Coffee: we drink it or we get angry.

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

  1. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    As you know, eating various foods with coffee or other drinks affects how we perceive flavors. Eating sweet foods with coffee will bring out more savory notes and vice-versa. I have come to realize that one of the foods that most brings out the sweetness in my preferred natural-processed Ethiopians is a sausage mcmuffin from McDonald’s. For whatever reason that particular combo of savoriness just primes my tongue perfectly. I’m not a big McDonald’s fan but I began to have this realization when I was living in China. For some reason many Americans (not all) suffer an affliction when living in Asia that prompts a desire to eat at McDonald’s more. My daily bike commute had me passing one. I hadn’t eaten there in a while since coming back to the US until recently when my new morning commute finds me with extra time and once again passing a McD’s.
    Of course our biological tasting systems are all different as illustrated by the cilantro tasting phenomenon but if you’d like to test this out yourself you can currently get a sausage McMuffin and hashbrown for 2 bucks. I know this sounds like an ad but I’d really like to hear if anyone else has this same tasting phenomenon. I generally still am not a fan of McD’s for everything else (when I’m in the US and unafflicted at least!).
     
  2. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Here's a random thought... anyone here interested in trading a nice grinder for an iFi iDSD Pro?
     
  3. famish99

    famish99 Friend

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    Not that I have an idsd but I'd say nice grinder is somewhat relative lol.
     
  4. E_Schaaf

    E_Schaaf MOT: E.T.A Headphones

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    Sometimes I put a pinch of finely ground salt in with my grounds when I pull shots. Delicious, especially in a slightly sweeter beverage (I like to lightly sweeten with maple syrup too). Today I'm sipping on a salted maple oat milk cappuccino, 10/10
     
  5. famish99

    famish99 Friend

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    Or just go all the way off the deep end: https://www.baristahustle.com/blog/diy-water-recipes-redux/
     
  6. ButtUglyJeff

    ButtUglyJeff Stunningly beautiful IRL

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  7. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    Does not look like an enjoyable way to roast to me. You will never have as good roasts as a really good, knowledgable commercial roaster unless you are using a method that can carefully profile with controlled heat and time, because that's what the good ones are doing in their machines. I have roasted with many different methods and the very best roasts came from an SC/CO roaster that I made (popular frankenroaster design) and then used to carefully profile and roast with a multimeter thermoprobe. It involved controlling the heat element by hand as I watched the temps. Amazing roasts with undeniable results in the cup (better than Behmor 1600 drum roasts with automated temp control) but very finicky and time-consuming. In my mind the only reason for someone who is not running a business to roast at home is just for personal enjoyment or to save money. Both are understandable. It is fun but it can also become a chore.

    I have roasted stovetop with a whirley-pop and just with a frying pan and stirring but it’s a very inexact practice.
     
  8. Vansen

    Vansen Gear Master (retiring)

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    I have always wanted my own home roaster. Now that I have my own garage, a home roaster is only a matter of time. This had me thinking, if I could have my dream home roaster, what features would it have? If I'm not buying a Probat BRZ or SanFranciscan sample roaster, what would I design? I thought about buying a SanFranciscan, then wished that Loring made sample roasters, and finally decided that drum roasters aren't the way I want to go for my home roaster.

    I've spent a ton of time with drum roasters, but I've barely spent any time roasting coffee on a fluidized bed. However, I've spent quite a bit of time transitioning roasters off of traditional air column destoning over to fluid bed destoning and from traditional cooling trays to fluidized cooling beds. In each case, moving to fluid beds was like going from horse and buggy to a private jet service. This got me on my current fixation: fluid bed home roasters.

    Currently, every fluid bed home roaster I see only uses fluid beds for the roasting process. While impractical for the home setting, I see the benefit for each roaster to have three fluid beds: (1) green bean pre-heater, (2) roaster, and (3) cooling. The density of coffee is different in each stage, and the density of coffee will change throughout the preheating and roasting process, which need to be taken into account with a PID or set points. The density of air changes significantly in each phase and needs to be accounted for with a PID or set points. In the home/ lab setting, I'd set these up as columns, with the roaster exhaust feeding the green bean pre-heater.

    ...give me a triple fluid bed roaster with an RTO attached to it and I think you have the 21st Century version of a coffee roaster that's usable by high volume third wave roasters.

    Given I want a fluid bed roaster, this is where my list of requirements sits for my custom roaster:
    • Profile roaster
      • Ardunio TC4+ enables this.
    • Fluidized roaster with a Recirculating design
      • Roaster Column must be fluidized
      • Temperature control is primarily driven through airflow changes, not burner/ heater settings
    • Fluidized green bean preheater and fluidized cooling system highly preferred, but not required for MVP
    • If I could control my solution with Cropster, that'd be the dream.

    Useful Links:
     
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    Last edited: May 31, 2022
  9. randytsuch

    randytsuch Friend

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    I was into roasting for a while, but stopped around 10 years ago. Was fun, but time consuming.

    Early roaster Here's a link to an early version using a off the shelf PID and a Popcorn Pumper. The Pumper (original version, not the II) has the same guts as the Poppery. With the changes I made, it did a good job. Had complete control of the roast process.

    Later I converted my setup to use an early version of the TC4. I wrote a bunch of arduino code to control the roasts with a PID algorithm. I also changed the setup to use a modified Alpenrost drum roaster to get bigger batches. Was only using the guts of the Alpenrost, my arduino was controlling it so I had complete profiling control.

    I've thought about resurrecting this stuff, I may one day. Bought the parts to make a stir crazy type roaster to get larger batches, but never built it. Maybe I will, think the stuff is still in the garage.
    Good luck on putting something together.

    These days, I'd use an ESP32 instead of an arduino. I've used them in other projects, amazing what $10 buys.

    Randy
     
  10. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    using PID on a convection oven/stir crazy setup can get you VERY good roasts.
     
  11. Syzygy

    Syzygy Friend

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  12. Ntbm3

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    Just saw this thread! Coffee is surprisingly similar to audiophiles/Vinyl... Gear, techniques, tweaks, mods and rituals! Everything matters.... and $$$$

    I have really enjoyed going down the espresso rabbit hole. I have a 'mid-fi' set up with a focus on the source (beans/grinder/water) and prep. This setup has provided me a great amount of joy to myself and my family/visitors. Honestly more joy than my stereo, as more people enjoy coffee in general or are at least t open to it.

    Super fun to open peoples eyes to what is possible with flavors/textures and techniques.

    The Breville dual boiler provides enough adjustability to play with different shot styles and using a bottomless portafilter has allowed me to learn to be consistent enough to play with the other variables and notice the difference.

    Just like audio, you should find what you like and enjoy it!! it's about the coffee :)

    Coffee.jpg
     
  13. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Cheap audiophile's mod for Panarello-type steam wands

    Here at Chateau Degraded we love our lattes, which we drink by the imperial pint. Trouble is, the Panarello-type steamer on our cheap espresso machine sucks too much air, so the milk always becomes too aerated and every result is a very foamy cappuccino (this is a common complaint about the steamers on this and similar DeLonghi models so I conclude it's more than just my bad technique).

    Some people dispense with the Panarello's outer tube, either by cutting it back so that only the retaining-collar part remains or by removing it entirely and using a cable tie or something to secure the inner nozzle to the wand. This eliminates the outside air sucked by the Venturi effect through the outer tube's vent hole so that milk aeration is due to the steam from the reservoir alone. I've tried this and the result was not enough air, every coffee becoming a very milky, very flat white. Other people dispense with the entire Panarello and replace the wand with something like a Rancilio Silvia one. This is quite a bit of work though, and because of my tube-removed results I suspect it would again not give enough air for my big jugs/small steam-reservoir use-case.

    What's needed is to keep the Panarello but somehow reduce the volume of extra air it provides. The cheap-bastard audiophile's answer is of course micropore tape:

    [​IMG]

    Placing the porous tape over the outer tube's intake hole restricts the amount of air that's sucked in to mix with the steam from the reservoir. In my trials I found 2 layers to be best, enabling me to ride the rising milk to get just the foam texture I like. Your case might vary depending upon amount & fattiness of milk, preferred foaminess, nozzle design, and technique.

    And yes it does change the sound - increasing the high frequencies, the converse of what it does when applied to IEM nozzles.
     
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  14. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    Anyone use a program, subscriptions, app, or any other similar service to recommend coffee beans? Had really good luck on Trade coffee earlier, but haven't had as good luck lately. Am considering something new.

    I don't have one fixed brewing method - I kind of just do what I'm in the mood for the day or or what I think tastes better with a particular coffee. Typically moka pot, pour over, or chemex. If I add anything, it's half and half or briefly frothed milk (I know a true coffee snob or enthusiast would frown upon this... but idc) but similarly, only added when I think it "tastes right" for that particular drink. I don't add sugar or anything else.

    Also, is there a non-plastic alternative to the aeropress? Also, is there something that lets a little more of the oils and other dissolved solids through as well vs the aeropress filter.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2022
  15. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

    Staff Member Pyrate Flathead IEMW
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    I do Fellow Drops:
    https://drops.fellowproducts.com/

    New coffee every week. Info is sent by text and you reply with the number of bags you want, if you want it. If not, just ignore the text. I’ve been subscribed since the inaugural drop and have really enjoyed it.
     
  16. caute

    caute Lana Del Gayer than you

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    in everyone’s opinion, in the analogy of transducer, amp and source—where do machine, grinder and beans fit?

    If a transducer is the machine, amp is grinder and source is beans, which is most important in your opinions? Or do you have a different way of looking at it?

    also last question (as it’s been a while since I’ve been in the espresso game), what is the current hd650 of electric grinders?
     
  17. dubharmonic

    dubharmonic Friend

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    It's all about the beans.
     
  18. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    I’ve had great luck with Trade but I have to put in a bit more effort. I usually edit my queue every few times. I favor the funky fruity coffees and I know this so I always go and replace pretty much anything that’s not funky and fruity with something that is and I’ve had plenty of fabulous ones. I wish I could choose to have them only choose those but I don’t see an option for that.

    re: Aeropress - I know you can buy various third party metal screens and whatnot. Google aeropress metal screen.
     
  19. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    Sorry I wasn't super clear with the original question. Made it seem like 1 question, meant for it to be 2, have edited.

    Anyways, maybe I'm paranoid, but given my medical history, I'm hesitant to use something that reacts with acidic + near or at boiling temp water with plastic day in and day out. Was thinking of similar device but metal or lined with something else inside.

    Glad you mentioned the metal screen though - should help with the "more oils and dissolved solids".
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2022
  20. supertransformingdhruv

    supertransformingdhruv Almost "Made"

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    This looks really interesting, but I'm not seeing any pricing info on the site. Do they hit the $15-20 range pretty consistently?
     

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