Coffee - do you and how do you consume it?

[Soniclife]

When I'm away from home, I'll locate a decent cafe. Any place worth going has one.

Oh, if only that was true. We were in France for 2 weeks recently, the best coffee I had the whole time, that wasn't made by me, was from a vending machine in an autoroute service station. There are also huge areas in the UK well worth visiting that only have crap coffee.

I take my C40, scales, beans and a steel cafetiere. If we're going in the UK I lookup the tap water report and if it's as bad as where I live I'll take my filter jug as well.

 

[mansr]

Oh, if only that was true.

Matter of definition.

 

[Axo1989]

We are somewhat blessed in Australia, waves of post-war immigrants brought espresso and barista culture with them. We’ve had good coffee most places for all of my life. As long as you are a bit less picky in country towns. Often even there these days.

For that reason Starbucks never really took hold here.

 

[Doodski]

For that reason Starbucks never really took hold here.

Starbucks closed ~300 stores in Canada. Due to COVID related business trends. I enjoy a Vente Dark Roast and don't see why some peeps dislike Starbucks. I bought a Vente (Tall) Dark Roast for $3.61 this morning. I saw the prices for pumpkin coffees and other stuff is like $6 each. They must be able to make money with the 6 people busting their backs behind the counter.

 

[mansr]

For that reason Starbucks never really took hold here.

I found good coffee in Seattle. Not at Starbucks, obviously.

 

[Eulipian]

Coava Coffee in Portland. Never over roasted. Always good and their Ethiopian, East Timorese, Rawandan (when they have it) and Indonesian have all the love I need. Subtle Earth Honduran on Amazon amazing bang for the buck. Pour over only for me.

 

[pseudoid]

During my pre-Covid StarBucks days, I used to order:

• Quad-espresso shots, a splash of whole steamed milk and 2 sugars-in-the-raw.

Repeating the order 3 times - before the Barista could remember - used to occur often enough that I kept my order on the back of a business card (CAPs and Bulleted) in my wallet for them.
Anyways, my drink used to be one of the cheapest drinks one can order (was $3.25).
As long as the order is NOT a 'Quad-Machiato, which involves milk froth (and >8oz) that is a charge up.
That would be about a $300/yr savings, which can allow a new DAC every 2 years w/the savings...

 

[pseudoid]

Could this news flash of today get me in trouble?
"Bikini Baristas Win Lawsuit Over Unconstitutional Dress Code"

Bralista?

 

[dfuller]

I enjoy a Vente Dark Roast and don't see why some peeps dislike Starbucks.

Simply put - it's burnt. Most people don't tend to like smoky, bitter, ashy coffee.

 

[ryanosaur]

Simply put - it's burnt. Most people don't tend to like smoky, bitter, ashy coffee.

without lots of sugar and dairy, at least.

 

[Timmeon]

Coava Coffee in Portland. Never over roasted. Always good and their Ethiopian, East Timorese, Rawandan (when they have it) and Indonesian have all the love I need. Subtle Earth Honduran on Amazon amazing bang for the buck. Pour over only for me.

Coava is my favorite roaster. Some of the best espresso I've experienced was in their Portland shop. I get whole beans delivered every other week across the country in NYC

 

[pseudoid]

Coava is my favorite roaster. Some of the best espresso I've experienced was in their Portland shop. I get whole beans delivered every other week across the country in NYC

Apparently, my taste buds have developed an aversion for any beans that cost more than ~$18USD/lbs.
As with my audio needs, I keep my caffeine addiction in check by applying that "knee-of-the-curve"... of a bandpass audio filter:

...and "cost" always becomes an big part of the equation.
Note: Feel free to replace x-axis to 'Price' and y-axis to 'Performance'.
YBPMV (Your Bode Plot May Vary)

 

[Timmeon]

Apparently, my taste buds have developed an aversion for any beans that cost more than ~$18USD/lbs.
As with my audio needs, I keep my caffeine addiction in check by applying that "knee-of-the-curve"... of a bandpass audio filter:
View attachment 239608
...and "cost" always becomes an big part of the equation.
Note: Feel free to replace x-axis to 'Price' and y-axis to 'Performance'.
YBPMV (Your Bode Plot May Vary)

I have some good news for you!

So far I've cataloged grinder/extraction settings for 19 different roasts to quicken the dial-in process, so I'm locked in. Too much data to jump to another roaster at this point!

My baseline is 18g in - 24g out in 24 seconds if anyone is curious (asked the barista for their recipe). Still can't achieve the same texture, I just blame my grinder.

 

[ryanosaur]

My baseline is 18g in - 24g out in 24 seconds

Oof. That’s an absolute gusher by my standard!
Right now I’m running 20g dose with a 10-12g yield in 36-38seconds.
And the mouthfeel is heavenly-rich with a sweet flavor profile.

 

[pseudoid]

Oof. That’s an absolute gusher by my standard!
Right now I’m running 20g dose with a 10-12g yield in 36-38seconds.
And the mouthfeel is heavenly-rich with a sweet flavor profile.

@ryanosaur keeps saying that his ratio (2:1) works for him and others have questioned him (to no avail).
I tried his once and I much prefer the flavor of (properly brewed) Turkish-coffee to his 2:1.
My lever-rig likes doing 16.6gm to 40.4gm ratio @ ~40seconds, for some reason.

 

[ryanosaur]

@ryanosaur keeps saying that his ratio (2:1) works for him and others have questioned him (to no avail).
I tried his once and I much prefer the flavor of (properly brewed) Turkish-coffee to his 2:1.
My lever-rig likes doing 16.6gm to 40.4gm ratio @ ~40seconds, for some reason.

Everybody is a little bit different.
I'd invite you up, but a 6-8 hour drive for a shot of espresso seems a little... extreme.

The Shop I worked at wanted around 20g in 30 seconds from 16-18g dose. There was a wide space for getting a solid shot within the accepted parameters, but even when out trainer came in to audit me, I told her why I was out of parameter and served her a shot she was pleased with.

The ultimate goal is not meeting a spec, but attaining a delicious product in the end result. If I had it my way, I would still be hitting 14g in 30 seconds on that 20g dose. My machine and the beans say something different right now. I know you can't taste a photo, but the results show a good shot...

You'll just have to take my word.

 

[dfuller]

Ultra-ristrettos like that are bizarre to me. They're exceptionally hard to do well because when you grind that fine the chances of channelling skyrocket. Plus, most coffees would be unbearably underextracted if you choked the machine like that. Grinding that fine for a blooming espresso (which involves doing a fill stage, cutting off inflow, then reintroducing water gradually) might make sense.

In fact I'm wondering, @ryanosaur, if maybe your issues are just you choking the machine. 1:0.5 is such a tight ratio I'm inclined to say this is related.

Do me a solid - try doing a 1:1.5 ratio (20:30) in 30 and see if it's more consistent.

In other news, I cleaned my grinder today in anticipation of switching beans. The burrs on this thing are enormous!

 

[Doodski]

Ultra-ristrettos like that are bizarre to me. They're exceptionally hard to do well because when you grind that fine the chances of channelling skyrocket. Plus, most coffees would be unbearably underextracted if you choked the machine like that. Grinding that fine for a blooming espresso (which involves doing a fill stage, cutting off inflow, then reintroducing water gradually) might make sense.

In fact I'm wondering, @ryanosaur, if maybe your issues are just you choking the machine. 1:0.5 is such a tight ratio I'm inclined to say this is related.

Do me a solid - try doing a 1:1.5 ratio (20:30) in 30 and see if it's more consistent.

In other news, I cleaned my grinder today in anticipation of switching beans. The burrs on this thing are enormous!

What kind of metal are the burrs?

 

[dfuller]

What kind of metal are the burrs?

Some kind of uncoated steel, not sure which. Given that they're shiny, they're probably not the usual oil quenched steel of cheaper burrs.

 

[Doodski]

Some kind of uncoated steel, not sure which. Given that they're shiny, they're probably not the usual oil quenched steel of cheaper burrs.

Are they CNC'd or cast? It's really difficult to tell from the pic.