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^TD - I'm very happy to hear about your promising results with the kalita. Your reports match others I've heard about extraction so that's really cool. That's terrific you have such attention to detail in taking measurements and the info you've shared is very helpful.

You know I'm a die-hard press pot fan but I like to dabble. This morning was aeropress and melitta 1-cup (most under rated Brewer ever).



To tie the whole espresso story together; I ended up selling off my whole kit as espresso just isn't for me. Love the flavor but it's a constant battle to pull the "god shot" that you're inevitably always chasing.

I really missed lingering over a big steaming mug in the morning too and that's just not something espresso could replace. I'd like to think I crawled through the entire rabbit hole and came out the other side looking for a simple cup of joe to sip on.


And yes, super jolly' are around but good condition units are always over priced. If you're into it and even slightly handy they are killer refurb project. I've seen some reealllly cool looking grinders people have customized.

If you're serious about spro', i will strongly urge you to buy a 68mm conical grinder and save up for a machine later. That Titan class conical can make almost any home barista look half competent. It's literally that good. Get a Dorset model for sure - DO NOT get sucked into a doserless. Used k10's can be had for $600 or so
 
Anyone have experience with the Gaggia Classic?

Tricky, if you are looking for a coffee from Sweet marias, they had a Kenya Nyeri which was really beautiful. A little unique, with some really delicate strawberry and peach flavors. I unfortunately roasted through all 10lbs I had bought so I may get another 10. I'd highly recommend it
 
The Gaggia Classic is a great into machine. I'd suggest it over the Rancillo Silvia.



For that price and class, I'd suggest the Lelit PL41TQE or its slightly upgraded sister, the PL41TEM. It has built in PID and is a solid performer.

pl41tem_23.jpg
 
I have to laugh to myself a little here though.

No sooner than I type a novel on the importance of a grinder than someone asks about which machine to get :p
 
Thanks for the info jammin.

I never said I wasn't upgrading my grinder. I don't even know that I'm buying a machine necessarily - just shopping the forum for info and input
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
Anyone have experience with the Gaggia Classic?
Click to expand...

I've had a Gaggia Classic and a Gaggia Paros (same internals) and they are decent for an entry level machine. Definitely better than the dept store Delonghi, Salton, Krups, etc., but still an entry machine. If you're doing a lot of milk based drinks (steaming) it tends to run out of capacity pretty quick (all the lower end machines do), but it will steam enough for you to have two tall lattes in one go.
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
Anyone have experience with the Gaggia Classic?

Tricky, if you are looking for a coffee from Sweet marias, they had a Kenya Nyeri which was really beautiful. A little unique, with some really delicate strawberry and peach flavors. I unfortunately roasted through all 10lbs I had bought so I may get another 10. I'd highly recommend it
Click to expand...

I had some of that Nyeri peaberry and the Nyeri Hill also. I ended up not waiting to hear back and just got the filters I needed and saw two Ethiopian Yirga Cheffe Dry Process coffees so I picked up 2# of each: Aricha and Gedeb Asasa. I also picked up a couple pouches of roasted coffee from George Howell that will give me a break from roasting.

I used the Kalita brewer again this AM with some Maui Mokka beans I had forgotten I bought on my summer trip. Yeah, they are probably stale and over roasted. Anyways, I busted out the Refractometer and had about a 4 minute pour over with 482g water and 30 grams of grounds. I ended up overshooting my target %TDS (1.30) with an actual 1.48, which computes to a hair over (or is it hare over?) 21% extraction. It seems far easier to overextract than underextract. I clicked my grinder down a notch and will repeat the same dose tomorrow. Shoot for the same extraction time of 4 minutes- change one variable at a time. Maybe 4 minutes is too long for a pour over brew method.

For my new years resolution, I'd like to try to dabble a bit more in programming. If I was any good at programming, I'd get the Artisan code and program PID functionality into it. Maybe ask a friend of mine if he could do. Seems my curve programming and tracing plan isn't going to work as I had desired without getting under the hood of my roaster, and not entirely sure I want to do that.. (yet anyway).

TD

Edit- Tuesday morning brew one coarse click down on grinder. 4:00 brew time (shorter by about 1:00) same amount of water. Didn't measure the total beverage weight for complete accuracy, but left the same as yesterday. More importantly, %TDS 1.33 which roughly (since I didn't measure mass of brewed coffee cause I am in a hurry and forgot to tare my Yeti rambler) corresponds to 19.5% extraction. Will see how it tastes comparatively.
 
Well the wife and I just closed on a house. Coming from a condo, it's a big big improvement in space and opportunities. For me, it's an opportunity for me to do more of what I love: brew beer, roast coffee, and play the guitar (loud).

The house has a heated/cooled Four-Seasons room which we honestly have no idea what to do with (we are just about doubling/tripling our living area from how we've lived the last 5.5 years, so we are going to have to figure out how to use extra space). I jokingly suggested to the wife I could use the Four Seasons room as a coffee roasting room, and hook up a duct through the window for roaster exhaust. Much to my surprise, she didn't fight it.

Fast forward two days, and she's told me that will be my roasting area. I've got to tell ya, it's been a whirlwind of a week as a married guy: first she gives espresso machine permission, THEN she let's me have my own room for roasting. What's next? Do I push her for a pizza brick oven for the patio?
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
Well the wife and I just closed on a house. Coming from a condo, it's a big big improvement in space and opportunities. For me, it's an opportunity for me to do more of what I love: brew beer, roast coffee, and play the guitar (loud).

The house has a heated/cooled Four-Seasons room which we honestly have no idea what to do with (we are just about doubling/tripling our living area from how we've lived the last 5.5 years, so we are going to have to figure out how to use extra space). I jokingly suggested to the wife I could use the Four Seasons room as a coffee roasting room, and hook up a duct through the window for roaster exhaust. Much to my surprise, she didn't fight it.

Fast forward two days, and she's told me that will be my roasting area. I've got to tell ya, it's been a whirlwind of a week as a married guy: first she gives espresso machine permission, THEN she let's me have my own room for roasting. What's next? Do I push her for a pizza brick oven for the patio?
Click to expand...

Congrats! And don't worry, you'll find ways to fill extra space very easily. :)
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
Well the wife and I just closed on a house. Coming from a condo, it's a big big improvement in space and opportunities. For me, it's an opportunity for me to do more of what I love: brew beer, roast coffee, and play the guitar (loud).

The house has a heated/cooled Four-Seasons room which we honestly have no idea what to do with (we are just about doubling/tripling our living area from how we've lived the last 5.5 years, so we are going to have to figure out how to use extra space). I jokingly suggested to the wife I could use the Four Seasons room as a coffee roasting room, and hook up a duct through the window for roaster exhaust. Much to my surprise, she didn't fight it.

Fast forward two days, and she's told me that will be my roasting area. I've got to tell ya, it's been a whirlwind of a week as a married guy: first she gives espresso machine permission, THEN she let's me have my own room for roasting. What's next? Do I push her for a pizza brick oven for the patio?
Click to expand...

Methinks she is saving up for a purchase of her own.

Kidding. Definitely a keeper.
 
brewer_in_the_cap said:
I picked up a Behmor about a month ago. So far it's been pretty good and much less smoky than the air poppers.
Click to expand...

I admit I bought myself one with Christmas and birthday money because I was blessed with more than expected. Got notification that it shipped this morning.

Is it indoorable or should I instead roast in the garage where I can air it out?
 
DrunkleJon said:
I admit I bought myself one with Christmas and birthday money because I was blessed with more than expected. Got notification that it shipped this morning.

Is it indoorable or should I instead roast in the garage where I can air it out?
Click to expand...

I roast indoors with the Behmor, because I don't have a choice. If I could roast outside, I may, but it does just fine. I usually crack a window though.
 
DrunkleJon said:
I admit I bought myself one with Christmas and birthday money because I was blessed with more than expected. Got notification that it shipped this morning.

Is it indoorable or should I instead roast in the garage where I can air it out?
Click to expand...

I also roast inside with a behmor. Don't open a window or anything. I roast in the kitchen, and I've set off the smoke alarm in the adjacent foyer twice. Coincidentally, I think both times were on December 23rd. (2014 and 2015)

Ambient air temperatures will affect the roast. I roasted out on the front porch a few times, but found that cool air (in the high 50's once) really slowed down the roast, so now I only do that if the weather is just right.

It does, however, make the whole house smell like roasting coffee. In my house, that's a plus, my wife likes the smell. :)
 
DrunkleJon said:
I admit I bought myself one with Christmas and birthday money because I was blessed with more than expected. Got notification that it shipped this morning.

Is it indoorable or should I instead roast in the garage where I can air it out?
Click to expand...

I roast indoors in the basement and unplug the closest smoke detector just in case. The smoke suppression is pretty good but the roasted coffee smell does linger.

I've started opening the door a bit once first crack starts to extend the time between first and second crack so I do get some smoke but not much.
 
I have a different roaster, but, I have an outdoor kitchen I roasted in but now indoors using exhaust hood for ebrew system. I am considering going back to outdoor kitchen but is hot and humid though somewhat more convenient. Hood in basement ebrew area is quieter so easier to hear 1C.
 
DrunkleJon said:
I admit I bought myself one with Christmas and birthday money because I was blessed with more than expected. Got notification that it shipped this morning.



Is it indoorable or should I instead roast in the garage where I can air it out?
Click to expand...


I had no issue in the kitchen, it was only a 1/4 lb and a relatively light roast.
 
ChefRex said:
I had no issue in the kitchen, it was only a 1/4 lb and a relatively light roast.
Click to expand...

That is my thought for amount to start. Go with 1/4 pound to start since I am the only one who is going to be drinking it until I am satisfied with my roastings. Should I start out SMaSH, err SRaSB (Single Roast and Single Bean) until I get the hang of roasting, and then start blending?
 
DrunkleJon said:
That is my thought for amount to start. Go with 1/4 pound to start since I am the only one who is going to be drinking it until I am satisfied with my roastings. Should I start out SMaSH, err SRaSB (Single Roast and Single Bean) until I get the hang of roasting, and then start blending?
Click to expand...

That's what I've been doing. Start with 1/4 of a bean until I get a roast I'm happy with then roast 3/4. I've started playing around with the profiles (P1-5) and notice quite a difference in the roast quality over just using P1.

I haven't blended beans yet but may soon with a cheap Brazilian that I got if it's no good on it's own.
 
DrunkleJon said:
That is my thought for amount to start. Go with 1/4 pound to start since I am the only one who is going to be drinking it until I am satisfied with my roastings. Should I start out SMaSH, err SRaSB (Single Roast and Single Bean) until I get the hang of roasting, and then start blending?
Click to expand...


That is their suggestion to start at a 1/4 lb and learn.I've done no blending, trying to learn what I like but with the popcorn popper while good, is inconsistent.
 
Once you have a few practice roasts with the presets, I'd highly recommend learning the manual mode on the Behmor. Manual mode is the difference between a 1600 and a 1600+ and it was added to address the primary criticism of the 1600: the fact that the built-in programs aren't very good.

I've never roasted more than a 1/2lb batch with it (even last week when i roasted 2.5lbs in one day) because the heat produced by the roaster is not considered adequate for larger batches. It will certainly work, but the commonly accepted guidance is that 1/2lb batches have better results. (Note that this will be the case with almost any 120v 15a electric roaster.)

I've also done little in the way of blending. Before home roasting, I generally preferred single-origin coffees over blends anyway. The only blend I've done is the one i did last week, mixing 1lb of brazilian with 1/2lb of kenyan. This was more to try to get something more enjoyable out of the brazilian beans than anything else.
 
I've always roasted 227g to eliminate one variable. Then I realize that pouches from SM's don't always contain 454g usually more... So much for that idea.

Three pouches of George Howell coffee arrived today. Can't wait to try in new pourover brewer! Hope it lives up to the cost.

TD
 
TallDan said:
I've never roasted more than a 1/2lb batch with it (even last week when i roasted 2.5lbs in one day) because the heat produced by the roaster is not considered adequate for larger batches. It will certainly work, but the commonly accepted guidance is that 1/2lb batches have better results. (Note that this will be the case with almost any 120v 15a electric roaster.)
Click to expand...

I've been trying to explain this to people for years....
 
As I can now roast in the house 1/2lb batches should serve
me well, trying to see what was happening outside after work at this time of year was a *****
 
Funny experience with the Kalita today, probably fifth time using.
Had a strange "dual-phase" extraction with about half of the initial water flowing through "normally" and the second half flowing through much more slowly. This resulted in a total time of 5:33 for the brewing/extraction. This resulted in a much higher than desired %TDS (1.58) which is in the "Strong/Bitter" category. I forgot (again) to tare my Yeti tumbler, but I'll measure that when I'm done and post the resulting %extraction number, which I am predicting will be 22.5% ish. The coffee is still good and I'm enjoying drinking it. Any thoughts why this happens?


TD
 
TrickyDick said:
Funny experience with the Kalita today, probably fifth time using.
Had a strange "dual-phase" extraction with about half of the initial water flowing through "normally" and the second half flowing through much more slowly. This resulted in a total time of 5:33 for the brewing/extraction. This resulted in a much higher than desired %TDS (1.58) which is in the "Strong/Bitter" category. I forgot (again) to tare my Yeti tumbler, but I'll measure that when I'm done and post the resulting %extraction number, which I am predicting will be 22.5% ish. The coffee is still good and I'm enjoying drinking it. Any thoughts why this happens?


TD
Click to expand...

That happens to me when I use my old blade grinder, because the finer grinds settle to the bottom of the filter and slow the process.
 
TrickyDick said:
Funny experience with the Kalita today, probably fifth time using.
Had a strange "dual-phase" extraction with about half of the initial water flowing through "normally" and the second half flowing through much more slowly. This resulted in a total time of 5:33 for the brewing/extraction. This resulted in a much higher than desired %TDS (1.58) which is in the "Strong/Bitter" category. I forgot (again) to tare my Yeti tumbler, but I'll measure that when I'm done and post the resulting %extraction number, which I am predicting will be 22.5% ish. The coffee is still good and I'm enjoying drinking it. Any thoughts why this happens?


TD
Click to expand...

Did you get the Kalita glass 500ml pitcher also? Just wondering. I have the Kalita 185 and I've just been running into a measuring cup.

BTW, I do about a 4 min extraction for 500ml
 
HarborTownBrewing said:
That happens to me when I use my old blade grinder, because the finer grinds settle to the bottom of the filter and slow the process.
Click to expand...

I used my Vario conical burr w/ steel burrs instead of the ceramics, and have it set to a medium grind. Yesterday's extraction was much better and no changes to the grind setting. I guess I could've had a couple beans get pulverized. I didn't pay much attention to looking at the spent grounds. Reminds me of a stuck sparge coffee equivalent. Maybe add some rice hulls tomorrow:D
 
Registered for a Chemex when we got married in 2012 and just used it for the first time today. Noticeably better results than what I've had the last few days from the Technivorm with the same coffee. Much better/more complex aroma. I'm wondering, however, if I am grinding the coffee too fine for drip and pour over.

EDIT: also, any chemex users have any suggestion for a household object to use as a stopper?
 
passedpawn said:
Did you get the Kalita glass 500ml pitcher also? Just wondering. I have the Kalita 185 and I've just been running into a measuring cup.

BTW, I do about a 4 min extraction for 500ml
Click to expand...

I didn't get the pitcher. I didn't know that there was one. I use my Yeti Rambler (SS insulated tumbler). I set up the basket and filter and fill with hot water to rinse and pre-heat while my brewing water is being heated. I have been using 30g coffee to 480g water and have been shooting for a 4:00 extraction. I supposed I could go to 500g water without an issue since there is still room in tumbler for more. I measure the water on a digital scale and add to the electric teapot I use for the pour-over. I knew I was going to end up overextracted when the water level slowed dramatically around the 3:05 mark. Could be that I inadvertently poured water along the side of the basket instead of over the coffee, disturbing the bed of grounds from the sides or below? The fluted sides of the filter paper would make this easy to happen. One thing I like about the design of this brewer is that it lends itself to even extraction versus the v-cone of the technivorm which produces horrible craters in the bed of grounds. Dunno... will see how tomorrow's brew goes.

TD

edit- just finished, and calculated 22.4% extraction.... Just learned how to capture a screen shot on my mac. That only took 5 years....

Screen Shot 2015-12-31 at 10.27.17 AM.png
 
TallDan said:
Registered for a Chemex when we got married in 2012 and just used it for the first time today. Noticeably better results than what I've had the last few days from the Technivorm with the same coffee. Much better/more complex aroma. I'm wondering, however, if I am grinding the coffee too fine for drip and pour over.

EDIT: also, any chemex users have any suggestion for a household object to use as a stopper?
Click to expand...

I've been using a Chemex for a quite a while and enjoy a lot myself. I had a TV "knockoff" so I can't speak directly for the TV, but my experience echoed yours as well. I could never get even extraction across the coffee bed. I ended up returning the brewer.

For grind, I just use a normal drip grind. Easiest way to calibrate yourself to this is to open a can of Folgers and comparing grind. Their auto-drip grind is nearly perfect, or at least a very good starting place.

I transfer my coffee to a vacuum bottle/thermos after brewing. Much better than leaving it in the carafe.
 
TallDan said:
Registered for a Chemex when we got married in 2012 and just used it for the first time today. Noticeably better results than what I've had the last few days from the Technivorm with the same coffee. Much better/more complex aroma. I'm wondering, however, if I am grinding the coffee too fine for drip and pour over.

EDIT: also, any chemex users have any suggestion for a household object to use as a stopper?
Click to expand...

The grind took me a while to figure out, but I ended up just timing the brew process until I got it between 4:00 and 5:00 for 725 grams of water (if that means anything for you). I'm grinding it just a few steps finer than for a Press.

I was using a cork heating pad for a stopper, which was incredibly unattractive and I upgraded to this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E58P9D6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It fits like a glove, keeps the juice warm, and is concealed nicely behind the wood collar. I'd recommend it for sure.

The Chemex is definitely my most favorite brewing method. I've had mine for a year, and done about 300 brews in it to date.
 
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