BRPHXCoffee

We sell these in our stores in Phoenix/Scottsdale and highly recommend them for areas where your TDS measures over 125 PPM (most places, but BR water is mostly amazing). Phoenix water is around 490 PPM, near the EPA limit and nearly undrinkable.
Brewed coffee is about 98% water, and the mineral content is super important to get a perfect cup every time. These are made to mix with a gallon of distilled water, and are pretty great value for what they are. Highly recommended!

Nice! Onyx is legit, and they bring in new coffees constantly. I bought a bag of Costa Rica Tres Milargos a few months back from them that tasted like bubble gum (I realize that probably sounds weird, but it was incredibly good). They also bring in experimental varietals (the Sidra currently in their shop is one these), and they get pretty wild.
Of their current offerings, I highly recommend:
Eth. Yabitu Koba, anything Guji will knock your socks off LINK
Tropical Weather, which is a blend of two Ethiopians, one natural and one washed processed. Not my favorite, but definitely fun. I brought this in while doing r&d on a new blend at my company, and it was decent.
LINK

Keep an eye on their store around the holidays, they usually do an advent calendar and it has 24 single origin coffees. I'll definitely be buying it again this year.

Here's a thorough video explaining what the 9Barista is and how it works: LINK

And might as well throw up this monster as well: LINK

This is a common question that comes up in my Saturday morning coffee classes every week. And for good reason—proper espresso is amazing!
But, and this is a big ol' BUT, the cost, skill level, and equipment maintenance are enough to turn any sensible person away.
The super automatic machines will give you a decent espresso-style brew—but it's not a real shot of spro. The same is true for just about all home espresso setups. The reason is that espresso brews at 9 bars of pressure. That is insanely high! Any equipment that can pull this off is going to be $$$. And that's just part of the problem. A decent spro grinder will set you back $500-$1000. You then have to learn how to use them, and expect to spend time dialing it in every morning (pull a shot, taste, adjust grind/yield, repeat 3-5 times before it stops tasting salty/astringent, etc).
There are better options that won't make you hate yourself. The AeroPress makes a great spro-like shot. I covered a lot of this on a previous thread here: LINK

Best of luck, and happy brewing!

Happy new year! Hope everyone had a great holiday. Did you drink any great coffee or get any cool gear?

I got myself one of these for Xmas: LINK

Wanted to give a quick review, as Moccamasters have come up a few times in this thread.

The good: In short—probably best home drip setup I've tried. It has few moving parts and is designed and built to last forever. Most drip setups pull a ton of acidity out of the coffee. This mimics a pour over more than anything. The basket has an open/half open/closed switch, so you can bloom the coffee pretty easily and then open it up and walk away. The shower head is pretty decent, but I've yet to achieve a flat bed of grounds at the end of the brew. Considering buying one of these, but I think it would be overkill: LINK
Definitely glad I went with the thermal carafe, it stays at the perfect temp for 5+ hours and doesn't get too stewy or stale. It also has a "brew thru" lid that distributes the brewed coffee evenly in the carafe so every cup is consistent and the same strength. It uses common paper filters that are available everywhere. I'm still dialing in ratios and grind size, but of the 15 times I've used it I'd say 14 were amazingly good. I've been grinding on #18 on the Baratza Encore and using 43 grams of coffee for a 6 cup brew cycle.

The bad: It's pricey. For $300+ I expect a lot. It lives up to the hype, but is not without flaws. The spray head should do a better job of evenly distributing water and saturating every grind. I can get great results by moving it back and forth (it pivots freely over the grounds), moving the basket back and forth at the start of the brew, or stirring the grounds during bloom—but I shouldn't have to do this. Lastly, it leaves a small amount of water in the boiler at the end of the brew cycle. If you use it daily or run a pre-brew cycle to heat up everything and wash the filter this isn't really an issue. But again, this shouldn't be a problem with equipment in this price range.

Overall, I'd say it's a great addition to the brew team and something I'll use often for years to come. If you're looking to upgrade your setup, this is a great option. Parts are widely available and is easily repaired if needed. Very much a "buy it for life" brewer.

For fun, here are a few more coffee items I'm wanting to check out:

LINK This guy will brew cold brew in four minutes. It's $100, and seems to basically be an automated Aeropress. To make quick cold brew in an Aeropress: 20 grams finely ground coffee, 50 grams room temp water. Stir for 60 seconds, press, dilute to your preference and add ice.

LINK This will produce a super clean cup of coffee and look great while doing it. But they can be dangerous if not used right.

LINK Gives you a perfectly even distribution of water for pour overs. Played with it at work and it does the job, but $45 is steep for what it is.

LINK Nitro cold brew in a compact setup. You would basically brew a batch, add it in and nitrogenate with cartridges. Stout faucets aren't cheap, and the price doesn't seem awful. Well done nitro cold brew is amazing. Ours tastes like peanut butter cups, and you get the creamy mouthfeel without adding any dairy.

Anything you guys are wanting to see reviewed?

I actually have this Cuisinart grinder LINK I bought it after getting tired of manually grinding with this LINK but not ready to spend the $139 on the Encore.

Short answer: buy the Baratza Encore—here's why.

I went and pulled my Cuisinart out and did a side by side comparison. Both were set on a medium/fine grind.

The top is the Encore, the bottom is the Cuisinart. Notice the amount of dust on the lower, any of that will clog a filter super fast and mess up your brew (or worse, end up in the cup). LINK

Here are the grinds side by side. Zoom in and see that the top is consistent, and the bottom is not. Those balls are super fine dust, not something you want to see. LINK

Here are close ups of both. Top is the Baratza, bottom is the Cuisinart LINK

The Cuisinart is technically a burr grinder, but produces poor results and is twice as loud as the Encore. The Encore sounds like a muted hairdryer, the Cuisinart sounds like a weed wacker revved up. This was a major issue for me when I used it regularly. I would routinely have to carry it outside and grind if my girl was still asleep.

The main thing we need is grind size consistency (every particle should be the same size). If not, it's difficult to brew the same cup twice and you lose the ability to control extraction. This is even more an issue with pour overs. I know it's not a cheap purchase, but is well worth it. They last a long time and are well built. Hope this helps!

Great question!
Short answer: absolutely yes.
Long answer: Espresso is an "expression" of coffee. When not properly dialed in, it can taste sour, astringent, salty, and downright terrible. Dialing in consists of adjusting your variables (pre/post infusion and grind size). You want to keep dosage (I like 18-19.5 grams) brew time, and yield (30 grams) consistent, and basically adjust the grind in small increments to achieve a "dialed in" shot.
A good shot of espresso should set off a tuning fork on your tongue, and have flavor profiles that continue to develop for 30 seconds after tasting. It should never taste burnt or harsh. I think about espresso a lot like whiskey. You can get a $10 bottle that tastes like straight alcohol and corn, while a high end options can have crazy flavor profiles that make you think while you drink them. In this case, quality of coffee and roast profile is everything.

If I take a fruit bomb naturally processed Ethiopian, (something like this LINK I should taste similar notes no matter how I brew it (as long as it isn't under or over extracted). Some methods will bring out different characteristics, Chemex and Kalita are both pour overs but produce pretty different brews. I also like to brew espresso over a cup of ice, the temp change can intensify some fruit notes and when it starts to melt it's very refreshing.

Right now I'm drinking an Aeropress of #9 from the Onyx box, tasting like straight strawberry. You can brew a very espresso-like coffee with an Aeropress, here's my recipe: inverted, plunger halfway between the 2 and the 3, 20g coffee ground on baratza #6, 185* F water to the rim, stir for 10 seconds, cap and press for 20-30 seconds. I brew over ice, and then top off with more ice. It comes out like a short iced americano, and makes fruit forward coffees shine.

Hope you're enjoying the Onyx advent calendar as much as I am! And I'm so glad you found some of the info in this thread useful. I broke into bags #18 and #13 so far, made an aeropress and chemex of both. #18 is one of my new favorite coffees, and I think they nailed the "bubble gum" tasting note.

I've played with the Ratio 8 a few times. Solid construction, gorgeous on the counter, made in the USA—checks all the right boxes. Other than the price I think it's a great solution as an automated pour-over. It's pretty wild how hard it is to automate the process cheaply, I've been brainstorming for over a year and am still at the drawing board. The only other available option is the Chemex Ottomatic, which is cheaper but gets bad reviews on reliability, and I don't think it pulses or blooms the coffee. Here's a great comparison vid of both by Gail from Seattle Coffee Gear: LINK

I'd totally buy one if I had the budget for it!

Wanted to send an update on the Onyx coffee advent calendar. Arrived today, can't wait to start breaking into these. Here's the box LINK
Here's the list of coffees: LINK
I think I'm most excited to try #18, but all should be crazy good.
Will report back when I start brewing.
They also threw in a Xmas day surprise gift. Went ahead and opened—lump of coal
:lol:

I can't wait for the advent calendar box to show up. Looks like they're shipping in three weeks—can't wait! It's super rare to find sample packs this large from a specialty roaster. Production will be a nightmare on their end no doubt. But the opportunity to find a 24 pack of legit coffee (especially from a roaster on the level of Onyx) is near impossible. It's a great opportunity to try a ton of solid coffees from around the world. I guarantee we'll see some lactic processed, honey processed, and maybe even a few geishas. Looking forward to December even more now!

Anyone drink some good stuff this morning?
I had an iced spro (Costa Rica Finca la Manzana), tasted like red delicious apple and honey, so good.
Moved on to a large cup of Ethiopian Bedhatu Jibichu (washed) drip to push through the rest of the day. Tasting like chocolate covered strawberry and jasmine as it cools. Doesn't get much better.