Sage advice! It's not like I have $7500 just lying around! I do, though, like the idea of seeing how close the Brewtus can get to a professional level machine. I kind of hope it would only get so far. What else would justify the high price of a GS/3 for example? I'll report back when I do.
Thanks, Dan On Mar 27, 2011, at 6:28 PM, Benjamin McCafferty wrote: > I concur with what has been said so far. I wouldn't downplay your machine > though. Remember that, before the GS/3 was available, the Brewtus was the > ONLY home machine recommended by David Schomer on his site for home use (and > the GS/3 now holds that honor). I don't consider $7,500 to be a "home" > price, so I still consider the Brewtus to be among the best home machines you > can find. There are a few others since the B2, but not many. > > All that said, I am reminded of some sage advice that a brewer once gave me > in Belgium. I was asking how to reproduce his yeast/bacteria culture, flavor > profile, etc. in a beer I brewed here in Seattle, and he said something like, > "Why don't you develop your own house beer that you really like? You will > never re-create exactly what we do here, but you may well find something even > better, and with your own unique set of yeast and bacteria, you will then > have something that noone else will be able to reproduce!" > > If it were me, I would go enjoy the shots at your cafe, and all that the > experience there offers you. And I'd also play with blends/roast levels/etc. > at home and find something that suits you equally well, or better! I just > changed my "house" blend last week, and found something (after two years) > that I like even better than what I was doing before. > > Just a thought. > > All the best, keep us posted. > > b > > On Mar 27, 2011, at 6:20 PM, TWG wrote: > >> What about your grinder? tamper? water quality? dosage? I presume you >> use the same beans. >> >> You've got the right idea to take your machine over there. >> >> If it comes down to the machine it shouldn't be a surprise. >> >> On Mar 27, 8:38 pm, Dan Hagelin <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Kitt, >>> >>> Thanks for your thoughtful response. It occurred to me that I could hire >>> the barista to come to my home but your suggestion of taking mine to the >>> coffee shop is much better in that it allows A/B comparisons. What >>> separates our shots is that his have such a phenomenal clarity of flavor >>> which allows me to perceive a myriad of flavors that are simply missing in >>> mine where the palate is more homogenous and simple. His machine is a >>> beautiful La Marzocco and it seems fitting that it's output would surpass >>> that of a Brewtus, but it does it so so handily that my home shots now seem >>> lackluster. It will be interesting to see what kind of results this >>> barista can eke out of my Brewtus. I won't spring for the GS/3 yet! >>> >>> Tanks again, >>> Dan >>> >>> On Mar 27, 2011, at 2:44 PM, Kitt Johnson wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>>> Dan, You asked >>>> "have experience using a loftier machine than the Brewtus and if the >>>> results they achieved were noticeably superior. >>> >>>> I have used a few other machines, notably a few of the LM machines and >>>> then a number of other shop machines (not every shop seems to be able to >>>> afford an LM.) I have not found them noticeably superior. I also seem to >>>> recall seeing a few comments on forum boards by baristas who have a >>>> Brewtus saying that they did not find it deficient. >>> >>>> A more likely cause of your disappointment may be that your machine is not >>>> set-up quite the same way that the shop machine is, or your technique is >>>> not well suited to their blend of coffee. You do have the opportunity to >>>> do a little testing by throwing your machine in the back of the car, >>>> filling your reservoir from his dispensed water supply and having the >>>> barista prep a few filter baskets that you can pull together. The latter >>>> will eliminate the grinder, volume distribution and tamp from the >>>> variables, hopefully leaving you with just machine issues. >>> >>>> What you particularly need is the testing equipment to verify that your >>>> dispensed temperature matches his and that your pressure matches his. You >>>> can not assume that just because your PID reads the same number that he >>>> says he is using, the dispensed temperatures exactly match the number on >>>> the gauge. Only something like a Scace (That can perform the same test on >>>> both machines) can tell you if the machines are really the same. Absent >>>> test equipment, your barista may be able to tweak your machine's settings >>>> by taste to bring your experience more in line with his shop results. >>> >>>> KittJ >>> >>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>> From: Dan Hagelin >>>> To: [email protected] >>>> Sent: Sunday, March 27, 2011 1:52 PM >>>> Subject: Man or machine? >>> >>>> I have a PID’ed and well maintained Brewtus V-II, ... I’m not a complete >>>> rooky. I suspect (and hope) ... >>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "Brewtus" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> [email protected]. >>>> For more options, visit this group >>>> athttp://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en.- Hide quoted text - >>> >>> - Show quoted text - >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Brewtus" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Brewtus" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. 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