Reviewing My AliExpress Coffee Equipment Haul

James is out here making gold for Hames

I like how James has a temp probe to check the temperature of the sand but uses his finger to check the water. "Yeah its about 50C..."

I love that James is having a lot of fun lately. The fact that he donned the bean costume, momentarily showed us to messy hair and printed a silly expression on the foam shows he loves a good joke as much as anyone.

As the patron who "won" the chunky cup, I now have the pleasure of drinking out of the vessel from which James Hoffman tasted his face and remarked it has no flavour.

The self stirring mug is actually quite a commonplace instrument in experimental chemistry. The little “pill” is colloquially referred to as a “flea” though more appropriately as a magnetic stir bar. It is typically used inside a beaker or other form of glassware atop of a hot plate which has a magnetic motor beneath it. It allows to a constant rate of stirring and for liquid or solutions that cannot be stirred for whatever reason to be stirred.

Honestly wasn't expecting the printer to work so well

“Ooh, angry snappy lid” made me laugh because he looked like he enjoyed it

I wonder if the printer skewed green to compensate for the coffee that wasn’t there

Never thought that I would hear the phrase “it leaves me no choice but to taste my face”. Strange times indeed… thanks for spending thousands on coffee junk that nobody needs for our entertainment James. You are a legend

That intro means we have reached Peak Hoffmann

I was in a hotel with my partner a few months ago. As we sat for breakfast one of the employees said we look really good and asked if it's ok to take a picture of us with his phone, which was strange. A few moments later he came back with a coffee cup with our picture on it (no color). It was a nice experience, and an interesting use case for the coffee printer.

I could see that printer machine being cool at a cafe to add like specific characters to their latte for an extra $1 or something!

James going to the Middle East to taste coffee made with a traditional sand brewer, to learn the process, and discuss the equipment and history is a video I would love to see!

9:11 "Enjoy a mellow coffee and live a petty bourgeois life" could actually be the slogan of this channel

I almost died at the latte art printer part lol. Main event indeed. Actually the printer is considered to be a great gadget in otaku-themed cafes or restaurants in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in which Japanese anime is really a thing. They print pictures of the customers' favourite characters when ordered; recently some KPOP themed cafes in South Korea are also getting these things to print KPOP singers' face on the latte cup.

“The idea of a spinny thing always did please me”. Me too. I thought the magnetic stirrers in chem lab were fascinating and so clever. We need a version of it for the kitchen.

That box! "Enjoy mellow coffee and live a petty Bourgeois life". Truly, words to live by.

Here's another vote for a Turkish coffee video! Where I live we typically drink Turkish coffee with cardamom in it but made on a stovetop. I don't know what is special about the sand. If you go to Istanbul, because I'm sure you'll want to do some thorough research, there's a whole room in Topkapi palace filled with coffee and tea making antiques with descriptions of Turkish/Ottoman coffee culture that I could have spent much longer looking at.

For the Turkish Coffee, be careful what type of copper ware you use. They all have aluminum coat inside where coffee goes in, but the coat should be 100% perfect for it to not be a health hazard. Copper and acidic liquids are not the best for both taste and most importantly health. Also, the coffee that you made is the most default and most used Turkish coffee brand in Turkey. Maybe packaging was compromised, or maybe it was just stale, but it shouldn't taste funny like that. Also, you should absolutely burn the shit out of the sand before using. It should be at 200+ Celsius for 2+ hours, then cooled, and heated again for 2 more times before using to make coffee.

I didn't expect "horrified James latte art" to be on the list of things I needed in my life, but here we are.