Able KONE

[peter]

...

Cut my finger on the top edge too...this thing is seriously sharp.  My worker hands must be a little more delicate than Peters

-Stubbie

Don't let him kid you.  He has a special dish soap so his hands don't chap. He bluffs his way through a macho routine here.  In person? Manicures with polished/buffed nails or whatever they call it.  Very...ah....metrosexual guy.

Flattery will get you nowhere, Big Boy.   :thebirdman:

[headchange4u]

Put my Kone inside a Clever dripper yesterday and had a hell of a time getting it back out.  Almost became a permanent filter for a dripper that isn't mine.  

-Stubbie

I had the same problem. It took me 10 minutes to remove it the other day. Just FYI for all you CCD/Kone users. Just lightly place the Kone in your CCD.

[BoldJava]

A review from Hermitudionous.com.  He pours in a very, very tight concentric circle (see article) for a cleaner cup...

"...I mentioned in my preview that I thought the Kone’s brews were reminiscent of a Cafe Solo’s brews; while I stand by that,  I would also add that I think it’s possible to get both cleaner cups and sludgier cups, depending on the coffee, your grinder, your grind setting, and your pouring technique...

I have a few other observations:

~ I tinkered with brew sizes between 400 milliliters to 700 milliliters.  I also tinkered with grind size a bit, but as I said before, grind size generally needs to be finer than for a regular Chemex filter...
~ I wonder how much more of the extraction is dependent upon column-pressure rather than agitation.  If the pour is so center-heavy, how much of that is taking place on the edges?  Furthermore, what role do the holes and their pattern have on the agitation that takes place?  I’m intrigued by this and would like to experiment and learn more.
~ It seems as though surface tension plays a big, big role in keeping the fines out of the resulting brew.  With the Swissgold filters and Bodum gold filters, the spaces are long and just as wide, if not wider, than the bars that keep the coffee in.  Water and grounds flow through very quickly and easily, no matter how one pours.  Not so with the Kone, however...

Worth a read - photos on silt dependent upon pour.  Intriguing:

http://hermitudinous.com/2010/11/19/review-kone/

[rasqual]

The grind itself performs a filtering function against fines (witness espresso). Disturbing it lets the fines through.

Basically, when fines can pass through any medium, you want a bank of grind that's stable against that surface.

With paper and agitation the fines will still gravitate to the surface and then stall the flow.

Agitation is fine so long as wet time isn't prolonged beyond control via stall. And obviously the grinder's going to make a difference with that.

[ecc]

Hmmm, I am getting almost no silt.  I wonder if it is the grind, the non-sniper pinot kettle (wide soft pour) or maybe brew size. (500ml - 1L)  I surely don't pour outside of the middle much, the pinot is not a precision instrument.  I am also about 1/2 way between drip and french press on the macro slider of the vario, getting a nice 2.5 minute pour on 44g for almost 500ml.  Much much cleaner cup than a french press.

[BoldJava]

I am sipping a Guat - Hario/Melitta white arrangement now.  I did the first pot on a Hario/KONE, with an extremely tight pour towards the center.  Want to compare the two cups for myself -- evaluation and silt.

With the KONE, I think there is some correlation between grinders and silt produced. I haven't tampered with the grind yet -- pourover.  Trying to fool with one variable at a time.  Focusing on pour: The pour impacts it.  Still varying technique to observe the differences.  Are there coffees that don't lend themselves to the KONE?  I remember the first time I found a coffee that didn't shine in a vacpot.  

Head-to-head still to come with Jeff, Ryan, and Peter.  Dec 4th'ish.

B|Java

[peter]

I'm finding the Kone to highly dependent on the grinder.  My normal grinder for pourover (and press pot) is a KitchenAid Proline.  Yesterday I tried my Compak K10, and you would think it was a different coffee; sweeter, better-defined flavors, less sludge, vs. slightly flatter and edgier flavors from the KA.  The coffee I used was a very good Guat sample from Vournas, already about 12 days old, so it wasn't a matter of the bean coming into its own due to more rest.  I have enough to go back and forth a couple more days, so I'll test it out again.

[rasqual]

KONE as grinder vetter!

[milowebailey]

KONE as grinder vetter!

Do you mean the machine or the person operating it?

[BoldJava]

KONE as grinder vetter!

Do you mean the machine or the person operating it?

He mean's my cousin owns the grinder.

B|Java

[peter]

KONE as grinder vetter!

Do you mean the machine or the person operating it?

He mean's my cousin owns the grinder.

B|Java

Ya gotta give the non-Krauts a clue B|Translator.

[BoldJava]

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/ristretto-the-kone/

KONE makes the NYTimes blog after editor visits a shop in NYC that is using one.  Zooommm...there go sales.  Blog notes 900 sold to date.  I think his first run was 1,000.  Bet he cranks out a larger run now that it seems to be gaining traction.  He calls it an "aggressive cup" -- really tells me more about the pour than the KONE.  A local roaster here in Lake Cheddar that has pourovers available sent a barista to Oregon to train/learn on the KONE at Coava.  

RE:  Silt question.  Peter and I yacked offline.  I find that you have to be on your toes.  The KONE will move as much water as you put at it.  A fast pour will put some silt in the cup.  A slower, more controlled pour results in a cleaner cup with little silt.  Quite honestly, I am still working on my pour.  The KONE cup is much more dependent upon pour than paper.  I am ironing out pour issues before I begin tweaking grind.

B|Java

[thejavaman]

Ristretto | The Kone


What's the verdict from those who bought one of these?

[BoldJava]

http://coava.myshopify.com/blogs/kone/2365262-kone-video

KONE's video from Coava.  They are using a finer grind than I am and are pouring dead center.  Will try their technique/grind this weekend.  Sediment (amount) shown at about 1:30 of the video.

B|Java

[FinerGrind]

Ristretto | The Kone


What's the verdict from those who bought one of these?

So far, I really like mine.  I use it in the Technivorm MM every day and it's a nice clean cup. I'm still working on my Chemex technique but videos like this help:
http://bit.ly/fluwSU

Woody