Grindz Grinder Cleaner ''Best of Three'' giveaway - Page 2

[framey]

Learn from the Pros.

I'm off on a cafe crawl tomorrow, I'll be visiting some of what are considered to be the best coffee houses in Sydney. When I can, I chat to the Barista and or observe and absorb as much as I can. It might be the distribution technique or the actions they use when pouring milk, but there is nearly always something of note that I'll try when I get home.

Techniques or methods I've tried and sometimes adopted after observing pros:

• Pulling the cup away from the pour rather than just stopping the pour via the switch.
• A milk pouring technique that involves pouring the milk from 9 to 3 and back before the whole emerge and wiggle in the middle.
• After the tamp, making sure the edge of the basket is coffee free.
• Splitting milk into two jugs after steaming. Not something essential in the home environment, but I mucked around with it and could pour better art on the second cup if I split the milk.

While I might not always adopt the methods I observe, I'll give them a go. If you're not careful, talking to a good Barista about the motivations behind their actions will lead to a more rounded understanding of coffee

[snoboy]

A clean machine gets the best from the bean!

true for grinder and espresso machine

[HB]

Apparently Jeremy has spurred an economy of words, but this time more wins over less. Congratulations framey, you are the third Grindz Grinder Cleaner winner! Please contact Charles McAlpin to claim your prize.

If you want to join the Grindz versus Minute Rice test drive, now is the time to post your best...

[HAL9000]

I posted this to knockbox, but my grinder would sure appreciate a cleaning...

Thermometry for the Home Barista

[HB]

A good post worthy of winning all by itself. But to keep things interesting, let's try something different. I nominate Ken Fox's Introducing the Truth In Temperature Test, also posted in Knockbox, and have created a poll to choose the winner.

[Dogshot]

I have owned three different types of espresso machine. The first was a single boiler with a pressurized PF. I actually had 2 of these over the course of about 6 years, and was quite happy with the espresso that I got from them using my Lavazza and Illy ground coffee. With nothing (other than the big chains) to compare to, and with the consistency of my results, what's to complain about? I think that is the problem with pressurized PF; it gives such consistent(ly mediocre) results that differences in other variables does not change the end result that much. And so people with machines with pressurized PFs tend to use them for much longer than they would if they were exposed to the variability in the results that come from the more 'honest' style of PF.

I bought another single boiler unit with the 58mm non-pressurized PF for quality reasons. I wanted a machine that would last a long time. So I bought a Gaggia Classic. It is a nice machine, but the small boiler and lack of any method of preinfusion can get in the way of achieving consistent results. I suspect that for most of us, single boiler machines are purchased because we know we like espresso, but are not sure if we can justify the large additional expense of a prosumer style machine. Once we get the single boiler unit and get a sample of how amazing real espresso can be, we immediately realize that a better (more consistent and easier to use) machine is in our future.

After almost 2 years with the Gaggia, I bought a Brewtus II. The overall quality of the espresso that I was making immediately jumped, and the amount of variance in quality from shot to shot decreased dramatically. If I had it to do all over again, I would certainly bypass the single boiler machine stage and jump right into a nice HX or DB machine.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and this picture is not based on actual data; rather, it is a representation of my experience with the three types of machines. It assumes that the user has achieved a working level of competence with each machine type. The Saeco represents the pressurized portafilter machine, with little variance, but with limited ability to demonstrate how satisfying a great cup of espresso can be. Next, the Gaggia represents the single boiler unit, with enough variance to make a cup that is worse than the PPF style, or on par with a poor pour from a prosumer style. The prosumer machine brings the best of both other styles and a bit more. While the single boiler machines do help the aspiring home barista with technique, the overall quality and consistency from the prosumer machines remove so many of the intervening variables and really enable the home barista to start understanding not just the process of making good espresso, but the espresso itself.

Mark

[HB]

A good post worthy of winning all by itself. But to keep things interesting, let's try something different. I nominate Ken Fox's Introducing the Truth In Temperature Test, also posted in Knockbox, and have created a poll to choose the winner.

Congratulations HAL9000, you are the fourth Grindz Grinder Cleaner winner! Please contact Charles McAlpin to claim your prize.

Got a dirty grinder? Join the Grindz test drive by posting your best...

[jasonmolinari]

Ok, mine isn't espresso related, but it is a tip for coffee.
I have a rocky at work for my daily single cup drip drinking. I've never been able to get a really great cup of drip, it was better than the crap down the hall, but never fantastic. The coffee usually had a cardboardy stale flavor, even though it was only 3-4 days out of roast.
My coworkers and I blamed this on the dull burrs of the rocky (they were about 80-100 lbs old), so i replaced the burrs, still didn't help. We blamed it on the inconsistency in the grinder, so i teflon wrapped the upper carrier..no help. We blamed it on the water at work, so i brought Brita water from home, no help. We tried different brand filters, no help. We were at a loss as to why the coffee just wasn't that good.

I was brewing 8 oz. of water to about 9g of coffee (since that is what the sweet marias blue SCAA scoop says!)

Lo and behold, the simplest variable i didn't even try adjusting was the issue. I wasn't using enough coffee. I upped the dose to about 14g per 8oz. and WOW. the coffee suddenly became great, fantastic, wonderful, delicious and yummy! The cardboardy/staley flavor was gone entirely, now it is just great coffee flavor.

So lesson is...look at the simple variables before you blame the machine and replace its guts!

jason

[jasonmolinari]

Hmm. does my post count even though it is about drip coffee for an entry to win the Grindz?

[HB]

Sure, but this is "best of three" and I only see two entries (Dogshot, jasonmolinari; lino's grinder picture doesn't count as an entry).

[jasonmolinari]

I'll post another to make it 3, even though i'm pretty sure Dogshot has a better post than i do:)

I have a recipe for a nice espresso based drink which has become popular in Italy as of late. It is called a Marocchino, translated that means a maroccan.

Pull a shot of espresso into a normal sized espresso cup (the bodum pavina work really well for this since they leave a good amount of headroom), and sprinkle the top of the espresso with a shaker filled with 60/40 cocoa powder/sugar. Then top the drink off wiht steamed milk as you would for a macchiato.

Tasty!

jason

[Dogshot]

I'll post another to make it 3, even though i'm pretty sure Dogshot has a better post than i do:)

Hi Jason, and thanks for the compliment...or are you just trying to reverse psychologize the judges ?

Mark.

ps. - when faced with really strong backlighting, try adjusting your exposure compensation +1 ev.

[KarlSchneider]

I can't explain it, but somehow the brevity of Jeremy's response is oddly compelling. In fact, it's given me an idea for another thread... so congratulation jrtatl, you are the first Grindz Grinder Cleaner winner!

So the first winner is, "Grind finer, tamp softer." It sounds good but what is the real point? I have tried for the past two days precisely this suggestion. Here are my results.

First, I am using a Brazil Fazenda Santa Helena from Sweet Maria's which is a natural pulped, dry processed SO. Roasted on Sunday with an 18.7% reduction in weight (= French Roast). Yesterday at 31 hours after roasting my first shot was my usual single basket, single pull on an Elektra Micro Casa a Leva 30 ml (1 oz.) 25 sec. shot. It had lots of fairly blonde crema. My Mazzer was set at 6:37.

Second shot I set the Mazzer to 6:33 (= finer). Tamped softer. This was too fine. Slow flow. I got more color in the crema and more of the mottled appearance many desire. With such a young esso the flavor was clearly less. It was quite nice but less fullness than the first.

Third shot set Mazzer at 6:35. Flow was now a good 25 sec. A tad less color in the crema and no less mottled appearance. Taste was best of the three. Starting to have a faint suggestion of chocolate on the edges.

Today, three more shots. Now 55 hrs after roasting. Set Mazzer at 6:33 for first. Too fine in the grind. Slow flow. Less red in crema and less mottling. Flavor far better than anything yesterday. Quite beautiful first half of taste. Delicate chocolate. No second dimension. Perfect beginning.

Second shot at 6:35. Still a bit slow. Not very different from first. Quite delightful if still simple.

Third shot at 6:34. Again no real change. Three excellent shots.

My conclusion is that with very fresh Brazil essi there is a small but clear improvement with grinding finer and tamping softer.

This encourages more experimentation.

KS

[framey]

Thanks Dan and Charles. My Mini says thanks too
I'll post the results.

[HB]

Hi Jason, and thanks for the compliment...or are you just trying to reverse psychologize the judges?

I considered the same possibility, so I sought out a second opinion from my son's Magic Eight Ball. "Is Mark's post truly the best of the day?" I asked. The answer arose from the murky depths of M8B's wisdom...


The Magic Eight Ball knows all

Congratulations Dogshot, you are the fifth Grindz Grinder Cleaner winner! Please contact Charles McAlpin to claim your prize. The box is getting lighter, maybe there's enough to round out the week. Your fellow HBs await the next three entries (and to be fair, please, no double entries). Should there be a need for another tiebreaker, M8B is ready.

[Dogshot]

Thanks Dan and Charles - I'm very excited about trying Grindz.

Dan, you can always be trusted to find the right tool for the situation. I have been wondering lately if H-B is really as great as I have come to believe, and so I did a little magic 8-ball consulting of my own, and here's what I got:




Mark

[HAL9000]

WOW!

Win on Tuesday, receive Grindz on Wednesday. No kidding.

Thank you very much Charles and Dan!

[jasonmolinari]

I call baloney on the 8ball! Now i have to think up another submission.

jason

[miKe mcKoffee]

... Now i have to think up another submission.

jason

Come on Jason it's been two days, you can do it!

[jasonmolinari]

Heh mike, trying to think of something which hasn't been said 1000 times before.