Bean Counter Shootout - Page 2

#11: Post by **Jake_G** » May 12th, 2022, 8:43 am

tompoland wrote:Can be either. Refer my post above: we are talking about whole beans, not ground beans so a +/- is inevitable.

Nonsense. If you are plus 0.2 and pluck a bean and end up at -0.1, it just means you plucked the wrong bean

Now, an automated bean counter will never get you there, but a set of eyes and a pair of fingers (or is it a pair of eyes and a set of fingers?) can get you to +/- 0.04g (within 0.0 on a scale that only reads 10ths) with relative ease. No idea how one could automate this, but since I can do it better and I don't mind weighing every dose, I am my own bean counter of choice.

May 12th, 2022, 9:16 am

Steve,

you didn't say what you are doing now?

I adjusted my workflow to a point where I am happy with the ease and results as follows:
First I have a dosing rack and 6 Airscape canisters (not because I think the air function helps much) but because I can get a rough idea of what's left in the can, can insert one of my roasting cards inside to know what beans are in there, and its easy to scoop out beans with my wide mouth jars.

I switched to wider mouth jars for a few reasons. One it is easy to scoop out of the Airscape with these. And it is easy to drop in a few beans or take out a few beans (two fingers). No need for funnels.

I use these with Lunar scale set on whatever function (may be #1) where it doesn't auto tare. So basically set down empty jar, hit tare if not zero, scoop beans (I usually have a good idea after first scoop of level), set back down on Lunar, adjust by dropping in or taking out a few beans if I don't hit my mark.

It's way better than I used to do with my old jars.

#13: Post by **exidrion** » May 12th, 2022, 3:04 pm

Are you a member of the kafatek forum?

https://forums.kafatek.com/t/alternativ ... er/9461/11

#14: Post by **tompoland** » May 12th, 2022, 5:02 pm

Ha ... true true.

And hey, so long as we are "plucking", we can use a scalpel and get rid of that pesky 0.1g too

As a footnote, I used to fuss over an extra 0.2 in my pre grind weight, decided it was definitely not worth it.

#15: Post by **Jake_G** » May 12th, 2022, 5:11 pm

Now you're talking!

But you're right. Accuracy/repeatability of an automatic counter will never be better than the average weight of a bean.

May 13th, 2022, 11:16 am

tompoland wrote:This is what I do. It is as accurate as the Orion's that I had but a whole lot faster.

While that's interesting, it takes up too much real estate.

Jake_G wrote:Now, an automated bean counter will never get you there, but a set of eyes and a pair of fingers (or is it a pair of eyes and a set of fingers?) can get you to +/- 0.04g (within 0.0 on a scale that only reads 10ths) with relative ease. No idea how one could automate this, but since I can do it better and I don't mind weighing every dose, I am my own bean counter of choice.

I completely agree with you Jake - But the tedious drudgery Jake.
While doing this repeatedly would be the best time to make me an offer on all our espresso equipment!

So far the best suggestion I've gotten has 'bean' from my wife who has graciously offered to help me out since we have a second scale.

CarefreeBuzzBuzz wrote:Steve,

you didn't say what you are doing now?

I just fill any reusable containers on hand with fresh roasted beans from the freezer and have a different ratio for me and my wife who prefers mostly decaf. I usually load 2-dozen shots minimum at a time, each shot of 2-different beans.

exidrion wrote:Are you a member of the kafatek forum?

https://forums.kafatek.com/t/alternativ ... er/9461/11

No, I haven't joined. Should I?

tompoland wrote:As a footnote, I used to fuss over an extra 0.2 in my pre grind weight, decided it was definitely not worth it.

I no longer fuss beyond ~.1g weight, I just shoot for a 2 to 1 ratio of espresso to ground coffee. Does this 'improvement' mean I can now cancel my appointments with a therapist and put that money towards a Speedster Idromatic?

Surely I'm asking the wrong crowd here.

Jake_G wrote:Now you're talking!

But you're right. Accuracy/repeatability of an automatic counter will never be better than the average weight of a bean.

The Agony and The Ecstasy; I guess I still need the therapist.

Thanks everybody.

#17: Post by **cebseb** » May 13th, 2022, 8:11 pm

Here is a cut and paste of my feedback to Barrett (the creator of the Accountant).

I've just went through a pound on the Accountant versus a pound on the Acaia Orion. For weighing out 18g doses, the Orion is definitely faster (avg 7 seconds) than the Accountant (avg 10 seconds).

However, as far as precision goes, at least one in every 5 doses were off (over or under) on the Orion by more than 0.4g (greater than 2%) which is my (generous) threshold for a re-dose. Note that I chose such a generous threshold since if I were to use 1% as my cut-off, I would have had to re-dose at least 30% of the time. The Accountant never required a re-dose. Even if I would have chosen a 0.5% threshold, the Accountant would still not have needed one. Fantastic.

With the amount of times I had to re-dose on the Orion, the Accountant actually ended up dosing the pound of beans faster than the Orion. My wife was handling the Accountant while I was on the Orion.

One little quibble I have with the Accountant was that if I was not careful about placing the cup back into the weighing tray, the magnets would snap together with some force and cause a bean to drop from the chute which required me to take the cup out to dump the bean back into the hopper. I was able to remedy that by sliding the cup in at an angle to let the magnets attract weakly at first then gently lowering it down when the magnets were all lined up. I think placing some tape to weaken the magnetic force would fix the issue. I'll do that tomorrow since it's getting late already.

Anyways. I hope that was helpful! I'll continue to use the Accountant and report back with any other quirks that may pop up. Great work!

And here is a follow-up I had after another day with the Accountant.

I have now put the Accountant through about 5 pounds since my initial round of testing and it's shockingly rock solid. I had a total of 3 doses where it overshot by about .2 grams. Still very impressive since this particular roast is a blend of two beans that have a great variation in size/density.

#18: Post by **Ad-85** » May 14th, 2022, 1:31 am

My Orion shows this message all the time and when it does I have to restart it. I'll recharge the battery and see what happens next time.

May 14th, 2022, 2:05 pm

cebseb wrote:Here is a cut and paste of my feedback to Barrett (the creator of the Accountant).

And here is a follow-up I had after another day with the Accountant.

Thanks for posting this video. I've never heard of 'The Accountant'
Who sells/distributes them? How much do they cost and where are they made?

It does look like 'The Accountant' ascetics were designed by an accountant; not much to look at there!

Does the Acaia Orion have a built-in LED light or was that something you added?

TNX

#20: Post by **cebseb** » May 14th, 2022, 3:12 pm

BaristaBoy E61 wrote: Thanks for posting this video. I've never heard of 'The Accountant'
Who sells/distributes them? How much do they cost and where are they made?

TNX

It's a brand new product created in Barrett's spare time. He currently has a sign-up form posted up in the Kafatek forums. The price he has set for it so far is $300 plus shipping (it was a little lower for testers with beta units). The product is made in his home.

I personally have a function first preference when it comes to tools. I'm also not opposed to paying a premium for design, but if you read my impressions, the better looking option clearly falls short (by my standards) on its primary job.