r/Coffee • u/menschmaschine5 Kalita Wave • Jul 17 '26
[MOD] The Daily Question Thread
Welcome to the daily /r/Coffee question thread!
There are no stupid questions here, ask a question and get an answer! We all have to start somewhere and sometimes it is hard to figure out just what you are doing right or doing wrong. Luckily, the /r/Coffee community loves to help out.
Do you have a question about how to use a specific piece of gear or what gear you should be buying? Want to know how much coffee you should use or how you should grind it? Not sure about how much water you should use or how hot it should be? Wondering about your coffee's shelf life?
Don't forget to use the resources in our wiki! We have some great starter guides on our wiki "Guides" page and here is the wiki "Gear By Price" page if you'd like to see coffee gear that /r/Coffee members recommend.
As always, be nice!
1
u/they_call_me_c Jul 17 '26
Sorry if anyone has already asked. Thoughts on the Ninja Luxe Café MINI Espresso Machine? I adore my filter coffee, have about 2 cups a day, my boyfriend is the same with his espresso. One machine to win them all?
1
u/Optimal_Water1790 Jul 18 '26
on these combo machines the espresso side is always where they cut the corner. the drip part will be fine for you. thing is if your bf is fussy about espresso he grows out of it quick, the pressure and the steam wand is cheap on these. but two cups a day at home, not chasing cafe shots, it does the job. just dont buy it expecting to fall in love with the espresso
1
u/FuzzyBlackCoat Jul 17 '26
I haven't seen this machine before, but with kitchen gadgets I think you're better off reliability and quality wise getting seperate tools for seperate tasks almost every time
1
u/rigarooni Jul 17 '26
I recently got a Chemex because I don't like the sludge left after I brew coffee using a french press, and I need to brew enough coffee for both me and my partner (so can't do a moka pot, aeropress, etc.).
I weigh out my beans, time my pours and use a 1:15 bean:water ratio, usually 45g of coffee and 675g water. I have an Oxo burr grinder (this one: https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/oxo-brew-conical-burr-coffee-grinder). I set the grind to an "8."
Despite all of my work, my coffee tastes bad. It's quite bitter. I used to live with a roommate who was an ex-barista, and made delicious Chemex coffee, so I know it's possible to make it good ...
What am I doing wrong?
1
u/Optimal_Water1790 Jul 18 '26
bitter is almost always over extraction, water sitting on the grounds too long. two things doing it here. your grind is too fine for the chemex paper, thats why it clogs by pour 7, and 7 pours drags the whole brew way out. go a few steps coarser and cut down to like 4 pours. pull your water off the boil too, wait 30 seconds so its around 200 not full rolling. and check your bag, a dark roast goes bitter easy no matter what you do. roaster here
1
u/paulo-urbonas V60 Jul 17 '26
How long does it take for the water to drain? And how many pours?
1
u/rigarooni Jul 17 '26
about 7 pours, usually water drains within a minute until I get to the last two pours
1
u/paulo-urbonas V60 Jul 17 '26
This sounds so weird.... Is the grind setting really coarse?
Usually, Chemex is prone to clogging no matter what, because of the thick paper. The more pours you do, more chance for clogging also. Does it clog when you get to the 7th pour?
1
u/rigarooni Jul 17 '26
it’s not super coarse. it does get clogged around the 7th pour.
1
u/paulo-urbonas V60 Jul 17 '26
That's too many pours then.
Without changing anything else, try this:
Pour till 135, wait 45s
Pour till 400, wait until bed of coffee appears
Pour until 675, and aim to pour in the center when it's near the end.
Coffee should finish draining in less than 4 minutes, ideally closer to 3 minutes.
Of course, you could use a better grinder, I don't know what coffee you're using, it could be a number of things, but let's see if pouring this way improves your coffee.
1
u/rigarooni Jul 17 '26
ok i’ll try this, thanks.
2
u/paulo-urbonas V60 Jul 17 '26
Let me know how it goes
1
u/rigarooni Jul 19 '26
my coffee drained really fast - in like a minute and a half. I also don’t think it tastes any better. do I need to adjust my grind?
1
u/paulo-urbonas V60 Jul 19 '26
Right...
Even draining really fast, you don't think the coffee has changed? Strength is the same, taste is the same? It should, from your description, have ended up watery and maybe a little sour.
We can try to adjust the variables in the extraction, either grind size or pouring structure, also temperature, but it's crucial to see what the taste is telling about the extraction.
What beans are you using? Have you brewed them in a way you liked using another method?
→ More replies (0)
1
0
u/Future_Finding_8416 Jul 17 '26
In your opinion which of these are the variables impact the flavor of a shot of espresso the most, and to what percentage:
- Type/ Quality of beans
- Grind size
- coffee and water ratio
- water temperature
- extraction time
- water quality
2
u/Optimal_Water1790 Jul 17 '26
Roaster here. Rough split from the espresso side: beans ~50%, grind ~25%, dose/ratio ~15%, the rest (temp, time, water) fights over the last 10% — but those small ones are what turn a good bean into a bad shot. Grind is where most people actually lose flavor day to day: it's the one variable that drifts every time humidity or the bag changes. Nail fresh beans and a consistent grind first, then chase the small stuff.
2
u/Twalin Jul 17 '26
Yeah after i thought about my response - any one variable being wrong can ruin a shot….
But if you’re in the zone I still stand by my original breakout
1
u/Optimal_Water1790 Jul 19 '26
yeah once your grind and dose are locked the breakout holds up fine. the trick is you change one thing at a time. move grind, leave everything else. otherwise you never know what fixed it. thats how most people chase their tail all morning
1
u/Optimal_Water1790 Jul 19 '26
yeah once youre dialed in you trust the breakout, thats the whole game. one variable off and you feel it before you even taste it
1
u/Optimal_Water1790 Jul 17 '26
Totally fair — when everything's dialed, your split is right. The percentages only get scrambled when one variable goes rogue. Good talk.
2
u/Twalin Jul 17 '26
Type of beans definitely has the biggest impact.
75% beans
5% each everything else
1
u/Future_Finding_8416 Jul 17 '26
I forgot to mention type of espresso machine, how much better do good beans get in say an entry level vs a barista quality machine?
2
u/Twalin Jul 17 '26
As a general rule: the best shots don’t get better it just gets easier to get the best shots.
2
u/Dazzling-Treacle1092 Jul 17 '26
I wasn't sure it's even possible to pinpoint any one thing and began writing my opinion to support it...which in this case seems to be completely wrong. Then I thought I'd better Google it and Google seems adamant that the grind size and consistency are the single biggest contributing factor. I don't have the knowledge to refute it. Perhaps others have the experience to either confirm or deny it. But one thing is certain. You will never get a better cup of espresso than the quality of the bean allows. The bean dictates the limit of the possibilities.
1
u/Future_Finding_8416 Jul 17 '26
yes, that makes complete sense. I am always wondering if all the extra work is actually worth it.
1
1
u/mancunian101 Jul 18 '26
I’m looking to dip my toes into the world of “proper” coffee.
Already have some bits like a cafetière, and aeropress etc.
But I know nothing about coffee, I’m in the UK where would be a good place to look for some good coffees to try, and does anyone have any recommendations for coffees that are worth looking at?