Coffee: we drink it or we get angry.

Interesting. I only use my vario for drip these days, kinu phoenix for espresso. I've very recently modified my machine so I can control pump power and I can now play with pre infusion and lower pressures. When I used the vario for espresso, I was just pulling 9 bar shots. And the kinu does a better job than my vario for espresso.

There is supposed to be an alignment you can make on the vario that may improve it, and I think my vario would benefit, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Need to order parts and I keep putting that off.

Randy

 

I'm gonna retract or qualify this.

My older Brikka is great. But I just tried a new Brikka and it is nothing like the older ones. It doesn't have a weight that prevents flow until a pressure level is met. Instead, it just seems to have a restricted flow. Instead of making something like espresso with crema and intensity, it makes something like Nespresso with froth. Its build feels flimsy.

Here's a review that goes into more detail. And to balance that, here's someone who never figured out the old one and likes the new one.

 

For anyone with an android phone, I've been using an app called Brew Timer.
Need to spend a couple bucks to get rid of the ads, but worth it to me.
It has a ton of different recipes, divided into how you are making the coffee, wave, v60, aeropress, etc.

For each recipe, gives water temp, amount of beans and water and grind setting
But what I really like is that it guides you through the pouring.

I use a kalita wave at work, so the recipes can be complicated. This app makes it easy.
When pouring, it continuously tells you how many grams you should be at, so you don't pour too fast or too slow.
Then it tells you when to wait for the next pour, or when to stir or whatever.

Highly recommended.

Randy

 

Man, Next Door is so stupid and hilarious sometimes. Someone asked about local coffee beans and here was the biggest facepalm in the comments - same guy speaking in both. Putting down someone as not being a “true coffee snob” and then praising Folgers in another comment



Also “the darker the better.” Blech…

then there was this guy who used the word “hipster” as a derogatory term for coffee he doesn’t like while looking like the biggest stereotypical hipster in his profile pic



Anyway.. thought some of you here might appreciate the shit show.

 

We've been using a Rancilio Silvia + their little "Rocky" burr grinder for about 10 years now and love it. I picked it up used from my neighbour for a song. It is easy to maintain and have only had it serviced once in these 10 years. We added an Auber Instruments PID for temperature control and can consistently pull great shots. It's all manual, but you get the hang of it quickly - especially if you have the PID for temperature control.

 

A solution to improve espresso quality. Bottomless portafilter or mod your portafilter.
How does this work? The short answer is, this improves the taste because there is no contact with metal after extraction.
https://perfectdailygrind.com/2016/03/espresso-machine-mods-4-reasons-to-use-a-naked-portafilter/

 

That’s not really a reason if you keep your portafilter clean. Better reason is to watch the flow and diagnose problems with it. I once converted one of my portafilters to bottomless using a door-hole saw on a drill.

 

It is for freaks, I know.

I suspect the coffee has more freshness when it is directly poured. You'd need to warm up your protafilter before so that your "channels" are as warm as the coffee.

Maybe the complex chemistry of the coffee is at fault here, It likes to go to a warm cup and be consumed.

 

of course I always warm up the portafilter but I am skeptical that you or anyone else can pick out the naked from the clothed in a blind tasting.

 

It is better do diagnose the problem with bottomless because you see the flow better.

 

Not implying everyone needs to convert. Enjoy your experience.

 

This conversation is really awkward. You said the same thing that you quoted me saying.

 

I am confirming the fact that bottomless makes more sense. Why have a portafilter machine when you don't take full advantage of it? It is enough of a hassle to use it. I'd go full automatic rather than argue about bottomless portafilter being useless.

 

Fwiw I asked a barista friend (who pulls really good shots) about pulling shots with a "cold"* portafilter, and he didn't think it made a difference. So if that's true, and the spouts are clean, it really should be ok to not worry about whether bottomless affects taste.

*Where I live it's tropical, so the coldest it gets is in an air-conditioned cafe at 20 Deg C. Folks living in temperate climates should probably run water through PF before first pull.

 

Summary

+ Bottomless might make it easier for some people. When you change your grind and beans you want to see how the coffee extracts. I was really surprised that my extraction before was really bad.

+ The cleaning part is easier, there is nothing to clean.

+/- Does it change anything for you? idk

+/- You like your machine with what it has? Don't change it, no one asked you to.

+/- Is there some significant change to the coffee? For me there is in helping me make better coffee. It will depend on a lot of variables. Do you change your bean brand and type often? What kind of a machine do you have? How do you prepare your stuff, cleaning etc.

I have seen these bottomless portafilters in a couple of cafes and also noticed it on an IG channel where they tuned custom big dual boiler machines as a service to cafes.

If you have your process well setup and you clean your porta filter every time, plus warm up before extraction then the difference is likely quite low or the same.

 

I'd made a WDT with 0.35mm acupuncture needles jammed into a cork, slightly splayed out, and got pretty good results, but the needles were a bit too short. I made another one with longer needles sticking straight out. I get a much more uniform bed of grounds, and the extraction is much slower with fewer spurters, telling me the distribution is more uniform. The espresso has more body, but tastes more bland. I guess the channeling I was getting before was extracting more from those parts of the puck.

 

We got pretty good coffee here in Sydney. I love the title of this thread. I realised when living in a trendy area here a few years ago, I was actually Gluten Intolerant - Intolerant. ‘Take your fancy bread, your sky blue yoga mat, your devil spawn brat with the babycino ( that’s a thing here) and get out of my way, I need a coffee now!

I haven’t got to the self tamping / grinding stage yet. I’ve got a DeLonghi that grinds the coffee, but I think I can do better.