Coffee: we drink it or we get angry.

Hand grinder porn:

 

@HAL9000 oh yeah the HG1 is pretty moist. That plus the cremina would be my dream espresso work setup!

Thanks guys sounds like the Lido is great, esp if it outperforms the vario with ditting burrs.

 

There's this great little coffee shop in Macau that is super tiny and in a back alley. You go in and they have crammed onto their tiny counter the above-pictured HG-One, a Versalab M3, a Mazzer Robur , some other commercial electric grinder, a Linea, a GS3, pour over setup etc.. all of this stuff crammed in there had a real mad scientist feel. It's a really top notch SCAE-certified setup though.

 

@DigMe that sounds really cool! What's the name of the place? How do you find it?

 

more grinder porn, this a versalab m3 modified by terranova:

 

Great... My Baratza Virtuoso coffee grinder now has insecurity issues and low self-esteem. Thanks...

 

That's been my experience as well.

When I lived in the Seattle area I would actually "import" green coffee beans from Sweet Maria's in California and roast my own as it was nearly impossible to dust up a good light or medium roast (Full City / Full City+) in the Greater Seattle Area from a mainstream vendor in the mid 2000s. Around 2010/12 that changed and I sold my roaster and just bought Seattle's Best at Safeway.

The coffee selection in Calgary is a bit more limited than in the Seattle area (DUH!). There are some roasters out of BC that are pretty decent. Also, Costco here has pretty good coffee, actually. Just stick with the medium or light roasts. And, finally, the Calgary Co-Op in Crowfoot sells freshly roasted coffee. Seriously! They have their own roaster and appear to have a clue about coffee too. I've gotten some good Guatemalan and Ethiopian coffees there. Both honest light (Full City) roasts.

Life's too short for bad coffee...

Tom

 

@tomchr well shit man, that coffee porn photography is top notch my friend. also the virtuoso is a super good grinder. only a few sickos in this thread pursue absurd precision in coffee. makes a difference but costs quite a bit. still, hobbies are a spice of life

Addendum: Sweet man, I'd love to try roasting greens from sweet maria's someday!

 

No kidding. Top notch product photography there!

I like the Virtuoso. It produces a good and consistent grind. Perfect for my French press.

 

@DigMe how much effort does it need to use the OE Lido? I usually find manual grinders tiring for anything other than traveling since I don't need to brew a lot.

 

I have a virtuoso as well but wonder about the consistency. It is probably just my brewing technique, but I buy the same locally roatesd beans that the coffee shops I like use and can't get the same tasty results.

 

It is a piece of cake with medium to dark roasts. You have to anchor it on your thigh for lighter roasts. Takes about 30 seconds to grind a scoop (~14 gms) for the Aeropress...

 

What!? Not in blue? BTW, I think the color and iconography of the HP-1 are a refreshing change...

 

I'd like to add that if you're going to buy store bought coffee, Trader Joe's Ethiopian is the best I've tried.

 

The virtuoso is a fine grinder.

I used to be a roaster as well. I've roasted with various dedicated coffee roasters, popcorn poppers, a frankenroaster that I put together based on the SC/CO concept (Google it) and then in the end I was using a Behmor 1600 drum roaster. I got the very best roasts from the SC/CO. I had very precise temp control using a multimeter with a thermo terminal and I was experimenting and making my own roast profiles. After my first kid came I was getting to where I didn't don't have time for such perfectionism and I switched to the more automated Behmor setup. Finally I just decided I didn't have time to roast at all on a consistent basis and now I order from great roasters that roast to order. I learned a lot more about coffee in those days though!

 

It can be hard to give directions in Macau.
Rua de Abreu Nunes 19, Macau China

If you can find Vasco de Gama park which is directly in front of the sports complex and the Royal Hotel (which taxis should know) then it's not too hard. From the Royal go directly to the opposite side of the park/plaza. There is a bunch of bus stops there and right across the street from those stops is an opening between the buildings to an alleyway. Single Origin is right on the corner there in that alley. It doesn't open until noon like most HK and Macanese coffee shops.

Hong Kong is spoiled for great coffee now. So many good cafes there.

 

Start from the basics. Are you using a scale and using consistent and specific coffee to water ratios? Are you heating your water to a specific temperature? What's your brew method?

 

To expand on what was already said, the Lidos have a fairly aggressive burr set, so they require some force to turn, but they don't tire you out like other grinders because you don't have to turn it as many times. Grinding 17 grams at an 8 for drip takes about 60-70 rotations on my Lido 3, which I believe is a little less aggressive than the Lido 2.

As was said above, the darker the beans, the easier they'll grind. But, compared to other hand grinders, you've got a nice big handle and a nice big body for you to push against yourself (I steady my grinder against my abdomen, not my thigh) and get enough leverage. It's really night and day compared to other, smaller hand grinders, (which also have duller burrs,) where you've got this little thin piece of metal with a tiny plastic grip on top.

 

I try to be as scientific as possible. I use a scale, a timer, and measure the temperature with an electronic thermometer. My usual ratio is between 1:15-1:17 and temperature between 199F-203F. For the last week I have been trying to brew as consistently as possible using 18g of coffee for 300ml of water in a v60 with 200F water. 30s bloom and a steady pour to around 1:30, brew is finished at 2:30. Generally I see 3:00 minutes as a recommendation for v60, but that always seems to taste bitter to me. I have been trying to bring out the acidity a bit more by shortening the brew time. I am fairly certain it is not the beans because the coffees I get from the shops are all wonderfully clean tasting with a nice acidity.

I could probably do a better job of isolating variables in my method to try to determine the impact. I do think I am getting closer to developing a baseline of understanding the v60. I find pourover takes a lot of expertise to be done really well.

 

It is possible that it's the grinder that's falling short when compared to a commercial grinder at a cafe but I think you should still be able to get good coffee with your method and measurements. What is the difference in what you're tasting at home vs at the shop?

Since you've mentioned everything else maybe experiment with grind size. Go coarser or finer than you thought and see what happens.