Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on July 6, 2010 at 10:54pm

I wanted to save this thread before it disappeared off of the main page.

Just a heads up, because grinder calibration can vary widely and the degree of wear on your grinder can affect the particle size uniformity, "Bunn espresso 2" doesn't tell us a whole lot. I mean... I know what that looks like for our grinder, but it might not be the same for yours.

I use a glass V60 in a Chemex (weird I know) with the bottom chamber of the chemex filled with ice (even weirder... I still know). So I'm not using a Fretta exactly, but I'm using a v60 to create iced coffee... I'm sure it's gotta be close...

I'll grind up 22 grams of Sulawesi Toarco Peaberry (your Kenya FMB would probably be comparable) to normal filter cone fineness, which on *our* Bunn is the line just before you enter the "espresso" range. I put that into the v60.

Now, as if the setup wasn't strange enough as is, I don't brew it with water. I brew it with Vanilla-Rooibos tea. I know, I know, but it's freaking delicious, don't knock it 'till you try it. So I'll steep 4 grams of tea in a 12oz (the little guy) press for 6 minutes and then pour that into the Buono. Then I pour the tea over the Sulawesi, which drips into the bottom of the Chemex, which is filled with ice. Normally the french press yields 8oz of tea, I add an additional 2 oz of water and pour it over the ice, which ends up yielding a 16oz signature iced beverage.

Copyright! lol

-bry

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ronnie P. on July 7, 2010 at 4:50am

Not sure how the Fretta works, but on the Bunn I was taught to calibrate the machine so that Reg Perk worked perfect for a FETCO brewer (leaving Elec Perk for French press). With the settings calibrated this way I can actually turn the dial to Espresso and fine tune it to make a grind that pulls 25 second doubles (using 17-18g). This lets me take any single-origin (including my own roasts) and play with them when a customer or co-worker is interested, increasing the fun, interactive part of coffee preparation. I can also use the Turkish function to make such a fine powder that it can be used like cinnamon on foam/whip, or to add flavor and caffeine to an espresso-based shake without getting in the teeth or being hard to swallow.

As far as setting the grind for drip, you really just have to taste three or four different settings and determine which is best. I learned to do it by doing a best guess, then going finer until it becomes bitter. Then you just go back one click from that and you've found the grind that should best represent the coffee. You can also put a little brewed coffee in a white cup and look at the clarity of around the edges. Poor clarity around the borders would indicate high sediment, and clarity beyond the borders may indicate under-extraction (or low dose).

I go coarse for a French Press, finer for FETCO, finer still for home drip, Chemex, and cold brew (depending on method), etc., finer still for espresso (but obviously use a separate grinder 99% of the time), and then Turkish sits on the far end of the spectrum (where it says Turkish - haha).

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Brady on July 7, 2010 at 6:05pm

Off-topic...

My "quick and dirty" calibration check for Bunn grinders is to turn the knob to Turkish, then a little finer (there's usually a little play). If I hear the burrs sing just a little, I know its right. This won't help you figure out wear though.

I have no idea what a Fretta is, so can't comment on the OP.

I also had no idea that Bry sometimes made his coffee with tea. Look, I don't doubt that it is good, but wonder WHAT THE HECK he was thinking when he tried it for the first time... I mean, seriously???

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Paul Schlader on July 7, 2010 at 6:34pm

Thanks Bryan, this is great stuff...

Bryan Wray said:

I wanted to save this thread before it disappeared off of the main page.

Just a heads up, because grinder calibration can vary widely and the degree of wear on your grinder can affect the particle size uniformity, "Bunn espresso 2" doesn't tell us a whole lot. I mean... I know what that looks like for our grinder, but it might not be the same for yours.

I use a glass V60 in a Chemex (weird I know) with the bottom chamber of the chemex filled with ice (even weirder... I still know). So I'm not using a Fretta exactly, but I'm using a v60 to create iced coffee... I'm sure it's gotta be close...

I'll grind up 22 grams of Sulawesi Toarco Peaberry (your Kenya FMB would probably be comparable) to normal filter cone fineness, which on *our* Bunn is the line just before you enter the "espresso" range. I put that into the v60.

Now, as if the setup wasn't strange enough as is, I don't brew it with water. I brew it with Vanilla-Rooibos tea. I know, I know, but it's freaking delicious, don't knock it 'till you try it. So I'll steep 4 grams of tea in a 12oz (the little guy) press for 6 minutes and then pour that into the Buono. Then I pour the tea over the Sulawesi, which drips into the bottom of the Chemex, which is filled with ice. Normally the french press yields 8oz of tea, I add an additional 2 oz of water and pour it over the ice, which ends up yielding a 16oz signature iced beverage.

Copyright! lol

-bry

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Adam Wilson on July 7, 2010 at 7:42pm

Ok, I might have to try this. If i like it, can I serve it in my shop as long as I call it "The Bryan Wray"? :)


Almost-related note: A 16oz iced latte flavored with a pump and a half of caramel and a pump and a half of peanut butter (Monin syrups) is called "The Christopher P. Lock". I expect everyone to follow this convention. Don't ask questions.


Bryan Wray said:

I wanted to save this thread before it disappeared off of the main page.

Just a heads up, because grinder calibration can vary widely and the degree of wear on your grinder can affect the particle size uniformity, "Bunn espresso 2" doesn't tell us a whole lot. I mean... I know what that looks like for our grinder, but it might not be the same for yours.

I use a glass V60 in a Chemex (weird I know) with the bottom chamber of the chemex filled with ice (even weirder... I still know). So I'm not using a Fretta exactly, but I'm using a v60 to create iced coffee... I'm sure it's gotta be close...

I'll grind up 22 grams of Sulawesi Toarco Peaberry (your Kenya FMB would probably be comparable) to normal filter cone fineness, which on *our* Bunn is the line just before you enter the "espresso" range. I put that into the v60.

Now, as if the setup wasn't strange enough as is, I don't brew it with water. I brew it with Vanilla-Rooibos tea. I know, I know, but it's freaking delicious, don't knock it 'till you try it. So I'll steep 4 grams of tea in a 12oz (the little guy) press for 6 minutes and then pour that into the Buono. Then I pour the tea over the Sulawesi, which drips into the bottom of the Chemex, which is filled with ice. Normally the french press yields 8oz of tea, I add an additional 2 oz of water and pour it over the ice, which ends up yielding a 16oz signature iced beverage.

Copyright! lol

-bry

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Adam Wilson on July 7, 2010 at 7:47pm

Also, I agree with Brady. Bryan: how the *%^# did you come up with that method??

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Aldrich on July 8, 2010 at 11:40am

Back on topic: The Fretta is a V60 with a carafe that is large enough to hold ice. I've had some good success doing pourover iced coffee using Counter Culture's Japanese Iced Coffee instructions. A note on that, I didn't like what I was getting with the 2:1 ratio they suggest (i.e. 28 gram dose for 16 oz. and using 8 oz. water 8 oz. ice) and settled on a 3:2 (i.e. 21 gram dose for 12 oz., use 8 oz. water 8 oz. ice).

As far as grind for the v60 goes, it really depends on what method you are using... If you are using the grounds to restrict the flow, very slow controlled constant pour, i'd use a slightly coarser drip grind(somewhere between auto drip and metal drip on your bunn). If you are filling it to the top and keeping it full a la intelligentsia, i'd use a slightly finer drip grind(between the paper cone and auto drip on your bunn). If you want more guidance on the v60 brewing, check out brewmethods.com

What it will come down to is getting really good at your v60 AND coming up with a recipe you like for using it with iced coffee. Good luck!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on July 8, 2010 at 5:35pm

Alright so like two years ago I'm cupping some coffee on a work table at a roastery I'm no longer at. We are all doing our thing, trying to keep quiet, but everybody keeps going "Huh..." and "wow" upon breaking the crust of this one particular Sumatra. The samples were really spread out so that we could all kind of do our thing, but this one sample in the middle of the table kept really blowing our minds.

After we had written our notes and made up our minds we gathered to talk about the coffees. We all came to the same result on the one in the middle... passion fruit.

Then we realized we were idiots, lol. There was a Rubbermaid container below the work table that had passion fruit tea in it, and the lid had come just slightly ajar.

That started it... French presses with tea in them, pour overs with tea added to the basket... but this method always seemed to work the best.

I've done Yirgs with blackberry tea, Kenyas with jasmine tea (diluted with water, jasmine is so freaking strong), a couple others... There are always little tweaks to them- that honestly I don't really want to release to the public, no offense to anyone, I've just worked really hard on some of these and will probably use them in competition at some point.

It helps bridge the gap for people that are either stuck on coffee or stuck on tea and want to try something new but feel like they have exhausted all of their options.

-bry

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Paul Schlader on July 15, 2010 at 12:19pm

This is awesome... thanks Jonathan

Jonathan Aldrich said:

Back on topic: The Fretta is a V60 with a carafe that is large enough to hold ice. I've had some good success doing pourover iced coffee using Counter Culture's Japanese Iced Coffee instructions. A note on that, I didn't like what I was getting with the 2:1 ratio they suggest (i.e. 28 gram dose for 16 oz. and using 8 oz. water 8 oz. ice) and settled on a 3:2 (i.e. 21 gram dose for 12 oz., use 8 oz. water 8 oz. ice).

As far as grind for the v60 goes, it really depends on what method you are using... If you are using the grounds to restrict the flow, very slow controlled constant pour, i'd use a slightly coarser drip grind(somewhere between auto drip and metal drip on your bunn). If you are filling it to the top and keeping it full a la intelligentsia, i'd use a slightly finer drip grind(between the paper cone and auto drip on your bunn). If you want more guidance on the v60 brewing, check out brewmethods.com

What it will come down to is getting really good at your v60 AND coming up with a recipe you like for using it with iced coffee. Good luck!

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion