toyman Senior Member Joined: 30 Oct 2012 Posts: 25 Location: PA Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Delonghi EC155, Gaggia... Grinder: Baratza Preciso on the way Drip: Cuisinart
Posted Mon Jan 7, 2013, 12:19pm Subject: Does it end?
I found this place when I was researching my espresso machine and grinder back in October. In addition to enjoying a double macchiato each morning (from my Gaggia Classic) with delicious fresh beans ground in my Baratza Preciso, I've delved into brewing better coffee also. Initially, I started grinding fresh beans (peaberry, yirghecheffe, and kenya aa are the favs) and properly dosing my Cuisinart 1100, but something still wasn't quite right. When I go to my local beanery, the coffee is HOT, not so with my drip machine. After doing some (a lot of) reading here, I checked the temps and they were in the 185-187* range. How to fix. Well, more reading and almost pulled the trigger on a Technivorm/Behmor/Bonavita to quench my need. Then I read somewhere (can't keep it all straight) about heating the water to 160* before pouring in the res. Fantastic! But.....I wanted more/different. My oldest daughter was nice enough to get me an 8 cup french press for Christmas. Read up on that, and wow, what a cup of coffee. Made a pot of fresh Kenya AA last nite that my daughter brought home from a local roaster and Wow. My only minor issue is the sludge at the bottom of my cup. Not sure if it's due to using my Preciso for espresso and french press, but I guess I'm getting a good bit of fines in my grind. Also, my Cuisinart doesn't have a thermal carafe and the coffee degrades quickly on the hot pad, so I went looking for one. Ordered a Zorushi 1 liter carafe on Amazon, and while I was ordering I noticed a manual drip fixture that mates up with it, so I ordered that also. So, since October, I've gone from drinking 'work coffee' and thinking that some 'gas station' coffee was good, to only buying beans when I know when they were ground, grinding them appropriately for the (many) brewing method I'm using. I weigh the dose before I brew. (bought a nice small scale that is accurate to .01) The second best part is finding out what a good cup of coffee tastes like, and the first is sharing the experience with my daughter. She got a Kuerig for her Bday, last year and now doesn't want anything to do with it. Even bought herself a french press to use in her dorm.
emradguy Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2011 Posts: 1,692 Location: Houston Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Izzo Alex Duetto II Grinder: MacapM4T, Macap M4, OE Lido,... Drip: Espro press; Aeropress Roaster: internet
Posted Mon Jan 7, 2013, 12:23pm Subject: Re: Does it end?
welcome to our obsession...no, it doesn't end. Like any other hobby, there's always more stuff to be had...bigger, better, cooler, etc...and sadly, usually more expensive.
btw, you should be able to get a pretty good grind from your Preciso without too much in the way of fines. they have a trouble shooter, if you think you have more than you ought to, on their support pages. www.sweetmarias.com (pretty sure it's them) sells a mod for fp that has a rubber gasket around the outer rim of the filter, to help prevent fines from going between it and the glass wall of the press (a lot cheaper than the upgrade I'd otherwise tell you about - :).
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,642 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Mon Jan 7, 2013, 1:51pm Subject: Re: Does it end?
It ends only when you stop breathing.
I don't like the cup from a FP, I much rather have a vac pot or Areopress, then cone drip and in my humble opinion, coffee is meant to be consumed hot, iced coffee, just isn't.
All that takes a back seat to Espresso for me though. YMMV!
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
Posted Tue Jan 8, 2013, 7:01am Subject: Re: Does it end?
Nope, never ends - only gets better. I seem to have a new "revelation" every couple of weeks. the Journey continues. Wait till you get into home roasting..
toyman Senior Member Joined: 30 Oct 2012 Posts: 25 Location: PA Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Delonghi EC155, Gaggia... Grinder: Baratza Preciso on the way Drip: Cuisinart
Posted Tue Jan 8, 2013, 8:35am Subject: Re: Does it end?
Been holding off on the roasting, but if I like the bean and don't want to buy a new bag every week or two.....oh hell, it's inevitable! For now, it's a lot of fun and enjoying it with my daughters is even better. I enjoy a good cup of coffee, but I really enjoy my espresso. I'm hoping the pour over into the thermo carafe is going to be as good or better with less grinds as the FP. I was short on time this am, so I heated the tea pot with water, ground 30g of Kenya AA, and brewed a batch to fit in the nice thermal Bubba Keg cup my youngest got me for Christmas. Delicious, but I miss my espresso when I don't have one in the am. Probably will pull a double decaf with dinner tonite.
Posted Tue Jan 8, 2013, 12:00pm Subject: Re: Does it end?
From my own experience, the trick is to enjoy the journey. It can become really enticing to pick up the next coolest thing and try it out, but enjoy the ride. I found that I got to a point and then sold a lot of stuff to thin down to what I truly use and like after hitting the height of everything. It's a lot of fun, enjoy it!
Posted Tue Jan 8, 2013, 6:25pm Subject: Re: Does it end?
I wish someone had been there in the beginning to tell me that! Lol. I'm still looking at some stuff I might sell. It might have been my introduction to another forum that made me latch on to new coffee stuff and it got out of hand. Ah well, I can comfortably say that I've used moth manual brewers so its easy to offer advice. So I got that goin for me...
It all started with a breville smart grinder and a French press. I've done a lot of pruning and still have a lot and equipment that is even a bit indulgent (fell in love with nice hand grinders :-)). As I drink only one cup a day I've learned to appreciate coffee much more from my Beehouse. It's simple, easy to clean, and the coffee is delicious.
Keeping it simple can make it even more fun - it was when I realized that the coffee from my Beehouse was the same as my Kalita that I began appreciating simplicity.
Enjoy it toyman! And remember that the buy/sell/trade forum is always open to your unneeded equipment!
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