How important is tenth of a gram on a coffee scale (non espresso) - Page 2

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
jpender
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#11: Post by jpender »

Amazon reviews aren't entirely worthless. Sometimes EVERYBODY agrees the product is junk.

I bought one no-name scale a year or so ago that was not as accurate as claimed. But worse, it would give me round numbers when the weight was near to that. Like if I use a weight that was 9.95g or 10.05g it would say 10.00g for either. That one got sent back for a refund.

The scale gets a pretty good overall review on Amazon. It's even given a thumbs on the website of a respected coffee experimenter.

My negative review on amazon disappeared.

DamianWarS
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#12: Post by DamianWarS »

BuzzedLightyear wrote:I have an escali arti scale but it does not measure a tenth of a gram. I know it can make a difference in espresso. But how important is it for other methods like French press, aeropress, or my Hario V60?
it can depend on your dose as the margin of error increases with smaller doses.

if your looking to do 1:15 and your dose is 10g of coffee then increasing the dose to 11g would change the ratio to 1:13.6 and if your dose was 9g then the ratio would be 1:16.6 which might be an undesired difference from the target of 1:15. if your dose was 20g and still 1:15 then 21g would be 1:14.3 and 19g would be 1:15.7. if it were 30g with a 1:15 then 31g would be 1:14.5 and 29g would be 15.5. so you can see the higher dose you can squeeze in there the more accurate it becomes if we are assuming +/- gram difference may happen from the scale. when it comes to the water +/- gram of water really is insignificant to the ratio.

1:15, 1:16, 1:17 may be acceptable ranges for you but 1:14 may not be. so I would pick a ratio and dose that allows it to dip into a range you're are still happy with. incidentally, 0.1g accuracy scales are not that expensive so I would strongly consider investing in one. I've had a cheap scale like this for years and dropped and spilled water on many times and it has never died.

CathyWeeks
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#13: Post by CathyWeeks »

HB wrote:I've given up trying to decipher Amazon reviews. So many products have > 85% four and five star reviews, then a bucket of damning one star reviews.
I would highly recommend installing the Fakespot plug in. It analyzes Amazon reviews and assigns a "grade" based on the percentage of deceptive reviews that it detects. You can even use it to filter Amazon search results, to never even show you the items that have a high number of deceptive reviews.

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cafeIKE
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#14: Post by cafeIKE »

HB wrote:I've given up trying to decipher Amazon reviews. So many products have > 85% four and five star reviews, then a bucket of damning one star reviews
Bell curve? :roll:

jpender
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#15: Post by jpender »

I ran the scale @HB linked to through the Fakespot algorithm. It came back and told me the reviews were overwhelmingly legit. So what does that mean, that both the gushing reviews and the damning reviews are true? That's a hard thing to reconcile unless the Q/C is crummy.

I think there should be Tripadvisor thread on how Yelp rates the Fakespot algorithm.

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Jeff
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#16: Post by Jeff »

I'll use the Fakespot website (I'm not a fan of the privacy issues with any of the "help you while you surf" plugins) occasionally, when I have a hard time sorting through the reviews. Another problem with Amazon is that they often lump reviews from multiple products together on the same page, where there are very different products offered (there are two, very different ERAVSO scales right now, as an example).

I expect that there are a number of completely negative reviews for a variety of reasons, including:

* Didn't read the instructions
* Bought a product that wasn't suited for the application
* Upset that "it didn't include batteries" (or something equally minor)
* Bought a "value-priced" product expecting to perform like its mainstream competitor
* Shipping damage, not at the fault of the product's packaging
* Various other "human factors"
* A "reasonable" failure rate for the product at its price

I tend to look at the total percentage of 4 and 5 reviews, read some of the 2s and 3s (where, it seems, people thought it had notable problems but wasn't a knee-jerk 1) to get a feeling of issues, and look at the percentage of 1 reviews.

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HB
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#17: Post by HB »

Jeff wrote:I tend to look at the total percentage of 4 and 5 reviews... and look at the percentage of 1 reviews.
For me, if I see a consistent theme in the 1 star reviews, it weighs more heavily.

I was recently shopping around for some fitness equipment on Amazon and recognized in the 1 star reviews a common problem with "home" equipment (sloppy tolerance). Despite that > 85% of the reviews were positive, I went to a local fitness store to look at alternatives in person... and ended up spending > 3x as much. I don't doubt the more expensive choice was way way higher quality. :roll:

Of course, if it were a small purchase, I wouldn't sweat it. Worse case, you end up replacing the cheaper option with a better made one (BTDT).
Dan Kehn
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BaristaMcBob
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#18: Post by BaristaMcBob »

I have the ERAVSOW scale. It's cheap and it works, but it's not great for espresso for the following reasons:
1. The response time is too slow. It lags about a half a gram during a live pour.
2. It's kind of thick. At nearly 1.2" you're limited to the size of cup that will fit under your portafilter.

I recently purchased this one. It has a faster response, touch screen, and has two pour-over modes. It also has an auto-start which is handy for espresso. It's about $45 and I think this is the best coffee scale you can get without stepping up into the $200 Acaia league.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0923DMDWH/

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BaristaBoy E61
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#19: Post by BaristaBoy E61 »

I'm still happy with my original cheap, small scale (500gm) that measures down to the 1/10th of a gram and that can be calibrated with my calibration weight used for calibration of course and verification.
I do have a backup/emergency scale (1/10th gm/6-lb).

What you need has a lot to do with how OCD you might be or if you belong to the Hemlock Society. :roll:
"You didn't buy an Espresso Machine - You bought a Chemistry Set!"

CathyWeeks
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#20: Post by CathyWeeks »

HB wrote:For me, if I see a consistent theme in the 1 star reviews, it weighs more heavily.
I tend to look at these things:
  • The overall percentage of 1- and 5-star reviews, just to get a feel for how many hate vs love the item.
  • I tend to actually pay closer attention to and read the 2, 3, and 4 star reviews as I think those are written by more level-headed people who recognize nuance better than the ones who LOVE LOVE LOVE or HATE HATE HATE the item.
  • The reviews with the highest "useful" ratings.
Agreed with the post upthread who talked about the lowest ratings, being for irrelevant things like how well it survived shipping, or user error.

This is only sort of tangentially related, but I once saw a review of the Sowden Softbrew immersion brewer where the reviewer hated the weak coffee they consistently got, not realizing the fault wasn't in the brewer, but in user error.

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