it’s a sad story but 6 month old coffee is pretty old already. 

fortunately i have some burr seasoning plans that most of mine will probably go towards…

11 hours ago, grawk said:

it’s a sad story but 6 month old coffee is pretty old already. 

Last week I found a bag of coffee at my local Fresh Market that was from April 2021. At least it was on sale. That said, I’ll happily drink coffee from beans that old if said beans have been frozen the entire time. I have some special beans in my freezer that are over a year old; frozen two weeks off roast the beans taste, to me, more or less how they did when I got them. 

Edited December 30, 20223 yr by EdipisReks1

my math on beans is VERY different than most, I'd bet.  It's gotta be a pretty special bean for me to buy it at retail, or even half off retail.

I understand that Dan. After roasting for many years, all my pricing is based on bulk or sale green pricing. 

I shamelessly pay for high quality, freshly roasted beans.  I'm not proud of it...

HS

I like my beans fresh and my wine old...it keeps the math simple.

Would anyone like to trade for a 2 lb bag of Veracruz (Mexico) and/or a 1 lb bag of Chiapas (Mexico)? Both are light roasted whole beans from Black Oak Coffee. Happy to pop it/them in the mail for the cost of shipping as well if no trades are available. I already have 2 lb bags of both in the freezer and happened upon this pair recently through a series of mis-clicks.  

Happy new years, but it feels like Christmas. 

Dan was gracious enough to share some roasts with me from Marmot.

I started out with the Rwandan. Espresso pull. I got it pretty close the first time, with 22g in and 42g out @ 35 seconds. There was a touch of sour in there, which is what I would want on a first pull. But there was tons of fruit from this, blueberries, some strawberry and hints of blackberry, with some cocoa in the background. I went a touch finer on the grind for the second pull, yeah I went right back for a second double shot. The second was still 22 in and I pushed it to 44 out. The berries were still there and it brought down the sour just a touch, like I wanted. After the taste test, I then made this into a latte, the berries still came through and just made a nice beverage. 

I will probably push the extraction just a little more to increase the depth, but very happy. Thanks Dan.

I will be first in line for the next group roast buy.

spent way way too much time on home barista lately… ordered something ridiculous last week.

Lagom P100 in silver. special request added to swap to SSP brew burrs which are a recent development and should allow for peak light roasted filter coffee and focus on turbo shots for espresso… meaning the next purchase will probably be a Flair 58 or (if another order round opens up) an Odyssey Espresso Argos. hoping for the latter. wife likes lattes.

That’s a big buy! You have to report back, of course. 
 

I don’t know anything about the Odyssey Argos, but I heartily recommend the Flair. It won’t make lattes, though!

hoping for late February arrival.

the Flair would be a bit more hassle, so many add-ons and correct, i’d have to hack the milk portion separately. Argos can give me the wand and the lever action i’m looking for and not cost me 3 grand. 

Bryan, if you go with the Flair try a Bellman stovetop steamer; it’s a little slow compared to my Breville, but it steams very high quality milk. You would just want an induction burner on your coffee bar. 

I quit, just filling the freezer now, appliance free. 
 

https://cometeer.com

 

HS

You guys got it all wrong. I kidnapped an actual barista about a year ago. Sometimes I actually use him to make coffee too.

23 minutes ago, swt61 said:

You guys got it all wrong. I kidnapped an actual baristo about a year ago. Sometimes I actually use him to make coffee too.

ftfy

Okay did I need a new water separator? and screen? and portafilter seal? Was there a problem I was trying to fix?

Nope.

But look shiny.. 💎🦜 {peck peck}

I thought you were repairing some Stax.

15 hours ago, mikeymad said:

Okay did I need a new water separator? and screen? and portafilter seal? Was there a problem I was trying to fix?

Nope.

But look shiny.. 💎🦜 {peck peck}

I did the same thing with mine (with the exact same bits): shiny is good! I have noticed no difference, but the gasket had gotten hard and likely needed replacement, or would soon. 

Edited January 9, 20233 yr by EdipisReks1

I’m thinking about getting a Weber Unibasket. It’s absurdly expensive for a basket, and if I like it I’ll have to get two (one for the Flair one for the Breville as I don’t like having to switch gear over; there is a reason why I have three Acaia and two Timemore scales), but I find myself rather intrigued by it. And I like Weber stuff. 

Anybody have any thoughts on the supposed benefits or have used the Unifilter? I have IMS and VST baskets already; quite the jump in price. 

That is a bit of money for a basket. But it is really pretty. 

I have not made the jump to IMS or VST yet. I have heard good things about both and was leaning towards a VST 20g ridgeless. Do you (or others) have a preference? But at the price, I could try a few. I have not had an interest in a puck screen at this point. 

Next step after the Weber is the refractometer. 

I cannot offer comparisons, but the two IMS's that came with my Lelit Bianca have been great.  I only bother with the 20g basket these days as I shoot for a 2:1 20 to 40ish when I'm pulling.  

I always watch with one of those little mirrors and it does a great job based on anything I've seen on videos or in person unless I screw up which fortunately doesn't happen much any more unless I just happens to have a fresh batch of beans I am figuring out.

On a separate note, I keep meaning to post about the Acaia Pearl scale that the shop tossed in where I purchased the espresso machine.  That thing really makes life much better / efficient.  It's more robust than I care to admit as well (incident teaching my sister's kids how to make coffee...let's just say it was the only time my Niche ended up on its side...).

HS 

If you get any of the IMS with the nanotech coating, be mindful that espresso detergent will strip the coating.  Also, yes, the Acaia Pearl is a must have, AFAIC.