Coffee scoops and coffee makers

[ultrarunner]

Maybe I should take one home?

We are repurposing a small catch all room at the hospital and the CEO said I should make room.

That’s how I ended up with some interesting obsolete or no longer supported medical equipment… defibrillator or EKG anyone?

 

[WinterDeere]

The metal bits on a Bunn will outlast any home user, but the rubber bits (mostly silicone rubber) have a ~10 year lifespan under constant high heat of an always-hot boiler, like the A10. In fact, I just re-gasketed my A10 a few months ago, now ready for 2034, or thereabouts.

@mcmxi had mentioned James Hoffman videos in a prior post. I’ve watched countless dozens of hours of James Hoffman, and he really is one of the pre-eminent thinkers and doers in the coffee world, but I really wouldn’t recommend most of his videos to anyone who’s not already deep in the hobby. He tends to be wandering through deep subjects, with no real ”do this, then that” type instruction, usually more vague on, “well, maybe” answers to every debate. The dude knows his stuff, in fact most others making content on coffee refer to him in their own videos, but his channel is almost entirely deep dives on advanced topics.

If looking to get “into” coffee as a beginner, I’d recommend Lance Hedrick and/or Morgan Eckroth. These two are making a ton of content, and it’s almost entirely, “how you do this” type stuff, more digestible for any beginner.

There have been a few mentions of French press coffee in this thread, and a Morgan Eckroth video on the subject just popped into my YouTube feed, which I’ll post below. This may be one of the few subjects where Hoffman also has a pretty clear video that a beginner can follow, but his method is very well outside the standard, trying to obtain clean pour-over type coffee from a French press. Lance Hedrick also has an alt method for French press, while Morgan Eckroth posts the more “standard” method.

 

[ultrarunner]

The always hot boiler does require round the clock electricity.

I wonder if never introducing cold water to mine has had a positive effect?

So far over 25 years of just working in the staff lounge except when someone clogs the dispersion head.

I always take piping hot water from the hot/cold filtered water dispenser to pour into the BUNN...

 

[WinterDeere]

The always hot boiler does require round the clock electricity.

I wonder if never introducing cold water to mine has had a positive effect?

So far over 25 years of just working in the staff lounge except when someone clogs the dispersion head.

I always take piping hot water from the hot/cold filtered water dispenser to pour into the BUNN...

Or maybe they were using more welded seams and fewer silicone rubber seals in 1995, than they did in 2010?

 

[mcmxi]

I got back this afternoon from a week-long work trip to Geneseo, IL. In addition to dropping by my favorite coffee shop each morning, I picked up a bag of beans this morning on my way to the airport. I don't typically love Ethiopian coffee but hopefully this will make some nice espresso for my Cortado in the morning.

 

[geteh]

I don't no stink'n coffee maker!

Years ago, my expensive coffee maker died and when I looked for a new one I did not like the prices and/or reviews. The light bulb finally went on and I asked myself, self, why am I buying a machine to heat water to pour over coffee?

So I bought a nice stainless steel funnel to hold the coffee basket. I place the coffee basket in the funnel which is placed in my "thermos" bottle. I just pour the heated water over the coffee. I used to use the microwave to heat the water to the "right" temperature but then we bought a hot water kettle after using them in Ireland. Not sure how we lived without the hot water kettle. We use it all of the time.

I use two 1/4 cups of coffee, 1/2 cup total, for a quart of water. The 1/4 cups are heaping cups though Home Remodeling in Newcastle.

I happen to like an old fashion coffee pot on the stove or campfire. DW likes the coffee maker or fancy French press. Just wondering which one you each prefer, new coffee machine or old fashioned coffee pot, what brand of maker do you have.

 

[WinterDeere]

Just wondering which one you each prefer, new coffee machine or old fashioned coffee pot, what brand of maker do you have.

Espresso is my first choice, and all the derivations thereof, especially macchiato. But I also enjoy pour over and French press.

Brand doesn’t matter on pour over or drip, as long as they can expel water at 200-205F. I prefer Bunn, as they’re one of the only good quality American coffee makers on the market, but even they have a range of quality and price points among their models.

My French press is just a cheap 25 year old Bodum original model. It ain’t the prettiest thing that ever sat in a counter, but it makes coffee as good as any of the pretty ones, and I keep it in a cupboard anyway.

My espresso machine started life as a Gaggia Classic, but has been so heavily modified the only the boiler and chassis case are original, at this point. You can go nuts on espresso.

Grinders and beans are more important than the coffee maker. Get yourself a good burr grinder, targeted at your preferred brew. Ground coffee won’t stay fresh more than a day or three, and the easiest way to “up your game”, is just get a decent burr grinder, so you can switch to buying whole bean. It also allows you to grind coarser for French press, or medium for pour over, whatever your given coffee maker requires.

The Baratza Encore is a good entry-level burr grinder, that will make more difference in the taste of your coffee, than any change in the machine that’s just heating and pouring water.

 

[ericm979]

When I was in college I worked in the kitchen of a local nice restaurant. One of my friends came in for a nice date with his girlfriend. When I ran into him afterwards he raved about the coffee, saying that it wasn't that usual Farmer's swill that most places served. It actually was regular restaurant Farmers drip coffee, they just put in more grounds than other places did. That totally changed the taste.

 

[Fixastuff]

When I put the amount of coffee I like in my Mr. Coffee it always gets grounds in it.

 

[mcmxi]

Grinders and beans are more important than the coffee maker. Get yourself a good burr grinder, targeted at your preferred brew. Ground coffee won’t stay fresh more than a day or three, and the easiest way to “up your game”, is just get a decent burr grinder, so you can switch to buying whole bean. It also allows you to grind coarser for French press, or medium for pour over, whatever your given coffee maker requires.

The Baratza Encore is a good entry-level burr grinder, that will make more difference in the taste of your coffee, than any change in the machine that’s just heating and pouring water.

Yes, a good grinder is worth the investment. Not only are the burrs vastly superior, they're also replaceable, and the grinder will give years of service. In truth, what you're really paying for is consistency in grind size when you look at models $300 and more, and ideally $500 and more. By decent, I mean a model that will cut the beans down into a consistent particle size. Cheap grinders will crush the bean rather that cut it and produce grain sizes that range from 100 microns all the way up to 900 mircrons. Very cheap centrifuge type "grinders" are a lot worse than that. Looking at the chart below, the Ditting is doing the best job of producing consistently sized particles which translates into a more consistent and balanced extraction when brewing.

I grabbed this chart off the internet for demonstration purposes of the concept and haven't looked into any of the models listed below. What I do know if that like many I started out grinding with a centrifuge, then bought a cheap burr grinder, then bought an expensive burr grinder, then swapped that out for a similarly expensive single dose grinder with virtually zero retention.

It occurred to me recently that most people have never really tasted coffee, only some over roasted generic derivative of coffee. That's not a slight, just an observation based on what 99.9999% of bought coffee tastes like. When I started roasting I realized that coffee has flavors that you simply don't get in most coffee that's served in shops, restaurants or anywhere else. We all enjoy what we enjoy, but like many things in life, only by trying something different do you realize what you're missing.