very cool, congrats. certainly proper gear. now have fun ‘wasting’ lots of shots dialing everything in.
Gaggia Titanium
Need better coffee beans for it, but mornings are triple expresso! I’m set for the day then!!
1 Like
Yeah. When I got the Jura that was part of the reasoning behind the decision. The Jura works every day from the first shot. You only really need to recalibrate water/grind if you change coffees dramatically (say medium to dark roast or Caribbean origin to South East Asian) but I don’t do that.
When I was buying, one of the many reviews I saw said, sure you can get better coffee from the pro machine especially since it has the two separate heating elements and the greater level of fine-tuning, but can you spend half an hour every morning pulling shots before you pull one that’s better than the Jura will pull the first time? That clinched it for me.
Others here who have personal chefs and/or valets may feel differently.
i get what you are saying, but i was referring more to what a new purchaser goes through- dialing in the machines out of the box rather than a daily process.
there’s certainly trade offs with every machine. i would say the first shot i pull every morning is 80% of the 2nd and from there they are all how i want them.
with the ‘flow control’ on mine (profitec 700) it certainly allows more tinkering. which of course leads to more control/madness/neuroticism and the cycle repeats, lol.
1 Like
LOL
I find it hard to calibrate any machine without trying the coffee with milk so I’d go insane. My coffee now which tastes awesome with milk as calibrated, smells too off (maybe bright and burnt) without it. I already do more coffee for 1.5oz of water than some say is needed but it won’t be flavorful enough otherwise. I’ve thought of dialing back the grind a bit to lower the extraction a tad but my feeling is that makes it taste brighter (maybe not as burnt). See, I’d go insane. And mind you, this is coffee that my guests have done double takes at and remarked on how delicious it is (even a Colombian friend who almost had to pry the words out of her throat before admitting she liked a Puerto Rican coffee better than the Colombian one she makes). But I could still tinker forever…
yea, i make the wife a 2x latte (2 18.2 g shots) and myself an americano to start the day. generally for her shots i pull them to 38 grams output (usually around 40 seconds) and for my americano like 42 g, and i just top off my cappucino cup with water, so im not even sure how much exactly but it’s not much.
1 Like
I’m still in diapers here although I want to move up to the sand box. I’m not ready for the jungle gym. We have a straight up Mr. Coffee drip machine that is old and leaking water. Does anyone have a recommendation for a grinder/drip coffee maker? I’m looking for a burr grinder and a sprinkler drip mechanism to evenly distribute the water. I’m willing to spend a couple hundred dollars but want to stay in the sand box.
Thanks!
Lonnie
Very happy with our capresso burr grinder and oxo on-9 coffee maker. About $300 for the setup. Only thing I dislike is the showerhead on the oxo occasionally falls into the coffee grounds and I’ve accidentally thrown it away. Oxo is very good about sending free replacement though. Maybe they’ve fixed that too by now…
For a grinder I tend to recommend people consider the Baratza Encore (~$160). It is a workhorse and able to grind well across a variety of grind sizes. It is capable enough that it can easily stay with you in your coffee journey as you develop and grow. The support from Baratza in helping fix or replace parts for their machines is also very well documented and praised.
I’ll second Ethan’s recommendation on the OXO 9-cup (~$200). It’s an all-around drip brewer. At a slightly higher price point, the Breville precision brewer will be more feature rich and let you dip in toes into playing around with things like temperature control, flow rate, bloom time and volume, etc should you choose to. You don’t have to mess around with those settings if you don’t want to though and there’s presets to make it simple.
Also, if you’re willing to do a bit more manual work, consider trying a pour over setup, that can be a lot of fun. You really just need a kettle (ideally a gooseneck one) and a dripper and filter papers.
1 Like
Thank you both. I was thinking of a drip coffee maker with a built in grinder. Put in beans, get coffee. My wife has beans she likes but doesn’t like to grind them.
I can’t recommend a Moccamaster Thermal Carafe enough. Mine is coming up on fourteen years old and it’s a workhorse. Very little moving parts that can break. You can get refurbs from the factory for $200 or so with brand new around $300. The Capresso grinders are really nice starter grinder. Usually around $100 for the Infinity.
I haven’t seen recent positive reviews on the combo units. But, I just pulled out my old Capresso burr grinder and it still works. Now I only need a coffee maker. I may go with the Moccamaster.
Thanks all.
Home:
V60, sometimes Wave
Fellow Ode
Fellow EKG
Travel:
Aeropress
Comandante C40
Beans from Sey, Heart, Coffee Collective (Dk), Prolog (Dk)
I’m considering splurging for a EK43S…
If I want espresso I’ll go to a coffee bar.
1 Like
I have an odd problem with my grinder … Breville Smart Grinder Pro. It’s started grinding short measures (by volume or by weight, coffee is unchanged) , about 60% of target. My impression is it’s giving a higher pitched sound. I’ve done a thorough clean and visual inspection and nothing is apparent. It’s about four years old, used about ten times a week.
Any idea what the problem might be and whether fixable. What is typical life span?
If it basically needs replacing I’m not sure what to go with. I was quite happy with it. 90% of the usage is for brewed coffee (Moccamaster for which I like a very coarse grind with the coffee we use) but occasional espresso.
It’s more expensive than the Baratza encore or Capressa Infinity. I’m not wild about spending more money for a machine that may not last long, but as I say do like the Breville. Am I right that the Bafatza does not have a timer (ie you have to measure the coffee separately)? The Breville is very convenient (when working properly!)
Any suggestions?
What do you mean by short measures? That it’s not outputting the correct volume? Both by time and weight? If by weight, is it noting that it ground the correct weight?
I never used the Breville Smart Grinder Pro, so it’s tough to troubleshoot. But in general terms it could be a couple of things. It could be a burr alignment issue, it could also be an issue with the calibration, both in terms of the weight and timing. The high pitched sound could indicate an issue with the motor as well. It may also be worth reaching out to Breville or posting about the issue in coffee-specific forums, as I think you’ll some more support through those channels as well.
You are correct that the Baratza Encore does not have a timer. Some of their higher end models do have timers and/or weight scales, but then you’re going up in price point.
It is grinding for the stated time. (You specify number of cups or shots, it converts to so many seconds). The output by weight, per my digital scale) is significantly less than it used to be / should be. Volume also but a much less precise measure, based simply on what I see.
I will see what Breville has to say but it’s way past warranty.
Open to suggestions for replacement options if it comes to that.
(The other option is that I can program overrides to simply increase the time for x cups , but I’m not sure yet how consistent the out put is currently. ).
Anyone have an iPhone app they use to determine coffee measurements and brew times? ie, grams of coffee : grams of water needed for a pour over and the time needed to brew.
I used the intelligentsia app for many years, but my iPhone decided to uninstall it and when I went to reinstall it this morning it will no longer install since they’ve sold.
I have a table I made in excel on my iPad. Not exactly an ‘app’. Lol. Not rocket science.
1 Like
On my home Moccamaster drip, I use 8g per cup as they define a cup. Trial and error got me there.
When on vacation, I do a water to coffee ratio (in g) of 15:1. I travel with a scale to get it right. That works for pour over or drip, although I often have to tinker with my technique with some of the basic coffee makers in rental homes.
Those are pretty good places to start and adjust according to taste. A lot also depends on your grind size and quality.
My standard full pot on the Moccamaster is 75g and 1,200g of water. This is more for half pots (which I can do that math) or those days when you’re scratching at the last of the beans and have a random weight left.
I also used it for v60 and chemex because it had a brew timer built in to assist with pacing as you pour water into the maker.