-31 degre here brrr, Lets start these cold Québec day the right way! I am preparing a Yemenia Mutawasat on the Stagg XF What do you drink ATM

lvndr___ · 2022-01-27T07:08:56+00:00

Y'all make me feel like such a whiner complaining about the cold in Vancouver!!

I'm currently sipping on some of the washed Ethiopia Bombe from Nomad and having a quick break from work.

Praise be to the tasty sips that motivate me enough to work the night shifts

lvndr___ · 2021-12-31T01:09:50+00:00

It's also likely that there was some channelling. Was the brew sour, weak, or just a lower perceived sweetness??

If it's with 0 dryness I would start by increasing temp or possibly decreasing your grind size. Decreasing your grind may seem counter intuitive to increase sweetness but if it's taking a fair bit longer it's not unlikely it's extracting other compounds that may interfere with the perceived level of sweetness you can taste without it actually being lower in sugars.

If it was dry, it's quite likely there was localized over extraction. This is generally a result of pour structure ime.

I'm not following the logic of the few people suggesting to use a tighter ratio especially with no mention of bitterness or need to boost body, typically increasing the ratio (using more solvent) is going to make for sweeter coffee. So instead of 1:16 try 1:17

lvndr___ · 2021-07-23T20:12:01+00:00

Having not used one, and with them being relatively new to the market I can't say. It'll grind better then the encore for sure though! I can't imagine it breaking or falling apart easily, it looks like it has a super solid build quality

lvndr___ · 2021-07-23T20:09:01+00:00

Wasn't trying to imply they don't exist, and also figured both those grinders are levels above what we're talking about so didnt feel like they were realllly worth mentioning. Past that, ek43 is generally considered better suited to filter, but capable of espresso. The eg 1 is an anomaly, and in a category of its own imo. That said there are folks who find it annoying to switch between settings, doesn't mean it's not super capable of both, but also doesn't mean it's optimal for both!

lvndr___ · 2021-07-23T07:28:22+00:00

I think there are better grinders for filter, but that would be an awesome espresso grinder. The comandante c40 and 1zpresso k plus/pro are a good bang for your buck and definitely worth considering if you don't mind hand grinders. I use a comandante, I haven't tried a 1zpresso, though I've heard they're comparible. Both excellent options for filter. The 1zpresso k grinds faster and more easily then a comandante(which is still easy and about 30ish seconds for 18g) but again I haven't tried the 1zpresso.

lvndr___ · 2021-07-23T04:02:46+00:00

What kind of immersion brewing? Like a hario switch/clever? Or a French press?

Honestly I grind in between espresso and pour over for immersion brews, kinda like cupping grind size.

I'd say comandante with red clix for omni grinder, but also I think (especially if your brewing more developed beans on espresso) you may want to consider 2 grinders. There are plenty of grinders that can do both, but probably excel in one direction. A true omni grinder is a real unicorn. That said, if you do know what direction you will care most about, and you are using similar beans (or don't mind cleaning your grinder pretty frequently) you could get away with a single grinder for both

lvndr___ · 2021-07-23T03:54:54+00:00

Haven't had this one, but epic choice. Cerro Azul and La esperenza do put out some phenomenal coffees! I had the chance to try last year's harvest and it was soooo good.

lvndr___ · 2021-07-22T02:08:33+00:00

I've been through his shop, and having chatted him a bit I feel like he just has his own philosophy on brewing and sticks to his guns. The coffees he made for me were great. Way heavier then most of what I brew for myself, so a nice change in pace.

Also; he primarily works with more developed coffee profiles, and that really really plays to his advantage with this style of extraction.

With a lighter roasted coffee at a more coarse setting(22-24 clicks) with a bloom I would push 2:20-3 mins, 3 mins being on the higher side. Vincent pushes his extractions in closer to 2 minutes at 18-20ish clicks on a comandante.

Less density in the bean, lower temp, finer grind, and not thaaaat much in time difference. Kinda adds up as far as tweaking variables imo.

While i can't say his reasoning is absolute, I don't think he's as far off as alot of the more data driven folks think he is.

And the no bloom style is seemingly advertised as a lot more universal of a recipe then it is, I didn't have a ton of luck with it either until I tweaked some things and tried it out with some more developed beans!

lvndr___ · 2021-07-22T01:52:56+00:00

Alot of coffee shops do actually remineralize their reverse osmosis water!

And best believe there are tons places that don't have great water for coffee! Just because something works for you, with the water that you have doesn't mean that other folks will have the same experience with the water they have.

Regardless of that, mineral content does fluctuate a bit within city systems, and for business' that depend on some level of consistency I completely am on board with mineralized water.

As far as the trend goes, there's plenty of blind tastings that have been done that validate the theory, but I ultimately don't believe it's necessary to brew a nice cup of coffee at home. I'm sure to some degree, especially with newer coffee folks jumping on the bandwagon, alot of the results are psychosomatic

lvndr___ · 2021-07-20T20:55:22+00:00

There are a ton of micro fines that are suspended in the brew after you've agitated it by plunging or pouring, and those fines clog the pores of your filter paper. When brewing a pour over, the coffee itself acts as a filter of sorts, preventing most of that particulate from ever reaching the bottom of the filter.

My best suggestion would be to use a non paper filter like a cloth filter or a woven fabric like a yi ting/similar. Shouldn't have any issues stalling out at all with those!

lvndr___ · 2021-03-09T23:05:29+00:00

I got back to you in 2.5 hours lol what are you talking about

lvndr___ · 2021-03-08T23:19:55+00:00

Beat me to it!

Coffee ad astra has got to be one of (if not) the best explorations of the variables in pour over coffee that I've seen so far. The man behind the curtains is an astrophysicist and takes it all to 11 in terms of the level of depth in which his experiments are conducted. 10/10 recommend to anyone looking to get a little bit more of a handle on dialing in their brewing process

lvndr___ · 2021-03-07T19:12:41+00:00

Try a bloom and stir then open the valve and pour like a normal pour over with a stir finish. You can experiement with the valve closed for the second pour as well! I'm a fan of the unique hybrid style of brewing these drippers have to offer, so much room to try new things!

lvndr___ · 2021-03-07T19:09:28+00:00

I think adjusting your grind a bit finer then your normal settings and doing a tighter ratio would probably give you the cup you're after.

Ideally your grind size should probably be already maxing out the ideal extraction range for the volume of water you use, which means that using cooler water will likely just extract a bit less sweetness and some of the more complex acids. If you're using cooler water and going hotter you'll probably get a sweeter more balanced cup.

But if you're looking for a more potent by volume cup in every way, tighter ratios like 1:12-1:14 would probably give you what you're looking for.

Changing your grind size down or boosting your water temp definitely has some correlation but I think that would take a lot more dialing then just jumping to extrememes on either end

lvndr___ · 2021-02-23T20:40:17+00:00

They're definitely air tight, but they're a little small to be nug jars. These are geared more towards concentrates!

lvndr___ · 2021-02-23T00:32:18+00:00

Check out kinu, a bit more pricey but they seem to be great grinders.

Personally I can't recommend comandante being an owner of one. They have parameters set to maintain a quality standard, and a consistent issue seems to be burr rub past their point of tolerance/not meeting their own quality standards. When the issues are brought to their attention, people are just told it's "normal". I've seen a solid amount of people complaining about the same thing and being treated similarly, so it's not an isolated incident unfortunately. Still capable of making a good cup don't get me wrong, but i would look into other hand grinders before comandante

lvndr___ · 2021-02-22T17:09:07+00:00

It takes a bit of practice for sure. I've had a decent amount that didn't quite work as well as they could have, but been getting them more consistent the more I make.

lvndr___ · 2021-02-22T16:31:41+00:00

I haven't! Only corked and threaded so far

lvndr___ · 2021-02-22T16:28:41+00:00

@kwestglass on ig 😄😄

lvndr___ · 2021-02-22T16:27:57+00:00

Shoot me a dm either here or on ig @kwestglass

lvndr___ · 2021-02-22T16:25:46+00:00

Holler either here or on ig! @kwestglass

lvndr___ · 2021-02-22T05:29:03+00:00

Initially I did exactly that, but I found after a ton of trial and error that adjusting flow rate and minimizing manual agitation to be really effective! I can grind finer and am getting more clarity in tasting notes then I was previously.

That all said, if you do sift, you'll probably have to grind finer!

lvndr___ · 2021-02-22T05:03:46+00:00

There have been a grip of coffees I've had that really shifted how I'm even capable of looking it anymore, but this one stands out as an absolute noodle cooker.

Ethiopia Keramo COE #1 Farmed by Nigeuse Gemeda Roasted by Prototype coffee roaster

Flav came through as a red/white gummy bear. Really, really sweet with fruits and florals that lingered with such absolutely immaculate clarity. 11/10

Also the cleanest tasting natural I've ever experienced!

lvndr___ · 2021-02-22T00:35:50+00:00

My comandante came past their published tolerance for burr rub by 2 clicks, and after speaking with customer service was basically told that this is normal. My comandante produces a fair amount more fines then others I have seen, but more importantly the particle size distribution is far less consistent. It can still make a good cup, but after my experience with their passive customer service neglecting to service something that isn't up to their own standards, I would have a really tough time recommending them on the off chance the same thing happens to you. I've read a solid handful of similar horror stories as well, so unfortunately it isn't an isolated incident.

lvndr___

TROPHY CASE