Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
Burnt out, over the hill autistic IT nerd and longtime SSC lurker
User ID: 3219
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
1d ago
Then you're on your way! I do want to say that I totally understand and respect your skepticism WRT coffee tasting, but I strongly suspect that even with a mediocre palate, if you get into it in any depth you're going to find that there's enough flavor there to draw you in more deeply. The growing caffeine addiction is just bonus points! More seriously, though, regional coffee characteristics are often pretty distinct at the lower levels of roasts and are the gateway for lots of us that have taken the plunge. You'll notice the brightness of African coffees and the earthiness of Southeast Asian coffees, for example, even if you don't get every hint of lemongrass or honeyed almonds promised by a particular bean.
The other thing that I came back to say was that I'd strongly recommend that you stick with buying whole beans and let your Krups grinder do the work. As @srf0638 has said above, the Krups will be fine for pour-overs (and +1,000 for Sweet Maria's, yay!), and getting your beans pre-ground will effectively kill the advantage that you'll get from using fresh beans to begin with. Ideally, you want to grind your beans right before you begin your pour-over.
True! I thought that I was pretty explicit about the money part, especially with the upfront stereo equipment reference, but I had to think about your comment for a minute before I really unpacked the time part, mostly because my brain was stuck in the past and thinking about how unreliable specialty roasters could be and how a good one is worth their weight in gold when these days, any decent-sized town will probably have a coffee shop or two that sells good fresh roasted beans. Hell, I've bought them myself more than a few times to try and calibrate my own equipment against a fresh shot from the shop's machine, definitely good practice.
ETA: Not surprised to see that you're also referencing Sweet Maria's! They've taught me most of what I know about coffee and I've been buying my beans from them for decades.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
2d ago
Okay, I'm late to the party, so I'm going to jump in here with my reply instead of the top.
Getting into craft coffee is like getting into high end stereo equipment. Nothing is going to be optimal, but the higher-priced tiers of equipment will get you closer to your goal. Likewise, there's a wide variety in taste with various regions and beans for you to experience, especially at the lighter roasts where the individual flavor of the bean can shine. Practically speaking, unless you become a taster yourself you'll never run out of variety to try between the origin of the coffee, the process used to separate the bean from the fruit, the degree of roast in the coffee itself, etc. I tend to roast mostly African coffees and Central American coffees, but every region that can grow coffee has good things about it and good farms that produce coffee worth its premium price. Unless the roaster is an artiste, the flavors that the bean is supposed to evoke will be probably present more as suggestions than solid tastes at first, though the good ones are so damn good that you'll wonder if they added flavoring to the coffee. Regardless, the more you drink your craft coffee black, the more your palate will develop, and when you find yourself unironically talking about things like notes of stone fruit and hints of this or that spice or the type of citrus that the coffee evokes for you, you'll find that you've become a coffee connoisseur in your own right.
A Chemex is, by all accounts, a good pour-over, and your electric kettle, while not ideal, should be good enough to get you started.
However.
The freshness of the beans themselves is the most critical part of your craft coffee journey, ideally roasted within the last several days levels of fresh. I'm assuming you've already got a local craft coffee place that sells the beans that it roasts and this won't be an issue for you, but they're an absolute must if you want to travel this path. Given the assumption, you've got some good recommendations for burr grinders here already and they're the next most important piece of your potential coffee journey. With price being an issue, the good manual grinder might be the way to go for now but if you think you're going to seriously be into craft coffee, it might be a good idea to save up for a good grinder. FWIW. I've always liked Baratza grinders, and I personally use a Baratza Sette 270. That seems to be a bit of overkill to me for someone who just wants to be able to have a nice pour-over, but regardless you might be able to find refurbs on their website for cheaper. I did when I bought mine. Also, you'll want something with a one-way valve to store your fresh coffee in so that it can outgas while keeping outside air outside. A good canister or container shouldn't be too much money and will be worth the purchase.
One more thing to talk about. Inevitably, this rabbit hole includes taking the plunge and roasting green coffee beans for your own consumption. I've seen folks that have spent thousands on their roasters and espresso makers while other folks have gone with old-school methods like a popcorn popper or even just baking sheets in the oven. I started with a Fresh Roast two decades ago and have spent way too much money on better and better equipment as my earning power increased. Just something to keep in mind when planning for your next glorious level of stereo coffee equipment. Enjoy!
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
6d ago
The Oldest Starfighter by Jamie McFarlane. I've read this book before, just with different characters and a different angle to the whole, "humans are technologically inferior but," style of Sci Fi.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
6d ago
My father was a workhorse. I have some very good memories of spending time with him as a young boy in his workshop or getting picked up from school but he was often absent, working weekends or double shifts for the extra money and also, I suspect, as a coping mechanism for my mother's infidelity. When we moved to a small town, he was much more physically present but still preoccupied with work. In adulthood, however, he opened up and started talking, and he and I had what I considered to be an excellent relationship before he passed away. My mother, as you may have guessed, not so much. Like problem_redditor*, I also experienced my mother as being controlling, self-centered, manipulative, frequently dismissive, and derogatory towards my father in particular. She and I saw things quite differently, and as a teenager I wasn't concerned with school, college, or career. My only goal was to become independent ASAP. That earned me a measure of respect from her, and once out of the family household I drank the Kool-Aid and spent decades playing the relatively happy and successful child. A little over a decade ago, Dad started developing Alzheimer's, and my wife and I tried to help. As is common in these sorts of situations, all of my family's unhealthiness came out to play during this time period, primarily, my mother's unhealthiness. That almost undid my marriage and I've kept her at arm's distance ever since. She has also developed Alzheimer's and between that and the damage that was done to my life and my marriage, I don't really speak to her anymore.
In navigating life, I've pretty much learned by doing and did not receive much guidance from either of my parents, which is in part a generational thing. That said, I think in a lot of ways my father set a wonderful example for me to follow and I try to do that. He was the kind of guy that spent several years building his own garage/workshop and I'd like to think I have some of that focus and persistence in myself when it comes to the important things in my life, and that his example helps me to believe that I can do just about anything I set my mind to. He also had a pure and loving heart, and I try to live up to the love and acceptance that he was able to show people as well.
*In linking that Wikipedia page, please note that I am referring only to my own mother.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
6d ago
If you're into soul at all, check out the Isaac Hayes versions of Joy and The Look of Love.
Would you make the same decision? Should anyone be allowed to make that kind of trade-off with the assistance of medical staff?
Fuck no and yes, respectively. If you want to attempt to preserve your life through cryonics, that's your business. Me? I'm more than old enough not to be concerned with extending my life by any means necessary and also more than old enough that I just can't even with some shit these days. My brain just flat out BSODs at many modern trends, quite a few of which seem to be to be excesses to me. It doesn't need to be today, and I hope my death is not one that happens after a prolonged period of illness and lingering, but any sadness would mostly be because I'm leaving behind people that I love and that love me and that my absence in their lives will be painful and/or traumatic.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
8d ago
GUH, looks like you're absolutely right. I just did my own $Internets_Search and I'm seeing several sources that back you up on the FHA having no closet requirement. At the time, I had been impressed by my realtor and so I just assumed she knew what she was talking about but it just goes to show you how pervasive those sorts of common misconceptions can be. With as much crap and downright weird stuff I've dealt with when it comes to mortgage companies over the years, the whole closet thing seemed pretty tame in comparison!
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
8d ago
Pretty sure it's a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac thing, though. My first house was actually closet free so not only did I consider it, I did live that way, though doing so taught me that I really took closets and closet space for granted. Movable storage worked, but took up what was otherwise (seemingly) valuable storage space and although I got furniture to compensate, closets were a much more natural and better fit for me. And when the time came to sell the house, the Realtor straight up told me to pay someone for closets as otherwise the bedrooms could not be counted as such.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
13d ago
Silver Stars: Guardian of Aster Fall Book 8 by David North.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
22d ago
I was under the impression that the presence of mountain lions in the Eastern US was indeed rare but also pretty much an open secret these days. Two people that I've known from that neck of the woods have separately shared with me that they saw mountain lions in various parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and they were trustworthy folks. When I did a little digging I ran straight into the whole, "they just have a large range," cope, which, while true, doesn't exactly satisfy when the sightings are still too numerous and much too far away from their known habitats.
Walter, Walter, what's the point, man?
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
26d ago
Moonlight Relic: Guardian of Aster Fall Book 3 by David North.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
28d ago
Completely agree, there was a lot going on in that movie and although I can't say that I enjoyed watching it, I was left thinking about all of the different things that it touched on for days afterward.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
1mo ago
We really do need the bidet in the west.
Boy do I have some news for you! Hooks up to your existing water line so all it needs is a nearby outlet and you're good to go. Utterly life changing and I have no idea how folks endure the barbarity of making do with the standard bogroll.
Battlefield Reclaimer (Guardians of Aster Fall book 1) by David North.
For anyone that's also reading the Hollows series, by Kim Harrison, I want to freely confess that in an abnormal twist, my brain has subbed in not one but two real-life actors for certain folks in the series, due to their particular mannerisms of speech:
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
1mo ago
Oh man, Inland Empire was something else! I've seen it described (I think) as a journey straight through the subconscious, and it's a good analogy. Like a series of dreams, it meanders through its scenes, some seemingly furthering previous scenes, others jarringly discordant on the surface, but regardless of the relationship of each scene to the next, there's a constant symbolic undercurrent that propels the movie forward. I can see why it's not for everyone, given that I felt it was a little too long (which, tbf, may have been because I was watching it as part of a larger David Lynch retrospective) but it was still quite an experience. If I happen to find another screening of it at some point in the future, there's a good chance I'll catch it again, as I will with most of his work.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
1mo ago
This matches my experience as well. I find that consciousness almost constantly throws off quanta that emerge as concepts to which language then attaches, which defines and refines the concept into something more definite. My attention inevitably engages something from this firehose-like blast of experience and from this my inner monologue emerges, describing my experience to me. Emotions are unusually intense quanta with fractal-like definition that require much more attention and language to tease out, almost as if I have to weave my thought and language around them to accurately capture what I'm experiencing.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
1mo ago
I'm up for it, though I'm concerned that enough of you fuckers the fine Mottizens that are graciously volunteering in this very thread are deeply steeped in the knowledge of Pennsylvania's football teams to prevent me from scooping up later round bargains. Speaking of which, I fully reserve the right to draft a defense in the 9th round or a kicker in the 10th, and in fact to fuck up my entire draft because my other league is a full PPR league with 6 points for QB touchdowns and no kickers.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
1mo ago
Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows Book 8) by Kim Harrison.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
1mo ago
I have to allow myself some skimming on the CW threads, but I read most of the normal weekly threads as well as any other thread that catches my interest, which is most of them.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
1mo ago
What is your advice for getting to know the ins and outs of a local community? We just bought a house and are joining an HOA for the first time.
Umm, abandon all hope ye who enter here? (Kinda sorta but not really) Kidding!
I've had the misfortune pleasure of living in two separate places with different flavors of homeowners organizations. The first community in question was a relatively large community of several hundred houses and the second was a much smaller community of ~50 houses. Both communities provided water and road maintenance for the respective homes. The first had some pretty restrictive covenants, was well run, and expensive AF while the second was almost completely unrestricted, cheap AF, and still trying to live in the close knit community days where everyone knew everyone and households pitched in together to fix community problems, which to me does not seem to work in the 21st century. Regardless, my experience has been tons of dramatically unreal expectations and soul sucking low stakes drama, which greatly inhibits the ability of the HOA to do meaningful things. This was, IME, especially true of the smaller community, which did not have enough of a homeowner base to really afford the type of service and reliability that the homeowners desired and expected. Both communities were big on getting new homeowners involved in the HOA. DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE ROPED INTO THIS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Leave the complainers and the power trippers to each other--your sanity will thank you.
Muninn
"Dick Laurent is dead."
1mo ago
Ministry: The Lost Gospels According To Al Jourgensen by Al Jourgensen and Jon Wiederhorn.
Funny, of the three that you've listed I've only ever tasted Kona, though I have a Colombian Gesha and another one that I don't remember off the top of my head (don't think it was Panamanian), both waiting for me to clean my roaster and run a couple more batches through it so that I'm sure that my beans are tasting right again. Anyway, I generally steer folks away from the more expensive and rare pedigree coffees and usually recommend starting with trying some Central and South American coffees and some African coffees, but Kona and Gesha are both pedigree coffees for a reason, so if you want to start with one of those, go nuts. A good Nariño should give you an idea of what Colombian coffees can bring to the table: a nice silky body, a complex taste with hints of raw sugar sweetness. See, this is the wine talk stuff here, but I don't think you'll go wrong if you find some that's freshly roasted.
But yeah, if I'm going to name other regional coffees to try, Ethiopian is always high on my list, so if you see an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Sidama, or Guji for sale, they'd be good coffees to try. Sadly, I can't put Harar coffee on that list anymore but it's an old favorite of mine and my first, "yeah, this fresh roasted coffee thing is legit," coffee and was/is infamous for its tangible blueberry note. I've had lots of good Burundi coffees in the last several years, and have liked the coffees that I've gotten from Kenya and Tanzania as well.
Moving to Central/South America, Colombian is nice stuff as I said above, and Guatemalan coffee is another favorite of mine, Huehuetenango in particular has been a coffee region that I keep coming back to, and Antigua has been growing good coffee for hundreds of years. I could go on forever, but will say that more generally, as long as the beans and the roast are good, you're going to get a good coffee. I've also had tasty Costa Rican and Nicaraguan coffees that have worked for me, and I've had a couple of interesting Brazilian coffees as well. I think the only reason I haven't tried more Brazilian coffee is that there just haven't been many Brazilian coffees for sale when I'm buying, which is probably a me thing as much as anything else--there's a particular Christmas espresso blend that I absolutely adore and I invariably buy way too many other coffees to try when buying it so I don't tend to do any buying in the early parts of the year.
Okay, I've already geeked out for way too long on coffee. My suspicion is that you're going to find that there's something to this craft/specialty coffee business and that if you decide to keep at it you'll find plenty of different coffees that you like in your own right. Subjectivity aside, there's a definite superiority to this side of coffee that may well keep you coming back.
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