epengr Senior Member Joined: 1 Apr 2012 Posts: 46 Location: Saskatoon Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: NS Oscar Grinder: Baratza Vario
Posted Thu May 3, 2012, 6:59pm Subject: NS Oscar and ESE pods
I know, I know, ESE pods are evil. I'm thinking of getting some decaf pods though because I can't possibly have a second grinder for the occasional big milky latte that my girlfriend requests in the evening. The subtleties on a good shot would be lost in all that milk and sugar-free hazelnut syrup anyways.
I know that there's a pod adapter kit for Oscar put I'm not swapped the diffuser any more than I'm buying a second grinder.
So, my question: Can you pull an espresso-like shot from ESE pods using Oscar and one of the pod baskets without the special diffuser?
(If so, and you happen to have the pod baskets and want to let them go cheap, let me know...)
IMAWriter Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 5,483 Location: Brentwood, TN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Nothing at the moment Grinder: Vario-W,Preciso-Esatto/KyM... Vac Pot: Adcraft SS, Yama 8 cup Drip: Brazen.Chemex, Hario, Clever... Roaster: Behmor 1600, CO/UFO combo
Posted Thu May 3, 2012, 10:23pm Subject: Re: NS Oscar and ESE pods
David, your Encore is capable of doing a decent job of grinding for espresso, and I wouldn't worry about grinding some decaf in there. If you're concerned, you can always run a bit of Grindz in there to clean out the oils. These days, quality decaf coffee is excellent, and shouldn't be a big deal. It's really more an adjustment thing. USUALLY, decaf beans require a bit of "tightening" of the grind.
You have an excellent machine, and truthfully you're cheating yourself of what would be excellent quality espresso and espresso based beverages. Besides, locally roasted beans..if you can find them in Saskatoon will cost you no more than pods, and the difference in quality is no contest.
If you had a non HX machine, I'd not be writing this. The Oscar is capable of pulling shots as good as machines costing $400 more.
If you want a grinder that would offer a couple of steps up as your MAIN grinder, you could go with the baratza Virtuoso with PRECISO burrs. About $199 new, less as a refurb.
I'd stay, for now with the Encore, and maybe do the WDT (Weiss Distribution Technique) to stir out any clumps.
epengr Senior Member Joined: 1 Apr 2012 Posts: 46 Location: Saskatoon Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: NS Oscar Grinder: Baratza Vario
Posted Fri May 4, 2012, 9:12am Subject: Re: NS Oscar and ESE pods
I wasn't worried about using it for decaf, something to think about though... It is more a question of laziness. The decaf wold be rare, and little more than coffee flacour syrup for a big milk drink, so I would like to not have to swap out beans for one drink. I probably wouldn't go through enough decaf to keep fresh beans on hand anyways. Caffene doesn't bother me in the evening.
From what I've seen, fresh local roast beans are cheaper than pods anyways. For my own consumption it's nothing but fresh roast, fresh ground.
A better grinder is in my future, but used oscar's left me tapped for a while.
cappuccinoboy Senior Member Joined: 27 Jun 2009 Posts: 793 Location: MILANO Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Milano pod, Milano fully... Grinder: grind on demand
Posted Fri May 4, 2012, 2:20pm Subject: Re: NS Oscar and ESE pods
epengr Said:
I know, I know, ESE pods are evil. I'm thinking of getting some decaf pods though because I can't possibly have a second grinder for the occasional big milky latte that my girlfriend requests in the evening. The subtleties on a good shot would be lost in all that milk and sugar-free hazelnut syrup anyways.
I know that there's a pod adapter kit for Oscar put I'm not swapped the diffuser any more than I'm buying a second grinder.
So, my question: Can you pull an espresso-like shot from ESE pods using Oscar and one of the pod baskets without the special diffuser?
(If so, and you happen to have the pod baskets and want to let them go cheap, let me know...)
You are wrong, pods are not evil, actually a very convenient way of brewing a decent espresso in such situations as the occasional big milky latte where top quality espresso means very little, or when you cannot be bothered by the complete fanfare of espresso making (and mistakes when changing beans), besides beeing nitrogen flushed if unopened they stay fresh for a much longer time than the 15 minutes, days, months mantra.. But you cannot do without pod adapter, that you have to buy from whoever sold you the machine, or NS distributor Ciao, Pietro
Jason it looks like you are losing momentum... you used to read the complete post before posting constructive criticism, so why did you change ???
cappuccinoboy Said:
You are wrong, pods are not evil, actually a very convenient way of brewing a decent espresso in such situations as the occasional big milky latte where top quality espresso means very little, or when you cannot be bothered by the complete fanfare of espresso making (and mistakes when changing beans), besides beeing nitrogen flushed if unopened they stay fresh for a much longer time than the 15 minutes, days, months mantra.. But you cannot do without pod adapter, that you have to buy from whoever sold you the machine, or NS distributor Ciao, Pietro
How on earth can you disagree with my "complete" statement or could you justify a second grinder (unless OP decides to "suffer" the fuss of cleaning his grinder and recalibrate for :"for the occasional big milky latte that my girlfriend requests in the evening." and how would you keep the beans from going stale ??? with such limited use ??? There are millions of people out there who use pods or similar mono dose systems, so clearly I am not "SOLO", although I do agree that you can do much better with grinder, fresh beans, good equipment and you Expert MANO. (you probably would be first person unable to detect your top espresso versus a pod espresso poured in a big milky latte, if blind tasting....) Ciao, Pietro
epengr Said:
I know I'll need a pod basket for sure, you're saying that I'll need a pod disfuser too?
I am not sure what you call a pod difuser, for good results you need a pod adaptor and pod basket or complete pod portafilter, but for NS machine you better rely on NS advice Ciao, Pietro
epengr Senior Member Joined: 1 Apr 2012 Posts: 46 Location: Saskatoon Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: NS Oscar Grinder: Baratza Vario
Posted Sat May 5, 2012, 9:59am Subject: Re: NS Oscar and ESE pods
cappuccinoboy Said:
I am not sure what you call a pod diffuser, for good results you need a pod adapter and pod basket or complete pod portafilter, but for NS machine you better rely on NS advice Ciao, Pietro
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