Behmor Brazen

[w0fms]

@MikeW,

I had a friend state that all his roasts out his Behmor 1600 "tasted burnt" -- even after using my methods.

What actually happened is that he was using boiling water in his Aeropress/Disk Fine (his preferred method which I certainly do like too). I told him to boil, and then wait 60-90s before putting the water in. That's usually enough time to cool off a kettle or a measuring cup from the microwave off 10-15*F or so.

Now he claims it doesn't taste burnt. It was the water extraction. I agree that the sweet spot is 190-205 *F or so. I am really digging letting my coffee "steep" in the Clever now though, so I'm still thinking an automatic machine is out. But Setting a precise temp on an electric kettle will happen eventually. My wife shot me down on that since she thinks the tea kettle on the stove is perfectly fine.. but one day, the electric unit will magically show up.

Sorry to hear about the hardness issue and your unit. I am very careful now with any purchase like that... I also decided that practically I can not afford bottled water for things like that either.. so I suppose, for now, the manual methods will do...

Fred

[MikeW]

Earlier, I had tried the metal filter and found it chalky. So now I tried again with the Virtuoso grinder (grind setting 20) instead of the Mini. This time it tasted fine. There was a slight chalkiness in the second mug, but taste is rich and good. I can't tell much of a difference in taste vs the paper filter, but I could believe the metal is slightly richer.

On the Brazen with Virtuoso I usually use grind setting of 20 and 22, and found that below 18, it starts tasting bitter.

[MikeW]

@W0fms

After a lot of back and forth, I've gotten the nicest results with the simple ceramic pour over cone. But the Brazen coffee tastes just as good and often better. It's also more efficient, meaning I can use lower doses to achieve the same "taste goal".

The Kalita is another possibility to try, since it is a flat bed pour over.

[SanFranFlyFish]

Just got my Brazen today. I ran three rounds of 8-cups of water through it to clean it.

After the unit cooled down I noticed that the filter basket assembly had a plasticky/chemical odor. Has anyone noticed this? Does it go away? Does it affect the taste of brewed coffee?

Is 204°F a good starting temperature for initial experimentation?

Thanks.

[dyqik]

I think the odor thing is well known - it was mentioned a lot on coffeegeek. I think the solution was to wash the components well and then leave them to air dry overnight in the open.

[Coach52]

I have been using the Brazen for nearly four months now. This machine has its quirks ,many have been mentioned in numerous other posts. I find the final product so good that I can work around a drippy carafe . I pour the entire pot into my thermos which goes with me on my daily adventures. When changing the filter, you do have some water that drips onto the base. I just put a paper towel down on the base before pulling the filter carrier and use the wet towel to wipe down the coffee area. I agree with some that these issues should have been addressed during the manufacturing process but I still get a consistently great cup of coffee and that is after all, the reason I bought the Brazen.
I have recently added a large Bee House dripper to my collection so that I can make a great single serving when I don't want to make a full pot . I really like the hands on and easy clean up of the pour over .

[pjslawyer]

I've used my Brazen for a month, always running the water through a brita filter first....and still I had to descale the unit. So I've concluded that the unit definitely does not like hard water at all, even if filtered.

As for the other quirk - the carafe - I'm going to try a little modification to the beak to see if I can eliminate some of the fluid capillary effect that causes a dribble no matter how you try pouring from the carafe.....if that's successful I'll post a picture here of the modifications.

[aver]

the Brazen is my workhorse everyday brewer. I use it for my "drive to work" coffee. I roast my beans with a Behmor roaster mainly decafe beans.
After I arrived at all my brewing parameters with the Brazen, I noticed some interesting nuances that the coffee had imparted with the brewer that were not present using other equipment and brew methods. The coffee just tastes better!
There are a couple of minor complaints though. The coffee pot pour is slow and one must be careful not to spill some. The water reservoir seems to retain quite a bit of moisture when unscrewing the lid. You really have to be careful of condensation. The front digital display could be a bit larger and easier to read.
As a whole the brewer seems very well thought out. Bob did his homework on this one! It brews some terrific coffee once you get all the papameters just right.