Hearts seem to be the easiest art… not that they come easy to me. Clouds still come naturally though.
6 Likes
You’ve looked at life from both sides now?
1 Like
Sorry for the long delay. I think I finally found the grind for Dogwood Neon. Okay, at first I loved it. Really liked it. While it claims to be floral and citrusy I found it sweet and rich. Okay, perhaps I’ve ruined my tastebuds from a lifetime of bourbon, scotch, and gin but that’s what I tasted. It was delicious I feel, but I could not drink several cups a day of it due to the richness. It would be perfect, for me, as an after dinner coffee.
I still haven’t tried the Bear Hug or Ethiopian. My go to grind at the moment is Caribou Cross Fox. I buy it in bulk and have no idea on its roast date. Caribou isn’t anything special but I’ve cut my espresso teeth on it.
So, in my limited experience Dogwood coffee is definitely a thumbs up 
. Based on some web reviews it is highly respected which is a plus for me because it is local. But you can get it just as fresh as me online. I order on Sat or Sun they roast it Monday, ship it Tuesday, and I get it Wednesday.
I called them once and in that call I found the person quite knowledgeable (way more than me) helpful and pleasant.
2 Likes
Appreciate the impressions. I’m going to call them about a sampler including their tea.
1 Like
I drink a fair amount of coffee (think cup after cup, but not pot after pot). In pursuit of the perfect cup, I’ve added some new features to my current system. Air exposure is the enemy of coffee beans, yet grinding beans every morning began to get tiresome for me so I began to look into vacuum sealing.
I decided on the Atmos canisters from Fellows for bean preservation. I like the look of them and have found that the vacuum sealing is reliable after two+ years of use. They do require a non-trivial amount of turning (back and forth twisting) to re-seal the vessel and probably wouldn’t be ideal for those with wrist ailments. A small indentation on the lid becomes recessed when the seal has been attained. I’ve found that the .7L size is perfect for a standard size bag of beans and the .4L version holds (for me) about three days worth of grounds. Grinding beans every three days (and NOT in the morning – I rise early and don’t like noise) instead of daily has been a boon. Upsizing the smaller canister would give me almost a weeks worth of grounds, but the, albeit minimal, air exposure over seven days might be too much to my taste. I have two of each size, one set for regular and the other decaf (can’t have too much caffeine after 4PM).
These canisters are very pricy, but the improvement in morning TTFC (time to first cup) has been worth it to me. I’ve read that some users have had issues with the lids properly holding its seal, although its been reported that Fellow was decent about replacements. I didn’t have this issue.
Current Setup:
Fellow Atmos Canisters
- .4L For ground
- .7L For whole beans
Dowan Mug
Chemex
Capresso Grinder
Fellow Stagg Kettle
7 Likes
I use them too but wish they came in a size larger than 16 ounces.
I use the Stagg and Corvo EKG kettles. How do you like them?
1 Like
I have the same OXO pour-over cone that @ChristinaM posted a few years ago. It’s actually my second; when we moved last fall, the movers packed most of our kitchen items and the bottom (grounds) and top (water) chambers ended up in different boxes so I thought one was lost… and ordered a new one. My old milk frother also didn’t survive the half-mile move.
My current setup involves:
- Beans from a local roaster (https://www.armeno.com/ in Northboro MA, but they ship!)
- OXO conical burr coffee grinder (https://www.oxo.com/conical-burr-coffee-grinder.html)
- Amazon Basics electric kettle
- OXO pour-over cone (https://www.oxo.com/categories/coffee-tea/brew/coffee-makers/pour-over-coffee-maker-with-water-tank.html)
- Zulay handheld milk frother (I heat the milk in a 2C measuring cup)
It’s all very low tech and involved, but I’m the only coffee drinker in the house and I only make one big cup in the morning, so it’s worth it.
4 Likes
We have a Cuisinart burr grinder for whole bean coffee stuff (usually Dave’s Coffee Blind Pig) and a 10 cup Zojirushi programmable coffee maker. That being said, I’m a Boston girl and I cannot deny there is often also Dunkin, either whole or ground, in the house for a lot of day to day use. My coffee usually is to-go in an insulated 20 oz. container (recently also Zojirushi, but for several years previously, Thermos) with a glug of half and half.
3 Likes
Vibiemme Domobar + Macap grinder.
2 Likes
Usually it’s an Americano using the old espresso machine and grinder. We upgraded our ancient Hottop roaster and sourced green Cuban beans. The coffee is excellent. We drink it black.
1 Like
If anyone is looking for a hand grinder, this is a phenomenal deal for less than $43. It will sell out fast. I would not buy it for espresso, but will work for the other brew methods. (FWIW, some reviewers claim they use it for espresso.)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092MDTGGR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_52DETEXX833WEPJ44ZRW
2 Likes
May I please ask which Macap model and for a brief review? I just started making espresso this year so still have much to learn.
I have the Macap MC4, doserless and stepless. See more info here, though this one isn’t stepless: https://www.espressooutlet.net/macap-mc4-doserless-stepped-espresso-grinder/
It’s built like a tank, mine is a decade old and it never broke down even though I never really service it. You would want a stepless, because sometimes you need to make tiny adjustments eg when putting in new fresh beans.
While I can see how grinders could be better, this one does the job admirably so no urgent need for an upgrade as of yet. Once I upgrade, I will go to eg a Ceado e37.
These days there are some newer, smaller footprint, good grinders on the market. You might want to google around a bit. Here is an overview (though heavy on Ceados): https://www.wholelattelove.com/blogs/comparisons/best-coffee-grinder
1 Like
Wow. Best budget grinder is $399. This isn’t a cheap club to join. LOL!
But I am paying $18 for each container of 21 Illy Iperespresso capsules now, so I think I would pay for a grinder fairly quickly.
4 Likes
@damiano - thanks so much for the information and especially with the links too. 
I originally bought an Asacso but was very disappointed. It was solidly built, but loud, clumpy, and slow taking in the neighborhood of 19 seconds to grind 17g espresso. It also had huge retention so I gave it away to a young coffee shop employee.
I now have a Eureka Magnifico (from Wholelattelove). It is fast, consistent, and very quiet. However, I see Ceados is every bit as quiet and even faster. I wish I did more comparative shopping.
[While less important another reason I went with the Magnifico was because I could get it in gold which would somewhat match my brass/copper espresso.]
2 Likes
Lol oh so true. And with my sick personality I needed a scale and a bunch of other things. 
The grinder is actually equally or even more important than the espresso machine.
2 Likes
I love Zojirushi products but didn’t know they also make coffee makers.
I used the Zojirushi once and liked the design from a usability point of view. It’s not SCA-certified like Technivorm, nor is it made in Japan (if like me you collect Japanese-made items), but Technivorm (made in Netherlands which is still cool) annoyed me with slight overflow issues (maybe coffee was too fresh) and I liked the Zojirushi carafe better. Also, when I look at the Technivorm grinds after brewing, some parts seems wetter than others, but that didn’t affect the coffee from what I could taste.
1 Like
They do! We really like the 10 cup stainless steel carafe and the removable water tank, which fills very easily. I would buy it again if I had to do it over.
2 Likes
That’s the thing. With my rate of drinking coffee I’d finish that pack in a week, so 18 dollars a week, and 18/21 per cup. That’s almost a dollar!
I buy a kilograms of fresh beans for around 25 euro, and that comes down to around 10-12 cent per cup of espresso. And then I can choose between the dozens and dozens of espresso beans available, versus the few choices you have with Nespresso.
I bought my espresso set up a decade ago for around 1200 euro in total (new appliances). If I were to sell them today I’d probably still get half of that.
2 Likes
