Coffee gear and discussion thread

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I hear you... hence I have my trusty Genecafe roaster ready and waiting for nice green beans. You can't blame charbucks, (although if you've ever had a cup from a place called the coffee bean and tea leaf... THEIR coffee bean is 2 steps down from charcoal) they buy crap coffee to it is better to over roast and let you have a charry cup than to reveal the 'origin' character of the crud they buy in bulk.

I'm very excited about the whole roasting process.

And I'm thrilled the guys here are absolute nutjob foodies as well as knifenuts.

Oh and Jim, if you're looking, thanks for your Spice Rub and BBQ Sauce (aka Goose Juice) recipe. That went over really well with about 30 people (and counting) that I know.
 
Lars said:
I am digging the geeky stuff in this thread.

Here is a - very bad - picture of my setup :thumbsup:

web_01.jpg
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I hate you.

I need a bigger home.

Seriously, when I'm gonna retire, I'm gonna sell everything here and buy myself a well planned huge home at puget sound and get the kitchen of my dreams. Pity I'll have no friends to cook for after moving...
 
Tristan said:
I hear you... hence I have my trusty Genecafe roaster ready and waiting for nice green beans. You can't blame charbucks, (although if you've ever had a cup from a place called the coffee bean and tea leaf... THEIR coffee bean is 2 steps down from charcoal) they buy crap coffee to it is better to over roast and let you have a charry cup than to reveal the 'origin' character of the crud they buy in bulk.

I'm very excited about the whole roasting process.

And I'm thrilled the guys here are absolute nutjob foodies as well as knifenuts.

Oh and Jim, if you're looking, thanks for your Spice Rub and BBQ Sauce (aka Goose Juice) recipe. That went over really well with about 30 people (and counting) that I know.
Click to expand...

You are most welcome!

I am looking forward to your adventures with the Gene' ....Do you know your line voltage at the outlet? The Gene' is pretty fussy with it.
 
I'm in Singapore, and try as I might with the internet, I can't get a steady read on what the current output is supposed to be... I don't have those thingies (you can tell i'm REALLY mechanically/electrically inclined) that measure voltage output so I can't be sure.

From what I know, I should be getting between 230-240v here. So I have the 240V UK model, as opposed to the 230V Europe model, and I think the common literature on the Gene is that it will perform better if the voltage throughput stays consistently high.
 
Tristan said:
I'm in Singapore, and try as I might with the internet, I can't get a steady read on what the current output is supposed to be... I don't have those thingies (you can tell i'm REALLY mechanically/electrically inclined) that measure voltage output so I can't be sure.

From what I know, I should be getting between 230-240v here. So I have the 240V UK model, as opposed to the 230V Europe model, and I think the common literature on the Gene is that it will perform better if the voltage throughput stays consistently high.
Click to expand...

Yep, I have the US model which is woefully fussy with a 120v line. I use a VariAC to boost- With 240v you should have better results.
 
The only issue I have is that in Singapore the ambient temperature is already 30deg celsius - so from the roasting charts I see from people, the time to roast will be reduced as the initial reactions will happen much faster. Hope it settles down ok.
 
Its a bit easier to roast when its warm out, just keep good notes on what you do.
 
I feel like such a dunce. My Quickmill Anita has been sitting there for almost 2 years, and I didn't get my act together to have it repaired - that's just something I know nothing about and there doesn't seem to be a repair service on the island. So, last week an old German friend and her husband visited, and he happens to be an electronics engineer. In three minutes he had found the problem, bridged a switch with a fuse and the thing works again. The replacement part costs $10.50 :bashhead: if I think about all the crappy coffee I had in the meantime...

Now it's off to find some good coffee. Ken (are you here, Ken?) has recommended two local sources that sound interesting. Never made espresso from dark roasted peaberries before but he swears by it - and I love to buy local if I can. Of course, Kona or Ka'u coffees for $40 per pound are not my first choice for a cappuchino, but I will see what I find. I will als try to reactivate my IRoast if I find green beans for espresso on a neighbor island. I loved the Vivace dolce that I had flown in from the mainland, but I'll first look for local beans. F anybod happens to know anything in Hawaii....

Stefan
 
If you're happy to roast greens you can get very well graded kona greens for less than half that - around $16/lb. You only need to add hot air and electricity and it'll transform in 15mins to $40/lb product. =D
 
Well, it's not nearly as fancy as the rest of the stuff being discussed in this thread but I bought a Toddy cold brewer today. I had a $10 off coupon for World Market so I snatched one up. I'm just really excited to kick my $5/day summer iced coffee habit! If anyone has any tips or tricks for getting the most of the Toddy I'm all ears!
 
Kyle said:
Well, it's not nearly as fancy as the rest of the stuff being discussed in this thread but I bought a Toddy cold brewer today. I had a $10 off coupon for World Market so I snatched one up. I'm just really excited to kick my $5/day summer iced coffee habit! If anyone has any tips or tricks for getting the most of the Toddy I'm all ears!
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I asked for tips last night before I even opened the box, but everything was so straight forward and easy. I'm drinking my first cup of iced coffee from it and it's really good. I wish I would have bought this sooner!
 
I can't remember whether or not it was here, but I have mentioned this before...oh well...
Kyle, try freezing an ice cube tray full of strong Toddy coffee and use them in the iced coffee. Mmmm.
I work days and overnights, and one of the only things that makes me feel human during overnights is waking up at 4pm and having a cup of "two and a half tablespoons to about 400 ml of just before boiled water" coffee, on my deck in the sun. I bring my mug and French press out with me and wait for it to "brew" while waking up in the sun.
Man, I hope it's sunny this afternoon! :D
 
apicius9 said:
I feel like such a dunce. My Quickmill Anita has been sitting there for almost 2 years, and I didn't get my act together to have it repaired - that's just something I know nothing about and there doesn't seem to be a repair service on the island. So, last week an old German friend and her husband visited, and he happens to be an electronics engineer. In three minutes he had found the problem, bridged a switch with a fuse and the thing works again. The replacement part costs $10.50 :bashhead: if I think about all the crappy coffee I had in the meantime...

Now it's off to find some good coffee. Ken (are you here, Ken?) has recommended two local sources that sound interesting. Never made espresso from dark roasted peaberries before but he swears by it - and I love to buy local if I can. Of course, Kona or Ka'u coffees for $40 per pound are not my first choice for a cappuchino, but I will see what I find. I will als try to reactivate my IRoast if I find green beans for espresso on a neighbor island. I loved the Vivace dolce that I had flown in from the mainland, but I'll first look for local beans. F anybod happens to know anything in Hawaii....Stefan
Click to expand...

Stefan - thanks for telling me about this great forum !!!!

Hope Anita is dialed in with temperature, grind, etc. = great espresso :coffeelots:
 
As a former coffee roaster and full-time coffee snob, I must agree with Craig's choice of brewer. A vacuum pot makes the cleanest cup of brewed coffee I've ever tasted. I used to rock a vintage 1940s Cory vacuum pot; the coffee touched only glass throughout the brewing process. Sadly the Cory took a tumble off the counter and I haven't yet been able to replace it.

If you want to have your tastebuds blown, check out George Howell at http://www.terroircoffee.com George and his roasters are the definition of obssesed, and they get the best Kenyans ever. Seriously, they're that good. I roast my own at home, but when I want a treat I swallow my pride and order a bag or two.
 
These are insanely good setups! My friends think I'm a coffee guy just because they see the Keurig on my counter. I'm looking into getting a French Press today...
 
My friendly neighborhood coffee roaster, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, has a single varietal espresso made with Ethiopian Duromina. It isn't the cheapest espresso beans around, butt boy howdy, what a nice cup it produces!
I ran across a video by the Seattle Coffee folks about lungos. It is using double shot grounds to pull a 4 ounce shot. Some of the machines that they used produced bitter results, but some came out nice, so I tried it with my La Pavoni lever, and it made a really nice cup!
This single bean espresso is very nice!
 
A local shop started carrying Chemex and I wanted to get one but I'm hoping someone can convince me why it's so great. It basically just looks like a jar with a special filter. Maybe I don't know enough about coffee. Is their filter just that good?

And what kind of grind does Chemex require? I haven't had the funds to get a decent grinder yet, so I'm hoping that I can get by with store bought ground beans for the time being until I finally get a good grinder.
 
Very simple: French press and grinder for my dark Ethiopian locally-roasted beans, Bialetti s/s stovetop espresso pot for my weekend Cafe du Monde chicory coffee fix (1/2 coffee and 1/2 steamed milk, of course).

Oh, I almost forgot, I've also got a couple of those units that fit on top of the glass for brewing Vietnamese style coffee. In case you don't know what this is, it's espresso dripped slowly into a glass filled with ice and some condensed milk in the bottom. Greatest cold caffeine beverage ever during the Summer.
 
Kyle said:
A local shop started carrying Chemex and I wanted to get one but I'm hoping someone can convince me why it's so great. It basically just looks like a jar with a special filter. Maybe I don't know enough about coffee. Is their filter just that good?

And what kind of grind does Chemex require? I haven't had the funds to get a decent grinder yet, so I'm hoping that I can get by with store bought ground beans for the time being until I finally get a good grinder.
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I owned a Chemex and found that the filters were ridiculously expensive. The brewed coffee also cooled rapidly in the Chemex brewer. To top it off, it's awkward to clean.

An excellent alternative is a plastic filter cone that uses standard #4 filters, brewing into a standard thermos bottle.

http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmar...filtercone-6-size-with-thermos-extension.html

Regular drip grind works just fine.
 
My everyday machine:
L9998366_medium.jpg


A Ponte Vecchio Lusso

I alternate between having 1 or 2 a day from my
CleverCoffeeDripper.jpg
Clever Coffee Dripper and my
syphon-sca4_medium.jpg
Bellina syphon
 
No biggie, that's what the off topic section is for.

I was just tryin to point out that there is a forum for everything while tryin to be a little funny!
 
Kyle said:
A local shop started carrying Chemex and I wanted to get one but I'm hoping someone can convince me why it's so great. It basically just looks like a jar with a special filter. Maybe I don't know enough about coffee. Is their filter just that good?

And what kind of grind does Chemex require? I haven't had the funds to get a decent grinder yet, so I'm hoping that I can get by with store bought ground beans for the time being until I finally get a good grinder.
Click to expand...

I don't think the Chemex lives up to the hype it got a couple of years ago.
It makes good coffee, but so does french press, Hario cones and the Aeropress cylinder.

My advise would be to get a good grinder first - freshly ground beans and and good quality water are my personal top priority's when brewing coffee..

Lars
 
I gave my chemex away.... I just use a bonmac 1hole #2 filter cone or the hario 02.
 
My La Pavoni lever does all the coffee work around here unless there is a crowd. Kitchenaid Proline grinder with Mazzer Mini burrs and filtered Bull Run water round out the picture.
 
Lars said:
I don't think the Chemex lives up to the hype it got a couple of years ago.
It makes good coffee, but so does french press, Hario cones and the Aeropress cylinder.

My advise would be to get a good grinder first - freshly ground beans and and good quality water are my personal top priority's when brewing coffee..

Lars
Click to expand...

I have a press and I get beans ground for me at a local shop. I don't like the oily/slick mouth feel I get from it, also the grounds at the bottom are pretty gross. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, maybe I'm too used to office brewed drip coffee, I don't know, but it turns me off and makes me not want to use it any more.

Advice?
 
Thought about replacing old Sylvia/Rocky combo then recalled a post on the coffee forums about turning-on the steam switch before pulling the shot. Been doing this since earlier this year - get consistent good shots and dry grounds puck. coffee seems better dissolved :coffeelots:
Keeping Sylvia/Rocky :thumbsup:
 
I have been drinking snob coffee for the better part of 30 years and roasting my own for 10-12 years.

A couple of thoughts:

Here are some standard limits known as the rule of 15's

Coffee should be roasted within 15 months of leaving the processor in the country of origin.

Coffee should be ground within 15 days of roasting

Coffee should be brewed within 15 minutes of grinding

I have had coffee just about every way imaginable. My preference is a triple or quad shot Americano. with the coffee beans rested 5 days after roasting. With a real barista I will have a macchiato. Generally I don't make these for myself.

If I carry coffee with me when I travel I use an Aeropress and am quite satisfied with the product it produces. (I carry an electric tea kettle and a grinder). I really like the Areopress. It is the coffee maker I suggest as a first purchase for someone wishing to be a coffee snob. Much cleaner than a French Press but with the body provided by the French Press.

Water temps are really important. Brew temps should be between 200-204 degrees. If you make drip coffee run some water through it prior to brewing to bring the coffee maker up to temp.

Water Quality. Coffee is 97% water. The better the water, the better the coffee. When I don't carry coffee on the road, I ALWAYS use bottled water to make the coffee in the room. Not great, but it is drinkable.
 
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