#bv1900ts

I haven’t posted here in approximately an eon. I won’t be posting here unless I have something vaguely interesting to say, perhaps every month or three. Anyway, let’s begin...

[next to the previous brewing abomination]

Last holiday, I had a chance to brew coffees on Bonavita’s newer model of auto drip brewer, the bv1900ts alongside a Baratza Encore grinder, since my family had recently picked up the pairing and I was visiting. All in, it’s around a $300 setup and one which I previously would’ve readily recommended readily. (Spoiler: it’s still one I’d recommend.)

First, I thought the Encore was pretty excellent. Retention was a mere .1g with single dosing and grounds looked pretty consistent. The grinder responded well to adjustments in size. Build quality is more than adequate for the money, and I have no reason to expect one wouldn’t hold up for at least a few years.

My opinions on the Bonavita were somewhat more mixed. Before I offer any thoughts, let me mention briefly the parameters I used. I brewed several coffees, and the ones which I remembered to note down were a Honduras, Pinona Pacas, from Ritual, and Intelli’s Zirikana, Rwanda. For both, I tried a pretty wide range of brew ratios, from 1:15 to 1:17.5; doses, from 30 to 60 grams; and a wide range of grind settings, from bitter-overextracted to sour-underextracted. I had absolutely no trouble getting what seemed to be a good extraction - sweet and clean and pleasant. I could get a syrupy, heavy mouthfeel if I wanted to. 

[near-perfect post-extraction bed - better than most Fetcos I’ve seen]

But the flavors tended toward somewhat generically coffee-like. Now while I had tasted both of these coffees as v60 brews in keeping with my slightly-modified Perger technique, I didn’t have my equipment with me in Los Angeles to stage a direct comparison. But the thought that occurred to me was that this well-extracted but not aromatic “defect” was really reminiscent of what I’d experienced with the Kalita Wave. I used to be a believer in the Wave, and I still don’t think it’s a bad brewer, but once I learned to extract properly with my v60, I found the Wave’s aromatics lacking in comparison, even if it was more foolproof. In some sense, the two brewers remind me of each other - easy to produce good coffee, but in some sense not disposed to producing really excellent coffee. 

It’s perfectly possible that flat-bottom brewers extract “better” than cones - more evenly, higher with an equivalent amount of bitterness... but I’m not convinced that the result is necessarily better to my palate. Maybe it’s just a technical issue, and certainly I think I have better cups from a well-dialed Fetco than the Bonavita. (For one, the Bonavita’s far less programmable. Also, the Fetco’s dispersion screen achieves a much more even - but not perfect - distribution of water. Why the world lacks an auto drip machine that can distribute water evenly without producing divots in the coffee bed is beyond me.) 

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Bonavita BV1900TS 8-Cup Carafe Coffee Brewer, Stainless Steel

Bonavita BV1900TS 8-Cup Carafe Coffee Brewer, Stainless Steel

One-touch brew operation with auto-off

Powerful and precise 1500-watt heater maintains optimal brewing temperature of 195 Degree-205 DegreeF (91 Degree-96 DegreeC)

Optional pre-infusion mode wets freshly roasted ground coffee to allow degassing before brewing

Flat-bottomed filter basket and larger showerhead allow for even better…