Monday, September 10, 2007

crude grinder timer


crude grinder timer
Originally uploaded by pavasm.

This was a weekend of little espresso projects. I ordered parts from McMaster Carr to cobble together this little grinder timer. The red button will grind for the time set by the dial, the black button will grind as long as the buttton is held. The range is 0.1-10 sec. I was thinking this will help me waste less as I experiment with smaller-dose espressos.

I also replaced the brew group valve on my Gaggia Carezza (former backup machine- probably going to a family member). I sheared the head off of the 1/2" hex "bolt" part when I was cleaning it up.

Lastly, I stuck a thermocouple probe on the boiler of the Starbucks Barista machine (new backup machine). I wedged it in under the thermal fuse. So far I saw the temps at that point range from 190-210F while the green 'ready" light is on. The temperatures swing back and forth pretty slowly at rest (as opposed to the temps I measured on the outside of the Gaggia boiler)- maybe due to the fact that it is a larger mass of water in the larger Starbucks boiler.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Coffee & Clothing

I first remember hearing about the connection between coffee and clothing on one of the Portafilter.net podcasts. Notoriously snazzy dresser Daryn Berlin (of Counterculture Coffee) said (something to the effect of) his wardrobe evolved it's hipness because he would wander into clothing shops that were usually near the cafes he visited for work. Phil (peaberry picker) documented this phenomenon here.

Now Ben (chemically imbalanced) noted that the impending arrival of H&M to Atlanta should certainly bring more worthwhile coffee to the area.

I don't really know what to make of this. All I know is that a very short block away from the Monadnock Intelligentsia, you can shop here:
IMAGE_128
and buy stuff like this:
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