Seattle Coffee Gear Blog » Reviews

Crew Review: Technivorm CDGT

Kat — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:09:33 +0000

With its classy cylindrical lines now complemented with an industrial, corrugated metal look and a mid-brew interrupt feature, Technivorm’s new CDGT still offers some of the best drip coffee we’ve ever had the pleasure to sip.

Watch as Gail runs through the features and functionality, then brews up a pot on the CDGT.

Crew Review: Turkish Coffee Equipment

Kat — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:14:35 +0000

Rade takes it to the streets and shows Gail how it’s done! Finally. In this video, he tries out a few different Turkish coffee-related apparatus to help us determine what to bring in. Watch as he demonstrates the hand grinder and then teaches Gail how to make Turkish coffee, Serbian-style.

Crew Review: Rocket Espresso R58 Dual Boiler

Kat — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:33:09 +0000

Our long love affair with Rocket Espresso has been taken to a higher level with their newest addition, the R58 dual boiler espresso machine. Featuring separate, insulated copper steam & brew boilers and a removable PID interface to control the steam boiler on/off, brew boiler temperature and the water source (either the internal water reservoir or plumbed-in), the R58 also has a dashing case design and a beautiful stainless steel cup surround.

Seriously, we’re not sure if it can get much better. We need a moment. While we collect ourselves, check out Gail’s from box-to-cappuccino introduction to the R58.

All That (Caffeine) — and a Bag of Chips!

Allison — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:47:34 +0000

When you think of energy boosting drinks and food, thoughts of Red Bull, Rockstar and even your average shot of espresso come to mind, right?

But wait, did you ever think a bag of potato chips could give you the same amount of energy?

Arma Energy Snx and NRG have done the what many may consider to be the unthinkable: Created a crunchy + salty + caffeinated snack with a dash of taurine (an ingredient often found in energy drinks) to boost our mood.

Given that we often associate potato chips with being a couch potato, a high energy version definitely borders on ironic. But Arma claims that each 2-ounce bag comes with about 70 milligrams of caffeine while NRG says that every 3.5-ounce bag is ‘equivalent to 3 and a half cups of coffee, 350 mg of caffeine.’

However, with each bag also comes 290 calories. Compare that to an energy drink that has 80 mg of caffeine and 110 calories and a shot of espresso with only 5 calories and 75 mg of caffeine.

Crew Review: Breville BES840XL

Kat — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:17:27 +0000

While we loved several of the features on Breville’s BES830XL, the temperature consistency did leave a bit to be desired. So imagine our tearful joy when we learned that Breville was implementing an upgrade to the internals of this machine and releasing a new model!

You can check out the differences between the older heating tech and the new heating tech (if you’re into that kind of thing) in this video. Then watch Gail take us through the BES840XL’s features and demonstrate functionality. The BES840XL will be available in mid-June 2012.

Crew Review: Hario Clear Water Dripper

Kat — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:02:50 +0000

If patience is a virtue you’ve already acquired, Hario’s beautiful Clear Water Dripper might produce the cold cup of coffee to reward you. Watch as Gail takes this gear-fit-for-a-laboratory out for a test drive.

As you can see, we didn’t have great results, but we wont give up. Have you tried this prep method, or something like it? Please share your technique with the class!

Crew Review: Capresso Burr Coffee Grinder #559

Kat — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:09:13 +0000

In our search for entry level grinders that still get the job done, we tested out this model from Capresso. While it doesn’t grind fine enough for traditional espresso extraction, it was fairly consistent and worked well for pressurized extractions to pour over to drip to press pot.

Watch as Gail tests out this grinder, discusses its features, pros and cons and then demonstrates its grind quality.

Crew Review: La Marzocco Stainless Steel Portafilter

Kat — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:45:36 +0000

Portafilter cleanliness is one of our favorite subjects around here, but we have noticed that the regular soaking and scrubbing of the chrome-plated brass versions adversely affects their finish over time. What was once shiny and beautiful becomes dark black and the chrome plating can even begin to wear down.

For heavy use environments, like cafes, this means that portafilter replacement is a standard cost of doing business, so La Marzocco created a stainless steel model aimed at decreasing that cost.

Watch Gail demonstrate this stainless steel portafilter with breakaway spouts and show us how it holds up over several weeks of use without cleaning. She also compares it to a standard chrome-plated brass version, as well. These do cost a pretty penny, but could definitely be worth it for folks that do need to regularly replace their portafilters.

Crew Review: Rancilio Bottomless Portafilter

Kat — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:38:48 +0000

While we have carried a bottomless portafilter for E61 brew heads that also did work fairly well in the Rancilio Silvia’s brew head, it didn’t seal quite as we might like and so there was often a little bit of water leakage over the top that really was just gauche.

Rancilio released their own version for their commercial machines that fits the Silvia, so we gave it a test drive. We did notice a bit of water leaking over the top, but nothing like the former model. And the spurting/spraying/mini-geysers? There were a few present in Gail’s extraction — more of a fine mist — but that’s just a result of channeling, baby.

Wanna see it in action? Watch Gail demonstrate it on our store’s PID-enhanced Silvia.

Crew Review: Zoka Coffee Roasters — Espresso Blends

Kat — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:57:33 +0000

Time to take on Zoka’s espresso blends — the Espresso Paladino and Organic Quatro.

We asked Gail and Allison to pull a few shots and give us their opinions on how these new coffees taste.