Field Trip: Hario USA – Hand Grinders

Edwin Martinez of Hario USA showed us two different models of hand coffee grinders available from Hario: the Skerton and the Mini Slim. Both of these grinders are currently backordered with Hario in Japan, unfortunately, but will hopefully be available on Seattle Coffee Gear’s site in April 2010.

Field Trip: Hario USA – Coffee Processing Experiment @ Finca Vista Hermosa

Edwin Martinez is not only the US representative of the Hario products, he’s also a third-generation coffee farmer from Guatemala. While we visited him last month, he talked to us about a coffee processing experiment that he undertook with some of his roasting customers who were looking to change the base flavor of the coffee before they got their hands on it. This video covers the experiment and talks about coffee processing in general, as well as how what is done to the coffee at the plantation effects the end flavor of what will end up in your cup.

Field Trip: Hario USA – Edwin Demos a Halogen Bar

As magical as it is tasty, commercial grade halogen bars are configurable to brew at a flatline temperature, which is fairly unique amongst coffee brewing methods. When we visited Hario USA, Edwin Martinez showed us how this awesome machine works — and while it would be rare to use these at home (or even to see them in cafes in the US, actually), we thought the mad science + brewing tips shed some great light on making great coffee in general.

Baratza Vario H2 Display Upgrade

Baratza recently released an upgraded display for their Vario grinder, which now has memory (so it retains its programming even when the grinder is unplugged) and sleep mode functionality. If you have a Vario that was manufactured before March 2010, you can purchase the upgraded display separately and easily install it yourself. Vario models produced from March 2010 forward will have this new display as standard.

We filmed Henry as he installed the upgraded display in our older floor demo model. Questions on how to program the sleep mode? Check out these instructions.

Field Trip: Hario USA – Edwin Demonstrates Pour Over Technique

In the next installment of our field trip to the Hario USA HQ in Bellingham, WA, Edwin demonstrates how to use the Hario pour overs to make a truly delicious cup of coffee.

Field Trip: Hario USA – Edwin Compares Pour Overs

The pour over technique can produce an excellent, single-cup of coffee at home with relatively minimal investment. It does take a little bit of knowledge on the front end, and choosing which pour over is the right one for you can be part of this. We headed up to the US HQ of Hario USA (a Japanese company) awhile back, and talked with the US rep, Edwin Martinez, about all kinds of coffee related subjects. In this video, he explains the concept behind pour overs and compares a few different available models.

Crew Review: Saeco Talea Giro Plus

Recently, Saeco re-worked their Talea Giro superautomatic and released the ‘Plus’ version in the US. This new model includes a bi-pass doser, an upgraded grinder and some other minor functional improvements.

Watch Gail talk to us about this new version, brew some coffee and steam up some milk. Whoopee!

Crew Review: Saeco Via Venezia

With a little more sass than the Aroma — like a steam wand with more range of motion, buttons located on the front of the machine and a little drawer under the drip tray — the Via Venezia is an excellent semi-automatic that is simple and easy to use. Watch as Gail takes us through its features, brews up some coffee and froths some milk for us.

Portable Espresso Tweak(er)s

Two great options for taking your joe on the road, the Handpresso and the MyPressi TWIST, have a few different options and variations. We recently did a crew review of both the MyPressi TWIST and the Handpresso with the Domepod (the original Handpresso Wild that is pod-friendly was originally reviewed a little over a year ago) and we got a couple of suggestions from both viewers and the manufacturers on ways to get a better shot.

For the Handpresso, the manufacturer sent us the Intense filter lid, which is designed to make a shorter, more intense shot. To see how well it works, check out this video:

The MyPressi TWIST has a ton of devoted fans, and both they and the manufacturer let us know that you can get better results by going naked. No, keep your pants on, but take the bottom off the TWIST so that you’re brewing directly from the basket into your pre-warmed cups, without those pesky spouts getting in the way. Check out our experience here:

Crew Review: La Pavoni Stradivari 16

One of the first demonstration videos we did was Gail using how to pull a shot on the La Pavoni Europiccola 8 manual/lever espresso machine, which we followed up on several months later by demonstrating that same machine’s steaming functionality.

We recently decided to take the Stradivari 16 out for a stroll to see how it compared to the other version. Watch as Gail pulls shots, steams and uses the included cappuccinatore attachment with this machine.