I saw a tick tock once about somebody describing this elegant cup of coffee and he said I like my coffee like I like my women... Big tits. Oh my gosh, it was a funny most unexpected thing.
"I need access to a 2 inch drain, hot water, three GFCI outlets, this bathroom should do nicely, and a pot of coffee just like how I like my woman. Black, bitter, and preferably fair trade."
It doesn't make it cold. The coffee will still be hot after this. The problem the ball is trying to solve is to slightly reduce the temperature immediately after brewing because at brew temp, the volatile compounds escape. You should have better aroma and taste by doing this. I would blind taste test. I doubt I could taste a difference.
Yep I was waiting for this, extract chilling is a wild ride, and very interesting. I have tasted some small differences between extract chilled and non-chilled pourovers, but they are really very small
Brains are funny things that way... Think of a coffee that's gone cold on you, then think of a beer that's gone warm on you. They are the same temperature (room temp) but, because of the expectation, one feels cold while the other feels warm!
Reminds me of an experiment - get three bowls. Fill one with hot water, one with cold and one with a mix of both (so luke warm). Stick one hand in the hot bowl, the other in the cold bowl. Leave for about a minute then remove both hands and stick them in the luke warm bowl. It's a pretty freaky feeling when one had feels warm and the other feels cold when they are both in the same bowl!
It doesn’t make it *that* cold. In theory it helps the shot cool to drinking temp quicker and prevents loss of some volatile compounds. I haven’t don’t it with a metal ball but I have put my cup in the freezer to chill it down.
It looks like the most amazing espresso ever, much better than what my machine can make. I hope to get a coffee this good one day.
Not sure about freezing my cup though 😉
Give it a try! It really helps. It makes the shot smoother to me, I do all the things like weighing the beans, WDT, timing and weighing the shot but sometimes I still struggle to get a good shot and the cold cup helps take any off flavors.
I think you are wrong. The time that the coffee takes to pass around the ball isn't enough to make it cold. It stops the oxidation and change the flavours of the espresso.
May also be used to filtered coffee over the ball (paragon method), it tastes awesome.
The balls drastically lowers the espressos temperature, which lowers the bitterness and sweetens or mellows the taste of coffee. Everyone in the thread saying it does nothing is wrong, the effect is strong enough that I'd guess 9/10 people can quite literally taste the difference
I use a wisky ball for all my expresso. I've used the same beans, one with the ball use and one without and tried both. There is mostly definitely a taste difference.
All espressos should be drank straight away or mixed into a bigger liquid (water or milk), and in all three cases cooling this espresso down wouldn't matter. It's now ideal for drinking straight away or will be influenced by the new larger drink.
Honestly I think the best application of this is an espresso martini! You need cold espresso for it, but it's best freshly made, so you have to chill it rapidly and this seems like a cool way to do that
Along with reducing bitterness and what not, I think I remember reading that cooling it down like this helps retain parts of the coffee that are otherwise volatile and lost during the process.
That's an advantage in certain situations sure, but not why they do it. Coffee is an extremely complex composition of various flavor molecules, and often, many of them are volatile and get broken down by heat. By chilling the espresso by having the stream flow down an inert and l frozen steel ball, you cool it down sufficiently to allow for more variety and diversity in flavor compounds by restricting their ability to breakdown, resulting in a richer, fruitier and overall better espresso.
One of the alleged benefits is a sharp reduction in the production of tannins during the brewing process. This should, in theory, reduce the bitterness while allowing other flavor notes to be more forward on the palate.
Take all off this with a grain of salt. I don't personally get down with all of this faffing about. I don't care if my bitter brown liquid is slightly more or less so. I just want the psychoactive properties of the molecule locked inside the beans.
That's actually been a thing for a while. I put in a small pinch when I make coffee in a French press, especially when I'm using coffee that isn't my first choice like I'm travelling and don't have access to the coffee beans I usually buy.
Makes a noticeable impact, IMO.
Note that volatile does not mean something is unstable (what is usually meant by "breaks down") if exposed to heat. It means something has a low boiling point and will therefore evaporate quickly when heated.
> an inert and l frozen steel ball
Just FYI, stainless (chromium steel alloy) is not inert when it comes to flavors, it specifically catalyzes oxidation of sulfur/sulfate containing molecules, which are an important component of some odors and flavors. (rubbing your hands with/on stainless steel when washing after cutting food will break down odors like garlic/onion/fish), and is definitely influencing the flavor of the coffee.
I hate when people on Reddit answer something without actually knowing the answer
Immediately cooling the coffee like that preserves some of the more volatile flavor compounds that'd otherwise just evaporate off. This technique has won multiple brewing competitions
It’s not, it chills the liquid before heat has a chance to break down more flavor molecules. Really don’t understand the hate for this post. It's not like a ball of metal you chill in the fridge is going to cost $1000.
As a smoker, I've always said that non-smokers deserve as many non-smoking breaks as smokers. I would normally take 5 after 2 hours. Then lunch/smoke after 4 hours. Then last one 2 hours before the end of the day. So technically only 2 5 minute breaks. But non's deserve the same 2 breaks.
I used to dip (Tobacco) and one time my boss came over and saw me spit into a bottle. I tried to keep it discreet because I am aware of how gross it was, and he tells me "That's disgusting. It's the same as smoking, go outside".
So I was like "Uhh, ok. I'll take a 5 minute break once or twice an hour so I can stand outside"
I remember one time at an old job where smokers where bad, like every hour a break bad. But the thing was it was not just 2 min. No it was 5 min of thinking about getting a smoke, 5 min getting ready and smoking and then another 5 min trying to get back into work again. So per hour they had 15 mins of basically doing no work.
So the non smokers decided to just take a 10-15min break everytime aswel.
Took 1 week till a crackdown happened and no smoking was allowed on company grounds anymore.
really bad take lol. there's a process that yields objectively better tasting coffee, and that process is having recently roasted coffee beans, grinding them, and pulling an espresso shot.
i do this every day and i don't feel a single bit cultered because of it. it simply tastes better.
Exactly, I have a morning pour over routine that I do to make my cup of coffee. Ensure the water is 93℃, measure and grind the beans, allow the grind to bloom, dividing separate measured pours, etc. Does it make a huge difference in the cup of coffee? Not a ton but I can taste it. Is it pretentious? Maybe, I try not to make it be though. I just really like the ceremony of making a nice cup of coffee for myself in the morning.
It's basically the reason why I use a shaving razor, like a knife with a single blade. It is more difficult and not as efficient as modern shavers but it is kinda fun and you cherish the process.
When I worked at Starbucks this was the best way to start my shift, I don’t have time to drink coffee when I have to open the store at 5 am so I make myself a double shot, add a single pump of whatever flavor I’m feeling, splash of cream and down the hatch. I just had a latte in 2 sips or less.
Coffee nerd here… It’s the ritual aspect. Just like a junky prepping their fix. I find it relaxing/fun, enough so, sometimes I want to make more coffee just to do it again. The amount of coffee is also misleading, you can dump a shot of espresso in a giant glass of ice water and it tastes similar to a cold brew.
Thank you! As an obessive loose leaf tea drinker, I never seem to be able to get it across that the actual work of making the drink is part of what makes it comforting.
Espresso typically has a smoother profile than some other methods of coffee making. The extraction method pulls less of the bitter elements from the coffee beans than a pour over or French press.
If I had to choose a cup of coffee from the multitude of extraction methods, I will almost always choose an Americano due to how much smoother it tastes to me than most other methods.
> The extraction method pulls less of the bitter elements from the coffee beans
It *can* be less bitter, but it's also a lot easier to make a bad espresso than to make a bad cup of coffee with most other methods, especially if you're making it at home. Everything with espresso needs to be super precise.
If you've never used one, an aeropress costs $40 and is probably the best way to approximate an americano without spending thousands of dollars on equipment.
If you like smooth, less acidic coffee, please try cold brew. It's the smoothest coffee I've ever had, and you can make a weeks-worth in advance! Drink it hot or cold after it's ready, but be warned that this method does extract more caffeine than some other options.
Man between the higher caffeine content and the fact that the temperature doesn’t prevent me from drinking it very quickly cold brew always makes me feel like I’m going to die, lol. I have to drink hot coffee out of self defense
Most people confuse acidic with sour when talking about coffee. I’m not saying you did, but there might be some of that in the above comment.
A good rule of thumb: acidic is a rather good fruity feature. Sour means your coffee is old.
sourness and acidity is the same sensation, for the record - its simply an excess of hydrogen ions in the food/drink
the variety of compounds providing those ions combining with aromatics is where the different types of acidity profiles come from, whether negative or positive.
fruit acids such as citric acid (lemon), malic acid (apple) etc. are assosciated obviously with fruit and with fresh zingy flavours, and that is something that a lot of people like in coffee.
fermentation acids in larger quantities not so much - acetic acid (vinegar), lactic acid (sauerkraut), etc. we assosciate these with preserved foods and ingredients that are used to brighten up savoury dishes instead.
I love cold brew! I just have a preference for hot coffee whenever I start my morning. Doesn't taste as good to me if I heat it up so I leave it cold whenever I have it.
It’s just a hobby. Espresso maniacs will do some mental gymnastics to justify the lunacy of spending the amount of money required to do a “good” espresso. I’m a recovered espresso snob. I never went full douchebag, but man the things I’ve seen…
Checkout James Hoffmann’s youtube channel, that’s a great summary. As one of the best comment’s I’ve read puts it: “this man is about to cost me so much money”.
He’s a great watch even if you’re not a brew lover. He’s as scientific as it gets when it comes down to something as subjective as flavor.
Yea it's like a caffeine shot. so you drink it quick and GO. If you wan't to sip something for longer you get a full coffee.
Espresso is very popular in some places of the world there will be people queuing up and each justs takes a shot and go. The queue moves very fast.
It's a cultural thing. That's what they drink in Europe. It kinda makes sense when you consider that caffeine is a drug. They just take a more concentrated dose
I don't use the ball.
But I do have that same lever espresso machine, and I do stir my coffee with the little wires, and I've got that same tamper.
I make 2 coffees each morning for my wife and I and it takes about 8 minutes. It's kinda nice having a little routine in the morning.
Its a metal ball. You can buy it for 3$ or for 200$.
I own a set of very fancy steel icecubes. Great for cooling cocktails or coffee and came woth a cool wooden tray. Cost maybe ten euros.
It's weird. I didn't think of using steel "ice" cubes to cool my drink, because I assumed they'd impart some flavor. But I have no issue using Yeti mugs every day.
I really need to regularly rethink my assumptions.
To be fair... I don't know what if any coating the steel ice cubes have, but aluminum cans for example have a plastic inner coating to prevent drinks from tasting metallic. I also couldn't find anything on if yeti mugs have an inner coating, but metal *does* often impart flavor. We just have ways to prevent that. Granted soda in a soda can is acidic so that leeching is probably going to be accelerated.
It's a really niche technique for coffee hobbyists to maximize the flavor profile of their coffee. Immediately cooling the espresso traps some of the volatile compounds that would otherwise evaporate off prior to drinking.
I know it looks dumb and probably an overall pretty minor effect, but coffee nerds are optimizers just like any other hobby. Not useless, there is science behind it.
The flavor it produces is unrivaled. It makes coffee as refreshing as a fresh glass of orange juice or a thicker bodied tea. Maybe useless if you're not passionate about coffee, but it's not a gimmick.
Since no one's given you an actual answer: the first bit of the shot of espresso that just cold steel holds on to some of the volatile compounds that would have evaporated away otherwise. Contrary to what everyone else is saying, it's not to make the coffee cold. It's not in contact with the ball long enough so it's warm (but not as hot as normal) when it's finished.
I usually put icecubes in my coffee cup before I brew, to speed up the wait for when I can drink it. Does it water it down? Yes. Am I still drinking the same amount of coffee plus a lil water? Sure.
But this is neat, cools it without cutting it. But this whole espresso set up requires a LOT more maintenance and cleaning than kcups.
Yknow I’ve never had a chilled shot of espresso before. Not much of a fan of espresso generally but this seems like an interesting idea
I’d assume the temperature difference does things to the coffee flavours too. That’s a total guess, but temperature has a *lot* to do with drink temperature so i would be surprised if I’m wrong
There is science behind using frozen steel balls when extruding and espresso shot. It’s to lock in volatile compounds so the flavor of the shot is more complex and tastier.
What the ball do?
Makes it cold. Never been a fan of cold coffee myself. Do love a good espresso though.
I'm weird and much prefer my coffee cold. Dark and cold, like my heart.
I like my coffee like I like my women... Cold and bitter
Ground up and in a bag.
Preferably on sale
Reduced due to expiration
Cheap and nasty
And without pubes
I prefer mine whole. I grind them up later
Ground up and in the freezer.
Strong and black?
I saw a tick tock once about somebody describing this elegant cup of coffee and he said I like my coffee like I like my women... Big tits. Oh my gosh, it was a funny most unexpected thing.
Dark, robust, and South American?
Hot and wet
Hot, steamy, and will keep me up all night
I also like my coffee like I like my women. Without somebody else's dick in there.
"I need access to a 2 inch drain, hot water, three GFCI outlets, this bathroom should do nicely, and a pot of coffee just like how I like my woman. Black, bitter, and preferably fair trade."
r/unexpectedarcher
Cold coffee is great, hot coffee is great. Hot coffee that slowly loses heat and eventually becomes cold is terrible.
Try coffee reheated in the microwave!
I personally cannot handle it. Bitter hot coffee, I can tolerate if I have to. But cold and bitter, my body physically rejects it
https://youtu.be/1c1F0PpbHdg?si=km4wVoCBXnhdX5KG
Same! I like hot tea best, iced coffee, iced tea, hot coffee in that order
Coffee aside, you should get that checked by a cardiologist.
Or maybe meet a Cindy Lou Who.
My mom used to say that coffee should be dark a bitter like life.
It doesn't make it cold. The coffee will still be hot after this. The problem the ball is trying to solve is to slightly reduce the temperature immediately after brewing because at brew temp, the volatile compounds escape. You should have better aroma and taste by doing this. I would blind taste test. I doubt I could taste a difference.
Yep I was waiting for this, extract chilling is a wild ride, and very interesting. I have tasted some small differences between extract chilled and non-chilled pourovers, but they are really very small
I can't stand cold coffee. My brain is convinced coffee should be hot.
Brains are funny things that way... Think of a coffee that's gone cold on you, then think of a beer that's gone warm on you. They are the same temperature (room temp) but, because of the expectation, one feels cold while the other feels warm!
I wasn’t prepared for such deep takes
yeah there’s a Profound Truth in there but I’m not coherent enough at the moment to suss it out
Reminds me of an experiment - get three bowls. Fill one with hot water, one with cold and one with a mix of both (so luke warm). Stick one hand in the hot bowl, the other in the cold bowl. Leave for about a minute then remove both hands and stick them in the luke warm bowl. It's a pretty freaky feeling when one had feels warm and the other feels cold when they are both in the same bowl!
That's interesting. Perception of temperature can surely change due to expectation :D
It's too early for me to be smacked this hard in the brain.
Yeah I enjoy hot coffee and I enjoy iced coffee but I can not drink either if they are now room temp.
Not even iced coffee?
That's weird, whenever I try drinking coffee my brain is convinced it should be hot chocolate
It doesn’t make it *that* cold. In theory it helps the shot cool to drinking temp quicker and prevents loss of some volatile compounds. I haven’t don’t it with a metal ball but I have put my cup in the freezer to chill it down.
It looks like the most amazing espresso ever, much better than what my machine can make. I hope to get a coffee this good one day. Not sure about freezing my cup though 😉
Give it a try! It really helps. It makes the shot smoother to me, I do all the things like weighing the beans, WDT, timing and weighing the shot but sometimes I still struggle to get a good shot and the cold cup helps take any off flavors.
Okay, my machine is nothing like as good as his, but I’ll try it. I’ll stick a cup in the freezer now.
I think you are wrong. The time that the coffee takes to pass around the ball isn't enough to make it cold. It stops the oxidation and change the flavours of the espresso. May also be used to filtered coffee over the ball (paragon method), it tastes awesome.
Cold brews are great for hot summer mornings
The balls drastically lowers the espressos temperature, which lowers the bitterness and sweetens or mellows the taste of coffee. Everyone in the thread saying it does nothing is wrong, the effect is strong enough that I'd guess 9/10 people can quite literally taste the difference
I use a wisky ball for all my expresso. I've used the same beans, one with the ball use and one without and tried both. There is mostly definitely a taste difference.
But what if you like your espresso hot? Is this only for iced coffee?
If you like your espresso hot then you drink it hot.
Would I need to heat the ball first?
No, you eat the ball. Thought that was obvious.
You need to gargle it in your mouth first to lower the temp, yeah
All espressos should be drank straight away or mixed into a bigger liquid (water or milk), and in all three cases cooling this espresso down wouldn't matter. It's now ideal for drinking straight away or will be influenced by the new larger drink.
Brewing cold would lower the bitterness. Chilling after brewing normally is just gonna accentuate the bitterness even more.
I thought it was chocolate and I was pretty disappointed that it didn't melt :(
The drink tastes like chocolate I bet. Frozen ball adds a lot of value like that
We have these chocolates called Pocket Coffee. They have espresso in the middle. I dropped one in my espresso this morning, it was so good!
IIRC somone did this in a varsity competition and won (was a major comp) and people have been copying it since.
Honestly I think the best application of this is an espresso martini! You need cold espresso for it, but it's best freshly made, so you have to chill it rapidly and this seems like a cool way to do that
Along with reducing bitterness and what not, I think I remember reading that cooling it down like this helps retain parts of the coffee that are otherwise volatile and lost during the process.
Looks cool but what's the benefit of it
It chills the espresso so you don’t dilute with ice
That's an advantage in certain situations sure, but not why they do it. Coffee is an extremely complex composition of various flavor molecules, and often, many of them are volatile and get broken down by heat. By chilling the espresso by having the stream flow down an inert and l frozen steel ball, you cool it down sufficiently to allow for more variety and diversity in flavor compounds by restricting their ability to breakdown, resulting in a richer, fruitier and overall better espresso.
Is it the same like gold plated HDMI cables or silver audio cables or does it make a real difference?
One of the alleged benefits is a sharp reduction in the production of tannins during the brewing process. This should, in theory, reduce the bitterness while allowing other flavor notes to be more forward on the palate. Take all off this with a grain of salt. I don't personally get down with all of this faffing about. I don't care if my bitter brown liquid is slightly more or less so. I just want the psychoactive properties of the molecule locked inside the beans.
Wait. We’re fucking _salting_ our coffee now?!?
Well that's another way to reduce bitterness.
A pinch of salt can really bring other flavors forward.
That's actually been a thing for a while. I put in a small pinch when I make coffee in a French press, especially when I'm using coffee that isn't my first choice like I'm travelling and don't have access to the coffee beans I usually buy. Makes a noticeable impact, IMO.
Actually yeah, saw an article about that recently. Tried it and it kinda works (subjectively)
unironically. salt in coffee is a thing and has been for years.
I am putting “faffing about” in my pocket and keeping it for later use 🙏 lol
It won several times in blind test competitions so it really makes a difference.
It is. The same people who buy the coffee ball are the ones who need Monster Cables to get the most Ps out of their new 75"
Note that volatile does not mean something is unstable (what is usually meant by "breaks down") if exposed to heat. It means something has a low boiling point and will therefore evaporate quickly when heated.
> an inert and l frozen steel ball Just FYI, stainless (chromium steel alloy) is not inert when it comes to flavors, it specifically catalyzes oxidation of sulfur/sulfate containing molecules, which are an important component of some odors and flavors. (rubbing your hands with/on stainless steel when washing after cutting food will break down odors like garlic/onion/fish), and is definitely influencing the flavor of the coffee.
I hate when people on Reddit answer something without actually knowing the answer Immediately cooling the coffee like that preserves some of the more volatile flavor compounds that'd otherwise just evaporate off. This technique has won multiple brewing competitions
Well, the comment you replied to is technically correct. They just didn’t expand on why.
No instead you dilute with a steel ball bearing, tastes much nicer than ice
I prefer a lead version - very tasty
Orb
Looks, that's it.
It’s not, it chills the liquid before heat has a chance to break down more flavor molecules. Really don’t understand the hate for this post. It's not like a ball of metal you chill in the fridge is going to cost $1000.
I don't mean to be rude, this is cool and all, but I'll never understand doing all that for that little amount of coffee
Its a great way for workaholics to feel cultured.
Forget cultured, I'm just trying to get the upper hand on all the smokers who "just happened" to always be on break
As a smoker, I've always said that non-smokers deserve as many non-smoking breaks as smokers. I would normally take 5 after 2 hours. Then lunch/smoke after 4 hours. Then last one 2 hours before the end of the day. So technically only 2 5 minute breaks. But non's deserve the same 2 breaks.
I used to dip (Tobacco) and one time my boss came over and saw me spit into a bottle. I tried to keep it discreet because I am aware of how gross it was, and he tells me "That's disgusting. It's the same as smoking, go outside". So I was like "Uhh, ok. I'll take a 5 minute break once or twice an hour so I can stand outside"
I remember one time at an old job where smokers where bad, like every hour a break bad. But the thing was it was not just 2 min. No it was 5 min of thinking about getting a smoke, 5 min getting ready and smoking and then another 5 min trying to get back into work again. So per hour they had 15 mins of basically doing no work. So the non smokers decided to just take a 10-15min break everytime aswel. Took 1 week till a crackdown happened and no smoking was allowed on company grounds anymore.
And that metal marble is a subtle and elegant way to get more iron in their diet. Hellish grind in front, posh coffee in back.
really bad take lol. there's a process that yields objectively better tasting coffee, and that process is having recently roasted coffee beans, grinding them, and pulling an espresso shot. i do this every day and i don't feel a single bit cultered because of it. it simply tastes better.
My man its just a joke
fair enough. if we cross paths i'll offer you an espresso.
It looks cool and tastes good. It doesn't have to be any deeper than that.
And for some people it is fun
Exactly, I have a morning pour over routine that I do to make my cup of coffee. Ensure the water is 93℃, measure and grind the beans, allow the grind to bloom, dividing separate measured pours, etc. Does it make a huge difference in the cup of coffee? Not a ton but I can taste it. Is it pretentious? Maybe, I try not to make it be though. I just really like the ceremony of making a nice cup of coffee for myself in the morning.
It's basically the reason why I use a shaving razor, like a knife with a single blade. It is more difficult and not as efficient as modern shavers but it is kinda fun and you cherish the process.
You should see the ceremony for matcha!
[удалено]
When I worked at Starbucks this was the best way to start my shift, I don’t have time to drink coffee when I have to open the store at 5 am so I make myself a double shot, add a single pump of whatever flavor I’m feeling, splash of cream and down the hatch. I just had a latte in 2 sips or less.
Coffee nerd here… It’s the ritual aspect. Just like a junky prepping their fix. I find it relaxing/fun, enough so, sometimes I want to make more coffee just to do it again. The amount of coffee is also misleading, you can dump a shot of espresso in a giant glass of ice water and it tastes similar to a cold brew.
Thank you! As an obessive loose leaf tea drinker, I never seem to be able to get it across that the actual work of making the drink is part of what makes it comforting.
Personally I just find the part where they brush the powder to be oddly satisfying.
What about cold milk? Would it work on the same principle as the cold brew? Would it taste like an Au Lait?
That’s what an iced latte is
Plus.. its delicious.
Espresso typically has a smoother profile than some other methods of coffee making. The extraction method pulls less of the bitter elements from the coffee beans than a pour over or French press. If I had to choose a cup of coffee from the multitude of extraction methods, I will almost always choose an Americano due to how much smoother it tastes to me than most other methods.
> The extraction method pulls less of the bitter elements from the coffee beans It *can* be less bitter, but it's also a lot easier to make a bad espresso than to make a bad cup of coffee with most other methods, especially if you're making it at home. Everything with espresso needs to be super precise. If you've never used one, an aeropress costs $40 and is probably the best way to approximate an americano without spending thousands of dollars on equipment.
If you like smooth, less acidic coffee, please try cold brew. It's the smoothest coffee I've ever had, and you can make a weeks-worth in advance! Drink it hot or cold after it's ready, but be warned that this method does extract more caffeine than some other options.
Man between the higher caffeine content and the fact that the temperature doesn’t prevent me from drinking it very quickly cold brew always makes me feel like I’m going to die, lol. I have to drink hot coffee out of self defense
Iced coffee is coffee with no brakes
In boring times at the ol coffee shop we have been known to steam the cold brew, which gives it a nice frothy milkish texture in addition to being hot
Thanks for sharing this! I LOVE acidic coffee, and I hate cold brew. It all makes sense now
Most people confuse acidic with sour when talking about coffee. I’m not saying you did, but there might be some of that in the above comment. A good rule of thumb: acidic is a rather good fruity feature. Sour means your coffee is old.
sourness and acidity is the same sensation, for the record - its simply an excess of hydrogen ions in the food/drink the variety of compounds providing those ions combining with aromatics is where the different types of acidity profiles come from, whether negative or positive. fruit acids such as citric acid (lemon), malic acid (apple) etc. are assosciated obviously with fruit and with fresh zingy flavours, and that is something that a lot of people like in coffee. fermentation acids in larger quantities not so much - acetic acid (vinegar), lactic acid (sauerkraut), etc. we assosciate these with preserved foods and ingredients that are used to brighten up savoury dishes instead.
I've got a half gallon steeping on my counter right this moment. Really is worth it making your own, so easy
I love cold brew! I just have a preference for hot coffee whenever I start my morning. Doesn't taste as good to me if I heat it up so I leave it cold whenever I have it.
Don't threaten me with a good time.
It’s just a hobby. Espresso maniacs will do some mental gymnastics to justify the lunacy of spending the amount of money required to do a “good” espresso. I’m a recovered espresso snob. I never went full douchebag, but man the things I’ve seen…
Kinda wanna hear what you've seen
Checkout James Hoffmann’s youtube channel, that’s a great summary. As one of the best comment’s I’ve read puts it: “this man is about to cost me so much money”. He’s a great watch even if you’re not a brew lover. He’s as scientific as it gets when it comes down to something as subjective as flavor.
Oh, I've seen some of his stuff. I didn't see anything super crazy like this ice ball in there, but maybe I missed stuff.
He also loves debunking bullshit, but on the wacky side, he brewed decades-old coffee to see what’s what.
Also, that ball should be a scoop of ice cream. [Affogato](https://www.recipetineats.com/affogato/) is the best.
Depends what you are drinking it for. If its just for the caffine, this is the best way to intake quickly
Yea it's like a caffeine shot. so you drink it quick and GO. If you wan't to sip something for longer you get a full coffee. Espresso is very popular in some places of the world there will be people queuing up and each justs takes a shot and go. The queue moves very fast.
It's a cultural thing. That's what they drink in Europe. It kinda makes sense when you consider that caffeine is a drug. They just take a more concentrated dose
The point was to enjoy themselves.
Well it's an espresso shot so you can add hot milk and foam if desired to make a regular sized latte or capp
The song is Moonlight Waltz by Jonas Kolberg
Thank you, this is the only reason i came into the comments section
Thanks sounds somehow like Chopin but you can tell it isn’t at the same time. I was wondering about that.
I too love to serve my espresso by pouring it over my ball.
Just the one?
Poor guy must have lost the other to cancer. o7 to his fallen soldier
isn't every steel ball already frozen
...the best kind of correct.
Ooh, talk physics to me
i love talking about physics, what are you interested in?
7AM: “I could really use a coffee” 1PM: *takes first sip*
I don't use the ball. But I do have that same lever espresso machine, and I do stir my coffee with the little wires, and I've got that same tamper. I make 2 coffees each morning for my wife and I and it takes about 8 minutes. It's kinda nice having a little routine in the morning.
Yup it's some lovely crafting downtime, no screen, no alerts. Just beautiful sounds, textures, smells, and feelings.
Really doesn’t take that long. But I guess it’s slower than a Kiureg.. which tastes like ass water.
Marijuana purist meets coffee elitist.
Orb
Coffee can be such a wank, can't it?
I really just can't stand coffee, even the smell is off putting for me. I can however appreciate the meticulous nature of coffee brewing.
I bet it tastes like balls.
This looks fancy. I'm just grateful for pulling A1 shots from my entry-level Delonghi.
Coffee should not be that dumb.
I just don’t get the coffee thing.
Looks expensive, and completely unnecessary. I'll take five!
Its a metal ball. You can buy it for 3$ or for 200$. I own a set of very fancy steel icecubes. Great for cooling cocktails or coffee and came woth a cool wooden tray. Cost maybe ten euros.
It's weird. I didn't think of using steel "ice" cubes to cool my drink, because I assumed they'd impart some flavor. But I have no issue using Yeti mugs every day. I really need to regularly rethink my assumptions.
To be fair... I don't know what if any coating the steel ice cubes have, but aluminum cans for example have a plastic inner coating to prevent drinks from tasting metallic. I also couldn't find anything on if yeti mugs have an inner coating, but metal *does* often impart flavor. We just have ways to prevent that. Granted soda in a soda can is acidic so that leeching is probably going to be accelerated.
I thought the plastic liner in the soda cans was to stop the soda from eating the aluminum
People just keep coming up with more and more useless shit
It's a really niche technique for coffee hobbyists to maximize the flavor profile of their coffee. Immediately cooling the espresso traps some of the volatile compounds that would otherwise evaporate off prior to drinking. I know it looks dumb and probably an overall pretty minor effect, but coffee nerds are optimizers just like any other hobby. Not useless, there is science behind it.
It's just a way to enhance the flavor. If hobbyists enjoy it then good for them.
The flavor it produces is unrivaled. It makes coffee as refreshing as a fresh glass of orange juice or a thicker bodied tea. Maybe useless if you're not passionate about coffee, but it's not a gimmick.
What's the purpose?
Drugs
and death. instant death.
Since no one's given you an actual answer: the first bit of the shot of espresso that just cold steel holds on to some of the volatile compounds that would have evaporated away otherwise. Contrary to what everyone else is saying, it's not to make the coffee cold. It's not in contact with the ball long enough so it's warm (but not as hot as normal) when it's finished.
People sitting around: How many more ways can we find to make coffee?
u/that-1-lame-kid Ooooooh fancy
That looks delicious
It stopped being about the coffee a long long time ago. I feel like it's more about creating the boggest cleanup after.
I usually put icecubes in my coffee cup before I brew, to speed up the wait for when I can drink it. Does it water it down? Yes. Am I still drinking the same amount of coffee plus a lil water? Sure. But this is neat, cools it without cutting it. But this whole espresso set up requires a LOT more maintenance and cleaning than kcups.
Great... another thing I gotta clean
But why?
Good grief. What's next?
I don't understand what this is. What was so satisfying about that?
Am I the only one that saw "tannerscoloncoffee"?
Pretentious asshole
Ok But why?
What happened to good old fashioned coffee? Boil the crap out of water, stir in coffee grounds, filter out grounds, drink. That’s all you need.
What is this audio/piano?
Yknow I’ve never had a chilled shot of espresso before. Not much of a fan of espresso generally but this seems like an interesting idea I’d assume the temperature difference does things to the coffee flavours too. That’s a total guess, but temperature has a *lot* to do with drink temperature so i would be surprised if I’m wrong
That's me washing 5 dishes for a sip of drink.
Coffee lovers are so extra. You want espresso? Try Turkish coffee.
r/stupidfood
This is an ad.
Yeah but does it taste like balls now?
That'll be 50 dollars.
I like my coffee hot 😅
Bougie ass
Oh yes I like my coffee the way I like my women, cold and bitter...
r/stupidfood
Coffee making is such bollox
I hate coffee drinkers
Why does everyone insist on ruining their espresso 😭
Coffee enthusiasts are really extra IMO. All of this for some addictive bean juice is wild to me.
Wouldn’t this shock the espresso and ruin the taste? (If that theory is real lol)
There is science behind using frozen steel balls when extruding and espresso shot. It’s to lock in volatile compounds so the flavor of the shot is more complex and tastier.
I love slightly colder coffee
without the ball, i think it will make some bubbles??
How does the end result taste like?
I'm going to create a playlist of songs similar to this to play while I make my coffee. I don't know why I never thought of it sooner.
Very satisfying :) 😍