Here I am in a hotel near the Pittsburgh airport (performing at a science fiction convention). Brought my kettle, gold filter for the room's electric mini-drip, one-cup pourover and filters and travel press. Also brought the Zass Turkish (the S'bux blade grinder is bulky and very messy), 1/4 lb. Guat. Huehue Decaf and 1/2 lb. Guat. Huehue El Injerto. Go to brew myself a filter cone. Good thing I brought the press--even at its finest setting it's grinding for a perc or press pot. Should have made a mental note to bring a brush or Dust-Off--could it be a matter of dirt or is it dulled burrs? Also, after dinner I spotted a relatively big one-group plumbed-in espresso machine behind the bar. Ordered a latte with two shots. The bartender said she'd have to charge for an extra espresso--and pulled out a couple of sealed pods. Uh-oh. She pulled one shot that gushed out in five seconds and was paler and more transparent than badly diluted motel drip brew. Thanks but no thanks. Sandy Andina www.sandyandina.com |
Hmmm- Have I ever seen a "S'bux blade grinder "? The Zass Turkish has dulled burrs ? I have a set of the Baratza Virtuoso burrs. They should be usable in the CharB Barista, the Bodum Antigua and the Solis Maestros. Methinks they're all identical machines, except for cosmetic differences. If this C3AZ 6250 K camshaft will fit your engine, it's probably a Ford FE series engine. The Virtuoso burrs are far better fabricated than the scrap iron pawned off for the Solis, et al. All but the Virtuoso have soft, rough-cut upper ring burrs. Both Virt. burrs have the grain structure of hardened forgings. That ought to put an end to their "rapid wear" problems. Cheers -RayO, aka Opa! Got grinder? On 7/27/06, Sandy Andina wrote: <Snip> -- "When the theme hits the bass, I dance the Jig!" - -Virgil Fox at the Wichita WurliTzer |
My upper ring burr for my solis maestro classic needs replacing (8 months in, not grinding for espresso). Do you think I could use a Virtuoso burr as a replacement, Ray? Vicki raymanowen wrote: <Snip> |
Did you actually tell her "no thanks"? At 22:23 7/27/2006, you wrote: <Snip> John Nanci AlChemist at large Zen Roasting , Blending & Espresso pulling by Gestalthttp://www.chocolatealchemy.com/ |
--Apple-Mail-70--302925802 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset -ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Said blade grinder is a Starbucks Barista electric whirley-blade grinder, which I had bought reluctantly because it takes quite a bit of time and effort to manually grind enough coffee for a 2-3-person pot, especially when time is of the essence when we are doing long inter-city drives between gigs. (I am NOT a morning person, and every little thing that keeps me from having to arise earlier is a G- dsend). Nonetheless, scooping and pouring the grounds is messier than I thought it'd be, having become accustomed to the deeper catch bins of burr grinders both manual and electric. Have no trouble with my electric burr grinders, but they have to stay behind with the family when I am on the road. On Jul 28, 2006, at 3:56 AM, raymanowen wrote: <Snip> Sandy Andina www.sandyandina.com --Apple-Mail-70--302925802 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset O-8859-1 Said blade grinder is a = Starbucks Barista electric whirley-blade grinder, which I had bought = reluctantly because it takes quite a bit of time and effort to manually = grind enough coffee for a 2-3-person pot, especially when time is of the = essence when we are doing long inter-city drives between gigs. (I am NOT = a morning person, and every little thing that keeps me from having to = arise earlier is a G-dsend). Nonetheless, scooping and pouring the = grounds is messier than I thought it'd be, having become accustomed to = the deeper catch bins of burr grinders both manual and electric. |
--Apple-Mail-71--302680686 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset -ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Indeed I did. And she was okay with it, as she herself was taken aback by the miserable quality of the shot. (She is not the usual lobby espresso-barista, who uses the same machine but only in the mornings, who shuts up shop by 9:30 am). I noticed she was putting the pod in a regular basket, but she said that's the only one she had. On Jul 28, 2006, at 8:25 AM, Alchemist John wrote: <Snip> Sandy Andina www.sandyandina.com --Apple-Mail-71--302680686 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset O-8859-1 Indeed I did. And she was okay = with it, as she herself was taken aback by the miserable quality of the = shot. (She is not the usual lobby espresso-barista, who uses the same = machine but only in the mornings, who shuts up shop by 9:30 am). I = noticed she was putting the pod in a regular basket, but she said that's = the only one she had. On Jul 28, 2006, at 8:25 AM, = Alchemist John wrote: |
Sandy - If you have to have a blade grinder for when you are on the road, I recommend the simple Braun. It is not messy at all - before I knew anything about burr grinders, I went nuts trying to find something that was designed right. There is no scooping - turn the whole thing upside down, & tap a couple of times. I actually tried the too-huge-for-my-tastes Cuisinart burr grinder (all I could find locally, at Costco), before I discovered my Zass. I returned it - seriously, I feel that the Braun is better. The Zass is terrific, but I have little else to do in the morn. Lynne Sandy Andina wrote: <Snip> |
Actually, the Barista is theoretically also an invert-and-tap grinder but the lid (doubles as the catch basin) is a tad too shallow to get a large scoop like the Aero's into neatly--and no amount of tapping and shaking can dislodge the fines that stick to the grind chamber walls--you need a spoon handle, the Aero's paddle edge or a swiss army knife to dislodge them. I used to use first a Moulinex and then a Krups whirly-blade grinder fifteen years ago before I discovered burr grinders. The Moulinex has long since bitten the dust and the Krups now belongs to my office. On Jul 28, 2006, at 11:02 AM, Lynne wrote: <Snip> Sandy Andina www.sandyandina.com |
Vicki- You must use the Virtuoso burrs as a set. I have the SMP grinder, and Kyle Anderson of Baratza sent me the Virtuoso burrs with the caveat that I replace them as a set. A Home Run for Baratza/ Solis customer service- What a breath of fresh air! The Virtuoso burrs are good-looking case hardened forgings, and they'll replace the sad sack Solis burrs- not individually, but as a set. Their geometry is very slightly different, so don't shuffle the burrs between sets. Cheers -RayO, aka Opa! Got Grinder! |
Thanks Ray, I'll order a set. I know when I get my espresso machine I'll want to upgrade my grinder, but it will be good to have this one for everything else. v raymanowen wrote: <Snip> |
IIRC you said you have a Maestro Classic. Ray said they worked as a set with the SM Plus. Suggest you verify the Virtuoso burrs will also work with the SM Classic before shelling out the bucks! Kona Konnaisseur miKe mcKoffee URL to Rosto mods, FrankenFormer, some recipes etc:http://mdmint.home.comcast.net/coffee/Rosto_mod.htmUltimately the quest for Koffee Nirvana is a solitary path. To know I must first not know. And in knowing know I know not. Each Personal enlightenment found exploring the many divergent foot steps of Those who have gone before. <Snip> |
Yup, I caught that too miKe. v miKe mcKoffee wrote: <Snip> |