Able Brewing's DISK Fine - Pre-production reviews and discussion - Page 3

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
jbviau (original poster)
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#21: Post by jbviau (original poster) »

the_trystero wrote:I'm going to pick up a 2nd Aeropress so I can do some side by side and blind comparisons.
Now there's an idea...
Randy G. wrote:I am sipping from my third cup brewed con el Disco Fino.
The post-nominal adjective does have a Romance-y feel, right? "DISK Fine" makes me think of a famous French restaurant in Philly, for example: Le Bec-Fin.
"It's not anecdotal evidence, it's artisanal data." -Matt Yglesias

jbviau (original poster)
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#22: Post by jbviau (original poster) »

yakster wrote:Got my Disk last night and got a chance to try it out...using Brandon Weaver's 2012 NW Regional AP Champ recipe...It may be cheating to say that I used the OE Lido cupping grinder set to 0.75 for the grind, which probably helped quite a bit.
^^^ This recipe and grind worked well for me just now with Ceremony's Ethiopia Kochere, which I'm finishing a bag of. I might coarsen it up a touch to 1 turn CCW from zero next time just to see what happens. Fines in the cup continue to be pretty much a non-issue IMO.

Somewhere I read a tip about wetting the DISK and cap before screwing the cap on when brewing inverted in order to keep the DISK from shifting or falling out. Thought I'd pass it along in case there are any other DISK newbies out there.
"It's not anecdotal evidence, it's artisanal data." -Matt Yglesias

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RapidCoffee
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#23: Post by RapidCoffee »

I did some blind cupping today, with a friend and two Aeropresses (one with the new Able Disk Fine metal filter, and the other with a standard AP paper filter). We sampled three very different coffees:
1) Ethiopia Gedeo Worka (Klatch)
2) El Salvador San Emilio (Compass)
3) Kauai Coffee Estate Reserve (dark roast)*

Grinder: Breville Smart, set to the midpoint of the percolator/filter range
Brew ratio: coffee:water = 1:16 (10g grinds to 160ml water)
Brew temperature: just off the boil (boiling point of water is 203F at my elevation)
Brew time: 2 minutes (inverted)
Agitation: initial stir plus another stir after 1 minute
Pressing: 20-30 seconds

Somewhat to my surprise, there were small but noticeable differences in the cup. The metal-filtered AP brew was more acidic and fruitier than the paper-filtered AP brew. The paper-filtered brew was slightly more bitter and less balanced than the metal-filtered brew. This held across all three coffees. I was able to distinguish between the filters in our blind taste tests, and correctly identified the filter in all but one case. I preferred the metal-filtered brew across the board.

Pressing resistance from the metal filter is slightly higher than the paper filter. There is more sediment in the metal-filtered AP brew, but it is not objectionable (nothing like French press).

Thumbs up from this reviewer.


Able Disk Fine


Inverted brewing, natch

*gift from a well-intentioned friend :roll:
John

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#24: Post by Sam21 »

RapidCoffee wrote:...
Grinder: Breville Smart, set to the midpoint of the percolator/filter range
...
I hope my old Breville Smart is working for you. I'm jealous that you have a Disk Fine at your disposal and can't wait to get my hands on one!

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#25: Post by RapidCoffee »

Yes, it's working fine for nonespresso brew (a lot more kitchen-friendly than the Major :) ).
John

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#26: Post by jbviau (original poster) »

Just a heads up that Keith at Able Brewing posted over on CG tonight in their own DISK Fine thread. One tidbit:
AbleBrewingEquipment wrote:TEXT DIRECTION: The specified hole size is on the text side. So this means that side should be touching the coffee. The other side would be the "exit" side.
"It's not anecdotal evidence, it's artisanal data." -Matt Yglesias

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RapidCoffee
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#27: Post by RapidCoffee »

Yeah, I used it that way (text side towards coffee grinds). Still don't understand why it should make a difference.
John

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#28: Post by AbleBrewingEquipment »

The holes are different on each side. Specified hole size on text side. Larger holes on non text side. So it should be easier to clean with less clogging when used with the text side as the brew side and non as the exit.

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#29: Post by AbleBrewingEquipment »

Oh yeah. I posted this over on CG if anyone on here is interested:

"And a reminder if you didn't catch it. Prima will also be selecting one recipe submitted that will appear on the instruction card of the new disk. It will list the persons name on the card. They will receive a handful of production units with packaging to keep and gift to friends. AND as a thanks a gold plated disk filter."

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#30: Post by RapidCoffee »

AbleBrewingEquipment wrote:The holes are different on each side. Specified hole size on text side. Larger holes on non text side. So it should be easier to clean with less clogging when used with the text side as the brew side and non as the exit.
That makes sense. The filter does require a bit of cleaning, but it's nothing onerous. Thanks for weighing in!
John