EdipisReks1

I do want to brag about how well my hot blued cupping spoon turned out. The handle has changed, but I’ve also touched it and my fingers are acidic.

I went a bit finer than in that pic. Using a local roaster’s “espresso blend,” which is pretty light. Ground from frozen. Into my workaday Breville: better basket and a puck screen. Perfect fluffy grinds. The Ode can pull delicious espresso with the SSP burrs. This shot is just delicious. Thick, textured, tastes of the coffees (this is a blend, but it’s a distinct blend, and you can taste the beans), acidic and bitter, but in balance. Sweet on the back of the palate. Lots of malic acid, but like sweet lime. 16.5 in, 40 out in 28 seconds, no pre-infusion. The puck popped out clean before I even tapped. Could have gone finer. A wonderful shot. I wish I had more steps, but I can go quite a bit finer if I needed to. I would go a little finer with a single origin light roast, as opposed to this blend. Can’t argue with the results, though I would in no way, shape, nor form, recommend the Ode with SSP burrs for espresso unless you are a crazy like me. God I love coffee.

Plus now I have room for something else! I’ve decided it’s time for a gold watch again, I think. Now I just have to decide on what and start saving. It may very well be nothing more than trading in my Santos for a two-tone model (which is what I should have gotten to begin with, in hindsight), as that watch is essentially perfect for me, and stays on my wrist for weeks, sometimes months at a time.

Calibration is correct: I think I just wasn’t brave enough. This is what you get well above the “1” mark (though also below 2) with the SSP burrs properly calibrated: about as fluffy and uniform as you would want, with room to go. Passes the pinch test with flying colors.

First use of the Ode with SSP burrs on espresso is not positive. I’ll recalibrate and try again tomorrow. I overreached and used good beans since the pour over results were so good. My fault. The puck came out as clean as you want, but it’s sour and ran fast and long. I could go finer, but I think there is something up. This is drinkable (well, the second one is), and I’ve had worse from fancy coffee bars, but no thanks.

Well, I dunno about the karma points, and I certainly don’t know about the “good man” part, but I bet she buys the beers next time! But yes: what is the point of keeping stuff until we are dead?

I was at my partner’s great-uncle’s funeral this past weekend. He was the patriarch of the clan. Heather’s family is Scottish: he came over after Korea, with his wife from Jersey (a story in and of itself). He was bigger than life in some ways, and kind and decent, and everything I’ve heard says to me that I’m sad I didn’t get to meet him. It was sorrowful, and happy in remembrance, and I got to see her family again (they have absolutely welcomed me, and I appreciate them so much). I wore my Drive Extra Flat. I wore it because I thought “boy, this watch is beautiful on my dresser, but leaves me cold on the wrist, but selling a watch is such a pain in the ass so I never have done so, so I should probably wear it.” At the wake, after, the youngest adult grand-daughter of the decedent, whom I adore (vibrant, smart, fun as hell, striking out on her own at the end of her college career in secondary education and the first openly gay member of the family) kept looking at my wrist (jacket off and sleeves rolled up). I of course noticed. She finally got around to asking what the watch was, because she just was fascinated and loved it. I took it off and handed it to her and told her what it was and said “try it on.” There have been a few times where I have seen somebody’s life just shift a little by an object. I of course immediately said it was hers. Sending the box and papers off to her tomorrow. I’m sure she’ll wear it for the rest of her life, and she’ll remember me every time she puts it on, when I’m long gone. I have a form of “seller’s remorse” now, of course: it was so damned pretty on my dresser! Thought the ‘case watch people would like the little story. Watches aren’t worth anything if they aren’t worn. [Edits because I got some of the family details wrong as I thought about it.]

It was certainly a nice cup, and the adjustment between clicks is now much more more granular. I think the grounds are more uniform as well.

I would get an eg-1 if I were going to spend that. I put the burrs in the Ode. It certainly looks like it grinds more than fine enough for any espresso I would make. We’ll see how it starts with pour over tomorrow.

I bought SSP red multipurpose burrs for the ode. I have zero issue with the grind quality of the stock interlocking burrs. What I have an issue with is the lack of adjustment. If the ode had 60 notches, or 160, or 1600, instead of 30 or whatever , I would love it as a filter only grinder. But it’s frustrating with very light roasts, which are what I drink when I have a choice. Yeah, yeah; just get a Niche. I can’t even get the Flair 58 I bought.

Tandem Sun Lamp decaf. This was a wonderful shot (about 10 days of de-gassing since roast date). Excellent decaffeinated has allowed me to enjoy coffee a lot more than I used to be able to (Deeper Roots, my favorite Cincinnati roaster, also does some wonderful decaf).

Dune. I’d rather be at the cinema with my partner, but this isn’t bad. Booze is cheap here, anyway.

I understand. It sounds very good to me.

Gotcha. I was just wondering if my tastes are inline with others for fine-ness. I bet it is. This is the first flat-burr I’ve owned (I’ve been lucky to use some flat commercial machines, but never consistently, and only for espresso). I’ve noticed, just over a couple days, that I’m getting draw-down times that are much longer than the visual grounds size would suggest. Just from feeling and looking at the coffee I believe the flat-burr is very consistent compared to what I’m used to with conicals, and the “apparent fineness” is just totally different. Maybe I’m over-thinking it.

Dan: just as a baseline where do you have your Ode set for pour-over with light roasts?

Niche has another preorder cycle going right now. I’m tempted just to go for it (looks like December/January delivery), but I want to see some actual reviews of the Eureka single doser, assuming the fucking thing actually ever comes out. With the commercial espresso grinders I’ve had the luck to experience I’ve always really liked flats-burrs, so I’m afraid I’ll have fomo, but at the same time I “need” (I don’t actually need, of course: I have wonderful espresso grinders, they just require a little work) to get something soon. That’s interesting about the Yemeni, Dan. When you say “floral,” what sort of flowers are you thinking? Cloying? I have issues with some floral profiles, but not others. I would suggest the Gesha I made today from Levercraft. The one Dan mentioned seems like a good choice too (I like bright coffees). Hopefully Covered_Ears chimes in here too, as she has had some pretty neat coffees, and has turned me on to some that are now favorites.

16:1, 15 gram dose, 210 degrees, 2:30 draw-down. Gem dripper and a CAFEC filter. What an amazing coffee. I’ve mostly pulled shots with this, but I think it shines the most as filter. It’s so bright and citrusy and really strongly tastes like hibiscus (they nailed that descriptor) and deep, deep almonds, but it’s not acidic or bitter. It… tastes how you imagine coffee must, when you were a child and saw an adult enjoy a cup. I’m just blown away. I think I have the Ode dialed in for pour-over, more or less: I’m very happy with it (grounds bin doesn’t even bother me now that I’ve figured out to not use the spout built in).

Anything worthwhile is unwieldy and ridiculous.

Update: first cup with the Ode. I’m very happy with it. It’s super fast, and the 1.1 version with the interlocking burrs goes much finer than I would ever go for pour-over. No mess particularly. Low retention. I don’t love the grounds bin (I think they are going to come out with an updated grounds bin). Very consistent grind. It is just nice to use. I’m quite happy with it.

Do you have it bolted to your counter?

Nice! I’ve been wondering about the Apex. Not quite enough to order one: also, I’m not sure if I want to mount it to the table I’m using as my “coffee bar.” I should really sell my Lido ET and Flair Royal, as they don’t get use with the OG and the Option-O Remi around (I should sell the Option-O, really, as it’s redundant with the OG, but I really like using it and it’s very pretty). How fine does the Apex go, Bryan? I got the Ode today. Yeah: it definitely doesn’t do espresso. I’ll be using it in the 2-ish range for pour-over, and the test grounds were very consistent.

Craig; I just saw your post. I’m so sorry. But that’s a pretty amazing cat life. Boy, I sure hope to go from functional, if ancient, to gone that quickly, when my time comes. Your feline family was/is/will be very lucky to have you as their valet. Always.

I’ll only be using it for filter. I have espresso grinding covered fairly well!

That’s a negatory on their shake-weight. That’s good to know, Dan, especially since you have a Niche to compare it to.

I ordered a Fellow Ode for pour-over. I’m dialing in my hand grinders for espresso only (different grinders for different roast profiles even: I guess that isn’t normal, but I have a bunch of high end hand grinders!), so I’ve been having to use my old Bodum Bistro for drip coffee, and while it works okay, it’s kinda… tired. Orphan OG is my main espresso grinder for sure. The grounds it makes are just amazing. You wouldn’t have known the shot I pulled this morning was from an old consumer 51mm Breville. 16.5 in, 40 out in 28 seconds. Washed Ethiopian roasted two weeks ago by my favorite local. Bright, but rich. Great texture. Perfect patterning on the Crema. Zero channeling. I guess there is something to be said about having a machine you know really well, even if it’s no great shakes.