Coffee Appreciation

Your approach is dead right, what’s appropriate within industrial r&d and commercial service is often complete overkill in a domestic setting. There are many for whom the process is as important as the result but most people are not wired that way and just want to enjoy their coffee.

If you’re in the business of producing content then it doesn’t take long to burn through the consumer level stuff and get into the ‘trade secret’ type stuff which hobbyists find fascinating, but there needs to be more emphasis on reminding people that they really don’t need to go to this level of fucking about. Try it if you’re curious but this is not the secret to enjoying a cup of coffee at home.

My Mahlkonig Vario stopped working again a few days after I'd fitted the new display board, took it into my local roastery (bossman fixes grinders and espresso machines as well) and he reckons the motor and the main board are dead... :(

Waiting to find out how much parts will cost and if it's worth fixing...

I replaced both of these on my MC2 for about £60 IIRC. I imagine the Vario will be more expensive to repair, but always feels good to keep things going. Do you know how to check a motor to see if it's fucked?
If you have a multimeter, it's quite straightforward.

These videos helped me. No continuity over opposite commutator bars was what proved my motor was fucked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUzKAxZ9pJ8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmjFzukDhqI

Replacing the vario motor is easy no idea about main board - sounds like between us we might have one working grinder! :(

This has turned into a much longer post than I had anticipated. The TLDR version is: I now like the AeroPress and James Hoffmann.

Roughly four months in, I now really like the AeroPress. One of my initial annoyances about it was that it came with too many pieces of what I thought to be unnecessary plastic. Why can't people just use a spoon to stir? Why can't people just load the coffee directly into the AeroPress without using the funnel? However, I have grown fond of the paddle, and James Hoffmann has finally made me understand that that funnel also allows you to press into smaller drinking vessels. Oh...I am still never going to use it though.

I think I now actually prefer the AeroPress to my cafetiere, which came as a bit of a shock. It is mainly the clean up process. For some reason, I can't stand any of my coffee stuff being dirty. I will leave my bikes to rot, for example, but every time I use my cafetiere, I end up breaking the filter part down into it's three separate bits and cleaning them all meticulously. This is a faff. Getting all the grounds out of the cafetiere body and the mesh filter is also a pain, in my opinion. Also, owing to the influence of JH, my cafetiere brewing routine now takes about 12 minutes and involves dirtying another cup and another spoon. That also proves to be too much faff most days. I only really use the cafetiere now when I want to make around one and half cups (400ml) for myself at the weekend.

I went down a bit of a weird rabbit hole one day trying to decide which reuseable metal filter to buy for the AeroPress (and if anyone does have a strong opinion on this, I am still interested). The actual upshot of this was that I decided the paper filters are actually really great and are not wasteful, as I first thought. They are much smaller than, say, V60 or Clever Dripper filter papers, and are pretty economical. You can even rinse and reuse, although someone else pointed out that this might waste more water than it is worth. Squeezing out the puck and popping into the compost bin with the paper is brilliant and I think that is ultimately what has won me over. I also like the speed of the brewing process, and, having had some time to work on it, this is now pretty seamless and results in a good cup of coffee.

Also, one last point in defense of the Hoff: he does often say stuff along the lines of ''you don't need to spend money on this stuff to get great coffee/spending this much money is chasing diminishing returns/this is only really suitable for commercial set ups'' etc . People will get different stuff out of the videos, the best things I have picked up from them was stuff like the trick to reduce static when grinding and the long cafetiere brewing technique (genuinely made some excellent coffee that way). Similar to the AeroPress, although I was skeptical at first, I now really like James Hoffmann. Looking forward to the rest of the AeroPress series. Just hope he doesn't convince me that the ultimate AeroPress technique actually requires leaving it to steep for 30 minutes or anything like that.

^ Good points raised.

After the recent chatter about the aeropress I ended up getting mine back out, then a buddy sent me a metal filter. I use this as a pre filter above the paper. I'm not sure if it helps but the paper solves the crunchy finish of filter only.

I use 9g to 150ml but don't use a timer, it makes a reasonable second cup of the day without too much hassle. Fwiw I use the funnel for getting the grounds in neatly, never use the stirrer as I just swirl it about gently instead.

I haven't watched JH's video yet, I think he peaked with the Bripe and I'm not sure I can go back.

I should probably add that I don’t hate the Aeropress. I use one at work rather than a cafetière for all the reasons Neddo listed.

I also don’t hate James Hoffman.

If you're interested in trying mont58 and near catford my mate nav's coffee van 'Beats & Grind' outside catford train station uses it in their coffees.

Interesting alright. The preview said the electric element will take 10 mins to heat the chamber, so in one respect no quicker , and maybe slower than the regular flair.

I got a flair pro only this week. It's a lot of fun to use and work with and this is now on my watch list

The motor on a Vario is about the same price, let's see what my guy says... TBH if he tells me what the problem is and the labour is gonna be too expensive I can always take it away and fix it myself to save some cash... Don't really wanna buy a new grinder, I know this one's nine or so years old but it hasn't been used that much in that time as I'm only a one/two cup a day type of guy...

@Tenderloin Is yours totally FUBAR then?

And I can't wait to see what the Hoff does with the Aeropress, I've only just started doing the inverted brew thing which I've really enjoyed... It's such a great little tool...

Also been enjoying the Clever Dripper a lot, brews a really nice cup... I'm a total brew convert after being a massive espresso dickhead for so long... Enjoying the variety, will have to get my restored Moka pot up and running as well...

but every time I use my cafetiere, I end up breaking the filter part down into it's three separate bits and cleaning them all meticulously. This is a faff. Getting all the grounds out of the cafetiere body and the mesh filter is also a pain, in my opinion. Also, owing to the influence of JH, my cafetiere brewing routine now takes about 12 minutes and involves dirtying another cup and another spoon. That also proves to be too much faff most days. I only really use the cafetiere now when I want to make around one and half cups (400ml) for myself at the weekend.

This is why I went for a clever dripper to replace my cafetiere. Also. I now have completely fine free coffees too.

Any leads / suggestions for good airtight storage containers for coffee? Are the coffee-specific ones worth the extra dollar?

I just bit the bullet and bought the Fellow one partly motivated by Square Mile moving to longer / flatter letter box friendly bags that are not so friendly in the kitchen.

Bit spendy but it's a nice thing. I imagine in reality anything airtight will do a reasonable job if you get through the coffee at a reasonable rate.

I've been using the same Square Mile retail bags for over a year now.

Fellow Atmos or Airscape seem to be the spendy options. I was happy with my Weck jar and drinking quickly and buying frequently approach.

No it works but it won’t grind fine enough. After replacing pulley and motor and several strip downs and rebuilds I’m taking a break from it as it was winding me up. I think I’ll probably sell it as soon as Niche become available again

Thanks all - should clarify it’s for my OH’s pre-ground decaf as not yet #buyer enough to get a separate grinder for it.

I drink black instant. There, I said it. But I'm trying to be a better man.

If I clean this up, what ground coffee should I buy? Happy to buy from @StevePeel if possible.

Obviously its not the best machine, but I see it as a gateway.

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If you’re using that machine I would probably recommend clicking the stovetop grind option rather than espresso, but to get a tastier result buy yourself a cheap cafetière and make it in that instead. Not meaning to be a prick about it but it’s really difficult to get nice espresso or textured milk out of any machine cheaper than a Gaggia Classic or Rancillio Silvia. You’ll get much nicer coffee, less frustration and better value from your expensive coffee with a manual brewer.

Yeah? More effort than it's worth. Fair play.

I have a cafetiere somewhere but always find that to be rather weak and thin.

Start off with 60g ground coffee per litre of water and steep it for 5 minutes. If it’s too weak go for a bit more coffee or vice-versa. Something like our Brasil, Colombia or Guatemala should be satisfyingly full-bodied if you’re using YB. :)

I want to get a friend of mine some fancy beans for his birthday, probably a geisha. But all I really know about it is that it’s fancy, rare and relatively expensive. Any recommendations on what to look for? Or is Yemenia the new new?

It is nice though.

I'd look at some of the limited releases from the barn, or you could do a rare sub from Colonna (I have one, it is nice getting a 'special' bag of beans through every few weeks)

Where is your friend from and is he a coffee nut?