could also be difference in bean/roast. Need to A/B it side by side.
anecdotally I think it’s good advice for shitty commercial coffee. I use 200F water for light roasts, though.
Yeah for darker roasts I think a lot of people would agree that lower temps could be better. 80 C (176 F) seems pretty low. For pour over I see people generally recommend something like 190 to 195 for dark, but that gap is probably explained by Aero’s finer grind size.
You mean for Aero specifically?
yeah. my kettle doesn’t have a setting for anything between 200 and boiling. I could just get it boiling and let it cool down if I wanted to do 205 or whatever but that seems too fussy for me
I take everything right off boil for pours. I even put it back on to reheat during the bloom. Even pouring straight off boil it’s tough to keep the slurry above 190 F. I figured out that pulse pouring about every 3 seconds tends to keep the temp the most even.
