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post #556 of 572
4/29/12 at 8:21pm

There's actually quite a few articles and opinions on the subject.

 

Here's one about a blind tasting:

 

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2010/10/taste-test-to-freeze-or-not-to-freeze-coffee-beans-v20.html

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post #557 of 572
4/30/12 at 4:50am
Quote:

These (all from dedicated coffee websites) show no statistical difference and offer great advice on how to properly freeze. 
http://coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/questions/575762#575762
 http://www.home-barista.com/store-coffee-in-freezer-results.html


Edited by Pseudoflowers - 4/30/12 at 5:19am
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post #558 of 572
4/30/12 at 5:14am
Honestly, you're allowed to have your own opinions on it. If you're able to notice the difference, then feel free not to. But I know that when I buy 5lb bags of Redbird (some of the best and most reasonably priced coffee, by the way) and portion it into smaller bags for freezing, unless I pull multiple 18g shots a day, the new bag tastes far better than the end of the last bag which is maybe a week old. All of you should try Redbird, though, regardless of if you freeze or not. This isn't the thread for that, but it needs to be said.
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post #559 of 572
5/4/12 at 10:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pseudoflowers View Post

Machine- Le'Lit PL041, non PIDed. I'm considering upgrading to a Bezzera Strega in the future.
Grinder- OE Pharos and Hario Skerton (I do like hand grinders in general, but I bought the Pharos because it easily beats most commercial grinders in terms of quality)
I have a press, vacpot, and lots of accessories as well.

 

and @ the person considering vacuum canisters- freezing your coffee is a perfectly acceptable way to preserve it. Just use mason jars or double bag the beans. Multiple tests have been done by HB/Coffeegeek members that show there's no discernible difference between fresh beans and frozen beans, as long as certain precautions are followed. 

I sometimes freeze freshly roasted coffee, so I have some on hand if I don't have time to roast. I use the following method:

 

1) Weigh the beans in individual snack-sized ziploc bags, in the amount you need for whatever you typically brew (pot, cup, whatever). I use 55 grams or so to make a 32 oz carafe of coffee, so i weigh out 55 gm. bags.

 

2) Place the sealed bags in a mason jar, and place the jar in the freezer. I've kept roasted beans up to three months this way. Just open the jar, remove a bag, reseal the jar and put it back in the freezer.

 

The problems with freezing are odors, and moisture. By keeping the beans in glass, you avoid odors. Individual serving-sized bags allow you to remove coffee without letting moisture condense on the remaining beans.

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post #560 of 572
9/16/12 at 11:01am

Hi all, I'm hoping the coffee gurus here can help with my search for a grinder, primarily for use with a cafetiere. For decent quality on a budget, I expect that a manual grinder is the way to go and that's okay.

My short list comprises: Porlex (mini and tall); Hario mini. From what I can gather, the Porlex is supposed to have better build quality. Despite generally good comments, it seems both makes are less than ideal for coarse grinds (consistency and some grinds too small). However, there don't seem to be any good alternatives in the same price bracket (that I can find available in the UK).

So am I better off not bothering with either or should I just use a finer grind? Are they good at medium?

One readily available alternative is Tiamo but I can't find much information and I don't imagine the build quality is as good.

The other option is to switch to an Aeropress and use a finer grind but would I be better off just spending the difference on a grinder? I have a slight prejudice against the Aeropress but that's not important here.

Finally, if I went with a Porlex, would the mini suffice for 2 large cups/mugs (not cup as in n-cup cafetiere) or would I really need to go for the tall? Obviously the mini could just be refilled.

Hopefully I've not tried to cram too much in to one post!

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post #561 of 572
9/16/12 at 1:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by anoobis View Post

Hi all, I'm hoping the coffee gurus here can help with my search for a grinder, primarily for use with a cafetiere. For decent quality on a budget, I expect that a manual grinder is the way to go and that's okay.


My short list comprises: Porlex (mini and tall); Hario mini. From what I can gather, the Porlex is supposed to have better build quality. Despite generally good comments, it seems both makes are less than ideal for coarse grinds (consistency and some grinds too small). However, there don't seem to be any good alternatives in the same price bracket (that I can find available in the UK).


So am I better off not bothering with either or should I just use a finer grind? Are they good at medium?


One readily available alternative is Tiamo but I can't find much information and I don't imagine the build quality is as good.


The other option is to switch to an Aeropress and use a finer grind but would I be better off just spending the difference on a grinder? I have a slight prejudice against the Aeropress but that's not important here.


Finally, if I went with a Porlex, would the mini suffice for 2 large cups/mugs (not cup as in n-cup cafetiere) or would I really need to go for the tall? Obviously the mini could just be refilled.


Hopefully I've not tried to cram too much in to one post!

I have the Hario mini and I am using it with a Bodum Chambord and have used it with a Brazil. I have used a cheap blade type grinder, which is my only point of comparison.

Obviously with the blade grinder the grind was much too fine and the resistance when pressing was rather high. There was often sludge.

With the Hario, I have the grind set at only a few clicks from full coarse, which produces a cup which has very little sludge in the last cup.

The amount that you have to grind is dependent on how strong you want the cup. For me, I've never had to grind a second time because the cup wasn't strong enough.
You can actually put too much coffee beans in the grinder and it'll come really close to the top of the burrs. Never had it seize because of it, though.

Hope this helps!
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post #562 of 572
9/25/12 at 11:44am

Thanks for the reply, that's encouraging. Have you found the consistency to be good? Is it a 1-2 minute job to grind the beans?

 

The reason I'm probably going a bit OTT on this is because I've previously used a no-name burr grinder and, while it did a job, I was never really happy with the settings or the outcome; it was just a pain to use. I'm wary of spending more on a quality product yet not getting a superior result (and for cafetiere at that).

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post #563 of 572
9/25/12 at 3:32pm

You can always sift out the tiny coffee fines with a sieve if you want to get rid of them, regardless of the grinder. 

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post #564 of 572
9/25/12 at 4:53pm

Does anyone know if there exists something like an electric milk stirrer? Like in a cappuccino machine, but only the part that stirs milk. My gf is looking for one. We have a bunch of handheld whisks including a battery-powered one but they're all crap. And a whole full cappuccino maker is too big and needlessly expensive.

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post #565 of 572
9/25/12 at 8:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PMAP View Post

Does anyone know if there exists something like an electric milk stirrer? Like in a cappuccino machine, but only the part that stirs milk. My gf is looking for one. We have a bunch of handheld whisks including a battery-powered one but they're all crap. And a whole full cappuccino maker is too big and needlessly expensive.

 



A hand held milk frother is what you're looking for. See link below:

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=handheld+milk+frother&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=7665117225&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17228032021545518981&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&ref=pd_sl_5h8bwwzt85_e

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post #566 of 572
9/26/12 at 1:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by anoobis View Post

Thanks for the reply, that's encouraging. Have you found the consistency to be good? Is it a 1-2 minute job to grind the beans?

The reason I'm probably going a bit OTT on this is because I've previously used a no-name burr grinder and, while it did a job, I was never really happy with the settings or the outcome; it was just a pain to use. I'm wary of spending more on a quality product yet not getting a superior result (and for cafetiere at that).

It is a one minute job (almost exactly) to fill half the container with ground coffee. My guess is that it would take twice as long to fill the second half. smily_headphones1.gif
I think it also depends on the size of the beans. It's very easy to grind large beans, but it takes slightly more effort with smaller beans.

In terms of ergonomics, it's a "fill with beans and get grinding" sort of grinder. I think from that standpoint it's a breeze to use.

Well, I haven't experienced a change in the amount of mud in the cup since when I first got it. If you intend to frequently clean the burrs or change the settings, I think eventually it would lose it's consistency.
The thing is, I could imagine a better, more consistent grind. I don't think this is an "end game" grinder for a press, but given the alternatives, I'll take this over any of the blade grinders any day.
Edited by Planar_head - 9/26/12 at 2:01pm
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post #567 of 572
9/26/12 at 2:15pm

Hario mini owner here as well. It does take a couple minutes to grind, but the factor I have found that most strongly correlates to the difficulty of grinding is actually the roast of the coffee. Dark roasts grind far more easily than medium and light roasts. When mine is in use, I definitely disassemble and clean the burrs once a week, especially with the more oily dark roasts that I enjoy. 

 

I bought a nice electric burr grinder from Amazon as well to indulge my laziness. Definitely worth it.

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AR7SY/?tag=hyprod-20&hvadid=15474605259&hvpos=1o4&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=983623190167696922&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&ref=asc_df_B0000AR7SY

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post #568 of 572
9/26/12 at 3:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by warubozu View Post

 



A hand held milk frother is what you're looking for. See link below:

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=handheld+milk+frother&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=7665117225&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17228032021545518981&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&ref=pd_sl_5h8bwwzt85_e

 


We have a few of those but they are pretty crap unfortunately. A more sophisticated machine would be nice, but it seems these are built only as part of complete cappuccino makers.

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post #569 of 572
9/26/12 at 4:23pm

I used to have a bialetti stove top milk steamer. It worked fairly well, but I got rid of it after the pressure valve started to get a bit leaky. Not sure if it would suit your needs.

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post #570 of 572
9/30/12 at 7:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JadeEast View Post

You can always sift out the tiny coffee fines with a sieve if you want to get rid of them, regardless of the grinder. 

 

I'm less bothered about sludge and more about the impact on extraction of having different sized grinds. However, no one seems to think there's a real issue, so I'll just take a punt on one.

 

More as an aside now, I found this interesting http://boingboing.net/2010/09/30/perfecting-my-travel.html

Anyone concur or disagree?

 

 

Thanks for the responses.
 

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