TIEPT
Fullerton, California
About me:
My Equipment:
Espresso machine & grinder
MY LATEST REVIEWS
MY RECENT PURCHASES
- 12 oz.
BONSAI BLEND
VELTON'S COFFEE ROASTING COMPANY$12.00ADD TO CART
WEGA MAX 6.8 A CONIC COFFEE GRINDER
$1600$1348ADD TO CART
ROASTE PERSONALIZED EGIFT CARD
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EXCELLENT FOR VIETNAMESE COFFEE
tiept | Thu, 06/30/2011 - 15:41I have been making Vietnamese coffee for more than 10 years and really prefer this kind of gravity insert. As the retailer stated, it's difficult to gauge how much to screw down with the other type and I had a real tough time with how much to tighten it. The gravity type method can be done by feel and is much easier to get right after the first few trials. I did not buy this particular filter but it looks to be of higher quality than what you find at a typical Asian supermarket. Before getting into making espresso using a machine, I was mainly using this filter type. I tried Aeropress, but being Asian, I need a stronger brew. It took me a while to figure out how to use this filter. Vietnamese coffee is primarily of the dark French roast variety. I usually just buy the can coffee from Asian supermarkets (the horror!) because I didn't know any better. This is my procedure: add 3 teaspoons of ground coffee and shake the filter side to side to level it; tamp the ground using the upper filter moderately, don't do the 30 lbs. tamp of the espresso drinkers; leave this filter on top of the coffee; if the coffee is too bitter, add a pinch of salt to the coffee (very common in this part of the world); heat up the water to almost boiling point (180-195 F); pour hot water slowly into the filter up to about 1/4 of the filter; let it seep for 20 seconds or so and then pour more hot water into it to almost fill the filter. For Vietnamese iced coffee, add in 3 teaspoons (or less) of condensed milk, mix it in and add over ice. I usually drink Americano by adding some hot/broiling water. I recommend using freshly roasted and grinded coffee and try to grind so that the water going through the coffee takes about 2.5-3 minutes. Keep your tamp consistent. You might need to play around with everything a bit for best results.
EXCELLENT GRINDER FOR THE MONEY.
tiept | Thu, 06/30/2011 - 15:19If you do a google search, you will find that there is rarely a bad review for the SJ. That should tell you a lot about the capability of this grinder. When I bought my E61 HX machine used, the previous owner also gave me his old grinder. The grinder is a 90-100 watt model made by Fiorenzato and is very well made. Looking at the grind, one gets a feeling that it should be fine for espresso as it is very uniform. Being new to espresso making, I bought a bag of French roast from a major off the shelves brand. I got a lot of channeling and no crema at all, which is understandable given the old roast date typical of supermarket coffee. When I got the SJ, even with the old burr set that has gone through hundreds of pounds of coffee, I was able to get a shot with no channeling with very decent crema. The taste was also much richer than the old grinder. This really made me a believer in the concept of grinder > espresso machine.