I think he must get paid by the word. Tomorrow, when I'm not so tired, I'll "distil" that down to something that makes sense and can be digested without all the verbage. I'll make it just metric too.....
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I think he must get paid by the word. Tomorrow, when I'm not so tired, I'll "distil" that down to something that makes sense and can be digested without all the verbage. I'll make it just metric too.....
:rofl::rofl:Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexS
Must remember never to pee on the wee device, or the pH will mean many ions are free.
We always use a charcoal filter for coffee water, and that makes a brew that's OK to me. The local cafe uses a similar multi-filter and RO setup to that BobL showed under his sink, and it tastes slightly better.
Take the beans back to Aldi - they've sold you a bad batch!
I used the small Moulinex grinder on the Dark Beans this morning - they taste just the same - mixed with tea leaves. :puke:
I still think that is the most likely cause. I've already cleared the way with the manager to do that (including the opened bag).Quote:
Originally Posted by Alh01
Using scales accurate to 0.1 gram (and not everyone will have these)
½ teaspoon Sodium Bicarbonate weighs 2.6 grams
2½ teaspoons Magnesium Sulphate weighs 12.4 grams (this is small granules, not powder which would be a little heavier)
1 US gallon is 3.785 litres
Distilled water can be substituted by Pureau brand, I'm sure. Pureau has nil salts and is a small fraction of the price - it is also obtainium.
Alkalinity buffer water - 1 litre water + 2.6g Bicarb Soda (NaHCO3) (and use 66.5 mls or grams of this solution per 4 litres of "Coffee Water")
Magnesium Hardness Water - 1 litre water + 12.4b Epsom Salts (MgSO4) (and use 195.5 mls or grams of this solution per 4 litres of "Coffee Water")
To make the Coffee Water:
- remove 262 mls or grams of water from 4 litres.
- add back 66.5 mls or grams of Alkalinity Buffer water
- add back 195.5 mls or grams of Magnesium Hardness water
Or, do it the very simple way
Glider, as our resident Industrial Chemist, can advise on the efficacy of what I would propose here (I dunno if the solutions need to be separate - but I doubt it):
- Get 4 litres of water
- add 0.17g of Bicarb Soda (weigh 1g and divide it into 6 - do NOT inhale through a rolled up bank note)
- add 2.4g of Epsom Salts (weigh 5g and divide it in two, traditionally done with a credit card :D)
The reason that Whole Latte Love makes up the separate litres of Magnesium water, and particularly Alkalinity buffer is because weighing 0.17g may be impossible with the instruments available. I still can't see why those two individual litres can't be combined for ease of storage though. Mick?
I have assumed that WLL has kept accurate track of all the proper measurements when he mixed Imperial and Metric, and I have assumed he means US Gallons. He may not even be aware that there are "US" Gallons and "Imperial" gallons (which are very different), for all we know.
I've checked the numbers and calcs a couple of times, but let me know if there are any errors.
Looks good. Working that out in ppms, the Na comes out at 11 ppm and the Mg (from the epson salts) is 125 ppm .Quote:
Originally Posted by FenceFurniture
SCA water is nominally 10 ppm for Na and 17-85ppm for Ca (Hardness), and 75-250 ppm for TDS.
My TDSs are usually <30ppm.
Huh? Did someone mention my name? Give me a moment to collect my thoughts...Quote:
Originally Posted by FenceFurniture
A quick search revealed that the pH of coffee is on the low side and using slightly alkaline water apparently makes it taste much better. That much I can accept. However, just because naturally occurring alkaline water around pH 8-9 tends to contain more minerals, it doesn't follow that the addition of said minerals will enhance the flavour of coffee. SO, I would eliminate the mag sulphate from the formula and test it against one which contains it. My bet is that it'll make little difference in a double blind test.
BTW, I would substitute potassium bicarbonate for sodium bicarb for health reasons, especially if you're a frequent coffee drinker.
If you want to try the formula but can't weigh small quantities, dissolve 10x more in the specified volume of water and then dilute the mixture x10.
mick
Now, where did I put that bloody chisel?
Thanks Mick, but that's not quite what I meant. My post was about re-interpreting the somewhat long-winded and Imperial/Metric mix. (making two different litres of water to add parts of to the "Coffee Water"). In other words, can the two compounds, NAHCO3 and MgSO4 be added to the final water at the same time, or is it necessary to do it in stages?Quote:
Originally Posted by Glider
Sorry Brett. You can add all the salts together. The buffer solution would only be used to adjust the pH in case the original formula results in a lower value. Without a pH meter or the right set of indicator solutions (I don't like pH papers), you are left with taste testing.Quote:
Originally Posted by FenceFurniture
Sydney Water adjust their pH to offset their chlorination. Your water supply comes from the Cascade Dams and Oberon Dam. The latter is water of the highest quality lightly flavoured with cattle and sheep manure from Pete H's, John B's and Paul K's farms.
mick :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glider
:D
Yeah ok, he's (Whole Latte Love) is just saying to add them straight into the distilled water (which would or SHOULD be a known pH).
Ah the dam. Many a worm drowning occurred, plus a long time ago now the occasional sail around, when there was no natural filtering by the surrounding hills and natural yellowing may have occurred. Kids, who would have em ! (not me, don't have em)Quote:
Originally Posted by Glider
FFS, its a cup of coffee, not some magical formula for turning lead into gold! I enjoy my coffee as much as the next man, but a plunger of Harris Park Very Strong, ground by them and in a sealed bag, makes as good a cuppa as I could wish for using good old Sydney tap water..
This reminds more of the oil threads on a raft of forums.Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexS
But
Given three of the worlds most traded commodities are oil, water and coffee so I guess it's only natural they be discussed ad nauseam?
You need to add Mick T to that list. Katoomba water comes from Duckmaloi too. I think we might have found the source of the contamination Brett.Quote:
Originally Posted by Glider
Ahh, AlexS you are obviously not a coffee sommelier -- full disclosure, neither am I.Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexS
and as for that "magical formula for turning lead into gold" -- I agree the coffee formula is not that magical, but still there's a big difference between the quality of the particular batch of beans that Brett is bitching about and what he expected.
Much like you I know what I like when it comes to coffee, and I'll walk (maybe not run) past places that don't deserve my business and I will definitely draw the line at Harris Park Very Strong. My preference tends towards a more subtle flavour for my beans.
Mea culpa, Tony. I forgot about the weir on the Duck above Tea Tree Creek although it's pretty silted up these days. Anyway, happy to help with the flavour.Quote:
Originally Posted by NCArcher
mick :))
p.s. We use Fish River Espresso Blend. Buy local.
Mick, you promised me yesdy on the phone that I was safe from your minerals. :doh:
Brett, I think you should make a cup from the snow that is predicted to fall here tomorrow as I have heard that recently fallen snow makes the best coffee. You need to hold the coffee pot on your head and run around catching the falling snow. Don't let it touch the ground....Oh and you need to video yourself collecting it for the best flavour.
I may have to start another thread about my other first world problem involving Aldi supply problems. American Style Crunchy Peanut Butter - simply the best there is, by a considerable margin. Nothing but boring Smooth.
Haven't seen it in-store for two months. Other "substitutes" from Woolworths are twice the price and half the quality.
Yeah we need the evidence.Quote:
Originally Posted by NCArcher
Unfortunately rain or snow is not that clean these days, not unless it falls in the polar regions and stuff that falls near the ocean contains some salt. Remember every drop of rain and snowflake has at least one dust particle in it - that's how the condensation starts - without dust there would be no precipitation. While still cleaner than ground water, snow especially anywhere near urban and even rural areas contains combustion products including exhaust particles, and various salts. The cleanest snow/ice on the planet is derp in the middle of the Antarctica ice caps but even that contains evidence for volcanic dust from major volcanic eruptions and traces of ancient greek and roman lead mining.
Whew, that's a relief Bob. I guess I can stop my preparations for strapping the pot to my head then. (insulating my partially covered scalp from the SS pot was the tricky bit).
not to mention lead dust from Broken HillQuote:
Originally Posted by BobL
Beans returned to Aldi (who have a very good return policy, btw). Bought 500g of Campos beans ($25) and just made a brew. Shoulda used a bit more - a touch weak - but the flavour is pretty good.
Daughter & SIL in the USA have their coffee sent over in 5Kg packs from Mareeba, Qld. We tried all their blends some years ago when we were up there, and they liked it so much that they've drunk it ever since.
AHA! So it's not just a cup of coffee FFS, it's worth paying horrendous postage costs via AP to USA! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by AlexS
($98 5 days air freight, $77 2-3 month Sea freight, or perhaps they choose the 2 day Express $168 option if they've run out?)
apart from the possible (?) self-entertainment value, I suggest you cease and desist from this course.Quote:
Originally Posted by FenceFurniture
Aldi, like the Health System, Coles, Wollies, IGA, Bunnings, OfficeWorks, Hardly Normal, et al, are all suffering from the first world's over-reliance on a global just-in-time supply chain. Among other things the pandemic is exposing how we as a community are so reliant on the operation of "lines of supply". All is good till you get a one in one hundred year event like the current pandemic.
Don't know where you are getting those air freight transit times fromQuote:
Originally Posted by FenceFurniture
AP tracking is showing that one of my 2 day International Express Packages (where the packaging weighs about 5 times more than the contents) was collected by the overseas air carrier on the morning of August 14 and, 8 days later, is still at Mascot waiting to be placed on a flight.
The previous two International Express Post (2 day HA, HA) items took
14 days AUS to Canada
13 days AUS to Canada
standard air mail would be no slower.
Yes, and panic buying didn't help that. However, coffee and Peanut Butter have always been problematic at Aldi. We have always kept 2-3 in reserve (coffee 4-6). It probably has something to do with their "alternative" brands policy.Quote:
Originally Posted by ian
Their website.Quote:
Originally Posted by ian
Funny, the AP site I found Coronavirus: International updates - Australia Post says for Zone 4 (US and Canada) 7 to 15 business days for Express, 10 to 20 business days for Standard, with the Economy service is suspended.Quote:
So in the absence of Aldi CPB, I bought a few different ones from Woolies to try, and none of them were too flash....but a solution presented itself.Quote:
Originally Posted by FenceFurniture
1. Pic's PB Crunchy - too oily, a bit bland, not too bad for crunch (although small pieces), expensive ($7 for 380g jar)
2. Bega Simply Nuts Crunchy Dark Roast - far far too oily (almost like the Camembert in The Cheese Shop Sketch), boring flavour despite the dark roast, crunch size good but not enough of it, a little expensive ($4 for 315g)
3. Woolworths Crunchy PB - good consistency, a little too sweet, good size crunch but not enough of it, very good price ($2.85 for 500g)
So the solution is to blend them all together, add a few grinds of salt to taste, and a dribble of Molasses to rev up the flavour and colour a little. The result is pretty good! Something approaching Aldi's American Style Crunchy Peanut Butter. Not too oily, not too sweet or salty, plenty of crunch, and pretty flavoursome. :2tsup:
Overall price of $15.35 for 1195 grams is $5.14 for a 400g jar - considerably more than Aldi's, but it's a result.
Noo then, aboot that coffee......:~
That little dam is only about 6 metres high & 20 across and it dried up during the last drought so I don't think it's used at all these days. You're safe, mate.Quote:
Originally Posted by FenceFurniture
mick :)
Before you add too much salt you might want to check the sodium content already in PB. It's a big no no for me. My cardiologist would have a heart attach if he thought I was eating PB
Nah, always careful with salt. Just a few grinds to a kilo of PB to rev it up a little. I add salt to almost nothing on my plate, and very little in some of the things I cook.
BTW, what would he attach his heart to?
It's not that bad for saturated fat at 6-7%. Sodium levels are small too, but more variable.
Clearly autocorrect there :doh: I don't know what you call small but the PB I just looked at has nearly 700mg per 100g
Jaysus, what brand is that? The 3 I have here are 154, 184, 274mg (and the latter is the Woolworths brand). The "other" Aldi one (which was tasteless oily rubbish is a whopping 650mg sodium).Quote:
Originally Posted by NCArcher
The American style peanut butter from Aldi, made in the USA, has 374mg per 100g. This is the smooth version, which I believe is the best tasting peanut butter around.
Choice magazine did a test on peanut butters sometime ago, the Aldi USA smooth version came out top of the lot.
Mick.
Getting back to coffee, sort of. On Wednesday I visited Aldi and picked up an Aeropress coffee making unit, made in the USA.
So far, this is very, very good. I've been using beans ground in my Espresso machine grinder, but will be picking up a hand grinder with a ceramic grinder mechanism. This will complete my power less camping travelling coffee making hardware.
Mick.
Yep, that's the one. Crunchy for me, which may reduce the salt a little (there is LOTS of crunch!). The inclusion of a small hit of molasses is a master stroke.Quote:
Originally Posted by Optimark
I just bought one of these as well, hoping to make a decent coffee while I am away for work.Quote:
Originally Posted by Optimark
I got the Rhino handgrinder as part of a kit from “ Alternative Brewing “ , it takes a while to grind up the beans ( compared to my electric grinder at home at least) .
Still experimenting with different recipes for making a cuppa, but so far am impressed with it. Better than my plunger and preground coffee that I have been using for when I am away from home anyway.
So far have only used the dark roast beans that I get fresh from a local roaster that I like for my morning expresso’s, but just got a kilo of fresh medium roast beans to try, as most recipes online, seem to use medium roast.
Be interested to hear your thoughts once you use yours.
Not quite sure what the Aeropress is, but it sounds like battery powered or summink for non-240v use?
Beans update: so a week later I've been having mainly Campos beans which are pretty good, but not particularly any better than the brew I used to be able to get from Aldi's Dark beans, and certainly nowhere nearl 4x better (price).
My personal taste is that Campos ($45) is better than Illy's ($60), and they are both waaay better than Lavazza Qualita Ora ($32).
Macro Organic (Woolworths) is tasteless rubbish. (I forget the price, but not cheap)
Brasil from Aldi is desperately ordinary ($13)
I still have the remains of the last Dark shight batch and will make a brew in a few days (after over a week away from it).
I'm hoping that it may have just been (bean?) one or two bad bags of the Dark, and I'll try another bag in a few weeks.
Certainly I can now eliminate water, coffee pot, grinder, and my palate, as the cause.
Give Delice Coffee at Canowindra a ring, ask for the owner, roasts and grinds his own for sale, best I have ever come across +61 473 479 184