How do you use your Hario Switch?
Do you put your Switch on the decanter on the scale? Do you pour into the Switch and then move the Switch to the decanter? Do you measure into another container then pour that into your Switch?
After relocating to California into a house less than half the size of our mid-West house, I’ve correspondingly downsized my coffee set-up to just a Hario Switch. I’m struggling with the best process for managing the moving parts.
I decant into an insulated coffee mug. The Switch isn’t light, and with the mug, 440g of water, and 36g of coffee it’s well over a kg on a little scale designed for fine measurements. Plus it all feels a bit precarious balanced on the scale. Consequently, I pour into the Switch while on the scale and then move it to the mug for decanting. This too is precarious, as the glass of the Switch is too hot to handle without mitts, and lifting it by the rubber base is treacherous: I once didn’t lift the Switch high enough and bumped the mug and splashed hot water on my hand. Alternatively, I could measure the hot water into yet another handled glass decanter and then pour that over the grounds in the Switch on the mug.
So what are your tricks? Do you use an oven mitt to handle the water-filled Switch, or do you just balance by the base, or do you do something else?
Postscript: I discovered that if you pick a community and then switch the post type, Piefed resets the community to the first one in your subscription list. Which for me is ![email protected]. So that's where I posted this first. Sorry, !3dprinting!
14 replies
Perhaps a bigger scale would help you feel more stable? I used to brew into the mug with a 3d printed riser (the switch silicone dips pretty low into most mugs). I now use a Hario 03 decanter and it helps cool the coffee down too which is nice. I brew to completion into the decanter all on the scale and I'm using a glass 03 switch which is a real beast! I brew for two with this sometimes too. Ive been doing this for years with no issue. It may just be an acclimation thing.
How big was your previous coffeemachine that you had to change it after moving?
It took up a fair bit of space.
Even if I didn't have the grinder or tamping stuff there, we don't have countertop space to put the Elektra. It sticks up past the bottom edge of the cabinets in this house, too, so it'd have to be perched out on the edge of the counter.
I put it above my cup directly (I have a smaller one). I would pour some water in, enough to cover the grounds, then wait 30 seconds. Then I would put the switch half way (to reduce pull speed), empty it, refill until grounds, wait for it to empty, I would repeat this a few times (enough to use up half the water). Then I would close the switch, fill up the switch with the water left and let it sit for 4 minutes, then I would drain at half speed the rest.
I switched for a French press a week ago because mine has a rubber base and even though it was technically food safe, the thought of running hot water through rubber a few times a day didn't really sit well with me.
Hah! When we first moved here I was using a French Press, because I had it. It doesn't make my favorite coffee, though, so I went the other direction and got a Switch. That's funny.
I have my switch on top of a glass decanter, then decant to whatever I’ll be drinking out of. It helps to cool it down a bit closer to drinking temperature so I’m not waiting as long. And if I’m taking it to work, I basically need to do it that way. If I try making it directly into the travel mug it’ll be way too hot my whole commute to work.
I did try that once. The weight was better but it feels like a balancing act. I'm probably over-worrying about it.
Do you brew hotter and let it cool, then? Or is your brewing temp lower?
Depends on what I’m brewing. I’ve been enjoying cooler brews in general lately.
For Lavazza Oro, I brew at 85°C. For local roaster single origin light roast, I brew at 90-95 depending on my mood, but 91.5 is pretty standard for me right now. Anything else is usually 87-88, but those first two make up 99% of my coffee drinking.
I was doing proper cold-brew for coffee -- overnight in the fridge -- for a couple of years before our move. But the fridge here is tiny and part of that brew system got put into storage somehow. Otherwise I used the Elektra, which made espresso and over which I had no control of the temperature. So I've never really fussed with temperature. I boil it, or get it near boil, and let it rest a tiny bit so I don't end up with a steam-pressure-hose. Maybe someday I'll get an electric kettle with a thermometer.
Do you notice much difference in such small brew temperature differences as 6°?
I’d say once you go past 1°C increments it becomes noticeable. 6°C is a huge difference for my tastebuds. 1°C differences are small but still noticeable I’d say. My kettle goes as precise as 0.5°C increments but I don’t really notice a difference that small. It’s fun to be able to do though.
On my cup on my scale. I used to do "switch on scale then transfer to cup" but the number of times I've forgotten to close the switch before pouring is embarrassing...
I only did that once! Now I fiddle with the lever like a fidget spinner when I'm getting it set; I don't doubt I'll forget again one of these days.
You don't mind the weight? Do you have the smaller or the larger Switch?
Frankly, by now I suppose I could eyeball the water; I don't need to weigh it. I find it hard to estimate the coffee, so I feel like I need to weigh it, but 440mL of water fills up to about the same level every time. Whether I get 435 or 445 mL of water probably won't make much difference.
Maybe that's what I'll do: put the Switch on the cup like you do, but just eyeball the water.
I'm only doing a cup at a time - 250ml each. At first it felt very top-heavy which is why I did the switch separate from the cup - but I've gotten used to it and it doesn't seem unstable. I have a pretty small scale - a bit larger than a standard mug.
That makes sense. The smaller Switch is lighter, too, so the overall weight probably is closer to, what, 600g? I'd be less worried about stressing the scale at that amount.