Mildly Addicted

Temperature Mod Complete

2005-10-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

I wrote a play by play of the surgery over on coffeegeek:

http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/espresso/machines/179943

More pics of the fitting

2005-10-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some additional pictures of the fitting and probe.

The plan is to drill a vertical hole in the grouphead of my WEGA espresso machine, use a tap tool to thread the hole, and insert the fitting and thermocouple probe into the grouphead. The probe length can be adjusted so that it sits as close as possible to the shower screen, thereby giving me a relatively accurate way of measuring brewing temperature in real time during the actual brewing process.

I plan to have the probe installed on Sunday, Oct 16. Stay tuned.

Bride of FrE61nkenstein

2005-10-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

OK - after a long 3 week waiting period while OMEGA fabricated my custom thermocouple probe, it finally arrived in the mail yesterday.

The thermocouple probe is on the left and it is encased in a stainless steel sheath.

The compression fitting consists of a dark colored nut, a compression collar, and the 1/8" threaded fitting.

Here is a pic of the dissasembled parts:

Coffee Roasting

2005-09-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

I had an opportunity to visit Vancouver's newest coffee roaster yesterday. Caffe Artigiano is a well known Vancouver cafe (home of Sammy Piccolo, 3 time Canadian Barista champ), and they are now roasting their own beans. Their roasting company is called 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters, and their roasting plant is in Burnaby.

They have a brand new 60kg Renegade roaster made by Joper. I saw it in action as they were roasting a fresh batch of their newly developed espresso blend. All I can say is it was impressive to watch.

Vince and Michael were kind enough to send me home with some coffee and one of their brand new cups that they have not even started using in their cafes yet.

I tried this same blend a couple of weeks ago, and I really like it. It is quite different from the Hines espresso that I normally use - it has lots of chocolate notes and is great as straight espresso and in milk as a cappa.

Vancouver is becoming very well known for its specialty coffee scene, and 49th Parallel will defintitely help put us on the map.

FrE61nkenstein Falters

2005-09-10T18:23:00.000-07:00

Had some trouble with the temperature mod.

Details here:

http://www.home-barista.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=3692#3692

I am working on plan B - more details in a couple of days.

Clean PF

2005-09-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic after a quick scrub with espresso detergent.

After every brewing session, I always rinse the PF under my hot water wand and wipe it with a cloth, but this obviously is not enough to get rid of the coffee oil buildup on the PF.

I guess daily dtergent scrubs are in order.

Nasty Coffee Residue

2005-09-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

This is a pic of my portafilter after about one week's use.

FrE61nkenstein Lives!

2005-08-31T23:14:00.000-07:00

I have finally finished the real time temp probe mod. I have only played around with it for an hour or so, but so far Ilike it a lot. I finally deep-sixed my ratty old chopped up styrofoam cup and I should be able to get a better picture of brew temp stability during my shots.

More info will be posted after I get more brew time in.

Espresso Project

2005-08-28T14:29:00.000-07:00

I am currently modding my espresso machine so that I can monitor brew temperature in real time. Check out the link to the FrE61nkenstein project on my coffee web page:

http://www.strugs.ca/strugs_coffee.htm

Old School Update

2005-08-16T00:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I have now been using the Zass for over a month, and something weird is happening. It works fine for press, but my last few vac pots have stalled. I am using a Silex glass rod filter, and I have tried a myriad of grind adjustments and regardless of the setting (yes even the most course setting I use for press pot), 90% of the coffee stays in the top section of the vac pot. I am going to try to use my other glass rod (a vintage Cory) and see if this helps, but I doubt it. The really strage thing is that I brewed several vac pots with the Zass when I first picked it up (I was grinding at about the mid point between course and fine), and it worked fine. Weirdness.

Coffee Crusade

2005-07-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

Well, my family and I are off to the Maritimes (New Brunswick) for two weeks to visit family, eat lobster, and drink beer. I have made it my personal mission to enlighten as many people I can about quality coffee. Maritimers really need to come to grips with one fact: coffee is NOT A COMMODITY. Seriously, Maritimers drink a LOT of coffee. But they consume it as a way to wake up or keep energy levels high, with no regard for the flavor aromas of coffee.

Tim Horton's is their weapon of choice. Tim Horton's coffee for those that may not be aware is the most vile disgusting coffee you can think of this side of 7-11. Most Tim's customers order it as a "double double" which means two creams (yes heavy cream - not milk) and two sugars, which are added behind the counter. Without the additives, the coffee itself is undrinkable.

Anyways, I picked up an assortment of freshly roasted (07/19) Mexican, El Salvadorian, Sulawesi, and Rawandan coffees from the Elysian Room and the Wicked Cafe today. Man, my carry-on bag is going to smell GREAT.

I am also packing along my newly acquired Zassenhaus grinder and one of my many french presses. I will not rest until I convince at leats one person to quit drinking Tim's.

Old School

2005-07-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

As much as I love espresso and its associated technical gear, I also love retro coffee. I love the idea of being able to make coffee without electricity. Although I have been enjoying low-tech brewing by way of my Hario vacuum pot and butane torch burner, I have always been at the mercy of AC current when it comes to grinding beans. Well yesterday, that all changed. A Zassenhaus grinder is the newest addition to the Strugs low-tech coffee family.

Podcasting

2005-07-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago, I had a pretty unique opportunity. I was invited to participate in a round-table discussion with the "head coffeegeek" himself, Mark Prince. Other attendees included Brad Ford (owner of the Wicked Cafe on West 7th where the podcast was recorded), Alistair Durie (owner of the Elysian Room on West 5th), and another non-pro CoffeeGeek like myself, Robert who goes by the name Dasein on CoffeeGeek.com.

It was a real blast talking about coffee with others that are as passionate about it as I am. Watch the coffeegeek web site for the upcoming podcast - it should be available for downloading sometime next week.

Hines Costa Rica Extra Fancy

2005-07-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

My favorite single origin so far. Very clean tasting, lots of mild berry and citrus fruit flavours, which seem to emerge and get more intense as the coffee cools. The acidity is noticeable, but it is mild and pleasant. I cannot think of a better morning cup of coffee.

I used about 35 grams of beans in my "5 cup" Hario vac pot (brews two mugs), ground probably a little more course than drip, and the brew time was about three minutes.

I must remember to give these beans a go in a french press.

Tanzanian Peaberry - Part II

2005-06-27T00:23:00.000-07:00

Tried these beans again tonight after dinner using my french press. I liked it a lot more using the press than the vac pot. The press brew had a better finish with less muddy overtones.

Makes me wonder why coffee made with a press can be so different than with the vacuum pot. I use a glass filter with the vac pot, so there is no contamination from paper or cloth. Strange indeed....

Either way, these are still not my favorite beans. I think I will try some other varietals next week.

Tanzanian Peaberry

2005-06-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

Brewed a vac pot using 35 grams to make 2 mugs (approx 20 fl oz) this morning.

Alistair from the Elysian Room swears by this stuff, but I am just not getting it. I have brewed this varietal 6 or 7 times, and the best way I can describe it is "muddy". I thought I might be brewing too long (about 3 minutes total from when the water starts to come up into the top globe until I shut off the flame), so I tried shortening the brew time today to about two minutes, but it ended up tasting too watery. There are definitely strong flavors in the cup, but it seems like the flavors are competing with each other, leaving nothing special as an overall result.

Maybe I will try it in a french press later to see if that makes any difference.

First Coffee Blog - Niceraguan Fair Trade Organic

2005-06-26T00:14:00.000-07:00

This blog will follow my tasting experiences from the wonderful world of coffee. Coffee - the world's most popular (yet legal) drug.

Niceraguan fair trade organic beans roasted on June 22, 2005 by Hines of Seattle (soon to be Hines of Vancouver - so I am told).

Brewed a great cup with the french press, which I rarely use at home.

Mild acidity, medium to full body. Great evening coffee - maybe not quite bright enough for a fisrt coffee of the morning.