I’ve owned the H40V2 for a year and have loved it. I wanted a hand grinder for pour over/v60 and it’s been perfect (highly recommend using it with the turin pour over scale). I’d planned on picking up a second one so I could leave one in the office and have the other at home and to take on trips.
Enter the H63.
Ever since I saw the introduction of the H63, I really wanted to buy one and test it out. When Espresso Outlet put it on sale at amazon, I jumped to grab it. In the picture below the H63 is on the left and the H40V2 is on the right. Yes. I do have that correct. Even though the burrs are over 2cm wider, the overall grinder is smaller. The decreased height makes it just a bit nicer in the balance for me. The catch basin is roughly the same size, but whereas in the H40 it flairs out under the burr, in the 63, the burr seems to be at the flair. That would make sense to me anyway. Both the H40 and the H60 have the option of a blind shaker distribution right from their base (not shown). The H40 worked fine, with the ability to unscrew the base to reveal the bottom of the shaker. The H60 has a completely separate attachment for the blind shaker that you swap out one base for the other. I think I prefer the H60, but won’t know until I use it a bit more.
For me, the main improvements in the design come down to two things: the adjustment and the grind.
The H40 has 9 steps steps marked with many unmarked detents in between. This has worked great and I didn’t think twice about it when I got it. The h63, however, has 70 clearly marked detents. I absolutely prefer knowing without counting in my head exactly what my setting is.
Finally, while I believe the H40 is very capable of grinding any size you want/need, the H63 is faster. I ground the same volume of the same bean in both grinders. The H63 required fewer turns in my testing and taking only about 18% less time.
I’m very happy with my new grinder and know it will be used plenty in the days and months to come.
In our last post, I discussed my idea for a crowdsourced list of coffee shops around the world, to help the tourist/traveler find the best cup of coffee in whatever town they might be in. Quite a few people decided to participate and our list started to grow.
I wanted to do something a little nicer than a google sheet. So I started working towards something a little more sophisticated. No claims other than I put a lot of effort into it.
I hope everyone enjoys the new site, and I hope the new version of the list continues to grow.
I am in multiple groups that discuss coffee on social media. I follow multiple coffee YouTube channels. I buy coffee tee-shirts. I spend hours a week in coffee shops.
I am a coffee nerd.
One of the things I run into quite often on social media is people asking the group, “I’m visiting (insert random city here). What coffee shops should I visit?”
I’ve seen it so often (and perhaps asked it once or twice myself), so I decided to try to curate a list. It’s a pretty simple project. If you have a shop you’d like to add to the list, fill out this form!
If you’re interested to see what shops are being recommended by our community, well, here it is!
Soon after I started my journey into espresso, I realized, I didn’t have enough room. I think this would be true regardless of how much space I had available, I’d likely fill it with espresso/coffee related paraphernalia. I also realized, portafilters are heavy and I probably should avoid dropping them. Neither the portafilter nor my tile was going to be very forgiving if I kept seeing if the portafilter felt like bouncing today.
My real problem was my portafilters didn’t have a place to just “stay out of the way”. Moving them around during prep or during the time that I was puttering in the kitchen just wasn’t convenient. I don’t like leaving the portafilter in the grouphead when I’m not using it (or at least pre-heating it), but I’m embarrassed how long it took me to discover the portafilter. A solution I find to be elegant in its simplicity.
I watch a LOT of YouTube videos dealing with espresso creation and follow Espresso Outlet’s channel along with many others. I was in the market for a new grinder and had heard a lot about the DF54. Barrett Ellis dropped a video going over it in detail. I loved the machine on first sight and purchased one. But more importantly for this review, I noticed (though I now know they’d been there in previous videos and I was simply not paying attention) that there were several portafilters hanging on the wall. Simply and gloriously, just hanging there, out of the way but ready to be used.
That’s the first time I saw the Portakeeper and it wasn’t long until l ended up with a couple of my own. The Portakeeper comes in several sizes. Espresso Outlet sells models to accommodate both 54mm and 58mm portafilters.
The Portakeeper itself is a pretty straightforward design. It’s a molded plastic circle with wings at the bottom that hold your portafilter by the lugs. I was worried about how it was going to attach because I don’t like drilling into my walls, so I sent the guys at Espresso Outlet a query and was told that the Portakeeper products affixed to the chosen surface using 3m double sided adhesive strips. Sold.
By the time I purchased these, I had also purchased a counter for my espresso setup. Rather than mount them to the wall, I mounted two Portakeepers to the side of my counter. After I use my machine daily, I wash my portafilter and give it a brief wipe with a drying cloth. However, one of the things I didn’t anticipate but immediately became one of my favorite features is that when the portafilter is put in the Portakeeper, its sits completely perpendicular to the cabinet. Then handle of your portafilter will not touch your wall at all. If you haven’t dried your basket as well as you might have, the moisture will not touch your wall but empty straight down! Though my baskets are relatively dry by the time I hang my portafilter, this still made me very happy as I didn’t want to introduce any moisture to my wall at all.
I’ve loved my Portakeeper holders. I’ve seen pictured holders for V60 papers, though I do not see them currently listed on the Espresso Outlet site. I have a feeling one of these will be joining my collection soon.
If you’re not bothered by loose portafilters lying around the house, I applaud you. However, if you are, I simply can’t imagine a better solution than the Portakeeper portafilter holder!
An enthusiastic 2 out of 2 Ravens!
How about another giveaway?! Folks, I had so much fun with the last giveaway, I’d like to do it again. I will give two lucky commenters here on the blog a Portakeeper! You do need to live in the U.S. to participate. I apologize for this, but with the current state of the world, I learned the hard way with our last giveaway that international shipping is too expensive at the moment. How do you get in on the drawing? Just leave a comment! I will randomly draw two winners on Friday, May 9, purchase and send directly to you a Portakeeper! Thanks for reading!
In the middle of March, IKAPE contacted me and asked if I would be interested in trying out one of their products. After initially being a bit skeptical that IKAPE would be reaching out to me directly, I confirmed that the offer was legit and told them I’d be happy to try out anything they wanted to send me. Regardless of the way anything I review is obtained, I of course will give my honest impressions of the product.
Tampers. Man. For me, they are one of the first pieces of kit that can make or break the espresso making experience.
My first machine was a Breville Barista Express. While it is a great machine for many, I immediately wished I had gone the route of a separate grinder from the machine itself and I soon rectified that. However, the first time I touched the machine, I knew I was going to replace the tamper. I hated it. While the idea of attaching to the machine via a magnet was attractive, the cheap, light, plastic tamp just ruined the whole thing for me.
With that in mind, I’ve gone through several different tamps. My budget doesn’t allow for expensive ones like the Force or others in that price tier.
One of my first tamps was the IKAPE V3 58.35 calibrated tamper with the Walnut handle. I liked the look and feel of this tamper, and was very pleased with it. If I remember correctly, this tamp also provided a “click” when the 30lbs of pressure was reached and the spring was released. While my initial reaction to this tamper was positive, over time, my satisfaction became less as I was consistently finding that it didn’t fit my 58mm baskets tightly enough and a ring of espresso powder was left creeping up the sides of my basket.
I have tried several other baskets, and my current daily is a the Normcore V4 with a wooden handle. To be honest, it’s the only product from Normcore that I have liked and didn’t feel was overpriced, so when the new tamp arrived from IKAPE, I admit, I was a bit biased.
Upon opening the outer standard brown cardboard shipping box, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the IKAPE packaging of the V5 Impact Espresso Tamper. It comes in a nice black box that is pleasingly branded and feels a bit more posh than some items I’ve received from other brands. Upon opening the box, and removing the tamp, I was immediately saddened that the tamper disk was ridged.
Every tamper I’ve had thats had a ridged base has been an annoying experience. Coffee powder fills the ridges and due to static remains in the crevices even after the tamp is complete. No amount of RDT or tapping the tool after tamping has ever worked for me, and I’ve always had to resort to using a small brush to clean the face of the tamper. I loathe extra steps like this. After using this tamp daily for several weeks during which I’ve experienced ever atmospheric anomaly my area is likely to get, I am happy to say my experience with the Impact tamper completely upended my expectations. In the picture above, you can see minute amounts of coffee on the base. This is all that remains after multiple uses! I don’t know what IKAPE has done to keep the coffee from sticking, but whatever it is, it’s fantastic! For the first time I would consider buying a ridged tamper! I also like that the tamp is not coated with any process and appears to be a plain stainless steel, ridged disk.
The construction of this tamper is solid. While I generally prefer wooden handles on my espresso accessories, the minimalist design and metal touchpoints on this tamper appeal to me. The tamper does come with three springs that can easily be swapped out to set your desired tamp weight. I left the 30lb spring in as that correlated with my regular routine. The reason (I assume) this tamp is labeled the Impact, is that it has an auditory and sensory “click” when the puck has been tamped to the preset weight. It works quite well and the user would never be in doubt that the puck has been fully compressed to the desired weight.
Not everything is perfect with this tamp however. Although the stated size is 58.5mm, this tamp leaves a bit more coffee on the side of the basket than my regular 58.5mm tamp. To be honest, it’s not enough that I would find this to be an issue on a daily basis, but I did find it interesting. While I was impressed with the design, I do love the warmness of wood and wish there was an option for wooden accents (to my knowledge, there is not, though I could be wrong).
Even with these caveats, I do believe the IKAPE V5 Impact Espresso Tamper is a valid option for anyone that is looking to upgrade their espresso game without breaking the bank.
Rating: 1.75 out of 2 Ravens
Before you leave…. How would you like to own the IKAPE V5 Impact Espresso Tamper??
I am going to give one lucky reader the tamp reviewed above. I will send the tamp, free of charge, to anyone in the United States. If you live outside of the U.S., feel free to enter, but you will have to pay for the shipping to get the tamper to you. So, how do you register for the giveaway? Simply leave a comment! I will be choosing a name at random on Easter Sunday and will notify the winner via email in the week following.
Manufacturer: Turin Product: H40V2 Hand Grinder Price: Currently 99USD Vendor: Espresso Outlet
This is my first go with a hand grinder. Like many other things in life, I approached my coffee hobby backwards to many. Rather than enjoy drip and then specialty, I started with espresso and am now working my way backwards.
I was looking for a good hand grinder for a couple of months as I started preparing for pour-overs. I own a DF54 electric grinder, and I know many people use them for pour-overs, but I simply did not want to have to make large adjustments daily to go from an espresso drink in the morning to a pour-over in the afternoon/evening. I looked at a lot of different hand grinders.
I knew I wanted a stainless steel burr. I personally prefer not to have things coated in teflon etc, so that eliminated a few. I wanted external adjustments (something I initially took for granted) and for whatever reason, I wanted one that catch cup was easy to remove, but wouldn’t fall off.
Enter the H40V2. To be honest, I know nothing about the first version of this grinder. If you own it, and would like to comment on any changes between it and the V2, I’d love to see that. For me, this hit the sweet spot of everything I wanted in a hand grinder.
The H40 not only has a 40mm stainless steel conical burr with no chemical coating. The body is machined aluminum (or, if you prefer, aluminium), the sleeve on the upper barrel is textured and truly does provide a nice grip. It is simple to disassemble the grinder to clean and to zero the burrs. The crank does not fold down, but that was a non-issue for me. The catch cup is held on by magnets! I LOVE this feature. It truly is a pleasure to simply pop off the bottom when I am finished grinding. One of my favorite features (and one I wasn’t looking for), is the built in blind shaker. Once you’ve finished grinding, give the whole thing a couple of shakes (I personally slide my hand down to hold the upper and lower portions of the grinder for this part, just to be safe) and pull the lower section off. Unthread the bottom cap, and dose directly into your pour-over filter or portafilter. If you’re not a fan of blind shaker (heathen), then simply leave it out of the lower portion to begin with. With the threaded base, it truly is simply an option.
Conclusion: As coffee and espresso gear is fun to collect (some might say an addiction), I can’t claim I’ll never own another hand grinder. However, I can state without reservation that as well built and fun as the Turin H40V2 is to use, I don’t believe I’d ever need another one, and that’s a huge asset. I can’t think of anything I’d change in the design or function of this grinder and give it an enthusiastic Two Raven rating. Huginn and Muninn agree, great grinder at any price, a steal as listed.
Manufacturer: Turin Product: Electric Pour Over Kettle Current Price: 99USD Vendor: Espresso Outlet
Back in December, I was looking for an electric kettle. I had owned a cheap kettle I bought at Target for less than $40 dollars four or five years ago for making tea, but the heating element on it had died in less than a year. While I still enjoy a good cuppa tea, my primary reason for needing a new kettle was venturing into the world of pour over coffee.
My parents try to visit over the holidays in December, and my father enjoys a cup of coffee. I didn’t say a good cup of coffee. Really, I think he’d drink about anything. My grandmother would put on a large pot of coffee in the morning and drink it throughout the day, as it became more and more burnt.
As I don’t own a drip machine, I’d decided to broaden my experiences to incorporate pour overs before my folks arrived. I settled on the Hario V60 for several unimportant reasons. But I needed a kettle I could control my pour with. I watched James Hoffmann’s comparisons, and I spent hours looking at the Fellow Stagg EKG and others, but I just couldn’t justify the cost when I didn’t even know if I was going to use the thing more than one month a year.
Enter the Turin Electric Pour Over Kettle. Turin’s Kettle debuted in late 2024 (well, at least as far as I know it did. If it was available before, I just somehow missed it). Having a respect for the brand, I assumed it would be well made and knew before long I’d end up having it as part of my collection.
When it arrived, I was indeed impressed with the quality of the construction. The kettle itself is stainless steel and wood. I love the feel of the handle in my hand. The finish is very even and more matte than gloss. The base is plastic. The adjustment wheel protrudes from the right edge and is easily assessable. The LEDs are a nice bright, without being too bright, blue and easy to read. Even in the morning without my glasses. This kettle heats up fast. I have not timed it, but I use cold filtered water from the refrigerator, and the kettle usually is ready before I am.
It’s not a large kettle, standing just over 26cm tall. I believe the capacity is around 600ml, which I’ve found to be just enough for a V60 without a lot of left over water. It also fills my small teapot very nicely for a several cups of tea.
The controls are intuitive and easy to use. I believe most users would be able to have their first kettle of water ready within 10 minutes of opening the box.
There are two things I would change if asked. The “I/O” button is hard to find before the power is turned on. This isn’t a big deal because you can also wake up the kettle by turning the adjustment wheel. The second issue is that while the kettle can be set to maintain a given temperature, when you remove the kettle from the base, the base goes back into sleep mode and no longer recalls the temperature to keep the kettle at. Since I regularly use the kettle in one sitting, the also hasn’t been a deal breaker for me.
Since obtaining this kettle, I’ve become a huge fan of V60s myself. I am a bit backwards in that my coffee journey started with espresso based drinks. The V60 is allowing me to taste all of the fruit flavors I never understood in the descriptions of coffee. To get the best flavor out of your beans, of course you need a good grinder. I paired this kettle with the Turin H40v2 hand grinder. More on that in a separate review.
Conclusion: This is a truly fantastic kettle. The price is extremely reasonable at 149, but is quite often on sale at 99USD, which in my opinion is a steal. The build quality and feature set are remarkable and I am extremely glad I was able to add this to my kit. If you’re looking for a pour over kettle, I highly recommend you add this one to the list.
Rating: 1 and 7/8 Ravens (don’t feel badly for Huginn.. he was off his feed)
If you know me either online or in real life, you know my biggest vice is coffee. I love coffee and espresso. The only reason I’m on Facebook these days is because of my involvement in several of the groups focused on espresso. So recently, I decided to start writing again. They say, “write what you know”, well, I might not be the most knowledgeable, but I will write what I love. I hope this will be the first of many reviews focused on espresso, espresso gear and coffee in general.
In December, as I was enjoying a latte in front of the fireplace, I realized that while I enjoyed the whole espresso preparation ritual, I was letting myself down by drinking it out of an extremely plebeian mug. There was nothing about it that added to my contentment, so I began looking at my options.
Where do you go when you don’t know what you want? The internet of course. And…. it completely failed me. Don’t get me wrong, there were a million options. Most were mass market, bowl type latte/cappuccino cups, but nothing spoke to me. So I asked in the Espresso Aficionado group on fb. Many, MANY recommendations for mass market mugs were thrown up, and then one of the group members, Sarah Kaye, shared a link with me that had some of the most unique, gorgeous porcelain-ware I’ve ever seen. Hand made. Left porous on the surfaces meant to be handled. Just beautiful. I admit, I felt like an idiot when I thanked Sarah before realizing she was the artist. She was very low-key and almost hesitant about promoting her own work. Sincerely, she need not be.
I’ve always enjoyed anything in black and I was thrilled that she made her latte cups in black. I ordered one and have been enjoying it immensely.
The feel of the finish reminds me of extremely weathered driftwood. Almost soft. Almost glowing. So very, very nice to hold. The thermal properties are very nice for an open topped mug/cup. The weight speaks of a nice density. The glaze used on the surfaces used in contact with liquids are extremely uniform and well done.
Two weeks ago, I realized I was drinking more and more straight espresso shots, and really had nothing like my latte mug to drink them out of, so of course I was drinking them out of my latte mug. I went on her site and looked at the espresso mugs. I realized not only would it be ideal to add to my set, but that it would also make a perfect capture cup for under the group head of my espresso machine. I received it three days ago and it truly has made my daily routine an even nicer part of my day. How? For the first time I have sufficient room to actually see the espresso emerging from my bottomless portafilter. And the texture.. as much as I enjoy it in the latte cup, I enjoy it even more in the small espresso cup.
UPDATE: On March 11, 2025, I decided to try to capture my espresso extraction on video. I was focusing on the video and made the noob mistake of not locking in my portafilter. You can see the results for yourself.
Although the mirror and cup went flying, the cup survived a direct hit from a hot heavy portafilter with no damage. I cannot say how happy I am with these cups!
As a technologist, I’m always interested in advances in artificial intelligence and have been following the AI art debacle in the news. If you don’t know about it, feel free to read more about it here.
Today though, I was interested in a difference art form. The art of writing. I’d read an article about the OpenAI app, ChatGPT, and how it was going to make the work of writing teachers much more difficult. Being in education myself, I admit to being a bit critical.
That was until I tried it out. Once you arrive at their website, OpenAI has you login using one of several options. I used my google login and was immediately granted free access to ChatGPT. It details some of its strengths and weaknesses and then opens up a pretty plain page with a simple prompt.
From my very first line of text, I was blown away. I tried, “How are wildfires changing the American west” and the software wrote a very well written essay on exactly that. I ran it through a plagiarism tool, and … nothing.
I tried all sorts of prompts, “compare Van Halen to AC/DC”, “write a 1000 word essay comparing themes from Lord of the Rings to Chronicles of Narnia”, “write 500 words about the history of Amish quilting”. Each time it “wrote” word by word, on my screen, the topic I’d requested.
Finally, I asked it to “write a playful, sincere 400 word essay about raising livestock in 4h club for a college admission essay” (FTR, while I did attend 4H Club as a teen, I never raised livestock). Here is what I received in full:
Raising livestock as a member of the 4-H club has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I have learned so much about responsibility, hard work, and the importance of taking care of animals.
When I first joined the 4-H club, I was a little nervous about the idea of raising livestock. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for the commitment, or if I even knew enough about animals to do it well. But as I began to learn more about the process and work with my fellow 4-H members, I quickly realized that raising livestock was something that I truly enjoyed.
One of the most challenging aspects of raising livestock is the amount of time and effort that it requires. Unlike many other hobbies, raising animals is a 24/7 commitment. They need to be fed, watered, and cared for every day, no matter what the weather is like or how busy I might be. This has taught me the value of hard work and dedication, and I have become much more responsible and reliable as a result.
Another important lesson that I have learned from raising livestock is the importance of taking good care of animals. As a 4-H member, I have been taught the importance of providing animals with proper nutrition, shelter, and medical care. I have also learned about the different behaviors and needs of different species of animals, and how to best meet those needs. This has given me a greater appreciation for the animals that we rely on for food, fiber, and companionship.
But perhaps the most valuable thing that I have gained from raising livestock as a 4-H member is a sense of community and camaraderie. As a 4-H member, I have had the opportunity to work and learn alongside other young people who are passionate about raising animals. We have supported each other through the challenges and successes of the process, and have formed lasting friendships along the way.
In conclusion, raising livestock as a member of the 4-H club has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me. It has taught me valuable lessons about hard work, responsibility, and the importance of taking care of animals. It has also given me a sense of community and camaraderie that I will always treasure. I am grateful for the opportunities that the 4-H club has given me, and I am excited to continue to learn and grow as a livestock raiser in the years to come.
At this point, all I can say is, I’m glad I’m not a high school English teacher.
After the dirty chai at Yukon, I drove across town to Evergreen Coffee on the north side of Longview.
Evergreen is one of my daughters favorite coffee shops in town. Not because they serve great coffee, but because they have great pastries and boba tea. They really do. I’ve never been disappointed in either their boba tea or their pastries. I particularly enjoy their savory scones.
By this time, I was wanting something a little different. I noticed they had a caramel macchiato on the menu, so I asked if they could make a “regular” latte macchiato for me. The barista said “sure” and asked if I wanted it hot or cold. I told them hot and went to the register to pay.
At this point, I’m probably going to sound like a bit of a snob, and I truly don’t mean to be, but perhaps I was (and am). I’m fine with coffee shops hiring anyone that wants a job. I’m fine with cold espresso drinks substituting coffee toddy cold concentrate. However, I wish shops would train their staff that how they do things isn’t necessarily the “original” way. I won’t even say “real”. When a customer asks if they can get a flat white or a macchiato, is it too much to expect that what they’re provided with isn’t the exact same drink the cafe serves as a latte?
As I got ready to pay, I noticed the barista swirling caramel around the inside of my cup. Since I was the only one in the shop, I knew this was going to be my “regular” macchiato. I stopped her and apologized, and asked if I could have my macchiato without caramel or any syrup. I admit, I was a bit gobsmacked when I was told, “That’s what a macchiato is.” Um. No. Not it isn’t. A decent break down on macchiatos can be viewed here (and I do think the YouTube presenter is more of a snob than me, lol).
Seriously, I blame Starbucks.
I asked them if instead of what they were making for me, they could simply give me a latte but pour the milk in first, then the espresso. They replied, “That’s how a latte is made is made.” At that point, I kind of shut up and drank what they gave me. And it was horrid. To be honest, I didn’t take off the lid to see if it was stained or spotted.
Evergreen is in an older strip mall. They’ve done their best to give it a nice ambiance, and to be fair, I’ve been in much worse. It was well lit as can be seen from the picture. I enjoyed reading my book while I forced myself to drink half of the coffee. I will state, that although other places had indoor seating, this is the only one that didn’t have outdoor, and thus was the only time I sat inside on this gorgeous day.
I’ll definitely be going back to Evergreen. But I might stick with the boba. And the scones. Definitely the scones.
View from Valhalla 