Still waiting on mine to show up, but I got an email that the first production run of the Barisata (8 sieve) kit is missing the 300 micron sieve, but once available it'll be mailed out in a few weeks. I won't have a problem limping along with just 7 of the 8 sieves until then.

Today I put the gold filter into my Behmor Brazen and brewed a pot, normally I use paper filters. It'll be interesting to play with the sieves and metal filtration to see about reducing silt, but probably even more interesting to play with this with cold brew methods and the larger sieves.

I don't understand the whole deal with calibrating the grinder for the Kruve at all. Are they wanting us to use one grind size for all brewing methods and just change the sleeves accordingly? That doesn't make any sense to me at all as some methods require significantly coarser/finer grinds. The purpose of "calibration" is not explained at all.

Hi Evan,

Thanks for your feedback. We are working on clarifying the calibration video.
The intention is not to calibrate the grinder for 1 setting. The purpose for the video is how to best set up your grinder to get the highest yield for a particular grind size. For example, if for pour over you are using 400 and 800 microns, we recommend making sure that the grinder is adjusted properly to maximize the amount of coffee is in the middle container. To do this, you ideally want the top and bottom container to have an even ratio of coffee.

We are trying to move the industry away from using sugar and sea salt as grind references and use microns instead. This way when sharing recipes, we can use precise measurements like grams, seconds, degrees, and now microns.

Marek

They have recommended grind sizes on their site: https://www.kruveinc.com/pages/recipe-series, I believe that the calibration is just to get your grinder dialed in to the particular size. Also, what Marek says above. A few years ago I bought some 500 micron and 1000 micron ball bearings to try and compare grind sizes of my coffee, wasn't all that useful.

EvanOz85 wrote:I don't understand the whole deal with calibrating the grinder for the Kruve at all. Are they wanting us to use one grind size for all brewing methods and just change the sleeves accordingly? That doesn't make any sense to me at all as some methods require significantly coarser/finer grinds. The purpose of "calibration" is not explained at all.

I think the idea is kinda like this-

I have a grinder, and someone else has the same model grinder.

I find a really good setting for a certain coffee, but I can't share that setting. Because each grinders numbers will correlate to a slightly different grind.

But with sieves I can figure out where my grind falls, and share my setting in a way that someone with the same model of grinder can match up to.

Could try it with different grinders as well if they have an overall similar enough profile, but it probably wouldn't work well between a K10 and EK43.

Another grind size/distribution guide, for reference: https://handground.com/coffee-grinder-p ... size-chart

Barberric shot.
Yes, I pull sometimes for 2 minutes. I should be calling the drink a lungo not a shot. My goal is always for 4 ounces in 1 1/2 minutes. But I go into overtime a lot. I taste every pull. My coffees seem to do well when the pressure gets ramped up and the shot takes 2 minutes. These are pulls that I divide to make 2 lattes. I do have an extra portafilter and basket. I get complaints that it's too strong here at home when I use it. I've read that anything over a minute will start to over heat the vibrating pump in home machines. That what I do is very bad and will shorten the life of the pump. Yesterday I was in no mood to start over with a hot cinnamon roll on the table so I let it rip for 4 minutes. The only change on what would have been a 2 minute pull is the coffee was filtered. The aggregate almost choked the machine.
Today I left the grind the same and changed the filters. 350um for the fines, 1000um for the boulders. I weighed the sifted coffee:
3.38 boulders
13.49 for espresso
2.92 fines
Mixed the boulders with about 8 grams of coffee, sifted:
2.77 boulder
8.23 for espresso
.88 fines
The aggregate looks good. I used 15 grams. Very light tamp. The X3 pulled the lungo in 1 minute. Taste was good, more floral than my longer pull, some sweetness, earthy cypress forest. I liked it but I think I'll like it better at 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. I now have a real good starting point. I'll try to balance the boulders to fines with the top filter on my next lungo. Unsolicited comment that I got was that the coffee was " more clear, and taste good.

Oh my - I am perplexed... 4oz? So like 120ml? 120 grams (it may be volume but at this volume the crema is negligible)? Your EBF is like 1:8? Barberric indeed

You say that this is a Lungo's (and they are indeed long), but this is already in Americano territory (and highly likely to be severely over extracted with strong bitter tones). Did you ever try to do 1:2 to a 1:3 (so say pull to 1 oz or so) and use just hot water to dilute the shots to the same strength but at a much lower Extraction Yield?

Also - if you filter the fines you get a longer pull? that makes little sense to me....

NB - I hope I don't sound condescending - I merely offer a suggestion for you to try and if you prefer it pulled at 1:8 - that is also good ... (and no - I don't believe it will shorten the life of the pump - or if it does it will be insignificant...).

I am curious how the Kruve team selected the ranges they have on their website. Why is drip 400um to 900um? They all seem rather small to me. After a bit of googling, I found this presentation that indicates a larger mean size of 850um (https://www.mpechicago.com/coffee/image ... a_2010.pdf). I am looking forward to picking up the larger 1100um sieve and experimenting with perhaps a 600um to 1100um range centered around 850um. I will say I brewed an excellent french press yesterday using only a 600um filter to remove the smaller end of the spectrum. No mud or grit and great clarity in the flavors.

I'm just guessing here (not my idea nor new, it has been presented/discussed before). Possibly two factors in play. First is the grinder they have used to arrive at that recommendation (it's just a recommendation, you will still need to dial in to your setup) - different grinder might have resulted in a slightly different outcome.

Second, the SCAA average grind size (850um) assumes an unsifted grind distribution, which includes fines that could over extract. When you have fines in the distribution mix, you would've to grind coarser to compensate for the fines over-extraction (bitter & sour balance). Using Kruve, you could narrow the grind distribution range intentionally. Average grind size of 850um would've tasted underextracted because there is no/reduced fines that overextracts prior to sifting. That affords you to further reduce the average grind particle size (to 600um?), and that alone will drive a higher extraction per grind particle and more even overall extraction.

If the brew is refracted, I am almost confident you can extract a higher extraction yield % without tasting overextracted (ie. unsifted brew that tasted best at 20% will now taste best at 22%EY sifted). Granted, you would chuck away the fines, and more work is involved. But may be the brew will taste richer and sweeter since you're including more of the desired flavour and less of the unwanted? Whether it's worth it remains to be seen, I am just itching to receive mine - tracking info doesn't tell me anything useful about my parcel's whereabout.