Coffee Drinkers? (or other hot beverages)

[EdipisReks1]

Nice, Sam! I think that looks good. Though I do suggest doing a longer shot. In a 58 mm basket I’m like 18.5 in to 45 out in a little under 30 seconds (if I do all of my stuff correctly anyway). 

That milk texture looks good; are you using whole? If you want a real challenge get some soy milk!

And that coffee table was my dining room table (it’s just a work table from IKEA; it always had a table cloth, so why get something nice looking). I also live alone and haven’t, uh, thrown a lot of dinner parties in the last 2 years (no idea why) so I figured it was more useful for this than just being a place for cats to sit and stare at me! It has really made life easier, having the space, though I have too much shit to quite comfortably keep everything I use regularly on it, now. 

Edited December 11, 2021 by EdipisReks1

[EdipisReks1]

Meeting a friend at a cafe I haven’t been to next week. I’ve never had coffee done this way before!

[HemiSam]

6 hours ago, EdipisReks1 said:

Nice, Sam! I think that looks good. Though I do suggest doing a longer shot. In a 58 mm basket I’m like 18.5 in to 45 out in a little under 30 seconds (if I do all of my stuff correctly anyway). 

That milk texture looks good; are you using whole? If you want a real challenge get some soy milk!

And that coffee table was my dining room table (it’s just a work table from IKEA; it always had a table cloth, so why get something nice looking). I also live alone and haven’t, uh, thrown a lot of dinner parties in the last 2 years (no idea why) so I figured it was more useful for this than just being a place for cats to sit and stare at me! It has really made life easier, having the space, though I have too much shit to quite comfortably keep everything I use regularly on it, now. 

Thanks, Jacob!

I do use whole milk.  I'm big on cow...

Soy milk?  The wifey enjoys it but I don't venture that far.  Perhaps one day...

Sam

[grawk]

the only non-cow milk I've found to be successful for microfilm is "barista" oat milk

[tyrion]

Try Sown Oat Creamer. It’s a bit creamier than the “barista” from Oatley.

[HemiSam]

Is the oat milk satisfying and/or tasty?

for whatever reason it doesn’t speak to me but perhaps simply a lack of experience with it. 
 

HS

[EdipisReks1]

2 hours ago, grawk said:

the only non-cow milk I've found to be successful for microfilm is "barista" oat milk

Oh, I’ve done all kinds. Oat milk works great, and while it doesn’t taste like milk it works similarly taste wise to me, almond is harder, but I like the taste better, soy is… well, it’s possible to do. 

Soy just doesn’t seem to have enough of whatever it is that does it. Also it’s awful.

Where it really is is macadamia nut milk! It basically works the same way as whole milk, and tastes delicious (“my latte is a snickerdoodle!”).

Edited December 12, 2021 by EdipisReks1

[EdipisReks1]

Made a latte today. First shot pulled using the Niche. 15. Worked great. 18.7 in, 41 out in 30 seconds (not including pre infusion). Not the best milk steaming I’ve ever done (used oat), but it was delicious. 

[HemiSam]

I think I'm beginning to find a groove that I can build on.  I tried the 20 gr in and more out...stopped at 36.  It takes approximately 7 seconds to see liquid out of the portafilter (machine shoots up to just over 10 bar).  Flow begins with multiple small streams and then centers out into a single stream which is a nice improvement (good recommendation in the Crema distributor / tamper Jacob).  The time it takes to get to 36 grams of liquid varies...once it was a total of 33 seconds and once 27 seconds including pre-infusion...  I have no clue but that's OK.  

By the time I had my steamed milk/froth done the crema was down 0.5 oz and I had about 1.5 oz into my cappuccino.  It was delicious.  

Steaming the milk now that I have a proper stainless pitcher is not difficult.  I have no clue about latte art but I have all the milk and froth I want which is nice.  I'll want to try a latte soon.

Thanks to ER and grawk and others I may have left off for your generous pro tips!

Sam

[EdipisReks1]

That sounds great to me, Sam! You are going to have a little variation on timing even using the same beans and same settings. Does that machine have an auto preinfusion? Also, make sure you are timing from when the pump starts (the Acaia should be sensitive enough to do that, but just wanted to make sure).

I steam the milk first, then set it on a warmer, and then pull my shot. I find it to work better for me that way, but YMMV. 

[HemiSam]

Thanks, Jacob!

The timer on the Lelit starts when I pull the lever.  I have the Pearl set so it kicks off when it senses liquid.  So I can time the pre-infusion via delta.  I can lengthen it with the paddle.  I took your advice and am leaving the paddle static for now.  Once I'm a bit more confident I'll start swinging it again....before the pre-infusion was 9 sec's or so using the recommended approach on Clive Coffee's vid.

I'll play around soon enough.  Too many variables and I won't have a clue what's going on which I believe was your point.

Highly caffeinated listening to good music out back...first world problems.

HS

[EdipisReks1]

That makes sense, and that’s a nice work flow. I’m walking while listening to a virology podcast, and only medium caffeinated: don’t want the jitters!

[EdipisReks1]

I saw this recommended on one of the coffee forums: it’s a powder pesticide sprayer. The bellows on it fits the Niche perfectly. Makes cleaning out the grinder easier and much faster than a brush. Also allows you to get that last bit of grounds without tapping and what not. 

[HemiSam]

Interesting, Jacob.

One thing I can offer about the Niche...what I put in comes out weight wise.  It's impressive.  I was not able to weigh loss on the Pearl.

I haven't cleaned mine in a good while.  It's due a brushing.  

HS

[EdipisReks1]

Oh, it doesn’t retain much (you should see what the Ode with SSP retains in comparison, and I would consider it a fairly low retention grinder, even though it was certainly not designed to grind fine for espresso, and the finer you grind the more retention you’ll get). The Niche certainly doesn’t retain enough for me to worry about it, for sure: the bellows for me is really just going to be for periodic cleaning, but thought I would mention that it would indeed get all the coffee out each time!

Going to use the Breville tomorrow; it would be a lot easier on my life if it and the Flair 58 successfully take the same grind size. The Flair Pro2 has to be slightly coarser, due to the height of the puck, and I either had to use a different grinder for each, with both dialed in or fiddle around. 

Edited December 13, 2021 by EdipisReks1

[tyrion]

23 hours ago, HemiSam said:

Is the oat milk satisfying and/or tasty?

for whatever reason it doesn’t speak to me but perhaps simply a lack of experience with it. 
 

HS

I love oat milk. I don’t drink regular milk any more. 

[EdipisReks1]

I just realized I’m going to have to either rearrange or get a bigger table once I have the Smart Espresso Profiler, to accommodate the tablet I’ll buy for it (this may be an excuse for me to get a new iPad).

I guess I wasn’t kidding when joked I was going to need a bigger boat. 

[HemiSam]

12 hours ago, tyrion said:

I love oat milk. I don’t drink regular milk any more. 

I may have to give this a try over the holiday season.  Thank you, tyrion.

HS

[EdipisReks1]

5 hours ago, HemiSam said:

I may have to give this a try over the holiday season.  Thank you, tyrion.

HS

Oat is my standard. For steaming I honestly like the Chobani extra creamy the best.

[tyrion]

I should have added Chobani. It's is excellent as well.

[EdipisReks1]

Did a cup very different from normal. AeroPress decaf Colombian (meeting a friend for coffee later, and these are great sugar process and the darkest I have), sort of a half-assed version of the Hoffman, recipe. Not bad. 

Edited December 14, 2021 by EdipisReks1

[EdipisReks1]

It worked out okay, but one thing I can say with surety is that my Breville and my Flair 58 do not take the same grind size. Also I’ve gotten used to the huge amount of power the Bellman has for steaming. Having said that, this is a delicious latte. It’s ugly, but I got a very good mouthfeel from the oat milk, and there is no bitterness in the shot despite is stalling out HARD. 

Let’s call that a long pre-infusion.

I had to do some mitigation, in process, temp surfing etc., but I hate wasting coffee or milk if I don’t have to. With a lid on a paper cup I would have left any cafe I know happy. But it’s boy ugly. 

Edited December 16, 2021 by EdipisReks1

[EdipisReks1]

It didn’t channel, per se (in the way most people use the term), but you can see where pressure was higher due to the grind being too fine. I have a very careful puck prep. I think this would have totally failed otherwise. 

[EdipisReks1]

Re: Niche. I like it a lot. After I took it to pieces and fixed the assembly issue that was causing calibration to drift. I’m sure this is a QA issue due to trying to get units out, but I also doubt the average buyer could have fixed it (I’m hardly the average buyer, fortunately). 

It is nice to use and fun and happy looking and will never be the limiting factor to any espresso I make (it ain’t replacing the Ode with SSP for filter, but would be fine if I didn’t have that). It is certainly inferior to the OE OG and, to a lesser degree, the Option-O Remi, but these are not surprises.

I’m glad I bought it, and I grant a mulligan to the assembly issues. Basically no bearing surface was tightened enough, and I replaced two washers that were undersized in the drive shaft: being undersized the torque of grinding beans caused the assembly to move, as the washers didn’t do their job of preventing motion (certainly prevented friction!). Ode had the same issues, more or less. 

Sticks now, after use. 

Edited December 16, 2021 by EdipisReks1

[HemiSam]

I love my Niche and have used it for french press and then I went 100% Chemex for the last few years.  Grind quite coarse but maybe not as coarse as some.

For the espresso, and given how little I know at this point, it seems to be doing fine.  I did find that my calibration had gone to seed but that was on me.  Now you have me wondering about the internals, Jacob...damn you.  LOL

HS