uncloud // atikhon

6/5/26 2:06PM

I finally ran a preliminary experiment comparing Bobs Red Mill brand baking soda against Arm and Hammer's product. This is a matter of curiosity for me as BRM's product is reportedly mined and purified, while A&H's is known to be produced in a lab. There is speculation that naturally sourced minerals produce a "superior" taste (in the sense of a calibrated collection of subjective experiences [well, sort of.])

Using my Miller High Life glasses because they are an appropriate size for samples like this. I love these cups for their shape, size, and price ($1 or $2 at my local Beer Distributor¹.) On a side note, I also love the beer sold with that label.

Coffee: SEY's Juan Zapata Chiroso, RD 5/13.

Grinder: Lagom 01 with 102 Brew v2 burrs, 787.75µm from lock, RPM setting 6.

Water: started as 20GH Epsom salt, and then postmineralized to approximately 40KH (.3ml 10000KH concentrate added to 100ml of finished brew) with respective NaHCO3 concentrates. This is an intensely buffered water recipe, I know, but I wanted to clearly emphasize the effects of these particular minerals.

Recipe: V60 3-pour, 1 min bloom, 2nd pour "yeet", 3rd pour Melodrip at 3ml/sec.

Notes: Differences between samples became accentuated as they cooled.

A&H seemed to be less effective at actually muting the acidity- could this be a problem with my slightly older Baking Soda? I don't think so, as I have faith in my mason jar storage, although the minerals inside are indeed about a year older. If you are reading this and know enough about chemistry to say that this is concretely flawed, please contact me.

There seemed to be slightly more aroma/upfront flavor and brightness in the A&H sample but also more harshness and a noticeably browner finish. The BRM was less bright and intense, but also more plush, soft, and a much smoother finish, with aromatics coming across as much cleaner. It seemed to do a better job emphasizing (or simply not negating) the unique profile of the 102 Brew v2 burrs. I definitely preferred BRM in this singular experiment.

Perhaps I should try a fresher product of Arm and Hammer for a more fair trial, but the Bob's Red Mill has impressed me within the context of this sample.

6/5/26 3:33PM Edit:

Hustinjam informs via Brian Quan's Discord server:

"Concentrates tend to drift [over time.] The ionic equilibrium settles after a while with a concentrate and cations and anions are at different states of association and disassociation. Honestly the best possible comparison would be to direct dose each, make 2 seperate liter brew waters with different sodium bicarbonate sources, the ionic environment will be a lot less chaotic that way."

My own take on this will likely be to make fresh concentrates to use as post-brew bypass for a single brew (to eliminate potential brewing variations). I will wait until I have a fresh sample of Arm & Hammer, though.

5/21/26 1:21PM

First impression of Hustinjam's Vichy-based water recipe is very positive.

Brew notes:

• SEY Juan Jose Huillca, Peru Washed SL9
• 15g -> 240g
• Brian Quan's Orea Z1 Recipe
• Lagom 01 w/ PCS and 102mm SSP Brew v2
• Hustinjam's Vichy Water recipe
• TBT: 2:30 (if I recall).

Strong first impression of this water. This coffee itself hasn't been as impressive as the other SL9s I had from SEY this year, but this is easily the best brew I had from it. Strong midtone acidity, juicy texture, and subtle floral aromatics coming through. Some brownness in the finish that is a bit disappointing, but this could be coming from anywhere, coffee included (1 month off roast.) Not a bad time and a pleasantly tasty cup.

5/17/26 12:44PM

"I don't care anymore."

Nihilism can reap its fruit from its children, while I continue to pursue beauty finer than gold.

5/14/26 3:30PM

The short-form summary of coffee-related endeavors in the last week:

• The positive response to last week's blog post detailing my initial impressions of my SSP 102mm v2 Brew burrs got a little bit of attention in the circles I orbit, and I am grateful for the feedback I received from other enthusiasts. It was wildly encouraging and Robert Asami's Instagram story describing the post as "a great documentation" and "a lovely write-up" was especially meaningful to me as an endorsement from a figure whose writing about coffee I have found consistently valuable.

• I have more unfrozen coffee in my cupboard than I normally do, but none of it is rested to be properly enjoyable. By consolation I have been pulling tubes of old Uncloud stock from my freezer for brewing over the last week; I have been especially enjoying SEY's Ethiopian offerings from last July and August.

• I spent several hours on Monday performing maintenance on the house espresso grinder (Mahlkonig E65S GbW) at Fresh Grounds. The stock burrs (which have been replaced several times) were replaced with 65mm SSP HU burrs, which were then seasoned and the grinder re-calibrated, in between several cleanings. We chose SSP burrs for longevity but I found myself pleasantly surprised by the improvement in taste over the stock E65S burrs; you can find my notes about the difference on Burrtopia. As I sit at the counter and write this post, I am enjoying some Dark Roast espresso from those burrs right now and noticing a slight dark fruit sweetness as it cools.

• Speaking of Burrtopia, Robert informed me that I am now tied with Europa for the most submissions posted there, at four total entries. Hopefully soon I can finally sit down and write my thoughts of the eight or so additional burrs that have left their impressions on me.

• I've recently doubted the precision and accuracy of my water mineralizing methodology, which relied on using single drops of mineral concentrates to contribute 5 ppm (as CaCO3, for most minerals) to one liter of water. Testing the droppers on a .001g precision scale revealed a potential variance of ±2ppm per drop, which is... not consistent. I spent yesterday afternoon remaking all of my mineral concentrates at a lower concentration, and now I am using .5ml instead of one drop to add the same amount of hardness; using volumetric droppers should bring my accuracy up to ±1ppm per batch of water. Definitely not a flashy improvement, but an important one.

All of this effort was overshadowed by a cognitive preoccupation with considering my next steps in the coffee industry, vocationally speaking. The future is foggy but I'm excited for the potential it holds.

5/8/26 12:25AM

102mm Brew V1 vs V2

Late night. My new set of Red Speed 102mm SSP Brew Burrs was delivered today. Spent a good chunk of my evening grinding roughly 40lb of coffee to season them, and then attempted to hyper align them; although I concluded that it's either impossible or requires a specific method to accomplish this, as my stainless steel shim stock just slid around under the circle shim necessary for those burrs. Alignment is still right around 30 microns from burr chirp to burr lock, which isn't a bad place to be in any case.

In any case, the grinder has been assembled, seasoned, calibrated, and ready to go; but now it's time to go to sleep. Coffee will wait until tomorrow.

5/6/26 12:08PM

It's very rare that my personal (unfrozen) stash is so big, but purchases and rest times have coincided.

FG Staff coffee trip to Pittsburgh yesterday was fruitful. We had excellent customer experiences at all stops and got to pick up the La Prima, Ghost, and Boredom bags.

• Silverstream Coffee Roasters, Cranberry
• Espresso A Mano, Lawrenceville
• La Prima Espresso, Strip District
• The Boredom Set, Market Square
• Ghost Coffee Collab, Uptown
• Pre Amp, Squirrel Hill\

Personal highlights were my Orome, Ethiopian espresso at A Mano (idr name of origin!), my BONKERS good pourover of the pictured Sebastian Gomez gesha at Ghost, and my elderflower matcha tonic at Pre Amp.

The Mong from Boredom Coffee was roasted yesterday morning, so it has a way to go before it's brewable; the Gomez is probably close to rested, but I'm inclined to let it sit longer because I predict it will RIP on my 102 v2 Brew burrs which are expected to deliver today (I think, according to my "Informed Delivery" page!)

5/4/26 10:34PM

Happy to say I submitted a couple of entries to Burrtopia today, covering my experiences with the Timemore 78mm Turbo burrs and the Option-O 102mm Mizen burrs. I'm glad to be able to contribute to this excellent resource of "burr opinions", helpfully curated and organized by Robert Asami.

I hope to contribute more in the future as I am able to slowly document the jumble of information and experiences in my head.

5/2/26 10:28PM

"Why do you have so many grinders?"

Based on my suspicions and some openly stated opinions, even my closest family and friends think I'm crazy for the amount of time, money, and counter space I've given to the coffee grinders on my workbench. Currently, there sits a Lagom 01 with SSP 102mm Brew burrs (v1), a Timemore 078 with the stock Turbo burrs, an xBloom studio with it's excellent built-in conical grinder, and a Cafesing Orca G1 featuring two interchangeable burrsets. I have been also excitedly talking about a new, on-order set of 102mm SSP Brew burrs in their revised version (more on that later, I'm sure), and this weekend has given me some plans to acquire a new grinding solution on my bar, if fortune holds, not to mention the hours I've been known to spend aligning and optimizing grinders. I also own a 1Zpresso ZP6, currently on loan to a friend.

Why this variety?

Frankly there are many reasons. The versatility in brew profiles that only a variety can provide, the ability to test and experiment on new methodologies, the ability to corroborate or share experiences with other enthusiasts. But honestly, it hit me this weekend during a conversation with a friend while passing over my ZP6 to him for lending: I want to share them.

At some point, a full blog post will undoubtedly arise about the teleology of my philosophy of coffee brewing, which finds a partial culmination in shared experiences. For now, though, I will refer to my most recent blog post, about tasting coffee in isolation.

I want to share beautiful coffees with my friends and my community, and moreover I want to share the ability, knowledge, and resources I've found to brew these coffees, and thereby the joy I find in the experience. Another addition to my grinding arsenal, apart from the benefits it grants to my private brewing endeavors, is another grinder I can lend to a friend, another taste profile I can share and educate with, and a key to a potentially more beautiful cup of coffee to share with those around me. Worth it.

Also very excited, once I can get some nice images, of the beautiful tasting cups (designed for sharing brews) I purchased from Back30 Pottery today <3

5/1/26 5:16PM

Brew notes:

Robert Asami's Day 6 Water Recipe
Lagom 01 with PCS, 102 v1 Brew Burrs, RPM setting 5, 630m from lock
Orea Z1, 15g Brian Quan Recipe
Colombian Bourbon Aji

When hot cup tasted raspberry/tart cherry forward with a slightly sharp briney, sparking inflection
As cup cooled, roasty note appeared in finish (not astringent)
Now the cup is cooled and the roastiness has taken over :|

The taste of sodium chloride (here obtained from "Vera Salt," a spanish spring salt) in a water comp has become humorous for me. Several weeks ago I had a cup where a post-min drop of sodium chloride turned a fairly muted but elegant purple floral note into a pungent, spiked herbaceous florality that reminded me of walking into a saturated flower shop or greenhouse with poor ventilation. The similar effect in this cup (a coffee that I'm very familiar with) did not translate to a herbaceous quality but still had a pronounced effect that I might describe as "prickly." I laughed out loud when I tasted it.

4/30/26 12:24PM

Struck by the color of this brew of extra-light Alirio Ortega roasted by September Coffee (pulled from my freezer, roasted April 2025). Is it because of the extraction coupled with it being extra-light, which I have less experience with? Or was it the couple of drops of silica I added to the kettle that affected the viscosity of the liquid and thus changed the way the light hit it? Either way, it's visually striking and a tasty cup. 078 Turbo burrs present this coffee as juicy, lemonade forward. (A bit brown/astringent on the finish, which I attribute to a skill issue.)

The brew was actually kind of a flop; during the bloom, I must have inadvertently brushed the timer button on my scale. When trying to turn the timer back on, I accidentally tared the scale as well. So what was the final ratio? The bloom time? TBT? I have no idea. But it turned out alright in the end.

4/27/26 10:33PM

As of today, I am now the proud owner of the exact Orca G1 found in this video, after a trade with Braxton. I plan to compile a thorough account of my experiences on the full blog after I feel as though I have a proficient understanding of it.

I'm very happy for the chance to try ghost burrs, in which I have a long standing interest. I also love the vintage camera lens aesthetic this grinder has.

I feel compelled to describe my first impressions as "silly." I ground the first cup at a setting that was far too fine. Orea Z1, using a coffee that I will not name that I feel was poorly roasted. Instead of making the brew astringent, it amplified the roasty note and made the coffee taste like an intense dark roast.

I did have nice results with a banana conferment from the back of my freezer, it really amplified a unified sweetness, but had some bitterness in a "lower" layer of taste.

Looking forward to further testing.

4/24/26 5:53PM

I probably should fill in some images around here huh

4/24/26 4:47PM

Just started a blog. This is the stream of consciousness section. All sorts of random thoughts, discoveries, etc., will (hopefully) be found here.

I'd like to add a music component to this site, where I can have a comprehensive lists of albums or recordings I think are lovely. We'll see what I come up with.

"Microblog" concept inspired by Yifan Jin, who also deserves credit for being the first bearblog.dev website I've come across.