So I got rid of my Keurig and am switching to pour over. Got an OXO Burr grinder and a gooseneck kettle. Used them for the first time this morning, and so far my coffee tastes stronger and richer. And I can do more than 12oz if I want.

jfv wrote: Thu Feb 03, 2022 8:01 am Folks who have burr grinders:

How often do you clean them out?

I've never cleaned mine in..oh..10+ years.

zircona1 wrote: Mon Aug 29, 2022 10:42 am So I got rid of my Keurig and am switching to pour over. Got an OXO Burr grinder and a gooseneck kettle. Used them for the first time this morning, and so far my coffee tastes stronger and richer. And I can do more than 12oz if I want.

Keurigs are so terrible. I mean I have never had good coffee from one of those. Nespresso machines on the other hand seem to me to make a damn fine coffee/cafe.

enframed wrote: Mon Aug 29, 2022 10:43 am

jfv wrote: Thu Feb 03, 2022 8:01 am Folks who have burr grinders:

How often do you clean them out?

I've never cleaned mine in..oh..10+ years.

Me neither.
Don't do more than rinse my travel mug either, which I use like a thermos at home as well. Had a nice "patina" going here from the past couple years, but two weeks of US-American tap water managed to disappear it recently with no extra intervention on my part.

Someone gave me a new grinder for my bday last year. I can’t get a fine enough grind out of it. Is there a method of sharpening without taking it apart?

Edit: Just looked it up. Rice? Really?

Do you really need it that fine outside of trying for espresso?

When I upgraded/replaced shot burr grinder last year I had to keep going coarser and coarser in order for my drip coffee to not taste charred and bitter (french press would be even more so though I don't use that much these days). I now have it set maybe 2 notches away from full coarse.

enframed wrote: Mon Aug 29, 2022 10:47 am

zircona1 wrote: Mon Aug 29, 2022 10:42 am So I got rid of my Keurig and am switching to pour over. Got an OXO Burr grinder and a gooseneck kettle. Used them for the first time this morning, and so far my coffee tastes stronger and richer. And I can do more than 12oz if I want.

Keurigs are so terrible. I mean I have never had good coffee from one of those. Nespresso machines on the other hand seem to me to make a damn fine coffee/cafe.

Agreed, the Nespresso is a really serviceable, if wasteful way to get a quick fix for under $1 a cup.

For me, the Keurig was just something of convenience - load it up, press the button, go off and do something for a few minutes, come back to hot coffee. I suspect that's the appeal for a lot of people. Also, my parents have one.

But it recently had started making noises that sounded like seals, and I had read on Serious Eats about how Keurigs aren't good about getting the most out of your coffee (plus, bad for the environment, but I had a refillable pod).

Tom Wanderer wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 9:06 am...My personal favorites are naturally processed Ethiopian coffees. The natural processing means they leave the cherry (the fruit) on the bean as it dries. The result is that the coffee is often wildly fruity in aroma and has a unique flavor...

Yes yes yes. Cannot stress enough what a transformative experience my first time trying dry process coffee was. Absolutely incredible. If you like a fruit (especially berry)-forward, medium acidity brew at all, you owe it to yourself to seek out a naturally processed coffee. Can't justify the expense of drinking fancy on the regular but my (a Canadian; sorry) favourites have historically been Kossa Geshe from Dispatch & Ana Sora from Pilot.

Recently down from, uh, 120ish oz. of brewed coffee a day to somewhere between 14-32. Outside of treats, I think I've mostly found my various points of diminishing returns: will always grind (medium-medium fine) fresh before brewing, albeit with a cheap burr grinder - I have a nicer manual grinder but it's mostly for travel; I'm a committed pourover person and love a Chemex, but after shattering several (actual dyspraxia or just broadly bad at having a body? Who can never be sure!), a $6 Melitta (plastic!) dripper does just fine for one mug; would love to drink a lovely single-origin from a craft roaster every day but the ~$8/lb Zavida Colombian coffee I get at Costco makes a better cup than I can get at any cafés near me (which, admittedly, are mostly Starbucks). A scale is the most useful thing in my kitchen, whether for coffee or otherwise - pretty committed to 1:16 or about 60g/L, which also makes the math very easy at an ounce to a 16 oz cup.

I think I've (mostly) found the point between "fussy but worthwhile ritual" and "wake-up juice immediately please" that works best for me. Coffee is a very nice thing.

I now seem to need one triple espresso per day to function well; more caffeine is too much, less is not enough. To my shame, for the past month or so I've been going to the very convenient Starbucks across the street for my daily fix. This must end. If things were different I'd buy, like, a $12,000 espresso machine for my personal use, but as it is I think I'll get a small stovetop moka pot and try using that to make, at home, an approximation of espresso for my neurologically imperative 3 shots per morning.