Coffee gear and discussion thread

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I doubt you are going to get anything of quality on HSN, but I am a buy once, cry once type of guy. Go to home-barista.com if you want to know more about getting a quality set-up for coffee. You don't have to spend a fortune, but if you get into espresso be prepared to spend some coin unless you get deals on craigslist or ebay. Sweetmarias.com is my favorite place to shop for coffee, but there are other good vendors.
 
1 week and a quick training session with the guy I bought my setup from and I got a pretty decent cup/shot going here.

IMG_20121006_210108.jpg


I did a little plus sign before I just plopped it on top, I'll have to work on that. Thanks for the input guys.
 
Jason, I'm jealous of your drip station. That's pretty slick lookin, ceramic V60 and all.
 
Nothing new to add, except that: along with roasting some damn fine espresso and decaf espresso (I ordered 5 lbs. of each again), Jeff at Red Bird is one of the friendliest guys with whom you could ever do business. I have to order by phone because the site isn't set up to accept non-US Paypal payments. Damn fine coffee!
 
IMHO the Baratza Virtuoso Preciso is the best grinder for home use at any price. The only thing that more expensive commercial grinders do better is high volume, and they are actually much worse at low volume home use. The preciso leaves only about 0.2 grams of coffee in its chute after grinding, other home grinders, even the more expensive Vario by the same company leave over a gram, and commercial grinders like Mazzer leave up to 7 or 8 grams. That means when you grind for a cup you either have to first grind and throw away a few grams of coffee or have a significant percentage of stale grounds in your brew. It is also extremely versatile, I have never seen another grinder that is exceptional at espresso, and can also do a coarse grind for french press with almost no fines. The vario grinds very well for espresso too, but is no where near as good on the coarse end or even in the middle for drip or pour over. For me, espresso aside, the ultimate home coffee setup is a Preciso and a Hario V60 dripper. People think I'm nuts for telling them to buy a $300 grinder and a $15 coffee maker, but the results are infinitely better than using a $15 grinder and a $300 coffee maker. As far as home roasting goes, it seems like a fascinating and rewarding hobby, but I would rather buy beans from a great local roaster that has spent his whole life perfecting the art of roasting, and travels around the world hand picking beans from individual farmers. I will never be able to produce roasts of that quality at home, not even close. Oh, I do not work for a coffee equipment maker or store, this is all based on personal experience and years of research and tasting.
 
This analogy just came to me, using a blade grinder is the coffee grinding equivalent of using an electric knife sharpener on the back of a can opener. If you aren't willing or able to spend money on a good burr grinder get a Hario Skerton or mini mill hand grinder. Or do a 3mil dice on your beans with a good usuba. :knife:
 
joetbn, what other burr grinders have you personally compared the Baratza Virtuoso Preciso to? At $700 the Mazzer isn't a consideration for a drip home brew. At around $170 there's the Kitchenaide ProLine and the basic Capresso burr grinders will get a great cup of coffee.
 
Not sure that the Preciso is the best at any price? Lots of others have talked about the advantages of larger conical burrs and commercial grinders - more clarity in flavours, greater forgiveness factor in grind adjustment, fluffier grinds leading to less channelling/distribution issues, slower rpm grinding due to larger motor (the Preciso can heat up the grinds significantly when grinding large filter doses), etc. There are quite a few home-friendly grinders out there which imo are better than the Preciso - Versalab, Malk K30, or even the Elecktra Nino which retains 4 grams but essentially rivals the mighty Mazzer Robur. Hand grinder users should rejoice at the new HG One grinders which are available to pre-order. That being said I'm sure the Preciso is awesome for all the reasons you mentioned above and easily a contender for best home grinder under $1k :biggrin: Haha would love to see a video of someone attempting to brew coffee with the 3mm dice of beans!
 
It's pretty easy to get trhe grinds out of a Mazzer chute if you don't leave the 'protector' in place. You can use the end of a chopstick, or even a pastry brush. But I actually get most of it out by dropping the tamper in the throat of the hopper opening on top (I do not have the hopper in place). All it take is about a half inch drop. The air pressure pushes out the bulk of the grinds. And that works even with the protector left in place.

There are always Mazzers for sale on eBay, and sometime on Craigslist. You should be able to score a good used one in the $350 range.
 
I have directly compared the Preciso to a Mazzer SJ on a Marzocco machine in a very good small cafe with 3 pro baristas, same beans, same machine. Our conclusion was that the SJ grinds were indeed a tiny bit fluffier and definitely better distributed but with careful technique and a bit more time spent on distribution (5-6 seconds tops) the shot quality was nearly identical. There was as much variation shot to shot with either grinder as between the two. In a commercial environment those 5-6 seconds per shot are critical, but not at home. Grind speed was also about a second or two longer per shot on the Preciso. The new gearbox on the preciso slows the burs down to the point where there is no heat problem. For press pot grinding the Mazzer simply didn't even come close, way more fines than the preciso and noticeably more sludge in the cup. There is a different commercial grinder in the shop that they use for pour overs and press pots, I can't remember the name of it but it was great at the coarse grinds and couldn't do espresso at all. My point is that high end commercial grinders were designed with a different set of criteria, and no barista would even think about using a preciso all day in a cafe, but for making a couple shots a day at home the preciso is 99% as good, a third the price, and a third or less the size, and better suited to different grinds.

That being said, preference in gear of any kind and what is "the best" is ultimately up to the individual users experience, and there are probably other grinders in the $1,000 and up price range that are better suited for home use than the Mazzer SJ I used. I have never had the opportunity to try Versalab, Malk K30, or the Elecktra Nino. I will therefore retract my "best at any price" comment and say probably the best under $1,500.

At the lower price end, I had a Mr. Coffee branded bur grinder that was I think $60.00 and still have a Capressio Infinity that is $100 (I leave that one for my roomate that likes dark oily beans that I won't let near my grinder) And while they are both way better than a blade grinder neither will do espresso at all, both leave a ton of fines at press pot, but both are ok at drip. I can definitely taste a difference in a pour over though, the preciso gives a much sweeter cup.
 
joetbn said:
IMHO the Baratza Virtuoso Preciso is the best grinder for home use at any price. The only thing that more expensive commercial grinders do better is high volume, and they are actually much worse at low volume home use. The preciso leaves only about 0.2 grams of coffee in its chute after grinding, other home grinders, even the more expensive Vario by the same company leave over a gram, and commercial grinders like Mazzer leave up to 7 or 8 grams. That means when you grind for a cup you either have to first grind and throw away a few grams of coffee or have a significant percentage of stale grounds in your brew. It is also extremely versatile, I have never seen another grinder that is exceptional at espresso, and can also do a coarse grind for french press with almost no fines. The vario grinds very well for espresso too, but is no where near as good on the coarse end or even in the middle for drip or pour over. For me, espresso aside, the ultimate home coffee setup is a Preciso and a Hario V60 dripper. People think I'm nuts for telling them to buy a $300 grinder and a $15 coffee maker, but the results are infinitely better than using a $15 grinder and a $300 coffee maker. As far as home roasting goes, it seems like a fascinating and rewarding hobby, but I would rather buy beans from a great local roaster that has spent his whole life perfecting the art of roasting, and travels around the world hand picking beans from individual farmers. I will never be able to produce roasts of that quality at home, not even close. Oh, I do not work for a coffee equipment maker or store, this is all based on personal experience and years of research and tasting.
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+1. I've had a lot of grinders and after using the Preciso for several months it is freakin awesome. Even more so when you consider the price point. Here's a link to a very detailed review that may be of interest. Did some one mention Breville??? I can't post what I really think of those but I will say I killed three of them in a year. I'll leave a link to a review I did on that for another forum.

Dave


http://coffeegeek.com/proreviews/quickshot/baratzavirtuosopreciso/details

http://www.cheftalk.com/products/breville-bcg800xl-smart-grinder/reviews/4072
 
joetbn, you are right -- Mazzers are great for espresso, but really not the best for pour-over, drip, etc. I'm thinking about a grinder for coffee at some point, but will never, ever give up the Mazzer. But my pro-Mazzer comments belong in the Espresso thread, and not the Coffee thread :O
 
WildBoar, your pro Mazzer comments are welcome here, to me espresso IS coffee, elevated to it's highest potential.
 
Fwiw there are places like Coava Coffee brewing filter coffee exclusively through a Mazzer Kony by choice. I use mine for both espresso and filter, and it works quite well. Maybe not well enough to stop me getting a dedicated Ditting, Bunn, Tanzania or über grinder more so for the laziness factor of not having to change my espresso grind settings.

What's tasting good for you guys at the moment? I'm loving the Panama Geisha Mario Carnival at the moment. Absolutely stunning coffee!
 
Waiting for the "i don't drink burnt coffee" insults to start. :lol2:
joetbn said:
WildBoar, your pro Mazzer comments are welcome here, to me espresso IS coffee, elevated to it's highest potential.
Click to expand...
 
So got 5 lbs of Red Bird in the other day, let it rest for two days and froze the rest. In the cup:

brisket007.jpg
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Steamed up some whole milk for a cap. I really pay attention to my microfoam, 75%+ shops don't know how to steam milk, this cup was 1/5 full and now it's a 3/5 full:

brisket009.jpg
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brisket011.jpg
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Of course, after all that I was multitasking and didn't even attempt latte art:

brisket012.jpg
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Still tasted good :)
 
AFKitchenknivesguy said:
I really pay attention to my microfoam, 75%+ shops don't know how to steam milk
Click to expand...

Thats an optimistic figure if I ever saw one. :p

Looks good J, thanks for the pics.
Almost enough inspiration to get me to tear into my poor broken Oscar and replace the SSR.
Merry Xmas.
 
AFKitchenknivesguy said:
Very optimistic, but it's Christmas eve so what the heck!
Click to expand...

Do you have any tips on steaming the milk, I usually don't stretch mine that much but seeing your post I figured I would try. The milk turned out nice and creamy but I didn't have enough on top for any sort of art so I thought my technique was a bit off. I obviously need a little more practice, just want to make sure I practice correctly. I think tonight's caps had an some of the best mouth feel though and that is important.

Thanks
Jared
 
First find a good milk. Some milk is treated with (can't remember the term) and doesn't foam well. Not all milks microfoam the same and the fresher the better. You probably already know, but the higher the fat the easier to microfoam. Other than that make sure the milk is very cold, even put the container in the freezer until you get good. I usually stretch from 70F-80F, then dunk the tip deep in the milk at an angle. I also tilt the container so I get a good whirlpool going. I usually finish off at 140F-150 depending on how old the milk is. Swirl in cup while base is on counter. If you get a "marshmellow" top, you stretched the milk too much and consider dunking earlier in the temp.

It's a learned skill, and one that needs to be practiced. If I hadn't made microfoam in a month or so, I sometimes make mistakes.
 
Just got a Keurig for Christmas. :)

Perfect for a cook constantly on the go
 
Looking forward to this coming in. All is green, I will roast.

Jamaica Blue Mountain Clifton Mount - 2lbs
Arianna Farms Ono Kona - Kona Festival Winner - 2lbs
Panama Carmen Estate - 5lbs
Panama Esmeralda Boquete Geisha -1lb

Only about $135 for total 10lbs. I LOVE Carmen Estate. Looking forward to see how it stands up to the others. It's been a few years since I had some Kona, looking forward to it. Of course the crown jewel is the Esmeralda, albeit it's not the auction version.
 
The first time I tasted Esmaralda it really did my head in.
It was in a cupping session and I almost thought it was a cup of tea when I smelled it :biggrin:

Have fun roasting..

Lars
 
Let us know how the Kona turns out Jason. It sounds like you should be all set for at least a few weeks.
 
How much time does it take and how big a pita is roasting your own? What's the best home roaster?
 
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