I have the Hario Mini which is the smaller version of the Hario Skerton. It has worked great for me. I only use it when I travel now. That said, I've tried no other manual burr grinders, so... 

Edited March 25, 20206 yr by robm321

I have a Hario Skerton I would let go if interested naaman.

Love my Lido 3 but small it is not. 

Proper Head Case solution for you is something like a Comandante C40 or Kinu M47.

the niche zero is the answer you seek

These arrived yesterday. Trying the Burundi now, which is quite good. 

he may get another bag of the yemen.

Do they roast in a medium style generally, darker or does it vary by bean?

I'm off the super roasted stuff, but do love me a quality medium roasted whole bean.  Generally stick to Central and South American and African grown.

French press and Chemex now.  No fancy espresso machine yet.  Maybe in retirement with a bigger kitchen...

Have to say I've really enjoyed the Niche Zero.  It's over the top from a cost perspective but WTH...

HS

3 hours ago, grawk said:

he may get another bag of the yemen.

Yeah, sorry, no way I'm paying $24 for 8oz of coffee. This order was already more than 2x what Old Bisbee charges and while it's good, I'm just not that sophisticated. 

@HemiSam - I would characterize the roast as pretty light, certainly considerably lighter than OBR does their beans - which I don't have an issue with.  And seriously, I was holding off on the espresso machine until Breville came out with the Bambino.  It's tiny and in my humble opinion, does a superb job.  No kidding, it hardly takes up more room than a large roll of paper towels.   And I've stared to mix French press brews back into my routine especially if I'm trying a new coffee for the first time.  I see precious little, if any, need to go to a cafe for coffee these days. Not that any of them are open currently.

Do they roast in a medium style generally, darker or does it vary by bean?

I'm off the super roasted stuff, but do love me a quality medium roasted whole bean.  Generally stick to Central and South American and African grown.

French press and Chemex now.  No fancy espresso machine yet.  Maybe in retirement with a bigger kitchen...

Have to say I've really enjoyed the Niche Zero.  It's over the top from a cost perspective but WTH...

HS

he roasts at the light end of medium. I’ve loved every coffee I’ve gotten from him.

 

I’d say it’s perfect for the chemex.

 

 

My decent espresso machine is a good match in size for the niche.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It feels lighter than DoubleShot Ethiopian bednatu jibicho. What would you rate it as?

I was drinking DoubleShot's Panama Hartmann Natural #4 today.  Good stuff!

HS

i haven't touched my french presses for 4-5 months now and have been meaning to try out the Hoffman French Press method. happened to have some crap beans this week that i ordered from amazon (meant to only clean my grinder out after i use some capsules) and i tried pour over with them yesterday... utterly terribly. well a decent finish but still pretty bad.

so i went with this 'unpressed' french press style for the same beans this morning and it definitely turned out better! very acceptable. better balance and some nuttiness. on par or slightly-better with any basic drip i'd get from a good cafe and that is a great result considering the beans i'm using. and ironically it's easier to clean out the press afterward because the filter needs a 5 second rinse rather than a full cleaning out of residue and oil.

Yemen coffee, done pour over in my v60. Amazing blueberry in this coffee. 

do you guys get tracking from LeverCraft? i got an 'order shipped' e-mail on monday but no tracking.

there was tracking in my shipping notice from lever craft, but things might have changed for him recently.

 

Order Shipped: #00220   Your order from LeverCraft has shipped. Order Number: #00220 (placed on March 21, 2020 at 9:10 AM CT)   Delivery   Shipped via USPS Tracking Number: 9405503699300297163227

43 minutes ago, Aura said:

i haven't touched my french presses for 4-5 months now and have been meaning to try out the Hoffman French Press method. happened to have some crap beans this week that i ordered from amazon (meant to only clean my grinder out after i use some capsules) and i tried pour over with them yesterday... utterly terribly. well a decent finish but still pretty bad.

so i went with this 'unpressed' french press style for the same beans this morning and it definitely turned out better! very acceptable. better balance and some nuttiness. on par or slightly-better with any basic drip i'd get from a good cafe and that is a great result considering the beans i'm using. and ironically it's easier to clean out the press afterward because the filter needs a 5 second rinse rather than a full cleaning out of residue and oil.

I’m going to have to try that.

2 minutes ago, grawk said:

there was tracking in my shipping notice from lever craft, but things might have changed for him recently.

thanks, Dan. yeah no tracking in my e-mail... sent him a quick note just to check if he had one.

46 minutes ago, Aura said:

i haven't touched my french presses for 4-5 months now and have been meaning to try out the Hoffman French Press method. happened to have some crap beans this week that i ordered from amazon (meant to only clean my grinder out after i use some capsules) and i tried pour over with them yesterday... utterly terribly. well a decent finish but still pretty bad.

so i went with this 'unpressed' french press style for the same beans this morning and it definitely turned out better! very acceptable. better balance and some nuttiness. on par or slightly-better with any basic drip i'd get from a good cafe and that is a great result considering the beans i'm using. and ironically it's easier to clean out the press afterward because the filter needs a 5 second rinse rather than a full cleaning out of residue and oil.

I will need to try this one.  (and I have good coffee  )

I received tracking for my order last week.

I have to be honest, I'm not overwhelmed by the Levercraft coffee so far. I'm sure that's largely a personal preference issue.  

he aims for the lighter end of medium roasts. It's a lot more fickle to all the variables in brewing coffee.

how are you brewing, Nate?

I'm not gonna try and tune the Yemen coffee for espresso, it'd waste way too much coffee.  The pourover is amazing.  

 

3 hours ago, Aura said:

how are you brewing, Nate?

I've tried both French press and espresso.  The FP has been ok to good, dialing in brew times, but the lighter roast as an espresso has not produced good results.  Maybe I need to adjust grind significantly but the extraction was thin and didn't have very good flavor. This likely has a lot to do with me being a darker roast guy in general and preferring strong coffee more than anything else.

11 hours ago, Aura said:

i haven't touched my french presses for 4-5 months now and have been meaning to try out the Hoffman French Press method. happened to have some crap beans this week that i ordered from amazon (meant to only clean my grinder out after i use some capsules) and i tried pour over with them yesterday... utterly terribly. well a decent finish but still pretty bad.

so i went with this 'unpressed' french press style for the same beans this morning and it definitely turned out better! very acceptable. better balance and some nuttiness. on par or slightly-better with any basic drip i'd get from a good cafe and that is a great result considering the beans i'm using. and ironically it's easier to clean out the press afterward because the filter needs a 5 second rinse rather than a full cleaning out of residue and oil.

Very interesting, Aura.  Thank you for sharing.  I'll give this a run over the weekend. Fortunately, I have a double walled stainless steel press. 

What I'm wondering about is how long the brew is left to sit and without cover to help retain heat. 

Definitely worth a spin.  Great to see different techniques being explored.  

HS

I tried the Hoffman french press method just now.  It is a very good cup of coffee.  Perhaps a bit less bitter than my usual method.  I generally use between 31 and 33 grams of coffee to ~16oz of water so not far off his recommended dosage. 

 

The method I've used of late:

1) freshly medium coarse ground of 31 grams of good coffee into a double walled steel french press (Freiling unit that has been great for many years) and I start a 4 minute and 30 second kitchen timer; 2) add roughly 8 oz of just under 200 degree filtered water from my fridge heated in a Bonavita gooseneck kettle that's really grown on me; 3) stir with a tablespoon steadily and not too fast for a 5 count; 4) add the remaining 8 pz of water and stir another 5 seconds steadily; and 5) plunge steadily and slowly once the timer goes off.  Method stolen from George Howell's Terroir Coffee site.

 

Happy caffeinating....

HS