Economical "bean cellars"... - Page 2

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
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Almico (original poster)
Posts: 3612
Joined: 10 years ago

#11: Post by Almico (original poster) »

Not sure what the seal is made from. It feels smooth and silicone like.



And 48 bottles fit well in a USPS Priority mail regional rate A box:



It should be fairly easy to just pour coffee over these and fill them simultaneously.

donniedarko
Posts: 21
Joined: 10 years ago

#12: Post by donniedarko »

Weighing is a great training tool and also a valuable diagnostic tool but sometimes there is too much emphasis on weighing all your doses. A set weight of coffee will not produce the exact same results from 1 variety of beans to the next. Even within the same variety, the results you get from first shot to the last will vary even if you have the same precise weight. There are plenty of other variables. The extra time an hassle of dividing, weighing out and bottling small portions of beans is just not gaining you much if anything. Unless you just enjoy adding steps to the process, it would be more beneficial to practice your technique until you get a feel for the process. With practice you will develop a pretty good instinct and know from the first shot or 2 how a particular batch of beans needs to be handled. Being observant will be much more of an effective way to give you the ability to produce consistently great shots, over complicating the process won't. Know your equipment and know your beans and you'll be fine. I would recommend using something like the Airscape to store your beans. https://planetarydesign.com/shop/airsca ... canisters/

chipman
Posts: 1169
Joined: 16 years ago

#13: Post by chipman »

If you use a single dose grinder, you have to weigh the beans. Whether you pre measure or measure at the time of grinding is a personal choice, but you still have to weigh the beans.

rand
Posts: 56
Joined: 8 years ago

#14: Post by rand »

donniedarko wrote:Weighing is a great training tool and also a valuable diagnostic tool but sometimes there is too much emphasis on weighing all your doses. A set weight of coffee will not produce the exact same results from 1 variety of beans to the next. Even within the same variety, the results you get from first shot to the last will vary even if you have the same precise weight. There are plenty of other variables. The extra time an hassle of dividing, weighing out and bottling small portions of beans is just not gaining you much if anything. Unless you just enjoy adding steps to the process, it would be more beneficial to practice your technique until you get a feel for the process. With practice you will develop a pretty good instinct and know from the first shot or 2 how a particular batch of beans needs to be handled. Being observant will be much more of an effective way to give you the ability to produce consistently great shots, over complicating the process won't. Know your equipment and know your beans and you'll be fine. I would recommend using something like the Airscape to store your beans. https://planetarydesign.com/shop/airsca ... canisters/
Since we're talking espresso, I (and every shop I've spoken to) is firmly in the camp of "don't change your dose." Your dose is dictated by your basket size and the popular dial in method now is that you keep the dose constant and only change yield and grind size. However, these bean cellars aren't for people using k30s, mythos, and other traditional espresso grinders with hoppers. These are for the people using monoliths in a home setting. These are for shops pulling EK shots. Grinders where you have to single dose.

Even for filtered coffee, these bean cellars are definitely useful. Our cafes utilize bean cellars as a way to pre-weigh doses for pour over and clever coffee. We don't use these exact ones, but rather an aluminum tin that stores approx 80g (although they are mostly holding between 20-30g). In addition, we use large jars to pre-weigh coffee for batch brew the next day.

It's not about being obsessive, it's about getting consistent results.
Product development & Training. Car enthusiast. Roasting every now and then.

Beaniac
Posts: 179
Joined: 9 years ago

#15: Post by Beaniac »

chipman wrote:If you use a single dose grinder, you have to weigh the beans. Whether you pre measure or measure at the time of grinding is a personal choice, but you still have to weigh the beans.
You dont have to weigh beans, you can dose beans by volume and then weigh your grounds in the PF for that extra bit of accuracy ;)

donniedarko
Posts: 21
Joined: 10 years ago

#16: Post by donniedarko »

While yes, shops will set their dosers to in theory have an exact weight going into the basket, in practice, the barista may dose a little extra or knock off a little to get what they feel is the correct amount. They do not weigh each and every resulting actual dose. The grind size will have been dialed in for them. They generally also use much larger batches the same type of beans and go through batches considerably faster than your home user so variability from change in variety is eliminated and differences in freshness is reduced. Baristas and home users get consistent results through practice, observation and muscle memory. With enough practice as a home user you'll be able to dose pretty consistently and a gram up or down will have less impact than overall technique and observing how your shots behave over time. If you want to bottle up dozens of doses, go ahead. Use whatever process works for you but don't expect that first dose to behave exactly the same as your last when you finally get to it. The weeks of time difference will have more impact than a dose 1 gram more or less.

Deebo
Posts: 83
Joined: 7 years ago

#17: Post by Deebo »

I single dose, and I guess it's just personal preference, but I choose to weigh right before grinding; it can't take ten seconds and I honestly don't even notice it, it's just part of the flow. I think my only concern by pre-weighing everything like this is, other than the increased storage space required, is that as the beans age their weight may change a little. I doubt if it would be enough to cause a difference that wouldn't be fixable by the natural tightening of the grind that occurs over time anyways, but I don't know... splitting hairs really.

I actually think the ability to single dose is an advantage over bustling cafe's.
Think it, but don't overthink it...

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