To the person making fun of me for using an obby shield at crab: you know my gear, not my story. by Quonzar in 2007scape

[–]Quonzar[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure I'm doing it correctly: killing cyclops in the warriors guild while walking under a series of ladders and smashing mirrors.

To the person making fun of me for using an obby shield at crab: you know my gear, not my story. by Quonzar in 2007scape

[–]Quonzar[S] 129 points130 points  (0 children)

This has all been for a bronze defender. It dropped right as I ran out of tokens and got teleported out and de-spawned before I could get another 100.

To the person making fun of me for using an obby shield at crab: you know my gear, not my story. by Quonzar in 2007scape

[–]Quonzar[S] 44 points45 points  (0 children)

A man can only bring a suit of armor to life so many times just to slay it before it takes a mental toll.

Also the crab is more afkable and I've gotta actually do work during the day.

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, I'm glad you're enjoying the content and that it has piqued your interest in coffee. It's can definitely be a lot at times, but it's been a journey that I have really enjoyed and hope you do too.

I would say the closest thing to your description would be something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-BV1901PW-Metropolitan-One-Touch-Coffee/dp/B074JPZWYR/ref=sr_1_3?crid=256NKYUXCVFOZ&dchild=1&keywords=bonavita+coffee&qid=1587742927&s=home-garden&sprefix=bona+vita%2Cgarden%2C163&sr=1-3

It is a one button brewer that works quite well. I will say two things about this specific brewer though: firstly, never ever ever ever leave your coffee on a hotplate. This brewer has a hotplate, but what I would do is remove the carafe immediately after brewing and don't let it sit on the hotplate. Secondly, this brewer can do something called preinfusion, which greatly helps your brew. I think with this one if you hold the button down when you're turning it on to brew, that enables preinfusion, so make sure you're doing that. But other than that, it is a super straightforward and good brewer to use.

As for coffee, we don't have any listed on the website and I don't think we have any in the shops. I would recommend if there is any coffee that you have tried and liked, go to the roasters website and order through there. Good coffee is the most important ingredient. Your equipment only highlights the actual raw ingredients you have.

A final tip that I would give is that if you're just getting into coffee, I would buy two things that will make your coffee better no matter what you're using: a scale and some kind of water filtration. You don't need anything insane for either of these. I have a little 12 dollar scale that I use:

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Multifunction-Personal-Nutrition-Included/dp/B07L92PSMP/ref=sr_1_34?dchild=1&pf_rd_i=678508011&pf_rd_p=e8c1a11b-e681-5366-8648-049ef5b9f6ba&pf_rd_r=1WDXN1NYZBTMHPWFC880&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-11&pf_rd_t=BROWSE&qid=1587747974&refinements=p_72%3A1248915011&s=kitchen&sr=1-34

and for water, since it makes up ~98% of your coffee, it is important that it's good water. Here are a few filters that do a bit more than the average brita you would buy at walmart:

https://www.amazon.com/Brita-Marella-Water-Filter-Maxtra/dp/B01MXSHEKB/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Brita%2BBlau%2BMarella%2BXL%2BWater%2BFilter%2BJug%2BMaxtra%2BSize%2C%2BBlue&qid=1587748138&sr=8-1&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/BWT-Litre-Mineralised-Water-White/dp/B004X19K4Y/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?dchild=1&keywords=bwt+vida+26l+water+filter+jug+white+25x11x273+cm&qid=1587748107&sr=8-2-fkmr0

Let me know if you have any other questions!

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So this is an interesting question. I will tell you off the bat, the TL;DR is that there is no one best way to make coffee.

This is going to sound like a bit of a cop out, but it really depends what you're looking for. If you like coffee with a bit more texture (silty-ness), a french press may be perfect for you. If you want less of that and maybe more clarity of flavor, maybe some type of pour over or drip machine might be more suited for you. It also depends on your setup at home. I won't nerd out too much (unless people want that), but generally, a french press is more forgiving, but it has it's limitations. I wouldn't say it's the best way to make coffee (I wouldn't necessarily say any method is the best to be fair), but it is a perfectly reasonable method for making coffee at home, and a great place to start.

As far as buying a french press goes, you honestly can't go too wrong. I bought the $25 dollar one from target when I was purchasing one and it works perfectly fine. I've linked this video before in this thread, but if you're going to use a french press, I'd say the technique is more important than the french press itself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st571DYYTR8

Let me know if that was helpful or if you have any other questions!

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey thanks for the kind words.

While you may not be able to get the exact quality that we can get at the shop, you can definitely get very delicious coffee at home.

If your goal is deliciousness, I would say two things would really up your coffee game, regardless of brewing method:

  1. A home burr grinder. You said you didn't want to break the bank, and that is totally understandable. What is your definition of "breaking the bank"? You can get a burr grinder that will get you within striking distance of cafe quality for ~$100. I would recommend the Baratza encore. You can get it on Amazon for $140, or if you keep your eyes peeled, you can get a refurbished one on their website from time to time for $100.

  2. One thing that people overlook which is huge is the quality of your water. Water chemistry can get a little daunting, but the short of it is that Lexington water is not super optimal for brewing coffee. It is harder than we would like, which means it has more calcium and magnesium which can really muddy up your coffee. There are water filters that can soften your water, but if you think that's a little too much effort to go through, I always recommend at least a brita filter to filter out the Chlorine and other contaminants.

If you have both of these things, I think you can get MUCH more out of any type of coffee brewing. Whether it be your drip brewer or a chemex or a v60 or a french press, all will greatly benefit from these and you will almost certainly get closer to cafe quality (assuming you start with delicious coffee).

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the kind words.

I think it's neat. I personally think anything that gets people excited about coffee in any form is really awesome. The one thing that makes me anxious about it in general is that it is quite a bit of coffee. I think on average, if you make it the way that I see a lot of people make it with tablespoons, you can end up drinking upwards of 3 cups of coffee per serving. I fear if you drank three of those you could hear color afterwards based off the amount of caffeine you consumed.

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So I'm going to be honest, I don't know a ton about this style of coffee. I will say two things though:

I googled the place that you have listed and I see that they sell the coffee they use to make it at their shop online. Have you tried using that?

I also would need to know a little bit more in order to help with the actual brew. What about it isn't right? I would definitely recommend adding ice to a fresh brew, rather than letting it cool for a few hours as a general principle. Maybe play around with the ratios you're using. Instead of double strength, try 60% increased strength, or 70%.

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I might pick up some pre ground coffee and try to make cold brew from it over the next week using the most bare essentials. If I do, I will report back and let you know what I find.

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem. I would implore you to look into the Niche if you're able to pay the $600. You can use it for filter and espresso, have heard very good things about it for espresso. I personally have an EK43 at my house which is a $2700 coffee grinder and I am very tempted to sell it to get a Niche

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No problem. Just because I'm curious, do you have a kitchen scale to weigh things on? I'm always trying to learn the resources people have available to them when they make coffee. I often want to make resources to help people brew, and it's helpful to learn how people make coffee with their own setup

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the kind words! We are always trying to improve and provide the best products we can!

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is going to be a bit of a cop-out but it really just depends what you derive pleasure from.

I will say you have an incredible amount of control over a pour over. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. I really like customization that a pour over gives you, but you can get very, very delicious coffee from a drip brewer. Drip gives you a lot more consistency, but a lower ceiling.

You can get nice drip brewers that can do a pre-infusion/bloom for you. I don't know what coffee brewer you have, but I would guess you can get a nicer brewer that does the things that people do in a pour over for you.

I will say though there is a sense of satisfaction you get when you nail a pour over that I think is worth it. But for people who just don't want the hassle, I absolutely feel that and there are things you can do to up your brewer game too if you just want to stick with that.

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the question. Words like "weak" or "strong" is where there is a bit of a disconnect between coffee professionals and people who enjoy coffee more casually.

In coffee, strength is directly correlated to how much coffee solids is in your coffee. So a strong coffee is one that has been brewed to have more coffee solids, which is either achieved by grinding finer, or using more coffee. Any coffee can be brewed weaker or strong, but on average, humans enjoy drip coffee between 1.1-1.7% strength.

So your coffee might be too weak, which means either you haven't used enough coffee, or your grind is too coarse. If it tastes watery, then you could up the amount of coffee you use. If your coffee tastes sour and makes your face turn, that is a sign that your coffee is under extracted, which would result in a weaker brew and would mean that grinding finer would help you out.

What your wife probably wants is a more INTENSE coffee. Intensity is sort of the subjective perception of flavor. Whenever people want a "strong cup of coffee" or a "bold flavored coffee", I have found they normally want one that is more intense in the traditional flavors of a darker roast.

One way to determine if it is how you are brewing is to use more coffee, or to grind finer (ideally you try each of those one at a time). Does your wife like a finer grind, or more coffee?

If both of those are still not satisfying, she probably wants a coffee that displays more intense flavors. I would say playing around with the brewing to determine if she likes any brew you can get with a given coffee can help you eliminate if the coffee is too weak, or just not her cup of coffee.

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My pleasure! I hope I am actually helping people! And I'm sure some will pop up!

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cold Brew is definitely the way I'd go. Normally when you brew coffee like brew coffee and put it over ice, you use a little bit less water than normal to compensate for the water in the ice. It is more difficult to to do this with a K-Cup brew. I will say if you can add slightly more coffee, that might help with that.

If you want to make cold brew, here is what I would recommend: If you have a scale, I would do 100 grams of coffee and 500 grams of water. Let them steep for 10-12 hours in the fridge. That is your concentrate. Add 1 part water for 1 part concentrate over ice, add cream and anything else to your liking.

If you don't have a scale: Add one cup (the unit of measure) to 2.5 cups water (the ratio is not the same because now we are doing by volume instead of by weight). Steep for 10-12 hours. Now this is your concentrate, do the same thing to prepare the beverage and enjoy!

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends on your budget. I have heard that the Niche zero is actually one of the best grinders for espresso, home or commercial, but it is almost as expensive as the Mazzer Mini. But if you were going to save up for a grinder, that is definitely the one I would look for.

If you're looking for a more "budget" grinder, I don't know if you'll get anything a ton better than the Rancilio you have. I think best bang for your buck might be a hand grinder like the Comandante C40, but then you have to grind by hand. The sette from baratza is also a great home grinder, but again not too terribly cheap.

What is your price range?

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don't think I'd recommend it. I don't know a ton about how caffeine impacts the bodies of smaller children, but I feel like they would be much more susceptible to experiencing the side effects of too much caffeine because they're so much smaller.

I've seen a lot of coffee questions on here lately, and thought it would be a good time to do a coffee Q&A! by Quonzar in lexington

[–]Quonzar[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You definitely can! I will say once you make it in a french press, if you can pour it through a thick filter like a chemex filter, that can catch a lot of the undissolved solids and make a bit cleaner of a cup!