I bought and used the R2 before watching this video. What has been presented is entertaining and informative. Excellent work without getting too bogged down in the science of the fancy tool.

I was the product manager for the R2 Extract, so watching this video was so fun 🤣Very well done video

I just brewed myself a cup and you dropped some brain food while drinking it. I'm not planning on buying a refractometer in the near future but this video was really interesting. I liked your light humor with all the pain in measurement. Made the video feel very personal. I felt very directly addressed which I really liked. Thanks for that

Were you to release no other videos for a month, this one alone would have still justified my Patreon contribution. Fabulous (and hysterical) work!

Calibration (zeroing) should be done wit brewing watter. Not distiled as mentioned in video. Reason is that brewing water is 0.00% TDS and coffee drink is that brewing watter (whatever you use) + dissolved solids from coffee. And we are looking for what that number is. We are not looking for distiled being zero becuse than we would have minerals used in brewing watter + coffee in our final measurement. Cheers!

Just got an R2 and have 0 idea of how to use it, thanks for the guidance

I may never wish to purchase a refractometer for home use, but this incredibly thorough, and at the same time approachable/humorous, explanation is one for the ages! And helps interpreting as a home user when various online creators include this information in their videos. Also makes it important to assess the workflow these creators use, as bad data in leads to bad data out, and if you are fastidious, likely makes conclusions made by refractometers more misleading than helpful. Many thanks for the high quality video!

Thanks for simplifying this process for someone who is still new at this. Also, I love humor!

Nice to see a reasonably priced refractometer that's reliable enough. That being said, I won't worry about measuring TDS until I can scan a cup of coffee like a QR code lol

Great review & breakdown of the mechanics. 👌

Such wonderful bits of fun wrapped around discussion of a complex tool. I don't think I'd ever use a refractometer at home -- I have very little hair left to lose -- but you've taught me a great deal about how to use one, while entertaining me at the same time. Now I'll go overheat some milk.

Suggest to Zero the R2 using the water you intend to use for brewing, not distilled water. That way the TDS measurement reflects TDS of the soluble coffee only rather than total TDS (water + coffee).

Great video. I’ve yet to scamper down this particular branch of the coffee rabbit hole, but I do have a question: While zeroing with distilled water makes sense (it's zero TDS), wouldn't zeroing with your brew water give more accurate results, like Taring a scale? I'm guessing the detected difference in refraction will be skewed by the dissolved solids already in the brew water. i.e. you'll measure an inaccurate, higher extraction yield regardless of the actual total dissolved coffee if the brew water’s dissolved content is not first discounted.

Why we should zeroing with distilled water and not the same water we make the coffee from so we can get accurate TDS . We make zeroing from the same water we make coffee from .

I found your channel through the guest video on Hoff and I gotta say I love your approach and dry humor.

I am interested in getting one. Thanks for the video and love your humor as well!

fantastic (and entertaining) content as always. so clear, concise, and helpful. and gave me the confidence to purchase on of these! thanks :)

This helps for looking at posts about coffee with refractometer data. I am not going to spend money and time on this, but this could be aimed at home roaster. One day I might buy a hive roaster and this data would be relevant then, but money and time to gather it seems diminishing returns to do for mere individual.

The speed of light is always the same 'c' as in 'E = mc^2', but the photons are making more side-seeing trips as they are being scattered around (~ refractive index) ;) Never thought I would get this much into coffee and physics. Thanks for the exercise!

Good video, not too long but informative. Also inserted a bit of humor in an otherwise “dry” topic.

Was looking at getting an Atago recently, but for home use I couldn’t really justify it. But I just ordered an R2 now, I think it’s the perfect price point, I’m not concerning about 100% accuracy just want some reliable feedback on my brews to help guide me a little better than just taste alone. Thanks for this very well put together video

This dude w the dope glasses, just out Hoffman'd Hoffman at his own game. Bzzaanng!

I came to this video thinking “Maybe I’ll get a refractometer”. I left it thinking “I won’t get a refractometer”.

I'm Loving my R2 - I've lost a few hairs but I think it's worth it. Another excellent informative vlog - UR definitely picking a great balance with all your info Vlogs - yes I love Lance Hedricks vlogs but sometimes there is just too much info to take in 🤯 Thanks 😀

Loved the video and the links. A year later, how have you been getting on with the R2?

Bloody entertaining one! Way to go with the content lately. Absolutely love it.

I love how he rests his hands on the table. I imagine him having very short arms. Btw. Great video!

loving your videos so much! thank you buddy!

Question: how often do you have to calibrate the r2? If the battery discharges completely, do you have to recalibrate? Great review!

Thank you. You just saved me $200 :)

I really appreciate your presentation!

About that glitch you mention: I haven't experienced it myself, but, I have found that when I'm testing and being sloppy with button presses, it is incredibly easy to mistakenly trigger the "zero" function on the unit instead of testing, so your hunch is most likely correct. I enjoy using this device but it is far too easy to make it start zeroing, which isn't ideal if you're testing your first coffee of the day and have to rush to empty and clean the sample dish so it doesn't register liquid before zeroing!

Very good video. I am already bald, so I guess that cuts down the stress level. I wanted to say I really like the Sofi Brewer makes a great coffee and looks good on my coffee bar.

Thanks a lot for this great tutorial, now I'm losing my hair with you (I'm using my new R2 ) !

Did you end up reviewing their scale ?

Thanks. I am on the fence about this since seeing Lance’s video. I am also wondering what tool would be more useful, this or a color meter like the Difluid Omni (or Lighttells CM-200). I just started home roasting a couple weeks ago.

does the distilled water needs to be %100 distilled 0 ppm? also the alcohol %99?

informative, entertaining and funny. Just how a product video should be. thank you. Btw I lost my hairline already due to other things in life, so I do not worry too much :D

I already lost a fair amount of hair with the R2 and I don’t even have it yet. It’s lost somewhere in the postal network when my order landed in my country in December. 😂

1st video of the this month and also of this year!

Do you need to calibrate it every time ?

Is the alcohol necessary?

can you please list all equipments used and where to buy all these it will be helpful

When doing your four readings, are you using fresh samples (With or without re-calibration in between?) or are you simply just running the test 4 times consecutively through the device/app with the same original sample still on the lens?

I think the toaster guessing before the data would be a fun game though. The rest is a bridge too far for home setting. Do aspire to home roasting if I live long enough to get to it

You look like Biswa?

Now imagine doing this for 5 units and finding nothing fun XD

Cool video. Watched the whole thing 😅😊. I have 2 x R2s unopened. Who wants em?