Long post today.
TLDR: Used the same beans as yesterday and found new life for my V60-01 brewer. I did a comparison brew with the Hario Switch and and preferred the V60-01 in today's brew. Also, I upgraded my grinder and look forward to using it soon.
Today's brew was Longneck Coffee Roasters (Williamsburg, VA) Mexico La Laja Honey Process (medium roast) using my opaque plastic Hario V60-01 with regular Cafec filters and James Hoffmann's "A Better 1 Cup V60 Technique" recipe.
I have never had consistent brews with V60s (01 or 02 size) so I was preparing to PIF my opaque plastic Hario V60-01 and V60-02 brewers. I figure that I had V60 covered with my Hario Switch (leaving the switch in the open position). I decided to brew the the V60-01 again and see how it would work with my Oxo electric goose neck kettle now that I feel I have the pouring under control for the most part with that kettle. It was an excellent cup! The chocolate flavor was very pronounced and it was a very good cup. I could probably dial it in a little better, but out of the gate, it was one of the best V60 brews I have ever had.
That then made me consider repeating the brew with the same settings with the Hario Switch as a V60 (taking time to heat the glass by closing the switch to start, then opening the switch before I started brewing). From the Tale's Coffee video below, Vincent stated that the 02 size Hario Switch is more like a 1.5 instead of size 02, so I was curious if I would get the same results (knowing that that V60 brews in general can be inconsistent if you are not using them on a regular basis).
The Hario Switch brew was pretty good, but I preferred the V60-01 brew. Eye balling the brewers, the Hario Switch is probably 1/3 taller than my opaque plastic V60-01 which combined with the height of my kitchen counter meant a different pouring angle which resulted in a faster pouring speed from my kettle.
Combined with not needing to preheat the opaque plastic V60s and that the V60s I have handle different capacities (01, 02 vs. 1.5 of the Switch), I plan on keeping my V60s for now. Being able to keep the kettle spout closer to the brew bed for smaller doses is another plus of keeping the V60-01 in particular. I thought of picking up a glass V60-01 and swapping out the cone in the Switch but I don't see the need to do that at the moment as my hybrid recipes call for the standard size Switch cone.
On a totally different note, I upgraded my 1zpresso JX manual grinder with a 1zpresso K-Ultra grinder. The K-Ultra came this afternoon, so I have not tried anything with it yet other than to check the zero on the grinder. I am debating whether I will season the grinder first or just start using it. I have read that people season their grinders with rice or cheap/old coffee. I am not sure which way I will go with that. I am temped just to use it as is knowing that the grind will change subtly after a few bags of beans have been ground with the grinder. I probably will just make a note in my coffee logs of how many bags have be been ground with the grinder and note my brews as 'pre-season' settings until I see differences in the brew.
TLDR: Used the same beans as yesterday and found new life for my V60-01 brewer. I did a comparison brew with the Hario Switch and and preferred the V60-01 in today's brew. Also, I upgraded my grinder and look forward to using it soon.
Today's brew was Longneck Coffee Roasters (Williamsburg, VA) Mexico La Laja Honey Process (medium roast) using my opaque plastic Hario V60-01 with regular Cafec filters and James Hoffmann's "A Better 1 Cup V60 Technique" recipe.
I have never had consistent brews with V60s (01 or 02 size) so I was preparing to PIF my opaque plastic Hario V60-01 and V60-02 brewers. I figure that I had V60 covered with my Hario Switch (leaving the switch in the open position). I decided to brew the the V60-01 again and see how it would work with my Oxo electric goose neck kettle now that I feel I have the pouring under control for the most part with that kettle. It was an excellent cup! The chocolate flavor was very pronounced and it was a very good cup. I could probably dial it in a little better, but out of the gate, it was one of the best V60 brews I have ever had.
That then made me consider repeating the brew with the same settings with the Hario Switch as a V60 (taking time to heat the glass by closing the switch to start, then opening the switch before I started brewing). From the Tale's Coffee video below, Vincent stated that the 02 size Hario Switch is more like a 1.5 instead of size 02, so I was curious if I would get the same results (knowing that that V60 brews in general can be inconsistent if you are not using them on a regular basis).
The Hario Switch brew was pretty good, but I preferred the V60-01 brew. Eye balling the brewers, the Hario Switch is probably 1/3 taller than my opaque plastic V60-01 which combined with the height of my kitchen counter meant a different pouring angle which resulted in a faster pouring speed from my kettle.
Combined with not needing to preheat the opaque plastic V60s and that the V60s I have handle different capacities (01, 02 vs. 1.5 of the Switch), I plan on keeping my V60s for now. Being able to keep the kettle spout closer to the brew bed for smaller doses is another plus of keeping the V60-01 in particular. I thought of picking up a glass V60-01 and swapping out the cone in the Switch but I don't see the need to do that at the moment as my hybrid recipes call for the standard size Switch cone.
On a totally different note, I upgraded my 1zpresso JX manual grinder with a 1zpresso K-Ultra grinder. The K-Ultra came this afternoon, so I have not tried anything with it yet other than to check the zero on the grinder. I am debating whether I will season the grinder first or just start using it. I have read that people season their grinders with rice or cheap/old coffee. I am not sure which way I will go with that. I am temped just to use it as is knowing that the grind will change subtly after a few bags of beans have been ground with the grinder. I probably will just make a note in my coffee logs of how many bags have be been ground with the grinder and note my brews as 'pre-season' settings until I see differences in the brew.
’s.
