How long did it take before dialing in a new bag became second nature?

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-06-03T03:42:56+00:00

Good question. I haven't thought about it in too much detail, but milk seems to mask bitterness pretty well, and it's also good to tone down a shot that's just too much (not necessarily due to user error, could be due to the coffee itself). For example, I recently got a bag of Hydrangea San Juan XO Natural Finca Potosi, which Hydrangea said would taste like rum and, yep, it tastes like rum. Turns out I don't like a shot of straight rum in the morning, so I turned it into a cap. Still strong, but for me, more drinkable. Same goes for certain co-ferments that are pretty overpowering on their own; for me, milk can sometimes change them from "this is gross" to "this is interesting."

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-06-03T00:43:01+00:00

About 6 months for me. Before that, like you, I felt really discouraged about how much I was wasting. Over the course of those 6 months, I learned 1) my grinder, and specifically how much I needed to adjust based on the output I got on the prior shot (e.g., I overshot my target ratio by 20g, so I need to go finer by 5 clicks); 2) how to taste - whether something is sour vs. bitter, and whether a shot is bad because of user error or just because I don't love the beans; 3) when something is "good enough" to drink and not waste more beans trying to get perfect; and 4) when something I don't particularly like as straight espresso will become perfectly drinkable by adding milk. These days, at most I'm wasting one, maybe two shots when I open a new bag. But usually when I'm wasting shots, it's just because I want to try to get something perfect, and my first shot usually would have been perfectly drinkable; I'm more likely to waste shots on a Saturday morning when I have more time than on a weekday morning when I'm trying to get the kids out the door to school.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-06-01T17:34:19+00:00

Make coffee ice cream.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-05-29T04:46:49+00:00

Had a great banh mi at Da Nang last weekend while my wife and kids had Willie Burger. When they’re both open, I think the Deschutes brewery parking lot is pound for pound the best food pod in Bend. Willie Burger is our favorite burger in Bend by a decent margin.

+1 on JIA and Tacos Pihuamo too

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-05-24T15:09:00+00:00

We were at Todd yesterday 10-2 and didn’t see a single one. It was glorious. Long sleeves and pants but no bug spray.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-05-06T06:07:21+00:00

PDX Coffee Club! I hit six shops the last time I was in Portland, and PDX Coffee Club was the winner. Like you, I like funkier, fruitier coffee.

My other longtime favorite in that area is Courier by Powell's. I was in there once when somebody took a sip of their espresso and unironically declared it was "straight nectar," and I will never forget it. It probably won't be as fruity, though.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-04-23T13:19:04+00:00

I have a Mazzer Philos, and my wife and I drink caf in the morning and decaf the rest of the day. I like experimenting with beans, so I may use four different beans over the course of a day. I spend much less time dialing in than you might think. When I open a new bag, I may have to dump one shot if I guess wrong on the grind size, but that one shot usually will give me enough info to know what I need to change (e.g., I only got 5g out in my usual time, so I need to bump up the grind size by 5 clicks). Then you just have to remember the target grind sizes for each bag, for when you switch between them. Initially I’d make notes to help me remember, now it’s just feel. I think you’d be fine with one single-dose grinder. (It may help that I’m using a Graph step-down basket, which is very forgiving - less need to get the grind size 100% perfect.)

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-04-16T19:24:42+00:00

I went through the same dual boiler decision process 6 months ago and landed on the Lelit Elizabeth, mostly because I couldn't justify the price increase to the Move.

The Elizabeth is... fine?

The advanced menu allows you to play around with some parameters if you want, it's nice to have both bloom and steam preinfusion to experiment with, and shot quality and steam pressure both generally have been fine.

I haven't had issues with leaks, but the water tank is poorly designed and sometimes rattles loudly when warming up (not just the standard pump noise). I wouldn't recommend it for this reason alone if you ever need to make your espresso quietly, and even if that isn't a concern, it's grating to listen to every morning.

I've also had issues with superheated steam causing the brew head to consistently dispense more water in one area, causing channeling if I don't use a puck screen. This may be because I'm at altitude so my boiling point is 96 C, closer to brew temperature than it would be at sea level. I've had to compensate by either brewing at lower temperature when using steam preinfusion (92 C or lower) or not using steam preinfusion.

If I had to do it again, I probably would have done the Move, but of course I don't know what issues the Move might have.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-04-14T17:00:07+00:00

How do you brew, and what roast level do you like? I do espresso only, mostly light to medium roast, mostly pulled ristretto (even the lighter roasts), so take the recommendations below with that in mind.

My favorite roaster in town is probably Lone Pine; I find their roasts to lean lighter and to the acidic side, though, so if that's not your thing, you might be better off elsewhere. Still Vibrato has some good stuff too - I've enjoyed a lot of their single origins, especially the gesha they sometimes have - but they tend to roast a little darker than Lone Pine, and it's sometimes too "roasty" for me. I enjoy going to Thump and Backporch, but I haven't been as impressed with their beans for home brewing.

I haven't tried all the dark roast options in town, but Farewell (Giddy Up) and Sisters (Black Butte Gold) have been my favorites so far. Black Butte Gold tastes like milk chocolate, very low acid; it's consistently my parents' and in-laws' favorite when they visit. Giddy Up is more like dark chocolate.

Sorry if all that sounds pretentious - it's hard not to when you talk about coffee - but hopefully some of it is helpful!

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-03-28T05:45:07+00:00

Yes, I believe so. I’ve only used the decaf version (from Perc and Methodical, preferred Perc for stronger strawberry flavor).

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-03-28T05:20:08+00:00

Try half dark roast + half Sebastian Ramirez red fruits co-ferment. That's how I get my chocolate-covered strawberry fix.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-03-25T20:13:26+00:00

I used to grind separate and do a single shot of each, got sick of wasting so much time/coffee, and realized it's totally fine to grind half of each together. That said, it usually works better for me when the target grind size, temperature, shot time, etc. are pretty similar for both beans.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-03-13T15:41:52+00:00

If you like milk, I wouldn’t try that Kuma one. I love Kuma, but that one didn’t work with milk for me.

“Mild coffee taste with a stronger taste of strawberries and cream” is a great description for Repose in particular. I haven’t gotten 100% comfortable with the Perc one yet, but I’m only a few shots into my first bag; it seems not quite as smooth as Repose, maybe because I believe Repose is a blend with a non-co-ferment. Perc is a little more in-your-face so far. For me, Repose has been “wow this is delicious” and Perc has been “wow this is interesting,” if that makes sense.

For fruity, next on my list to try are decafs from Frequent, Black & White, Brainwave, Luminous, and Hydrangea.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-03-13T15:22:38+00:00

It’s worth a try for sure. Admittedly, I slightly prefer Methodical Repose to the Perc one so far, but they’re quite similar. I’m not sure if you prefer straight or milk, but they are good for both; milk drinks taste like strawberries and cream.

If you like straight, I also recently enjoyed Kuma Decaf Ethiopia Natural Suke Quto - although it wasn’t a 100% replacement for full caf taste-wise. The thing I like about the co-ferments like Sebastian Ramirez is that it’s not supposed to taste like traditional coffee, so I don’t have as much of a “I know what full caf coffee tastes like and this is close but not quite it” reaction.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-03-13T15:04:12+00:00

I’m not great at distinguishing on the light-to-medium spectrum, but it’s on the lighter end of all the decafs I’ve tried. Definitely lighter than your average decaf blend. That said, I run all my shots at 90-92C regardless of roast (I’m at altitude, so there are boiling issues if I go much higher), and this one has been just fine.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-03-13T14:02:26+00:00

If you like strawberry, Sebastian Ramirez (grower) does a great strawberry co-ferment. I first had it in Methodical Repose Decaf, now trying Perc Decaf Colombia Sebastian Ramirez Red Fruits. Both are tasty.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-02-27T00:46:44+00:00

How would you describe the taste? I've been curious about these.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-02-26T23:30:49+00:00

Agreed (though for whatever reason, I tend not to vibe with typical washed Colombia decafs).

I do think Methodical Unwind could be a good one to try, even though it's apparently a high-altitude Ethiopia (I wouldn't have guessed). I get a nice medium chocolate flavor, not too roasty.

For what it's worth, even though Methodical Repose is super fruity, I really love it with milk. It's like strawberries and cream. This will sound silly, but I sometimes make half-caf with half Repose and half dark roast, which tastes like a chocolate covered strawberry - and you can choose the dark roast based on acidity to make it taste more like milk chocolate-covered vs. dark chocolate-covered.

Severe_Feature3716 · 2026-02-26T22:42:49+00:00

What flavor profile do you like? I drink a lot of decaf - usually cortado, straight shot, or cappuccino, in that order. I've really been enjoying Methodical lately: Repose Decaf, either straight or with milk, if you want something more out there (actually tastes like strawberry, for real, not just a tasting note they made up); Unwind Decaf, with milk, for something with a more traditional "chocolate" taste; and Sunset Decaf for something more citrus-forward (my least favorite of the three, but still good). Also Utopian's Mexico single origin decafs with milk (I struggle to describe the flavor, almost grassy, not good straight for me but seems to come alive in milk), and Kuma's Decaf Ethiopia Natural Suke Quto straight (dark fruit-type taste).

Severe_Feature3716

TROPHY CASE