Tech Upgrades.

We have a couple new toys around here at the roasters.

I was really luck and won a Chemex 8 cup from my employer. Also, I finally broken down and purchased an Aeropress.

The Chemex has been around for years, and is one of the prettiest coffee makers on the market. It is a pour over drip coffee maker, designed for a nice, slow kind of coffee. Similar to a French Press, you need to heat your water before hand. However, it is a drop maker rather than pressed. Supposedly, the filters absorb more of the oils, and you get a different kind of cup. As soon as I get up tomorrow, I will be bench marking this thing with my special blend from last Friday.

It is pretty nice that both of these items fell into my hands today. This afternoon, for my coffee, I finally felt like I mastered the French Press. I have begun using a thermometer to gauge the temperature before it comes to a boil. Properly heated, then allowed to sit for 3:45, rather than a full four minutes, hit the mark. I had two, truly sublime pots of coffee by the time it was done.

We are going to be going to Gen Con here in Indy next weekend, and we searched a bit for a lanyard for my badge. I could not find anything I liked, so it was off to Think Geek to look for something appropriate. The lanyard was pretty cheap, but shipping was pricey, so I needed to justify it. That lead me to their Darth Vader's Dark Side Roast Coffee and the Aeropress.

We will be testing both out as well soon.