The_Coffee_Guy Senior Member Joined: 5 Jan 2009 Posts: 105 Location: Toronto Expertise: I live coffee
Grinder: Baratza Encore Drip: Behmor BraZen Brew System,...
Posted Sat Oct 13, 2012, 8:32pm Subject: Re: Now we know what GORT is (Behmor BraZen Brewer)
Ok I am finally understanding the truth behind this gorgeous machine. Started off taking little cups and samples from a wide range of grinds, then compared with a sample of Kosher Salt (Thanks Rob for that thought) to get the grind just a bit courser. Next, a full pot was an order (using the gold filter) of my Costco Rwandan. Let me tell you, that coffee is obviously not freshly roasted but the BraZen made the absolute best pot I have tasted of that coffee. Tonight, I used a paper filter and 50 grams for 900ml of water, again Brilliant. As my dad and I watched it was interesting that the BraZen did not quite get up to 1400W usage but then, during brew, used almost no power and kept that brew temperature just beautifully. Way to go Joe :). This is now getting addictive.
brazen1 Senior Member Joined: 29 Sep 2012 Posts: 39 Location: New England Expertise: Just starting
Posted Sat Oct 13, 2012, 9:03pm Subject: Re: Now we know what GORT is (Behmor BraZen Brewer)
Yeah, I got an unexpected comparison this week.
I'm on my third pound of beans since getting the Brazen. A bag of Dunkin' Donuts beans. The bag of fresh roasted Willoughby's Columbian beans that came with the Brazen. And, a bag of Starbucks blonde roast Veranda blend. The fresh Willoughby's were the best, but all three have been brewing excellent coffee.
On my way back from hiking the other day, I stopped at Dunkin Donuts to get a coffee for the drive home. Wow, was that rude in comparison. Not even in the same universe as the Brazen with exactly the same beans.
oldgearhead Senior Member Joined: 25 Jan 2010 Posts: 354 Location: Go Colts! Expertise: I like coffee
Grinder: Virtuoso by Baratza Drip: Chemex,Dilongi DCM900 Roaster: 1/2K Fluid-bed
Posted Sun Oct 14, 2012, 7:37am Subject: Re: Now we know what GORT is (Behmor BraZen Brewer)
Maybe this is a good time to restate the simple rules for great drip (or pour-over) coffee. 1) Rule of 15: a) Brew within 15 months of harvest. b) Brew within 15 days of roasting. c) Brew within 15 minutes of grinding.
2) Use hot (200F-205F), not boiling, water. 3) Control the 'bloom' to 'puck' transistion.. 4) Stay consistant.
The BraZen is the first pass at automated 'bloom' control. However, believe it or not, it's really pretty easy to make great drip coffee with from about any 200F - 205F hot water source. Even so, it would be very nice to have the precise temperature control of either the Brazen or a high-end kettle.
In the meantime, I'll make do with 'thirty-seconds-off-boil' water for the 'bloom', and the 204F water from the DCM900.
brazen1 Senior Member Joined: 29 Sep 2012 Posts: 39 Location: New England Expertise: Just starting
Posted Sun Oct 14, 2012, 12:13pm Subject: Re: Now we know what GORT is (Behmor BraZen Brewer)
OK, I did a back to back comparison this morning. With the Brazen, I find myself wanting to brew the amount that I'm going to drink fairly soon, no more, no less. That mean that occasionally I want to brew a single cup/mug or, at least, a big travel mug, and not leave any extra coffee for a stale second cup.
Today, I tried two approaches. In both cases, I used the Starbucks blonde roast beans that are in the VARIO right now. In both cases, I used 16 ounces of water and 24 grams of coffee (fine drip grind). In both cases, I just put the pre-measured water in the Brazen and hit start. 1:30 pre-soak, 205 degrees, auto-cycle. No changes.
-------------------------
Cup 1: Hario 02 filter cone.
Cup 2: Standard Brazen filter basket into the thermal carafe. The only change is that I used two paper filters to slow the brew down just a bit.
-------------------------
Cup 1 was smooth and tasty, but nowhere near as strong as the usual Brazen brew with the same proportions. Cup 2 was excellent. Back to normal Brazen strength, tasted pretty much the same as brewing larger batches. Grounds were very evenly wetted and had risen, at some point, about halfway up the filter. So contrary to what I expected, the Brazen flat basket appears to work better than a cone filter, even with a small batch. And, it's not like the water is just shooting thru the Hario. The Brazen fills it up nearly to the top of the cone on the second release of water. I just think the flat basket is wetting more of the coffee more evenly. Maybe a slower dripping cone would work better, but it sure looks like there is no reason to mess with cones, even for small batches, in the Brazen. So, if I can brew anything from 16 ounces to 40+ ounces of water, I've got all the bases covered. Fantastic.
germantownrob Senior Member Joined: 2 Dec 2007 Posts: 2,016 Location: Philadelphia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Duetto 3, A Dead Oscar Grinder: Vario-W, Preciso w/Esatto,... Drip: Brazen Roaster: Diedrich IR-1, HT B
Posted Wed Oct 17, 2012, 9:10am Subject: Re: Now we know what GORT is (Behmor BraZen Brewer)
Received my Brazen yesterday ( thank you raisin!), after setup and some cleaning cycles I have brewed many of a pot. It really looks good sitting in between a Vario and a Preciso, the wife has commented on how nice it looks multiple times. I love being able to adjust the brew temps, it is amazing what a few degrees can do to a cup. The lid condensation is not a bother nor is the condensation drips from the brew head when removing the filter basket since I already have a wet micro fiber rag and a dry one sitting on the espresso machine.
I am working with 3 different 4 day old roasts (3days yesterday) and adjusting the pre soak for bloom, every full pot has bloomed over the basket with 65g of beans ground to the consistency of kosher salt, at 2min pre soak it was just barely so will try 2:15 min next.
I feel like I finally have a brewer that will help me advance my drip brew roasting plus I can play with temp, dose and grind size to my hearts content.
Posted Wed Oct 17, 2012, 1:31pm Subject: Re: Now we know what GORT is (Behmor BraZen Brewer)
Looking for ideas - I'm still trying to get proportions down right now. My guess is I got spoiled and very used to stronger coffee using a French press daily for the past several years. This mornings BraZen test was using my 4 day old home roast beans - ground the night before. As past brews have been "weak," I've been edging up the coffee amounts (weight). Today I used a 75 grams/liter ratio (not quite the European level Joe mentioned) for 0.9L water volume. Brew temp's been set at 205. Even though the beans were ground the night before, I stayed with a 2 minute pre-soak. Bottom line is the coffee was great, but the gold mesh filter topped over with grounds that ended up in the pot. Not a big deal, but very messy. What to do? Bloom shouldn't have been a problem. My grind level was one click finer than the midpoint on my Vario. Two options immediately come to mind - use less coffee or grinding coarser. But, both will have the effect of weakening the flavor (I fear) at 0.9L water level - not a desirable outcome. Anything I'm missing here?
Posted Wed Oct 17, 2012, 1:37pm Subject: Re: Now we know what GORT is (Behmor BraZen Brewer)
germantownrob Said:
The lid condensation is not a bother nor is the condensation drips from the brew head when removing the filter basket since I already have a wet micro fiber rag and a dry one sitting on the espresso machine.
Posted Wed Oct 17, 2012, 1:59pm Subject: Re: Now we know what GORT is (Behmor BraZen Brewer)
Tourman Said:
Today I used a 75 grams/liter ratio (not quite the European level Joe mentioned) for 0.9L water volume. Brew temp's been set at 205. Even though the beans were ground the night before, I stayed with a 2 minute pre-soak.
No offense Dan, but I don't know how people can drink drip brew this strong., that's 2.5 grams for 29 oz of water!.., or 2.6 grams of coffee per ounce of water.
My grind level was one click finer than the midpoint on my Vario.
The Vario produces a bi-model output of coffee grinds & is biased more so for espresso because of that (more fines & possibility of Brazen basket overflow) & not as suitable for a level of grind coarseness as needed/desired for drip brewing.
Two options immediately come to mind - use less coffee or grinding coarser. But, both will have the effect of weakening the flavor (I fear) at 0.9L water level - not a desirable outcome.
I'd use less coffee & use a different grinder.
Anything I'm missing here?
We all have to adapt & experiment to dial in our BraZen with what we have to produce an acceptable result., & that's going to be as different as there's Coffeegeeks here.. {;-)
raisin Senior Member Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 121 Location: pa Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Virtuosa Roaster: Behmor
Posted Wed Oct 17, 2012, 2:41pm Subject: Re: Now we know what GORT is (Behmor BraZen Brewer)
Tourman Said:
Looking for ideas - I'm still trying to get proportions down right now. My guess is I got spoiled and very used to stronger coffee using a French press daily for the past several years. This mornings BraZen test was using my 4 day old home roast beans - ground the night before. As past brews have been "weak," I've been edging up the coffee amounts (weight). Today I used a 75 grams/liter ratio (not quite the European level Joe mentioned) for 0.9L water volume. Brew temp's been set at 205. Even though the beans were ground the night before, I stayed with a 2 minute pre-soak. Bottom line is the coffee was great, but the gold mesh filter topped over with grounds that ended up in the pot. Not a big deal, but very messy. What to do? Bloom shouldn't have been a problem. My grind level was one click finer than the midpoint on my Vario. Two options immediately come to mind - use less coffee or grinding coarser. But, both will have the effect of weakening the flavor (I fear) at 0.9L water level - not a desirable outcome. Anything I'm missing here?
You're going to miss your mark if you think that you can replicate the qualities of french press with ANY drip machine, even one as advanced as the Brazen. However, i might suggest lowering the brew temp to 201 in an attempt to produce more smoothness and body with your present recipe. A lot of us anticipated a brewer that can reliably produce those upper range temps, but my early reactions find the higher temps extract more undesirable flavor components and unbalance the cup.
A lot of us anticipated a brewer that can reliably produce those upper range temps, but my early reactions find the higher temps extract more undesirable flavor components and unbalance the cup.
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