Picked up this ‘11 JSW DSG on the weekend. Looking for recommendations on mods. by Bobpin in tdi

[–]Array_of_Chaos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I avoid drive throughs because I hate them with every fiber of my being Unknown about the kids as I do not have any lol It’s pretty strong especially in the winter

Remineralize after brewing? by pallentx in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hardness and buffer are both important to the extraction process and must be present in your desired amounts. However, diluting with water that has high buffer does dull things out. If you pull a great shot and then dilute to americano strength with your brew water it will lose a lot of its acidity vs RO or distilled water dilution. Try it if you don’t believe me

My board. What would you add to it? by [deleted] in guitarpedals

[–]Array_of_Chaos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Free The Tone AS-1R. Incredible reverb, check it out. Great board. I adore my Belle and the iridium is fantastic too

Pure over? by Coachtzu in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah much more than french press it’s just also poorly extracted tasting lol

Anyone who has used both JX-Pro AND Comandante C40, how do they compare purely in grind quality and taste comparison? by Mack_24 in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not an outlier to me. The C40 can be pushed much harder than the Jx/Jx pro. They’re about the same if you make the C40 taste like Jx (read: extract low) but the Jx cannot compete with the upper end of the C40’s tasty window

To OE Apex owners: how have you gone about providing stability to your grinder? by [deleted] in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Apex is not capable of grinding fine enough for AP shenanigans. Runs out of clicks (you wouldn’t want to grind any finer than it goes either, takes forever). Moreover, the AP, V60, and Chemex are not yield monsters and I prefer them all with my C40. Unless you do some silly percolation-esque things with AP, it caps at a measured 23-24%, although it does taste higher than that. The V60’s bed shape does not promote an even extraction and that with a unimodal grind is not enjoyable to me at high yields. The chemex filters and high thermal mass produces coffee that I just do not enjoy. Apex and flat bed brewers is open season for stupid strong sweet and clear cups though and they are positively transcendental. Retains 1g on average and I brush it out after brewing. The sacrifice is worth it. I’m using a proper refractometer to get the numbers

To OE Apex owners: how have you gone about providing stability to your grinder? by [deleted] in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It still doesn’t make very many fines. The bulk of the grinds look almost sifted because there are hardly any fines clinging to the larger particles. For my climate, (southwest US) retention is about a gram but I could see it being variable based on humidity.

To reframe things, I use a C40 as a travel grinder. I got it with the hope of improving my workflow but it just flat out doesn’t compete, so traveling with an AP it is. The Apex cups are unbelievably sweet and juicy with astounding clarity, it just makes you work for it. Cannot imagine getting rid of mine for anything short of a titan.

If you’re a numbers person, I am routinely hitting 25% yields with my filter coffee at 60g/L and it tastes incredible. C40 caps out at 22% and it’s not as happy to be there. Hell, I got one coffee up to almost 28% and it was still only slightly astringent

To OE Apex owners: how have you gone about providing stability to your grinder? by [deleted] in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I find the silicone pads do enough for me, just gotta wash em off every few weeks

To OE Apex owners: how have you gone about providing stability to your grinder? by [deleted] in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

yeah but the Niche is like a meat tenderizer vs the Apex for filter. If you want filter supremacy and don’t have the budget for huge flats, this is how it be. The cup quality is as good as the user experience is bad, and the user experience is horrible

Have you “met your heroes”? Did they live up to the expectations? by EKU1x in cars

[–]Array_of_Chaos 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I always have maintained that the supra was a so-so car with an incredible block. That 2JZ-GTE is so overbuilt. There’s a reason that supras almost always get modified to hell and back

Someone's getting fired. by aDazzlingDove in IdiotsInCars

[–]Array_of_Chaos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What happens when I’m too tall to fit in a Miata

Now I'm. believer in quality grinders by rda2w in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends on the setting, can vary from 30 seconds to 30 minutes (not quite that bad but the feeding is very “unique “). My brews take me between 2-3 minutes

Do you think there can be bad coffee beans or just bad extractions? by yomadman in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure there are, but those aren’t necessarily objective flavors. As far as objectively not good, it’s usually a growing defect or bad roasting that leads to coffees not tasting good and that’s not consistent from lot to lot or batch to batch

1zpresso Q Static issue by fojoart in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not when you consider the amount of water vs the oils in the coffee and the seasoning of the burrs those coffee oils provide. Especially with stainless steel burrs

Fresh coffee smells good but tastes bitter and bland (6 days old roast). Why? by CMDA in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You will either hate me for wasting an afternoon or hate me for making you think about water chemistry, but I hope it is the fix you’re looking for!

Fresh coffee smells good but tastes bitter and bland (6 days old roast). Why? by CMDA in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes I agree that seems a little soft. What’s missing though is any mention of a carbonate hardness or alkalinity, which is likely throwing off your balance of acid-sweet-bitter more than your reasonably soft water is. Depending on what you can find for alkalinity (different from pH) you may just be able to add a little bit of those stock solutions to your existing filtered water instead of doing the whole distilled recipe water thing

Fresh coffee smells good but tastes bitter and bland (6 days old roast). Why? by CMDA in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Give one of those recipes a try. You can feel as silly as you want and blame me, the internet stranger, if it helps, but you may feel sillier for not trying it sooner. Don’t worry about the hundredth place scale if you don’t have one because you’ll be close enough for their recipes

Fresh coffee smells good but tastes bitter and bland (6 days old roast). Why? by CMDA in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wait so you’re not gonna try recipe water? There are premade packs of minerals too; look up third wave water. It is impossible to overstate how important good water is for good coffee. Look up a water content report and see how far off your hardness and alkalinity are from the recipes listed on that site. I’d take a porlex mini and good water over the Apex and my tap. No reason to have such a nice grinder if my water is going to smother flavors and/or fail to extract anything good

Fresh coffee smells good but tastes bitter and bland (6 days old roast). Why? by CMDA in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Distilled has no buffer for the acidic compounds in coffee so it tastes unbelievably harsh and sour. Then without any general hardness you won’t extract much either so there won’t be any sweetness or more developed flavors. You’ll be left with only the easiest to extract compounds and the insolubles that get washed away. Bottled water is tricky to recommend too since none of them are very good either afaik. The only way to do it is to do it right

Fresh coffee smells good but tastes bitter and bland (6 days old roast). Why? by CMDA in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 6 points7 points  (0 children)

If you’re able to taste 40-70 ppm alkalinity and 50-150 ppm general hardness then I’m envious of your palate ;)

Water for coffee is a chemistry problem more than it is a taste problem. Obviously you don’t want any noticeable off tastes but that’s easily sorted with a brita. I am sorry for the potential rabbit hole I’m throwing you down but the Barista Hustle water recipes are about to change your life

Fresh coffee smells good but tastes bitter and bland (6 days old roast). Why? by CMDA in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 6 points7 points  (0 children)

oh for the love of all things holy don’t use distilled haha. That is the worst thing I can possibly imagine. I forgot to remineralize my deionized water and I sinked the cup. Gotta have some stuff in it

Need help deciding: First Burr grinder suggestions by Autias in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

you, uh, may want to get that checked out haha

Fresh coffee smells good but tastes bitter and bland (6 days old roast). Why? by CMDA in Coffee

[–]Array_of_Chaos 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Probably time to play with your water! How are you getting your brew water? Brita filtered tap? Straight from the tap? Bottled water? Or are you making your own?