☕ Coffee ☕: Ingredients, Roasting, Grinding, Brewing, and Tasting

[passedpawn]

Currently using an Encore that I've tweaked to grind a reasonably good espresso.

The thing I dislike about the Encore (and presumably the Virtuoso) is I don't get crisp, defined flavors unless I remove the hopper and outer burr and brush out the burr and inner burr. Then I hit it a few times to knock out the loose grinds stuck in the chute. THEN I can make coffee. When I don't do that, the flavors are very subdued. It took me about 3 months to figure this out when I first got the grinder. I was a little unimpressed at first but once I started cleaning it out each time I used it there was a significant improvement.

That's why I really like the Sette - no grind retention.

Speaking of Baratza working on new burrs, they said they may but they haven't begun working on it yet. It seems to me there is definitely a market for it so the demand is there but I don't know if they'll do it.

The Vario sounds nice, but I don't really want to spend the extra money. I'm also not sure it would give me both a good espresso and brew grind.

So, those are some of my thoughts but I'm interested to hear anyone's input.

Well, I love my oxo but it's not gonna work for you. It doesn't do a very good espresso grind, the burr isn't exchangeable with other types, and it might not dissassemble as far as some of the other grinders. But I do drip almost everyday, and occasionally a pour-over when I'm trying something new. The medium grind is just right for that.

Why do I like it so much? I love the integrated scale. It grinds until it hits a specific weight. regardless of the grind settings, I always get the same weight. For me, that's a good thing.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Urg. Was just about to pull the trigger on the Sette when I realized I haven't spent any time looking at Rancilio Rocky. After a quick review, it seems more than capable to grind for good espresso and Press.

Anyone have experience with this one?

 

[TallDan]

Urg. Was just about to pull the trigger on the Sette when I realized I haven't spent any time looking at Rancilio Rocky. After a quick review, it seems more than capable to grind for good espresso and Press.

Anyone have experience with this one?

Over ten years?

Yeah, I’m way overdue for new burrs.

 

[applescrap]

I think it is smart and a good idea to gather some input before making this important choice. I called baratza up before my friend bought an encore. And confirmed that the guts of virtuoso and Encore are the same. The difference is the Paddle Wheel and the Burr. It's my understanding the virtuoso allows it to grind quicker but have no idea about the legitimate issue of the leftover fines. Had to edit because I read that the sette solves your issue of leftover grinds. If that is huge then that is what you need. It seems reasonably priced so you could sell or live with. Dont like the idea of buying something new and having to do a lot of tweaking and experimenting. But I guess there is good and bad with anything. The virtuoso burr and steel? paddle wheel are 35, I think for the encore. It will grind faster but leftover issue would presumably still be there. Like the idea of a machine that delivers by weight, too. You could always look used for vario and up as well. There arent a whole lot of parts and the quality of the rest seems good.

Just a thought, would a quick pass of a little fresh coffee and then grind coffe, get rid of any leftover stale coffee? You could do a simple triangle test, and I would guess it would be harder to tell the difference after sending a little fresh through, then grinding. Either way the virtuoso burr and wheel might be worth trying if you keep the encore imo.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Was out of my fresh roast after giving a sample to a local shop I'm looking to partner with. Roasted up a batch this morning and shamelessly brewed a cup through the aeropress as soon as it cooled. Flavors were muted, but I tell you, it beats the wife's keurig or any drive through coffee any day of the week. I will give it a more discerning review tomorrow but it hit the right spots today.

 

[passedpawn]

I found a local place that sells green beans. Pretty excited to start buying there. Cheap too.

https://www.ccmcoffee.com/index.php

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I found a local place that sells green beans. Pretty excited to start buying there. Cheap too.

https://www.ccmcoffee.com/index.php

If those beans are good quality those are some pretty good green prices if you don't have to pay shipping.

There's a roaster by me but he charges about $8/lb for greens which aren't that good.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Might have found a used Vario for $300. Hmmmm.....

 

[jammin]

So you're looking for a brew grinder right? Might be worth getting in touch w/Baratza for a refurb Vario-W that already has steel burrs. The weight based grinding feature is priceless. If it weren't for that I'd probably be single dosing on my Ditting 804.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Mostly brew grinder that can occasionally do espresso. Thinking the Vario with steel burrs might work well for me.

It sounds like the Vario can accommodate this, though people say it can be tough to fine tune if going between the two. I don't switch between them often... I just would like to be able to have an adequate espresso grind every once in a while.

 

[TallDan]

Dang it, every time you guys start talking grinders I get the upgrade itch.

 

[applescrap]

Anyone use the essato? Came across it, and it looks like a digi scale sitting under a virtuoso, encore or preciso. The ability to weight dose is sweet

 

[applescrap]

Heres a couple examples from denver cl today. Check out the sette270w, if he took 350, you would be sette. Get it sette,

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Apple, thanks a bunch for posting those. I actually just reached out to the Sette guy so we'll see what he says. There aren't many grinders for sale around here so you're kind of lucky.

Regarding the Esatto, I was actually thinking about this yesterday. If I ever pick a grinder I might actually just buy a dedicated scale that my grinder can sit on permanently so I can weigh directly into the hopper. Could probably do that for $20 rather than the $150 Esatto. Then again, it's not going to look as slick and incorporated as the Esatto.

 

[jammin]

The esatto attachment allows you to fill the hopper and grind by weight rather than time (which is terribly unreliable). The esatto is like a cradle the grinder nests in. You plug your grinder into it and the esatto into the wall. There is a “tongue” the grinding bin sets on which is the scale. Power gets cut just as desired weight is reached. Pretty slick.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Ohhh well that's cool. Here I thought it was just an expensive scale. But that is neat!

 

[passedpawn]

Baratza Esatto Review. This lady at SCG has one of everything

 

[passedpawn]

Just an FYI for anybody casually watching this thread, the Oxo Brain grinder has an integrated scale that works very well. I've been using this grinder daily for a couple of years now without one issue. If you look at reviews, you'll see that it's not the best grinder on the market, but if you're an average user as I am (no espresso), you'll be really happy with it. It's under $200, which is pretty close to my pain threshold.

OXO On Conical Burr Coffee Grinder with Integrated Scale

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Passing along a new French Press on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/146423791/rite-press-the-no-mess-french-press

The reason I don't use mine much is because I hate cleaning it. This new one pretty much eliminates the toughest parts of cleaning. It's like, why didn't I think of this?

Not sure if I'm going to get one. I have one I don't really use as it is, but I think it's because I don't like cleaning it. So if I don't have that issue would I use it? (circular thinking I guess). Anyways, if you're going to get one now's the time to do it because the price is going to be pretty steep once they Kickstarter is over.

 

[TallDan]

I dunno, that seems only marginally easier to clean to me, and the fact that it's insulated doesn't mean much assuming you pour the coffee out right away to get it off of the grinds.

If i needed a press, that one is nice, but since I already have two bodum presses, I can't see adding a third.

 

[jammin]

The Able Kone has indefinitely sidelined my press pots.

 

[pshankstar]

Passing along a new French Press on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/146423791/rite-press-the-no-mess-french-press

The reason I don't use mine much is because I hate cleaning it. This new one pretty much eliminates the toughest parts of cleaning. It's like, why didn't I think of this?

Not sure if I'm going to get one. I have one I don't really use as it is, but I think it's because I don't like cleaning it. So if I don't have that issue would I use it? (circular thinking I guess). Anyways, if you're going to get one now's the time to do it because the price is going to be pretty steep once they Kickstarter is over.

Tempting. I don’t have a French press but have been interested in one. IDK if it’s worth getting my first one as a kickstarter. Hmmm

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

If you don't have one I would consider that one, personally. For a 1 liter Bodum they are about $23, so it's like $12 more for this one which seems better in just about every way.

 

[passedpawn]

I found a local place that sells green beans. Pretty excited to start buying there. Cheap too.

https://www.ccmcoffee.com/index.php

I just picked up 5# of a zimbabwe bean. They look perfect, we'll see this weekend how they roast.

It's a pretty big operation. They let me walk around (they told me to just go look around ). Big Ambex roaster for doing small batches, then one monster roasting thing that clearly does a LOT of beans at one time. And a monster grinder to match. There was a 1200# supersack of broken beans next to it. I asked and they said the Ambex is for the gourmet beans that they sell on the web, but the industrial roaster, and the broken beans, are for institutional orders. According to the two cuban guys who were sitting there drinking beer and playing rummy (literally), you wouldn't know the difference between the broken beans and the gourmet ones, once they were roasted and ground. Not sure about that, but might be true if they are doing a starbucks-level roast.

Anyway, they don't have the same varied selection as Sweet Marias, but I'm very happy to have a place nearby.

 

[applescrap]

Baratza Esatto Review. This lady at SCG has one of everything

I really like Gales work

 

[pshankstar]

If you don't have one I would consider that one, personally. For a 1 liter Bodum they are about $23, so it's like $12 more for this one which seems better in just about every way.

Damn it this whole roasting coffee is leading me down another rabbit hole!!! Haha I may just pull the trigger on it now.
Something new to read about and learn with making coffee.

 

[jimyson]

Ah, life is good. Now, to fill up a drum with some beans. Costa Rica Tarrazu it is.

 

[jimyson]

Tempting. I don’t have a French press but have been interested in one. IDK if it’s worth getting my first one as a kickstarter. Hmmm

$417k out of $20k pledged! I’m in the wrong biz.

 

[Inkleg]

Ah, life is good. Now, to fill up a drum with some beans. Costa Rica Tarrazu it is.

Enjoy your roast time.
Your B button looks like it gets used a lot like mine. How much are you roasting? I normally do 1/2 pound batches, but due to time constraints with an upcoming trip I roasted 3 one pound batches last night. I'll find out soon how they turned out.

 

[applescrap]

I have never used one, but for a bigger batch what if you stop halfway through or more and stir them up if it doesn't turn fast enough?