TDS Meters?

[Tex]

Leaving my grandfather's wisdom aside for the moment - I still don't see the value of a TDS. Is it your contention that a shot can be evaluated by the amount of dissolved solids in the water? Oh how I wish it could be that simple!

[ecc]

Leaving my grandfather's wisdom aside for the moment - I still don't see the value of a TDS. Is it your contention that a shot can be evaluated by the amount of dissolved solids in the water? Oh how I wish it could be that simple!

This is about measuring brewed coffee, not espresso shots.  I apologize if I have represented it as a hammer for every brewing problem nail, or as an objective overall quality score.  It is not anything bigger than measuring brewing temperature, or ratio of coffee to water.

And when it comes to espresso, I think everyone agrees that nothing is simple.
http://coffeecuppers.com/Espresso.htm

[John F]

It is essentially a way to test the end result of brewing methods.  Espresso fans should easily see the parallels, I guess I don't really understand why there is so much resistance to using the same concepts with brewing.  Refractometers and conductivity meters are used to estimate extraction percentages.

Although having the right amount of solids (and the right kind) after brewing does not guarantee best taste, it is one of the requirements of a good tasting cup.  Measuring makes it much easier to understand the impact of a brew method on extraction, and adjust grind level, brew length etc to a baseline. 

I think it's slightly more useful than using callipers to measure the opening of the cup

And I might add I was goat-ed into this.

[John F]

I've been pulling espresso shots which have undissolved solids.

Dont you want to know how many?


Couldn't resist.   

[peter]

Found some technical tip articles on Conductivity at the Eutech Instruments site.

Before the year closes out, I want to sneak in my nomination for GCBC Geek of the Year.  Let's hear it for yakster!  Yaaaayy!!!

 

[BoldJava]

Found some technical tip articles on Conductivity at the Eutech Instruments site.

Before the year closes out, I want to sneak in my nomination for GCBC Geek of the Year.  Let's hear it for yakster!  Yaaaayy!!!

 

I didn't even think that had to be stated.

[headchange4u]

Thanks for doing some experiments for us Yakster. I'm anxious to see what happens. I'm still eyeing a TDS of my own, but it may have to wait until my bank account recovers a bit from the Holidays.

To me, TDS reading would be very useful in comparing the coffee that I am used to drinking to Gold Cup standards. I don't think it will change how I brew my cup. That's not what I'm looking to do. I make coffee that I think is great, but I'm always interested in seeing things from both sides of the fence.

[rasqual]

Part of it is that when you're starting out, you grasp at all the things that are learnable and knowable and make lots of measurements.  Eventually, this seems to fall away and you rely more on your experience and intuition.

Yes, with knowledge comes silence.     

For me, when I've gotten to the point where my mere approximations get me within 5% of a 100% goal, I just stop worrying about expending 50% more effort (or 200%, or $200) to nail that last 5% distance.

If I were running a marathon, I guess I'd see some sense in stopping a few feet shy of the line -- since, for all practical purposes, I'd obviously arrived.     

Yeah, Schulman's stuff is always great. I recall conversing with him when he was planning that study. I love that kind of thing too -- "Ah, someone else is doing it. Convenient."