What does your ideal workflow look like? Is this something you want do six times a week, 500ml at a time, or batch out into two 1.5l batches?
I don’t have one, but this definitely strikes me as a simple setting for a smart coffee machine. I have to think an Aiden or the like would have this functionality, a sort of extremely long infusion up to the volume of its brewing basket and then a standard release. If you’re asking for specific advice on smart brewers, fair enough. I’d be surprised if there isn’t something with an extra large brewing basket.
I definitely think any decent smart brewer could mirror the immersion flavor profile and intensity even if it can’t go full immersion.
Frankly, my first impulse was to just run a Mr. Coffee (or your current machine) with a manual release valve without the carafe inserted and see if you like what you get when you pop the carafe in at 10 minutes. Temperature control would be weird. Probably too small for your purposes?
I would just buy two Clever Drippers and brew them at the same time. The Switch is more versatile, but the Dripper is exactly the right device for this and cleanup is a cinch. If I wanted a big batch, I’d brew all three simultaneously and plop them one at a time on a two liter vessel. Even with a machine you’d actually be
I’m glad you wrote that. Black and White is local to me. I’ve had some of their decaf before and they’re one of the specialty roasters that disappointed me. However, that was several years ago and apparently in the past two years they’ve moved to EA decaffeination. I picked up a bag of their Sugarcane Decaf today and just had my first cup. It was roasted in mid-July, so it’s nicely rested.
It’s a medium plus roast, so I brewed at 90C. Otherwise a pretty standard V60 technique: 40 second bloom, 250g water to 15g coffee. Drawdown was okay, roughly 3:30, I’ll go a bit coarser next time.
It’s night and day better than the last time I had their decaf. Surprisingly nice acidity, distinct cocoa notes, some sweetness. I like their tasting notes. Maybe a bit thin for the flavors in the cup. They rate it a roughly four of ten on their clean to funky scale. Which… maybe? It’s not very funky, but it does have a lot of rich classic coffee flavor.
I’ll certainly be picking up some of their more boutique decaf next time I’m near somewhere that carries it. The Sebastian Ramirez coferments can be a bit too fruity for me but I’d like to try the Ethiopian natural process that’s currently on their website.
I think your opinion on Doom 2016 having artistic merit is valid, even if I disagree. I’m not so pretentious I think I’m an arbiter there.
This article is about a studio that just finished DLC for Doom Dark Ages, the third game in that same vein. It took a lot of time from devoted professionals. So did Whiteout Survival and FIFA. Is this DLC an example you would choose to hold up to others as video games as art?
Microsoft isn’t getting in the way of id’s art. id is getting in the way of id’s art. Some video games are just games.
Claiming Microsoft is stifling art here is disingenuous. And it’s not a claim id’s management hung their hat on in the article, they focused on the human side. The headline, meaning the writer, did that.
The front facing sides of the pan manufacturers don’t know thickness because it impacts but isn’t performance. Steel mix of the cladding layers, thickness, and 3/5/7 layer construction inform the real performance factors: heat distribution, rate of heating, weight, and tendency to warp. ATK measures most of those things fairly well. I just skimmed a review on YouTube from Prudent Reviews that looks valuable, too.
You may be undervaluing the lid. There is a practical difference between a perfectly fitted lipped lid and a compatible lid that’s close.
You are correctly valuing the hole in the handle and the helper handle. Past a certain point of performance convenience is more important than better performance. If it’s hard to lift or stuck in a drawer you won’t use it as much. Same goes for weight, I have a cheap Yoshikawa saucier that I use constantly because it’s extremely light and good enough.
I would be more worried about warping on an induction cooktop than about riveted vs welded construction, or even a pan’s finish. My Matfer carbon steel frying pan has a welded handle that I think would survive use as a war club, but the cooking surface is warped. I’m not careful with it, but your peers might be no better.
In general All Clad deserves its strong reputation. Made In is also good, but I’ve used less of their stuff. I’ve tried a few stainless pans from other higher end brands and I don’t think they’re appreciably better. All on gas, sadly for this discussion.
If it isn’t already your plan, consider buying different tiers of pans based on your needs. Were I starting from scratch at home I’d skimp as mercilessly as necessary on everything else to afford one great frying pan. It does 90% of the work, it should get most of the budget.
On one hand, Microsoft is indefensible. From any perspective, how they're treating their employees is unfair to those people. Not a revolutionary sentiment.
On the other hand, I can't clutch my pearls too hard for id the company. This isn't the studio making Commander Keen anymore. Doom 2016 was technically impressive and well designed, I played some of it. But I didn't finish it and it didn't make me feel much. It was a throwback to an era in gaming that was emotionally very simple. Find gun, see thing, shoot thing, repeat. Video game candy at best, Flaming Hot Bacon Cheesefries at worst. Then they made the same thing for a decade. id isn't Supergiant, Dogubomb, or Larian.
So framing layoffs at id as Microsoft not understanding art or games feels too far. I think Microsoft understands the kind of games it wants id to make just fine and they'll continue to squeeze studios to shit out robotic find gun, see thing, shoot thing, repeat games. The Microsoft studios are largely husks that haven't made art in a long time.
This is all academic for id's employees. Whether it's art or not, they make something people enjoy. Their skills and efforts are being exploited mercilessly because their love for video games gives them a tolerance for abuse they wouldn't have to put up with as, say, accountants. As I mentioned up top, I have mixed feelings and wish those people the best.
I feel your pain. It’s a struggle to find good decaf. Even amazing third wave roasters usually fall very short. My usual is Counter Culture’s Slow Motion, which is good, but it’s kind of boring.
I want some decaf in my next Brandywine purchase. Their manipulation in all four or five of their coffees I’ve tried has been really artful and they have a broad product selection. I’m hopeful it will be better than most.
Is Luminous better enough than what else you’ve tried that I should try it myself?
That looks really nice. As much as I like boutique coffee, I'm also a big fan of an inky, oily Italian espresso.
Your setup seems pretty solid. Since you've gotten into espresso relatively recently, is there anything you're considering changing and what, if anything, would you have done differently?
Do you leave your Flair on the countertop? I've considered getting one, but I always come back to thinking it's got a pretty substantial footprint, both while resting and when I would move it around to get leverage.
It's an efficient, considered routine that is giving you results you like. You're brewing and drinking fresh, no time on a hot plate. You've messed around with pour speed, saturation, and bed distribution and dialed them in to match your preferences. I'd assume it's well made coffee.
If you don't grind your own beans that might be a change that could dramatically improve your results.
but I can’t really control that very well with the spout of said kettle.
Unfortunately this is just kind of a hard limit with non-gooseneck kettles.
You can do a lot to try to mitigate your issues, whether that's transferring the water to something with a finer spout or different stirring technique. But a pourover setup benefits from a gooseneck. It lets you get the tip of the spout closer to the bed, which lets you control how heavy the flow is into the bed, which lets you control how aggressive the disruption of the bed is with your pour. Without the ability to control that you just have one fewer way to control your coffee brew, and it's a particualrly crucial method of control. The limited aperture also helps control pour speed, which with normal kettles is precipitously difficult.
You could of course use a different brewer. An Aeropress, OXO Rapid Brewer, Clever Dripper, Moka pot, French press, and many other brewers are actually kind of a pain with a gooseneck, it's great to just dump water and go on those. But those aren't pourover and, generally, lack the control you'd get out of a full pourover setup.
I will say I think high end kettles are unnecessary. I don't use one. While it's certainly nice if a kettle hits a specific temperature accurately and quickly, I can boil water and let it cool down a bit before brewing. If necessary I do have accurate thermometers. I also tend toward lighter roasts, so the water being close to boiling is usually fine. It's a little less control, but well past the point of diminishing returns and not worth $150.
If the goal is just good coffee you could probably rig together something with what's on hand. You could also get a brewer that matches well to your current kettle. But if you're putting up with the pain in the ass that is hand grinding and you want to make coffee a hobby, you should prioritize eventually getting a gooseneck kettle, electric or otherwise.
I don’t think it’s partially likely the Tuni would be a huge step up in quality of grind vs that Cuisinart, which is largely in line with the other grinders I mentioned, but I do think it would make your workflow easier. Even with RDT those plastic box catch bins tend to be a bit of a pain with static. Any static mitigation beats no static mitigation. And a catch cup for espresso is definitely nice.
Yes, it’s definitely restrained. And I’m sure you’re right that the choice of yeast played into it, I’ve had some wild Bourbons. I think everything about this coffee was tightly controlled.
I’m passingly familiar with yeast inoculation of coffee in the broad sense. Apparently it helps produce more consistent flavor profiles vs just letting the ambient critters do it, which makes sense. It’s been the norm in alcohol production for a long time. It definitely worked in this coffee, the flavor profile is really clear. Like you I’m more used to details on how a coffee is fermented in funky coffee.
I was actually under the impression yeast inoculation has gotten fairly widespread, so I’m curious why Promethium chose that as the element they wanted to highlight. Maybe it’s not as common as I thought, or this yeast is abnormal, or how a coffee is fermented is an element Promethium thinks isn’t highlighted sufficiently. They didn’t even mention how the fruit was removed (it’s a washed coffee or I’m giving up on all this) but did claim a roast level. I might email them.
I’m not familiar with the company. I can’t find any unbiased reviews or details on it from anyone I’d consider reliable. Their website isn’t very forthcoming. I did watch about half a review from a random YouTube channel, but in some form that video’s an ad. I see it’s listed on Wayfair and Walmart before any “real” coffee gear website.
I’m assuming this is a grinder engineered in China to target people trying to get into high end coffee. I think it’s impossible, given its feature set and price, that this grinder effectively can produce a “good” espresso grind.
That said, it might be a solid grinder, within its limits. I’m always wary of companies that overpromise, but modern Chinese manufacturing is incredible. It has good features for under $100. The screen worries me, too.
Any other recommendation depends on your espresso setup. If you’re using a pressurized portafilter, you don’t need to worry as much about espresso grind and your options open up. If you liked the results from your Cuisinart (which model did you have?) Bodum and OXO make burr grinders that I think do really nicely for most people and would possibly be an upgrade. A Baratza Encore would almost certainly be the full step up. The Encore ESP or a Fellow Opus might be too far a step up; they show their utility when paired with solid espresso machines.
It’s going to be interesting to watch how Windows progresses. It runs so fat because memory costs dropped so consistently for so long. Microsoft didn’t need to worry about efficiency and it clearly wasn’t an organizational priority. But the engineers at Microsoft aren’t stupid. If Microsoft shifts toward efficiency as a goal, given enough time, they could make a slimmer version of the OS. I’m interested in seeing to what degree they do prioritize it.
These comics are extremely charming. I’m not entirely sure what I like so much about them; maybe that there’s still room for wit despite the comic’s brevity and simplicity.
The character herself is also wonderfully compelling. Vaguely feminist in some instances? Certainly often relatable, even across half a century and the Iron Curtain. Prone to some precocious vices but at the same time generally moral and kind as in this specific strip. She’s definitely the sort of person I’d like to meet more of in real life.
I’m skeptical. I suspect 8gb of memory is sufficient (barely) to select and download a good Linux distro, which is where Windows 11 really excels these days.
What does your ideal workflow look like? Is this something you want do six times a week, 500ml at a time, or batch out into two 1.5l batches?
I don’t have one, but this definitely strikes me as a simple setting for a smart coffee machine. I have to think an Aiden or the like would have this functionality, a sort of extremely long infusion up to the volume of its brewing basket and then a standard release. If you’re asking for specific advice on smart brewers, fair enough. I’d be surprised if there isn’t something with an extra large brewing basket.
I definitely think any decent smart brewer could mirror the immersion flavor profile and intensity even if it can’t go full immersion.
Frankly, my first impulse was to just run a Mr. Coffee (or your current machine) with a manual release valve without the carafe inserted and see if you like what you get when you pop the carafe in at 10 minutes. Temperature control would be weird. Probably too small for your purposes?
I would just buy two Clever Drippers and brew them at the same time. The Switch is more versatile, but the Dripper is exactly the right device for this and cleanup is a cinch. If I wanted a big batch, I’d brew all three simultaneously and plop them one at a time on a two liter vessel. Even with a machine you’d actually be
I’m glad you wrote that. Black and White is local to me. I’ve had some of their decaf before and they’re one of the specialty roasters that disappointed me. However, that was several years ago and apparently in the past two years they’ve moved to EA decaffeination. I picked up a bag of their Sugarcane Decaf today and just had my first cup. It was roasted in mid-July, so it’s nicely rested.
It’s a medium plus roast, so I brewed at 90C. Otherwise a pretty standard V60 technique: 40 second bloom, 250g water to 15g coffee. Drawdown was okay, roughly 3:30, I’ll go a bit coarser next time.
It’s night and day better than the last time I had their decaf. Surprisingly nice acidity, distinct cocoa notes, some sweetness. I like their tasting notes. Maybe a bit thin for the flavors in the cup. They rate it a roughly four of ten on their clean to funky scale. Which… maybe? It’s not very funky, but it does have a lot of rich classic coffee flavor.
I’ll certainly be picking up some of their more boutique decaf next time I’m near somewhere that carries it. The Sebastian Ramirez coferments can be a bit too fruity for me but I’d like to try the Ethiopian natural process that’s currently on their website.
I think your opinion on Doom 2016 having artistic merit is valid, even if I disagree. I’m not so pretentious I think I’m an arbiter there.
This article is about a studio that just finished DLC for Doom Dark Ages, the third game in that same vein. It took a lot of time from devoted professionals. So did Whiteout Survival and FIFA. Is this DLC an example you would choose to hold up to others as video games as art?
Microsoft isn’t getting in the way of id’s art. id is getting in the way of id’s art. Some video games are just games.
Claiming Microsoft is stifling art here is disingenuous. And it’s not a claim id’s management hung their hat on in the article, they focused on the human side. The headline, meaning the writer, did that.
The front facing sides of the pan manufacturers don’t know thickness because it impacts but isn’t performance. Steel mix of the cladding layers, thickness, and 3/5/7 layer construction inform the real performance factors: heat distribution, rate of heating, weight, and tendency to warp. ATK measures most of those things fairly well. I just skimmed a review on YouTube from Prudent Reviews that looks valuable, too.
You may be undervaluing the lid. There is a practical difference between a perfectly fitted lipped lid and a compatible lid that’s close.
You are correctly valuing the hole in the handle and the helper handle. Past a certain point of performance convenience is more important than better performance. If it’s hard to lift or stuck in a drawer you won’t use it as much. Same goes for weight, I have a cheap Yoshikawa saucier that I use constantly because it’s extremely light and good enough.
I would be more worried about warping on an induction cooktop than about riveted vs welded construction, or even a pan’s finish. My Matfer carbon steel frying pan has a welded handle that I think would survive use as a war club, but the cooking surface is warped. I’m not careful with it, but your peers might be no better.
In general All Clad deserves its strong reputation. Made In is also good, but I’ve used less of their stuff. I’ve tried a few stainless pans from other higher end brands and I don’t think they’re appreciably better. All on gas, sadly for this discussion.
If it isn’t already your plan, consider buying different tiers of pans based on your needs. Were I starting from scratch at home I’d skimp as mercilessly as necessary on everything else to afford one great frying pan. It does 90% of the work, it should get most of the budget.
I have incredibly mixed feelings about this.
On one hand, Microsoft is indefensible. From any perspective, how they're treating their employees is unfair to those people. Not a revolutionary sentiment.
On the other hand, I can't clutch my pearls too hard for id the company. This isn't the studio making Commander Keen anymore. Doom 2016 was technically impressive and well designed, I played some of it. But I didn't finish it and it didn't make me feel much. It was a throwback to an era in gaming that was emotionally very simple. Find gun, see thing, shoot thing, repeat. Video game candy at best, Flaming Hot Bacon Cheesefries at worst. Then they made the same thing for a decade. id isn't Supergiant, Dogubomb, or Larian.
So framing layoffs at id as Microsoft not understanding art or games feels too far. I think Microsoft understands the kind of games it wants id to make just fine and they'll continue to squeeze studios to shit out robotic find gun, see thing, shoot thing, repeat games. The Microsoft studios are largely husks that haven't made art in a long time.
This is all academic for id's employees. Whether it's art or not, they make something people enjoy. Their skills and efforts are being exploited mercilessly because their love for video games gives them a tolerance for abuse they wouldn't have to put up with as, say, accountants. As I mentioned up top, I have mixed feelings and wish those people the best.
Tango's a different story. Again, indefensible.
Have you A/B tested the steamed water thing? Almost anyone else I’d have ignored the suggestion out of hand, even from him I’m incredibly skeptical.
I feel your pain. It’s a struggle to find good decaf. Even amazing third wave roasters usually fall very short. My usual is Counter Culture’s Slow Motion, which is good, but it’s kind of boring.
I want some decaf in my next Brandywine purchase. Their manipulation in all four or five of their coffees I’ve tried has been really artful and they have a broad product selection. I’m hopeful it will be better than most.
Is Luminous better enough than what else you’ve tried that I should try it myself?
I’ll share the link in the post.
Thank you. It has a tiny bear in it.
That looks really nice. As much as I like boutique coffee, I'm also a big fan of an inky, oily Italian espresso.
Your setup seems pretty solid. Since you've gotten into espresso relatively recently, is there anything you're considering changing and what, if anything, would you have done differently?
Do you leave your Flair on the countertop? I've considered getting one, but I always come back to thinking it's got a pretty substantial footprint, both while resting and when I would move it around to get leverage.
It's an efficient, considered routine that is giving you results you like. You're brewing and drinking fresh, no time on a hot plate. You've messed around with pour speed, saturation, and bed distribution and dialed them in to match your preferences. I'd assume it's well made coffee.
If you don't grind your own beans that might be a change that could dramatically improve your results.
Unfortunately this is just kind of a hard limit with non-gooseneck kettles.
You can do a lot to try to mitigate your issues, whether that's transferring the water to something with a finer spout or different stirring technique. But a pourover setup benefits from a gooseneck. It lets you get the tip of the spout closer to the bed, which lets you control how heavy the flow is into the bed, which lets you control how aggressive the disruption of the bed is with your pour. Without the ability to control that you just have one fewer way to control your coffee brew, and it's a particualrly crucial method of control. The limited aperture also helps control pour speed, which with normal kettles is precipitously difficult.
You could of course use a different brewer. An Aeropress, OXO Rapid Brewer, Clever Dripper, Moka pot, French press, and many other brewers are actually kind of a pain with a gooseneck, it's great to just dump water and go on those. But those aren't pourover and, generally, lack the control you'd get out of a full pourover setup.
I will say I think high end kettles are unnecessary. I don't use one. While it's certainly nice if a kettle hits a specific temperature accurately and quickly, I can boil water and let it cool down a bit before brewing. If necessary I do have accurate thermometers. I also tend toward lighter roasts, so the water being close to boiling is usually fine. It's a little less control, but well past the point of diminishing returns and not worth $150.
If the goal is just good coffee you could probably rig together something with what's on hand. You could also get a brewer that matches well to your current kettle. But if you're putting up with the pain in the ass that is hand grinding and you want to make coffee a hobby, you should prioritize eventually getting a gooseneck kettle, electric or otherwise.
I don’t think it’s partially likely the Tuni would be a huge step up in quality of grind vs that Cuisinart, which is largely in line with the other grinders I mentioned, but I do think it would make your workflow easier. Even with RDT those plastic box catch bins tend to be a bit of a pain with static. Any static mitigation beats no static mitigation. And a catch cup for espresso is definitely nice.
Yes, it’s definitely restrained. And I’m sure you’re right that the choice of yeast played into it, I’ve had some wild Bourbons. I think everything about this coffee was tightly controlled.
I’m passingly familiar with yeast inoculation of coffee in the broad sense. Apparently it helps produce more consistent flavor profiles vs just letting the ambient critters do it, which makes sense. It’s been the norm in alcohol production for a long time. It definitely worked in this coffee, the flavor profile is really clear. Like you I’m more used to details on how a coffee is fermented in funky coffee.
I was actually under the impression yeast inoculation has gotten fairly widespread, so I’m curious why Promethium chose that as the element they wanted to highlight. Maybe it’s not as common as I thought, or this yeast is abnormal, or how a coffee is fermented is an element Promethium thinks isn’t highlighted sufficiently. They didn’t even mention how the fruit was removed (it’s a washed coffee or I’m giving up on all this) but did claim a roast level. I might email them.
I’m not familiar with the company. I can’t find any unbiased reviews or details on it from anyone I’d consider reliable. Their website isn’t very forthcoming. I did watch about half a review from a random YouTube channel, but in some form that video’s an ad. I see it’s listed on Wayfair and Walmart before any “real” coffee gear website.
I’m assuming this is a grinder engineered in China to target people trying to get into high end coffee. I think it’s impossible, given its feature set and price, that this grinder effectively can produce a “good” espresso grind.
That said, it might be a solid grinder, within its limits. I’m always wary of companies that overpromise, but modern Chinese manufacturing is incredible. It has good features for under $100. The screen worries me, too.
Any other recommendation depends on your espresso setup. If you’re using a pressurized portafilter, you don’t need to worry as much about espresso grind and your options open up. If you liked the results from your Cuisinart (which model did you have?) Bodum and OXO make burr grinders that I think do really nicely for most people and would possibly be an upgrade. A Baratza Encore would almost certainly be the full step up. The Encore ESP or a Fellow Opus might be too far a step up; they show their utility when paired with solid espresso machines.
It’s going to be interesting to watch how Windows progresses. It runs so fat because memory costs dropped so consistently for so long. Microsoft didn’t need to worry about efficiency and it clearly wasn’t an organizational priority. But the engineers at Microsoft aren’t stupid. If Microsoft shifts toward efficiency as a goal, given enough time, they could make a slimmer version of the OS. I’m interested in seeing to what degree they do prioritize it.
These comics are extremely charming. I’m not entirely sure what I like so much about them; maybe that there’s still room for wit despite the comic’s brevity and simplicity.
The character herself is also wonderfully compelling. Vaguely feminist in some instances? Certainly often relatable, even across half a century and the Iron Curtain. Prone to some precocious vices but at the same time generally moral and kind as in this specific strip. She’s definitely the sort of person I’d like to meet more of in real life.
I’d like a coffee table book of these.
I’m skeptical. I suspect 8gb of memory is sufficient (barely) to select and download a good Linux distro, which is where Windows 11 really excels these days.