In this thread you can share what new coffee, equipment, techniques etc. you have tried this week.

What have you enjoyed and what didn't you like? Have you learned anything new?

This is the thread for things you would like to see in the community. This can be suggestions from community picture to weekly/monthly threads.

There will be a Meta thread on the 1st of every month and it will stay until the next month.

What would you like to see?

From my brother in law's holiday, he got this and I tried it. Dang, this is really good coffee. The honey and pineapple come in strong, and sweet and it has some kick to it. I underestimated it, but things got real very quickly. Would most definitely recommend this and I will happily take a second cup and stay up all night buzzing.

My brother in law went on holiday to Kenya and brought me back some coffee.

Now, this is a nice house coffee. I've drank it before, so not my first rodeo. I do like the taste, it actually sticks to the tasting notes for a change. More so the blackcurrant, but you do need to go a bit deep with the spoon to get it out there. Feels a bit weak to be honest, which comes as no surprise.

I will enjoy drinking this.

And another one of my wife’s mugs and another cat spoon, this time hanging out on the edge of the mug. I definitely feel like I’m getting better at this, at least as far as mouth feel is concerned, but I’m still not ready to try latte art yet. This is a very tasty milk drink though. Part of me misses straight espresso, but now every time I pull a shot it’s an excuse to practice steaming so every shot turns into a milk drink now. I’m having fun with it, that’s all that matters I think.

This one may be a little more basic or boring than the last few but it’s very practical. The handle is the perfect shape and size for my hand, it’s definitely the most comfortable to hold out of the collection. It’s still local pottery though, like always.

Proof it wasn’t empty and I actually made coffee in it this morning:

I have an espresso machine, some shitty AI generated brand my mom bought me from Amazon (chefman it's called, and it's not actually all that shitty I don't think). Anyways every time I go to make a mocha or some other kind of flavored latte, I have no idea what I'm doing. I usually do two shots of espresso, then fill my mug about halfway or less with milk and flavor (choccy chips or one of the syrups I have), steam it for uhh like 60 to 90 seconds, then add the espresso in.

I find my lattes... or cappuccinos? I'm not even sure of what the end product is when I make stuff. Anyways I find them ok, but not as good as products from actual cafes. For example, starbucks mochas are better than my homemade ones, and the mochas at this random ass cafe in the local hospital are also, in my opinion, better than mine, though it's been a while since I had either. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, mostly because I don't know what I'm even doing. How much milk should I be using? How much flavorings, how much sweeteners, if any, do I pour the espresso shots into the cup after I steam the milk or do I pour the steamed milk over the espresso? How long do I steam it for? Is my machine actually shitty like I earlier described or am I being rude to my mother?

In short, how the hell do I get professional, cafe level mochas at home with my machine?

Edit: TIL I know nothing about espresso making...

Edit2: Ok here's my exact process.

1. I get the bag/can-thing of preground espresso-designated coffee grounds I have in a cabinet.
2. I scoop some out, and fill the designated 2-shot portafilter my machine came with to the very tip of the fill line (usually leaves the portafilter nearly entirely full). Then I tamp, and then put the grounds away. The exact amount is unknown to me, and I don't measure particularly well.
3. I put the portafilter in the machine, then press the 2 shot button to serve the shots into a ramekin or some small dish large enough to temporarily hold the espresso. The machine has time settings for 2 shot servings, it pours liquid for some adjustable period of time but I left it on default. I don't recall what it is but I believe it's around 20 seconds?
4. After the espresso is poured, I pour some milk into my designated espresso mug that I will drink out of once everything is done. I do not measure the milk; I just pour until I feel like I have enough milk. I also usually add some flavorings; syrups or chocolate chips, usually.
5. I turn the machine's frothing mode on, wait for it to preheat (there's a preheating indicator), twist the knob that allegedly controls the steaming wand to max, and froth the milk for about 60 to 90 seconds, or until I can visibly see a layer of foam. The dial for the steamer is continuous, it's not a binary on-off or discrete off-min-mid-max thing, but I don't actually know what it controls besides on and off.
6. Once the milk is frothed, I pour the espresso into the mug, stir, and drink.

Apparently I ought to be measuring the grounds before putting them into the portafilter, and measuring the espresso as it pours, though I have no control over how much is poured beyond the time the machine runs for. I don't know, I'm a scrub at this and all my espresso gear was gifted to me over the years, including the grounds. I apologize for being a heathen, please educate me on this art. I have no other resources besides the internet (which is 90% AI) and Youtube I guess.

Tried a technique given to me by @[email protected]. It turned out way better, so thank you! Still haven’t tried latte art yet but the texture is very nice. Excellent mouth feel.

Also an excuse to show off another mug, this time one of my wife’s, as well as my cat stir spoon. I love these spoons, I’ve got maybe 6 different colours. They’re great.

After a thread a week or so ago I decided to add some decaf coffees.

This is Black and White’s Hambela Natural, an ethyl acetate decaf grown and processed in Ethopia and then decaffeinated in Germany.

This is a very young coffee, roasted last week, but I am impatient. I used a pretty typical V60 recipe. The drawdown was a little long even accounting for a long bloom, over 4 minutes, so I’ll need to grind a bit coarser going forward. Extraction is pretty close, so to compensate for the quicker brew I’ll go up a hair on temp from 92 to probably 94.

The coffee itself has bite from its youth, but interesting flavor notes are showing. Cocoa, cranberry, tart cherry. Not a lot of natural sweetness, but I think that has more to do with the age and me needing to refine my brew. I’m not sure it’s remarkable enough that I’d favor it going forward over their standard decaf, but we’ll see. Black and White, in its usual style, does have a funkier decaf among its rotating options that I haven’t tried.

I usually stick to cows milk but thought I’d branch out a bit. I got the barista version that’s supposed to froth nicely, and it does, but I really suck at steaming milk so it didn’t turn out fantastic. It still tastes really good though, and now I’m determined to learn to froth properly.

^This^ ^is^ ^mostly^ ^an^ ^excuse^ ^to^ ^show^ ^off^ ^another^ ^pottery^ ^mug.^

My wife made it this evening as I prefer her milk texture. She hasn’t learned latte art yet (nor have I) so it’s just a blob on top but I don’t mind. It’s delicious.

I’m extremely happy with my Profitec Pro 600, but after getting kids I just value sleep more than the perfect cup in the morning. After work it’s usually kindergarten pick-up, dinner, playtime and then too late for a cuppa.
Also, when having guests over, the constant noise of grinding 5-6 cups interrupts the conversation and takes time.

I’m seriously considering selling my dream machine and getting a capsule and/or the Fellow Aiden so I can at least make really good coffee, but with one grind and a batch for everybody at once.

What have been your experiences on this?
Am I being an idiot and should keep it stored for when I have more time in the future?
Do I just not love the process enough for such a quality machine?

Appreciate honest feedback!

Clickbait title, but it basically says caffeine protects against dementia by kicking amyloid protein out of the brain. So yay! Coffee is good for you again!

And I gotta say - I don't hate it.

Calling most of you from the last post out as drama queens 😄

This week I have a pretty classic Colombian from the local joint.

Nice change from last week when I had some wild, anaerobic stuff that was incredibly fruity 😅

From left to right: Coffee mug from Highlands Coffee shop in Hanoi; air tight canister holding the original ziplocked coffee bag, RDT spray bottle in a spare mini cup, Fellow Opus grinder (the paper under the catch cup is being used to raise the cup so it fits tightly to the exit of the grinder); Clever Dripper currently holding 430g water and 27g of beans sitting on top of the scale, and a super cheap stainless steel electric kettle.

I have a kitchen thermometer (not shown) that is used to measure the water temp in the kettle after it has been allowed to cool slightly. I target 93C.

I use a water first method. Put the water in, pour the grounds on top of the water. Let it sit like that for 3 minutes. Then gently stir the floating grounds so that they drop (also scrape down any grounds that might be stuck above the water level). Let sit for another minute then put on the coffee mug to drain.

Done.

Arabica Typica beans grown in Vietnam and roasted in Hanoi. Light roast. Natural processed. Quite tasty. I am looking forward to enjoying these for the next couple of weeks.

Does anyone have experience with these two grinders? I’ve narrowed my search down to these two but I’m very undecided. I know the 64 is the better grinder but I don’t know if it’s worth the extra $200 CAD.