Coffee: we drink it or we get angry.

Discussion in 'Food and Drink' started by Jeb, Jan 16, 2016.

  1. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    Boy I'm really getting annoyed at my junky hand grinder, and I keep forgetting to ask. @brencho could you throw your top 10 hand grinders up here when you have a chance? I know you like to "hand grinder roll" and was wondering what hand full you'd say to keep an eye out for? Any lost loves you regret letting go?
     
  2. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    oh man that's super hard. other folks here can chime in since there's lots of good and non-overlapping knowledge.

    my favorites are the 2 smaller Kinu M47 and M38 (referring to burr size), the Helor 101, the Feldgrind made by knock... the ones that i've always heard great things about but for whatever reason haven't tried are the Lido grinders, and the Comandante grinders. maybe i'm forgetting some...

    there are a few places that consistently carry at least one of the above, like Prima coffee. i ended up selling all but 1, but that doesn't really reflect anything other than weird idiosyncratic preferences, and not differences in the cup since i really loved the feldgrind and helor and both were super easy to use and super high quality. kept the kinu m47 just cause i was part of a pre-order from europe and felt it would be annoying to sell it.

    the feldgrind is slimmer and fits inside an aeropress and is very convenient to travel with if you plan to take it around with you places. the helor is also fairly compact. it uses ceramic bearings and the only reason i mention that is because a couple people (though this is a minority btw) tightened down the bolt too hard and actually shattered the ceramic bearing. its fine and replaceable even with non ceramic ones but anyway if you're a brute force kinda guy then just beware not to overtighten the helor (like putting lots of elbow grease into tightening - normal tightening is fine).

    tldr; i think you'd be very happy with anything in the Feldgrind, Lido, Helor, etc caliber of grinders.
     
  3. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    I love my Lido. Great quality but it is big and heavy. The Kinus were not available when I got my Lido and the Feldgrinds were sold out. I haven't had any reason to replace it. Makes grinding easier in addition to the excellent job it does.
     
  4. randytsuch

    randytsuch Friend

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  5. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    Hmmmm, the M47 looks to be on preorder for $299 (another production run maybe?) Is that the going rate, or did it go up?
     
  6. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    Hm I think it went up. Paid around 190-200 euro for mine but it was a while back so don't quote me on that.
     
  7. Eric_C

    Eric_C Friend

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    Have any of you replaced a solenoid valve? Wondering how much more life a machine gets with a replacement.
     
  8. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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    Does the Lido have enough grind size adjustment for you? I like the capacity of 70g or so, as I brew 3 to 4 cups worth in the morning. I assume you have the Lido 3? The other ones seem to be more specific to espresso...

    Also, has anyone tried the ROK coffee grinder? Its not portable, but seems like a worker too...
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2017
  9. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    Sometimes things make you go hmmmm?

    the $3.99 one day only 12 oz bag of Green Mountain Ground Nantucket blend is drinkable, and really tastes fairly decent, not totally terrible compared to the $19 lb Redbird stuff. I still like the fancier stuff if I had a choice.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2017
  10. Eric_C

    Eric_C Friend

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    I upgraded to a Domobar Jr HX.
    Good grief it's fun to use. And having a pressure gauge is useful for diagnosing the shot!
     
  11. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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  12. lukeap69

    lukeap69 Pinoy Panther

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    Nice. Does it need flushing a lot of water before making a shot?
     
  13. randytsuch

    randytsuch Friend

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    Another guy named Eric sells adapters to add a thermocouple to a E61 group head. It replaces the allen screw on the front of the grouphead. I added one because I sucked at the "water dance" when I flushed, makes it really easy when you can read the grouphead temp while flushing.

    With an exposed grouphead, you could get something like this:
    https://www.chriscoffee.com/E61-Group-Digital-Thermometer-Adapter-p/sss-04.htm

    My grouphead is not exposed, so my machine looks different


    Randy
     
  14. Eric_C

    Eric_C Friend

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    I haven't been precise with the flushing, but I do it enough to see the flow get into a steady stream. Also just to heat the cups.

    @randytsuch thanks for the recommend! But I'm feeling poor after spending on the new machine, so I'll pass on the upgrade for now
     
  15. Cryptowolf

    Cryptowolf Repping Chi Town - Friend

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    I'll also chime in as I have some experience with hand grinders. I have a hario grinder that I would not recommend. The ground is inconsistent with lots of boulders and fines.

    My Kickstarter Handground works reasonably well for pour over. I tend to set it between 4 and 5. It lacks finer setting to really dial in the grind. The initial release had some difficulties producing consistent grinds at either the loosest (8) or finest (1) settings. The makers released an upgrade kit for early adopters and I believe they rolled out the revised burr set for everyone else going forward. If you're looking to do pour over, the Handground would probably suit your needs.

    I also have a Aergrind. I love this little grinder. It handles pour over tasks great and the infinite adjustment allows me to dial in for a particular bean and process. I've currently got it set at 3.1 for Kalita Wave brewing. The downsides are small volume (probably around 30 grams of beans at a time) and difficulty in changing between major settings. For example, to set you have to tighten it all the way and then loosen up to the preferred setting. Not really a problem if you want to dedicate the grinder to a particular task, such as pour over exclusively. It wouldn't want to fuss with it for going from espresso to french press.

    I have not tried the Lido line, or other higher end grinders, so your mileage may vary. I also don't brew espresso so I can't comment on their use for really fine grinds. If I personally had it all to do over again, I'd buy a Feldgrind for pour over/aeropress.
     
  16. HAL9000

    HAL9000 Almost "Made"

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    I've been using my Orphan Espresso Lido 3 for about a year now and it is fantastic. I am an Aeropress die hard. I set it for coarse espresso and the 48mm Swiss-made conical burrs make short work of grinding.
     
  17. uncola

    uncola Friend

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    So I just got this aeropress accessory.. the prismo.. basically a replacement cap with a Valve that stops premature drip and has a built in steel filter. The claims about extra pressure seem to be bunk but the steel filter and not having to invert and flip anymore make it worth the price.. recommended if you find inverting annoying
     
  18. dark_energy

    dark_energy Friend

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    Last edited: Mar 6, 2018
  19. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    Found my happy place a short walk from my apartment yesterday. Awesome little coffee shop where they do everything meticulously and had a delicious and perfectly brewed Yirg pour over. Looking forward to going back and trying their espresso.

    On a side note I bought a very cool scale there that I haven’t seen before. It not only weighs and times but it has a thermoprobe that plugs into the side via microusb for measuring water temp. Info is shown on the screen with weight and time. It’s kind of cheaply made though so I hope it holds up because it’s pretty nifty.

    [​IMG]
     
  20. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    so pumped about this coffee shop near my new apt. Never lived in a big city downtown area and therefore have never been able to walk to a really quality coffee shop. Tried the espresso today and it is perfect. Last time was a top notch pourover. They also have plenty of fresh-roasted beans for sale which I was so worried about being able to source here that I brought 11 bags from home so I'd have some time to figure it out.
     

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