Going from keurig to breville bambino plus espresso machine courtesy Christmas present what truths do I need to embrace to be worthy? am I allowed to use oat milk?
Get a good *espresso* grinder read this: https://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/breville-bambino-plus/ Watch YouTube videos Prepare to be disappointed your first few pulls Dial in (if not using pressurized basket) ?????? Go down the rabbit hole Profit
Got a grinder too… breville smart grinder pro I think. Is that up to par? appreciate the “prepare to be disappointed” guidance as well, was already somewhat assuming that posture, but good to be grounded (no pun intended) that this will take some time to hone a skill
I think that’s a good start to be perfectly honest. Next step is to watch some James Hoffman videos on Espresso and build up some knowledge.
Yes. That is a good grinder. Seems like biggest “issue” is the pressurized basket. it should produce decent espresso out of the box, but you wouldn’t have much control over the output. You may look into getting a single wall basket (they are cheap). if you want better control over the output. Things like grind size, distribution, tamp pressure, and basket preparation all affect the output with a single wall basket.
It will serve you well for that machine. If you ever look to upgrade to the next level of manual machines, you’ll possibly need a new grinder. I have that grinder with the Infuser and am happy. Upgrading past this point is obsessive/hobby level stuff. I’m pretty sure I will upgrade at some point, but would be fine using this for quite a while. Patience is key. I ultimately first went down a click or two on the internal burr setting before settling on the initial grind settings that I now use. I’m away from the house the rest of the week but can check what that internal burr setting is on mine when I get home. The grind number I use on the dial wouldn’t mean much without that internal burr setting.
The Breville machines should come with single and double walled filter baskets for both single and double shots. I never used a double walled basket and jumped right into cursing and pouring coffee down the drain.
lol I couldn’t figure out why a double shot on the grinder put out a lot more than the double shot container held (and dumped a bunch of coffee on the kitchen floor, prob with said cursing) Edit: also yes it did come with single and double walled 1x and 2x shot containers
Sadly this never happened due to heavy rains washing out the mountain road needed to access their facility. We couldn’t reschedule to another day.
Haha. Yes, but I mean the final product if it’s sour or bitter because of the extraction being too short/long. A lot of variables you will work through go into that. I was already buying 3rd wave coffee for other methods when I went to espresso, so I have never filled the hopper or used the grind time setting. I weigh exactly what I’m using for a shot and grind everything. 15g in my case. Besides just being consistent, it lets you better store the beans, and specialty coffees are expensive. I pull the shots by weight too, and use the machine in “manual” mode. Not sure if the bambino has that or not. Home espresso is kind of like a chose your own path adventure in what tips, tricks, methods you want to incorporate. You will settle somewhere between finding something that works for you and chasing the best cup you can make.
https://www.modest.coffee/2022/12/how-we-got-grifted/ Tldr: local roaster gets swindled by bad business and bad guidance. Good news is half off coffee and free shipping
Brutal. Unfortunately way too much for me to get through, but this would make for some kickass office coffee
That sucks. About 10 years ago, we were riding through the mountains in Panama and stopped at this place. I was wandering around the grounds when the manager walks up and offers me an unofficial guided tour of the place. Very nice guy. He kept trying to get me to import beans. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...0-Finca_Lerida-Boquete_Chiriqui_Province.html
A bunch of Baratza coffee grinders are on sale at Seattle coffee gear https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/c...to Seattle Coffee Gear's Coffee Club!&irgwc=1
Ilse is a very solid roaster - Last year's Laayyoo Natural was great as well and the newest batch looks like it has interesting notes.
If I'm not mistaken. Scott was pretty involved with Regalia (much more so than his usual gigs). Don't expect any Natural coffees from Prodigal though..
I’ll wait until the roaster is featured on fellow drops but yeah that’s pricey. High end beans though.
I’m not paying that kind of money for beans unless somebody dug them out of some feral animal’s poop.
How do you snobs store your beans after opening? In the bags? Secondary container? Fancy air tight containers?
Personally use an airscape. I think I'm going to go to a 2 bag at a time sub, so I'll get another and keep one sealed bag in its own container. Most roasters nitro flush their bags, so they should stay fresh for a good month if the bag is unopened.
Speaking of, anyone have a sub they love? Currently on counter culture and was thinking about going back to black and white. I prefer light roasted african beans for pour over and like the roaster's choice diversity
I cancelled Counter Culture. I really enjoyed their SO sub but I was spending too much and had too much coffee coming in. That really opened my eyes to lighter roasts though. Right now I’m on Trade with every 4 weeks delivery, can go out to 6 weeks. You could manually fill your queue with roast/region preferences. Then I rotate through Fellow Drops, picking up/ordering local adhoc, and random other buys from traveling/browsing. Counter Culture is local so I can get their beans at a few places. Still usually have too many beans most of the time. If a bag starts losing it’s notes, I’ll put it in the cold brew pile.
Can you actually select roasters or specific bags with trade, or does it just drill down to roast level/region?
You answer a few questions about your methods and taste preferences, then that is used to set your queue initially. But it doesn’t ask about the region up front I don’t think. You can always search and filter on that though, and replace any bag in your queue. You can reset preferences at any time and it will reset your queue. If you decide to sign up I can send you a referral link with a free bag.
pour into my sette grinder and it’s gone within a few days. Otherwise I store unopened in the bags they send
Ive tried many. I’d say my personal fav is Bold Bean. I need to remove some subs. Just cancelled coffee collective. Trade they gave crazy deal to restart so I’ll run that to finish and cancel. Blue bottle I’m going to stop. Just too many beans currently
Some $25 airtight container from Amazon. Guess it works well? Idk. In other coffee news- my Bonavita kettle is leaking from the bottom when heating up. Nothing too crazy. Handful of droplets. But it’s annoying.
I'm in the market for a new grinder. I'm a pour-over, French Press, or Aeropress brewer. I'm looking at the 1zpresso X-Pro but for an extra $100 or so, I could just go with an Ode. Anybody have the X-Pro that can share some knowledge?
Do you make coffee every day? I’ve never used a manual grinder but I’d think for $100 extra that’s a no brainer.
I have the jx-pro. It has pros and cons with my lido 3 and auto grinders, but I generally like it. Happy to go into any level of detail that you want. I like manual over auto but know that isn't for everyone.
Yes, I make it every day. I travel a lot for work, so I see the 1zpresso being pretty portable where I don't have to drink hotel/ business center coffee. I don't think I would mind the manual grinder but I would like to know what others think.
I cannot comment on that specific grinder, but can on the utilization of a hand grinder vs electric: I've had the KNOCK Aergrind for 2+ years & maybe used it a dozen times, as a travel grinder. I wouldn't want it for everyday, home use though.
I'm the earliest riser in my house, so an auto is a nonstarter for me. I've been hand grinding for pour over every day for about 5 years. Takes about a minute to 90 seconds to do so with little effort. The jx pro is well built, small, has a fantastic grind setting function (the lido's is the worst). Downside is that the hopper is small (25-30 grams, I'd guess) and the chamber is narrow, so you have to pay attention when loading it. Depending on how much you travel, it may be worth getting a porlex mini for that. That guy can fit into the aeropress and it makes a real compact setup. That takes a lot more effort to grind and it's not as good as the nice handys, so I wouldn't get that for your primary. Eta: I had an auto before getting into hand grinding and I can honestly say I don't miss it one bit. I wouldn't want to do it for espresso though.
just adding to ned's head assessment: The KNOCK Aergrind also fits in the Aeropress & travels compact... Porlex is way more economical
I just bought the J-Max today (160$ after 20% off) for travel and afternoon pour overs / decaf shots - my primary being the Niche for now. A few other models of 1Zpresso grinders are 20% off at Amazon, including the Q2 which I think is their lowest end but fits in an aero process and still better than Porlex imo. A bunch of baratzas are also on sale at vibrant coffee IiRC. are you referring to the Ode 1 or 2? I saw a refurb on sale on the fellow site but I’d stick to Gen 2 as the first one had some burr alignment issues and mad static. baratza encore for 118$ https://www.vibrantcoffeeroasters.com/shop/p/baratza-encore
I only do manual grind and have had 1zpresso grinders for years. They are amazing. I can grind through 30 grams in about 40-45 seconds depending on the setting. They make amazing manual grinders and very easy to dissemble and clean. I don’t do espresso so manual grinding doesn’t really bother me at all. I have to heat the kettle up anyway so I just measure out and grind the beans while it’s heating up.