Let’s talk coffee

[Wyvern]

New bag of beans. A dry process Ethiopian. Roasted up really fast compared to the South and Central American beans I’ve been going through lately.

I tried ordering from them but after 2 weeks they never shipped it so I cancelled.

We used to have a local roaster I bought greens from but she sold out and the new owner wouldn't sell us beans.

I roast currently because we go through a poopon of coffee in the house, and enjoy the expensive origin coffee's that I couldn't afford pre-roasted.

Started with a GeneCafe and picked up a honking 2.5Kg roaster for a song last year.

I plan on selling small batches eventually, need to find a reliable supplier and consistent product first.

 

[pisces_bass]

Nice choice buddy. That natural Ethiopian is rock solid, pretty much anything in that region of Guji. I'd back off on what they recommend for roast and hit it light to pull out that fruit. Add a splash of almond milk to a pour over or shot of espresso and it'll remind you of a blueberry pancake.

-Mike

I stopped the roast as first crack was winding down. Looking forward to trying in a couple days!

 

[pisces_bass]

I tried ordering from them but after 2 weeks they never shipped it so I cancelled.

We used to have a local roaster I bought greens from but she sold out and the new owner wouldn't sell us beans.

I roast currently because we go through a poopon of coffee in the house, and enjoy the expensive origin coffee's that I couldn't afford pre-roasted.

Started with a GeneCafe and picked up a honking 2.5Kg roaster for a song last year.

I plan on selling small batches eventually, need to find a reliable supplier and consistent product first.

Been ordering from SM’s for 10 years. Never had a delayed shipment. Did you call them?

 

[MJ5150]

Give Steve over at Bodhi Leaf a try.
Green Coffee Buying Club is legit too. My buddy Aaron over there has been selling for years.

-Mike

 

[MJ5150]

I stopped the roast as first crack was winding down. Looking forward to trying in a couple days!

What we love to do with those Guji coffees is start drinking them after 24 hours and try a pour over a day over the course of a week. You'll really get a feel for how that coffee changes just in that first week post roasting.

-Mike

 

[Wyvern]

Been ordering from SM’s for 10 years. Never had a delayed shipment. Did you call them?

They said "its our busy season, we don't make special accommodations for anyone"

I simply asked if my order shipped yet, I didn't want special treatment.

I was only buying 5 pounds to test out, but it was my first order, haven't tried since.

Been using Happy Mug, they've been pretty good, especially the Columbian and Brazil.

 

[Gopherbassist]

I forgot to empty my coffee maker, and it was taken over by mold. I threw it out, and haven't gotten a new one yet.

I wanted some coffee though, and got a jar of Folgers instant. And you know what? It's perfectly good. Instant gets a lot of hate, but I detect nothing lacking there, and no unpleasantness. It scrateches an itch.

 

[pisces_bass]

They said "its our busy season, we don't make special accommodations for anyone"

I simply asked if my order shipped yet, I didn't want special treatment.

I was only buying 5 pounds to test out, but it was my first order, haven't tried since.

Been using Happy Mug, they've been pretty good, especially the Columbian and Brazil.

That’s weird. I wonder what the busy season is for home coffee roasting? There are certainly other vendors to work with.

 

[Wyvern]

That’s weird. I wonder what the busy season is for home coffee roasting? There are certainly other vendors to work with.

IIRC it was in the fall.

 

[pisces_bass]

What we love to do with those Guji coffees is start drinking them after 24 hours and try a pour over a day over the course of a week. You'll really get a feel for how that coffee changes just in that first week post roasting.

-Mike

Made a cup this morning, 8 days after roasting. Blueberries all the way! It’s been good from the start but today was the best.

 

[MJ5150]

Made a cup this morning, 8 days after roasting. Blueberries all the way! It’s been good from the start but today was the best.

Nice work roasting it up just right to get those blueberries. Well done.

-Mike

 

[Passinwind]

My health issues have finally backed off enough that my wife let me rebuild our 25-ish year old Italian Lelit espresso machine:

Not my first go-round under the hood, since it's always been a bit like a old school British or Italian sports car. But at least most parts are still readily available, and by now there are official factory tech training videos on maintenance for these things. So naturally once I got it back in reasonably decent working order our barely "prosumer" (at best) Baratza Encore burr grinder decided it'd had enough. It's the second one we've used up, but they do seem go a pretty long time before the burrs are just done. About a decade for each one for us. Replacing the inside burr is simple but when the outer one goes it looks to be game over unless you're willing to throw a lot of effort at it. In any case, we were ready for something better, and since we've both cut our consumption a lot, throwing a bunch of money down wasn't in the cards.

We eventually decided to try a hand grinder with a ~$150 spending cap, and Interweb reviews pointed to the Mavo Phantox Pro as a good bet for our particular use cases. My wife does lots of pour overs and French Press and I prefer lattes with new school light / medium roast espresso that takes a very fine grind to work well in modest single boiler machines like ours. The Mavo just showed up this morning, so I threw a dart at dead center of the recommended espresso range and fired up. Already an order of magnitude better than the Baratza on the finest setting: tons of crema, and a profile quite similar to a shot pulled at the roaster's killer little shop across the river. We use better milk though, so my latte is already a solid 8.5/10, and I haven't even recalibrated the pressure valve, messed with dosing and tamping optimizations, or gotten to work on finding the right grind setting. Good times! I have two other local vendors' roats here to calibrate with too, this may take a while.

 

[MJ5150]

Buddy, that is so rad. Way to go!!
Those old Italian espresso machines are great, and as you know, there's a huge community committed to keeping them alive.
We still use our la Pavoni lever action machine from the 1960's. I have never had a better shot of espresso than what that pulls. Still plugging away with the Reg Barber tamper we picked up 30 some years ago too.

-Mike

 

[Passinwind]

Buddy, that is so rad. Way to go!!
Those old Italian espresso machines are great, and as you know, there's a huge community committed to keeping them alive.
We still use our la Pavoni lever action machine from the 1960's. I have never had a better shot of espresso than what that pulls. Still plugging away with the Reg Barber tamper we picked up 30 some years ago too.

-Mike

Nice! My entree to espresso a zillion years ago was via a beautifully restored old lever action machine, doesn't get any better than that.

This morning brought a second go with the new hand grinder; nailed the grind setting and will try bumping the pressure up a little for the next shot. 8.8/10, and no leaks today. Haven't had this good a latte at home in years, and I think there's more to come before we even explore our other favorite local roasts.

In the midst of the Lelit rebuild I also managed to finish up my long delayed tube bass amp project: A DIY 100 watt Tube Amp: PW100B . And then I booked my first real gig on bass in 8 years, for a cool local festival. A pretty good couple of weeks, all in all.

 

[Passinwind]

This thing has broken in nicely and is a lot easier to grind with by now:

I've been consistently getting great shots with all three different "modern espresso" roasts we have on hand and slowly dialing in the fine details. I just recalibrated our machine's pressure valve a little tonight, but if things end up reverting to the last setting we'd both be perfectly happy with that.

 

[definenredefine]

Speaking of espresso machines, I wanna buy one for my wife sometime soon. Any recommendations for one that isn't crazy expensive but also isn't a cheap piece of junk? I'm hoping to find something that works well and will hopefully last at least a few years...

I should add that my wife knows her way around the kitchen, and we're both familiar with grinding our own beans (I grind my own every day for my press.) Also I'm definitely okay with buying used.

Just from some quick internet sleuthing, looks like a Breville, Gaggia or Delonghi might be my best bet.

 

[MJ5150]

Which coffee grinder do you have @definenredefine ?

-Mike

 

[PWolverine]

Just from some quick internet sleuthing, looks like a Breville, Gaggia or Delonghi might be my best bet.

A few years back I swapped from a Gaggia to a Rancilio Silvia. It was a great upgrade, I regret not having done that years before.

If you have a good grinder and you are ok an giving a manual machine a go, I really recommend the Rancilio. These things are built like tanks and easy to repair, or get repaired if anything goes wrong. So buying second hand is not as much of an issue, unlike something like Breville or Delonghi. However, you may find the Breville and Delonghi will do more for you and be less "manual".

 

[definenredefine]

Which coffee grinder do you have @definenredefine ?

-Mike

This is probably gonna pain the purists - I use an Oster blender with a spice jar. Works well for coarse grind, but I don't think it'll work for espresso grinds. I'm looking for a grinder, too.

A few years back I swapped from a Gaggia to a Rancilio Silvia. It was a great upgrade, I regret not having done that years before.

If you have a good grinder and you are ok an giving a manual machine a go, I really recommend the Rancilio. These things are built like tanks and easy to repair, or get repaired if anything goes wrong. So buying second hand is not as much of an issue, unlike something like Breville or Delonghi. However, you may find the Breville and Delonghi will do more for you and be less "manual".

What do you like better about the Rancilio? It's about double the price of the Gaggia I'm looking at (new, anyway)...what do I get with that extra investment?

I'm okay with manual...I think my wife would be also.

 

[MJ5150]

This is probably gonna pain the purists - I use an Oster blender with a spice jar. Works well for coarse grind, but I don't think it'll work for espresso grinds. I'm looking a grinder, too.


What do you like better about the Rancilio? It's about double the price of the Gaggia I'm looking at (new, anyway)...what do I get with that extra investment?

I'm okay with manual...I think my wife would be also.

It's not so much a purist thing, it's more of a waste of money to buy a nice espresso machine and then dump tore up beans in it. Good call getting a real grinder too.

-Mike