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

[TallDan]

If your budget extends to the Forté, take a look at the niche zero. It is getting quite a following. I am tempted to get one myself.

 

[Ruint]

Pretty decent grinder. I didn't see one that would allow you to directly drop into porta filter. Maybe didn't look hard enough. I think the convenience of slipping the porta filter in is a bonus. Still favoring the 270.

 

[TallDan]

Pretty decent grinder. I didn't see one that would allow you to directly drop into porta filter. Maybe didn't look hard enough. I think the convenience of slipping the porta filter in is a bonus. Still favoring the 270.

I’ve switched to a bottomless portafilter and most forks don’t work well with it so that’s not much of a consideration for me. The cup that comes with the niche is sized to fit a portafilter basket.

 

[Ruint]

What size is your basket? Guess I didn't look at that for consideration. Not sure what I'll be using, whether it has a spout or bottomless yet....as no experience with it yet to form an opinion...lol

 

[TallDan]

What size is your basket? Guess I didn't look at that for consideration. Not sure what I'll be using, whether it has a spout or bottomless yet....as no experience with it yet to form an opinion...lol

58mm for the Silvia.

Grinding into a cup or directly into the portafilter, doser or doserless grinder, keeping the hopper full or single dosing the grinder: lots of seemingly minor workflow considerations, but they add up to a pretty different brewing experience. For all the years I’ve had it, I never considered the momentary switch on the rocky much of a con until I got the vario. Now it’s one of the reasons why I don’t want to go back to the rocky.

...if anyone is in the market for a used rocky...

 

[Ruint]

More than likely, I will get the bdb first, work with the encore I have at finer settings and just weigh my dose for starters. Gain maybe a little experience while the coffer is waiting to fill back up, and then get a much better grinder.

 

[jammin]

It’s that time of year, fellas

 

[Ruint]

Breville BES920BSXL arriving on 6-4-19

 

[TallDan]

Breville BES920BSXL arriving on 6-4-19

Exciting! Hopefully you have a lot of coffee already roasted and ready to go!

 

[Ruint]

LoL!!! Not a lot on hand coffee atm...but that can change fairly quick! Looking for tips on where I should have the roast level still....even though this machine supposedly does a fantastic job with most levels. I typically roast to a city or maybe full city, and really enjoy them brewed with the mocha master.

 

[Ruint]

also looking at trying to get some spare parts, or better performing parts on order! Already!!! Let the mods begin So far looking at water pumps, valves and solenoids, a naked porta, and screen head. Actually ordered the naked and screen head...

 

[TallDan]

LoL!!! Not a lot on hand coffee atm...but that can change fairly quick! Looking for tips on where I should have the roast level still....even though this machine supposedly does a fantastic job with most levels. I typically roast to a city or maybe full city, and really enjoy them brewed with the mocha master.

I typically use the same roast and same coffee that I use for drip and pourover. I just don't use enough coffee to roast separate batches for espresso (weekends) vs drip/pourover (weekdays). With the behmor, I'd try to time my choice of coffee to match up to when more of it will be used, but now my batches are bigger and typically last a full week.

 

[Ruint]

You have the bullet TD right?

 

[Ruint]

I know several of us here do. Don't remember exactly who does, just seem to think you are one of them! I have been having really, really good roast results with mine. I have roasted 50 lbs worth since getting it...lol!! Nothing against my bread machine frankenroaster as I was able to get really good roasts with it as well, but the bullet's back to back capability and fairly precise temp control, coupled with batch size capability...just brings it to several levels higher experience.

 

[TallDan]

I talked about getting a bullet here, but didn't. I picked up a used Mill City electric. Starting to feel more comfortable with it now; I have roasted 8 batches. The last two were last weekend, my first time doing back to back batches. That was an eye opener as far as the volume of coffee that I could roast in an afternoon if i wanted to.

 

[Ruint]

I was eyeballing MC and Buckeye roasters very hard, before ultimately choosing the bullet. Very nice machines for sure! Space availability weighed in on that for me as well.

 

[TallDan]

I was eyeballing MC and Buckeye roasters very hard, before ultimately choosing the bullet. Very nice machines for sure! Space availability weighed in on that for me as well.

I have more space than I know what to do with, so that's not a big concern here. I'm overdue for getting it into a more permanent location in the house though.

 

[TallDan]

A very fair asking price for a ceramic vario if anyone is looking for one:

https://www.home-barista.com/buysel...rinder-heavily-discounted-t59074.html#p658620

There's better espresso grinders out there, but not for $200. I have a refurb from Baratza that I paid $300 for. Swap in the steel burrs for ~$50 and you have a nice brew grinder.

I have no knowledge of or relationship to the seller other than being tempted by the Elektra he has for sale, also with a fair asking price.

 

[shelly_belly]

I've had my sights on the Sette 270. Between a refurbished 270 and the used Vario, which would be the best choice for espresso?

 

[Ruint]

From what I have seen, either can be a decent grinder. Depending on burr gear selection, and calibration/alignment. I see a lot of complaints about the sette being messy, but I think that is more towards user techniques. If not, then a decent funnel/collar might bring it to acceptable. Still researching grinders, as that will be my next upgrade. I am still leaning towards a sette 270. If I had Talldan's money...lol...I would probably go the niche zero route!!!

 

[TallDan]

I've had my sights on the Sette 270. Between a refurbished 270 and the used Vario, which would be the best choice for espresso?

I went to Vario over Sette, partially because of what @HarborTownBrewing had said about them. The other part was, as a backup plan, i wanted to use the vario as a pourover/drip grinder, which is exactly what it has become since the HG-1 does much better at espresso for me.

From what I have seen, either can be a decent grinder. Depending on burr gear selection, and calibration/alignment. I see a lot of complaints about the sette being messy, but I think that is more towards user techniques. If not, then a decent funnel/collar might bring it to acceptable. Still researching grinders, as that will be my next upgrade. I am still leaning towards a sette 270. If I had Talldan's money...lol...I would probably go the niche zero route!!!

Indeed LOL to "had Talldan's money". Just a couple years ago, the money I've spent on coffee gear this year was unthinkable. My financial situation has improved, but not dramatically. My priorities have just shifted.

 

[shelly_belly]

What does a used Rocky go for and how does it compare to the Vario?

 

[jammin]

@Ruint - exciting to hear you have an espresso machine coming. Is this the BDB that can be modded to use the water wand to control pressure profile? Are you going to do any of these mods? My understanding is that Breville built these machines to absolutely slay Scace temperature tests & due to their engineering they heat up & adjust VERY quickly. You stand to have a lot of fun dialing in coffees.

@TallDan - have you considered buying some seasoning greens from MCR? They’re crazy cheap & you could take an afternoon to roast a 10 or 20lb bag. There’s no substitute for experience. The greens are easily good enough to slough off at the office or to Folgers drinking friends.

@shelly_belly - I’ve never used a Sette but I’ve compared my Vario to several grinders. With steel burrs, it’s makes beautiful filter cups. I have a Ditting 804 & often compare the Vario to my KafaTek Monolith Flat for v60 our overs or Aeropress. The Vario does a fantastic job & holds it’s own. I have the W model & the weigh to grind feature is a truly guilty pleasure. Absolutely love that. The Vario’s ceramic burrs are somewhat lame for filter coffee but are more than acceptable for espresso. They produce a lot of fines & the coarser you grind, the worse things get. I was deep into press pot for a long time & those ceramic burrs were totally out of their element. My first espresso grinder was a Mazzer Super Jolly which was replaced by the Vario when it first came out. The 2 are quite comparable in the cup for shots. For medium to dark roast coffees or milk drinks they are squarely in their comfort zone & and i would see no reason to look further. Things get complicated when your try & use high end light roasts for straight shots.
The Sette has a clean & efficient, direct grind path which makes it a terrific “single doser”. What you put in is what you get out. No coffee lost in the grind path. Single dosing is the holy grail for serious home baristas & I encourage everyone to get onboard if you’re not already. So, back to the Sette; it’s my understanding it can handle a wide range of grinding applications and if you single dose it could be your do-it-all grinder. Being a home roaster, this is especially appealing because you can chang coffees several times a day if you roast multiple varieties - which is pretty damn fun! ... ok... thanks for listening.. you probably need a homebrew now

 

[TallDan]

What does a used Rocky go for and how does it compare to the Vario?

I'm hoping for close to the same as that vario I posted a link to earlier. I don't think I can really recommend the rocky for espresso. You would be better served with that used vario (assuming that it's in good working order) than a rocky. The good thing about the rocky is that it is well built and will last a long time. Back when I bought it (at least 12 years ago) it was considered a solid entry level espresso grinder. It's still a solid grinder, with the new burrs I put in it earlier this year, it's ready for another lengthy tour of duty. For the money (new or used) you may not find a more reliable grinder, but you will certainly find better ones for espresso. I had better results with the ceramic vario than the rocky.

 

[TallDan]

@Ruint - exciting to hear you have an espresso machine coming. Is this the BDB that can be modded to use the water wand to control pressure profile? Are you going to do any of these mods? My understanding is that Breville built these machines to absolutely slay Scace temperature tests & due to their engineering they heat up & adjust VERY quickly. You stand to have a lot of fun dialing in coffees.

@TallDan - have you considered buying some seasoning greens from MCR? They’re crazy cheap & you could take an afternoon to roast a 10 or 20lb bag. There’s no substitute for experience. The greens are easily good enough to slough off at the office or to Folgers drinking friends.

@shelly_belly - I’ve never used a Sette but I’ve compared my Vario to several grinders. With steel burrs, it’s makes beautiful filter cups. I have a Ditting 804 & often compare the Vario to my KafaTek Monolith Flat for v60 our overs or Aeropress. The Vario does a fantastic job & holds it’s own. I have the W model & the weigh to grind feature is a truly guilty pleasure. Absolutely love that. The Vario’s ceramic burrs are somewhat lame for filter coffee but are more than acceptable for espresso. They produce a lot of fines & the coarser you grind, the worse things get. I was deep into press pot for a long time & those ceramic burrs were totally out of their element. My first espresso grinder was a Mazzer Super Jolly which was replaced by the Vario when it first came out. The 2 are quite comparable in the cup for shots. For medium to dark roast coffees or milk drinks they are squarely in their comfort zone & and i would see no reason to look further. Things get complicated when your try & use high end light roasts for straight shots.
The Sette has a clean & efficient, direct grind path which makes it a terrific “single doser”. What you put in is what you get out. No coffee lost in the grind path. Single dosing is the holy grail for serious home baristas & I encourage everyone to get onboard if you’re not already. So, back to the Sette; it’s my understanding it can handle a wide range of grinding applications and if you single dose it could be your do-it-all grinder. Being a home roaster, this is especially appealing because you can chang coffees several times a day if you roast multiple varieties - which is pretty damn fun! ... ok... thanks for listening.. you probably need a homebrew now

^^^ what he said.

If the ceramic vario is really at the same level as the super jolly, I'm sad about the super jolly's performance. Some of that might be that the vario would do better with a full hopper and I'm single dosing though. My understanding about the sette is that it's actually not a great do-it-all grinder, and it has the same problems at filter coffee that the vario does with ceramic burrs.

I didn't consider seasoning greens from MCR, Instead I got a bunch of old coffee from @TrickyDick. I also finally (why I waited even a day, I don't know) bought new temperature probes from MCR and they arrived yesterday. Now that I have the new probes, some rainy day soon I think I will roast up several pounds of it to really learn the roaster better.

 

[Ruint]

Yes Jammin it is the very model. I want to say that it can do 2 different profiles...1 while stock using the water wand to drop pressure while pouring shot, and the other by rerouting the water tubes to incorporate the needle valve assy.

And...I will play with the water tap method first, and then look at the reroute of water ways...

 

[Ruint]

I now have 37 pounds of coffee on the way. Bought several pounds of blends from Sweet Maria's noted for being good for espresso. That is the first time for buying blends for me.

 

[TallDan]

Holy crap, 37 pounds is a lot of coffee!

Quick math: 37lb is 16782.9g, assume 15% weight loss during roasting, makes 14265.5g roasted, divided by an 18g dose is...

792 shots of espresso.

 

[MaxStout]

Holy crap, 37 pounds is a lot of coffee!

Quick math: 37lb is 16782.9g, assume 15% weight loss during roasting, makes 14265.5g roasted, divided by an 18g dose is...

792 shots of espresso.

 

[BalloonGuy]

Sorry if this is the wrong place but... I love cold brew on nitro but I have no consistent place around. Does anyone have one of these? Any ideas if it would work?
Thanks in advance.
https://smile.amazon.com/Lamtor-Cof...gateway&sprefix=nitrogen+cold+,aps,196&sr=8-6