CoffeeGeek
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Last night we published our latest How To on CoffeeGeek, and it is the true OG of summer iced coffee drinks: How to Make a Vietnamese Iced Coffee!
Please visit the front page of CoffeeGeek/.com today to see the guide.
Originally published on CoffeeGeek in 2007 in the forums, then 2013 in formal How To format, this 2026 version is entirely overhauled, with a ton of research, drink variances, and alternatives to try out, including using sweetened condensed coconut milk!
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Let's talk about the brewer graveyard. You know, that cupboard where expensive, well-intentioned coffee gear goes to be forgotten. For some of us, the Espro Bloom is sitting right there in the back.
It was a brewer with a real identity crisis. The paper filters were expensive and hard to find, and brewing without them was a masterclass in frustration. You’d either get a fast, sour cup or a choked, bitter stall. Many of us just gave up. After spending way too much time with this thing for CoffeeGeek, we realized the problem wasn't the brewer, it was us.
The big secret is to stop treating it like a pour-over. It's a unique no-bypass brewer that demands a smaller dose and a coarser grind. Once you work with its fussy design instead of against it, the results are stunningly clean and consistent. It’s so sensitive, in fact, that we now use it as a benchmark for testing new grinders.
We’re putting the finishing touches on a definitive guide that covers the whole story: the history, the step-by-step recipe (with grinder settings), and the deep-dive theory. If you have one of these brewers, get ready to rescue it. The coffee it can make is absolutely worth it.
#Coffee #SpecialtyCoffee #CoffeeBrewing #HowTo #EsproBloom #NoBypass #BrewingGuide
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Another vid of the new Encore ESP Pro grinder from Baratza, showing how it works on the espresso side of things.
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We're one of the first people outside of Baratza themselves to have our hands on the brand spankin' new Encore ESP Pro grinder. Today was setup day, unboxing, studio shots, in situ photographs, and I shot a few short videos showing how the grinder's auto off system worked.
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If there's one thing I've come to LOVE about super automatics (at least the ones I'm testing currently) is the afternoon macchiato experience.
- ZERO milk waste
- press a button, walk away, come back to a macchiato
- milk foam texture is on point
- machines auto clean after (milk system).Sure, the quality isn't the same as pulling a shot on a Lelit Bianca and steaming milk, but there's no milk waste at all, and honestly, it tastes fine with good quality beans used.
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For a feature in the new year on CoffeeGeek, we'll do a guide on how to convert your home's breakfast nook / off-kitchen dinette area into a home cafe.
I'm looking for people who have actually done this: have you converted a part of your home into a mini home cafe, complete with espresso bar, comfy chairs, reading tables, lighting, side bookshelves, etc? If so, let me know and share pictures!
I actually did this in 2009 in a home we rented for only a year. There was an informal dinette area off the kitchen, and I converted it into a full blown home cafe. Here's a photo from the early setup (it evolved from this). Also I've included a Gemini rendered AI image of a possible simple home cafe setup.
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Did a lot of photography work today; all about grinders.
For instance, the plethora (a word from "3 Amigos!!!" heh) of top quality flat burr grinders $600 or less are now available to coffee consumers; 5 years ago, that number was basically one or two. This is a big change for consumers. Here's 5 of them, with one at $230, most expensive at $650.
Got a feature on this planned for January.
cc @coffee
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There's been a delay in getting our Cuptimo Snapshot Review out, because I'm trying to coax a great cup out of one of the devices I chose to compare it to: the Ceado Hoop.
I love, and hate the Hoop. I just can't seem to consistently brew a great cup with it, BUT I've had some great cups of coffee from it, brewed by others.
Anyone out there have better luck with the Hoop?
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I finally got a chance to see and work with the La Marzocco Pico grinder, up close (this was NOT through any connection with La Marzocco).
IMO, it's basically a copy of the Etzinger Light / Baratza Sette 270 design. Especially when you look at the burr group and mount. The timer one is like $1500+ in Canada (price I think is slightly negotiable if you buy a LM home machine). A GBW version is supposedly in the works, for 2x the price.
It reminds me a bit of what Leica does when they rebrand a Panasonic camera with the red dot and sell it for 2x, 3x the price. That said, LM claims they developed this grinder 100% in house, with no involvement (or copying) Etzinger. I have some doubts on the latter. The burr groups and design of such are crazy similar.
My thoughts: buy the Sette 270Wi or Etzinger instead. You can buy four Sette 270Wi grinders for the price of one La Marzocco Pico with grind by weight features.
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Have you ever pondered on how a siphon coffee maker works? Or just "wondered" at it's theatre?
We have a full and complete how to on this unique and scientific brewing process.
#siphoncoffee #vacpot #vacuumbrewer #coffee
https://coffeegeek.com/guides/howtos/siphon-coffee-maker-how-to/
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We haven't reviewed or even looked at super automatic espresso machines on CoffeeGeek since 2006. The last time I tested one was in 2009. It was horrible.
Super Automatics, or "Bean to Cup" machines have come a long, long way since then. So we decided to give industry leader Jura a look, and check out their flagship machine, the Z10. Here's our first impressions.
cc @espresso
#espresso #beantocup #jura #juraz10
https://coffeegeek.com/blog/new-products/the-jura-z10-eighth-generation-of-bean-to-cup-machines/
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Legend. And IMO, the greatest mechanical 35mm camera ever made. Developed at the sunset of the film 35mm SLR. Tested in Antartica.
IMO, the Leica M6 doesn't even deserve to be in the same room as this camera (though Leica's optics do).
The Nikon FM3a. Legend.
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Late night thought:
Coffee people who trash siphon coffee don't know how to brew with a siphon coffee maker.
Siphon coffee is very much an art, but it is also every bit as consistent as pour over is, if you nail down your "recipe" and follow it religiously. To do so, you have to be just as practiced and attentive as any demanding brewing method.
Those who trash it just don't get it. And probably aren't worth listening to on the subject. 😎
cc @coffee
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Time for a poll.
You're only allowed to use two brewing methods for the rest of your life. One is espresso. What would your other choice be?
cc @coffee
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Six months, a year from now, there's going to be a lot of very happy Lelit Bianca owners who will be bragging about the crazy deal they got on their machines. $2,400 is a TON of money for many. But considering that is a full $1,000 cheaper than the Bianca was a year ago... This sale's on till May 13.
#lelit #lelitbianca #espresso @espresso
https://coffeegeek.com/blog/lelit-espresso-machines-at-their-lowest-prices-ever/
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As for the Lelit Bianca being the Best Espresso Machine available today, I give my reasons.
#espresso #lelit #lelitbianca cc @espresso
https://coffeegeek.com/opinions/state-of-coffee/the-best-espresso-machine/
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All Lelit machines are on sale right now at 20% off (authorized by Lelit USA), which means "The Best Espresso Machine of All Time" (see my next post), the Lelit Bianca is at $2,399 at all authorized vendors.
This is an insane deal. Essentially, the machine is $1,000 cheaper than it was just 1.5yr ago, when it was $3,400 because of the previous importer.
It's an investment, but quite literally, the best. I recommend buying it from 1st in Coffee.
#espresso #lelit #lelitbianca cc @espresso
https://www.1stincoffee.com/lelit-bianca.htm -
I don't think I posted this here.
Back in 2011, the most prolific antique espresso machine collector in the world, Enrico Maltoni, took me on a tour of an amazing Espresso Machine museum at Cagliari Coffee Roasters, in Modena (suburb of Bologna), Italy.
Here's my photos from that visit.
#vintage #vintageespresso #antiques #espressomachines #espresso cc @espresso
https://www.flickr.com/photos/coffeegeek/albums/72157626389425601/
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Massive 2 day photo session finally wrapped up in my home, with shoots for 3 machines, four how tos. Today I was doing some "filler" photos we missed yesterday and this morning.
And for some reason, my latte art game was on today (it's more off than on most days). Also, I feel the need to brag: that cappuccino has a solid inch of foam (it's harder to pour latte art with a lot of foam mixture).
Two shots from the Lelit Bianca series (raw, from camera).
#espresso #coffee #coffeegeek #lelit #lelitbianca
cc @espresso
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Stunning.
And even more of a surprise: this was literally the second ever shot pull I did on the #Lelit #Bianca when I received the machine for reviewing on CoffeeGeek, back in November. Since then, I've been testing the Bianca very heavily. Our First Look is going up soon on CG.
#lelitbianca #espresso #shotpull
cc @espresso
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One To Fourteen.
One of the more important articles I've written on CoffeeGeek in some time. It's all about getting the best possible cup of pour over, siphon, press pot and AeroPress coffee, but without the need for an expensive (or even inexpensive) scale.
Read, and share, if you like!
#coffee #pourover #coffeeratios #siphoncoffee
cc @coffee
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One of the most important articles I've written on CoffeeGeek in some time.
The One to Fourteen. It's all about coffee ratios and how to get the best cup of non-espresso brewed coffee... even if you don't own a scale. Read, share, comment, enjoy!
#coffee #pourover #siphoncoffee #chemex #presspot
cc @coffee
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OK...
BIG trip down memory lane. I remembered writing an article about Bodum 2 decades ago, around the time the eSantos came out. Thanks to Archive dot org, I found it.
Why I Love Bodum, by Mark Prince, 2002.
Enjoy! ( ̶s̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶I̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶u̶r̶r̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶t̶i̶c̶l̶e̶,̶ ̶r̶e̶p̶u̶b̶l̶i̶s̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶t̶,̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶i̶t̶s̶ ̶o̶r̶i̶g̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶d̶a̶t̶e̶,̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶c̶u̶r̶r̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶C̶o̶f̶f̶e̶e̶G̶e̶e̶k̶?̶) edit - turns out I did already in 2021... live CG article at bottom, but here's the original on Archive if you are inclined
https://web.archive.org/web/20040617181520/http://www.coffeegeek.com/opinions/markprince/03-04-2002
#bodum #siphoncoffee #coffeehistory
https://coffeegeek.com/opinions/state-of-coffee/why-i-like-bodum/
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The Bodum eSantos is a very interesting beast. They sold the electric Santos in various forms (including Apple iMac colours!) for about 7 years. But for just 2 of those years, they also did a mini model, and only in two colours (clear, smoke grey). I have both.
Bodum used an angled interior base to determine automatically when to shut the water heater off. Two temperature probes under the hot pad, one higher up, one lower down. As water boiled off, and the water level lowered, the upper probe would register over 105C, and shut the heater off, completing the brew.
Lots of plastic too, but BPA free, apparently.
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I am inspired though this evening, to start working on a blog series for CoffeeGeek:
Siphon Coffee Makers That Never Were, or Barely Were.
I think, in my collection, I have at least 10 siphon prototypes that never made it to market, and at least that many again that did make it to market from BIG brand names, but for a very short time.
Like the Black and Decker Infuze. Or the KitchenAid Electric Siphon. Or the Bodum eSantos Mini.
I have all of these, and more, new, in box, never used.
Could be a good series...
Here's what the Black and Decker Infuze looked like. Pretty advanced for 20 years ago, but also hella lotta questionable plastics.
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Early last year, I also bought a KitchenAid Electric Siphon Coffee Maker to review and test on the website. KitchenAid doesn't work with content publishers at all, but I thought it would be an interesting subject, so we bought one.
3 months into the review, and close to publication, PHOQUING Kitchenaid discontinued it.
Bastards.
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I probably could open a siphon coffee brewer museum at this point. ;)
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Canada's current secret weapon in great music... The Beaches! Here's their recent full set at Toronto's Massey Hall. Become a fan before it's cool to be a fan of theirs (which will happen).
The last two songs in the set are especially killer.
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Hello #Fediverse
I need some design inspiration. We have massive (10k+ word) Guides on aspects of coffee and espresso we want to publish this year. They, by nature, have to be multiple-page guides. Major sections get their own page, with a landing / hero page for people to start with.
Have you seen any particularly brilliant web page designs that handle multi-page guides or articles with aplomb? I'm looking for specific examples, with good menu systems, good ways to go back and forth within the guide, etc.
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Pulling an all nighter to get CG2024 ready to launch.
It includes manually importing and re-designing all our Full Reviews. Like this one for the #Acaia Pearl 2021 scale.
Nearly 100 hours put into that review, another 2hrs just now to update, and it's another review we make ZERO affiliate dollars from. Acaia certainly doesn't pay us if our review makes people buy their product.
In fact, there's a bit of a side story there on how Acaia kind of screwed us over. But I worked overtime (and had a third party involved in editing) to make sure that did not affect the objectivity of the review.
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Oops, I forgot to post this earlier today.
New content on CoffeeGeek! A look at the best no-bypass brewing device currently on the market: the NextLevel Pulsar.
cc @coffee #coffee #nobypasscoffee
https://www.coffeegeek.com/new-products/nextlevel-pulsar-best-no-bypass-brewer-so-far/
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There's still time! Looking for the perfect #coffee or #espresso gift for the coffee lover in your life? We have fully curated and tested suggestions for gifts from $10 to $600. Find them all in our compendium of CoffeeGeek's Holiday Gift Lists for 2023.
https://www.coffeegeek.com/opinions/ideal-gifts-for-coffee-lovers-at-every-budget/
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One more thought on #conical burr grinders. Many of these same influencers pray at the alter of the Comandante C40 grinder as the best manual grinder on the market (I don't agree, though it is really good). For all brew methods.
But it's a conical burr... how can that be? :)
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/cont.
The flat burr geometry works really well for every brew method from espresso through to press pot, but the reason why #conical burrs are better for espresso is that they leave more shaved surface area in the grinds than flat burrs do, which tend to "pebble-ize" ground coffee at that fine level, leaving it more rounded and less overall surface to extract from. I've seen both under very powerful microscopes.
Upside to flat is, it is consistently more uniform across grinding ranges
/4
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...cont.
Where #conical burr grinders start to fade is in coarser grinds for #coffee brewing, like Chemex and press pot. Their geometry and cutting action just results in more fines at coarser grinds.
But when it comes to brew grinding for pour over, V60, Melitta, AeroPress, Siphon coffee, etc, conical burrs can be absolutely identical in taste profiles to flat burrs for 90% of coffee drinkers, and within 90-95% for supertasters / Q-grader certified tasters.
I wish this myth would stop.
/2
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I'm seeing trends on Youtuber influencers who seem to be parroting something maybe James Hoffmann said at one point...
(nb, I don't know if Hoff said it, but someone started this myth):
They're all claiming that #conical burr grinders don't produce an ideal brew #coffee grind, but are great for espresso.
That's just not true.
One of the top three BREW grinders I've used in 2023 is the Lagom Mini, a conical burr grinder.
Sure, the other two were #flatburrs (Wilfa Uniform, Vario-W+).
/1
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I have to say, the brew mode on the #Fellow #TallyPro scale is genius and a tool to help beginners (if they want to spend nearly $200 on a scale) really brew better pour over coffee. Set the brew ratio you want, the scale prompts you on how much water to use after the ground coffee is measured. Scale response time is instantaneous too, much faster than #Acaia Lunar, for example.
(yes, I'm in my pyjama bottoms when photographing this lol).
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From last night, the first batch of Fellow products sent to us by Whole Latte Love arrived; got the #photography studio treatment. The one I'm particularly interested in is the #TallyPro scale, which, a bit weird to say, is actually MORE EXPENSIVE than the #Acaia Pearl 2021 model. But others have claimed it is a better scale; we'll see.
Given the brains inside + cost of the device, it would have been nice to have digitized vocal readouts of weights, so the #blind could use it. Asking too much?
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It's a common misconception that #Gaggia's original spring lever #espresso machine design - the one that introduced modern day high pressure espresso brews with proper crema in 1947 - was a 9BAR machine.
It was not. It was a peak 7BAR machine (but more rated for 6.5BAR)
Experimentation between 1947 and 1955 by Gaggia, #Pavoni, #Faema, #Cimbali, and others pushed the springs to higher compression rates, bringing espresso up to around 9BAR.
The E61, with its rotary pump, was 9BAR ex.factory.
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This is pretty amazing.
My wife is taking a short vacay in #Vancouver. On the same day that we met, (but 19 years later), she visited the cafe where we first met in person and hung out chatting for 4 hours (at #JJBean on Commercial Drive). Sat at the same table even. The cafe looks identical to how it looked 19 years ago.
I asked her a month after we started dating, why she initially liked me.
"you smelled like really good coffee!" she said.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CyTzyTrvflg0p2IJGlmjqYnMSk7szFSyyp63zE0/
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I'm not the only one walking away from Twitter. My good buddy, and #cocktailian Jacob Grier, in Portland, is taking similar steps (though he doesn't have a(n active) #Federverse account).
EDIT: as @Cyberpreppy points out, @jacobgrier is on Mastodon, but not active.
Suggestion: Visit Jacob on these other platforms and suggest he fire up his Mastodon account! He's got a lot to say, and most (not all lol) of it is great!
https://www.jacobgrier.com/blog/2023/10/09/where-to-find-me-after-twitter/
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Fresh up on CoffeeGeek this AM:
The Turin DF64 Gen 2 Single Dose Grinder seems to answer all the quibbles and issues people had with the original DF64. Is it finally the real deal "Niche Killer"?
#espresso #coffee #coffeegrinder #df64 #d464gen2 #coffeegeek
https://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/turin-d64-gen-2-grinder-first-look/
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Fresh from my studio today - the new OXO 12 Cup Brewer with single serve system. It's a heavyweight.
This is OXO's answer to Breville's Precision Brewer. And while they are similar prices, the OXO doesn't have as many features as the Breville. Still, the final proof is in the cup; we're testing this soon!
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We have a Turin DF64 Gen 2 in for review on CoffeeGeek.
Some insider stuff: I never reviewed the original DF64 or its variants because it always seemed a work in progress, one that required lots of hacks, mods, home upgrades.
The DF64 Gen 2 actually seems ready for prime time. Can't wait to put this plasma-equipped 64mm flat burr grinder through the paces!
#coffeegrinder #grinder #espressogrinder #turindf64gen2 #DF64 #coffee #espresso
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Posted earlier today:
An introduction to two new no-bypass coffee brewers that take different approaches to this hot and trendy brewing method., both from NextLevel Brewing Company.#nobypasscoffee #nobypass #pourover
https://www.coffeegeek.com/new-products/theres-no-bypassing-the-nextlevel-brewers/
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After a particularly nasty bought with the 'rona covid, I can finally taste coffee again -- sort of -- so I could get back to testing the nearly 2 dozen pieces of equipment I have here. Including the #nobypasscoffee brewers from NextLevel Brewing. I also put them up against the AeroPress XL as a nobypass brewer. Some interesting results. #coffee
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Spending the weekend getting familiar with these brewing devices from Next Level, who make no-bypass coffee brewers. Trying to avoid any previous review / info on them, using them from scratch, reading the manufacturers' instructions only and watching their demo videos.
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Indeed, regarding "Coke with Coffee", does anyone remember Coca Cola BLAK from 2005? Who the hell came up with that name, huh? #cannedcoffee #cocacola
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Oh my.
Every year, Dancing Goats (Batdorf and Bronson Roasters) Holiday Blend is one of the coffee blends I look forward to ALL YEAR LONG, and this year's arrived. Check out those desirable tasting notes. nutmeg! Yes, please.