Due to circumstances beyond my control, I just bought a Bonavita BV1800 with the glass carafe. The coffee's been a disappointment, though it's not vile like the "Taste Nastier" machine it's replacing. (The right name's a bit rubbed out.) The Tastes-Nastier's not mine, but a family member brought it over and I won't have that thing in the house even if it meant buying a replacement. For the record, I chose the Bonavita for simplicity. Otherwise, I haven't used an electric in years, and use a variety of manual pour/press or a moka or vacuum pot.
I've played around with presoaking, changing the grind size, and adjusting the amounts of coffee and water, trying to aim for the right brew time. I'm at a medium-fine grind around the 5-6 cup line, with a presoak manual pour just before starting. The cup's certainly better than the stock method, but I haven't been able to dial it in to get anything approaching good manual-method coffee. The only other thing I've heard about is to stir the grounds during the brew cycle--not an easy task, but the Bonavita clearly needs that bit of help.
Is there anything else to try?
On a related note, I broke 2 Chemexes in the last 3 months. Both developed a hairline crack near the top. I'm pretty sure it's thermal shock. I haven't changed my method in years, and only ever cracked one like this from a physical shock, and neither of these sufferred that way. It makes me wonder if they're using inferior glass lately or doing something wrong. All I know is I've bought my last Chemex. So I picked up a ceramic Hario V60-02 to replace it.
I've played around with presoaking, changing the grind size, and adjusting the amounts of coffee and water, trying to aim for the right brew time. I'm at a medium-fine grind around the 5-6 cup line, with a presoak manual pour just before starting. The cup's certainly better than the stock method, but I haven't been able to dial it in to get anything approaching good manual-method coffee. The only other thing I've heard about is to stir the grounds during the brew cycle--not an easy task, but the Bonavita clearly needs that bit of help.
Is there anything else to try?
On a related note, I broke 2 Chemexes in the last 3 months. Both developed a hairline crack near the top. I'm pretty sure it's thermal shock. I haven't changed my method in years, and only ever cracked one like this from a physical shock, and neither of these sufferred that way. It makes me wonder if they're using inferior glass lately or doing something wrong. All I know is I've bought my last Chemex. So I picked up a ceramic Hario V60-02 to replace it.
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