my family watching me not only buying specialty roasted beans every month, but now sorting the beans before grinding them as well as picking out chaff.
As if it wasn’t bad enough weighing, grinding, weighing, RDT, WDT, paper in the puck, weighing and timing. My family already thinks I’m nuts, after this, they won’t be surprised if I end up with a tattoo of Lance giving Hoff a piggy back ride.
My mother taught me this when I was 10. She worked for a large coffee broker/roaster in Germany in the 60's , and I have been doing this my whole life. Everyone likes the coffee I serve and wonders how I make such a good brew.
Here's a suggestion everyone can try at home. Sort a decent sized batch so you can come up with 30grams or more of defective beans, then grind and brew it up side by side with the good beans, just to know what it is you've removed, and to be able to understand what would be considered undesirable flavors.
@@NashvilleFanatic well, just in order to learn about what charred or underdeveloped flavors taste like. To help learn what are "good" flavors, wouldn't hurt to learn about bad flavors in the process.
Oh, so those are quakers. I've always wondered why some beans don't ever roast as neatly as most of the others. I always throw them away because they're often too light colored and I'm just afraid that they might break my grinder or something. As for chaff: I always use a fine mesh strainer after grinding to break up clumps. Sifting out the chaff was a neat little side effect of that and the sudden difference in cup quality the first time I did that was definitely big for me.
Surprising just how close chocholate and coffee really are. "blowing out the chaff" is almost exactly what we refer to as winnowing in chocolate. There's a paper thin husk on each cocoa bean, roasting allows that to kind of separate. So then you crack the beans (break them in to nibs) then go over the cracked beans usually with a blow dryer to just blow the husks out (in larger operations there's a vacuum sorting system that allows the heavier nibs to fall while the lighter husks get sucked away) Just reminded me of that the way you were getting rid of the chaff was a much gentler way of winnowing, albeit just as messy.
Thank you Lance for all the great coffee content you provide! I learned so much from all of your videos. Your production quality is getting better and better :)
Great video. Btw, I found that if I just take the Comandante receptacle off the bottom after grinding and hold it over the sink, rest my forearm on the edge of the sink, and shake gently but rapidly back and forth, most of the chaff flies out like popcorn, and I just have to stop a couple times and lightly blow the ones that don't fly out on their own.
I sort the coffee I roast and do it before and after roasting. The other thing you didn’t mention is insect damage. Hard to see, but often times there are tiny holes in the seed that can cause the coffee to taste off and roast unevenly.
I saw this one trick from James Hoffmann, actually it was used in his blade grinder video, but essentially what you have to do is to spread your ground coffee onto a sheet of paper towel and some of the fines should get caught in it, so you end up with a cleaner cup. That means also dosing a little bit more every time to account for the loss though :)
not a year too late, I was prebreaking with a hand grinder before using the pre-break into my better grinder for espresso. During the pre breaking stage, I removed about 1gm+ out of 20 gm of beans, and yeah, it makes lots of difference
You are a legend LANCE, thanks for the knowledge that you share with us. Im thinking it is not just that, it is also the mood, the vibes, jokes ...you know? I really really enjoy my time watching and learning about coffee in this way! 👏
Got a mixed set of 3 light roast coffees, papaya/red fruit/grape fermentation. No matter how I brewed the cup, there was this strange bitterness and drying taste. I sorted the beans like you did and removed some chaff, couldn't get most of it out. Immediately saw an increase in sweetness, and less of the bitters, and more rich darker flavors. Glad to get more info on this, and you for sure helped me get better at brewing coffee. Best wishes and hope to keep seeing your content!
I usually grind my whole defective beans and just add them to a commercial coffee and put them on a easy moka when im not in the mode for specialty or from the roaster.
I didn't get to control the chaffe, but I removed the non good beans and it was an immediate difference in color, aroma, and taste. Thank you for your advice. Love your channel.
I am 4 years into making pourover and I've always said with anything in life, you never stop learning, and NEVER turn away information - even if you think someone is wrong, take the information and process it and learn from it. The one thing that takes time is taste and palette, you can't speed up that process.
You bastard! 😊 Tried this with a washed Kenya from Passenger this morning and it really did make a difference. I would say it was subtle…but not really. Removing the chaff resulted in a noticeably cleaner, sweeter cup. Now I have to do this every morning!! 😖🤣
I tried blowing out the chaff this morning and I was blown away. The process was messy and I think I lost more than chaff. But it took a coffee I was unimpressed with and made it delicious. The video was supposed to improve my coffee for free but I just purchased a Kruve sifter. I've always wanted to try it but could never justify the cost and extra waste. I doubt it's something I'll do for every coffee but I'm looking forward to experimenting it.
I know the Niche isn’t your pick for drip methods, but one nice thing about the Niche cup is a lot of the chaff tends to stick to the sides of the top of the cup and you can easily scoop it out
I totally agree--I was floored the first time I sieved out the chaff. When I first started dipping my toes into specialty coffee, I'd assumed visible chaff on the beans was a feature of higher quality beans/roasting but especially during the early pandemic, the extra free time meant experiments which meant sorting out the chaff, and it improved clarity on a similar magnitude as upgrading to a better grinder.
Hi Lance! I like this video a lot. I just tried blowing out the chaffs and I must say the coffee was improved noticeably. However, I’m not sure the effort was worth it. I was using a Comandante. The cup that is the Comandate’s dosing cup and bean catcher is deep and when I tried blowing air into it, some of the chaff just fall back into the cup. After a little bit, I put the ground to a eating bowl and blow the chaff out of it, but it still takes a lot of time (I think for me, 5-7 minutes). It will be helpful if you could show us exactly how to do that most efficiently (maybe in a Shorts format), because I really do like the taste of the resulting cup!
Finally, a specific use for my Kruve sifter that I have. I thought removing all the fines from my morning filter brew would sweeten things up - but no, it made the coffee dull. Will try just removing the chaf tomorrow.
I'm proud of myself! (New to the espresso world, like a month or so) and lately on my own learned the shake and blow method to remove chaff. I guess it's kind of a learned approach. I still feel proud of myself for figuring that out so soon 🥰🙌🥳
I picked out the Quakers in a Ethiopian Ardi coffee once and thought it was more boring and lost the wild fruit notes I liked about that one. When I added them back in to the next shot of espresso I thought it was better but I may have to experiment more with that.
Would be awesome to see a video of an efficient method for getting rid of the chaff! I know you showed your way and talked about it a little, but they seem kinda tedious. Possible to find an easy way to do a whole bag all at once or something? And what product you could probably use to help with that?
Fantastic insight. We tend to pull out all our defective beans as best we can during the roast process, but like you say it is nigh on impossible to get them all out. Very interesting test results from the taste test. Cheers
I roast my own in a Behmor, then remove the mesh drum and blow the chaff out with an Ego leaf blower on turbo. Makes for a much cleaner cup. Now I have to start sorting out the quakers and other defectives.
I'm roasting some Yirgacheffe tomorrow, so it's interesting to hear it has more of those "quakers." I've already noticed them in the kenyan beans I've been roasting, and I've noticed they make the shot sour and make it harder to grind with my handgrinder; I just assumed I'd roasted unevenly because I don't have the knack for it. Kenya borders Ethiopia, though; Might it also have a larger frequency of that defect?
I just sorted through the beans in my canister and pulled out a lot of junk. I feel like a nerd, but it makes sense since I always sort through the beans I cook with.
Thank you, Lance, for this great video!!! I was always wondering whether I should sort out the weird-looking beans, now I know!!! One of the most valuable videos!
Don't throw out your chaff! Steeped chaff like brewing tea yields a cup like sweet hojicha tea. I've been sifting out of my chaff after watching this video for about a month now. I like the results. I feel like I get more access to the fruit of the coffee. However, sometimes I feel like the brewed cup is missing some of the characteristics I like out of coffees I'm familiar with. Like it's missing a smidge of dimension and character. This morning I brewed a strong cup of chaff I'd collected over the last few days by putting the chaff in a insulated cup and pouring boiling water over it and letting it steep like a tea for several minutes. What I found was the resulting "tea" was really enjoyable. It is sweet, fragrant, earthy, slightly grassy-but it all combined in a really enjoyable beverage to drink. I'm keeping my chaff now when I sift it out-and I'll also be leaving it in the coffee when I want to enjoy a more dimensional experience in the coffee cup.
Hi Lance, thanks for the great video as always. I have been recently think a lot about preinfusion and how it works. Could you please do a video about it regarding the theory and the difference between preinfused coffee and not preinfused as well as preinfusion times from 5 seconds to a crazy 20 or 30 seconds. Also, should you start shot clock at the time of preinfusion or at the first drop of coffee. So many question!!! Would love to hear more about this!
I’m not sure when I stated following your content regularly. However, I can tell that your videos and the flow are greatly improved! Not to say this video is bad (definitely not) but your newer videos is just on a higher level 😁
Quite fascinating and I'm definitely going to try it out, but I was hoping for more details on how to remove the chaff. I got some idea of how you do it from the video, but yeah. More details would be nice.
Hey lance… a couple of tips to add to your arsenal Use a silicone group head gasket…. They do not deteriorate as rubber ones do Use a slant sided (and I think nano coated). Filter basket…. The puck comes out much easier
Slant sided isn't ideal for extraction tho you are correct it helps the puck escape. And silicone is solid, no doubt. There is another option del creative released, but it feels a bit odd to replace basket. But neither of these are massive for improving taste of coffee
Fwiw… recently I switched back to a good straight side basket and started having more difficulty getting the puck out. Imo, most hobbies will prefer easier vs a small difference in extraction
Here's a suggestion from a food scientist. Triangle tests are usable but using all 4 cups and have him match them in pairs is called paired comparison and it has been found to have more statistical significance than triangle testing.
The question: WHY NO ONE WAS TELLING ABOUT IT BEFORE ?! I was always thinking that chaff is smth beautiful and delicious! p.s. during watching the video was drinking coffee with a chaff :D Will remove it tomorrow and brew with the same settings and recipe, I'm very curious to compare.... Thanks!! Make more such informative #coffeehack videos ;)
When my friend first showed me this video, I thought "that's fucking ridiculous, who has the time to do that?" and stopped watching after the cupping test segment. Then I just got some Kenyan beans the other day and lo and behold, there's a lot of chaff. Fortunately, a lot of them were able to squeeze through the grinder without being fully broken down. Then I remember you just blowing on the ground beans and...it's super effective. I was able to remove almost all chaff (there's still traces present, but I'm not super scrutinizing) by simply blowing on them. Great recommendation. I'll try brewing some without removing the chaff and some with the chaff thoroughly removed and see if there's any difference.
gotta be my favorite coffee video. how many people would have way better coffee, if they sorted dose and dialed water? i think a ton, and both add virtually no cost!
Wait, where is the Disocrd Invite?!?!?! I know this was made a while ago but I would love to join. I just made a cup of coffee by following your video. I really like your channel and what you offer for coffee!
I tried the chaff removal method this morning. The coffee was Onyx’s Kenya Gachatha AA. A lot of chaff. I think it tasted better but way too messy when blowing it out. Lost some coffee grounds too.
I love this video! As a professinal clown.. euh barista, I really enjoy watching your stuff, as I always learn something. This inspires me to pass on all the knowledge I get from you guys, coffee-gurus!
I investigated removing chaff from some Colombian med/light roasted beans. For the last week, I separated and collected the chaff from the grounds for my French press coffee. While I never got enough to properly measure, it seemed sufficient to brew a cup of chaff and examine the flavors. I boiled water and added 100gr to the dry chaff. I let it sit for 10 minutes, mostly covered, then smelled the brew and decanted through a fine mesh strainer. The smell was woody/cereal and the taste was similar. It was extremely close to Korean barley tea (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley_tea.) though the wiki article talks about bitter flavors, the chaff tea was not bitter (and I don’t associate barley tea with bitter flavor.) Overall, this test supports leaving the chaff in, for me. I think the barley tea taste is neutral (I don’t like or dislike it) and it was a very weak flavor. Especially considering that this tea was 7-12x the concentration of what it will contribute in a coffee beverage. When I move in to other beans, I may repeat to see if there are varieties with more offensive chaff. Incidentally, today was the first time I spotted a quaker when I measured out my dose. So, at least I’m still following one of LH’s tips!
Lance buddy, the way I understand it, tipping generally occurs early in the roast with too high of preheat temp/initial gas setting, and won’t be visibly detectable once the coffee finishes roasting. If memory serves, the Mill City roaster videos covered this Nice idea to cup the chaff, I’m def gonna try it.
so you could keep the chaff and quakers and use them to balance out types of coffee and roast styles ? like a fine dining chef adding bitter notes to desserts . those notes might be undesirable in general but in the right context they might elevate something else that needs it .
Perfect timing. I have a Kenyan coffee that my wife roasted beautifully that tastes great, but is the most difficult coffee I’ve used for pulling consistent espresso shots. Even with WDT, OCD, and meticulous prep, back to back pulls from a high-end machine can be ristretto or lungo with crazy channels. The crazy part is that every pull has tasted really good and interesting. This coffee is like a crazy, temperamental artist who might use gold or garbage as a medium, but always delivers great works. I don’t see many quakers, but there is a ton of chaff. I’ll try cleaning up my doses to see if I can get consistency. The roast is already spectacular and unbelievably forgiving. If I can bring it to the next level, this will be one of those coffees that I remember for a lifetime.
I spoke to some very sophisticated coffee roasters and they told me a big problem is uneven grind as to the Coffee Bean being a little flaky when you grind it adding a tiny bit of moisture when you grind solves that problem.
What you are discussing is called RDT. This does not eliminate chaff; instead, it just removes static for a cleaner grinding experience. It does not help the taste, sadly.
Nice to see Hugo! Hey lance, could we use the cruve on the highest setting just to sort the silver skin off? Would love to see how you blow them away so i can visualize it better, too. Cheers e bom dia!
I was wondering what that was. I noticed it while brewing the other day. Now I’ll be more mindful about it. Is there a mote sanitary way of doing it. I work at Starbucks. Pretty sure they wouldn’t appreciate me blowing into the grinds… but it is getting blasted with 200°more or less water so
you removed a noticeable amount of fines when you separated the chaff. ray murakawa did the chaff test a few years ago using a kruve sifter to sort the fines back into the coffee, and had no noticeable difference. he also brewed the extracted chaff as a tea. of course every coffee is different but its an interesting video
Should we drink coffee first before blowing the ground? So there will be added flavour? And what blow rate, perhaps in centimetres cubic do you suggest? And the angle & the distance maybe? 😄😉
my family watching me not only buying specialty roasted beans every month, but now sorting the beans before grinding them as well as picking out chaff.
By decree of the coffee king
Yeah, but you can take those bad beans back to the shop and get your money back. I got 3 cents the other day when I brought 17 bad beans back.
I'm in this comment and I don't like it...
As if it wasn’t bad enough weighing, grinding, weighing, RDT, WDT, paper in the puck, weighing and timing. My family already thinks I’m nuts, after this, they won’t be surprised if I end up with a tattoo of Lance giving Hoff a piggy back ride.
😂 I’m thinking we may need to try this in espresso
My mother taught me this when I was 10. She worked for a large coffee broker/roaster in Germany in the 60's , and I have been doing this my whole life. Everyone likes the coffee I serve and wonders how I make such a good brew.
How do you sort them out? You need somehow to distribute on a table or?
Here's a suggestion everyone can try at home. Sort a decent sized batch so you can come up with 30grams or more of defective beans, then grind and brew it up side by side with the good beans, just to know what it is you've removed, and to be able to understand what would be considered undesirable flavors.
That’s a great suggestion
I think he said to help you decide if it's flavors you want or not? Maybe I misunderstand you.
@@NashvilleFanatic well, just in order to learn about what charred or underdeveloped flavors taste like. To help learn what are "good" flavors, wouldn't hurt to learn about bad flavors in the process.
Pretty much what I was planning. Good idea
Do you save beans from various bags and make a blend or buy a batch large enough to have it all from one source?
Lance: make your coffee better for free
Also Lance: throw a portion of every bag you buy out
Waiting for the James Hoffmann colab:
"Tasting chaff from the 1930's"
Dude, can't thank you enough for this! Removing chaff has elevated my cup to a whole new level. No joke. The difference is insaneee! THANK YOU
Oh, so those are quakers. I've always wondered why some beans don't ever roast as neatly as most of the others. I always throw them away because they're often too light colored and I'm just afraid that they might break my grinder or something.
As for chaff: I always use a fine mesh strainer after grinding to break up clumps. Sifting out the chaff was a neat little side effect of that and the sudden difference in cup quality the first time I did that was definitely big for me.
What strainer do you use?
@@stimhack just a regular kitchen strainer that can fit any bowl. Even the not so fine ones can still work like a charm.
Surprising just how close chocholate and coffee really are. "blowing out the chaff" is almost exactly what we refer to as winnowing in chocolate. There's a paper thin husk on each cocoa bean, roasting allows that to kind of separate. So then you crack the beans (break them in to nibs) then go over the cracked beans usually with a blow dryer to just blow the husks out (in larger operations there's a vacuum sorting system that allows the heavier nibs to fall while the lighter husks get sucked away) Just reminded me of that the way you were getting rid of the chaff was a much gentler way of winnowing, albeit just as messy.
I make chocolate too and I was thinking the same thing!
Thank you Lance for all the great coffee content you provide! I learned so much from all of your videos. Your production quality is getting better and better :)
Found the free stuff hater😂
@@ScoffMathews 🤣
Really had to get that ribbon huh. Jeez this guy. 😏
Great video. Btw, I found that if I just take the Comandante receptacle off the bottom after grinding and hold it over the sink, rest my forearm on the edge of the sink, and shake gently but rapidly back and forth, most of the chaff flies out like popcorn, and I just have to stop a couple times and lightly blow the ones that don't fly out on their own.
I sort the coffee I roast and do it before and after roasting. The other thing you didn’t mention is insect damage. Hard to see, but often times there are tiny holes in the seed that can cause the coffee to taste off and roast unevenly.
yes I chose not to include this because it is pretty difficult to see unless you are super scrutinous. I figured most wouldn't be so diligent.
True! And it’s much easier to find in green coffee than it is roasted.
I saw this one trick from James Hoffmann, actually it was used in his blade grinder video, but essentially what you have to do is to spread your ground coffee onto a sheet of paper towel and some of the fines should get caught in it, so you end up with a cleaner cup. That means also dosing a little bit more every time to account for the loss though :)
Great video, can use the lesser beans to adjust/purge grinder
This is how my morning routine doubles in duration...BUT all for the cause. Thanks Lance!
That time will shrink overtime! Train them eyes haha
not a year too late, I was prebreaking with a hand grinder before using the pre-break into my better grinder for espresso. During the pre breaking stage, I removed about 1gm+ out of 20 gm of beans, and yeah, it makes lots of difference
You are a legend LANCE, thanks for the knowledge that you share with us. Im thinking it is not just that, it is also the mood, the vibes, jokes ...you know? I really really enjoy my time watching and learning about coffee in this way! 👏
Got a mixed set of 3 light roast coffees, papaya/red fruit/grape fermentation. No matter how I brewed the cup, there was this strange bitterness and drying taste.
I sorted the beans like you did and removed some chaff, couldn't get most of it out. Immediately saw an increase in sweetness, and less of the bitters, and more rich darker flavors.
Glad to get more info on this, and you for sure helped me get better at brewing coffee. Best wishes and hope to keep seeing your content!
Thanks!
I think you’ve really tuned in your videos! The production, pace, and shot selection in this video are on point!
I usually grind my whole defective beans and just add them to a commercial coffee and put them on a easy moka when im not in the mode for specialty or from the roaster.
I didn't get to control the chaffe, but I removed the non good beans and it was an immediate difference in color, aroma, and taste. Thank you for your advice. Love your channel.
Thanks for taking the time to talk about this. So many channels just echo well-known information… but this is good stuff.
15 secs in and I'm hitting the thumbs up button! You are such a charismatic guy!
Loved to see Hugo shine! He was born for this
He truly is a star.
my local roaster must screen the incoming beans, cause i can't find any defects/quakers in my bags... so glad i live in Maryland!
I am 4 years into making pourover and I've always said with anything in life, you never stop learning, and NEVER turn away information - even if you think someone is wrong, take the information and process it and learn from it. The one thing that takes time is taste and palette, you can't speed up that process.
You bastard! 😊 Tried this with a washed Kenya from Passenger this morning and it really did make a difference. I would say it was subtle…but not really. Removing the chaff resulted in a noticeably cleaner, sweeter cup. Now I have to do this every morning!! 😖🤣
I tried blowing out the chaff this morning and I was blown away. The process was messy and I think I lost more than chaff. But it took a coffee I was unimpressed with and made it delicious. The video was supposed to improve my coffee for free but I just purchased a Kruve sifter. I've always wanted to try it but could never justify the cost and extra waste. I doubt it's something I'll do for every coffee but I'm looking forward to experimenting it.
I know the Niche isn’t your pick for drip methods, but one nice thing about the Niche cup is a lot of the chaff tends to stick to the sides of the top of the cup and you can easily scoop it out
True! Lots of metal cups are like this.
I totally agree--I was floored the first time I sieved out the chaff. When I first started dipping my toes into specialty coffee, I'd assumed visible chaff on the beans was a feature of higher quality beans/roasting but especially during the early pandemic, the extra free time meant experiments which meant sorting out the chaff, and it improved clarity on a similar magnitude as upgrading to a better grinder.
Interesting technique. I'm going to try dipping my toes into my next brew.
@Tobyphonic lol. Sick. My kid’s feet did smell a bit like Brie after sports practice yesterday, now that you mention it.
I don't think you should be dipping your toes into your specialty coffee, unless you're into that sort of thing 😛
@Tobyphonic Some toes are more like Camembert.
Took 30 seconds today to pick through my beans and my afternoon aeropress was hugely improved. Thanks!
heck yeah! Love to hear minor changes and massive improvements.
I’m just getting into espresso but was wondering last week if chaff mattered in my aeropress, so this is super helpful thanks.
Hi Lance!
I like this video a lot. I just tried blowing out the chaffs and I must say the coffee was improved noticeably. However, I’m not sure the effort was worth it. I was using a Comandante. The cup that is the Comandate’s dosing cup and bean catcher is deep and when I tried blowing air into it, some of the chaff just fall back into the cup. After a little bit, I put the ground to a eating bowl and blow the chaff out of it, but it still takes a lot of time (I think for me, 5-7 minutes).
It will be helpful if you could show us exactly how to do that most efficiently (maybe in a Shorts format), because I really do like the taste of the resulting cup!
Finally, a specific use for my Kruve sifter that I have. I thought removing all the fines from my morning filter brew would sweeten things up - but no, it made the coffee dull. Will try just removing the chaf tomorrow.
Think you'd need to grind overall finer to compensate
I'm proud of myself! (New to the espresso world, like a month or so) and lately on my own learned the shake and blow method to remove chaff. I guess it's kind of a learned approach. I still feel proud of myself for figuring that out so soon 🥰🙌🥳
mM-aA-Hhc-Ddo-ahlDs 😂
😂
I picked out the Quakers in a Ethiopian Ardi coffee once and thought it was more boring and lost the wild fruit notes I liked about that one. When I added them back in to the next shot of espresso I thought it was better but I may have to experiment more with that.
What's the exact procedure for removing the chaff with double grinding? How coarse should the first grind be?
As course as you can go.
Lance: You don't need to do this for espresso
Me making espresso: I'm fucking doing it.
Would be awesome to see a video of an efficient method for getting rid of the chaff! I know you showed your way and talked about it a little, but they seem kinda tedious. Possible to find an easy way to do a whole bag all at once or something? And what product you could probably use to help with that?
My method of removing chaff would be to not bother.
Get a DF64 and grind beans without RDT.
@@sweiscool Big time!
Fantastic insight. We tend to pull out all our defective beans as best we can during the roast process, but like you say it is nigh on impossible to get them all out. Very interesting test results from the taste test. Cheers
Cheers! Thanks for watching and commenting!
I absolutely love Ethiopian coffee but knew nothing about quakers. This was super helpful, looking forward to trying this out. Thank you!
Glad you took something away from it! Thanks so much for watching!
Loved the concept and loved the production quality on this one!
Excellent tips! Going to try this tomorrow. You rock brother!
I roast my own in a Behmor, then remove the mesh drum and blow the chaff out with an Ego leaf blower on turbo. Makes for a much cleaner cup. Now I have to start sorting out the quakers and other defectives.
I'm roasting some Yirgacheffe tomorrow, so it's interesting to hear it has more of those "quakers." I've already noticed them in the kenyan beans I've been roasting, and I've noticed they make the shot sour and make it harder to grind with my handgrinder; I just assumed I'd roasted unevenly because I don't have the knack for it. Kenya borders Ethiopia, though; Might it also have a larger frequency of that defect?
I just sorted through the beans in my canister and pulled out a lot of junk. I feel like a nerd, but it makes sense since I always sort through the beans I cook with.
Thank you, Lance, for this great video!!! I was always wondering whether I should sort out the weird-looking beans, now I know!!! One of the most valuable videos!
And Lance, would you please post the picture of the beans you picked out? They are not clearly seen in the video, especially the one you tossed out 😂
Don't throw out your chaff! Steeped chaff like brewing tea yields a cup like sweet hojicha tea.
I've been sifting out of my chaff after watching this video for about a month now. I like the results. I feel like I get more access to the fruit of the coffee. However, sometimes I feel like the brewed cup is missing some of the characteristics I like out of coffees I'm familiar with. Like it's missing a smidge of dimension and character.
This morning I brewed a strong cup of chaff I'd collected over the last few days by putting the chaff in a insulated cup and pouring boiling water over it and letting it steep like a tea for several minutes. What I found was the resulting "tea" was really enjoyable. It is sweet, fragrant, earthy, slightly grassy-but it all combined in a really enjoyable beverage to drink.
I'm keeping my chaff now when I sift it out-and I'll also be leaving it in the coffee when I want to enjoy a more dimensional experience in the coffee cup.
Hi Lance, thanks for the great video as always. I have been recently think a lot about preinfusion and how it works. Could you please do a video about it regarding the theory and the difference between preinfused coffee and not preinfused as well as preinfusion times from 5 seconds to a crazy 20 or 30 seconds. Also, should you start shot clock at the time of preinfusion or at the first drop of coffee. So many question!!! Would love to hear more about this!
Can we get the microphones all the way on people's faces when they sample the cups? The schlurrp could be a little crisper.
I’m not sure when I stated following your content regularly. However, I can tell that your videos and the flow are greatly improved! Not to say this video is bad (definitely not) but your newer videos is just on a higher level 😁
And this is only 11 month (as of when I’m posting this comment) ago 🤯
Another excellent video from your channel! Glad I found yall. Great content!
Excellent tips....I will absolutely do this!
Thanks Lance... now making my coffee takes twice as long. But at least is tastes better :)
Quite fascinating and I'm definitely going to try it out, but I was hoping for more details on how to remove the chaff. I got some idea of how you do it from the video, but yeah. More details would be nice.
Just blow! Just grind and blow.
Hey lance… a couple of tips to add to your arsenal
Use a silicone group head gasket…. They do not deteriorate as rubber ones do
Use a slant sided (and I think nano coated). Filter basket…. The puck comes out much easier
Slant sided isn't ideal for extraction tho you are correct it helps the puck escape. And silicone is solid, no doubt. There is another option del creative released, but it feels a bit odd to replace basket. But neither of these are massive for improving taste of coffee
Fwiw… recently I switched back to a good straight side basket and started having more difficulty getting the puck out. Imo, most hobbies will prefer easier vs a small difference in extraction
Here's a suggestion from a food scientist. Triangle tests are usable but using all 4 cups and have him match them in pairs is called paired comparison and it has been found to have more statistical significance than triangle testing.
Thanks again, Lance ! we love you too !
the bottle line for taste and best grinder on the market to day is the ek`43 hands down you get what you pay for
Will be trying this when I go back home.
Love this video. Everyone can do this. No need to be a coffee nerd or spend money to improve your cup. 👌
The question: WHY NO ONE WAS TELLING ABOUT IT BEFORE ?! I was always thinking that chaff is smth beautiful and delicious!
p.s. during watching the video was drinking coffee with a chaff :D Will remove it tomorrow and brew with the same settings and recipe, I'm very curious to compare....
Thanks!! Make more such informative #coffeehack videos ;)
Ray Murakawa of MeloDrip made a video about chaff in brewing coffee. I think you could have a look into it.
This is fantastic info, and I had an immediate and significant improvement!!!
Appreciate your content. It's distinct and helpful. Thanks!
When my friend first showed me this video, I thought "that's fucking ridiculous, who has the time to do that?" and stopped watching after the cupping test segment. Then I just got some Kenyan beans the other day and lo and behold, there's a lot of chaff. Fortunately, a lot of them were able to squeeze through the grinder without being fully broken down. Then I remember you just blowing on the ground beans and...it's super effective. I was able to remove almost all chaff (there's still traces present, but I'm not super scrutinizing) by simply blowing on them.
Great recommendation. I'll try brewing some without removing the chaff and some with the chaff thoroughly removed and see if there's any difference.
I would appreciate like detailed pictures of them. And a summary clip
What a funny man! :D I see you also have the 1zpresso mills, nice!
gotta be my favorite coffee video. how many people would have way better coffee, if they sorted dose and dialed water? i think a ton, and both add virtually no cost!
James Hoffmann is about to make a pour over exclusively with quakers and chaff 😂
for science!
Oaty with tobacco notes not only sounds moderately appealing, _James Hoffman's contest shot had actual tobacco in it._
Wait, where is the Disocrd Invite?!?!?! I know this was made a while ago but I would love to join. I just made a cup of coffee by following your video. I really like your channel and what you offer for coffee!
Very helpful video, thanks. But I would like more close-ups showing defects compared to regular beans.
But even so, like it.
Brewing the different kinds of flawed seeds separately would be very interesting too.
I tried the chaff removal method this morning. The coffee was Onyx’s Kenya Gachatha AA. A lot of chaff. I think it tasted better but way too messy when blowing it out. Lost some coffee grounds too.
I love this video! As a professinal clown.. euh barista, I really enjoy watching your stuff, as I always learn something.
This inspires me to pass on all the knowledge I get from you guys, coffee-gurus!
Great video! Looking forward to your thoughts on the Smart Espresso Profiler.
I investigated removing chaff from some Colombian med/light roasted beans.
For the last week, I separated and collected the chaff from the grounds for my French press coffee. While I never got enough to properly measure, it seemed sufficient to brew a cup of chaff and examine the flavors.
I boiled water and added 100gr to the dry chaff. I let it sit for 10 minutes, mostly covered, then smelled the brew and decanted through a fine mesh strainer.
The smell was woody/cereal and the taste was similar. It was extremely close to Korean barley tea (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley_tea.) though the wiki article talks about bitter flavors, the chaff tea was not bitter (and I don’t associate barley tea with bitter flavor.)
Overall, this test supports leaving the chaff in, for me. I think the barley tea taste is neutral (I don’t like or dislike it) and it was a very weak flavor. Especially considering that this tea was 7-12x the concentration of what it will contribute in a coffee beverage.
When I move in to other beans, I may repeat to see if there are varieties with more offensive chaff.
Incidentally, today was the first time I spotted a quaker when I measured out my dose. So, at least I’m still following one of LH’s tips!
Thank you very much. Can't wait to implement the tips in my coffee.
great video! you motivated to me to separate the chaff again haha. grettings from argentina!
Lance buddy, the way I understand it, tipping generally occurs early in the roast with too high of preheat temp/initial gas setting, and won’t be visibly detectable once the coffee finishes roasting. If memory serves, the Mill City roaster videos covered this
Nice idea to cup the chaff, I’m def gonna try it.
You can still see some of the tipping! Looks like charred, split ends.
It greatly improved my filter - wow! Thanks a lot for this video. I somehow had the feeling I‘m also blowing out some of the fines?
so you could keep the chaff and quakers and use them to balance out types of coffee and roast styles ? like a fine dining chef adding bitter notes to desserts . those notes might be undesirable in general but in the right context they might elevate something else that needs it .
If you are looking for Quakers, there are many of them in Kenya.
Never heard of either of these tips. Appreciate the share.
the audio is on point !
The audio quality of this one is top notch
I spy with my eye 2 Lelits. I hope there’s a video this week comparing the two as I’m torn between the Bianca and Marax for a purchase next week.
Perfect timing. I have a Kenyan coffee that my wife roasted beautifully that tastes great, but is the most difficult coffee I’ve used for pulling consistent espresso shots. Even with WDT, OCD, and meticulous prep, back to back pulls from a high-end machine can be ristretto or lungo with crazy channels. The crazy part is that every pull has tasted really good and interesting. This coffee is like a crazy, temperamental artist who might use gold or garbage as a medium, but always delivers great works.
I don’t see many quakers, but there is a ton of chaff. I’ll try cleaning up my doses to see if I can get consistency. The roast is already spectacular and unbelievably forgiving. If I can bring it to the next level, this will be one of those coffees that I remember for a lifetime.
Heheh is it SL28 variety?
@@markosgd I’m not sure. My wife got it from Sweet Maria’s.
Fascinating - will be experimenting with suggestions, thnx!
I spoke to some very sophisticated coffee roasters and they told me a big problem is uneven grind as to the Coffee Bean being a little flaky when you grind it adding a tiny bit of moisture when you grind solves that problem.
What you are discussing is called RDT. This does not eliminate chaff; instead, it just removes static for a cleaner grinding experience. It does not help the taste, sadly.
Yes! My french press immediately improved!
What is double grinding? Like the high school dancing 😝
very interesting. Now I want to do a cupping with one sorted coffee and one using ONLY quakers
Nice to see Hugo!
Hey lance, could we use the cruve on the highest setting just to sort the silver skin off? Would love to see how you blow them away so i can visualize it better, too. Cheers e bom dia!
I was wondering what that was. I noticed it while brewing the other day. Now I’ll be more mindful about it. Is there a mote sanitary way of doing it. I work at Starbucks. Pretty sure they wouldn’t appreciate me blowing into the grinds… but it is getting blasted with 200°more or less water so
Great video, thanks for all the information.
Scaling up, whose responsibility would this be? The Roastery/production team or the cafe/barista?
What would be awesome, is a pdf with all your best examples (plus insect damage, etc) that we cod print off and refer back to
you removed a noticeable amount of fines when you separated the chaff. ray murakawa did the chaff test a few years ago using a kruve sifter to sort the fines back into the coffee, and had no noticeable difference. he also brewed the extracted chaff as a tea. of course every coffee is different but its an interesting video
Should we drink coffee first before blowing the ground? So there will be added flavour? And what blow rate, perhaps in centimetres cubic do you suggest? And the angle & the distance maybe? 😄😉
Would you still run through this process for espresso grinds?