[quiff]

Disclaimer – I’m well aware this is both a first world problem, and highly unlikely to affect the quality of my coffee, I’m just interested in principle, particularly views from anyone in metrology / engineering / science fields. 

I was recently given some coffee scales, which are supposedly accurate to 0.1g. (For context, to make an espresso you use just e.g. 18g of beans, so in theory being able to tell the difference between 18g and 18.9g of beans could make a difference to flavour (see disclaimer). The scales are not hugely expensive, but are from a reputable kitchenware brand. 

I usually ‘pour’ beans in, then slow down as I close in on 18g. I noticed that if I poured to 17.Xg and then added beans slowly as I closed in on the magic number, it seemed impossible to get the scles to move in 0.1g increments – I could add say 3 beans before they changed, and then they would jump by 0.2 – 0.3g.

As a test, I then saw how many beans I could add to an empty scale before it registered anything. If I added the beans one, two, three etc at a time, I found it was possible to weigh (what turned out to be) 20+g of beans without the scales registering anything at all. I found that the scales wouldn’t register anything unless I added 7 or more beans at a time. I appreciate it’s variable, but 7 beans seems to weigh about 1g, putting each bean at more than 0.1g.

Are the scales faulty? Or am I misunderstanding what accurate to 0.1g means?      

 

           

Topic

[Mr Blackbird]

This discussion is an example
This discussion is an example of roadcc at its finest.
I have gained some useful knowledge about coffee beans, loose teas and weighscales today.
I tend to drink coffee am and tea pm. I have tried various teas, such as Darleeling, Earl Grey, Assam, Kenyan, Chai and like them all, but am ashamed to say that I find PG Tips is very hard to beat (as long as it isn’t made too strong).
The best ever coffee I can remember having was at a coffee shop in Peterborough run by a Latvian family. The most disappointing (excluding Starbucks and Costa) was some ground Jamaican Blue Mountain – the flavour was weak, but maybe it had been in store a long time because of it’s price!

The parallel of Tubeless = Beans and Loose is an excellent piece of work.

Could pre or post lactarianism be analogous to disc/rim brakes or maybe tyre width / pressure?

[quiff]

You can always rely on the

You can always rely on the road.cc regulars for a balance of informative and witty answers.  

[wtjs]

Loose leaf Russian style Earl

Loose leaf Russian style Earl Grey is my favourite

Personal preference rules! There are no extra funny bits of dried peel etc. in Booths Earl Grey, but the black leaves look just like those in your photo.

 

[wtjs]

who’s measuring tea leaves in

who’s measuring tea leaves in milliliters?!

Me. 5 ml measuring spoon. Never liked anything like lapsang, or kippers

[quiff]

I have had and continue to

I have had and continue to drink / enjoy plenty of coffee where I just chuck a rough amount [ETA: of supermarket ground] in the moka / filter. The modest home espresso machine is a recent-ish addition, but using fresh specialty coffee it’s very gratifying that what I make at home tastes better than anything short of specialist cafes.

[quiff]

I mean this as a compliment –

I mean this as a compliment – there’s a hint of boatsy about it.

An ode to the balance (to be read to 4 decimal places) 

Weighing sticky billowing media,

movement near causes drift.

No weigh boats in my kitchen…

the mucky pups

 

[mdavidford]

Ah –  but where do you stand

Ah –  but where do you stand on the question of true lapsang vs the latest crop of smoked imitators?

[Edit – also, who’s measuring tea leaves in milliliters?!]

[hawkinspeter]

wtjs wrote:

wtjs wrote:

Crikey! This coffee business is hard and complicated work when an alternative is easy and cheap: go down to Booths (some research will be required to determine the most suitable variety) and buy a sealed pack of loose Earl Grey for £3. Put a small amount, about 3 mls for 400 mls tea, in a tea-egg or similar device and add almost boiling water. The pack lasts more than 2 months. All reminiscent of tubes v. tubeless, although I am thinking of TPU as a concession to progress.

I do like a decent Earl Grey, but I thought boiling water was recommended for black teas?

Loose leaf Russian style Earl Grey is my favourite

[wtjs]

Crikey! This coffee business
Crikey! This coffee business is hard and complicated work when an alternative is easy and cheap: go down to Booths (some research will be required to determine the most suitable variety) and buy a sealed pack of loose Earl Grey for £3. Put a small amount, about 3 mls for 400 mls tea, in a tea-egg or similar device and add almost boiling water. The pack lasts more than 2 months. All reminiscent of tubes v. tubeless, although I am thinking of TPU as a concession to progress.

[Mr Blackbird]

I don’t have a coffee grinder
I don’t have a coffee grinder, so unfortunately I have never experienced freshly ground.
Ground coffee will generally be packed fairly quickly and into a modified atmosphere (such as nitrogen) to slow deterioration.
However coffee is drunk / measured, the important thing is to make sure you err on the high side if you like it strong and vica versa.

[hawkinspeter]

Mr Blackbird wrote:

Mr Blackbird wrote:

Instead of buggering about with scales, repeatability, precision etc, why not buy ground coffee (consistent bulk density) and add it volumetrically (I use heaped tablespoons) to your cafetiere or percolator. I tend to drink Taylor’s After Dark either on its own or as a 75/25 mix with a flavoured coffee. Maybe these coffees are such high roasts that any variations in measurement are insignificant.?

Unfortunately, pre-ground coffee is inevitably stale before it leaves the supermarket shelves. When coffee beans are roasted, they tend to be best used after two or three days to allow them to de-gas, but they start going stale after a couple of weeks. Once you grind beans, the extra surface area means that they go stale much quicker – within an hour or two.

Very dark roasts are more consistent in terms of flavour, but the flavour tends to be more due to the character of the roast than the character of the beans. It basically means that cheaper beans can be used with dark roasts as people won’t be able to tell much difference between the cheap and expensive beans (see Starbucks for details or should that be Charbucks).

[kinderje]

No, no, no, no, nooo (in the

No, no, no, no, nooo (in the voice of Rob Hatch)

That’s just wrong 

[kinderje]

I agree that it’s not earth

I agree that it’s not earth shattering but this is one of the best, and most informative, forums I’ve read in a long time.

 

[Mr Blackbird]

Instead of buggering about
Instead of buggering about with scales, repeatability, precision etc, why not buy ground coffee (consistent bulk density) and add it volumetrically (I use heaped tablespoons) to your cafetiere or percolator.
I tend to drink Taylor’s After Dark either on its own or as a 75/25 mix with a flavoured coffee. Maybe these coffees are such high roasts that any variations in measurement are insignificant.?

[andystow]

mdavidford wrote:

You forgot to include thaum variance.

We’re not amateurs.

Our weighing room is an isolated, environmentally controlled, properly warded clean room.

[Author]

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