Author Topic: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery  (Read 18923 times)

BoldJava

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #45 on: January 23, 2012, 03:47:58 AM »
Ms Eva is packed and FedEx is carrying her to Marietta this a.m., next stop on her tour.

B|Java

BoldJava

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #46 on: January 25, 2012, 07:18:18 AM »
"Call home, ET, call home."
Jan 25, 2012 8:49 AM     
Delivered  Marietta, GA
Left at front door. Signature Service not requested

Offline ScareYourPassenger

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #47 on: January 25, 2012, 08:14:46 AM »
Woohoo!

Ethipian Tchembe N2 ad El Salvadore Finca Santa Sofia are ready for some brewin.

Offline ScareYourPassenger

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #48 on: January 27, 2012, 05:27:56 AM »
Tried out the Cafe Solo this morning. It produces a nice cup of coffee!

The disappointing part is that I didn't push the stopper into the filter hard enough and it fell out when pouring. I took more force than I would have thought when working with something made of glass. Cleanup wasn't fun and can't be rushed.

Test 2 will be Saturday morning when I don't have to keep the coffee in a thermos for 30-40 minutes. It will be in a direct face off against the espro!
« Last Edit: January 27, 2012, 10:02:49 AM by jdibble »

jbviau

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #49 on: January 27, 2012, 06:50:23 AM »
The disappointing part is that I didn't push the stopper into the filter hard enough and it fell out when pouring. I took more force than I would have though when working with something made of glass...

You can put the stopper in the filter before you put the filter assembly into the carafe if you're worried. Looking forward to your Espro showdown!

Offline ScareYourPassenger

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #50 on: January 28, 2012, 09:46:43 AM »
Showdown is over!

I was thinking that the two would perform similarly and boy was I wrong. The flavor profile is quite different.

Setup:
Baratza Precisio setup just a bit coarser than for drip.
Pino pro
90+ Ethiopian Tchembe N2 5 days rest. city++

First up is the Espro. This a nice and sturdy piece of equipment, like most items from Espro. Stainless steel polished outside with a matte finish inside, solid handle, pressed logo in the cap. It isn't something I would be afraid to keep on the counter.

I set the Pino for 203F and prepped 28 grams of coffee and about .4 liters of water. 70g/l
I dropped in the coffee and added water and stirred it to settle the bloom. Inserting the plunger showed off the tight precision fit of the Espro. The grounds stop here!
Four minutes later I pushed the plunger down slowly, reminding me of an aeropress type patience because the filter is quite strict. Pouring into the cup exposed a wonderful aroma of chocolate richness. I love the way it pours! The handle, balance and spout just show off how well thought out it is.

The taste was like nothing else! It blows away the Technivorm and takes on a perfect americano from the Vivaldi.  This rates up in the top 4 cups I have had this year.
A wonderful deep chocolate with a perfect amount of coffee bitter, medium acidity and bassy/deep fruit notes. It made me smile thinking that I have another 12 lbs of the Tchembe. It was sad though that I missed out on the kickstarter offering from Espro. I wanted a second cup but it only makes one:(

Well, I guess I have to use the Cafe Solo now. It is by far the sexier of the two. The polished accents combined with the glass and neoprene make for an attractive piece of equipment. The quality of the different components is very nice and seemed just a bit better finished compared to the espro.

I again set the Pino for 203F and prepared 63g of coffee and about .92l of water. 68.5g/l I pulled out the aeropress funnel to avoid any mess and dropped the coffee in. I added the water and stirred to reduce the bloom. I waited 4 minutes and poured the first cup. The stopped stayed in place and I rotated as I poured to keep the water flowing. The fancy stopper worked perfectly and the unit was easy to hold onto because the neoprene jacket.

The cup was a bit more mild when compared to the Espro. I got similar chocolate notes but it was missing some of the deep fruit I was experiencing. It was a bit lighter and cleaner tasting but didn't really hit the spot for me. It would be close between it and the Technivorm with the Cafe Solo just edging it out in flavor. The cup had allot more grounds at the bottom and some larger ones on the surface. I am not sure where they came from but it took a bit away from the experience.

Cleanup time:
The espro was pretty easy to clean up and I was able to dump a majority of the grinds into my coffee compost. A bigger espro might allow me to get a bit more out and make cleaning just a bit easier. Overall, it is just about as easy as the Technivorm to clean up and wouldn't be an issue during the morning when I am typically pressed for time.

The cafe solo stays quite warm with the jacket on and I recommend taking it off to help it cool once you are finished brewing. I almost felt naughty unzipping the jacket and exposing the glass till I saw the used grounds inside. It looks like a mess and they are hard to remove unless you just rinse the grounds down the drain. A bottle brush is a necessity and plan on taking your time cleaning it up. I can see using this when having company over or during a weekend but not during the week.

Winner: Espro
It produces a cup with the characteristics I like and cleans up easier.

Theories as to why one performed better than the other. The Espro and the Cafe solo may expose the grounds to the water the same but the pressing of the grounds may extract more from them and expose the flavors.
 
« Last Edit: January 28, 2012, 10:27:45 AM by jdibble »

BoldJava

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #51 on: January 28, 2012, 09:58:38 AM »
Showdown is over! ...

Good showdown.  I was looking forward to it. Wondered how you would judge.  I love my Espro but this is an Eva thread so I will curb myself.  Too bad you missed out on the 30 oz Espro Kickstarter deal that is pending  release this Spring.

Based on some quick mental math, you might have a higher coffee: water ratio in the Espro and that might be affecting taste differences as well.  Dangerous to do math publicly so I should have worked that out with paper and pencil rather than running my gills.

Try the washrag shake for cleanup.  One less tool under the sink.

Offline ScareYourPassenger

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #52 on: January 28, 2012, 10:06:38 AM »
Agreed, I need to double check the water used. I will update with the right ratios.

Updated. I was pretty close to keep them the same when taking a stab at it. Glad I wrote them down because my memory was a bit off when I started writing this.
There was a bit high ratio for the espro but nothing that I think would make as big of a difference as I experienced.

I am not a wash rag type of guy. I like sponges and bottle brushes.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2012, 10:30:48 AM by jdibble »

jbviau

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #53 on: January 30, 2012, 07:54:34 PM »
Feel free to toss the Espro into the road show box! ;)

Offline ScareYourPassenger

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #54 on: February 08, 2012, 04:13:03 AM »
The solo went out yesterday via FedEx. Espro is going home.

BoldJava

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #55 on: February 12, 2012, 10:14:49 AM »
Should be in HC4U's hands this weekend.

Offline ScareYourPassenger

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #56 on: February 16, 2012, 01:53:21 PM »
Showed up on the 10th.

jbviau

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #57 on: February 17, 2012, 10:50:22 AM »
Has anyone tried using this without the flip-top lid? I just did--no problems whatsoever. Covered the top with a saucer instead to keep heat in while brewing. Pouring was unaffected. Why bother? Because I picked up a spare metal filter assembly alone (no other parts) via eBay recently and wanted to try it out. Off to look for a carafe that it might fit in other than the stock carafes I already own...

NB: This was not with any parts belonging to the road show Eva, which I'm next in line for after HC4U.
« Last Edit: February 17, 2012, 02:55:51 PM by jbviau »

Offline headchange4u

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #58 on: February 17, 2012, 12:12:12 PM »
I'll report in soon on the Cafe Solo. Very nice unit.

jbviau

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Re: Closed: Cafe Solo, 1 liter, Traveling Road Show and Lottery
« Reply #59 on: February 23, 2012, 05:22:42 AM »
The 1.0 L Solo arrived yesterday in one piece. Here she is (middle) with her younger and older siblings; it's an Eva Trio!