HemiSam

That's awesome, Augsburger. I also found the learning curve on espresso to be a bit steeper than I expected and despite all the video watching and reading I did, it still amazes me how much changes over time (i.e. w/o changing beans) and from coffee to coffee. Very dynamic and alive if you will. Cool when it is not torturing you...and very nifty when you really nail a pour. Happy caffeinating... HS

My Memli order showed up just in time for the weekend. Sipping a Columbian El Vergel Lagoon Java pour over. There's a lot going on with this cup...very sweet and fruity. He also kindly roasted a Kenyan Kiunyu Washed for espresso that made a nice cup yesterday. I have to see the East African coffees are the sweet spot for me. I was a bit sloppy with the grind as I accidentally read a white wax mark I've made to ensure things stay in sink on the Niche vs the small chrome nipple. It'll be better this afternoon but it was still delicious despite my rushing. Love me a weekend... HS

Sounds to me like the grind is a bit too fine on the Niche. I'm bouncing between a Chemex/pour over where I take it past the 50 setting to the edge of the hinge on the plastic lid. For espresso I'm anywhere between 14 and 12. It requires a reasonable amount of grip and a bit of force to go down from pour over to espresso up to a point and then it becomes easier for some reason. Very little effort to go the opposite direction from espresso to pour over. The bouncing back and forth was giving me a bit of grief by I've got it down pretty well now. Dialing in a fresh set of espresso beans...well that takes a bit of doing for me. HS

RIP, Mr. Renaud. Godspeed, William... Exceptional actor. Accidental Tourist is another I'd toss up as a great work. HS

Looks delish! HS

I purchased a Baltic Aquascape some years ago as my true tool / beater watch. Told my older boy if he nailed his grades during a semester of college he could have it....well. He's been loving that watch since then on the beads of rice bracelet. I preferred the tropic rubber strap...such is life. Was looking to replace it and everything I wanted was sold out at Baltic. My impatience led me to this Peren. Micro brand. I bought it on the stainless bracelet but they had supplier issues and sent it on a super crappy black NATO. I put it on an olive one I had laying around which I think serves it much better. It hasn't fully grown on me yet... HS

I'm looking forward to trying the Rwandan! HS

That's a beautiful machine. HS

Vieux Carre....simply delicious. 3/4 oz good rye 3/4 oz cognac 3/4 oz sweet vermouth (I'm a big fan of Spaniard Lustau as me and amaro / bitter are not friends) 2 tsp Benedictine (think half as much as the above pours) 1 dash Peychaud's bitters 2 dashes Angustura bitters All the above into ice... stir for 20 seconds. I prefer straining into a whiskey glass with a large cube although pouring into a chilled coupe glass is more traditional. You can express an orange peel and do the high quality cherry thing. It's basically a New Orleans centric riff on a Manhattan. Enjoy... HS

Please accept my condolences, Todd. HS

If you're going light / medium, I am in, Sir. HS

I didn't take any as we were freezing out butts off and most the cars never got off the trailers. I really suck at taking pictures I have to admit...LOL Great to see on the TRX. Hopefully won't sink at sea (horrible story...apparently 20 of the Porsches were for Houstonians). My friends had two out for the rental: red one and a black one. Love those trucks! HS

We had a track rental for today. Weather got the better of us...need to swap back to the street tires on my piggy. Bummer... The good thing is I can start my drink a bit earlier...LOL. This cold and wet weather is overrated for most things, but brown liquor compliments it. HS

Took delivery of a couple of coffees from my local roaster, Memli. The Guatemalan Alejandro Lainez Chejoj I had him roast for espresso (not as dark a roast as most the espresso I've bought thus far but definitely darker than his pour over roast). It made a lovely shot just now. I look forward to trying the Kenyan Kiunyu AB Kerugoya Kirinyaga for my pour over in the morning. HS

Grateful Dead 6-part series on Amazon: A Long Strange Trip. All of what one might imagine. I think it is well made and provides telling insights into how the broader group evolved into what they became. Jerry was something… HS

Very exciting and those amps look fantastic. Best of luck, Kerry! Sam

Paper towel, toilet paper...whatever it takes for proper caffeination. Powa' to the peeps! HS

That option-o is uber modern. Looks like an impressive piece of kit. I have not gone down the rabbit hole on grinders as for whatever reason the Niche just spoke to me so I jumped in when it was pointed out here a long while back and haven't looked back. The Lunar has pointed out I can lose about .1 grams or not in back to back espresso grinds. Covered Ears - I have no problem whatsoever if you want to post tea stuff here. It's not my jam, but I find it interesting to read about it. Had a couple of friends at work that were really down the rabbit hole on aged, very strong smelling teas and then I converted them to proper coffee...LOL. Two chem-e's so they went down hard and started making roasters, boards for the timers on the roasters, etc... Jacob - I'm using the Lunar in mode 1 to weigh the beans and mode 4 for brewing. I agree...there is a lot of functionality there. I enjoy using it more if I keep it simple...was driving myself a bit nuts at first w/ it. I'm profiling with some nice results on the Bianca. Taking it to 2 bar for a few seconds and then ramping up to somewhere around 9-bar, then I bring it way down right at the very end of the ~2:1 ratio (20 in 40 out). Very nice with the medium-dark roast Nigerian beans from Memli that arrived. I need to adjust the pump pressure. For some silly reason it came with a default of almost 12 bar....odd. HS

I'm lower. 14 - 15 is always too coarse. After I opened it up, cleaned it (all per the Niche video) and put it back together I was at 11-12 to the a medium dark Ethiopian bean about where it needed to be. HS

^quality programming...major flashback! Godspeed, Howard... Thank you for all the laughs. HS

Good stuff, Jacob. Great to see you pulling so many fun shots. Took the day off and started with a nice chemex pour over. Boy it beats getting up early and drinking crap at the office. Going to take the espresso machine for a ride after lunch. I'm having a bit of difficulty dialing in the Niche. I am at way a lower grind setting than most to get the pressure I would expect at the group head. I did find the tip over limit where it was so fine it stifled the shot. Backed off and went too far in the other direction. A bit frustrating, but the coffee is quite good so I think I just need to get over it. I'm going to clean it again today and recalibrate just in case I did something weird the last time around. First world problems FTW... HS

8 months....woof. Can't say I'm surprised but once you order something one pretty much wants their paws on it. HS

For those that are curious, a good friend ordered a Durango Hellcat (sometimes referred to as a Hellrango...). It took 5 and a half months from order to delivery. I am told it is usually closer to a month and a half... Go supply chain... HS

Oat milk is decidedly not for this camper. It has a funky taste that I could not get past in the espresso/cappuccino. I made another with cow's milk just to be certain it wasn't my mind playing tricks on me and it was markedly more to my liking. The better half is plant based whole food centric and hopefully it will not go to waste. HS

Thanks for the info, Jacob. Sipping an El Salvador Santa Rosa pour over...lovely. Damn Onyx Coffee Labs...LOL. I tasted the Oatly Barista oat milk this morning straight up cold....what one would expect of oat milk I think. A bit sweeter than I expected but pleasant enough assuming one likes the taste of oats. Nutritionally they contain similar calories, fat count although the cow's milk definitely has more saturated fats, sugars/carbs higher on oat milk and protein markedly higher on cow's milk. I used my frother (not the steamer on the espresso machine) and whipped up the Oatly. It does a nice job as far as creamy texture so clearly the added fat from the expeller oil does its job. I'll brave it in a cappuccino this afternoon and see how I feel about the flavor in coffee. Interesting experiment thus far. HS