EdipisReks1

I’m aware that I’m showing off, but this is what I have in my life.

Could have done art. Cashew milk. 9 bar max, Niche at 14.5, 20 in, 45 out in 38 or so, not including pre infusion. This was real good.

Orphan makes the correct adapter. This is with the IMS basket. Will do the VST next.

Getting ready for espresso.

That was outrageously good.

Going old school here. CAFEC light filter. Like 1360 on the OG. Hoffman special beans.

I think that is a good video, Alex, and good commentary. I’m in a foul mood, so OG it is.

Coconut latte with Counter Culture Apollo. After doing oatmilk only the last few weeks, I had forgotten how coconut-y coconut milk is. 20 in, 40 out in 40 seconds (not including the inevitable pre-infusion with this). As nice a pull as you could want. I’m consistently getting a quick 7 bar peak and a slow, even drawn down at slightly finer than 15 on the Niche with this bean. I have the coffee bar workflow pretty well down, now: with dialed-in coffee (I took Covered_ears advice and am just doing one bean consistently right now), I can go from yawning to a latte in about 10 minutes. Most of that time is waiting for the Bellman to come to pressure. This isn’t anymore inconvenient then using the Breville, really, though that would allow me to pull two drinks simultaneously, so it’s not leaving the table.

Gonna have me a Gesha-off once the new one has degassed a little (was roasted Tuesday, and the Levercraft was frozen after two weeks).

If I had to have only that cortado, over and over for the rest of my life, and only that, I would be happy. Lingering. Milk drinks never linger. Now the question is whether I can do this tomorrow morning.

40 out in 45 seconds. Max 7 bar. Slow ramp down. VST basket. It’s… a nice cortado. First pic is shot, second is cortado with Bellman oat. No bitterness or sourness. Sweet lemon. Outrageously good. I honestly don’t think I could make a better cortado. Niche at almost (slightly finer than) 15 with the Counter Culture Apollo blend. Various normal puck preps thingies. I like this basket.

So much for zero retention. And this was with bellows, on the Niche. The OG is truly zero retention, but this is autistically good enough, so I’m going with it. Two beans, maybe?* *there ended up being about .1 grams stuck on the inside of the dosing cup. I’ll tell you one thing: the VST basket grabs the niche dosing cup. Aggressively. Be prepared for it.

I’m trying to make espresso here.

I just about have my holiday weight gone, so my second best cat is doing grind duty, pour over and espresso. The Orphan OG is far and away the best grinder I’ve ever used. Nobody ever talks about them. Have they sold 12, or something?

I sure hope it’s resolved soon. Espresso is hard enough without that shit.

VST in the house. This is a radically different basic geometry and build from the IMS (ignore the size difference; one is an 18/20 and one is an 18/22). Honestly, just looking at them… I have no idea.

I just made a latte with the Breville that made me say “ooh,” so maybe I shouldn’t be in a hurry to spend money. The problem is that I had to pay attention, and if I’m going to do that I might as well use the Flair.

You know, I guess when you think about it, the Flair 58, Bellman boiler, and my Brewista kettle makes a pretty darned capable double boiler setup.

The other obvious option in the same space is the Lelit Victoria. Already has PID. I need to think about it. Heather’s birthday is next month and that is going to eat my fun money, not to mention coming off of Christmas. I think either is likely to be a good choice for my use case.

I think I’m just going to get a Rancilio Silvia to replace my Breville. Just the base one (though maybe in black; I don’t think I have room for the Pro, or the X, really). With the Flair 58 I don’t really need anything to get better espresso for when I’m being fancy-fancy, but I need something more convenient that is better than the Breville. I thought about the Bambino, which is much nicer than the Breville I have (mine is an old entry level, remember, from ten years ago: it’s pretty nice for what it is, but it’s what it is), but I want a larger machine that uses a 58mm porta and has more cup storage. I haven’t totally decided, but I think it makes a lot of sense, even with that dumb drip tray. And lots of upgrades for after I get to know the machine. Plus easy pressure modulation out of the box. Also: coffee setup art finally on the wall.

Too bad I had already steamed the oat milk. It was the most delicious latte I have ever had. 7 bar peak and a slow decrease for the Counter Culture Apollo, 20 in 48 out in 50 seconds. The tiger stripes aren’t channeling, in and of themselves: there was minimal channeling in the puck (the small dots at the edges) until it began to erode towards the end (where the larger spots start appearing, in the same places in relation to the earlier small spots: no puck has no channeling, and all pucks erode through the length of the shot), but you can definitely see where the initial channeling increases over the length of the pull. Notice that the “meat” of the shot doesn’t show channeling. I think this is a result of the grounds expanding and contracting and then contracting and expanding through the pressure release, as water is forced into the coffee and then forced out. The initial pressure opens the small imperfections in the bed, but then they close from 6-3 bars, which is about 40 seconds of the shot. When the pressure reduces enough towards the end they open back up. Obviously, visually, in the same places in the bed: no additional channeling happens during the shot. The rings are a result of the ramp down in pressure, and the pretty distribution is just because I somehow didn’t fuck up and the ramp down was even, and pausing for a tiny bit watching the gauge with each marking. Puck was as pretty as you please. I just love that you can count the ramp down from 7 bars pressure in the rings. I would call that minimal channeling.

I have heard some mumblings on a couple forums and blogs over the years of Clive shipping returns as new, and I’ve read some issues with support. I don’t know if it’s broadly true, but it doesn’t really surprise me, given that. I’m sorry, Greg. That really sucks. I totally forgot about your post on Chemex! I just have subconsciously been accidentally finding a YouTube video that showed this fold after reading yours.

Boy I feel dumb: if you fold a Chemex paper like this and put the thick side in the runnel it stays completely clear for the whole brew and you don’t get a stall. This is better than putting a chopstick there!

I just saw this. That sounds not excellent.

I’m proud of Heather: taking retention into account!