BALLER. The Expobar is beautiful but you understand the importance of the Vario - mad respect here - want to know more. Water source and temp, grind size on the Vario, pressure, etc.
Discussion
Oh hell yes, this one coffees ☝️
I love the Expobar. It's an old heat-exchanger machine and those have largely fallen by the wayside these days. Temperature surfing is kinda fun if not a bit wasteful. The thermometer attachment on the grouphead helps me nail the right temperature every time, though. Really helps.
The vario has been a workhorse since day one. I recently busted it open and did the alicorn hyperalignment & replaced the internals with the metal guts of the more robust forte grinder. Lance Hendrick says it's the best coffee grinder under $1500 if done right. I almost certainly didn't do it right, but it does put out really nice, fluffy grinds... even for lighter roasts.
My water is good old New York City tap water. I'm lucky to live in a place whose municipal water has really low total dissolved solids and doesn't taste like trash. Sometimes if I'm feeling fancy I'll put it through a brita filter but I honestly don't find it necessary.
The Expobar is calibrated to deliver 10 bar at the group. I usually target 201F water temps and go for a standard 1:2 ratio (18 grams in, 36 grams out) in 30 seconds. For lighter roasts I'll go a bit longer, for darker roasts, shorter.
I love this thing and honestly have not been tempted to upgrade!
Sounds like you're a gear-head too. What setup are you running?
I do coffee - variety of methods but when I shell out for the big boys I use a Chemex (16:1) - my Rancilio Rocky grinder is calibrated over 5 years to make the most out of Geshas and other super premium coffees.
On the edges - I use a Stagg at 205, and use water from my Berkey.
Totally with you. My typical day involves 3 coffees -- first a brew on my Hario Switch (also have a Stagg, 203 for me) while my espresso machine heats up. I go a bit stronger at 15:1. For immersion/drip brews I tend to like light roasted, natural or honey processed Ethiopians. I haven't experienced a Gesha yet so I need to get on that--good reminder!
After that I usually do a cortado on my espresso machine, followed by a long black later in the day. Honestly, my espresso setup is capable of extracting light roast coffees, but I don't prefer them for that brew method. I go for a medium-dark roast espresso and look for blends with a bit of robusta. Not only are they way more forgiving to brew (read: consistent), I also find that the chocolate/nut notes work way better in espresso drinks than the jammy fruit notes from lighter roasts, which a drip extraction can do a better job accentuating imo.
On the topic of water, I'm pretty curious what Third Wave Water would taste like. If I had a reverse-osmosis filter or the will to go out and buy distilled water I'd try it. I hear good things on the coffee forums, but then again half of the stuff in high falutin coffee culture is snake oil, so I'm skeptical: https://thirdwavewater.com/