Tony
Staff member
It's no secret on here, I love coffee. No, you don't understand, I LOVE COFFEE! It's pretty much the only thing I drink. I spent years figuring out the perfect coffee. I spend even longer finding the perfect pot, the perfect amount of grounds and the perfect amount of sugar. I'm a bitter person, I need all the sweetness I can get lol.
So for the past 6 or 7 years, I have stuck with the same coffee, same coffee pot, and the same amount of sugar, although I have been cutting back on it. Not by choice, I just think the coffee is too sweet now compared to what I thought a year ago. This is a good thing.
So where have I come in my coffee adventures? I started out just like everyone else out there with a cheap $19.99 special drip coffee maker. Then the ones came out where you just push your cup up to it and it pours right into your cup, no coffee "pot". That was okay but I remember years ago my grandparents having a Bunn coffee maker. It always kept water hot in the back and made coffee faster than a drip maker. So I talked the wife into getting one.
We went out and purchased the one that everyone gets. The one with the heated base and a glass pot. And that is what we used for a long time. Then, they came out with the BUNN 10-cup Thermofresh Home Brewer, their words, not mine lol. So I purchased one. Yup, hot coffee that stays hot in a thermal carafe, this is what I'm talking about. I HATE the taste of coffee that sits on a burner for more than 5 minutes. It looses its bite. In a carafe though it keeps the flavor for an hour or more, and it keeps the heat!
We used that for quite a while when eventually the calcium caused the heater to go out, so what did I do? I put those guts into the one that had the heating plate. I removed the plate and put on the plastic bottom from the carafe with no heater. I left the switch for the heater on the top, but I had a working coffee maker again. But after a little while I decided to get a new BUNN 10-cup Thermofresh Home Brewer so I could have two. I just kept that retrofitted one as a backup, and yes, I still have it. It's sitting beside my current one I use. My current one is the second one that I purchased. It has lasted a very long time!
It's not without issues though. After hundreds of pots of coffee and being plugged in keeping water hot for something over 6 years, it finally has a little issue. One of the silicone seals on top of the water chamber has started to leak. This is the seal for the temp probe and it only leaks when we pour in water to make a new pot. So we just put a towel under the drain hole. I should really get some silicone 1 and fix it lol. Simple fix, I'm just lazy.
So you know all about my coffee pot, and it's a great pot. I will never purchase another drip maker. The Bunn is doing the same thing as this new "Fad" in the USA of "Pour Over Coffee" where you put grounds into a filter and pour almost boiling water over it into a cup. Guess what, my Bunn does the same thing. When you put water in the top, it is gravity fed into the water chamber where 190ºF water is waiting. This forces the hot water out in a constant stream through a head with 5 holes in it where it Pours Over the grounds. That foam head you see in those "Pour Over" videos, yup, my coffee pot does this and has done this before the yuppies even heard of this idea. And by the way, the "Pour Over" method came from Japan where they have been doing this for Decades if not Centuries. Not sure why it took so long to come to the USA... The only difference with the BUNN is there is no wait time after soaking the grounds. You could of course stop the flow by opening the lid, let it sit for 30 seconds, then close the lid to let it keep brewing.
So I have a pour over coffee maker that makes coffee in 3 minutes. Fantastic. What coffee do I use? Well again, we have to go back to the beginning. I was just like 99% of you all out there, I used Folgers Classic. Why? Because that is what my parents used. I tried Maxwell House, but always went back to Folgers. I decided I wanted something different about 15 years ago so I started trying other coffee's. French Roast, Columbian, Special Blend (I think that is what they called it), but it was all either too bitter or just didn't taste right. I tried other coffee grounds and again, just not my style. Then Folgers came out with Black Silk. Oh man, this stuff is black crack in a cup, it is AWESOME! And guess what we have been drinking for the last decade or more? Yup. Folgers Black Silk!
Don't get me wrong, Black Silk is the shiznit! But being someone that is never satisfied, I wanted something more. I wanted to see just what else was out there, but having tried all of the "pre ground" coffee out there and only really liking one and 'tolerating' others, it's time to up my game. I have been pulling shots of espresso for years now with a cheap little espresso machine and again, store bought ground coffee which is not made for espresso machines. But since I have a pressurized filter basket, it works, or so I thought.
It was time to purchase a coffee grinder. I'm not talking about those blade grinders that destroy the coffee, I'm talking about a Burr Mill Grinder. I wanted a flat burr, but holy crap, I'm not spending over $500 for a grinder no matter how fast and quiet they are lol. Just not going to happen. So I did some shopping around and finally found a grinder with most of the things I was looking for.
The Breville Smart Grinder Pro. It has 60 grind settings, it is programmable for the amount of time it grinds and you can set 4 different presets. Not only that, but you have another 10 settings if you remove the top burr grinder and adjust that. This gives you 600 settings on this machine to dial it in. Okay, it's a little less than that since some settings are going to be the same as others when you adjust that burr, but close enough!
I picked this thing up the other day, you know, the day my car decided to die on me!!! Yea, I needed some coffee that day, but settled for an extra large glass of whiskey lmao. It took me all of about 10 minutes playing around with different settings to find my grind for my coffee maker. Great. Now I just need to find the right coffee. Yea....
I know I like one specific coffee because we have used it before, and that is Cafe' Verona. Great flavor, dark roast for that bold body taste but not bitter like other dark roasts. But I wanted to test some others out there so I picked up a Guatemalan blend which is a medium roast and I also picked up an Espresso roast which is another dark roast. It's time to make coffee.
When I test, I don't just play around with a cup at a time, I want a POT of coffee to test. So that is what I did, I made a pot of the Guatemalan first and it was okay. Not what I was expecting especially for the price. But a good backup coffee if I run out. Next I tried the Espresso roast and again, it didn't surprise me with flavor, it was just coffee. Well I already knew I liked Cafe' Verona so I cleaned out the grinder and filled'er up (that is correct verbiage in Oklahoma lol) and I made a pot of the Café Verona. Yup, I like it.
It didn't hit me like Black Silk did when I first tried it, but it is definitely a good coffee. I'm still looking for that AWESOME coffee bean that I just can't get enough of like I did with Black Silk when I first tried it. If you have suggestions on whole bean coffee that you love, let me know.
But I still have one more thing to test. How does this grinder do when grinding dark beans for espresso? The darker the roast the more oily these beans are which can clog a grinder. Only one way to find out, I cranked that grinder down to size 5 (out of 60) and I did a test grind. To me, perfect size. Almost a powder but still had pieces you could feel. Great, time to make a double.
I installed the porta-holder and put my portafilter in there and pushed it forward starting the grind. Of course I had already tested how long I need it to run. It finished filling it up, I tamped it down and yup, perfect puck. Installed it into the machine, stuck a cup under it and started the pull. This was the first time my machine actually struggled to pull a shot. It was now pressurizing it with the coffee and not that single small hole.
Now I'm not much for straight espresso. I will drink it, but that isn't what I purchased this machine to make. I have always really liked Café Latté or as known in France, Coffee with Milk lol. But it is steamed milk. so that is what I made. And yea, this was the best shot this machine has ever pulled. As I'm writing this, I'm chugging down my third one and I don't see an end in sight. Lets just say, I'm awake lmao.
Not sure why it took me so long to get a proper grinder, but I have one now. And now the real hunt begins. The hunt for the perfect coffee. I have a feeling I'm going to be searching for the next 10 years to find it. so if you have suggestions, let me know. Has to be whole bean, and has to be fresh.
For now though, I'm going to go make a fresh pot of coffee while I search for the next best coffee.
So for the past 6 or 7 years, I have stuck with the same coffee, same coffee pot, and the same amount of sugar, although I have been cutting back on it. Not by choice, I just think the coffee is too sweet now compared to what I thought a year ago. This is a good thing.
So where have I come in my coffee adventures? I started out just like everyone else out there with a cheap $19.99 special drip coffee maker. Then the ones came out where you just push your cup up to it and it pours right into your cup, no coffee "pot". That was okay but I remember years ago my grandparents having a Bunn coffee maker. It always kept water hot in the back and made coffee faster than a drip maker. So I talked the wife into getting one.
We went out and purchased the one that everyone gets. The one with the heated base and a glass pot. And that is what we used for a long time. Then, they came out with the BUNN 10-cup Thermofresh Home Brewer, their words, not mine lol. So I purchased one. Yup, hot coffee that stays hot in a thermal carafe, this is what I'm talking about. I HATE the taste of coffee that sits on a burner for more than 5 minutes. It looses its bite. In a carafe though it keeps the flavor for an hour or more, and it keeps the heat!
We used that for quite a while when eventually the calcium caused the heater to go out, so what did I do? I put those guts into the one that had the heating plate. I removed the plate and put on the plastic bottom from the carafe with no heater. I left the switch for the heater on the top, but I had a working coffee maker again. But after a little while I decided to get a new BUNN 10-cup Thermofresh Home Brewer so I could have two. I just kept that retrofitted one as a backup, and yes, I still have it. It's sitting beside my current one I use. My current one is the second one that I purchased. It has lasted a very long time!
It's not without issues though. After hundreds of pots of coffee and being plugged in keeping water hot for something over 6 years, it finally has a little issue. One of the silicone seals on top of the water chamber has started to leak. This is the seal for the temp probe and it only leaks when we pour in water to make a new pot. So we just put a towel under the drain hole. I should really get some silicone 1 and fix it lol. Simple fix, I'm just lazy.
So you know all about my coffee pot, and it's a great pot. I will never purchase another drip maker. The Bunn is doing the same thing as this new "Fad" in the USA of "Pour Over Coffee" where you put grounds into a filter and pour almost boiling water over it into a cup. Guess what, my Bunn does the same thing. When you put water in the top, it is gravity fed into the water chamber where 190ºF water is waiting. This forces the hot water out in a constant stream through a head with 5 holes in it where it Pours Over the grounds. That foam head you see in those "Pour Over" videos, yup, my coffee pot does this and has done this before the yuppies even heard of this idea. And by the way, the "Pour Over" method came from Japan where they have been doing this for Decades if not Centuries. Not sure why it took so long to come to the USA... The only difference with the BUNN is there is no wait time after soaking the grounds. You could of course stop the flow by opening the lid, let it sit for 30 seconds, then close the lid to let it keep brewing.
So I have a pour over coffee maker that makes coffee in 3 minutes. Fantastic. What coffee do I use? Well again, we have to go back to the beginning. I was just like 99% of you all out there, I used Folgers Classic. Why? Because that is what my parents used. I tried Maxwell House, but always went back to Folgers. I decided I wanted something different about 15 years ago so I started trying other coffee's. French Roast, Columbian, Special Blend (I think that is what they called it), but it was all either too bitter or just didn't taste right. I tried other coffee grounds and again, just not my style. Then Folgers came out with Black Silk. Oh man, this stuff is black crack in a cup, it is AWESOME! And guess what we have been drinking for the last decade or more? Yup. Folgers Black Silk!
Don't get me wrong, Black Silk is the shiznit! But being someone that is never satisfied, I wanted something more. I wanted to see just what else was out there, but having tried all of the "pre ground" coffee out there and only really liking one and 'tolerating' others, it's time to up my game. I have been pulling shots of espresso for years now with a cheap little espresso machine and again, store bought ground coffee which is not made for espresso machines. But since I have a pressurized filter basket, it works, or so I thought.
It was time to purchase a coffee grinder. I'm not talking about those blade grinders that destroy the coffee, I'm talking about a Burr Mill Grinder. I wanted a flat burr, but holy crap, I'm not spending over $500 for a grinder no matter how fast and quiet they are lol. Just not going to happen. So I did some shopping around and finally found a grinder with most of the things I was looking for.
The Breville Smart Grinder Pro. It has 60 grind settings, it is programmable for the amount of time it grinds and you can set 4 different presets. Not only that, but you have another 10 settings if you remove the top burr grinder and adjust that. This gives you 600 settings on this machine to dial it in. Okay, it's a little less than that since some settings are going to be the same as others when you adjust that burr, but close enough!
I picked this thing up the other day, you know, the day my car decided to die on me!!! Yea, I needed some coffee that day, but settled for an extra large glass of whiskey lmao. It took me all of about 10 minutes playing around with different settings to find my grind for my coffee maker. Great. Now I just need to find the right coffee. Yea....
I know I like one specific coffee because we have used it before, and that is Cafe' Verona. Great flavor, dark roast for that bold body taste but not bitter like other dark roasts. But I wanted to test some others out there so I picked up a Guatemalan blend which is a medium roast and I also picked up an Espresso roast which is another dark roast. It's time to make coffee.
When I test, I don't just play around with a cup at a time, I want a POT of coffee to test. So that is what I did, I made a pot of the Guatemalan first and it was okay. Not what I was expecting especially for the price. But a good backup coffee if I run out. Next I tried the Espresso roast and again, it didn't surprise me with flavor, it was just coffee. Well I already knew I liked Cafe' Verona so I cleaned out the grinder and filled'er up (that is correct verbiage in Oklahoma lol) and I made a pot of the Café Verona. Yup, I like it.
It didn't hit me like Black Silk did when I first tried it, but it is definitely a good coffee. I'm still looking for that AWESOME coffee bean that I just can't get enough of like I did with Black Silk when I first tried it. If you have suggestions on whole bean coffee that you love, let me know.
But I still have one more thing to test. How does this grinder do when grinding dark beans for espresso? The darker the roast the more oily these beans are which can clog a grinder. Only one way to find out, I cranked that grinder down to size 5 (out of 60) and I did a test grind. To me, perfect size. Almost a powder but still had pieces you could feel. Great, time to make a double.
I installed the porta-holder and put my portafilter in there and pushed it forward starting the grind. Of course I had already tested how long I need it to run. It finished filling it up, I tamped it down and yup, perfect puck. Installed it into the machine, stuck a cup under it and started the pull. This was the first time my machine actually struggled to pull a shot. It was now pressurizing it with the coffee and not that single small hole.
Now I'm not much for straight espresso. I will drink it, but that isn't what I purchased this machine to make. I have always really liked Café Latté or as known in France, Coffee with Milk lol. But it is steamed milk. so that is what I made. And yea, this was the best shot this machine has ever pulled. As I'm writing this, I'm chugging down my third one and I don't see an end in sight. Lets just say, I'm awake lmao.
Not sure why it took me so long to get a proper grinder, but I have one now. And now the real hunt begins. The hunt for the perfect coffee. I have a feeling I'm going to be searching for the next 10 years to find it. so if you have suggestions, let me know. Has to be whole bean, and has to be fresh.
For now though, I'm going to go make a fresh pot of coffee while I search for the next best coffee.
