Since I turned the machine over to inspect it, it has stopped leaking. Self healing?
Dunno, but I wouldn’t turn it over again. Best kind of problem.
-Al
The leak hasn’t reappeared despite daily use. Someone had broken our brew basket lid earlier this year. $14.30 repair part from Amazon and it looks like new.
A year of daily use and still no leak. Coming up on 14 years of daily use next month.
Wish I tried that when my 10 year old machine started to leak. Replaced it without much concern
A glass carafe is the best solution for me - I always drink what I make immediately, and you can throw it in the dishwasher. (I like the glass carafe on my Bonavita way more than the thermal carafe from the Moccamaster I used for several years, which was difficult to clean sufficiently.)
I keep beans in the Vario. I probably change the beans every 3 weeks. The ratio is always perfect at 20 sec. and 10 cups. I use a pretty coarse grind.
1 Like
This isn’t strictly a Moccamaster question but I am using one. My question is about how to measure the coffee - by weight or by volume. Some guides use tablespoons per cup; others grams per cup. But do all coffees have the same density? And I need to check, if going by volume its volume of ground coffee not beans, yes? Again, wouldn’t the density of the ground coffee be affected by the fineness of the grind?
The,m just for fum, my Breville Smart grinder goes by time. (You set a number of “cups” which is mapped to a grind duration). I have calibrated my set up (Breville + Moccamaster ) for the coffee we use (a Dark roast from a local italian grocer) - so for an 8 cup pot I set the Breville to 10 cups.
But in general, for say a different machine or coffee, is it better to use weight or volume?
The correct way is by weight. Beans vary in size and also hardness, so volume or timing aren’t as accurate.
-Al
2 Likes
haha. I eyeball an amount and call it good. And it usually is.
same here
I always use the same beans, so I measure by tablespoons. The roasts are pretty consistent.
Weight. For both beans and water.
1 Like
Density of water is, practically speaking, invariant under normal conditions, so weight or volume is a matter of convenience. Moccamaster reservoir has volume markings clearly visible, albeit in ‘cups’ so I use that. Weighing probably gives a little un needed additional accuracy. The beans are another matter, and using weight makes sense, at least as the reference point.
It’s mostly the geeks that weigh things. If you’re making a pot of drip coffee, it’s not super important. But, that’s really not a coffee geek thing to do.
-Al
Is there a coffee berserker site?
When I make 75g of coffee I know that’s right at the top mark on the moccamaster. But, I make all kinds of random weights based on which cup I’m taking with me to the office that day and how many cups my wife might drink that morning. So, I just take the extra minute or so and do it the geeky way.
Sure, there are sites. I’m only making drip coffee lately, but I do weigh my tea leaves and water. The coffee grinder does the job within a gram or two.
Used to weigh out the espresso, use a modified yogurt cup and straightened paper clip to properly distribute the grinds (ala Schomer) before tamping. I had/have a two boiler Brewtus II but it’s been dormant for 9 years.
This is one thing I wished I had purchased up front with my Vario. They have one with a built in scale for weight of your coffee. It would have helped.
Agreed. I really like this Escali kitchen scale for this, https://www.amazon.com/Escali-P115C-Precision-Lightweight-Lifetime/dp/B0007GAWRS. It’s lasted for 20+ years, accurate to a gram. Don’t need a built-in scale, just put the grounds container on the scale and tare then weigh the beans.