Coffee Thread - The ERA of continued caffeine addiction
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Apparently today is National Coffee Day 🇺🇸 (A lesser-known coffee day as far as deals are concerned is International Coffee Day, which is Oct. 1.)
Check your local coffee places for deals
Check your local coffee places for deals
Get free coffee, deals Wednesday for National Coffee Day at Dunkin', Starbucks, Panera and more
Sept. 29 is National Coffee Day and restaurants, convenience stores and brands alike are toasting the day by giving away free coffee and with deals.
www.usatoday.com
Starbucks Coffee Day: Bring reusable mug for free coffee
Dunkin' National Coffee Day: Free coffee with purchase
McDonald's Coffee Day: 99-cent coffee with app
7-Eleven Coffee Day: Free coffee with baked good
Wawa free coffee for Coffee Day
Krispy Kreme Coffee Day: Free coffee and a doughnut
Panera Coffee Day: Free coffee for parents
Coffee Day at Sonic Drive-In: Half off Mocha Crunch Blast
Peet's Coffee: Black Card giveaway, discount
Minnesota Coffee Era does anyone have some coffee roaster recommendations? Im a big fan of Duluth Coffee Company. Dogwood is also great! Love getting freshly roasted when i can.
Anyone have a recommendation for a good drip coffee maker? Originally I was going to go with a mid-tier drip machine, but now I'm thinking I should spend some money and get a really good one since my wife and I will be drinking multiple cups a day...every day. If there's one thing to splurge on it something you use literally every day.
Of course there's the Moccamaster but I'm trying to get on board with the price. Anything else out there that compares, or is that simply "the one"? Also, anyone who has a Moccamaster, do you have the one with the glass carafe or the thermal? If I get over my price issues, I'm leaning towards the thermal since there would be time between my first and second cups. I know there are pouring and cleaning issues, but how bad can that be?
Of course there's the Moccamaster but I'm trying to get on board with the price. Anything else out there that compares, or is that simply "the one"? Also, anyone who has a Moccamaster, do you have the one with the glass carafe or the thermal? If I get over my price issues, I'm leaning towards the thermal since there would be time between my first and second cups. I know there are pouring and cleaning issues, but how bad can that be?
Literally just ground beans in a cotton "sock". Delicious. Easy just to make one for yourself honestly, you just screw a couple boards together, sew some cotton.
Hey ERA, my friend got me this Delonghi Dedica grinder for Christmas.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KPN9K2A/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_BCYWSBSQCTJRFQYB66KM
Is it worth keeping or should I return it for another grinder at a similar price point? The comments say that it's not very good for espresso, I'd use for filter coffee mainly but if the Barazza Encore is better should I get that?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KPN9K2A/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_BCYWSBSQCTJRFQYB66KM
Is it worth keeping or should I return it for another grinder at a similar price point? The comments say that it's not very good for espresso, I'd use for filter coffee mainly but if the Barazza Encore is better should I get that?
I would swap it for an Encore personally but mainly for the spare parts availability and ease of repair. Baratza is good with that.
Wouldn't expect a huuuge leap in performance though. Maybe a small one because it has more finer grind settings.
Encore will not work for Espresso either.
I don't know if there's anyone else here like me who owns both V60 and Melitta filter papers, but after years of having and using both in different brewers, I just discovered you can use a Melitta filter in a V60 by making a fold from one edge, to the opposite edge of the flat side. Like this:
It fits perfectly and tastes great. I used the Melitta gourmet mild filter (1x4 size) which has a relatively fast draw down time and it worked perfectly.
Just be careful not to fold the seam. Melitta filter seams tear pretty easily. Fold just above like the in the video
It fits perfectly and tastes great. I used the Melitta gourmet mild filter (1x4 size) which has a relatively fast draw down time and it worked perfectly.
Just be careful not to fold the seam. Melitta filter seams tear pretty easily. Fold just above like the in the video
Just a heads up.
Bonavita might be dead. No responses to distributors or to many customers. So consider twice before getting stuff from them.
www.reddit.com
A shame, their kettles are great.
Bonavita might be dead. No responses to distributors or to many customers. So consider twice before getting stuff from them.
Reddit - Dive into anything
www.reddit.com
A shame, their kettles are great.
Just a heads up.
Bonavita might be dead. No responses to distributors or to many customers. So consider twice before getting stuff from them.
Reddit - Dive into anything
A shame, their kettles are great.
Wow that's kinda crazy. I was actually just shopping for a new drip machine, and was looking at one of theirs (ended up going with a Moccamaster). Glad I didn't pick theirs!
Got some new cups, these are rather perfect for my lattes!
(Made by some company called NotNeutral, got these from Intelligentsia.)
(Made by some company called NotNeutral, got these from Intelligentsia.)
After lost packages and lots of shipping delays, finally got my new grinder!!
Next to the old one. Bought the Baratza used for $200 and apart from some minor repairs, worked very well for 7 years.
Next to the old one. Bought the Baratza used for $200 and apart from some minor repairs, worked very well for 7 years.
After lost packages and lots of shipping delays, finally got my new grinder!!
Next to the old one. Bought the Baratza used for $200 and apart from some minor repairs, worked very well for 7 years.
Nice! The Niche is well-loved. I just upgraded from a Rancilio Rocky to a Eureka Atom 75. What a gap.
I have the same machine as you (though yours appears to be modded?). I am going to upgrade in the near future.
(new/old grinder)
I have a Moccamaster (got it for something around $230 at the beginning of the pandemic) and I really like it. I'm not as much of a coffee expert as most people in here (my grinder is a measly OXO conical burr grinder!) but I like it a lot and use it at least once a day, sometimes twice. I have the glass carafe which does spill some while pouring, but just a few drips if I'm not careful or pour too fast. I'm not sure if the thermal carafe makes it better or worse. As far as cleaning issues, I have not noticed anything crazy, and most parts come off easy enough to clean regularly.
If I had to pick another drip brewer that is *slightly* cheaper I would probably go with the OXO Drip Brewer which is also SCA certified. I actually prefer the looks of that one as well!
Nice! The Niche is well-loved. I just upgraded from a Rancilio Rocky to a Eureka Atom 75. What a gap.
I have the same machine as you (though yours appears to be modded?). I am going to upgrade in the near future.
(new/old grinder)
Awesome. I was looking at the Atom 65 too. The 75 was outside my budget.
Yeah I modded my Gaggia Classic over the pandemic. Didn't cost too much and I still like how quickly the machine and group head warm up.
The next proper step up seemed in the 3x-4x the price range and I don't usually make more than one cup anyway.
So I got a Breville Bambino Plus for my birthday a month ago. Just cracked it open. Had some pre-grinded means and made a single shot latte. Honestly pretty good but I have some fresh beans I'll try grinding and make a latte tomorrow or Friday. Any tips for those who have similar machines?
You have to play around with the beans, the roasting level and grind size. Assuming you bought a typical espresso bean, medium roast - start with a bit finer than the middle, weigh the 18 grams out. Let one or two cycle of hot water pass through the filter to warm it up. Then put the ground coffee in, do NOT pack it too hard. Firm press. Brew...the drip should look creamy and thick, when done, there should be dark coffee on the bottom with that chocolatey cream top, about 1:3 ratio. Smell it, taste it. Shouldn't be bitter. Keep dialing it in by varying the grind size.
Thanks, I'll try to hit that sweet spot...might take me some time but I figure there's an art to it.
This is the machine I use every day, and the biggest improvement I got was swapping out the Dual-Wall baskets it comes with for a VST basket. You have to be a bit more accurate with the grind size and amount, but the shots it pours are much better once you get rid of the Dual-Wall.
I'd also recommend getting yourself some kind of grinder that you can easily adjust the grind size and amount on. There's little point having a proper espresso machine and not using freshly ground beans.
This is great advice. Honestly a good consistent coffee grinder will improve the quality of your brew much more than the coffee brewing solution itself. But especially for preparations where the amount and coarseness is important, a good grinder can make all the difference.
Thing is, they're rarely cheap, but a good grinder should last you for years if not decades. Mine has been in daily use for about 7 years now and never needed anything more than a basic clean up.
Anyone have experience with freezing coffee beans?
Have a bag that I won't be able to use for 3-4 weeks while I am traveling.
Have a bag that I won't be able to use for 3-4 weeks while I am traveling.
OP
OP
If you can vacuum seal it, as in a ziplock bag and remove the air, it will keep for plenty of time. I typically go though coffee in about 2 weeks and just use a fellow vacuum container. I think that even at 3-4 weeks, if it is sealed in a dark space, it will still be fine when you return, but no harm in freezing. Don't bother thawing either when you use them, it won't make a difference.
Is the bag sealed? If so, there's no harm in freezing them. As long as they are sealed they shouldn't get frostbite.
Yeah, it's in one of those paper bags. With a degassing valve at the back. Not sure how paper would do in the freezer.
Oh, I can grind from frozen! Hadn't thought of that tbh. Maybe I will split it into smaller ziplocs and freeze for my double basket dose.
It was roasted last week. It should be fine outside too, but want to delay the 'best' period of 2-6 weeks from roasting.
First of all, these paper bags all have a plastic lining inside, so they're fine in the freezer. Just push the trapped co2 out of the bag and put it in the freezer.
I advise against refreezing them though.
It will be fine outside as well. After 6 weeks (depending on the bean and roast) it will start to sweat (oil pools on the beans) even then they are fine as long as they're stored in constant temperature environments and exposure to air being kept to a minimum. Just do a smell test if that happens. If they smell rancid it's best to toss them, or use the coffee in stuff like Tiramisu or for dry rubs.
Coffee prices coming up pretty much +100% since last year, at least with the absolute cheapest supermarket ground coffee, have made me happier about having my grinder. The initially much more premium whole coffee beans have lagged in price hikes, so I'm barely paying more for much better brew.
(Bought Arvid Nordquist Sommar 2022 ground coffee on a whim since it was on discount, but goddamn was it not good at all. Nordquist usually has way better coffees than that, bean or ground)
(Bought Arvid Nordquist Sommar 2022 ground coffee on a whim since it was on discount, but goddamn was it not good at all. Nordquist usually has way better coffees than that, bean or ground)
After using several simple espresso makers throughout my life, and a decade of using pods; i've finally decided to get into it properly.
Recently a friend jumped on a Gaggia Classic Pro and a Baratza Sette 30 setup, and is having a blast.
I decided to browse ebay and see what deals i could find.
Yesterday stumbled upon some auctions, and tried my luck
I wanted to pick up a Gaggia, new or almost new, for 300€. Tried my luck, but kept missing it by 20€ or 30€.
Browsed some beefier machines, but no luck on getting a great price.
Even found a guy on OLX selling the contents of a bankrupt caffe to the highest bidder, and in one of the pictures there was a Marzocco GS3 AV.
My eyes widened thinking he might not know what he had, but after a lot of messages trying to pry out a price from him, he kinda did know.
Dejected, went back to ebay, and threw some bids here and there. Ended up snagging a Quick Mill Pegaso PID Flow Control for 620€
Its not exactly what i had in mind, since it has an integrated mill, which i didn't really want; but for not much more than what you pay for a new Gaggia, i'm getting PID temperature control, pressure control, a decent mill and flow control (with the lever? idk).
So... yay?
I still don't know exactly what i got myself into. Let's see what happens.
Now i gotta find some coffee before this beast gets here.
Any accessories and or slight mods that i should look into?
Anybody here has had anything from Quick Mill? How is it?
Recently a friend jumped on a Gaggia Classic Pro and a Baratza Sette 30 setup, and is having a blast.
I decided to browse ebay and see what deals i could find.
Yesterday stumbled upon some auctions, and tried my luck
I wanted to pick up a Gaggia, new or almost new, for 300€. Tried my luck, but kept missing it by 20€ or 30€.
Browsed some beefier machines, but no luck on getting a great price.
Even found a guy on OLX selling the contents of a bankrupt caffe to the highest bidder, and in one of the pictures there was a Marzocco GS3 AV.
My eyes widened thinking he might not know what he had, but after a lot of messages trying to pry out a price from him, he kinda did know.
Dejected, went back to ebay, and threw some bids here and there. Ended up snagging a Quick Mill Pegaso PID Flow Control for 620€
Its not exactly what i had in mind, since it has an integrated mill, which i didn't really want; but for not much more than what you pay for a new Gaggia, i'm getting PID temperature control, pressure control, a decent mill and flow control (with the lever? idk).
So... yay?
I still don't know exactly what i got myself into. Let's see what happens.
Now i gotta find some coffee before this beast gets here.
Any accessories and or slight mods that i should look into?
Anybody here has had anything from Quick Mill? How is it?
You should ask in reddit - that's where you will find more specific recommendations and its also a larger pool of users. My general advise would be to learn how to pull shots that you like by practicing before going over board with mods and whatnot. That'll take time and effort, and anytime you change a variable you have to shift everything you learned. I also do not actually like the typical espresso steamers as they are hard to use and clean. I use a cheap $20 milk steamer from Amazon which makes better foam.
I don't own anything from them, but they are generally well thought of.
You should look at a standalone grinder at some point to get the best results.
Otherwise, get a scale and spend time getting your workflow to be consistent. If you want to get the best extractions, get a bottomless portafilter so you can see if you're getting any flow issues.
Practicing will be me focus for now, yeah.
The grinder seems nice enough for my 0 level of skill.
Probably gonna need a proper tamper and leveller eventually.
Also the bottomless portafilter you mentioned.
Any cheap scales you can recommend?
I'll see what I can do with what comes included.
I can't really recommend a particular scale, no. I just found one on Amazon that was decently rated and not too expensive. It also has a timer function on it, which is nice because my current machine doesn't have a shot timer included.
One of those combo tamper/leveler things that you can get for ~30 bucks is something I would suggest. They let you lock the tamper in to a certain depth and if you are weighing your grind and keeping it consistent, it allows you to remove tamp pressure as another variable.
I'd get any old ~20 dollar scale from Amazon, maybe 1-2 kg in range so you can weigh/tare with the portafilter.
Maybe one of those rubber mats so you don't damage your counter when tamping.
I'd get any old ~20 dollar scale from Amazon, maybe 1-2 kg in range so you can weigh/tare with the portafilter.
Maybe one of those rubber mats so you don't damage your counter when tamping.
Oh, I've never seen a tamper/leveller combo, that sound nice.
I have a scale in that range, it's probably just a bit too big to fit under the portafilter. I'll try it out.
Rubber mat, yeah. Damn so much stuff already.
It depends on the diameter of your portafilter but something like this:
I also have a 3d printed funnel that attaches to my portafilter and fits into my grinder that makes things convenient, but it isn't a must.
Delivery was super quick, and i got enough packing peanuts for the rest of the year as it came double boxed.
I spent the weekend learning the ins and outs.
At first i was completely baffled. Turned it on, tried to use the grinder and nothing.
The numbers on the PID counter kept going up, counting the seconds, when i pressed the grind switch but nothing happened.
Went back to the ebay listing to make sure i didnt miss any faults on the detailed description of the item, but it was listed as brand new with open box.
Popped 3 screws off of the top of the machine and inspected the wiring near the grinder, and found a brown wire had come loose and disconnected from its white spade connector; probably during shipping.
Put everything back the way it was, and off we go! Straight into making very terrible and bitter expresso.
The machine looks great and feels like quality piece of kit. The grinder is really the only piece that seems to be lacking a bit. There's no stepless adjustment and the swinging metal hat near the chute is just a bad design, as it impedes the normal flow of coffee out of the grinder.
I adjusted the grind several times and dialed back the temperature to 198 (92ºc), until it started to resemble a proper espresso.
At first i fiddled with the pressure lever to try some fancy profiling, but quickly gave that up since i'm still way too green to be worrying about it. Straight to 9 bars after that.
The last thing i was having trouble with was the baskets. Since Quick Mill is an Italian company their baskets seem (to me at least) to conform to the Italian dosages of 7g for a single and 14g for a double. Even going a little bit over those dosages seemed to result in having the group head main screw imprinted in the center of the puck.
One other thing that may have contributed to the coffee bed being too high, is the fact that i'm using the included suspended tamper, on the machine, to do the the job; which results in it not being leveled nor as packed as it could be. Using the single basket is almost impossible without a proper tamper, so after a few tries i just moved to the double and didnt look back.
After basically throwing away 250gr of beans, adjusting stuff, i finally got to a sweet spot.
Although i'm not getting the abundance of crema i was expecting, there's enough and the flavour is so goooooood.
Slight acidity, almost no bitterness, and amazing soft flavour coming through.
For now i just used some Colombian beans from the biggest Portuguese roaster, Delta. Nor only was it super cheap (2.20€ for 250g), but it already produces amazing results.
Now waiting for the tamper\leveler combo and some cafiza.
Look forward to trying some other local roasters and some even fresher beans.
I spent the weekend learning the ins and outs.
At first i was completely baffled. Turned it on, tried to use the grinder and nothing.
The numbers on the PID counter kept going up, counting the seconds, when i pressed the grind switch but nothing happened.
Went back to the ebay listing to make sure i didnt miss any faults on the detailed description of the item, but it was listed as brand new with open box.
Popped 3 screws off of the top of the machine and inspected the wiring near the grinder, and found a brown wire had come loose and disconnected from its white spade connector; probably during shipping.
Put everything back the way it was, and off we go! Straight into making very terrible and bitter expresso.
The machine looks great and feels like quality piece of kit. The grinder is really the only piece that seems to be lacking a bit. There's no stepless adjustment and the swinging metal hat near the chute is just a bad design, as it impedes the normal flow of coffee out of the grinder.
I adjusted the grind several times and dialed back the temperature to 198 (92ºc), until it started to resemble a proper espresso.
At first i fiddled with the pressure lever to try some fancy profiling, but quickly gave that up since i'm still way too green to be worrying about it. Straight to 9 bars after that.
The last thing i was having trouble with was the baskets. Since Quick Mill is an Italian company their baskets seem (to me at least) to conform to the Italian dosages of 7g for a single and 14g for a double. Even going a little bit over those dosages seemed to result in having the group head main screw imprinted in the center of the puck.
One other thing that may have contributed to the coffee bed being too high, is the fact that i'm using the included suspended tamper, on the machine, to do the the job; which results in it not being leveled nor as packed as it could be. Using the single basket is almost impossible without a proper tamper, so after a few tries i just moved to the double and didnt look back.
After basically throwing away 250gr of beans, adjusting stuff, i finally got to a sweet spot.
Although i'm not getting the abundance of crema i was expecting, there's enough and the flavour is so goooooood.
Slight acidity, almost no bitterness, and amazing soft flavour coming through.
For now i just used some Colombian beans from the biggest Portuguese roaster, Delta. Nor only was it super cheap (2.20€ for 250g), but it already produces amazing results.
Now waiting for the tamper\leveler combo and some cafiza.
Look forward to trying some other local roasters and some even fresher beans.
My wife got me a pour over coffee maker and bean grinder for my birtbday. I'm really struggling though. My coffee tastes weak. Anyone else have a pour over they can share tips on?
Grind finer and/or increase your coffee:water ratio.
It takes some practice, for sure. Check out James Hoffmann's latest video. He's using a V60, which may be different than what you have, but the general concept is all the same.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oB1oDrDkHM
Yep as recommended, check out James Hoffmann's youtube channel. He has great tutorials on grinding, pour overs and is entertaining when he goes a bit nutty.
-edit-
Also make sure you have a digital scale !! You don't need a super fancy one, just one that is consistently accurate for the amount you make.
-edit-
Also make sure you have a digital scale !! You don't need a super fancy one, just one that is consistently accurate for the amount you make.
When the YT algorithm starts recommending videos from Hames Joffman, make sure you watch those too.
Thank you, everyone. My coffee is tasting much better. I still have plenty of experimenting to do, but at least it doesn't taste like water anymore.
I need to order some more beans. Any recommendations on some roasters to try out in the US? I've done Counter Culture and Black & White and enjoyed both.
City of Saints Coffee Roasters is my local roaster in NYC. I know they roast and deliver via Trade. I still order other coffees from around the states but I always have some of their roast on hand. They haven't missed for me, especially if you catch them when they have some light roasted Ethiopian. I'll preface by saying I'm pretty just doing pour overs with a v60.