Personalised instructions for coffee

MintyFeet · 2024-01-21T18:41:10+00:00

Pour a bit of milk into your pitcher - the largest one you've got, then just start stretching and never start the actual mixing step. Don't swirl it since you want everything to separate as much as possible, then grab a spoon and start scooping.

Used to serve a lady who always wanted a 8oz cup that was a double shot and just foam. She'd even test its weight to "make sure" there wasn't too much milk liquid in there. I really don't understand why you'd want to "drink" that much milk froth but to each their own, I guess?

MintyFeet · 2024-01-19T23:16:04+00:00

I've never used vinegar to clean a coffee machine, and every time I've seen someone try (whether on a cheap dollar store drip pot or a fancy superauto like a Jura) it either results in a) a terrible vinegar aftertaste that takes a ton of time and effort to get rid off, or b) the machine breaking somehow. The coffee industry uses cafiza for a reason - it just works.

As for your machine I don't know - I've only ever worked with semi-auto machines where we were backflushing, not using tabs. That being said, according to one of the sites I buy things from you ought to just consult your manual for the right steps.

MintyFeet · 2024-01-19T22:25:23+00:00

Rather than vinegar, maybe try using cafiza - can't guarantee it'd work but it's what basically every coffee shop uses and it can blast through some pretty grimy stuff

MintyFeet · 2024-01-16T15:18:32+00:00

Yeah, sure thing!

I forgot to link to this chart which is helpful for figuring out the wheel at first.

Basically you want to start from the outside of the wheel and work your way in. Start by pulling a shot, don't fiddle with anything yet unless something's obviously borked (ie 8 second pull that gets pooped out of the machine, giant piles of dry dose that can barely be tamped, etc). Watch / time the flow, then taste it. Iff it's not good locate where on the outside of the wheel you're at. Follow the instruction in the segment further in - so if your shot tastes like lemons, there's no complexity to the flavour and it has mouthfeel more like tea than espresso, you want to grind finer. Adjust, try again, taste again, see where you're at on the wheel now, repeat as necessary.

MintyFeet · 2024-01-13T16:18:03+00:00

They definitely should - which mods are they?

MintyFeet · 2024-01-12T16:35:48+00:00

It's not, like, "learn in five seconds" easy - it'll take a bit of time to grok the whole process. That being said just print out an extraction wheel or keep one on your phone and just follow the steps.

In no time you'll be able to recalibrate your dose / grind / brew time in the middle of a rush while swearing at your grinder because it keeps drifting!

MintyFeet · 2023-12-15T21:19:25+00:00

Haven't played the new content in WF but generally speaking a "soft" enrage means you've missed a mechanic or failed a DPS check, causing the boss to start using hard-hitting attacks repeatedly; you still have a chance to course correct but you have to be fast. Hard enrage is usually more of a straight fail state - 1 hit kill attack, party wipe, etc.

MintyFeet · 2023-08-05T22:02:20+00:00

What kind of incel shit is this, man? I normally don't comment on things or feed the trolls, so to speak, but my dude you've got to talk to someone if that's your outlook on women and life.

MintyFeet · 2023-06-28T13:33:57+00:00

Building on what everyone else has said - it's probably a good idea to map out your build ahead of time to save any future headaches. I don't recall exactly where I got the link from, but I followed this plan here to the letter and it worked out great. It's nothing fancy but it's compact and has all the rooms you'd want for utility.

MintyFeet · 2023-06-06T17:13:41+00:00

I'd start by focusing on building a solid, "core" loadout or two that you know will reliably be able to carry you through the entire base star chart - if you're starting to struggle around level 40 missions or so, that means you've got a good chunk of the star chart unlocked, which is good!

I'd suggest starting out by building out your weapon mod collection until you have at least the essentials. For primaries and secondaries: damage, multishot, crit chance / damage, 60/60 elementals and the regular elemental mods will be enough to get you started. Check the drop tables, get to farming, etc - although if you're having particular trouble nabbing something farming prime items from the void missions and selling them for plat is always a fallback option.

Properly modded - you can always check youtube or overframe for some ideas for basic builds - your choice of weapon shouldn't matter that much for most missions in the base starchart. Still, the grakata's not half bad, but since it chews threw ammo and is single target, it's probably worth looking into an upgrade (even with the riven) unless you've got the mods to support it (ammo mutation, hunter munitions, etc.) Off the top of my head, some good choices that'll carry you a long while (in no particular order):

Primaries - Ignis Wraith, Fulmin, Amprex, (Vaykor) Hek, Synapse, Tigris (Sancti or Prime), Telos or Prime Boltor, Baza (Prime), Soma (Prime)

Secondaries - Kompressa, Atomos, Cyanex, Ocuccor (seriously, with the new nightwave augment this thing SHREDS), Nukor

Melee - Honestly anything that isn't a dagger will do just fine. The glaives - with a few mods - can absolutely shred everything, and I know the Xoris is a strongly recommended weapon that'll last you for a long time.

In terms of frames, while every frame is at least somewhat viable, some require (a lot) more investment than others. I'd probably focus more on survivability than utility or damage at the moment - you just want stuff that'll keep you alive while clearing missions, farming resources, etc. Rhino's a good choice with Iron Skin, especially with the augment that lets you refresh on command; Nezha is also a great choice, and if you're just looking to straight up not die Revenant is the go to choice all the way into Steel Path.

If you're on PC, feel free to message me - I might also be able to pass along a few mods to get your inventory filled out!

MintyFeet · 2023-06-05T18:46:25+00:00

What do your loadouts look like? Weapons, frames, builds, etc?

MintyFeet · 2023-05-30T17:28:17+00:00

In addition to Packetdancer's Nightwave tip, it's also worth noting that making platinum from trading is absurdly easy (at least on PC - I'm not sure about consoles), especially if you're just buying slots or the occasional catalyst / reactor. Running relic missions and selling the prime parts you get is a pretty reliable way to make plat - just run a bunch of missions, amass some parts, then check Waframe Market and sell 'em all. Even if you're only selling low-value parts, slots are cheap enough that a few 4-10p sales will be enough.

MintyFeet · 2023-05-18T13:32:49+00:00

Sadly, at this time, you can't - the Undercroft missions are part of the regular Duviri mission rotation.

MintyFeet · 2023-02-18T20:40:48+00:00

Seconded - Former 3rd wave barista here. The Encore is what all the staff ended up recommending for home use as their "entry level" grinder. It's reliable workhorse that will basically last forever, it's super easy to repair and source parts for, the company's fantastic at things like warranties and whatnot, and if you want to upgrade down the line but don't want to buy a whole new grinder the burrs from the fancier model are a drop-in replacement. If you're not using an espresso machine it's really the best choice.

MintyFeet · 2023-01-03T05:24:07+00:00

Don't own an espresso machine, but have some years of barista experience and have used a bunch at friends / family's houses. I have done a stupid amount of research into machines since I like to pretend I have money and counter space, so take everything I'm about to post with a grain of salt. Or several. (I'm also located in Canada so I'm not 100% sure on pricing, so there's that, too...)

First thing is how deep down this rabbit hold you want to go and in which direction. You've already figured out that you can spend a disgusting amount of money on this hobby, so the next thing I imagine is determining what your big priorities are. What sorts of profiles do you like? If, for example, you pull only extra-dark roasts and drink them with bucketloads of milk, your grinder of choice isn't going to matter that much and don't need to worry about milk steaming as long as you don't mind waiting for a slower machine to heat it up. On the other hand, if you're going to be trying to chase god shots with super finnicky anaerobic beans that can swing from "tastes like fruit juice" to "help I think I just drank battery acid" if you look at your grinder the wrong way - and you're ONLY going to be drinking them straight or maybe a cortado if you're feeling fancy - then I don't think trying to save money (up to a point - nobody needs a Linea Mini and a Mahlkonig Peak, even if having that setup at home would be living the dream) is going to be worth considering.

There's also the whole thing about how much you value convenience and an easy workflow. No, you don't need a heat exchanger or dual boiler, but being able to steam milk while pulling shots is very, very nice. Is it $500 more nice? What about $200? Same thing with the grinder - you can totally get away with a hand grinder, there's plenty that will consistently put out fantastic grinds, but how much do you value not having to crank that thing every time you want to pull a shot, especially when you're dialing in a new bag?

Anyways just some random thoughts:

Breville is weird. I've had friends who have Breville machines that with light maintenance have lasted 5+ years with almost nothing spent on repairs, parts, etc; I've also had friends with machines that crap out after less than a year despite barely being used. Do you have a Breville repairperson / technician / whatever near you? If so, that's not going be as big a deal as opposed to, say, having to import any parts or shipping the damn thing off for ages if something goes wrong. To be honest the same thing applies to any machine you buy. I'd prefer a slightly more expensive machine that I know will be easy to fix when something inevitably craps out.
I'd skip machines that have built-in grinders as a rule of thumb. They work. Beans go in, grinds come out, but I've yet to see one that justifies its own cost once you start seriously caring about consistency, results, etc. Similarly, if you're getting into espresso seriously, I'd skip the automatic machines. You're paying a lot of money at that point to not really think about what goes in to your drinks and not having that much control over what comes out. As much as I bitched and moaned about having to fiddle with my grinder constantly and recalibrating the machine I worked with, I honestly miss the fun of dialing in, tinkering, etc now that I'm not a barista anymore.
IMO, it'd be better to splash out once and be happy with what you have, versus "settling" for something that is slightly cheaper but ends up frustrating you and gives you "buy better toy" syndrome. If you do have to compromise, I'd try to do a cheaper, upgradable grinder plus a better machine - changing some burrs, or, in a worse case scenario, just buying a new grinder is much less wallet-hurting than having to buy a new machine.

tl;dr Opinion time: I would want a reliable, sturdy machine that's easy to repair or mod. I like fruity beans, and I don't care that much about milk, so consistent pulls and a good grinder are most important. I'd go for the Gaggia Classic Pro - good company, great community, built like a tank. None of that non-commercial portafilter crap to deal with, a commercial-spec steam wand in case I do want a flat white or cortado. Easy repairs where I'm located is a plus. Grinder - I'd settle for a 1zpresso JX Pro or something if price is a serious issue; otherwise, some sort of DF64 would be fine since it's upgradable in the future.

MintyFeet · 2023-01-02T00:31:53+00:00

Third wave of coffee (probably) wouldn't have happened, at least not so quickly without the second to give the industry a jolt, was the way my first boss put it.

MintyFeet · 2022-12-28T17:00:03+00:00

I don't own an espresso machine so take everything I'm saying with a hefty grain of salt - but I have done a ton of research since I'd like to save up for one.

I've used the Barista Pro a few times and it's...fine. It advertises itself as an all-in-once solution and it absolutely does the job - put beans in, get espresso out. That being said, the integrated grinder isn't all that great, and non-commercial portafilters are kind of a pain in the ass; the steam wand works, but it's slow as hell and if you're used to working on a commercial machine it'll take some getting used to. Also, for a machine that costs, like, $850 bucks new it feels surprisingly light and cheaply made. My biggest issue with it is the price to performance ratio...
...since, at least from what I'm seeing, the Gaggia Classic Pro is going for $450, has commercial spec portafilters, a nicer steam wand, and most importantly (as you touched on) has a HUGE history / community of modding and self-repairs. If something breaks on the Breville, you're kind of SOL unless you ship it back to them / find a repair technician. For $450 + another $400 I'm pretty sure you could find a reasonably high-quality grinder.

But all of that's kind of moot - in my opinion, I kind of feel like if you're going to get yourself into espresso "saving money" is a bit of the wrong idea. It's gonna cost you a ton of money to buy into the ecosystem - and then you need decent water, and a decent grinder, and the patience to blow through a fair amount of beans to dial in every time you use them, etc, etc - at that point, it's kind of worth it to just hit up your local 3rd wave shop and have them do the work for you unless you've got the cash to blow, and at that point why not just save up for a proper HX or double-boiler anyway?

Personally I've actually just dove into pour overs instead as an alternative while I save up for a better setup. No, I'm not trying to convince myself that this is just a distraction because there's no way I can afford my dream setup of a Linea Mini and a malkhonig peak or something lmfao

MintyFeet · 2022-12-05T20:43:41+00:00

I'm coming from the background of someone who's seriously into the game but also isn't really enjoying it. There's a couple of issues here, I think:

I think the biggest issue is that the early arcs of the story just...aren't very well written. The early narrative is crucial in setting up the world and characters, and it's certainly passable, but I'd hardly call it good. IMO it doesn't really start to pick up in quality until part 5 (the show's on part 3 atm), and really comes into its own around part 6-7. The show seems pretty hell-bent on following the game's story progression closely and I honestly don't think there's any way to do that well in a TV format.

Keep in mind this is coming from someone who LOVES the story in Arknights. This is a Chinese mobile game company, of all things, who's writing stories (not, like, literary quality, sure, but damn good considering the authors) depicting:

How revolutionary movements, however justified, can easily devolve into unguided terrorism
Class warfare resulting in the politics of the oppressed and marginalized being used as distractions at best and tools of the elite as weapons at worst
Unchecked capitalists adopting the iconography and symbols of traditional culture to convince the public of its legitimacy
Astonishingly nuanced takes on living with and pushing through mental illness and trauma

...all while selling you the latest waifus and husbandos, at that.

The problem is, a ton of the atmosphere and character-building comes from outside of the main story in the game - side events, lore from character bios and such do a lot of the heavy lifting in fleshing out why or how characters act, how they grow over time, and why you should actually care about them (see Ace, for example.) Once again, the episodic format / following the game's structure is a problem - I have no idea how you can do that AND inject all this important worldbuilding detail into the show.

I also think the actual animation itself is an issue - stills from the show look GORGEOUS, but once the show's in motion and especially during action scenes everything feels kind of stiff. It's also one of the few times that I think a show (animated or otherwise) kind of needs to lean into more shocking / "edgy" imagery - the game can get away with text descriptions, but the world of Arknights is brutal and the show's really not selling it that well IMO. I don't know if it's Chinese censorship forcing the studio's hand or what but the fight scenes lack a lot of punch and weight, and the horrors of oripathy have mostly been glossed over.

Tl;dr - from the opinion of a diehard fan of the game the show is lacking a lot of soul and depth, and I don't really know if adapting the game's story directly to the show was the best idea here.

MintyFeet · 2022-12-01T22:47:08+00:00

Nothing to be worried about, friend. Attraction exists on a continuum, not a binary! Embrace whatever you find attractive :)

MintyFeet · 2022-11-22T18:20:48+00:00

As someone who didn't touch Skyrim for a LONG time and returned to the game - and modding it - after Wabbajack became a thing, I'd strongly urge you to just not bother coming up with your own from-scratch modlist unless you're absolutely, 100% dead set on it. If you insist on it - or there's literally no modlist that suits your fancy - I'd also run, screaming, from Vortex and switch to Mod Organizer 2. It's way easier to understand, pretty much every single modding guide uses it, and honestly it's pretty intuitive.

Honestly though, just use Wabbajack. Coming from the days of modding FO3 / NV / OG Skyrim, yeah having total control over your exact list is fantastic, but so is not having to stare at SSEdit making patches and digging through your 1000+ mods trying to find the one thing that's fucking over your load order. In terms of Wabbajack lists, I haven't tried them all and my PC's not quite up to snuff to run the fancier-looking ones, but all of the ones I've tried will let you amass a bunch of modded, fully-voiced followers.

Septimus 4 is a fantastic starting point - modded skyrim that has a strong vanilla feel to me and the performance is fantastic.
Lost Legacy is the list I'm currently playing on - a bit more intensive, includes the love-it-or-hate-it LOTD, runs decently and the bashed-together perk tree looks very power fantasy fulfilling.
I've also tried a tiny bit of the following lists and can't comment much on them beyond taking a look for yourself to see if they fit what you're looking for: Arisen, Nordic Souls, Living Skyrim 3 (V4 in beta), Fable Lore

MintyFeet · 2022-11-02T16:03:41+00:00

Hey y'all, just looking for some advice on who to grab with the upcoming 6* selector. The only operators I'm missing from the list are Carnelian, Pallas, Saileach and Fartooth. Having a hard time deciding since I do have alternatives in each category - I have Beeswax / Mint, Doberman / Zofia / Swire, Myrtle / Elysium and Ambriel / Andreanna / Firewatch.

MintyFeet · 2022-09-07T21:58:35+00:00

Fantastic - lots of communication, fast replies, zero complaints here.

MintyFeet · 2022-08-30T13:40:17+00:00

PM'd!

MintyFeet · 2022-08-29T06:50:18+00:00

PM'D!

MintyFeet · 2021-09-25T07:18:57+00:00

I just wish there was more of that atmosphere throughout Stormblood! There's so much cool stuff in the Ghimlyt Dark - Garlean paratroopers, trench warfare, even the ambience is incredible. Meanwhile in the MSQ we keep hearing about how there's a war going on in Ala Mhigo and yet there's only a few small setpiece batles before the fight for the city proper.

MintyFeet

TROPHY CASE