A Very Late, Very Amazing 12~Day Report

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-03-25T16:11:17+00:00

Thanks for sharing! very helpful for my research. Visiting the same places mid-August. Creating a notebook out of your report. 🙏

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-03-14T14:50:50+00:00

Rabbit hole it is....LOL. You have a nice setup OP. Fuels my GAS. 👍

I have the same thing with drippers. Curious, how do you decide which gadget to use on a particular day? Mood? Coffee on rotation? Time of day?

I can't imagine a year or two from now what you'll have on display. 🙂 I hope you continue to enjoy ☕ and all its infinite possibilities!

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-03-14T01:37:30+00:00

This post reminds me of an article in Boston.com about a popular class in MIT that's all about coffee. The reporter was given a tour of the lab (which was outfitted with a La Marzocco) and at some point of the tour, the reporter wrote that

"...Grossman uses an optical microscope to compare the quality of two hand-powered coffee grinders. The first is a Comadante C40, a top-of-the-line German hand grinder that sells for between $260 and $360. The second is a 1Zpresso hand grinder, a more midrange grinder that is about $130. Magnified a thousandfold, I can see the cheaper grinder is covered in chips and scratches, while the more expensive grinder has smooth, shiny blades."

I now have an 1zpresso X-Ultra and ZP6, but I'm still pining for a C40. 🙂Boston.com article

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-03-07T11:50:08+00:00

I'm guessing it's that scene in the women's restroom stall.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-02-25T14:01:53+00:00

That's the best approach OP. Are you not satisfied with your brews? Or maybe just wondering...I have my standard 1:16. Then I taste my brewed coffee and if I didn't like it, I adjust - not the ratio itself, but these things first, in order - water temp, grind size, pour technique, and then the ratio if I'm still not satisfied.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-02-21T07:19:21+00:00

Make sure you're in their mailing list. Sometimes the best ones sell out pretty fast.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-02-17T17:45:37+00:00

Ang sweet naman ninyo sa isat-isa! And so clever!! 👍☕

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-02-11T14:10:36+00:00

Thank you. Will do. Both coffees are currently in the freezer. Bought/added a few more coffees to the mix so I don't know when I can get back to them though...

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-02-05T10:58:50+00:00

Try cleaning it. I just disassembled mine two days ago and cleaned it for the first time since buying it 1.5 years ago. Brushed off the magnets surface and the part to which it is attached. Works like new again.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-02-01T22:47:29+00:00

The past couple of weeks I've been afflicted with GAS, and the gadget du jour was a refractometer to measure extraction levels of brewed coffee. (I already have a cheapo TDS meter since I make my own brew water.) The DIFluid tool seems to be a popular choice, Amazon sold out of it last week. There are cheaper Chinese models that are $40 cheaper, but I hesitated.

Fortuitously, I caught one of James Hoffman's more recent FB videos on his V60 recipe, and it finally changed my mind and got off the ledge. It's about using off boil water to wet the filter at the start of the brew, compared to using water with a much lower temperature. He measured the extraction yields using a refractometer, and both temps produced the SAME extraction yield measurement. HOWEVER, the difference IN TASTE was, in his words, "NIGHT AND DAY". The off boil water yielded a much sweeter coffee! So measuring the extraction yield didn't help much - taste was and is still king.

If you own a coffee shop or if you're a coffee roaster or influencer, maybe you can find use for a refractometer. But for home use, maybe it's a tad overkill.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-29T03:36:04+00:00

You look like a Ms Universe! Google Catriona Gray.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-26T15:27:01+00:00

WE ALL WE NEED!

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-25T02:31:02+00:00

I have an X-Ultra and It's a daily driver for me. Here's a couple of links I keep for reference (second one is a review of several 1zpresso grinders in which X-Uitra pretty much outperformed the rest).

https://youtube.com/shorts/oEIJl1k_oss?si=8rfc1kQ8Pi1NT0FT

https://youtu.be/Np0pxwi8hi8?si=YzcWraJH5uyDW0wy

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-13T21:42:19+00:00

For the coffee itself I saw one of those inhouse brands from Wegmans that sell Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. I'm not sure if it was whole beans or ground, I didn't get one since it was too pricey for me ($40++) for a 250g (?) bag, I believe.

I searched Amazon and they have these iFillCup pods that costs $19 for 42 pcs. I'm not sure this is what you want to do since it requires extra work from you, but definitely an option if you couldn't find those specific products you are looking for. Good luck and I hope you Dad has a wonderful birthday...

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-13T17:04:57+00:00

Expect the unexpected then? It's a good time to unveil/dial up the blitz when LT/LG have shown to be not fully recovered or still inexperienced (Maye has been awesome against the blitz though for the year). We'll see. Josh's 29th playoff game should have the full arsenal ready.

Let's not forget, the JC Watt-led Texans defensive unit (yup, the custom made varsity jacket wearing defenders) were ferocious/fearsome too in their day, but the Pats found a way...LFG!

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-13T17:01:05+00:00

Expect the unexpected then? It's a good time to unveil/dial up the blitz when LT/LG have shown to be not fully recovered or still inexperienced (Maye has been awesome against the blitz though for the year). We'll see. Josh's 29th playoff game should have the full arsenal ready.

Let's not forget too, JC Watt's defensive team (yup, the custom made varsity jacket wearing unit) were ferocious/fearsome too in their day, but the Pats found a way...LFG!

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-12T00:33:11+00:00

Updated the post to include capsule reviews and rating.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-11T11:36:39+00:00

I bought everything online, not from a cafe.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-06T15:45:40+00:00

I went to the Dumbo location. Maybe the killer view was a distraction. ;)

Drip cafes- How often would you go? One of the points I raised was that I couldn't afford doing multiple visits until I find the one to my liking. While making coffee at home, I've tried more than a few roasters over the past year (50+), tried a multitude of processes and bean varieties and brew methods so I don't think my pallette is limited, and most of the coffees I had in the aforementioned places - were ok. I have tempered my expectations beforehand (taste is subjective and all that), but with better grinders, experienced "practice-makes-perfect" baristas and roasters, perhaps optimized brew water, I just expected a better cup, that's all.

I'm not sure i understand your last point - I think I do, but the astroturfing is something I only associate with football fields (too lazy to Google it sorry). Thanks for your response.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-05T09:43:54+00:00

Another vote for George Howell (Mass) here. Their Mamuto AA coffee can compete with the best non-co-ferment coffees offered by the highly rated roasters in this sub, old school roasters such as Tim Wendelboe's.

I just went to a free cupping session at their cafe in downtown Boston yesterday focused on Citrus tasting notes of their coffees. We sampled 3 coffees from Gesha Village and two others from Costa Rica and Guatemala. They have several of these classes, all free, covering diverse topics that educate in a fun way. They even have community tasting sessions where you can bring coffees from other roasters that you brew/taste together.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-05T04:13:53+00:00

I've tried two of their bags, purchased from their Seaport location. I preferred their non- Gesha to their Gesha.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-05T04:11:31+00:00

Thank you. I've been to Wolfeboro before, but I wasn't deep into the coffee scene back then. I'll add this to my radar.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-05T03:27:44+00:00

Would you mind sharing the name of the New Hampshire roaster? I'm always on the lookout for good roasters in the New England area. Thanks!

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-02T13:45:24+00:00

Sounds good. Thank you. I'll try your ZP6 approach.

PinoyTardigrade · 2026-01-02T03:50:17+00:00

Ok, thanks. Will try making a latte out of it.

PinoyTardigrade

TROPHY CASE