What did you learn from your coffee brewing method today?

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

Well, I sit in my office chair, and I rotate counter-clockwise if that helps? But then I start to get dizzy, and then I switch direction and begin rotating clockwise. It begins to mess with my brain, then I lose track of which direction I am going. True story doggone.

 

[APBinNCA]

Well, I sit in my office chair, and I rotate counter-clockwise if that helps? But then I start to get dizzy, and then I switch direction and begin rotating clockwise. It begins to mess with my brain, then I lose track of which direction I am going. True story doggone.

See, you too can do pour over, you were just over thinking things! All you have to do, after saying a magical incantation, is place the brewer on the floor below you, begin pouring water and then spin around the vessel in your chair and... Presto! You have made your first pour over coffee.

 

[rudygu]

Wait until you see the contraption I have coming next week! It's already cleared customs and is currently 300 miles away. Let's just say, I am going to bring some objective data to my brewing. The nerd level may may approach infinity!

I can’t wait to see it. I’m sure I’ll learn something from your findings!

 

[dojpros]

1. Peet’s. The Major whole beans
2. Krupps Bladed Grinder=6 Heaping Table Spoons
3. Chemex Pour Over w Chemex “tan” Filter
4. 18 ish oz of Near Boiling Water heated on a gas cooktop
5. 2 oz of Hand Frothed Whole Milk
6. 1 Heaping Tablespoon of Sugar

Happy Monday

 

[jaro 101969]

I totally agree with you. Based on what I have learned about advanced coffee making, ( Remember folks, my journey never ends, it only gets better as time goes by ) you want to use a lower temperature 195F when you are brewing a dark roast, this way you don't extract a bitter flavor out of the beans. Where as, with a lighter roast, you want to go with a higher temperature 200F+, it helps to maintain that overall sweetness one would expect with a lighter roast.

I have Stirling Kenya Sweet & Bold Dark Roast Espresso & Stirling Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Sweet & Bright for my Light Roast. Each of these have to be brewed differently to achieve a perfected brew. And additionally, I find, when using a lighter roast, more grounds are required, to achieve the same space in mass, in the filter basket, and to secure a nice smooth juicy berry flavor, with my Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee.

Where as, with my Kenya Dark Roast Espresso, I need to use less grounds to fill the basket, and also to control the strength of the brew that comes out. This is another reason why I want to get a proper brewer, that doesn't limit me on space in the grounds filter basket. I want the freedom available to me, so that I may lock in my coffee to water ratio's, to secure perfection. Yes, I am like the Borg, I will not be satisfied with anything less then perfect. LOL!

I watched one of the guys online that's over one of the coffee places / makers thingys and he said his " perfect / preferred ways " was /is Always a medium fine grind and waters between 85 and 91 degrees Celsius.. He also mentioned about cooler for darker roast and warmer for lighter roast like you said....

 

[jaro 101969]

Ahh.. I just realized I have misplaced my large burr grinder !! I only have my smaller one that I took to the hotel with us when we had a pipe burst in our house mid to late last year... I had not used the big one recently as it was packed up when the construction was going on and I didn't need to grind much while we were away. I have a pound or 3 that I got and was going to grind up enough for a week so I'm not doing it all the time and realized that it must be still in one of the few boxes that we didn't think we needed to unpack right now and is in the attic... Oh well I might decide to be lazy and just go shopping and get another one with more features , and while I'm at it I might go ahead and get a pour over maker too.. I don't currently have one but I want one , I had just been using either one of the French presses or the AeroPress or if in a rush one of the Bunns or the Keurig..

 

[jaro 101969]

Edit: The KINGrider K-1 and their other models have 140 to 240 adjustment settings. Mine came set up with a very fine grind. I should have counted as I opened it up to more coarse grind. I have it set on "0/Zero" but I have no idea where I started. LOL

I just looked at a bunch of unboxings of that grinder to see if there was a " factory setting " and it looks like they were all like 1 small click past 2..... I hope that sort of helps with where they started at...

 

[APBinNCA]

I learned that I make my coffee stronger than I thought, a lot stronger! TDS is at 1.6% and extraction is just under 22%. For those that don’t know what this means, it’s basically outside the recommended brew parameters in the upper right side of the chart! I am going to be thinking about the implications of this for awhile, how to get this back in line so I can recalibrate my taste. Oh yeah, I bought a refractometer. Dedicated thread coming soon!

 

[Phoenixkh]

My wife bought an assortment of local coffee beans. Until today, they all ground up perfectly in the KINGrinder, but this last offering must have had more moisture in it or something. It stuck to the grinder mechanism and screw off bin. I’ll try grinding it a bit more coarse tomorrow.

 

[The Knize]

What did I learn today? Hopefully patience! And that it is not insanity to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, because I am tying to get the same results, but it is not always happening!!

 

[The Knize]

Oh yeah, I bought a refractometer.

I look forward to that, I think. How inexpensive do you think one can get by with for a refractometer to use in brewing coffee? Any brand recommendations?

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

I look forward to that, I think. How inexpensive do you think one can get by with for a refractometer to use in brewing coffee? Any brand recommendations?

Sell a kidney, then you can afford one Refractor meters are stupid expensive, think thousands of dollars. This is why coffee producing companies are usually the only ones who have those, as they use them in their inhouse testing labs. Additionally, the SCAA probably use them as well, as 3rd party independent testing. Most home users don't buy those things, because like I said, stupid expensive.

 

[The Knize]

Sell a kidney, then you can afford one Refractor meters are stupid expensive, think thousands of dollars. This is why coffee producing companies are usually the only ones who have those, as they use them in their inhouse testing labs. Additionally, the SCAA probably use them as well, as 3rd party independent testing. Most home users don't buy those things, because like I said, stupid expensive.

A quick survey of the web indicates there are cheaper ones out there, some recommended by folks purporting to have expertise in things coffee. But everything recommended is north of $100, often way north, but not in the multiple $ks range that I noticed. I like my coffee and it is fun fooling around trying to brew the best possible, but I have not even bought a good burr grinder--yet, anyway--so I am unlikely to spend all that much on a refractometer. Even though it sounds like fun to own!

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

A quick survey of the web indicates there are cheaper ones out there, some recommended by folks purporting to have expertise in things coffee. But everything recommended is north of $100, often way north, but not in the multiple $ks range that I noticed. I like my coffee and it is fun fooling around trying to brew the best possible, but I have not even bought a good burr grinder--yet, anyway--so I am unlikely to spend all that much on a refractometer. Even though it sounds like fun to own!

Hey @The Knize has anyone ever told you, that you were the bees knize? Get it? No? OK

I totally agree with you, playing around with coffee is so much fun, its become my new hobby, along with traditional wet shaving. My life in the past has been literally so boring, that now days I am having the time of my life playing around with coffee.

If you watch the Youtube channel James Hoffman, who is a famous coffee connoisseur, who has literally written a few books himself, he has some advice on what refractor meter you should buy, if you should choose to buy one. I have literally watched enough video's from that man, that I explicitly trust him, in everything coffee.

Regarding grinders, high end units can actually be had, without spending a ton of money. If you go for high end electric units, then yes, your going to spend quite a bit on them, because your paying for the motor, as well as the burr technology, all wrapped up into a vessle of some kind.

But, you can get some really decent grinders, in the hand grinder market. I personally have a 1ZPresso K-MAX grinder, which uses a stainless steel heptagonal conical burr. It produces a very uniform grind, which is key, for proper coffee extraction. Ground uniformity, is actually more important, then the brewer that you use.

This is my grinder that I use, and that is the ground uniformity you can expect on setting number "8". This grinder can be had for around 215 dollars from 1ZPresso directly I believe.

Having said that however, you may wish to spend less then that on a hand grinder. If you have a lower budget, then the next step down, I would recommend the Timemore C2 grinders. They are not built to the same exact quality as 1ZPresso. But they still use a heptaganol conical burr set, and you can get them for around 100 dollars or less.

 

[The Knize]

Thanks, SWCT. $100 should not scare me off. But I am afraid I am both cheap and lazy! My older son and his wife have what I assume is a pretty good hand grinder that I tried out when I was visiting them. It seemed to me to take some time and effort, but to yield good results. I did not come home anxious to have one though, as has happened with other coffee equipment. Hat's off to you for using one though and I truly appreciate your taking the time to provide this forum with your well-articulated experiences with and views on grinders!

No telling. I may get one yet.

 

[APBinNCA]

I look forward to that, I think. How inexpensive do you think one can get by with for a refractometer to use in brewing coffee? Any brand recommendations?

Spoiler: it's the new R2 from DiFluid. About half the cost of the next one up cost wise. I found out that it was very accurate if calibrated right before every test and can confirm that so far. It's really not much work at all and there is an app to do the calculations and store data. I just brew my coffee, spoon off some to sit and cool, drink my coffee like normal and afterwards I run the test. It's even got USB-C and Bluetooth!

 

[Phoenixkh]

Spoiler: it's the new R2 from DiFluid. About half the cost of the next one up cost wise. I found out that it was very accurate if calibrated right before every test and can confirm that so far. It's really not much work at all and there is an app to do the calculations and store data. I just brew my coffee, spoon off some to sit and cool, drink my coffee like normal and afterwards I run the test. It's even got USB-C and Bluetooth!

When is your new setup do to arrive at your place, Aaron? I’m looking forward to seeing it and reading how it performs.

 

[jaro 101969]

What did I learn today? Hopefully patience! And that it is not insanity to do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, because I am tying to get the same results, but it is not always happening!!

but, According to this man that IS the definition....

Albert Einstein: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. ​

 

[APBinNCA]

When is your new setup do to arrive at your place, Aaron? I’m looking forward to seeing it and reading how it performs.

Well, it's here now! I have a few tests, that's how I know I was making my coffee strong. It's going to take some time to write something up, but let me see if I can get a quick shot of it in action...

Whoops, I made perfect coffee!

 

[GoodShave]

I received an email from AeroPress.com that they now are selling an 'AeroPress Flow Control Filter Cap' and I bought one to try out. My first thought was that it will be like the Fellow Products Prismo with the exception that the AeroPress model works with all versions of the AeroPress and can use paper or metal filters.

I have stayed away from the Prismo in the past as they recommend dark roasts for it and I don't drink dark roasts. The AeroPress didn't mention a particular roast and it sounds like a nicer way to do recipes that you normally have to put in the stopper to keep the coffee from draining or use the inverted method. I did read a comment saying if the rubber on the plunger is old, coffee may squirt past it and you will need to replace the rubber tip. AeroPress sells replacement tips and I have seen that Amazon has tips that will work with the AeroPress as well.