There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
Did you know it was created by the guy who designed the Aerobie frisbee? Did you know he actually advises against the inverted brewing method? Did you know there is a filter in development for the AeroPress that lets you shoot coffee like a water gun? Did you know the Silver winner for the 2017 Australian AeroPress championships measures out an exact parts-per-million of magnesium for their water? Did you know the AeroPress is the knees of the bees?!
Coffee roasters test roasts with their local water, so unless you have imported water, it is fairly difficult to reproduce the *exact* flavor they are able to achieve. But there are companies that sell minerals that are intended to into water for coffee brewing. Third-wave waters or something along those lines.
Love my AeroPress!
In the same way that grind consistency was finally 'sorted', I don't think mineral-measured water will be widespread until temperature is widely accessible.
I read a story once about a guy who became a 'water sommelier'! He would taste waters of varying mineral composition like wine and was hoping to produce a 'signature water'!!
Glad to meet another AP fan :D
I'm actually really eager to use it to make that 'swirly coffee in milk in a tall glass' effect haha. I make a (admittedly not great) 'cold brew' by putting beans + cold water into a high-powered Vitamix on max power, then plunging it through the AeroPress. I'm hoping the valve jet is going to create a neat look when the cold brew coffee is shot into a glass of milk.
You must grind fairly fine if you weren't getting drips. Also sounds like you're a fan of the super-bold if you're doing minutes-long steeps!
Agreed, competition only :P
If coffee is anything like beer, though, the filtered/distilled water wouldn't be that good because you want some minerals in it. BUT if your tap water is not good to drink or has off flavors you don't want that either.
It sounds like home-brew craft beer might be a good cooking community!
May be another thread but about Starbucks but I visited their Reserve Roastery in Seattle earlier this year and is that ever a cool place! If you ever buy Starbucks Reserve beans, I can tell you that it all comes from a single machine/roaster that is from that location only. The roast profile is determined per the green bean lot, and the roast itself is computer controlled with a human at the helm. I heard they were building another reserve roastery in NYC but am pretty sure they would do the same there. No idea how they do the mass produced stuff!
Granted, we didn't have a whole book on water chemistry and extraction then, we didn't have single-serve water treatment kits like TWW and Global Customized Water, and we didn't have anybody like Matt Perger telling his throngs of fans how to make a concentrate formula for coffee brewing water on the cheap. There's a lot more today that makes the whole thing far more approachable and appealing to the average person.