Coffee Appreciation

Is there anywhere in Europe that stocks orphan espresso collapsible pour over kettle and or cone?

https://www.oehandgrinders.com/Travel-Coffee--Drippers-Filters-Pitchers_c_36.html

Afraid I have no clue...

Looks like a yes, but only after taking the lid off. Likely ending up with both types of ground coffee.

Am in a rented house on holiday. They even mentioned this 'chemex' thing in the ad as an extra plus. Quick review: it's crap. Solution waiting for a problem.

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What's feeding the Chemex there? It's usually pour over?

https://homeinstitute.co.uk/shop/chemex-ottomatic-electric-coffee-brewer/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAm4TyBRDgARIsAOU75sqNhC-DGzygejJSsRzKTvzTA4jLrVbQjgXA8sZQkunJhn_WC0wG0RMaAkbYEALw_wcB

Quick review: it's crap. Solution waiting for a problem.

The Chemex itself or the brewer?

I'm quite a big fan of the Chemex myself.

Long read but really interesting

https://towardsdatascience.com/measuring-espresso-extraction-across-the-filter-c9a4ccee117f

Anyone got any hands-on experience with siphon brewers? Been hankering after one for years and finally have the space to keep one in the kitchen permanently (looking at the Hario Technica specifically). Willing to put up with the faff of cleaning if they reliably make a decent brew.

I can imagine that being a waste of money. Chemex itself is a well established brew method though iirc.

quite a big fan of the Chemex myself.

Why? What's wrong with a regular filter and a two piece design like every other drip coffee setup since always? Ok there might be something in their mumbo jumbo about their special filter but this stupid brewer overflows and gets coffee grounds on the shower head as one removes the glass container from the heating plate. Plus it looks silly with the wood and leather. Grnmmmblh, hrumph.

I think we're looking at this from two different perspectives, I use my Chemex as a pour over. I like being able to make a decent sized (litre+) batch of filter and the Chemex itself is nice to serve out of. It's the only pour over I regularly use so can't comment on the claim that the thicker paper leads to a cleaner cup than v60s/Kalitas etc.

I have zero experience of the Ottoman brewer you're using, which is seems to be responsible for most of your issues.

My reasoning for using a Chemex (or any other pour over brewer) is primarily keeping things simple. The Ottoman/Chemex combo is a bit of an odd one in my mind. But I guess it makes sense if you already have a Chemex and want a more hands-off approach?

Regarding aesthetics, I'm a big fan personally. There are versions with a glass handle as opposed to the wood neck + leather.

the Ottoman brewer....seems to be responsible for most of your issues

If true I've inadvertently struck gold here! Just ritually dispose of it and life will be a breeze from now on.

Ok ok I won't go on about this, I can imagine if used as a manual pour over thing the chemex is fine. But the brewer combo hasn't been properly thought through IMO.

Only a Cona siphon brewer but in my experience reliability was definitely not amongst its positive attributes. It would regularly airlock and stop drawing down entirely. When it did work well the brew temperature wouldn’t be easily controllable and it was often overextracted due to getting too close to boiling and the big agitation you get.

Having said all that, it really is magical but it never tasted as good as a pour over for me.

That auto Chemex brewer thing wouldn’t be any different to using a filter machine so I guess the issue would be water temperature and distribution pattern supposing grind and dose were correct.

Chemex brewing is lovely, I find you get all the detail of a V60 with more body, probably because you tend to get a longer brew time.

We’ve got Marco SP9s in the shop which is a commercial version of the gadget above and it doesn’t taste as good as a careful manual brew. It does ensure the brew doesn’t get ruined by distracted humans though. A thermal Technivorm would be a better bet for fuss free home brewing.

apologies if this has already been covered - I need to buy new aeropress filters. should I buy more paper ones (i assume they're compostable) or a washable metal one?

It's been so long since I've used a paper one so can't give any valuable comparisons. However, I've used a Koffi filter (https://www.amazon.co.uk/KOFFI-DISC-AeroPress-Reusable-Stainless/dp/B01ES9169W) for the past few years and I still get a tasty coffee, so can't complain.

Nnggggg

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If you're sharing it, stick with paper, if not ge a metal one it's much better.

I've bought 2 metal filters now for the work aeropress as people keep chucking it in the bin.

It was difficult for me to get out of the habit. Had many occasions of picking the metal filter out of the bin in the first weeks.

Yep, I have one, it looks exactly the same as the hario one (and predates them selling one) but isn't hario branded.

They do make nice coffee and in some respects are more reliable than other brewing methods (mostly due to water temp always being perfect) but I've used mine with cloth filter which is a bit of a faff. Might be tempted to sell it to be honest

Cheers all

yeah loads, great for home, pain in the ass for a shop.

I have a large old 70's bodum that i use to do 2-3 cups at home. make sure you get the paper filter attachement, cloth filters are awfully hard to keep clean and fresh.

brew hotter but shorter and often have more body than a pour over

It wasn't long ago they spent a large amount of money on an advertising campaign showing off that they've trained their barista's to do latte art.

I can't imagine brewing that sort of thing in a shop, nor how frequently they'd be broken when being washed!

Regarding the cloth filters, I've been led to believe it's just a case of washing them after use and storing them in water. Is that basically bollocks and they actually need a fair bit more work to keep fresh?