Ooh, thanks, that gives me something to play around with.
Can you tell me what I should be looking for in an unpressurized basket? Like, what about a good one makes it better than the stock one that came with my machine?
I’ll let James Hoffman explain, he’s where I learned from.
But the TLDW is that hole sizes on manufacturer baskets are generally inconsistent. Some may be partial punches, others may be larger or smaller. This crates inconsistencies in the flow through the puck. Also it puts an uneven load on the basket and they can actually crack under pressure.
And there are others now because this has really exploded in the last couple of years. These are the ones I’m familiar with.
You can also use a distribution tool to break up coffee clumps to increase consistency, and something like an espresso puck filter to further help with flow consistency through the puck. Depending on the machine type, even the shower screen can have high quality replacements available to improve consistency.
I can say after adding an IMS basket, distribution tool, and a puck filter to my rotation, my consistency improved dramatically and my coffee does actually much better than before.
Soggybiscuit on
Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
Quite well! I've been playing around with the single wall filter that came with the machine (a Breville Bambino Plus) and found that I wasn't tamping nearly hard enough and my grounds were too coarse. (I saw that I was supposed to be tamping with 30-40lb of pressure, so I used my bathroom scale to see what that felt like, and I had been tamping with probably less than half the optimal pressure.)
I can now get an outcome from the single wall that roughly matches the double wall, so I might spring for a better single wall and see what happens.
Other than that, the machine is a dream. My old one took forever to warm up and steaming milk had about a 50% success rate, where the rest of the time it would just sputter damp air and cause the milk to just immediately bubble out of the carafe. This one is ready to pull a shot in 3 seconds and the steam wand has a temperature sensor and foam control dealie so you just hit a button and it gives you the same thing every time. It's fucking great.
And it's red! That makes the espresso taste better. You can prove it with science.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
Ive recently picked up an Aeropress and grinder, and though Im a coffee rookie Ive been making my way up to around 4 cups a week.
As a rule, never before work... I don't want to accidentally become more efficient or invested there, so I save it for when I get home or on the weekends when real living begins.
Ha, my rule is never after noon. I suffer from insomnia if I have that much caffeine too late in the day, and I have a morning ritual of work for a couple of hours -> break for breakfast and a good latte -> resume work. (I work from home.)
I've been meaning to try my new machine to make an espresso Martini, I just need to do it on a weekend when it's okay if I'm up until 2am.
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
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Inquisitor772 x Penny Arcade Fight Club ChampionA fixed point in space and timeRegistered Userregular
Ive recently picked up an Aeropress and grinder, and though Im a coffee rookie Ive been making my way up to around 4 cups a week.
As a rule, never before work... I don't want to accidentally become more efficient or invested there, so I save it for when I get home or on the weekends when real living begins.
Aeropress is legit! One can never go wrong with an Aeropress.
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Johnny ChopsockyScootaloo! We have to cook!Grillin' HaysenburgersRegistered Userregular
Ive recently picked up an Aeropress and grinder, and though Im a coffee rookie Ive been making my way up to around 4 cups a week.
As a rule, never before work... I don't want to accidentally become more efficient or invested there, so I save it for when I get home or on the weekends when real living begins.
Aeropress is legit! One can never go wrong with an Aeropress.
I'm loving mine, even as my pre-work pre-ground coffee machine. It's just so damned quick and easy to use and clean, how could I not?
Plus it "P-too"'s out a little hockey puck of grinds when you're done.
Ive sort of given up on its actual instructions for use and fill it nearly to the brim with water regardless of how many scoops I use.
Honestly 2 scoops gets me to the point of... Should I really be able to drive, this messed up? I can almost see sound.
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
edited July 2023
Camp coffee!
Went camping last weekend and made some percolator coffee, Motor City by Great Lakes Coffee Roasting, sold as Fresh Thyme Breakfast Blend.
Worked out well; first batch was a little weak so let it perk longer the next day.
Thanks to watching a perfectly healthy amount of James Hoffmann videos recently, I have largely switched back to decaf and am now embracing the French press lifestyle. I'd kind of burnt myself out on espresso drinks and cold brew is been too caffeinated for my own good, so I've been enjoying the change of style. I'd like to try an AeroPress at some point to see how different it is.
I have a Flair (pro v1) -- it's defintely fun to use, I was just surprised at how much force it takes to get it to work when the grind/dosing/etc is set up to get the right amount of pressure.
I sorta recently picked up an alright grinder for drip coffee, and have been enjoying a lot of pour over.
Espresso seems attractive, but I really do prefer milk drinks over straight espresso, which I've enjoyed by itself very rarely.
It just seems like a bunch of work and time in the morning, another $400ish at least for a grinder, and significantly more than that if I want to be able to steam milk.
I sorta recently picked up an alright grinder for drip coffee, and have been enjoying a lot of pour over.
Espresso seems attractive, but I really do prefer milk drinks over straight espresso, which I've enjoyed by itself very rarely.
It just seems like a bunch of work and time in the morning, another $400ish at least for a grinder, and significantly more than that if I want to be able to steam milk.
*sigh*
It's uh... a bit of an investment. I tell myself I'm saving like $3.50 for every latte I make at home to convince myself that I'm "saving money" lol
Yeah, if you are drinking something from a cafe every day, an espresso machine/grinder is worth it. That is how I convinced my wife we needed a good espresso machine - she was spending at least ~$20 a week on coffee. The espresso machine was about $1200 and I already had a grinder, so it was an easy sell. Only took about a year to pay it off by making coffee at home.
Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
Coffee adjacent: I purchased a bottle of marked-down espresso martini from Walgreens. At last it's organic.
I have a Flair (pro v1) -- it's defintely fun to use, I was just surprised at how much force it takes to get it to work when the grind/dosing/etc is set up to get the right amount of pressure.
It's been a while since I'd used it; playing with it again today, I remembered that the problem I had is not that it fundamentally needs lots of force, it's that it's easy to accidentally grind too finely.
The instructions say "go a bit coarser than you usually would for espresso" which I kept forgetting, so going one click (baratza preciso) coarser gets things to be more manageable. It's still a solid amount of pressure needed, but in a satisfying way, rather than a whole-body-weight-leaning-on-it sort of way. (and also with the right grind it doesn't take two minutes to pull the shot, which on reflection I should have realised was obviously not right)
I've never used a manual press before but if it's like a machine I'd think shooting for 30 seconds or so would be the objective? My shots are usually very close to dialed in if I can get 17.5-18 g in and about 41g out in about 30 seconds. Then adjust shot time or grind for flavor from there.
Do you pre warm the water chamber or just aim for slightly hotter water than what you want to extract at?
And, yes, they want 35-45 seconds for an extraction at ~6-9psi -- there's the usual balancing act between fineness of grind and amount of coffee, but in this case there's also a third variable where you have to push on the lever the right amount to get the pressure and time right as well as the other things. (that's why, when it was taking me two minutes, I should have realised something was wrong sooner)
Posts
I’ll let James Hoffman explain, he’s where I learned from.
But the TLDW is that hole sizes on manufacturer baskets are generally inconsistent. Some may be partial punches, others may be larger or smaller. This crates inconsistencies in the flow through the puck. Also it puts an uneven load on the basket and they can actually crack under pressure.
As for manufacturers,
VST: https://store.vstapps.com/collections/vst-precision-filter-baskets
IMS: https://www.wholelattelove.com/collections/portafilters-and-filter-baskets/products/ims-precision-portafilter-basket-14-20g
And there are others now because this has really exploded in the last couple of years. These are the ones I’m familiar with.
You can also use a distribution tool to break up coffee clumps to increase consistency, and something like an espresso puck filter to further help with flow consistency through the puck. Depending on the machine type, even the shower screen can have high quality replacements available to improve consistency.
I can say after adding an IMS basket, distribution tool, and a puck filter to my rotation, my consistency improved dramatically and my coffee does actually much better than before.
I can now get an outcome from the single wall that roughly matches the double wall, so I might spring for a better single wall and see what happens.
Other than that, the machine is a dream. My old one took forever to warm up and steaming milk had about a 50% success rate, where the rest of the time it would just sputter damp air and cause the milk to just immediately bubble out of the carafe. This one is ready to pull a shot in 3 seconds and the steam wand has a temperature sensor and foam control dealie so you just hit a button and it gives you the same thing every time. It's fucking great.
And it's red! That makes the espresso taste better. You can prove it with science.
As a rule, never before work... I don't want to accidentally become more efficient or invested there, so I save it for when I get home or on the weekends when real living begins.
I've been meaning to try my new machine to make an espresso Martini, I just need to do it on a weekend when it's okay if I'm up until 2am.
Aeropress is legit! One can never go wrong with an Aeropress.
I'm loving mine, even as my pre-work pre-ground coffee machine. It's just so damned quick and easy to use and clean, how could I not?
Steam ID XBL: JohnnyChopsocky PSN:Stud_Beefpile WiiU:JohnnyChopsocky
Ive sort of given up on its actual instructions for use and fill it nearly to the brim with water regardless of how many scoops I use.
Honestly 2 scoops gets me to the point of... Should I really be able to drive, this messed up? I can almost see sound.
Went camping last weekend and made some percolator coffee, Motor City by Great Lakes Coffee Roasting, sold as Fresh Thyme Breakfast Blend.
Worked out well; first batch was a little weak so let it perk longer the next day.
Thanks to watching a perfectly healthy amount of James Hoffmann videos recently, I have largely switched back to decaf and am now embracing the French press lifestyle. I'd kind of burnt myself out on espresso drinks and cold brew is been too caffeinated for my own good, so I've been enjoying the change of style. I'd like to try an AeroPress at some point to see how different it is.
I shared this in the G&T Steam thread for the brief period it became a coffee thread:
Still enjoying it.
Will also probably get a Flair 58X soon-ish, too. I'll share how that one ends up going.
Espresso seems attractive, but I really do prefer milk drinks over straight espresso, which I've enjoyed by itself very rarely.
It just seems like a bunch of work and time in the morning, another $400ish at least for a grinder, and significantly more than that if I want to be able to steam milk.
*sigh*
It's uh... a bit of an investment. I tell myself I'm saving like $3.50 for every latte I make at home to convince myself that I'm "saving money" lol
No doubt the regret will be as well.
It's been a while since I'd used it; playing with it again today, I remembered that the problem I had is not that it fundamentally needs lots of force, it's that it's easy to accidentally grind too finely.
The instructions say "go a bit coarser than you usually would for espresso" which I kept forgetting, so going one click (baratza preciso) coarser gets things to be more manageable. It's still a solid amount of pressure needed, but in a satisfying way, rather than a whole-body-weight-leaning-on-it sort of way. (and also with the right grind it doesn't take two minutes to pull the shot, which on reflection I should have realised was obviously not right)
Do you pre warm the water chamber or just aim for slightly hotter water than what you want to extract at?
And, yes, they want 35-45 seconds for an extraction at ~6-9psi -- there's the usual balancing act between fineness of grind and amount of coffee, but in this case there's also a third variable where you have to push on the lever the right amount to get the pressure and time right as well as the other things. (that's why, when it was taking me two minutes, I should have realised something was wrong sooner)