Lets talk about COFFEE - Page 77

I've got a Hario Skerton hand grinder and it's around the same price as a Porlex one, but I would agree that a Porlex would be better since it has a lid; you won't have to worry about beans flying out, happens sometimes when you're first getting used to a hand grinder!

The Porlex and Hario are said to use the same burrs. I have a Hario Mini that I use for my office coffee, and I like it. It has a lid so the beans don't fly out.

Double post, sorry.

I tend to agree with that, but I find it disappointing that they don't serve many of the beans that they sell. I don't have the ability, nor really the desire to brew/pull at home. With so many interesting beans available, I wish that they'd offer to serve some in-store. On the occasions that I asked, I was told they rarely if ever do so. I think I understand the reason why they don't, but it seems counter intuitive to limit what may be their best products to such a small segment of their customers.

My girlfriend got a different sample from Tonx. Rwanda I believe.

I liked this one better. Darker roast and tasted like coffee...but didn't think it to be anything special.

I don't know about the Peet's near you, but the two stores near me have always been willing to make a French press of any bean I wanted, and it's not very expensive either. A friend of mine was in a similar position to you, and I had raved to him about the Peet's Ethiopian Supernatural. He bought a pound or two, and had the store to keep it there for him, and would have a French press of it made when he came in. He was a regular in their store, and they know him well, so that probably helped things.

Unfortunately my free Tonx shirt is a cotton poly blend so it won't even make good random polishing rags

Why? Synthetics are great for bulling.

I've never had an issue with shoes I guess...but I rarely have any non-100% cotton rags since I just cut up old t-shirts and even the free t-shirts you get as event-swag (I'll take an XXXL please) are usualy 100% these days.


For things like eyeglasses or LCD screens though, poly will scratch. Don't want to get confused since its hard to tell once separated from the label. Once spent a 3-week vacation cleaning my sunglasses primarily with a poly or poly-blend t-shirt and they didn't look so good afterwards...

This is a great coffee blog, written by someone who was there in the early days of Starbucks when it was great:

http://coffeecontrarian.blogspot.com/

What he says is going to cause a lot of consternation in today's 3rd wave coffee world.

His history of Starbucks is eye-opening: http://coffeecontrarian.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-short-trip-down-retail-coffee-memory.html

^I read that, good stuff.

I've been using the Orphan Espresso Lido grinder for about 2 months now and can say that it is lightyears better than my old Porlex. The OE Lido is large and heavy for a hand grinder though so if absolute grind quality isn't your utmost concern, I would say the Porlex is fine. The Lido is also double the price but it is without a doubt a superior grinder, especially at the coarser end of things.

If you already have a Hario or Porlex and don't own the other essentials to brewing, get those first (i.e. a decent scale and kettle w/ mechanism for measuring water temp). I can certainly understand if it seems too fussy to have all that equipment but without it, you'll never be able to control the variables that go into making a cup of coffee.

I have been seriously considering the Lido or the Pharos for a medium grind to brew in my Chemex. The Pharos only holds 21 grams in the upper hopper and I usually brew 40 grams, so I would have to grind twice.

The OE Pharos is for espresso grinds and it's a huge (but cool) contraption. The Lido was designed with drip, french press and cupping in mind. If you have no intention to use the grinder for espresso, I would get the Lido and not even consider the Pharos.

Edit: check out this comparison thread http://www.home-barista.com/reviews/hand-grinder-roadshow-t22223.html

I was thinking about getting one of the OE hand grinders until I ran across that home-barista thread, and the usability issues turned me off. How are you finding the usability of the Lido?