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Café Acquisition Thread

I got the Timemore Black Mirror Basic Pro scale over the weekend. It's more than I really need but I wanted to upgrade the cheap scales that I have been using and it was the lowest priced option that ticked all of the boxes for me that I could find (my research was far from exhaustive).
  • Aesthetics
  • Timer
  • USB-C
  • Battery level indicator - not just a low battery indicator that can come on while you are in the middle of pouring which means the scale will shut off in a matter of seconds and mess up your process (I've had to deal with that with a couple different scales)
  • Can measure in grams or in ounces
  • Can turn on/off beep
  • Way cheaper than the options I was looking at: Acaia Pearl (2021 revision) and Fellow Tally
I don't make espresso, so I'm not concerned about it being too big for espresso workflow. The auto-timer mode and flow rate indicator are nice to have but didn't really factor into my decision. I definitely don't need 3-8 different modes or for the scale calculate how much water I need based on brew ratios. It doesn't have history/reputation of Acaia scales so I'll have to see how long it lasts.
 
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.

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Nice find. I picked up the Hario Switch (basically a v60 where you can turn off/on the flow whenever you want) server set over the weekend. Currently discounted on Amazon. I've been wanting to get one for a while to play around with steeping while making a pour over. I'll still likely use it mostly as a normal v60. I've experimented with steeping a bit with my OXO 8 cup coffee maker a bit and have had some fun with it but it's a bit tricky. There is a switch for brewing into a cup or into the carafe and if it's in the carafe position, the coffee will not drain unless the carafe is in place so if you are brewing into a cup, you can use the switch stop start the draining. If you forget it's in carafe mode while you are brewing into a cup and walk away for too long, it will eventually start leaking and not directly into the cup underneath so you have to be vigilant with that.
 
Trying a few new beans, the Guji I’ve had. The rest is new to me.

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EclipseRedRing

I smell like a Christmas pudding
Not being a coffee aficionado I had not heard of Ueshima but they are apparently number one in Japan and have been operating since 1933, with a break during and shortly after World War II when there was a ban on coffee imports. They were on a clearance at my local store despite never having been stocked so I suspect they were wrongly delivered. Sadly two are pre ground but I am hopeful that Ueshima will be rewarding. I read that in Japan the cup handle is tradtionally placed to the left of the drinker and the spoon to the right - I have not noticed that when travelling in Japan. Has anyone tried this brand?

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Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
Not being a coffee aficionado I had not heard of Ueshima but they are apparently number one in Japan and have been operating since 1933, with a break during and shortly after World War II when there was a ban on coffee imports. They were on a clearance at my local store despite never having been stocked so I suspect they were wrongly delivered. Sadly two are pre ground but I am hopeful that Ueshima will be rewarding. I read that in Japan the cup handle is tradtionally placed to the left of the drinker and the spoon to the right - I have not noticed that when travelling in Japan. Has anyone tried this brand?

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While I've never been to Japan personally, I have been there digitally, I really love the country! Japan is a much different country then our own, they do things differently there, and don't have some of the same problems our country has, because they run it by a strict code of conduct, and laws. Japan is a very magical place, a place I connect with, both heart and sole.

Having said that, I think I've seen that name before in video's, but didn't realize it was coffee at the time. I decided to look it up, found the brand website, they seem to sell their coffee in 200G and 500G quantities, for what appears to be, great prices! I am not sure if its specialty grade coffee or not, but since its considered Japan's #1 loved coffee, it just might be. But it doesn't appear to sell for specialty pricing.

They have a few flavors there, which is more then most supermarket brands have. Please let us know how you like all of those coffee's. If you like them, I might decided to buy some next month. Currently, I am working on a bag of Stirling Kenya coffee, which I normally love whole heartedly, but this bag both smells like, and coffee tastes like beef juice. I don't know what Mandy did wrong here in the roasting process.

A thing that bother's me about Stirilng is, while they do put the roasting date on the bag, they don't say where they source their beans specifically. And depending on where you source the beans, and the quality of the beans from that crop yield, could greatly effect taste in the end.
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
Welcome everyone to Poinsettia December, keep them red peddle flowers away from your animals people! Money got tight last month, so I was only rocking 2-coffee flavors, as opposed to my usual 3. This month I have ordered 3 coffee flavors!

From Good Brother's Coffee...

Neapolitan - Dark Chocolate - Sweet - Creamy!
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1 2-LB Bag

Polar Expresso - Chocolate - Dark Fruit - Creamy!
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1 2-LB Bag

From Bones Coffee...

----------------Army Of Dark Chocolate-----------------
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2 12-OZ bags Auto Subscription Service
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
My new coffee came! I don't plan to try it out right away, cause I am sort of saving it for the 2nd half of the month, you know, the magical wonders of the Christmas holiday lol. When you can get coffee this freshly roasted, and knowing that experts ( James Hoffman ) recommend waiting at least 10-days of resting time, its really not a big deal to wait another week to begin trying. When you allow a coffee to properly rest, thats when you will be able to extract, all the delicious flavors. If you try to brew coffee too freshly roasted, it will taste bad. Again, common knowledge, but not common for everyone so yeah.

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I really like how different and unique the label on this newly released coffee is! Since the chances are, that this might be a seasonal only release, I think I will keep the bag once I am through with it, I think I am going to tack it to my wall, to add to my wall photo art. BTW, I really loved the Polar Express when that movie came out, you know the one with Tom Hanks who voices the conductor.
 
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EclipseRedRing

I smell like a Christmas pudding
I found in my local charity shop a second pair of Villeroy & Boch New Wave Caffè spoons designed to be rested on the rim of any cup. Incredibly, using these spoons noticably improves the flavour of my coffee! That's my story and I am sticking to it 😆

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captp

Pretty Pink Fairy Princess.
Fresh from Yunnan, China via Yunnan Sourcing. 3 Black Tea Samplers (mostly 25 & 50 gram packages) + a separate Black Tea. About 2.5 lbs or so. Should take me a few months to get to trying all of these.
This is NOT an unboxing. Some of you may know how I feel about unboxings. This is just an open box with a bunch of tea samples. Not even the original shipping box, although it's about the same size.
I'll try to get a shot of them all together later.
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Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
Hello everyone! I have been running out of coffee slightly too soon, cause I didn't order enough coffee last month. Well that ends now!

I updated my Bones Coffee subscription to
4-12OZ bags of coffee this month!
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Can only buy this product in 12OZ bags FYI

And because 4LB is not enough, I ordered
5-LB of Good Brother's Polar Expresso!
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Pic of 2LB old order bag for illustration only

And then seeing all the happy campers here for Illy coffee, I decided I would add it to my collection. Illy coffee is expensive folks, you can only buy whole bean in 8.8OZ can's. With the drip coffee that I produce, those can's won't last long. I'm going to keep the 90th anniversary can when I am finished with it, because I consider it a unique collectible. I ordered a couple cans of Intenso, cause I know that is right up my coffee bean ally. And I ordered the 2-cans of instant coffee for emergency I am out of coffee, the coffee hit the fan, OMG what am I going to do without my precious caffeine ingestion.

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There, that auda be enough coffee to last me, because running out of coffee, or drinking less coffee cause I am running out, and I am trying to stretch it out, is absolutely unacceptable. My right to ingest caffeine shall not be infringed!
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
Hello everyone, I have a bit of a treat for you, I ordered both coffee software, as well as hardware.

My usual Bones AODC on subscription service. Last month I upgraded my subscription to 4-bags now, yes, double the amount, double the fun!
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The new coffee I ordered for this month however, is none other then from the famous roaster Klatch. I ordered Klatch Crazy Goat!
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I'm hoping this will be good, it should be though, I like the blend, Dark Chocolate, Spice, and Toffee, should be good. Ordered 5LBS of it, and if you read bellow, you will know where this coffee is going in.

For doing professional RDT, I decided to order the industry standard, as it comes highly recommended by enthusiasts and baristas in the industry.
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I ordered a 2-tablespoon coffee scoop
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Why did I order this you ask?

Because I also ordered 2 Airscape Kilo's, robust coffee canisters, that are rated to keep coffee fresh for at least 3-weeks, but in all actuality, will extend freshness for at least a month or so in total.
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I've been informed by @Phoenixkh that 5LBS of coffee can fit between 2 of these canister in total. I also figure that these canisters were designed to be stackable, so as to utilize space logically, so this should work out for me quite well.​
 
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