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Y'all are a buch of enablers....and I like that. Have been researching espresso machines along with roasters. So much so that I even have a box the size of an average espresso machine on the kitchen counter to see where it's going. I am looking for your input with this in mind.

For me espresso only and just the weekends.
My wife would be making latte or cappuccinos once a day.

I'm liking the PID controllers, but not 100% necessary. I'm home brew compatible and can adapt to any machine. Main concern is one that's wife friendly. I do have the ability to direct plumb also.

I've been taking a serious look at
Profit 500
https://www.wholelattelove.com/profitec-pro-500-pid-espresso-machine

ECM Classika
https://www.wholelattelove.com/ecm-classika-pid

Both the Expobar Brewtus and office
https://www.wholelattelove.com/expobar-brewtus-iv-p-reservoir-and-plumbable
https://www.wholelattelove.com/expobar-office-lever-plus-semi-automatic-espresso-machine

The Rocket machines look good too, but worth the price jump?
https://www.wholelattelove.com/rocket-espresso-mozzafiato-type-v

Any other suggestions are welcome. Thanks guys!
 
Inkleg said:
Y'all are a buch of enablers....and I like that. Have been researching espresso machines along with roasters. So much so that I even have a box the size of an average espresso machine on the kitchen counter to see where it's going. I am looking for your input with this in mind.

For me espresso only and just the weekends.
My wife would be making latte or cappuccinos once a day.

I'm liking the PID controllers, but not 100% necessary. I'm home brew compatible and can adapt to any machine. Main concern is one that's wife friendly. I do have the ability to direct plumb also.

I've been taking a serious look at
Profit 500
https://www.wholelattelove.com/profitec-pro-500-pid-espresso-machine

ECM Classika
https://www.wholelattelove.com/ecm-classika-pid

Both the Expobar Brewtus and office
https://www.wholelattelove.com/expobar-brewtus-iv-p-reservoir-and-plumbable
https://www.wholelattelove.com/expobar-office-lever-plus-semi-automatic-espresso-machine

The Rocket machines look good too, but worth the price jump?
https://www.wholelattelove.com/rocket-espresso-mozzafiato-type-v

Any other suggestions are welcome. Thanks guys!
Click to expand...
How determined is your wife to make coffee on a fully manual machine? Because mine loves coffee but that's not happening here. There's a lot of variables to mess with and learn.
 
@jimyson - I put a very low amount of effort into distribution. I find sometimes the more you fuss over it, the tougher it is to get a good result. Having a high end grinder probably helps a lot here. How are those SSP
burrs & SJ treating you?

@Inkleg - harbortown makes an excellent point. My wife CAN make coffee or espresso but she only drinks it when I make it haha.
I had a Profitec Pro 500. It’s a greats machine. I had thermosyphon issues & sent it back but it IS a damn nice piece of equipment. The pump is very quiet and steams very well. Temp management no prob at all - I have the e61 thermometer and love it.
ECM is their parent company and I would equat them being like GMC/Cadillac vs Chevy if that makes sense. I currently have an ECM Sychronika with PID and really like it. It’s a DB though and I’m not sure a PID is as helpful for an HX but I have heard it’s actually quite helpful, more than you’d figure


Edit: I wouldn’t be afraid to buy an e61 used either. They are nearly all built like tanks and the less fancy they are, the easier & cheaper they are to fix if anything goes wrong. It’s a big reason I picked the Pro 500 & Synchronika. Both are very well engineered & built to work on.
You can also get better deals over the phone than posted on the web. Dealers cannot advertise at the price they will sell it for due to manufacturers contracts


Used ECM Classika: https://www.home-barista.com/buysell/ecm-classika-special-edition-t57172.html#p639167
 
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At that level of build, used is all I could afford. On craigslist here there are pretty good deals. Its sad but people need to dump stuff quick and I swoop in.

I saw a video, I posted it a ways back of a barista (she won championship) who said she didn't distribute. Sorry I dont know what that means, but she was smacking it down on table. Thats what I do. I fill it and smack it level and straight down on counter. Pow, pow. Fill, pow pow. I smack it and have found for my machine exactly level is perfect. To little coffe, sucks, too much, and choke the machine. I smack and fill, gently leveling like you do with flour. Once exactly full and level I tamp. I think I lean towards less fine grind and stronger tamp vs fine grind and weaker tamp. Maybe because my grinder and machine are low end. I highly recommend the 55 dollar delonghi with ppf removed as a usable option until you upgrade to a quality machine. Then put in office when upgrade. Note, I dont know anything about espresso at a players level. Here is two shots from last weekend. ppf (pressurized porta filter) removed.
20190218_093126.jpeg
20190218_093812.jpeg
 
jammin said:
@jimyson -How are those SSP
burrs & SJ treating you?
Click to expand...

I’m not going to lie. I have no idea how the burrs are doing. I mean, all seems great but I have nothing to compare them against. I went from a little tiny blade grinder to this.

Overall with the grinder, it’s awesome. It’s been pretty easy to go back and forth between drip and espresso settings with it being stepless. I put a small piece of tape with a line on it so I don’t need to count the collar lines and remember those to move back and forth. It does retain in the throat though, especially with a finer grind. That’s my only complaint. Luckily with the design of the spout, I can give it a good shake and most comes out. I’m thinking about getting the shorter hopper though. The stock one is huge.

I’ve also been holding myself back from getting that upgrade to the LP piston to measure pressure of the lever. It’s been hard. I’m sure I’ll crack one of these days.
 
I have come to pose a question to the coffee gurus.

I just bought a pound of whole beans from my local spot to add some to a stout. I only used 4oz for the stout. Can I simply treat the beans as any food product and vacuum-seal and freeze them for later use? What is the best way to handle storage of coffee beans if the seal/freeze is not? Thanks in advance.
 
Freezing works great to preserve the freshness of your coffee. Deep freezer's are > normal freezers. Vac bags often get a hole poked in them by the sharp edges of the beans otherwise no prob. If you have a mason jar free, those work quite well and allow you to take a serving out here & there when needed.
 
jammin said:
Freezing works great to preserve the freshness of your coffee. Deep freezer's are > normal freezers. Vac bags often get a hole poked in them by the sharp edges of the beans otherwise no prob. If you have a mason jar free, those work quite well and allow you to take a serving out here & there when needed.
Click to expand...

This is how I store open hops. Food saver sells a mason jar top that you can vacuum seal the jar. I don’t have a good saver so use a brake fluid hand pump. It works great.
 
MaxStout said:
Tempting, very tempting. But a non-starter for me, I'm afraid. I get my azz chewed when I spend $100 on Amazon. If I bought that roaster, I'd have to use it to keep me warm while I'm sleeping in the garage. ;)
Click to expand...


Proverbs 21:9 “Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife” :bravo:
 
shelly_belly said:
@applescrap Are you using the porta filter without the pressure basket, with a non-pressure basket or did you modify the pressure basket somehow?
Click to expand...
Yep, without the plastic pressure device. I havent got the la pavoni basket that fits it yet. I removed the plastic pressure pieces and put the silver screen back in the rubber washer.

 
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Anyone know anything about sonofresco roasters?

EDIT: nevermind, saw one pop up for sale locally, but it doesn't look like something i'd want
 
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TrickyDick said:
Recently was gifted genuine Jamaican Blue Mountain greens. About a half pound or so maybe a touch more. Any suggestions on how to roast them?
Click to expand...
I bought 5lb of JBM last year and have about a half pound left. Don't expect it to blow you away with flavor. :) JBM is known for being a low bitterness, well rounded coffee and it doesn't disappoint in that respect. But I'd call it a bit old-school in that you don't get much for bright flavors with lighter roasts. It comes across as a little sweet and smooth, i think mostly because of the lack of bitterness. In short, it tastes like what coffee should taste like without any additional descriptors. It's not really fruity or floral, nutty or chocolatey, just a nice balance of everything that should be there and nothing that shouldn't. Elegant.

So, i'd say roast it how you'd roast most any other central american coffee.
 
Thanks! So sounds like Probably take past end of 2C for 15-20 seconds.

BTW, looking for some decaf suggestions to drink at night instead of beer or other high cal beverages. Sweet Marias awfully expensive for decaf 7.00.lb and up! I spotted what sounds like a nice Peruvian Decaf on GCBC I think I'm going to snag. 5 lbs is a lot of decaf though. This is what got me into the huge surplus of greens I've been trying to work through..

Well bang! I just nabbed #5 of the peruvian Decaf
https://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/index.php?topic=21387.msg339996#msg339996

Might consider vac seal and freezing in 1 pound bags and see how it keeps, since I cannot imaging drinking more than one pound in two weeks, but will see how my plan works out for me.

TD
 
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Good morning, kids have me up drinking light kenyan pb from burmans. Better go out and roast the ethiopian before blizzard. Or in blizzard? Something about that seems dangerous, more I think of it. I have some pictures of the greens but they don't really reveal a whole lot. I do notice plenty of natural imperfection and there are definitely some much smaller beans than my other Ethiopian. Really small little bbs. Slammed first iced latte, one more for the ditch.
20190302_073635.jpeg
20190302_074352.jpeg
 
@td not sure which are good because my roasts suck and I havent gone through enough of it. But I buy it for same reasons.

On 2 nd and wife 1. So is that 3 shots or 6? What coffee are you all drinking?

update, roasted the Ethiopian. It was cold and windy out and I went full power, full fan straight through. First loud crack at 13, and a solid crack starting at 13:18. Pulled at 14:22. 9.5 percent according to timer. It smelled like a basket of berries for sure, right after cooling!
 
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Later start today than planned, but I think I have the HG-1 and vario dialed in with some espresso blend from a local roaster. I targeted a 1:2 coffee:espresso weight ratio. Might have to go out and run a 5k or something to deal with the caffeine intake. I've brewed about 10 double shots of espresso, a few were dumpers, I spilled most of one all over the coffee table, but sipped somewhere in between 1/4 and and 3/4 of most of them. I think the best shot was with the vario set too fine, ended up with a ristretto with almost a 1:1 ratio.

Deciding right now if i want to play with the rocky to try to get it in the ballpark here, or just accept that it's out of it's league.
 
TallDan said:
Deciding right now if i want to play with the rocky to try to get it in the ballpark here, or just accept that it's out of it's league.
Click to expand...
A couple hours, some tinkering, and another half dozen or so shots later...

From a coffee:espresso ratio and brew time perspective, the rocky is in the ballpark. I'd say that the shots are not as good, but at this point, I'm not sure I'm a good judge.

Went through a 12oz bag of coffee today. It usually takes me almost a week to go through that much.
 
Awesome Dan! Enjoying your experimenting. You have way to much invested in all this to keep bias out. Have your wife or whoever triangle them and see if you can pick the odd one out. 2 are the same one is different. Repeat 5 times or so.
 
Massive berry flavors in the bogali turki. Haha, palate a little dull after peach sours, neipa, and chocolate porter last night. Blackberry my wife said, I am thinking blueberry.
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
@TallDan I figured we'd see another post from you around 2am like, "couldn't sleep, decided to make more espresso"

Haha those heavy caffeine days can be kind of fun.
Click to expand...
Somewhat surprisingly, I didn't have much trouble falling asleep last night. Slept pretty well, actually. Last night I started to feel like i had an espresso hangover though. Little bit of a headache, just kinda run down, a lot like the morning after a few too many homebrews!
applescrap said:
Awesome Dan! Enjoying your experimenting. You have way to much invested in all this to keep bias out. Have your wife or whoever triangle them and see if you can pick the odd one out. 2 are the same one is different. Repeat 5 times or so.
Click to expand...
I'd agree that a blind test would be good, but I don't think it's quite feasible or would accomplish what i'm looking to do here. First, my wife doesn't drink much espresso, so she'd have to triangle test americanos to get something she generally knows and likes. Second, freshness and temperature comes into play, especially with espresso (maybe a little less with americano). By the time I got the third shot pulled and the blind test setup, the first one would have been sitting for a while and the fresh one would have an advantage. Third, the variability from one shot to the next is enough that there would need to be MANY blind tests to get to a real winner.

Then, beyond that, part of this is about the use of the machines, too, so if i am biased in my tasting because one grinder is better to use, so be it. I only have to please myself here. The HG-1 has a disadvantage in that respect, being non-motorized and kind of a pain to crank with light roasted coffees. It will take some practice with that one to really determine if i can live with it or not. I'm also not sure that my "investment" would necessarily count as a plus to me either. My plan is to sell at least one of these grinders, I'll get a lot more money out of selling the HG-1 than the rocky, so am I biased for HG-1 because I spent more on it and think it should be better, or against it because I know I'll get the most out of selling it? And then the rocky, sure, it cost the least, but I've had it for a long time and am very used to using it, so it might have an advantage there. I also remember watching a movie once about a scrappy underdog that took down a champion. The rocky kinda reminds me of that. Might have been about boxing or something? Anyway, there's definitely part of me that's rooting for the rocky.
;)
 
Got my new Infrared temp sensor installed and electronics and software and firmware all updated and started preheating the roaster. Starting to make a dent in my stockpile of beans. Still have a BUNCH from 2015. Decided to do first roast with some Brazil Monte Alegre Estate pulped natural. Any recommendations? I need to look for tasting notes in my email to see why I even bought this stuff (5 pounds worth from looks of it).
Roasting 1000 grams. Couldn't find any cupping info in my email.... Only that I bought it in September 2015. For what its worth, I have NO 2018 greens! I did just buy that Decaf though.
Hardly looks like I've made a dent in this stockpile.

Totally tanked that roast....
Not enough Preheat
 
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TrickyDick said:
Totally tanked that roast....
Not enough Preheat
Click to expand...

I have never tried a 1kg roast but I would imagine it would need a good high charge temp. With the new sensor and the change in temp readings associated with it, I could see that being a difficult roast. Even when I just go from a 450g charge to a 600g charge I can really notice my lack of adequate charge temp (I always forget to raise it for bigger batches).
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
I have never tried a 1kg roast but I would imagine it would need a good high charge temp. With the new sensor and the change in temp readings associated with it, I could see that being a difficult roast. Even when I just go from a 450g charge to a 600g charge I can really notice my lack of adequate charge temp (I always forget to raise it for bigger batches).
Click to expand...


Apparently the new sensor there are some kinks to be worked out, with some saying they aren’t getting enough heat output. Not sure how that relates to the sensor though. Also, the way it reads the temperature is totally different, such that some users are working on a conversion table for their charge mass and preheat temps with new versus old sensor use. For a 200 degree Celsius preheat, you will now need a preheat of 300 for instance.

I forgot to account for all that, and my roasts (I did two others) are are trash canned...

You should definitely try a 1kg roast. It can totally pull it off! Preheat to 200 and let it preheat for a full hour (be sure no straggler beans inside though!)

TD
 

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