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1. Ben Zanin (gnomon@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 30-Jun-2019 14:12:29 EDT Ben Zanin

   Xanthan gum, apparently, not xantham gum? Whoops.

   Anyhow I'm going to give this a try right now. SCIENCE

   ☕

   1. Ben Zanin (gnomon@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 30-Jun-2019 14:17:16 EDT Ben Zanin

      in reply to

      This stuff ( https://mastodon.social/@gnomon/102356026628390478 ) was delicious as an Aeropress brew (~19g in, 85°C, ~90g out, 10s/40s) but it was seriously caffeinated. I probably shouldn't be launching into a short project that'll probably have me drinking at least two, maybe three more cups in the next hour or so.

      ...

      ...WELP

      I'll be using a Capresso Froth Pro instead of our actual blender to try to keep the brew at a stable temperature during the aeration phase. Looking up the effect of heat on xanthan gum now.

      1. Ben Zanin (gnomon@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 30-Jun-2019 14:20:31 EDT Ben Zanin

         in reply to

         I think I'll aim for a 100g brew result with 19~20g in to make a 0.1% xanthan ratio easy at 0.1g. Might be a bit challenging to measure that with the scales I own but I'll try - the smaller one has the resolution but it registers quite slowly so fine adjustment is a bit of a trial.

         I'd love something like an Acaia Lunar, but, well... 💸

         1. Ben Zanin (gnomon@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 30-Jun-2019 15:36:57 EDT Ben Zanin

            in reply to

            OK, that went pretty poorly, but I did get one interesting result.

            Gear:
            - serving glass (298g)
            - decanter jar (185g)
            - temperature control kettle (±1°C)
            - 1g-3kg scale, 1g accuracy
            - 0.1g-500g scale, 0.1g accuracy†
            - Aeropress
            - Aergrind, 2.4 fixed setting (zero point is roughly accurate)
            - Capresso Froth Pro
            - Magic Bullet blender

            Supplies:
            - Toronto municipal tap water
            - coffee, light roast, 17 days past roast
            - "molecular ingredients"™ xanthan gum
            - Aeropress paper filters
            - obstinacy

            1/n

            1. Ben Zanin (gnomon@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 30-Jun-2019 15:46:24 EDT Ben Zanin

               in reply to

               # Trial 1

               - 22.6g coffee
               - 201g water, 80°C
               - 0.2g† xanthan gum

               Brewed a cup, 200g water instead of 100g as planned (~3½ on the Aeropress brew chamber numbers; confirmed that decanter jar & glass can hold ~220g each, within margin).

               †: the 0.1g scale registered the xanthan gum as 0.2g upon incremental addition but 0.7g when I tared & repeated. I think it is inaccurate. Results support this.

               Put though frother, once heated, once not.

               Result: too viscous to drink. Slime. Nice flavor though.

               1. Ben Zanin (gnomon@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 30-Jun-2019 15:48:54 EDT Ben Zanin

                  in reply to

                  # Trial 2

                  - 21.6g coffee
                  - 200g water, 80°C

                  After washing everything down and resetting my station for the second round I bobbled the process of dosing grounds from the grinder into the Aeropress. Coffee everywhere. Aborted the trial and cleaned everything up, then reset the station for the next trial.

                  No photos of this one.

                  2/n

                  1. Ben Zanin (gnomon@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 30-Jun-2019 15:57:39 EDT Ben Zanin

                     in reply to

                     # Trial 3

                     - 22.0g coffee
                     - 202g water, 80°C
                     - didn't weigh the xanthan gum, portioned in the tip of a teaspoon handle

                     Brewed as normal, extracted ~177g coffee, decanted into the frother, tapped in an amount of gum about the size of half a green pea, ran through 2x frother cycles. Texture looked acceptable but little too no aeration.

                     Dug out disused bullet blender, ran for 10-12s. It aerated but also leaked A LOT: only got out 136g liquid. The rest ran through the motor. 😬

                     Tasty result!

                     3/n

                     1. Ben Zanin (gnomon@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 30-Jun-2019 16:02:46 EDT Ben Zanin

                        in reply to

                        # Conclusions

                        1. Interesting method. Consumables cost per cup is low. Process is fiddly but tractable, unfortunately loud. Equipment cost is middling. Definitely need a real blender.

                        2. Flavour & texture are pleasant. I would do this for enjoyment; I would serve to others, only as a novelty.

                        3. The froth only lasts 30-60s at drinkable viscosity. This works well with low Aeropress brew temperature: you can drink it immediately, and you should.

                        4. Could work well with coldbrew..?

                        4/4

                        1. Ben Zanin (gnomon@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 30-Jun-2019 16:08:47 EDT Ben Zanin

                           in reply to

                           # Future directions

                           1. Blender that does not leak catastrophically
                           2. Better scale (more accuracy, faster registration, better intrusion protection against coffee grounds & water)
                           3. Larger batches to bring quantities into useful range of the existing scale?
                           4. Measure times as well as weights & temperatures
                           5. More subjective measurements (test subjects?!?‽!? 🤨🤔😈)
                           6. Cold as well as hot coffee
                           7. Additives? (Milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, nutmeg, chocolate)

                           6/5