coffee - how anal are you?

[Derboesekoenig]

Taught myself how to roast. I've used a chemex since 2014. I use filtered water, grind right before I brew every day. No other options: beans roasted within 2 or 3 weeks depending on how I'm brewing, filtered water at the correct temp (195*-205*F), and consistency: measure and time everything, every time. Very simple process, and doesn't really take long to make coffee. Totally worth it, but most people tell me it's too much.

[SigmundChurchill]

6 minutes ago, prodigy said:

Is that one that automatically makes the milk foam. Was reading that the lines need to be replaced every 3 months due to sanitary reasons, even if cleaned. I really want a new espresso machine, but wouldn't want one that needs replacement parts many times a year. I'm currently using a refurbished estro profi that my mom gave me. She used it daily for 15 years and it's still going strong.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 

It does automatically foam the milk, depending on which drink you pick, of course.  I haven’t read anything about internal lines needing to be replaced often.  It has an external line that would be very easy to replace and is probably only a few bucks to replace.  But it automatically cleans the line after every use with very hot water and it comes with something to do a bigger cleaning at the end of the day.  It’s a good question, I’ll have to read up some more.

[prodigy]

It does automatically foam the milk, depending on which drink you pick, of course.  I haven’t read anything about internal lines needing to be replaced often.  It has an external line that would be very easy to replace and is probably only a few bucks to replace.  But it automatically cleans the line after every use with very hot water and it comes with something to do a bigger cleaning at the end of the day.  It’s a good question, I’ll have to read up some more.

I forget where exactly I read that. Either a review website or Amazon. It could be false, but I think there's some merit to it. I'd rather just foam up my own milk, but that machine is pretty amazing.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

 

[pgwdaddy]

Taught myself how to roast. I've used a chemex since 2014. I use filtered water, grind right before I brew every day. No other options: beans roasted within 2 or 3 weeks depending on how I'm brewing, filtered water at the correct temp (195*-205*F), and consistency: measure and time everything, every time. Very simple process, and doesn't really take long to make coffee. Totally worth it, but most people tell me it's too much.

Keep going...we’re listening.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Derboesekoenig]

For a basic setup I recommend: any size chemex, box of filters, very basic scale ($10? drug scale on amazon. the little silver one), either Baratza encore ($120) burr grinder or a Porlex Mini for around $50. Chemex is $40, and go to your local roaster for bags of coffee. Consume after 1 or 2 days, sometimes 3 days after roast is the sweet spot. Then starts going downhill after 7-10 days. 

[Derboesekoenig]

You absolutely NEED the burr grinder for consistent-tasting coffee. Also great because you can adjust the size of your coffee grounds and even the Porlex hand burr grinder does pretty well. I use it for traveling with either aeropress, chemex, or hario pourover

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, prodigy said:

Is that one that automatically makes the milk foam. Was reading that the lines need to be replaced every 3 months due to sanitary reasons, even if cleaned. I really want a new espresso machine, but wouldn't want one that needs replacement parts many times a year. I'm currently using a refurbished estro profi that my mom gave me. She used it daily for 15 years and it's still going strong.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 

 

1 hour ago, SigmundChurchill said:

It does automatically foam the milk, depending on which drink you pick, of course.  I haven’t read anything about internal lines needing to be replaced often.  It has an external line that would be very easy to replace and is probably only a few bucks to replace.  But it automatically cleans the line after every use with very hot water and it comes with something to do a bigger cleaning at the end of the day.  It’s a good question, I’ll have to read up some more.

Use the milk line cleaner solution. It is designed to remove any milk solid residue and sanitise the line. I use one for my Delonghi machine once a month.

[SigmundChurchill]

54 minutes ago, prodigy said:

I forget where exactly I read that. Either a review website or Amazon. It could be false, but I think there's some merit to it. I'd rather just foam up my own milk, but that machine is pretty amazing.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

 

OK.  I just read through the whole maintenance section.  You need to replace the external tube every 3 months, nothing internal.  From what people on a coffee forum have said, you can buy 3M of tubing for $5 and cut off pieces as needed to replace.

[SigmundChurchill]

1 minute ago, Fuzz said:

 

Use the milk line cleaner solution. It is designed to remove any milk solid residue and sanitise the line. I use one for my Delonghi machine once a month.

Just once a month?  I was going to do it daily at the end of the day.

[Fuzz]

I was told by a service/repair guy that you don't need to use the cleanser daily, unless you make a lot of coffee (and I really mean a lot). Not sure about the Jura, but my Delonghi has a "Clean" button on the milk frother to run steam through it to rinse any milk out. As long as you do that every time you froth milk, you don't need to use the cleanser as often.

After your first month when you use the milk cleanser, if you see a lot of milk solids in the solution, then you know you may need to use it more frequently.

[Lotusguy]

Just once a month?  I was going to do it daily at the end of the day.

That’s way overkill. I run filtered water through the steamer after I’m done, clean the tubes with a thin brush once a week or so (depends on use) and replace the external lines every few months when they look grimy. There are no internal milk tubes on my machine. Just the plastic lines to the frother and the frother itself (which can be removed and cleaned).

[ThePolskiOgorki]

I used a Tassimo for a few years, but I really didn't like how much waste it produced and it wasn't really what I would call good. Drinkable if that is all you have. So after I tried a mocha pot for a while and really didn't like the results either, mainly because I found it always had a metallic taste in the background and because of the lack of crema. So I bought a Breville Barista Express machine and I am happy with it. I don't and never will roast my own beans. Who the hell has time for that? I occasionally buy freshly roasted beans, but I find I actually like Lavazza whole beans the best (Crema e Gusto or Rossa).  I know this is sacrilege to the real connoisseurs, but I like what I like and that is what matters! I store the beans in an air tight container at room temperature. So I don't really think I am anal about my ritual, somewhere in the middle maybe. It always makes me poop though.

[fabes]

18 hours ago, Derboesekoenig said:

Consume after 1 or 2 days, sometimes 3 days after roast is the sweet spot. Then starts going downhill after 7-10 days. 

We’re talking opinions & preferences here, so take with a grain of salt. I wait at least 5 days off roast. Anything fresher and there is too much off-gassing for what I like. I find 7-14 days the sweet spot for me, but I’ll enjoy coffees a month off roast or longer with no deterioration in quality. I’ve found some coffees with an inherent sweetness to get better further off roast. The opposite is true with punchier fruit forward coffees to lose that fruity intensity further off roast. Just depends what you’re after. 

[Derboesekoenig]

Oh definitely--personal preference, just as cigars or food, or drinks are as well. I live in Afghanistan and don't have a roaster with me...so I always receive coffee about 8-10+ days after roast. Thinking about getting a sample roaster....but I'm trying to stay minimalist as I can over here. 

[joshhooper7]

My inner coffee snob can't hide anymore reading all of these posts. Coffee is an art, and an exact art at that. People can say all day that they have a great recipe for brewing a cup, but when you change the beans the recipe changes. If I'm brewing a cup of light roast Yirgacheffe in my chemex I use a grind setting of 34, water at 202 degrees exact, and a 14.5:1 brew ratio. I grind my beans fresh, place them inside the chemex, tare out the scale and begin to pourover with my gooseneck. If I'm using the same brew method but I'm using a darker roasted coffee, say a Tanzanian peaberry or a barrel rested coffee, I grind a bit coarser as the coffee oils that were derived in the roasting give off flavors at lower temperatures and don't need such even extraction.

The same goes with espresso's, except the need to dial in coffee dosage and finesse of the grind can change daily. For perfect espresso, you want coffee that was roasted between 4-14 days ago. The first 3 days of the beans life post roasting, it's releasing a lot of CO2 and won't have the right flavor yet, it's VERY important to let your beans off-gas before you put them to the test. For a dark roast that I typically make my wife's espresso with, I use 19.5-20g of coffee ground very finely, almost like a talc powder, tamped, and over 25-30 seconds I yield roughly 38ml of espresso. For the same espresso shot with a lighter roast, I use roughly 17.8-18.5g of coffee as its a lot fluffier and fills my portafilter easier.

As the days go by when I'm using the same bean, you'll notice a lot more flow coming from the portafilter and the espresso will start to taste sour - a surefire way to tell that your under extracting your coffee. Minor tweaks to the grind level will fix that, but it sure is a pain in the ass! Coffee became a hobby of mine just before cigars did. I've got a mean coffee setup in my kitchen and it's out of the way so it doesn't bother my wife. I've spent thousands on all of my brew gear and while she loves to give me shit for how expensive it was, she never complains when I make her morning latte.

I think, like your friend, we both enjoy drinking coffee but also enjoy the art of producing a cup or a shot, whichever brew methodology is being utilized. For the average cream and sugar coffee drinker, they don't understand just how vast the options are when it comes to producing a drink. I love to sit in my kitchen for a few hours with a pound or two of beans and brew 7-10 different ways and taste each nuanced flavor of that given bean that shines by the brew method I am highlighting. I'm such a coffee snob/nerd that I even youtube videos on barista competitions to see just how the best of the best make certain drinks, their technique and even their own custom thinks they make strictly for competition.

 

After proof-reading what I've written above, I recognize I have a problem. Cheers gents!

[IanMcLean68]

Used to use a Rancilio Sylvia until the water pump broke down a couple of years ago. I haven't been bothered yet to get it fixed, and just use a Nespresso machine. Love good coffee, but anal, no. I should get the Rancilio fixed though.

[Fugu]

I always love the branding "Chemex" in the context of coffee-preparation - comes close behind Roundup for me.... What the heck did Schumbohm take when this true marketing genius came up with that name in a screwball bout of brainstorming.....

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, Fugu said:

I always love the branding "Chemex" in the context of coffee-preparation - comes close behind Roundup for me.... What the heck did Schumbohm take when this true marketing genius came up with that name in a screwball bout of brainstorming.....

Because "Rodex" had already been taken.