Café Acquisition Thread

[APBinNCA]

I also love seeing your Barista Encore in the background

That’s my Virtuoso!
(Not that anybody could be expected to keep track of all the equipment I have)

Still reading your post…

Okay, so it’s not an infused coffee… interesting, looking forward to your review considering the Robusta component.

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

Okay, so it’s not an infused coffee… interesting, looking forward to your review considering the Robusta component.

Afirmative, the Good Brother's Neapolitan Dark Roast is not chocolate infused, it just has a chocolate based flavor profile.

My Bones Army Of Dark Chocolate coffee is actually chocolate infused, and its a pretty amazing coffee. But infused coffee's are not everybody's cup of coffee however, so its good to have options, like the GB-N.

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

I really like the look of the bags, and the labels, that Good Brother's uses. Its not hard to figure out what coffee you have, everything is front and center. Additionally, unlike many companies who seem to like to hide the roast date, by putting them at the back, on the side, or on the bottom of the bag, as you can see by the picture here, Good Brother's puts the roast date, directly on the front of the label, and I love that!

As you can see, the roast date is August 2nd 2023, and the coffee only took a couple days to get here, so I am brewing this coffee only 5-days since they were roasted, which gave the beans a solid good 5-days of rest time, which is highly recommended! They will still CO2 offgas 5-days later, so its recommended to bloom the coffee.

For those of you who use electric grinders, you will never get to feel the density of the coffee beans, like I can when I am hand grinding them. This is important, as it provides me excellent feedback, into knowing just how dark the company roasted the beans. To put simply, the lighter the roast, the more resistance I feel, requiring extra muscle force, to overcome such resistance, in order to grind them.

With a dark roast however, I typically have to use very little muscle to crank over the handle. And my Bones AODC coffee, provides the least amount of resistance out of all coffee's I've tried, which suggests that it is super dark roasted. It appears that the description for this coffee on Good Brother's site appears to be accurate, they do indeed drop them right at the sight of 2nd crack, which is why I have to use a little muscle power to grind the beans, because they are not overly dark roasted, despite being a dark roast!

I have had discussions with folks about the difference between a low or high density coffee. For example, dark roasts typically take up more space. Heck, just look at the size of those beans! While I could fill my 1ZPresso K-MAX grinder to more then 30 grams of coffee beans, if I used a light roast. Having said that, using this Neapolitan dark roast from Good Brother's, 30 grams of beans, maxes out the grinder to flush level with the top support structure, anything more, and you interfere with the handle mount.

With dark roast coffee's, I typically set the brewing temperature to 200F, and I do a typical 30-second pre-soak AKA BLOOM time. The coffee smelled pretty good while I was grinding it. But once the bloom stage kicked in, I was like WOW, I'm a coffee shop now, Barista SWCT at your service! For me, I use 48 grams of beans to make 6-cups, or 60 grams of coffee to make 8-cups. This is the recommended ratio dose for drip based filter coffee. Water retention was about typical of a dark roast, but you can still use the standard ratio's you'd expect.

The coffee has a chocolaty flavor courtesy of the dark roasted 80% Arabica beans. But the coffee also has a very slight bitterness brought to us by the 20% Robusta beans. But the combination balances itself out, with a natural sweetness to it. Add that 20% caffeine kick, I call that solid gold in my Yeti! I personally like my coffee extra sweet though, so I will add a few packets of Splenda to it. I also like adding some Chocolate Cream creamer from Coffee Mate as well, to add the additionally chocolatyness that I prefer.

Rest assured, if a chocolate dark roasted coffee is what you are looking for. Well guess what? This coffee is designed for Espresso, Drip, and Pour Over, so look no further, for you have found your liquid gold. I wouldn't necessarily consider brewing this in a Mokka pot, might end up far too strong and bitter, unless your a MASTER Jedi at using a Mokka pot. I ended up really loving this coffee, and I think I will continue to buy it, because it really is an affordable price for specialty coffee that won't break the bank!

out of

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

Well folks, I'd like to think that I am keeping this thread quite active with my acquisitions. So what have I ordered this time you ask? Well, you know I am always ordering something right? But I got a whopper to show you this time. As you folks know, I am primarily a hand grinder user, I like hand grinding, it feels good, its meditative experience for the mind. Having said that however, I am grinding enough beans to make 20-cups of coffee per day, and thats a ton of hand grinding, since I can only run 30G of beans per load of my 1ZPresso K-MAX hand grinder.

Plus there are going to be times when I am sick, and the last thing I will want to do, is operate a hand grinder! I have been attracted to the Baratza lineup of grinder's for awhile now. I think they produce some solid quality pro-consumer, and commercial grade grinders, for a fairly decent price. I was initially thinking about getting the Baratza Encore grinder, and that would most likely been just fine for my use. But I considered the fact that, if I am going to be grinding 156g of beans per day, I better just upgrade to the next model and just send it as the kids say.

So, I chose and ordered the Baratza Virtuoso+ grinder from Baratza's website directly!

 

[APBinNCA]

You definitely “sent” it!
(and my popcorn didn’t even get cold)

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

You definitely “sent” it!
(and my popcorn didn’t even get cold)

HAHA, I'm glad you are happy for me, and that you approve of my grinder choice. Funny that you mentioned popcorn, because I got a bowl of it right here. Then when I returned to find half of my popcorn gone, I knew who stole it. HEHE

I've already watched several video's on this grinder, and so I have seen the difference's between the one they made 10+ years ago, and the one that they sell today. When I chose the Virtuoso+ model, I was shooting for these key features over the Encore.

( 1 ) Upgraded stainless steel 40mm M2 burr
( 2 ) Upgraded motor power & Speed
( 3 ) Upgraded build quality

Pretty much the rest is about the same with the Encore though, they both use the same burr adjusting mechanism, and they both also get calibrated the same as well. There is a somewhat substantial size difference between the two however, the Encore being more compact, which is excellent for small spaces. Or the Virtuoso+ being as big as it needs to be, without the space constraints.

I can also appreciate the hopper size, capable of holding 300 grams of beans, which is more then enough. The most I'd run through the hopper at once, is 156 grams at one time. In the future, I might buy a bellow's pump lid for an upgrade, but only if you think it needs it. Some folks do state that sometimes a bean or two, will get thrashed around haphazardly, instead of being sent down the burr's right away.

Do you feel a bellow pump lid, would aid in giving the beans the what for, to force them through the chamber, through the burrs, and out, or do you feel the 13 dollars should be better kept in the invisible wallet, to deplete later in credit payments? lol

Any pro tips from the coffee wizard @APBinNCA who owns a variation of this grinder? As you know, your my coffee sensai, so I do listen to what you have to say.

 

[APBinNCA]

Do you feel a bellow pump lid, would aid in giving the beans the what for, to force them through the chamber, through the burrs, and out, or do you feel the 13 dollars should be better kept in the invisible wallet, to deplete later in credit payments? lol

Those are mostly for single dosing. All you need to do when the timer stops is pulse it a couple times, letting the beans stop fully first. To be honest, I flip the lid and put my finger in there and push a stuck bean or two then pulse quickly(after putting the lid back on). It’s become an automatic habit at this point. My Vario is more trouble, it gets fragments caught in strange inaccessible places.

 

[gpjoe]

Got my Barstza Encore today, fashionably matching my other stuff.

My first impression when grabbing the package off the front porch: d@mn, this thing is heavy (a good thing, of course).

Second observation is how not-loud it is (it ain't quiet). I had a blade grinder years ago that was MUCH louder.

Last: Dialed to 12 (recommended by Baraza for the Aeropress) and got a nice grind and nice brew.

Very pleased.

 

[APBinNCA]

Last: Dialed to 12 (recommended by Baraza for the Aeropress) and got a nice grind and nice brew.

Nice! I was about to recommend 11 before reading your whole post, but that's probably right depending on the roast level. Just remember that when dialling finer, the motor should be running, I just do a quick orchestrated pulse and twist. Glad you like it.

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

Got my Barstza Encore today, fashionably matching my other stuff.

Oh my gosh @gpjoe I'm jealous right now, I feel my excitement building, I wanna press that button on your Encore grinder, but I just can't reach it. I missed it by that (_) much! I agree 100%, it looks so lovely on your coffee bar there, next to your gooseneck kettle, your coffee storage containers, and your stealthy black batman style Areopress!

My first impression when grabbing the package off the front porch: d@mn, this thing is heavy (a good thing, of course).

While it may not always be the case, but in most cases, weight is an indicator of quality. I am also appreciative of the fact that you were keeping an eye out for your package, porch pirates really are a real threat these days, so kudo's to you buddy.

Second observation is how not-loud it is (it ain't quiet). I had a blade grinder years ago that was MUCH louder.

From my experience watching YouTube channel's who have super high end grinders, the only kind of grinders that are really quiet, are the super high end flatburr grinders, pretty much ones that start at 600 dollars and go up from there. So, yeah, any grinder that is pro-consumer grade, is gonna have some noise to it.

Having said that however, since you mentioned that you appreciate that the Baratza Encore is not really loud, your going to be thankful you took my advice, and didn't get the Cuisinart DB-8 grinder! If you wanna get an idea how loud those grinders are, look up the Cuisinart DB-8 on YouTube and have a listen. I will pray for your ear drums if your listening on headphones buddy, just saying lol.

Last: Dialed to 12 (recommended by Baraza for the Aeropress) and got a nice grind and nice brew.

SWEET! As you know, I ordered the Baratza Virtuoso+ grinder, and I plan to do exactly what you did, and follow Baratza's grind size recommendation. I am making automated drip coffee, so I pulled up the online manual, cause I am nerdy like that, and figured out ahead of time, that I need to be using grind size level 18. Glad you got a nice brew out of your Encore on the first use, before the burr's have had a chance to season.

Very pleased.

And I am very pleased, that you are very pleased. WOOHOO!

 

[gpjoe]

Nice! I was about to recommend 11 before reading your whole post, but that's probably right depending on the roast level. Just remember that when dialling finer, the motor should be running, I just do a quick orchestrated pulse and twist. Glad you like it.

I'll likely try some settings a couple of clicks north and south of 12, and thanks for the reminder.

Oh my gosh @gpjoe I'm jealous right now, I feel my excitement building, I wanna press that button on your Encore grinder, but I just can't reach it. I missed it by that (_) much! I agree 100%, it looks so lovely on your coffee bar there, next to your gooseneck kettle, your coffee storage containers, and your stealthy black batman style Areopress!



While it may not always be the case, but in most cases, weight is an indicator of quality. I am also appreciative of the fact that you were keeping an eye out for your package, porch pirates really are a real threat these days, so kudo's to you buddy.



From my experience watching YouTube channel's who have super high end grinders, the only kind of grinders that are really quiet, are the super high end flatburr grinders, pretty much ones that start at 600 dollars and go up from there. So, yeah, any grinder that is pro-consumer grade, is gonna have some noise to it.

Having said that however, since you mentioned that you appreciate that the Baratza Encore is not really loud, your going to be thankful you took my advice, and didn't get the Cuisinart DB-8 grinder! If you wanna get an idea how loud those grinders are, look up the Cuisinart DB-8 on YouTube and have a listen. I will pray for your ear drums if your listening on headphones buddy, just saying lol.



SWEET! As you know, I ordered the Baratza Virtuoso+ grinder, and I plan to do exactly what you did, and follow Baratza's grind size recommendation. I am making automated drip coffee, so I pulled up the online manual, cause I am nerdy like that, and figured out ahead of time, that I need to be using grind size level 18. Glad you got a nice brew out of your Encore on the first use, before the burr's have had a chance to season.



And I am very pleased, that you are very pleased. WOOHOO!

All I can say is yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes to everything you've posted above.

Regarding the noise level: I was trying to convey that it is much quieter than i expected after watching a few youtoob videos. I think the sound of the grinder gets over-modulated but the cheap cellphone microphones in some of these cavernous kitchens, making the machine sound like a jet engine.

 

[tehnothing]

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I have a new grinder - it seems pretty good and certainly does all I need and then some. I might have chosen Baratza but the wife likes KitchenAid and we had a discount voucher.

 

[gpjoe]

I have a new grinder - it seems pretty good and certainly does all I need and then some. I might have chosen Baratza but the wife likes KitchenAid and we had a discount voucher.

View attachment 1702735
View attachment 1702734

Well, you got a nice coffee grinder AND a happy wife.

Winning!

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

Hello everyone! The crowd stood up and cheered, they shouted, "We want an encore, we want an encore!" I gave them a Virtuoso instead.

This is the Baratza Virtuoso+ electric conical burr grinder, using the Estinga burrs.

I will post a review thread soon, and there will be many more pictures to be seen in that thread. I give you just but a taste in this here acquisition thread. OK, I will give you one more because I am nice.

​

Ooooo, whats that? A modification, for supreme grindification? Stay tuned for when my review thread is posted, details and many more to be found in there, don't worry, I know how to share.

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

Hello everyone, welcome to I can't believe its September already! And since its the next month, you know what that means! It means its time to buy some coffee! Heck yeah, lets have a coffee party lets go!

I got 1 coffee on monthly subscription, 2-12OZ
bags of Bones Army Of Dark Chocolate!

Dark Roast ---- Washed ---- Chocolate Infused

Now for the new coffee purchases!

Organic Starr Hill Stout 2-2LB bags!​

Washed ----- Dark Roast ----- Blended Coffee
Dark Chocolate!
Caramel!
Citrus!

Ethiopia Worka Sakaro​

Anaerobic Natural 1-2LB Bag!​

Anaerobic ----- Light Roast ----- Single Origin
Mixed Berries!
Raspberry!
Chocolate!
Nutella!
Wild Rose!

Combined with the amount of coffee I have left from last month, this should honestly be plenty for this month's coffee order.

 

[Legion]

Found an unused Hario V60 in a thrift store, so I thought I'd give it a try, since it cost less than a cup of Melbourne coffee. I've never tried a dripper before.

Hario V60 dripper – Learn everything you need to know

Hario V60 is the most widely used dripper for manual pour-over. Hario V60 has become one of the most iconic symbols that represent the third-wave coffee movement.

japanesecoffeeco.com

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

Hello everyone! The first of two of my coffee orders came in the mail this evening. Meet the new members of the coffee bar family!

Strange how Red Rooster changes both the type of bags they use, as well as the labels, over the course of a several month period. Frankly, I consider this an improvement. You don't need no fancy graphics, just tell me what they coffee is, and tell me when it was roasted, thats all I need to know. Great job!

I've never had these coffee's before, so its gonna be an experience. And you see that bag in the middle, you may consider that coffee from fairy land, in other words, I expect the experience of that coffee, to transcend all the other coffee I've ever tried, and taste like it came from fairy land, but we shall see. lol

 

[Wid]

I’ve only had this bean once. I did give it a thumbs up in my notes.

 

[Wid]

Another 5 pounds came in. This is one of our favorites.