new toy

So I splurged on something totally unnecessary, because it looks great and is high-level nerd tech. I treated myself to the Acaia Lunar scale, which I featured in 2018 as part of my original holiday gift guide. It’s still one of the most well-regarded coffee scales available. And as expected, it’s gorgeous.

It’s going to take a little getting used to, as it’s incredibly sensitive and I’ll need to figure out the different functionalities. I’m not going to use the Acaia app to track brewing stats, but I would were I a professional barista in a coffee shop.

Beyond the looks and the tech nerdiness, I’m also happy to get the Lunar because it has a very small footprint, fits easily on the espresso drip tray (it’s designed for just that, and is water resistant), is versatile for measuring ground coffee input as well as espresso output, and has built-in timer functions. It also measures in tenths of a gram, rather than my former kitchen scale which measured in whole grams and I was always suspicious of its calibration. The Lunar came with a 100 gram weight to easily recalibrate the machine.

You may be wondering why a scale is necessary. It’s not. I like using one to remove a variable in the espresso making process by starting with the exact same amount of coffee every time, but necessary? No, not really.

I ordered the Lunar from Seattle Coffee Gear, a merchant I’ve been wanting to try. They sell everything needed for your espresso or coffee making habit, from the beginner to the enthusiast to the profession. They also have excellent YouTube reviews that are incredibly helpful. Unfortunately Gail, a company founder, has retired and will no longer be doing the YouTube reviews, which is a huge loss for those of us who have loved her videos, but they’re still available online and it feels like having a friend who knows everything to help you figure out what to get. For an example of her unique and very natural on-camera style, here’s her last coffee clip, a look at the awesome rig in her RV.

Another great thing about about ordering from Seattle Coffee Gear is they carry beans from a select array of quality roasters from around the US, plus some international brands sprinkled in, with an overall emphasis on the West Coast. They also helpfully categorize beans on their website by general flavor profile, giving you a leg up if you want to try a new roaster and aren’t sure which beans to get.

I got a bag from Wonderstate Coffee, which I visited in Milwaukee back when they were still called Kickapoo Coffee, and one from Verve Coffee Roasters of Santa Cruz, CA, a roaster I had recently tried for the first time. Added to my recent pickups of beans, I’ve now got a lot of grinding and quality coffee drinking ahead of me.