Made lucky cup of strong cup of coffee today… gearing up for the SF 49ers game. Espro insulated french press (prewarmed with hot tap water), manual burr ground beans, 95degC filtered water, 30 second bloom, 4 minute total soak.
Any update on the Brazen? My coffee maker is on the fritz and I can finally justify the expense of a new one. I’m debating this vs. the Technivorm.
Funny this thread should reappear right now. We’ve been using a Technivorn for years and love it. Been through 10 coffee grinders and the Krupps from our wedding, (34 years ago), is the only one that still works.
We bought a Keurig four months ago for the shop. The simplicity and variety of coffee available was a good fit. The Italian Roast led us to purchasing another Keurig for the house. We still have 9 pounds of beans to grind at home and have ground some and used the Keurig to make it. It was good, but not as good as when brewed in the Technivorn. On the other hand, the Italian Roast is better than both. Right now, convenience is driving our consumption.
Poppy, no personal experience but I read the coffee forums every week. They just don’t get a lot of mention compared to the tv…
One that does however and way less expensive is the bonavita…they say it’s the least expensive one that brews at the correct temp.
All that being said still using the tv every day and have even added another virtuoso and Espro press for my office coffee.
I saw randy post up thread about going to the keurig…I hear you about convenience, but darn, the taste of fresh roasted, fresh ground, and proper ratio coffee compared to keurig is worth it to me.
Technivorm rocks. Brews very
hot. Love it. Bought it a couple years ago after a thread like this when my Capresso died. Get the thermal carafe.
Funny…re: Keurig.
I’ve been using a Technivorm at home for almost a decade…and it makes excellent coffee, for sure. (As has a Newco I have at our place in Maine…and, I’m sure…the Brazen and Bonavita. It’s really all about temperature of the brewing water.)
At my office, the landlord has a Keurig machine. I was skeptical…but…this year started buying Starbucks Pikes Keurig cups for it…and, frankly, it makes a very satisfying cup of coffee for my afternoon cup/mug. I’m surprised…but I also don’t like to drink coffee as hot as the Technivorm comes out…nor even as hot as the Keurig does…my tastebuds get assaulted. (I realize the crucial temp is the water going into the grounds…not the liquid out of it.) So…I’ve given up the idea (and bother) of a super duper machine at the office…as the Keurig is, surprisingly, plenty satisfying with the “right” coffee.
If you need another high end option…
^ That’s gorgeous.
Have to admit I am interested in that ratio machine…but will never be an early adopter of any crowd funded thing again.
If it’s readily available in a year, we’ll see.
I have had a Bonavita for 2+ years now - still going strong and no complaints. My brother is the much bigger coffee geek and he gives it a thumbs-up. I don’t spend $$$ on beans, so I figure the law of diminishing returns means that I’ll probably buy another Bonavita when/if this one needs to be replaced.
I was very impressed with the concept of the Brazen, as I think a “blooming” delay is vital to making the best coffee, and Technivorm has no such feature. But, it does seem like the kinks in the Brazen heavily outweigh that feature/innovation, unfortunately. Amazon.com
Though I still wear my black Brazen t-shirt proudly, I finally gave up on it earlier this year and got a fault-free Technivorm (well…so far), the issue of particulate matter clogging the unit was too much for me…a second time. The first unit lasted 2 years; they readily swapped out the original when I sent a photo of the jammed iris in the open position. It was no more than 6 months (IIRC) before the new unit had the same clogging issue; the iris would not shut, causing the program to abort.
I don’t live in a 50 micro-whatever tap water area and was quite unwilling to use their prescribed solution…IIRC when I bought the first unit early in its introductory phase they originally said 200 micro-whatever was the threshold for water ( I was at 180+/-), but when they came back after I had my 2nd clogging issue in the new unit and responded that the acceptable water purity level was 50, I couldn’t find what I recalled was the earlier pitch…I then decided it wasn’t worth dealing with and moved on…this seems to be the Achilles Heel for the original design of the Brazen…and I’m sure Tahoe Joe will be dealing with it soon enough. I haven’t followed up on coffeegeek.com to see…that’s where he posts super-quick updates.
The Technivorm requires a very short (5 second) stirring of the floating bloom and it’s no longer an issue, whether I roasted the beans (in my very early version of the Behmor, BTW, a great unit) 2 days earlier or a week earlier. The Tech also has a much faster cycle than the Brazen, I can happily report. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
I’m one for two with Joe Behm…not a bad result living on the bleeding edge of the consumer tech world… ![[drinkers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/82916bed5ad74ac8470bc04089d9758b0c80c9fa.gif "drinkers"){kind=small}
That’s pretty much my feeling. I keep checking to see if it’s out yet so I can read reviews of people who have received them.
If they are universally positive I’ll probably go for it. Beautiful machine that seems to combine ease of use with top quality results.
just watched the video. it’s pretty funny and completely ridiculous. it’s basically an automated chemex for $480.
the design is beautiful, but you could get better results from must buying a chemex.