fac10 wrote:I recently ran across this device while web searching -- it seems relevant to this thread:

http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.454...id.7799/.f

Of course, given the price ($165) you'd have to be really committed to sifting coffee to justify one of these.

Hah. That is the same device as this Geotech field sieve kit: http://www.benmeadows.com/store/item/220149/, which is far less expensive. I'm quite sure because I have one sitting right on my desk. I'm not sure why the "coffee" one would only include 6 of the sieves.

I bought this a while back with the intention of using it to quantify exactly how bad the fines production of this crappy grinder I bought is (as opposed to just knowing that I can't make a decent cup with it), and compare it to some real grinders, both a Ditting at a local retailer and the espresso grinder I have at home. I was also going to use it for sifting grounds from a hand grinder or crappy electric for Chemex brewing here at the office. Always nice to know I'm not the only one crazy enough to do something like that.

another_jim wrote:MPE has a page of articles of which the ones in the Coffee and Tea Journal are informative.

Thanks, great link, I skimmed a few of the articles and they look good. I especially liked the article on Coffee Grinding and Its Impact on Brewed Coffee Quality where it talks about the compounds and associated aromas associated with overextraction.

I played with a kitchen hand sieve this weekend, but ended up with a stuck draw-down on my vac pot anyway. It's been too long since I've brewed vac pot and my Yemen / Sulawesi blend was roasted on the dark side to full city / full city plus which didn't help.

Wow, I hadn't thought that I could be doing more harm then good. I played with the hand sifter twice this weekend, and got a stuck pot both times. Thanks for the feedback.

Unfortunately, life has called a "delay of grinder" on me by throwing a totaled car and a dead TV (failed after only 27 years) at me, and my Wife still expects a new dishwasher before I get another turn at upgrades.