I went by the Starbucks branch at Shaw Tower on Beach Road a few days ago. They carry this neat rubberized milk frothing thermometers, that fits nicely into a plastic tube. Starbucks also has a rubberized brushed metal scoop that measures out 2 scoops of coffee. Each of these retails under S$15.00.
Two scoops or three?
Hmm … I saw the Starbucks scoops too Colin. S$ 10.50. Reasonably priced, nicely finished and quite heavy. Just wondering whether I’m going a bit too far to measure two 10gm scoops into the grinder rather three 7gm scoops.
I worry that I’m taking this stuff too far … ;-)
Steve wrote:
“I worry that I’m taking this stuff too far.”
Too far? We have already hit the point of no return with our respective machines. A $10 scoop ain’t gonna make a difference. The Starbucks scoop will perhaps give you a 1 gram lighter dose, and give your puck the needed headspace to ensure proper water dispersal.
Based on my paragraph above, I think we’ve all gone too far. The fact that you’re posting in my coffee blog, that’s another step towards the dark side.
Bottomline is although we’ve gone too far, we’re all headed in the same general direction.
Yeah … towards coffee nirvana! :-)
Anyone interested in the above mentioned scoop? I’m selling. It just doesn’t work out with the espresso preparation routine that I’ve been religiously following for more than a year.
You see, I weigh my beans before grinding and have gotten used to my current 7gm scoop. Three scoopfuls of beans and I’m almost at the desired weight of 20gm – give or take a couple of beans. Weighing out each time means that I have no wastage and a perfect puck. Unfortunately, the bigger, less accurate scoop requires me to fiddle around too much to get the desired weight – a few grams over, then a few under, then a few beans over, a few under, almost there …. you get the idea. That just knocks my routine out of whack.
Ah well, nothing ventured, nothing gained I reckon.