Compare: Breville YouBrew (Glass) vs. Technivorm
When Breville’s YouBrew was first released, we weren’t in love with the grinding functionality. Of course, we’re crazy when it comes to high concentrations of coffee particles suspended in our water, so a ton of people loved its grind and brew functionality without issue. With the recent release of their glass carafe version, Breville has tweaked the grinder and improved the consistency and dosage functionality to produce a stronger cup. So, of course, we had to put it to the taste test!
In this video, we brew up batches of java on the Technivorm and on the YouBrew, then ask our trusty crewmates to taste them and give us their opinion on which they prefer. Find out which coffee maker — if any — prevailed!
Kaffeologie: Offering Sustainable Stainless Steel Filters
We’re featuring one of our favorite new products in our semi-regular Flash Sale this weekend, so thought we’d delve a little into its manufacturer: Kaffeologie.
Initially on the search for something to improve the flavor of their beloved french press coffee, founders Nate Jones and John Custer created the Coffee Catcher in 2009. This little gadget removed more silt from the coffee press, but wasn’t as popular as they would have liked.
‘We have the competency of working with stainless steel mesh,’ said Jones. But he wondered ‘if there are any other products in coffee that need that?’ Fortunately for them, they discovered that their talent for creating reusable filters gained more traction with folks who enjoy pour over coffee preparations like the Chemex, Hario V60 and AeroPress.
By following this new direction and expanding from french press to pour overs, Jones and Custer have seen their company thrive. Based on customer input and a desire to produce the best quality stainless steel filters available, they completely redesigned their model for the AeroPress, the S Filter, which was produced in part by funding through the community site KickStarter.
‘We’ve connected to customers and have found a lot of folks who shop with us just want a better cup of coffee,’ Jones said. Stay tuned for more awesome filters for your favorite coffee preps coming from these Seattle-based designers.
Compare: Technivorm vs. Behmor Brazen Brew
We love innovations in the coffee makin’ world, so when Joe Behm talked to us about his new Brazen coffee maker, we were super excited to test this baby out against our tried and true: The Technivorm!
Watch as Gail brews up batches on these two coffee makers, then our trusty crew mates give us their opinion on which they prefer. One thing’s for sure: Yummy coffee was definitely had by all.
Bonavita Extravaganza!
In support of a bunch of fun new gear they’re releasing over the next few months, Bonavita‘s main engineer, Brian, visited with Gail to show ‘em off. Watch as they talk through a few different products aimed toward pour over coffee lovers. The Bonavoyage Travel Kettle has already hit the market and the other goodies will land during the winter of 2012.
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Bonavita Porcelain Immersion Brewer |
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Bonavita Pour Over Stand & Dripper |
Bonavita Pour Over Scale |
Crew Review: Saeco Intelia Focus
Featuring a small footprint, simple to use interface and a cool new approach to the finger guard that actually promotes — instead of hindering — coffee bean feeding, there’s a lot to love about Saeco’s new Intelia Focus superautomatic espresso machine.
Watch as Gail takes us through the ropes, including its features, functionality and an overview of the accessories Saeco includes. Then she demonstrates making a delicious cappuccino!
Compare: Rocket R58 vs. Rocket Hx Espresso Machines
For years now, we have had a deep and abiding love for Rocket Espresso‘s heat exchange machines, so when their new dual boiler model, the R58, hit the market, you know that a dance party ensued. But aside from sharing some of the aesthetic principals of its Hx counterparts, how does the R58 compare? And why would you choose one style of machine over the other?
In this video, Gail does us the sweet favor of breaking it all down for us. She talks about functional and feature differences, why you’d want a dual boiler or a heat exchanger and then crafts cappuccinos on both styles of machine to demonstrate how they compare, performance-wise.
Crew Review: Chemex with Glass Handle
Hanging with Gail and Jess is always a blast, but when there’s a Chemex added to the mix, things can get a little wild.
Sure, Jess originally chose it for its looks, but she has kept it around for its high quality performance — a lot like … well, we digress. Her shoot-from-the-hip Chemex brew style has always produced a delicious cuppa, without all the precision some might assume must be involved, so we asked her to come around for a little show.
Watch as she demonstrates her ‘technique’ using the Chemex with a glass handle (as opposed to its Woodneck counterpart).
Crew Review: Saeco Poemia with Non-Pressurized Portafilter Upgrade
There’s a lot we love in the world; we’re just Pollyanna like that. But if we had to pick something we love a bit more than other things (and we’re working on a well developed sliding scale and/or bell curve here), upgrading something lo-fi into something a bit more hi-fi is definitely one of them. Maybe it’s the McGyver-esque shape and feel of it, we don’t know. Whatever it is, the Saeco Poemia was an excellent candidate for a little soupin’ up — especially given our awesome non-pressurized portafilter!
So this is how it went down: We asked Gail to pull shots with it, she did so and we filmed all the action for your viewing pleasure. Really, it’s a blast — so sit back, relax and watch the crema ensue.
Crew Review: Behmor Brazen Brew
There is time for meekness and there is time for boldness; a time for sweetness and a time for sassiness (admittedly, we have difficulty telling these times apart). And then there are times when one should be simply brazen.
If you’re Joe Behm, the creator of the incredibly popular Behmor home roaster, you’ve been working hard on brazenness for the past couple of years. With a goal of creating the most accurate drip coffee maker available, he has developed this new brewer that features temperature control, pre-infusion, brew time and even altitude adjustments. You can use it with the included thermal carafe, or manually to easily craft a pour over at a flat line brew temperature. Plus, its simple interface was so much so, Gail didn’t even take a look at the manual before brewing her first pot!
Watch Gail take us through the features of the new Brazen brewer, then test it out by brewing up a batch o’ java.
New Product Round-Up!
Yeee-haw. We wanted to take a moment to let you know about a slew of new goodies we’ve added over the last few weeks.
Quick Mill QM67 Dual Boiler
A double boiler for under $2k? Quick Mill’s latest model features the E61 brew head, separate boilers for simultaneous steaming and brewing, an integrated PID for controlling the brew boiler temp and a simple case design. If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to a prosumer-class machine but your budget hasn’t allowed it, the QM67 is definitely worthy of your consideration.
Bonavita Variable Temperature Gooseneck Kettle
We did a crew review of this featuring the engineer, Brian, a few months back, but the kettles themselves finally hit the market at the end of August! Select a specific temp and the kettle will heat until it reaches it, then hold it at that temp as well. With the curved gooseneck, it’s an excellent option for precision pour over preparation (say that three times fast!).
Refurbished Jura Superautomatics
If you’re a fan of Jura’s superautos — or want to be — you can pick up a factory refurbished model at an awesome discount! We’ve added three new models to our refurb line-up: The space-conscious ENA 5, the ultra sleek J6 and the straight-forward C9 One-Touch.
Saeco Tune-Up Kits
Love your Saeco semi-automatic? Keep it tuned up and in excellent working order with one of our three new parts kits. These include everything you need for a regular cleansing of your Aroma, Sirena or Via Venezia, plus instructions on how to get the job done.