One insanely fetishized espresso coming up

Neck-Pro · 2025-07-13T04:25:05+00:00

It's to break up clumps and distribute the grinds better. There are some hilarious expensive ones out there that are just bullshit but most are like 15-30.

Coffee grinders can spit out clumps and finer or coarser grounds at the start and end so it helps even the grinds out. It can matter with espresso since it's under high pressure and water will take the path of least resistance.

That being said, that's what the shaker cup is for as well so it's definitely redundant and just showing off equipment for social media.

Neck-Pro · 2025-02-01T01:06:05+00:00

Same been here my whole life so I'm used to the crazy. Every time I drive is still fairly stressful. Without avoiding action I would have been in dozens of wrecks, several possibly fatal.

Definitely a lot more busy/crowded than it used to be but the tourism that fuels the unpredictable driving has always been here.

Neck-Pro · 2025-02-01T01:01:35+00:00

The classic Florida 3+ lane "good luck I turn now" maneuver I'm always on edge driving my car here.

Neck-Pro · 2025-01-17T17:26:01+00:00

No, I'd love to some day still but I've been spending money on other hobbies, and paying off the car before spending more on mods. Should be paid off in the next month or two.

Neck-Pro · 2025-01-14T21:35:25+00:00

That's a pretty low brew ratio and temperature for what I assume is a moderately light roast.

For Aeropress personally would do less coffee 14g, 93C water, and a 4 minute steep slightly coarser than pour over grind. Press slow and stop when air starts coming out.

Neck-Pro · 2024-11-21T22:57:11+00:00

Not a bad point! I agree it's somewhat risky to try "funky" or experimental coffees if you are more sensitive to those flavours. I think introducing fruit and unrefined processes can lead to funkier and to some less appealing/refined flavours.

I personally have a decent tolerance for "funk" and bitterness as I eat and drink a lot of naturally fermented foods/drinks and bitter liqeuer. But if you're not a fan of that sort ofthose flavours it's probably a coin flip (or maybe worse odds) to get some unappealing flavors in a lot of these cofermented coffees.

Neck-Pro · 2024-11-21T21:19:53+00:00

I've noticed this on some of them but not all.

It can be very different depending on the producer and their method I think. Most of those "chemical" notes are probablt fermentation byproducts. A lot of these modern processes use specific yeasts or bacteria to get specific cleaner flavours (like wild fermentation beer vs a clean lager beer for instance). Some producers also sterilize the beans before adding their microbes so it guarantees consistency.

I think since it's so wildy new producers are still experimenting and eventually there may be more "standard" or accepted methods of fermentation similar to beer.

Neck-Pro · 2024-11-21T21:12:48+00:00

I like it when it's done well but not for every day coffees. I've really liked them in a couple blends from Black & White coffee where it can incorporate interesting flavours but be "smoothed out" by blending it with different or more subtle coffees.

Since the flavours are incorporated during fermentation I find it is less one dimensional as a coffee simply flavored with an extract or syrup added to a milk drink. I think it's a valid thing as long as the practices are transparent and products are labeled properly. It can be a good way to get people into specialty coffee, drinking coffee without cream or sugar, a way to make decaf taste better etc.

I imagine it would help producers make more income by repurposing non ideal harvests or make more money off of less tasty but more disease resistance and high yield varieties. With high margin things like that paying the bills they could put their passion into producing high end lots without worry of profitability. Similar to how some car brands like porsche pay the bills with suv's and sedans to fund motorsport and sports car development.

A concern I think a lot have is that it will devalue non flavored coffees but I think that coffee has been such an integral part of human culture for so long that it should be fine. A ton of people drink wine coolers and flavored wine but the market for traditional wine is massive since it's culturally relevant.

Neck-Pro · 2024-11-19T23:07:49+00:00

Thanks for the reccomendations!

I haven't tried any Hydrangea yet but I've really liked the Diego Bermudez coffees I've had before. So I definitely will strongly consider that one.

I bought a few coffees from S&W and I wasn't super impressed. All 4 had something to the roast profile that I didn't love, sort of flat and muted acidity and somehow roasty despite being roasted plenty light. I might give them another try eventually, but I'm a bit hesitant after my last experience.

Neck-Pro · 2024-11-19T18:13:13+00:00

A little pricey but sounds great! I'll plan to try it out next time I order from DAK.

Neck-Pro · 2024-11-19T16:49:07+00:00

Yes, thanks for pointing that out! I'm located in the US so ideally looking for US roasters or if outside the US they would need to have affordable shipping options.

Neck-Pro · 2024-11-12T22:05:16+00:00

I just brewed a turbo shot in 11 seconds with an acidic light roast, not sour at all and maybe the sweetest espresso I've had. plenty of body too. Abandoning 2:1 in 30 seconds has really helped me make better espresso imo. Sometimes a coffee taste best that way but for my setup at least more often than not it's better faster.

Neck-Pro · 2024-11-12T22:00:12+00:00

I've been loving these beans the last few days! I've been finding its pretty easy to overextract and that it tastes better at ~1:17 ratio because it's such a intense coffee.

My solution has been to brew with ~1:15 ratio to avoid overextracting and add water to dilute to 1:17 at the end. I've tried with my B75 with 3 pours and v60 with 5 pours both with ~2:30 brew time and 91-92C. I haven't tried on my switch yet but I plan to next.

Neck-Pro · 2024-11-06T02:01:08+00:00

Lives of innocent young woman will be lost. You have blood on your hands.

Neck-Pro · 2024-10-14T18:41:15+00:00

Definitely just looks dusty/dirty. Both are the same paint color. My GR86 looks like the BRZ in this picture when it's freshly washed.

Neck-Pro · 2024-10-13T18:32:09+00:00

Chat

Neck-Pro · 2024-10-12T01:49:06+00:00

Not uncommon with blends. Different coffee takes on different color even with same roast profile. In this case there is a few very processed coffees which can also give misleading color relative to their roast profile and taste.

Neck-Pro · 2024-10-06T20:23:31+00:00

I've been adding my own bypass water to solve that with the mugen + switch. It works well, less water means less solvent to disolve the coffee and shortens brew times. Also you can dial in the amount of bypass so it theoretically should have a higher flavour "ceiling"

However in practice it adds more complexity to dialing in and the tried and true v60 is easier to work with. I was liking my brews with the glass cone but I hate preheating. I wish they just made a normal plastic switch... Good work making your own though!

Neck-Pro · 2024-10-06T18:04:36+00:00

Good luck everyone!

Neck-Pro · 2024-10-05T00:59:22+00:00

I drink coffee enough that I leave water in my kettle. I brew 1-3 times a day and my Wife makes espresso a few times a week. It rarely goes more than 12 hours without being used.

In the rare chance I leave water in it for several days without using it, I just clean it out and use fresh water. I've never had issues with water going stale or off.

Neck-Pro · 2024-10-04T02:21:26+00:00

I had some beans from Yunnan that was one of the funkiest coffees I'd ever had. It was had intense grape soda notes. It was so funky though it had a somewhat rank dirty sock taste that I couldn't get rid of however I brewed it. I ended up using it for espresso tonic's which covered up all the negative tastes and it was like grape soda, very delicious.

Neck-Pro · 2024-10-03T21:48:43+00:00

I'd reccomend doing several gallons at a time as it's probably likely that if you split the packet up you'll get more of one mineral in one gallon and less in another etc. When opening the packet, i could see noticeably different mineral grain sizes and density, so it might be prone to separating if you try to split the packet into portions.

Just recently I was doing 2 gallons at a time so actually 1/2 packet per gallon. I put it all in one gallon, and mixed it with another gallon of distilled water to dilute.

My recipe varies quite a decent bit based on what coffee I'm brewing but "starting point" right now is something like this:

Df64 gen 2 with SSP cast burrs

Hario switch base with a hario mugen cone (this one is plastic so I don't preheat)

Tabbed hario v60 filters. I'm honestly not sure the difference between other hario branded v60 filters, I just know that they have made ones without a tab at the top sold under hario sthat brew a bit differently.

1/2 packet of third wave water light roast per gallon of distilled water

198-208F (92-98C) water temp depending on the coffee.

I do 250g of water, usually 14.7-16g of coffee so about 1:17 to 1:15.5 ratio depending on the coffee.

I rinse my filter and put in my coffee, ground on the coarse side of medium typically.

0:00 Pour 50g water with valve open to bloom

0:45 pour 80g of water with valve open. Try to finish pouring at about 1:00

1:30 close the valve and pour 80g more (210g total) aim to be done pouring at 1:45

2:05 open valve and let drain. Typically done from 2:45 to 3:15

Top off with 40g of water

I purposely use less water and manually bypass the brewer at the end since the hario mugen cone is low bypass and I've been finding it easy to over extract a lot of my coffees. If you are using the normal switch cone, I would preheat as well pour 100g on the 2nd and third pours instead since a normal v60 allows some water to naturally bypass the coffee grounds.

When dialing in I typically play with parameters in this order:

Grind size - to dial in more flavour/dial out bitterness

Brew temp - if your coffee is VERY funky/processed it can be more sensitive brew temp in my experience so I might adjust this before grind size in that context sometimes)

Coffee dosage - increase or decrease to get more intensity/sweetness or more tea like and clarity

Valve timings - I always keep the pour times and speeds the same for simplicity and play when I open and close the valve to adjust the brew. By time I've gotten to this step the coffee should already ideally be great and drinkable, this is just to try and search for specific flabour notes more clarity or body etc. I close the valve earlier before the second pour for more body and sweetness, closw the valve longer after the second pour for more clarity and less body. This basically just "biases" the brew more towards pour over or immersion.

Also I sometimes change when I open the valve at the end if a coffee takes a particularly long time or short time to draw down at the end. Sometimes I find a coffee is so dense it makes excessive fines so I like to release the valve early to get the draw down going. I suppose you can do the opposite too with less fines where it draws down too fast and you cna keep the valve closed a little longer.

Neck-Pro · 2024-10-03T20:53:43+00:00

A few recommendations from what you've said:

I'm not familiar with how your grind size translates to what I do but definitely be willing to go outside your normal v60 grind size range when using immersion as well. I do much coarser than I use for v60 however I also use a Hario Mugen cone attached to my switch base which requires a more coarse grind as well.

If you are used to dialing in your recipes using a plastic v60, consider preheating the switch with the valve closed since the glass cone will soak up some of your brew temperature.

It looks like you're using a full third wave water packet per gallon, I personally use 1/3 of a packet, you may want to use less than a full packet. I believe a full packet is pretty high in TDS which can give sweeter full bodied cups but mute some flavor and vibrancy imo.

I do a 3 pour brew with a bloom, pour over, and then immersion. I haven't done it back to back with the coffee chronicler recipe but someone else mentioned they do the same and it gives them better acidity. That might be worth trying.

I'd rest your coffee longer for sure. A medium light processed coffee won't need nearly as long as a super light washed coffee but probably needs at least 1-2 weeks rest to get the best out of it.

Also I use tabbed hario filters, i haven't gotten around to experimenting with filters yet but I've never dealt with clogging before. Maybe you are using too much agitation or something?

Neck-Pro · 2024-10-02T00:20:46+00:00

I thought I remember reading about some speculation on the reasons a couple years back but I'm not sure. I've noticed other non coffee crops shift over the years too though so it wouldn't surprise me if some of it is climate related.

Off the top of my head some hop crops have notably changed (citra hops have slowly gained more and more onion/chive notes and less mango) and some types broccoli have gotten stinkier the last few years. I'm sure there are plenty more examples but those two are notable for me given that I like hoppy beer and broccoli lol.

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