4 ms·

AeroPress doesn't really scale for company, though. I remember trying to make several cups in a row for family and by the time cup #3 was finished, cup #1 was c

AeroPress doesn't really scale for company, though. I remember trying to make several cups in a row for family and by the time cup #3 was finished, cup #1 was cold. I do still whip out my AeroPress from time to time if I'm making a really fruity coffee, because I feel like the AP method is better at extracting those flavors. But for my usual morning cup for myself and my significant other, French Press is king. > To my brain, AeroPress == French Press minus the "fine sludge". I haven't really noticed "the sludge" in my FP since I invested in a Barata Encore canonical burr grinder. It's able to grind the beans coarsely and evenly enough that you don't get the sludge (which is usually the unevenly-ground fines that slip past the mesh filter). Additionally, paper filters trap the coffee bean fines, but they also trap the oil, which is desirable in your coffee. But I will concede that the AP is probably the most affordable option for a good cup of coffee. You can pair it with a cheap blade grinder and still get a decent cup out of it, while poorly-ground coffee in a FP can make for a "sludgy" cup.

zipperhead 7y ago
Curious: I have an Encore and I still get a bit of fine sludge. I'm grinding on about 21. What setting are you using?
- AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
  21 for a French Press? That's way too fine. Barzata's own site suggests at least 28: https://baratza.com/grinding-tips/ https://baratza.com/grinding-tips/ I personally have it around 32-33. I don't remember if I got that from their manual or from somewhere online, but I haven't noticed any degradation in flavor from the larger grind. The whole point of investing in a quality burr grinder is being able to get a proper coarse grind; make use of it! EDIT: A separate Reddit post (though by no means authoritative) agrees with my recommendation of above 30 for FP: https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/1k0uhb/is_there_a_chart_that_shows_baratza_encore_grind/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/1k0uhb/is_there_a_c...
  - zipperhead 7y ago
    Yeah, I assumed that a quality burr grinder is more important for fine grinds than coarse; I guess that's probably not true. I'll give it a shot, thanks. I've only been using the french press more now because my home office is upstairs, and the Clever Dripper stays in the kitchen. With the press I can bring it up with me and save 4 whole minutes in my 'commute' :-)
    - AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
      To clarify, a good burr grinder is also good for fines. You can set the Encore somewhere between 2-6 and make your own Turkish coffee grind using whatever beans you've got lying around, rather than paying for a can of pre-ground Turkish coffee that's probably been on the shelf for months already.
kashyapc 7y ago
I hear you, on not scaling it for a family. I make it for one or two people at most (a full AeroPress can be shared for two, unless you're a Real Guzzler). I mulled about the burr grinder in the past, but then I already had the Bosch blade grinder[+]. It does the job spectacularly well for most use cases. I live in a small apartment; and minimize 'nice-to-have' devices. (And given the predicament we're immersed in, I feel even more disinclined to buy more 'things' that I don't really need. One day, I might get the burr grinder as a 'reward' for all the discipline I show in most aspects, or some other justification that I can coax myself with. :-)) As for coarseness, I'm living with a "workaround": 12 pulses (manual on-and-off; yeah, annoying) with the blade grinder to get the right coarseness for French Press, which is now a "weekend delight". [+] https://www.bosch-home.com/ne/product-list/coffee-machines/coffee-grinders/TSM6A013B https://www.bosch-home.com/ne/product-list/coffee-machines/c...
- AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
  If you're gonna go for the pulse method with a blade grinder, the recommendation is that you should also shake the grinder between pulses. See below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS8igZyhNFw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS8igZyhNFw
  - kashyapc 7y ago
    Oh, thanks for bothering to give that pointer; didn't know that.

zipperhead 7y ago

Curious: I have an Encore and I still get a bit of fine sludge. I'm grinding on about 21. What setting are you using?

AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
21 for a French Press? That's way too fine. Barzata's own site suggests at least 28: https://baratza.com/grinding-tips/ https://baratza.com/grinding-tips/ I personally have it around 32-33. I don't remember if I got that from their manual or from somewhere online, but I haven't noticed any degradation in flavor from the larger grind. The whole point of investing in a quality burr grinder is being able to get a proper coarse grind; make use of it! EDIT: A separate Reddit post (though by no means authoritative) agrees with my recommendation of above 30 for FP: https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/1k0uhb/is_there_a_chart_that_shows_baratza_encore_grind/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/1k0uhb/is_there_a_c...
- zipperhead 7y ago
  Yeah, I assumed that a quality burr grinder is more important for fine grinds than coarse; I guess that's probably not true. I'll give it a shot, thanks. I've only been using the french press more now because my home office is upstairs, and the Clever Dripper stays in the kitchen. With the press I can bring it up with me and save 4 whole minutes in my 'commute' :-)
  - AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
    To clarify, a good burr grinder is also good for fines. You can set the Encore somewhere between 2-6 and make your own Turkish coffee grind using whatever beans you've got lying around, rather than paying for a can of pre-ground Turkish coffee that's probably been on the shelf for months already.

kashyapc 7y ago

I hear you, on not scaling it for a family. I make it for one or two people at most (a full AeroPress can be shared for two, unless you're a Real Guzzler). I mulled about the burr grinder in the past, but then I already had the Bosch blade grinder[+]. It does the job spectacularly well for most use cases. I live in a small apartment; and minimize 'nice-to-have' devices. (And given the predicament we're immersed in, I feel even more disinclined to buy more 'things' that I don't really need. One day, I might get the burr grinder as a 'reward' for all the discipline I show in most aspects, or some other justification that I can coax myself with. :-)) As for coarseness, I'm living with a "workaround": 12 pulses (manual on-and-off; yeah, annoying) with the blade grinder to get the right coarseness for French Press, which is now a "weekend delight". [+] https://www.bosch-home.com/ne/product-list/coffee-machines/coffee-grinders/TSM6A013B https://www.bosch-home.com/ne/product-list/coffee-machines/c...

AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
If you're gonna go for the pulse method with a blade grinder, the recommendation is that you should also shake the grinder between pulses. See below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS8igZyhNFw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS8igZyhNFw
- kashyapc 7y ago
  Oh, thanks for bothering to give that pointer; didn't know that.