I haven't watched coffee related videos for a while, stay away from a lot of internet coffee chatters, you channel is one of the few that I still enjoy to watch.
This is probably the best video I’ve seen out there on a general overview of the speciality coffee world, well done! Everything you covered in this video I learned over the course of the last year browsing subreddits, comments there etc. You summed everything up incredibly well and I’ll def recommend this to any friends / family getting into coffee in more depth.
Absolutely excellent and very practical advice that hits on all the key things I have learned over almost 20 years as well! Great resource for beginners and more experienced coffee nerds.
Hario Switch is worth buying if you like to experiment with whatever brew comes to mind. It's a V60 that you can play around for coffee but you can also use the switching to control brewing of tea and/or yerba mate. You can pour some water with switch closed, wait for it to brew for some time, release the switch and repeat the process until enough tea is extracted. Similarly for yerba. After all brewing, you can just take all of the leaves/coffee grounds and throw it out with the filter so cleaning the Switch is very easy. This is really appealing for cleaning after yerba mate as I don't like cleaning matero afterwards. For purists this might not be the best as the tastes of different brews might linger a bit (even though in principle it is glass and shouldn't be a problem at all) but overall just the ability or having the choice to do something a bit more unusual is insanely appealing to me. Great advice, cheers!
My best advice: Try the coffee at a local cafe (hopefully you have a good roastery around) If you like it, buy the beans and ask the barista on how he makes the coffee. Saves you tons of time and money (in sense of the bean) because you just try to get the 'numbers' your barista gets. And it turns out great. Because he found out those numbers works the best for this coffee! My most frustrating experience is usually when buying without trying / online and then trying to match the tastes by using ten differend recipes and mostly getting there, once the pack is finished...
This was a masterclass. Exactly what I was looking for after getting into coffee in my 50s and not knowing about anything other than bland, boring drip.
I'm glad I don't prefer espresso. For about $150 I was able to assemble the pour over kit needed to make awesome cups of coffee. Hario V60, electric goose neck kettle, Kingrinder hand grinder. So much better than the blade grinder and auto drip machine I was using before.
I have always wondered what your background and expertise was. Thanks for all of this reasonable advice about specialty coffee. If I only I had this video years ago, it would have saved me so much time and effort. LOL
Needed this video back in 2020. Think this will be my go to video for people looking to get more into coffee. Short, sweet, and packed with info! Also - your coffee recipes are awesome! That’s the other key thing to know when getting into coffee! 🎉🎉🎉🙏🙏🙏
Wish I knew about pour over when I started hard core into espresso back in 2018, thank you for such good info in your videos keep it up love your channel :) :)
I started drinking coffee since I was 5 years old, I"m 51 years old now and I roast my own coffee. I just upgraded my espresso machine to a Rancilio Silva X Pro from a Lelit Anna, and I still have a lot to learn. Great video!
thanks for this video! ive watched alot UA-cam coffee videos and i can't remember a better video filled with so much helpful advice, not just for beginners ( ive been in coffee business for 7 yrs) and found this perspective very helpful...going to watch it over and over until it seeks in and helps me out of the rabbit hole lol
I've discovered I can power my hand grinder with a cordless drill. It conveniently has a 1/4" hex on the shaft where the handle attaches. It's a great hack if you get tired of grinding by hand and can't afford a good quality electric grinder, and already have a drill.
True but high RPMs on hand grinder burrs can make the grind quality noticeably worse. I'd try to stay under 200 or so RPM for light roast or when going for clarity in cup in general
Love it. Straight and to the point. I have been a coffee snob for multiple years, but never attempted to make my own with an espresso machine, milk steamer etc. Always went for upper class roasteries and nice beans for my old bean to cup machine. I have since invested into a nice stand alone espresso maker with steam wand, and im learning to make my own, barista style. Its definately a learning curve, but what you said about beans and roasting is so accurate. I dare not delve into the roasting aspect of beans, but I have a great local roaster. I just need to get better at making my wife's coffee 😅
I started my coffee journey about 8 years ago. I have a ZP6 and V60 for pourovers, and Kingrinder K2 and Picopresso for espresso, and a french press for milk frothing. Now, I rather make myself a coffee at home than going to some fancy specialty coffee shop, because most of them are disappointing compared to what I am able to make at home. And even if I use the best beans I can get, it costs me the fraction of what I would spend in a coffee shop for a drink.
I would personally recommend the Clever Dripper over the Hario Switch. The Clever Dripper takes standard Melitta filters you can get in every supermarket and is therefore much more affordable while basically offering the same functionality.
I’m considering a Chemex. The coffee looks clean and beautiful in the glass. So you have to pre-wet the paper filters with boiling water, dump water, and then add the coffee?
This is a great video. My coffee journey started with a Braun drip coffee maker in the 90's with horrible pre ground beans, a gold mesh reusable filter, and tap water that was very hard. I don't think I could find acceptable today what I consumed regularly back then. It can be a magical journey if you are so inclined.
My little advice from someone who quite recently started enjoying specialty coffee is: if you want an espresso machine, I am having great results with the Flair (basic model BUT get the pression gauge add on) hand machine + a good (for the price range) burr grinder like the Joy Resolve. Also you need a grams small scale, a kettle with temperature control.
It's not. It depends on the person.... I have never liked coffee until I tried my first really good espresso about 30 years ago. I have had the same set up for about 20 years now. I keep trying other forms of extraction and always come back to espresso ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ yes, i regularly cup to discover new roasts and roasted my own for over a decade but on a daily basis, espresso for me is the only game in town.
My home is in Bali and I take advantage of the variety of Indonesian coffee from Toraja, Java, Iran Jaya, Bali and Aceh. Of course, the mixed variety blends use Brazil, Ethiopia, and Columbia coffee. I drink one Cappuccino with Almond milk in the morning and two De-Cafe Piccolo before 2 pm. I use an Espresso machine and an electric grinder. Sometimes add cinnamon or cocoa powder or Coccream. Still, explore the varieties of coffee and the coffee shops in Indonesia are exploding. Excellent coffee machines are used even in small places with only 10 sets they use La marzocco
As I just responded to someone else, I bought an Aeropress recently, soon followed by a Hario Switch after watching your video on your top five filter baskets, and I find myself reaching for the Switch almost every time. I also like it way more than my Clever Dripper (whose spot in your faves was taken by the Switch). I don't understand why it's so much better, but I guess it has something to do with the fact that it (and/or the Cafec filters I bought) is better for hybrid brewing than the Clever. Been using your hybrid recipe or a hybrid of your and Tetsu Kasuya's hybrid recipes. Might also be related to having started using bypass water.
I have pretty soft water where I live so tap water does the job but I try to see if bottled water makes a difference to my coffee by getting them if they’re offered as extras in takeaways, always work within your means
I really value the last point you made on balance and not getting stuck on extremes. So many examples of that: the highest extraction doesn't always yield the tastiest coffee, nor does using boiling water each and every time. Swirling does not always guarantee a more even extraction, it can also end up doing the opposite. And sometimes the Washed processed bean from the same lot ends up tasting better than the Natural one. :) On freshness, and this might be a tad controversial: if you buy coffee only in small 250g packs, consume it quick and store it airtight, then having it preground fresh at the roaster is probably a better option than using most home grinders.
Lots of coffee influencers always focus on "The Number": TDS, extraction yield, total brew time, etc. It is ultimately futile to try to put an objective measurement on something that is so subjective, taste. Plus, to be perfectly scientific, we would need to control all variables, which gets into the topic of fluid dynamics... a rabbit hole that is just not worth digging into.
The best coffee I ever had was a pan roasted, mortar ground, pot brewed, and freshly served cup made by an old lady on the street side in Ethiopia. No modern gadgets. Great coffee.
Like always, everything is personal preference. I started by buying a good espresso machine and it’s the best thing I’ve done. For some it might be overwhelming. Overall good advice tho!
Video idea: As a fellow Dane, i would love a deep dive video into brew water. Different ways to achieve great quality coffee water when the tap water is very hard. I still haven’t landed on a permanent solution for myself at home, and end up brewing mostly from the tap, just because i can’t decide which setup i want for processing my brew water. But i do know how huge of a difference water quality makes, so i would love a video highlighting the available options, pros and cons, optimal mineral levels etc.
Thank you so much for your advice: i'll sure try to get my best in moka and clever dripper (pourover are maybe too hard with a simple kettle) before get in espresso. The only thing i do not understand is why not advicing the diy water: i was able to do it with the standard barista hustle charts and it had changed my experience night and day even with simple dark coffee mix from a local roaster. If one have really heavy tap water like i here in Italy even a simple moka get plain and dull
I’ve put a lot of effort into pour over with a very good grinder and very good coffee, adjusting many variables and it just always tastes bland and weak. I can never compromise on espresso as my daily method. I guess people who like pour over just like subtle watery coffee.
Nice video, yet 16 years is rather a newbie to some. ;) Recommend a movie called "Bagdad Cafe", where a European lady visits a desert motel and the comment about the typical U.S. coffee is "That's not coffee, that's just brown water". I enjoy a full blown Italian short-style espresso, even if it's just from a simple pot.
Have you tried adding Chicory powder to Coffee Grounds? In south India, we add 20-30% Chicory powder to thicken the decoction. Also we make coffee with milk. More like latte.
Great video but I disagree with what you said about terroir. A farmer in Guatemala told me that if you grow the same coffee on a different part of his farm, it will get different exposure to light, different exposure to humidity, and will taste different. An exporter in Colombia that gives seeds to farms and cups lots very actively, told me that what's in the soil has a profound impact on flavor. I agree that processing and variety are important and often those can play into perceived geographical details, for example Ethiopia will have cultivated differences in their processing (whether cherry sits before depulping, how long it sits in tanks, how it is dried) and it also has such a wide genetic offering compared to other countries... but its elevation, soil, moisture exposure, and sun will all be a unique contributor as well.
These things play a role, yes. My argument is more that processing and varietal play the most significant role if we have to isolate some factors, and that old school coffee marketing about certain countries are tasting like X or Z because volcanic soil or microclimate is overrated. For instance, I can identify different processing methods when blind cupping and give you a description of their general attributes. I also like to think that I can blind taste the difference between a catimor and a geisha. But can I taste the difference between two different sides of the mountain? I'm not sure. Maybe if I have the two lots next to each other on a cupping table. But if I don't have that comparison I can't really make any generalisations about the differences or explain to somebody else what the attributes are of the better microclimate. So when we can't accurately describe what is better about it, or even have an objective measurement to show it, I think it's hard to make the case that it's something that should be emphasized if a beginner wants to understand what informs the flavors they're experiencing in the cup.
@@coffeechronicler oh, I certainly agree. Most of the marketing around countries taste like X or Y are silly. I appreciate all your points. Just thought I'd bring up some more nuance.
I see that you are using a Chestnut S3. Be careful, the handle is the weak point. I broke mine a few days ago after 3 months of use, and I saw online other enthusiasts having the same issue. Trying to reach Timemore to get replacement parts.
Interesting video, thanks for doing it. If you are going to buy a pour over maker, don't bother with the plain Hario V60, the Switch can be used just like the regular V60, or as an immersion maker, once you try the immersion method the Switch you probably won't make any regular pour overs anymore! The AeroPress is not an espresso maker as the company tried to advertise it as such, it is just a French Press with a filter and little pressure. Frankly, since I have both, an AeroPress and a French Press, the French Press has better and a bit stronger flavor. Both of those makers are immersion makers, as is the Hario Switch, but the Switch has those other two beat. I'm not a barista, but I do like my coffee strong, which is why I also like the Bialetti Brikka Moka Pot, and Turkish Coffee. For a lot of you those methods might be too strong of a brew, but the Brikka does make coffee that is very close to what an espresso would taste like.
Make 7-8 separate ten minute videos on all these topics? Nah. I appreciate you condensing all these topics and giving the highlights in a succinct fashion. This will definitely help new coffee nerds get to the good part of the journey quicker. :) Btw. I left a question for you in your Brew Burrs video. If you have a little time, could you take a peak at it? I'd love your input. :)
Thank you for this video! I'm new to pourers, have the Hairo v60 and a electric grinder. I recently purchased a coffee scale with timer. I can reset the measurements with each pour but the there is no way to reset the timer without turning the power of and on again. Is this how all coffee scales work?
You should make a video entirely on cupping. Sure, there are lots of out there, but as an actual q grader I think it would be a bit more relevant coming from you than others on youtube.
Yeah, I probably should! I have to attend Q Grader calibration soon (it's every third year) so maybe that would be a good occasion to record the whole ritual.
I bought my first specialty coffee maker in 1974- a Vesuviana. Over the years I’ve acquired moka pots, a French press, espresso machines, Chemex, automatic drip and percolator machines. I’ve enjoyed them all but the simple Melita pour over has been my most favored way of brewing coffee. It’s consistent, easy, fast and tasty. What would a Hario give me that the Melita does not? Not wishing to argue, I’m just curious what makes one pour over better than another.
That sounds like quite a journey so far! I would recommend continuing it and trying the V60. I think you'll find it will give you a slightly more complrex acidity and more interesting aftertaste compared to the Melitta. However, the technique is also a bit more complicated, so that would be the downside.
If we put it in to perspective how much does grinder play a role in the taste of brewed coffee compared to things like type of water, beans or processing method as an example? The reason I ask is that I have seen videos comparing different hand grinders and how they produce different taste profile. They are different machines so surely there are differences, but for the average person I somehow doubt that one would taste that much difference if settings are close to one another, especially with other variances taken into account, maybe your water is few degrees off from one cup to another and so on. Would be interesting to see blind test for say 5 hand grinders with settings matched and you would have 3-5 people with varying coffee experience ranking them and describing their experience, in this way we could see if there are similarities between amateurs and professionals and what kind of difference they find. Maybe one rest for pour over and another for espresso.
No perfect solution, but Nornir is pretty good. To work really well with something like Coffee Collective it needs to be diluted to half strength, though.
I agree with everything, except the single - dose basket. That's just setting up beginners for possibly endless frustration 😂. Even many professional baristi these days refuse to use them. You need to practise a lot and be super consistent to make it work, and even then it doesn't work equally well on all machines. And which tamper(s) would you recommended? Nah, if you're a beginner and don’t want to practise forever (and waste a lot of coffee on the way!) just to make tasty shots, stay away from single-dose baskets!
Great video! I like those coffee glasses a lot haha, where can I find them? Your comment about coffee water intrigued me as well. I demineralize my water and remineralize with epsom and sodiumbicarb (60 ppm, 1:2 Na:Mg ratio) and I think it accentuates the subtle floral and fruity flavours quite well; in my experience better than just diluting the tap water to 60-80 ppm. What are your suggestions to make your tap water if not using just epsom and sodiumbicarb?
Thanks! I'd probably sub baking soda for potassium bicarb, and go much lower than generally recommended. I'm sceptical about recipes relying only on magnesium for hardness, so would get some calcium in there too. Glasses can be found on Aliexpress :)
unfortunately where i live, or at least in my area, i couldn't find fresh coffee even at the local roasters where i previously could. The youngest roast i could get was already more than 15 days old and all the other bags were a month old or older. Next time i go to the same roaster i'll see if it's still the case but i have the impression that people started buying cheaper beans at grocery stores and etc because everything went up in price like crazy in canada (housing and food mostly) so i'm assuming many people stopped buying expensive coffee in favor of cheap stuff because they simply can't afford it anymore. Less sales means that the roasts stay longer on the shelf and eventually they just use them to brew on site to avoid total loss. So yeah, if next time i go, it's still mostly month old roasts i'm just gonna do like everyone else and buy cheap coffee. why would i pay $23cad for 340g of stale coffee when i could just get also stale coffee but in bulk and cheaper?
Thanks for all this! I have been playing around with your keep-it-simple water advice (putting decent tap water into reverse-osmosis water and aiming for a basic TDS range). There is a bit of a rabbit-hole here: the simple TDS meters measure electrical conductivity and then convert that to TDS, but they use different conversion factors, and thus produce rather different numbers for the same water. Do you know if your recommendations are based on the NaCl or 442 type meter? (Not looking to complicate the keep-it-simple advice!)
My recommendations are based on NaCl type of TDS pen (which I believe is the most common one). But it's actually not so important which type you're using, if you follow my approach of diluting tap or mineral water with RO to achieve your brew water. You just want to find out what tastes good for the coffee you have at hand and then continue targetting that TDS range. You can quickly make consecutive brews with a blend of 30 TDS, 60 TDS and 90 TDS. And then after that you'll know your preference - it will be different from water source to water source what tastes good. And also be dependent on the roasting style of the bean. You could of course also use a KH drop test kit if you really want to know the exact alkalinity. But that's just more work for a number that might not mean much to you unless you want to go into that dangerous rabbit hole :)
I wonder what are the pros and cons of pour over vs french press. Both are simple methods. Pour over is more simple (at leats on clean up) but taste wise I wonder if there's a difference.
I really really love coffee, but it's so frustrating that I never find fellow coffee geeks in real life. Most people here in Germany prentend to be coffee lovers but then it turns out they love expensive portafilter machines, Latte Art and even cups, but not the actual drink. As soon as you want to talk about the actual coffee, the vobabulary narrows down to "good" and "bad" and when they see me brewing with my V60 they pitty me and want to give me a "real coffee machine" for christmas. They really think that my aero press is a camping or emergency coffee brewer but don't understand how someone could use it at home. They truly and honestly belive that nespresso pods are an improvement over filter coffee and that a real barista would scorn a french press. They see mine and think it's something I bought out of nostalgia missing my days as a student. These people buy expensive grinders, pitty me with my handgrinder and use them to pre-grind the coffee for the week and they let the rest of the coffee for the month sit in a see through, open bean hoppers
Hey man 👋 I believe the freshly ground coffee I make is too light in texture? Not dark enough and lacks the depth we get from mere dry roasted supermarket brands? 🙏
In 14 months I bought : moka pot, kingrinder k6, filter to improve moka pot, I did workshops, Hario v60, now I'm with aeropress 😂 I did a workshop on espresso last week... God it is hard and espresso machine are very expensive! I think I will stay long time with those things. I think I have all I need. Ah yes I bought an electric kettle and an electric scale last year on aliexpress with Chinese brands who are 2 to 10 times less expensive and who do the same jobs or really close to the best :-p I search things to improve my coffee with less expensive object ^^ Atm I think about water. And of course, since long time now I think about water. But now I look at magnesium and calcium and pH of the water and the level of HCO3-. It is my subject atm + increasing my skill on aeropress (and I think like Hoffman we don't need to be too much geek with voodoo techniques with the aeropress (even if I tried a lot of voodoo techniques with my bialetti 😂😂😂)). We can measure and test, and try a lot of different things with coffee. And with the same coffee, and the same machine. We can try different temperatures, different techniques, recipe, different waters, différents grinding size, etc. (hope to not do too much faults with the English, not my first language)
Yeeeep. I run an espresso machine for work and I tell you, they're a pain. In addition to the dialing in, needing to clean them, repair them, and such. Aeropress, V60, and if I'm feeling fancy, vacuum pot are my go-to. Hario scale, manual kingrinder, and good beans are what I'd recommend. Espresso is overrated IMO. People just like it added to sugary drinks and the like, so it can be mostly milk. If you truly like coffee, you should be able to still enjoy it black, even if you prefer adding something.
I haven't watched coffee related videos for a while, stay away from a lot of internet coffee chatters, you channel is one of the few that I still enjoy to watch.
This is probably the best video I’ve seen out there on a general overview of the speciality coffee world, well done!
Everything you covered in this video I learned over the course of the last year browsing subreddits, comments there etc.
You summed everything up incredibly well and I’ll def recommend this to any friends / family getting into coffee in more depth.
Great stuff! I've been into specialty coffee for a year and this video works wonders for bringing perspective and managing expectations. Thanks!
If only this video had been around when i got into speciality coffee 14 years ago. Feel like I've learnt all these lessons the hard way 😂
You did, and too bad you didn't make a similar video.
The Civit coffee lesson too? 😅
Absolutely excellent and very practical advice that hits on all the key things I have learned over almost 20 years as well! Great resource for beginners and more experienced coffee nerds.
I think all coffee geeks have to have hair that defies gravity.
All that caffeine is making them stay upright day and night
What about Lance Hedrick?
@@atticustay1 exceptions prove the rule
@@atticustay1 Corollary rule: If a coffee geek does not have gravity-defying hair, they have facial hair that defies common sense
Not that's a banal comment. Focus on what he has to say
Hand grinder and Aeropress. Coffee bliss.
Pretty much describes my approach for the last 30yrs. Easy, quick, consistent and gives me all the control I want or need.
the most natural taste of coffee
I went super-simple and embraced Turkish coffee -quick, easy, I really love it
Hario Switch is worth buying if you like to experiment with whatever brew comes to mind. It's a V60 that you can play around for coffee but you can also use the switching to control brewing of tea and/or yerba mate. You can pour some water with switch closed, wait for it to brew for some time, release the switch and repeat the process until enough tea is extracted. Similarly for yerba. After all brewing, you can just take all of the leaves/coffee grounds and throw it out with the filter so cleaning the Switch is very easy. This is really appealing for cleaning after yerba mate as I don't like cleaning matero afterwards. For purists this might not be the best as the tastes of different brews might linger a bit (even though in principle it is glass and shouldn't be a problem at all) but overall just the ability or having the choice to do something a bit more unusual is insanely appealing to me.
Great advice, cheers!
My best advice:
Try the coffee at a local cafe (hopefully you have a good roastery around)
If you like it, buy the beans and ask the barista on how he makes the coffee.
Saves you tons of time and money (in sense of the bean) because you just try to get the 'numbers' your barista gets. And it turns out great. Because he found out those numbers works the best for this coffee!
My most frustrating experience is usually when buying without trying / online and then trying to match the tastes by using ten differend recipes and mostly getting there, once the pack is finished...
Perfect video my friend. Always great to hear advice from you. Thank you 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Thanks for the kind words 🙏
This was a masterclass. Exactly what I was looking for after getting into coffee in my 50s and not knowing about anything other than bland, boring drip.
I'm glad I don't prefer espresso. For about $150 I was able to assemble the pour over kit needed to make awesome cups of coffee. Hario V60, electric goose neck kettle, Kingrinder hand grinder. So much better than the blade grinder and auto drip machine I was using before.
I have always wondered what your background and expertise was. Thanks for all of this reasonable advice about specialty coffee. If I only I had this video years ago, it would have saved me so much time and effort. LOL
Needed this video back in 2020. Think this will be my go to video for people looking to get more into coffee. Short, sweet, and packed with info!
Also - your coffee recipes are awesome! That’s the other key thing to know when getting into coffee! 🎉🎉🎉🙏🙏🙏
I am only half way through this video and already learned a ton from you. Thank you😊 Now time to watch the rest
Wish I knew about pour over when I started hard core into espresso back in 2018, thank you for such good info in your videos keep it up love your channel :) :)
Great introduction. The best I have seen so far. I hope newbies can appreciate it just as much.
I started drinking coffee since I was 5 years old, I"m 51 years old now and I roast my own coffee. I just upgraded my espresso machine to a Rancilio Silva X Pro from a Lelit Anna, and I still have a lot to learn. Great video!
thanks for this video! ive watched alot UA-cam coffee videos and i can't remember a better video filled with so much helpful advice, not just for beginners ( ive been in coffee business for 7 yrs) and found this perspective very helpful...going to watch it over and over until it seeks in and helps me out of the rabbit hole lol
I've discovered I can power my hand grinder with a cordless drill. It conveniently has a 1/4" hex on the shaft where the handle attaches. It's a great hack if you get tired of grinding by hand and can't afford a good quality electric grinder, and already have a drill.
True but high RPMs on hand grinder burrs can make the grind quality noticeably worse. I'd try to stay under 200 or so RPM for light roast or when going for clarity in cup in general
@@fu5ha_edits I use the low speed like you would for screws.
Love it. Straight and to the point. I have been a coffee snob for multiple years, but never attempted to make my own with an espresso machine, milk steamer etc. Always went for upper class roasteries and nice beans for my old bean to cup machine. I have since invested into a nice stand alone espresso maker with steam wand, and im learning to make my own, barista style. Its definately a learning curve, but what you said about beans and roasting is so accurate. I dare not delve into the roasting aspect of beans, but I have a great local roaster. I just need to get better at making my wife's coffee 😅
This is all great information! Thanks for putting it all together in this concise video. But it brings now so many other questions!!
Fantastic video. Straight to the point(s)!
I started my coffee journey about 8 years ago. I have a ZP6 and V60 for pourovers, and Kingrinder K2 and Picopresso for espresso, and a french press for milk frothing. Now, I rather make myself a coffee at home than going to some fancy specialty coffee shop, because most of them are disappointing compared to what I am able to make at home. And even if I use the best beans I can get, it costs me the fraction of what I would spend in a coffee shop for a drink.
Best intro video out there. Good job mate
I would personally recommend the Clever Dripper over the Hario Switch.
The Clever Dripper takes standard Melitta filters you can get in every supermarket and is therefore much more affordable while basically offering the same functionality.
Great video with practical, level-headed advice. Well done!!
Great advice here, as always!
I love your channel! I have learned so much from your videos ☕️😎👍🏽
I would say this is the most up to date Coffee 101.
After 3 years of using the V60, now my go to brewer is the Chemex for the past 3 years.
I’m considering a Chemex. The coffee looks clean and beautiful in the glass. So you have to pre-wet the paper filters with boiling water, dump water, and then add the coffee?
@@codyives5409 Pretty much like the V60. Though for the Chemex, since the filter is much thicker, I rinse it more thoroughly.
This is a great video. My coffee journey started with a Braun drip coffee maker in the 90's with horrible pre ground beans, a gold mesh reusable filter, and tap water that was very hard. I don't think I could find acceptable today what I consumed regularly back then. It can be a magical journey if you are so inclined.
If it wasnt nice you wouldnt be drinking it today. A lot of this is just hogwash to make money from you
My little advice from someone who quite recently started enjoying specialty coffee is: if you want an espresso machine, I am having great results with the Flair (basic model BUT get the pression gauge add on) hand machine + a good (for the price range) burr grinder like the Joy Resolve.
Also you need a grams small scale, a kettle with temperature control.
Very informative, nicely done, thank you
been watching since your timemore c2 grinder review, thanks.
Pretty much same with me. Still using it three years later, but I'm eyeing a couple 1ZPresso models.
Love how concise this is. For anyone reading. Dont get an espresso machine. Its a trap!
It's not. It depends on the person.... I have never liked coffee until I tried my first really good espresso about 30 years ago. I have had the same set up for about 20 years now. I keep trying other forms of extraction and always come back to espresso ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ yes, i regularly cup to discover new roasts and roasted my own for over a decade but on a daily basis, espresso for me is the only game in town.
But it is a very nice trap.
I have hot water, porlax mini and Outin nano with 18g basket. I make myself 110g hot water and 36-42g double shot. Absolutely love it.
My home is in Bali and I take advantage of the variety of Indonesian coffee from Toraja, Java, Iran Jaya, Bali and Aceh. Of course, the mixed variety blends use Brazil, Ethiopia, and Columbia coffee. I drink one Cappuccino with Almond milk in the morning and two De-Cafe Piccolo before 2 pm. I use an Espresso machine and an electric grinder. Sometimes add cinnamon or cocoa powder or Coccream. Still, explore the varieties of coffee and the coffee shops in Indonesia are exploding. Excellent coffee machines are used even in small places with only 10 sets they use La marzocco
I love Indonesian coffee culture. Still have fantastic memories of my visit to Sumatra :)
Awesome and insightful video, thank you!
Wow what great info. If you had a coffee course at a Community College, Coffee 101, a lot of people would want go enrol for that 👍😁
Endorsing the Cafelat Robot, the most perfect espresso maker sold today, bar none, is a huge credit to you...
As I just responded to someone else, I bought an Aeropress recently, soon followed by a Hario Switch after watching your video on your top five filter baskets, and I find myself reaching for the Switch almost every time. I also like it way more than my Clever Dripper (whose spot in your faves was taken by the Switch). I don't understand why it's so much better, but I guess it has something to do with the fact that it (and/or the Cafec filters I bought) is better for hybrid brewing than the Clever. Been using your hybrid recipe or a hybrid of your and Tetsu Kasuya's hybrid recipes. Might also be related to having started using bypass water.
I have pretty soft water where I live so tap water does the job but I try to see if bottled water makes a difference to my coffee by getting them if they’re offered as extras in takeaways, always work within your means
The Hario switch is the best, just make sure you get the larger one.
This is crazy to me as a brazilian, I can't even find coffee grinders more expensive than 150 brl or 27 dollars.
I really value the last point you made on balance and not getting stuck on extremes. So many examples of that: the highest extraction doesn't always yield the tastiest coffee, nor does using boiling water each and every time. Swirling does not always guarantee a more even extraction, it can also end up doing the opposite. And sometimes the Washed processed bean from the same lot ends up tasting better than the Natural one. :)
On freshness, and this might be a tad controversial: if you buy coffee only in small 250g packs, consume it quick and store it airtight, then having it preground fresh at the roaster is probably a better option than using most home grinders.
I have never really thought this scenario through before... but perhaps you're right. Maybe that's an idea for a video :)
Lots of coffee influencers always focus on "The Number": TDS, extraction yield, total brew time, etc. It is ultimately futile to try to put an objective measurement on something that is so subjective, taste. Plus, to be perfectly scientific, we would need to control all variables, which gets into the topic of fluid dynamics... a rabbit hole that is just not worth digging into.
The best coffee I ever had was a pan roasted, mortar ground, pot brewed, and freshly served cup made by an old lady on the street side in Ethiopia. No modern gadgets. Great coffee.
Love❤love my coffee. Not at your level yet but getting there!
Great video brother
Like always, everything is personal preference. I started by buying a good espresso machine and it’s the best thing I’ve done. For some it might be overwhelming. Overall good advice tho!
Video idea: As a fellow Dane, i would love a deep dive video into brew water. Different ways to achieve great quality coffee water when the tap water is very hard.
I still haven’t landed on a permanent solution for myself at home, and end up brewing mostly from the tap, just because i can’t decide which setup i want for processing my brew water. But i do know how huge of a difference water quality makes, so i would love a video highlighting the available options, pros and cons, optimal mineral levels etc.
Thank you so much for your advice: i'll sure try to get my best in moka and clever dripper (pourover are maybe too hard with a simple kettle) before get in espresso. The only thing i do not understand is why not advicing the diy water: i was able to do it with the standard barista hustle charts and it had changed my experience night and day even with simple dark coffee mix from a local roaster. If one have really heavy tap water like i here in Italy even a simple moka get plain and dull
Yeah I'm confused about the water advice too. Especially because TDS is meaningless in terms of knowing which compounds are actually in your water.
I’ve put a lot of effort into pour over with a very good grinder and very good coffee, adjusting many variables and it just always tastes bland and weak.
I can never compromise on espresso as my daily method. I guess people who like pour over just like subtle watery coffee.
Nice video, yet 16 years is rather a newbie to some. ;)
Recommend a movie called "Bagdad Cafe", where a European lady visits a desert motel and the comment about the typical U.S. coffee is "That's not coffee, that's just brown water".
I enjoy a full blown Italian short-style espresso, even if it's just from a simple pot.
Have you tried adding Chicory powder to Coffee Grounds? In south India, we add 20-30% Chicory powder to thicken the decoction. Also we make coffee with milk. More like latte.
Great, clear and concise video 👍🏻
Amazing video, thank you Asser!
I'm a diehard coffee lover that's why I'm so invested in 3-in-1 instant coffee. 😂😅
Great video but I disagree with what you said about terroir. A farmer in Guatemala told me that if you grow the same coffee on a different part of his farm, it will get different exposure to light, different exposure to humidity, and will taste different. An exporter in Colombia that gives seeds to farms and cups lots very actively, told me that what's in the soil has a profound impact on flavor. I agree that processing and variety are important and often those can play into perceived geographical details, for example Ethiopia will have cultivated differences in their processing (whether cherry sits before depulping, how long it sits in tanks, how it is dried) and it also has such a wide genetic offering compared to other countries... but its elevation, soil, moisture exposure, and sun will all be a unique contributor as well.
These things play a role, yes. My argument is more that processing and varietal play the most significant role if we have to isolate some factors, and that old school coffee marketing about certain countries are tasting like X or Z because volcanic soil or microclimate is overrated.
For instance, I can identify different processing methods when blind cupping and give you a description of their general attributes. I also like to think that I can blind taste the difference between a catimor and a geisha.
But can I taste the difference between two different sides of the mountain? I'm not sure. Maybe if I have the two lots next to each other on a cupping table.
But if I don't have that comparison I can't really make any generalisations about the differences or explain to somebody else what the attributes are of the better microclimate. So when we can't accurately describe what is better about it, or even have an objective measurement to show it, I think it's hard to make the case that it's something that should be emphasized if a beginner wants to understand what informs the flavors they're experiencing in the cup.
@@coffeechronicler oh, I certainly agree. Most of the marketing around countries taste like X or Y are silly. I appreciate all your points. Just thought I'd bring up some more nuance.
Even Mr Beast couldn’t edit this video down any more ruthlessly. Exceptional value: watch time ratio on this. Thanks.
I see that you are using a Chestnut S3. Be careful, the handle is the weak point. I broke mine a few days ago after 3 months of use, and I saw online other enthusiasts having the same issue. Trying to reach Timemore to get replacement parts.
A weak point in the C2/C3 line as well
Great informative video!
Great video
More videos like this please!
My V60 has been carrying me through for years now. :)
Interesting video, thanks for doing it. If you are going to buy a pour over maker, don't bother with the plain Hario V60, the Switch can be used just like the regular V60, or as an immersion maker, once you try the immersion method the Switch you probably won't make any regular pour overs anymore!
The AeroPress is not an espresso maker as the company tried to advertise it as such, it is just a French Press with a filter and little pressure. Frankly, since I have both, an AeroPress and a French Press, the French Press has better and a bit stronger flavor. Both of those makers are immersion makers, as is the Hario Switch, but the Switch has those other two beat.
I'm not a barista, but I do like my coffee strong, which is why I also like the Bialetti Brikka Moka Pot, and Turkish Coffee. For a lot of you those methods might be too strong of a brew, but the Brikka does make coffee that is very close to what an espresso would taste like.
Whoa.!
This is incredible...
Make 7-8 separate ten minute videos on all these topics? Nah. I appreciate you condensing all these topics and giving the highlights in a succinct fashion. This will definitely help new coffee nerds get to the good part of the journey quicker. :)
Btw. I left a question for you in your Brew Burrs video. If you have a little time, could you take a peak at it? I'd love your input. :)
Thank you for mentioning and advising against kopi luwak. No need for animal abuse to enjoy a cuppa!
And no need to be « crazy » to want better animal welfare 😅
What is the make/model of the glass carafe you’re using in this video?
Hey TCC, you look like Ubbe from Vikings series on Netflix. Great episode
Thank you for this video! I'm new to pourers, have the Hairo v60 and a electric grinder. I recently purchased a coffee scale with timer. I can reset the measurements with each pour but the there is no way to reset the timer without turning the power of and on again. Is this how all coffee scales work?
That sounds unusual. Maybe you have to double press it or long press? That's how most of my scales work.
Great channel. Liked and subbed! You sound exactly like the jazz guitarist Jens Larsen from the Netherlands... are you also from the Netherlands?
@@alexcantelou2469 thanks.. I'm actually Danish. And I'm pretty sure Jens Larsen is as well, as the name couldn't be more Danish than that 😄
Thank you I need to know this❤
You should make a video entirely on cupping. Sure, there are lots of out there, but as an actual q grader I think it would be a bit more relevant coming from you than others on youtube.
Yeah, I probably should! I have to attend Q Grader calibration soon (it's every third year) so maybe that would be a good occasion to record the whole ritual.
Yes please make one that would be amazing thank you
Amazing guide! Is that an 02 or 03 hario switch in the video?
Thanks! It's 02.
What coffee does know, is altitude and that it's grown around the same latitude around the world 😅
Hehe, yeah in that sense it does know some geography!
Thank you. I concluded I don't want to become a coffee geek. Seems exhausting. 😂
I bought my first specialty coffee maker in 1974- a Vesuviana. Over the years I’ve acquired moka pots, a French press, espresso machines, Chemex, automatic drip and percolator machines. I’ve enjoyed them all but the simple Melita pour over has been my most favored way of brewing coffee. It’s consistent, easy, fast and tasty. What would a Hario give me that the Melita does not? Not wishing to argue, I’m just curious what makes one pour over better than another.
That sounds like quite a journey so far! I would recommend continuing it and trying the V60. I think you'll find it will give you a slightly more complrex acidity and more interesting aftertaste compared to the Melitta. However, the technique is also a bit more complicated, so that would be the downside.
Great video as always! Gotta ask, where is your tasting glass from?
Thanks! It's this unbranded one: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DDy5HHd
If we put it in to perspective how much does grinder play a role in the taste of brewed coffee compared to things like type of water, beans or processing method as an example?
The reason I ask is that I have seen videos comparing different hand grinders and how they produce different taste profile. They are different machines so surely there are differences, but for the average person I somehow doubt that one would taste that much difference if settings are close to one another, especially with other variances taken into account, maybe your water is few degrees off from one cup to another and so on.
Would be interesting to see blind test for say 5 hand grinders with settings matched and you would have 3-5 people with varying coffee experience ranking them and describing their experience, in this way we could see if there are similarities between amateurs and professionals and what kind of difference they find. Maybe one rest for pour over and another for espresso.
So which is the best mineral water to buy for coffee in Denmark?
No perfect solution, but Nornir is pretty good. To work really well with something like Coffee Collective it needs to be diluted to half strength, though.
I agree with everything, except the single - dose basket. That's just setting up beginners for possibly endless frustration 😂. Even many professional baristi these days refuse to use them. You need to practise a lot and be super consistent to make it work, and even then it doesn't work equally well on all machines. And which tamper(s) would you recommended? Nah, if you're a beginner and don’t want to practise forever (and waste a lot of coffee on the way!) just to make tasty shots, stay away from single-dose baskets!
Great video! I like those coffee glasses a lot haha, where can I find them?
Your comment about coffee water intrigued me as well. I demineralize my water and remineralize with epsom and sodiumbicarb (60 ppm, 1:2 Na:Mg ratio) and I think it accentuates the subtle floral and fruity flavours quite well; in my experience better than just diluting the tap water to 60-80 ppm. What are your suggestions to make your tap water if not using just epsom and sodiumbicarb?
Thanks! I'd probably sub baking soda for potassium bicarb, and go much lower than generally recommended. I'm sceptical about recipes relying only on magnesium for hardness, so would get some calcium in there too.
Glasses can be found on Aliexpress :)
unfortunately where i live, or at least in my area, i couldn't find fresh coffee even at the local roasters where i previously could. The youngest roast i could get was already more than 15 days old and all the other bags were a month old or older. Next time i go to the same roaster i'll see if it's still the case but i have the impression that people started buying cheaper beans at grocery stores and etc because everything went up in price like crazy in canada (housing and food mostly) so i'm assuming many people stopped buying expensive coffee in favor of cheap stuff because they simply can't afford it anymore.
Less sales means that the roasts stay longer on the shelf and eventually they just use them to brew on site to avoid total loss.
So yeah, if next time i go, it's still mostly month old roasts i'm just gonna do like everyone else and buy cheap coffee. why would i pay $23cad for 340g of stale coffee when i could just get also stale coffee but in bulk and cheaper?
Milk coffee is the Gator-Wine of the coffee world.
Elite comment
I had to look that drink up. Now I almost want to try it 😂
Great video! What espresso machine is worth the upgrade over my Flair 58 please or is there one? Thanks!
Do you have a video on water recipes? I am using epsom salt and baking soda, what is an alternative recipe?
I'll share a video about that soon :)
@@coffeechronicler awesome, keen to check it out, thanks!
Good advice, all of it.
The roasting is hilarious. Yep, many over and under roasted batches 😂
Haha, yes! I've been doing it for years, and still haven't mastered it, so I respect people who do this every day for a living
What about squeezing out your own espresso with a manual coffee machine like - the Cafelat Robot?
It's a great device, highly recommend it if you want to brew espresso.
Thanks for all this! I have been playing around with your keep-it-simple water advice (putting decent tap water into reverse-osmosis water and aiming for a basic TDS range). There is a bit of a rabbit-hole here: the simple TDS meters measure electrical conductivity and then convert that to TDS, but they use different conversion factors, and thus produce rather different numbers for the same water. Do you know if your recommendations are based on the NaCl or 442 type meter? (Not looking to complicate the keep-it-simple advice!)
Ha, I asked him the same question by email. Glad I'm not the only one.
My recommendations are based on NaCl type of TDS pen (which I believe is the most common one). But it's actually not so important which type you're using, if you follow my approach of diluting tap or mineral water with RO to achieve your brew water. You just want to find out what tastes good for the coffee you have at hand and then continue targetting that TDS range. You can quickly make consecutive brews with a blend of 30 TDS, 60 TDS and 90 TDS. And then after that you'll know your preference - it will be different from water source to water source what tastes good. And also be dependent on the roasting style of the bean. You could of course also use a KH drop test kit if you really want to know the exact alkalinity. But that's just more work for a number that might not mean much to you unless you want to go into that dangerous rabbit hole :)
@@thomasmotley5449 Check the response below (I prefer to respond here where other people can read along rather than email)
@@coffeechronicler I understand. Thanks.
I love my Moka pot
I wonder what are the pros and cons of pour over vs french press. Both are simple methods. Pour over is more simple (at leats on clean up) but taste wise I wonder if there's a difference.
Pour over can achieve more flavor clarity and nuanced aftertaste
I cannot get myself to have hot water contact what I drink. Plastic off-gases when heat is intorduced. So Ceramic cone is what I recommend.
In Italy cappuccinos are for breakfast - if you order one in the afternoon, they will look at you funny.
I really really love coffee, but it's so frustrating that I never find fellow coffee geeks in real life. Most people here in Germany prentend to be coffee lovers but then it turns out they love expensive portafilter machines, Latte Art and even cups, but not the actual drink. As soon as you want to talk about the actual coffee, the vobabulary narrows down to "good" and "bad" and when they see me brewing with my V60 they pitty me and want to give me a "real coffee machine" for christmas. They really think that my aero press is a camping or emergency coffee brewer but don't understand how someone could use it at home. They truly and honestly belive that nespresso pods are an improvement over filter coffee and that a real barista would scorn a french press. They see mine and think it's something I bought out of nostalgia missing my days as a student.
These people buy expensive grinders, pitty me with my handgrinder and use them to pre-grind the coffee for the week and they let the rest of the coffee for the month sit in a see through, open bean hoppers
Idk man, have you ever tried Gatorwine?
Hey man 👋
I believe the freshly ground coffee I make is too light in texture? Not dark enough and lacks the depth we get from mere dry roasted supermarket brands?
🙏
In 14 months I bought : moka pot, kingrinder k6, filter to improve moka pot, I did workshops, Hario v60, now I'm with aeropress 😂
I did a workshop on espresso last week... God it is hard and espresso machine are very expensive!
I think I will stay long time with those things. I think I have all I need.
Ah yes I bought an electric kettle and an electric scale last year on aliexpress with Chinese brands who are 2 to 10 times less expensive and who do the same jobs or really close to the best :-p
I search things to improve my coffee with less expensive object ^^
Atm I think about water. And of course, since long time now I think about water. But now I look at magnesium and calcium and pH of the water and the level of HCO3-. It is my subject atm + increasing my skill on aeropress (and I think like Hoffman we don't need to be too much geek with voodoo techniques with the aeropress (even if I tried a lot of voodoo techniques with my bialetti 😂😂😂)).
We can measure and test, and try a lot of different things with coffee. And with the same coffee, and the same machine. We can try different temperatures, different techniques, recipe, different waters, différents grinding size, etc. (hope to not do too much faults with the English, not my first language)
Yeeeep. I run an espresso machine for work and I tell you, they're a pain. In addition to the dialing in, needing to clean them, repair them, and such. Aeropress, V60, and if I'm feeling fancy, vacuum pot are my go-to. Hario scale, manual kingrinder, and good beans are what I'd recommend. Espresso is overrated IMO. People just like it added to sugary drinks and the like, so it can be mostly milk. If you truly like coffee, you should be able to still enjoy it black, even if you prefer adding something.