Lets talk about COFFEE

[asifengdahl]

Choco Java chip!
I just love it I dont know why. I also like choco Mocha!

 

[indesertum]



I usually don't find that they taste bad, but they lack any kind of character. Kind of just has that bland nondescript "coffee" flavor. I am not sure where large producers buying commodity grade coffee get it from, but my guess is largely Brazil if it isn't identified on the tin. Perhaps they are just making enough money churning out what they have and have no appetite to change growing standards for a market that's pretty darn small in comparison.
How are you sick of dark roast espresso? I can find one place in all of NYC that even has it. It's the unicorn of coffee if you ask me.

I trust the sourcing of the places I buy Brazilians from, but yeah non descript and odd off flavors

All the major coffee chains here do dark roast espresso and they're generally not too bad. All the hipster places do acidic ones, but there's only a few that do a nice balance

 

[A Y]

Just ordered an OE Lido 2.

Barrington has two new Ethiopians from 90+, and I ordered both, but have only tried their Hachira, which is a dry process Yirg. It's excellent with lots of sweetness, some acid, and lots of body. The other one is a dry-process Gedeo which I'm looking forward to opening.

 

[indesertum]

Ooh 90+ is so good. Have had a few things from them including a Panama Red Perci Gesha. Everything has been just fantastic.

 

[Belligero]



I don't understand why Brazilian coffee is so generally bad. Consistently one of the worst.

I trust the sourcing of the places I buy Brazilians from, but yeah non descript and odd off flavors

All the major coffee chains here do dark roast espresso and they're generally not too bad. All the hipster places do acidic ones, but there's only a few that do a nice balance

After several duds, I finally found some primo Brazilian beans from the local roaster today:

Some of their CoE stuff has been over-bright to the point of being an acidic caricature of a Yirgacheffe, but this one is simply a pleasure to drink. Tons of sweetness and juiciness, and the finish is fantastic; it lasts ages and doesn't have any off-notes. It reminds me of the first truly excellent coffee I ever tried; I had no idea until that point that its aftertaste could actually be enjoyable. I still find it's the element that most distingishes a great cup from a not-so-great one.

Anyway, I'd say there's hope for Brazil.

Just ordered an OE Lido 2.[...]

Nice! The L3 is seemingly effortless to grind now that I've put some kilos through it, and I have zero regrets to report so far. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the stainless-bodied version.

 

[A Y]



Ooh 90+ is so good. Have had a few things from them including a Panama Red Perci Gesha. Everything has been just fantastic.

If you get a chance, try their Nekisse. It's one of their classics, and one of the best coffees I've ever had (from Blue Bottle, too).

Nice! The L3 is seemingly effortless to grind now that I've put some kilos through it, and I have zero regrets to report so far. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the stainless-bodied version.

Will do! I was waffling between the L2 and L3, but went for the L2 because I have a travel grinder already, and the L3 still looked massive even with the handle folded.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



Just ordered an OE Lido 2.

Barrington has two new Ethiopians from 90+, and I ordered both, but have only tried their Hachira, which is a dry process Yirg. It's excellent with lots of sweetness, some acid, and lots of body. The other one is a dry-process Gedeo which I'm looking forward to opening.

Have you tried Kaladi's Yirg? So good.

 

[Renault78law]



Will do! I was waffling between the L2 and L3, but went for the L2 because I have a travel grinder already, and the L3 still looked massive even with the handle folded.

I'm just curious about your choice to buy another grinder. My recollection is that you brew coffee with an aeropress. Since the aeropress is so forgiving, my question is whether there is much benefit to using an excellent grinder. I could see better consistency, but when you're brewing basically one or two cups a day, how much does the grinder really matter? Again, we're talking coffee here, not espresso, so I don't believe fineness or uniformity really matter all that much.

Full disclosure: I'm uncharacteristically trying to take a practical approach to this relatively new hobby and I'm trying to convince myself that I don't need to buy an excellent grinder.

 

[joshuadowen]

I'm just curious about your choice to buy another grinder. My recollection is that you brew coffee with an aeropress. Since the aeropress is so forgiving, my question is whether there is much benefit to using an excellent grinder. I could see better consistency, but when you're brewing basically one or two cups a day, how much does the grinder really matter? Again, we're talking coffee here, not espresso, so I don't believe fineness or uniformity really matter all that much.

Full disclosure: I'm uncharacteristically trying to take a practical approach to this relatively new hobby and I'm trying to convince myself that I don't need to buy an excellent grinder.

You don't need an excellent grinder. Most of what separates less expensive grinders from more expensive grinders has to with "extra features" and robustness of construction. Less expensive grinders aren't built to be used a few hundred times a day, as is common in a cafe setting, but for home use you'll be fine. The biggest thing to focus on is the quality of the burr set. The burrs are what actually come in contact with and grind the coffee. Everything else in the grinder is just about moving the burrs. A hand grinder with a high quality burr set is relatively cheap but does what you need.

 

[Belligero]



[...]when you're brewing basically one or two cups a day, how much does the grinder really matter?[...]

There’s a reason that most credible sources say “don’t skimp on the grinder”, as it seems to be unanimously considered to be the most critical piece of gear. If you want good coffee, the grind matters just as much for a single cup a day as it does in a busy top-end café. But it isn’t a quantity thing, it’s a quality thing; the ideal grinder for the home and the shop aren't likely to be the same.

Uniformity is the key element regardless of how much you're brewing or how. An inconsistent grind is simply more visible with espresso because you’ll get problems such as pinholes blasting straight through the puck. But unevenly-extracted coffee sucks just as bad on Aeropress as it does with any other technique.

I can't see why someone wouldn't want those one or two cups a day be as tasty as possible. The good news is that you can get world-class grind quality in a reasonably-priced manual unit these days, which is what A Y has chosen.

You don't need an excellent grinder. Most of what separates less expensive grinders from more expensive grinders has to with "extra features" and robustness of construction. Less expensive grinders aren't built to be used a few hundred times a day, as is common in a cafe setting, but for home use you'll be fine.  The biggest thing to focus on is the quality of the burr set. The burrs are what actually come in contact with and grind the coffee. Everything else in the grinder is just about moving the burrs. A hand grinder with a high quality burr set is relatively cheap but does what you need.

While I agree that nobody needs a commercial-volume grinder for household use, it may be a bit of an oversimplification to say that the only difference between a cheaper and a more expensive grinder is how often it’s designed to be used.

But for grind quality, yes, it’s the burr set (and how well it’s stabilized) that matters — not the ancillary parts. An excellent grinder should be the #1 equipment priority… it just doesn’t have to be a particularly expensive or high-output one.

By the way, there’s a handy article here that compares some consumer-level electric grinders using some sweet nerdy particle-size-distribution charts:
http://thesweethome.com/reviews/the-best-coffee-grinder/

Though personally, I'd skip the consumer-grade electrics entirely. I find that something with big, well-supported burrs — like A Y's incoming L2 — is ideal for non-commercial use, as it’s as fast as most equivalently-priced electric mills, has far better grind quality/consistency, no grind retention, doesn't require much effort for a brew grind once it’s been used for a little while, and is far quieter, cleaner and more portable. As I’ve previously mentioned, I can’t see a downside, and for a couple hundred bucks, you’re sorted for life.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I think a lot of third wave places lead you to believe coffee is a lot more fickle than it really is. The more import parts in my experience is good water and FRESH beans. The rest is marginal. Grind stale beans as uniformly as you want you're still drinking stale coffee.

However, I have heard some better grinders aside from features have some sort of technology that allows them to grind fast, but not produce as much heat. If this is true and how it may be done is beyond me, but I do know the better, bigger commercial roasters have water cooled grinders that literally have a kind of radiator, and circulatory system.

 

[Belligero]

^
Agreed; all the best equipment and technique is pointless if the water or beans suck. Garbage in, garbage out.

 

[scottcw]

While all of the above is true regarding beans, water, and burr set, do not overlook how the burr set is implemented. Some cheaper grinders use a good burr set, but the adjustment mechanism or bearings are wonky. This results in the same inconsistent grind as a lesser quality burr set. I have seen some articles recommending using tape to keep the burr set stable. For home use, I use the original OE Lido. For travel, I use the Zassenhaus Panama.

 

[otc]

Where should I drink coffee in San Francisco?

 

[scottcw]



Where should I drink coffee in San Francisco?

The usual suspects are Four Barrel, Sightglass, Ritual, and Blue Bottle. The last is overpriced and over-roasted for my tastes.