(relax topic) what's your preferred method to make coffee?

[DiTBho]

There are several ways to make coffee:

• Moka
• Chemex
• Pour Over
• (Portland, USA) “hand drip coffee”
  
• French press
• ... other methods

What's your preferred method to make coffee? 

It sounds I need to watch  some video on Youtube to master each of these other methods, since my preferred method is Moka and unfortunately it's also the only way I have always made coffee.

[Cubdriver]

I typically use a Keurig as I’m making a single cup just for me, but as far as flavor goes much prefer perked coffee.  It’s just not worth the effort and waste to perk for a single cup, though, and I don’t drink enough to justify making a whole pot.

-Pat

[jonpaul]

Bonjour à tous
After semi-automatique espresso machine Jura Capresso, French Press, filtre, we discovered Italiano Bialetti Moka Espress stove top,

The best, but requires

1/ précise grinder just coarser than fine espresso,
2/ original genuine Bialetti not cheaper Chinese knockoffs
3/ remove from heat immediately after brew
4/ enjoy and clean up right away
5/ best with no dilution of milk or crème
6/ use proper size, eg 1 cup 50 ml espresso from 1 cup pot, 3 cups 150 ml from 3 cup pot, so always fill 100%

Silicon gasket needs periodid replacement

We threw out the semi- automatic

Visit any of the café forums for much better information

its 01:00 and I am starting my day with a Moka.

Bon chance

Jon

[tszaboo]

Pressing a button on a commercial Nespresso machine.

[DiTBho]

Yup, I’m making a single cup just for me, too.

I can find small Moka 250ml (1-2 cup), but the smallest French press machine I have found is 1L (4-6 cup).

I also have to understand which Coffee grinder I have to use. As well as I understand Moka needs fine grind, while French press need coarse grind, and Chemex needs medium grind.



Yesterday I bought a new tool with six adjustment setting. The coffee is collected in the jar attached to the grinder with no mess or loss of coffee. The grind on the coffee appears to be consistent and uniform on all settings. If you fill the top of the grinder with coffee beans it will hold roughly 18g max. On the finest setting (Position 1) that 18g of coffee takes around 70 seconds to grind which I am impressed with although I have nothing to gauge it against.

I know nothing at all, but I love this stuff 

[Muttley Snickers]

It's instant or nothing!   

I couldn't be bothered mucking about with gadgets and gismos just to make a cup of coffee, the thought alone makes me want to percolate.   

Years ago a mate talked me into buying a Delonghi Magnifica coffee machine because he said they were the best and he could get a good deal on a few of them, it turned out to be one of the worst purchases I ever made and a terrible waste of $600   

The coffee was always only luke warm and tasted like mud regardless of the beans used, making a one minute coffee would result in a one hour cleaning exercise and I recently pulled the machine out of the cupboard and did a complete destructive teardown out of disgust for this machine. If you think your coffee machine is clean and hygienic perhaps it's time to take the back off and check out the various species of mold and fungi that these machines seem to create so well.        

PS: This thread probably belongs in the cooking section.

[Nominal Animal]

Boiling water, coffee grounds, a bit of time, then milk.  I'm Finnish, you see; it's quantity over quality.

If you can make the grinder do superfine, I'd probably just snort the stuff.

[DiTBho]

If you can make the grinder do superfine, I'd probably just snort the stuff.

LOL 

[DiTBho]

Pressing a button on a commercial Nespresso machine.

haha, what's the next step for an engineer? Maybe the plan to somehow *connect* the button to Alexa just to say "Alexa? make me some coffee"

(don't make me tempted, I want to prepare coffee manually  )

[DiTBho]

If you think your coffee machine is clean and hygienic

I don't know about other methods, but Moka, Chemex and French-press are easy to clean.
Probably express-machines are more complex because you need to open and tear down.

Dunno

[jonpaul]

Hi: French press: Messy the glass beakers are so then they alwyas break.
Moka: Perfect, but a "cup" is a 50 ml espresso cup. The Moka pot must be fulley used for the water and cafe grounds never partial so a 3 cup moka gives 150 ml = 3 cups espresso.

We boil the water (filtered) in a separate elctric kettle, then add to the reliefe valvelevel in the pot.

Level filter with cafe, do not pack.

Remove grinds from seal

Close tightly

Please on lowest heat of any type stove except induction.

Wait till brewing starts, open lid to see it fnish, drink immediate

Over 20 yera fo Jura/Capresso machines, we found that   semi/auto machines  need constant maintenance  and make lousy café


Just my opinion!

Jon

[themadhippy]

What's your preferred method to make coffee?

I use the ancient magic incantation " OI get us a coffee" whenever possible

[penfold]

I quite like drip coffee, you don't get the same taste, but it's satisfying to watch as it creeps through the tube up to the cannula.

I like the convenience of the aero-press when in the office, so much easier to dispose of the grounds and rinse clean than french-press, seem to get a reasonably consistent flavour. When at home or relaxing, usually go for the Moka/stove-top espresso, I'm not really sure I have a sense for flavour in absolute terms, but I find it "pleasingly different" to other types.

[tszaboo]

Pressing a button on a commercial Nespresso machine.

haha, what's the next step for an engineer? Maybe the plan to somehow *connect* the button to Alexa just to say "Alexa? make me some coffee"

(don't make me tempted, I want to prepare coffee manually  )

Honestly, I don't really care how she is called if she brings me a cup.
But yeah, jokes aside, we have a Nespresso Gemini 200 at work, it's just too easy and good.

[PartialDischarge]

I still have to try, but I've read that using coffee beans from just roasted green beans  makes all the difference

[Ian.M]

Hi: French press: Messy the glass beakers are so then they always break.

You can get stainless steel double walled (thermos flask) french presses, which are far more robust than glass ones, e.g. ours has survived ten years knocking around in the cook's locker on a sailboat.  As long as you clean them same day^*, they are no harder to use and clean up after, and make just as good coffee as the glass ones.

+1 for moving this to 'Cooking'

* OTOH if you are a slob and leave your french press till its growing green fur, that's possibly sentient and old enough to vote, well its easier to get biofilm off glass!

[tom66]

Espresso machine - add extra water for Americano, add milk for Latte, add chocolate milk for a Mocha.  Found that oat milk is quite good in coffee so it's dairy free now.

It was inexpensive to purchase (about £100).  We just grind beans down using a Krups grinder - we got the grinder for free because it was "broken" but in reality it was just the lid missing on the ground coffee bin which disables the interlock.

[eugene]

I now have a mini Keurig, but for years I did it the way Nominal Animal does: put a tablespoon of grounds in an empty mug. Add hot water, stir. Wait until most of the grounds sink to the bottom and drink.

I really don't like coffee. I drink it, but only for the caffeine.

[Nominal Animal]

I now have a mini Keurig, but for years I did it the way Nominal Animal does: put a tablespoon of grounds in an empty mug. Add hot water, stir. Wait until most of the grounds sink to the bottom and drink.

Actually, it's more like this:

Fill the coffee pot with cold water, and put on the stove.
When it boils, move it off so it won't actively boil, but won't cool too fast.
Add enough coffee grounds so your mixing spoon will stand up straight.
Let steep until the grounds are at the bottom.
Pour the coffee into a thermos flask.
Pump some coffee into your cup, mix in with milk.  (Edit: sugar?)

The worst sound is the Groorh-groorh when the thermos is empty.  That is scary on a Monday morning.

That said, I do have a Dolce Gusto capsule coffee maker, since nowadays I rarely drink more than one cup in a row, but the cafe latte capsules are too sweet.  I may have to switch to freezedried, and see if I can find unsweetened dried creamer, too; that'd be very nifty: it'd be so easy.  Coffee does taste better if you mix the coffee into the milk instead of milk into the coffee (just try it and see), unless you drink your mix burning hot.

I also occasionally mix in Vanilla (the genuine stuff, unsweetened) with my coffee.

[caulktel]

Roast my own beans and then grind and pour over. The only way to make coffee.

Joel
N6ALT

[PaulAm]

When my state changed the law to prohibit smoking in food establishments, I was able to pick up a 2 head commercial espresso machine from a Hookah lounge with all the trimmings for peanuts.  It has to preheat for about 15 minutes before use  and I figure a cup takes about 1KWH

Freshly ground coffee goes into the portafilter, press a button and >coffee<  (and mochas, lattes, etc)

Yeah it takes up a lot of space but I built a space in the kitchen for it and it runs off the solar array.  Also, the nearest decent coffee shop is 32 Km away so it makes living in a rural area possible 

[cdev]

I like using a French Press for making "chewy" coffee.

I also prefer milder lighter Guatemalan Antigua coffee.. I'm on the third one. The first two were the original Chambord kind and eventually they both fell and broke. Now we have a stainless steel thermos one (made by by Highwin. Cost around $20)

Like Ian suggests.

This method is very good. The coffee is delicious every single time.

Note: The picture is cut away, to show how its constructed. The body of the coffee press is all stainless steel. They also make a rainbow one. Very pretty but thats not the one that we have.

[Alex Eisenhut]

I have a Saeco Super Automatic, the kind of machine that grinds the beans and tamps and brews automatically.

I got tired of the constant cleaning and maintenance and inconsistency of the thing. It's old I guess.

Now I just drink instant and if I want a cappuccino I saunter across the street to the coffee shop.

I might buy a capsule machine eventually.

[TimFox]

The procedure that we use at home hasn't changed in over 40 years, following the procedure in "The Cook's Catalogue", Harper & Row 1975 (list price $15.95 for a 565 page illustrated hardcover book), p 501.  We use a manual Melitta filter holder and glass pot (nominal 8 cup capacity) with #6 Melitta paper filters, keeping the pot on a (now-discontinued) Melitta hot plate.  Two differences from our practice in the 1970s:  the filters we use now are unbleached natural brown paper (the bleached white ones are no longer politically correct), and our bean grinder is a burr grinder rather than the original Braun blade grinder.  The filters are still readily available, but I rarely see the manual pot and filter holder anymore.  No internet connection need apply.

[Nominal Animal]

You can get nasty biofilms and burned in stuff off stainless steel with boiling water and machine detergent.  For the truly stubborn stuff, boil clothes detergent in it.

I love my stainless steel thermos mugs, too.  The stainless steel half-liter thermos bottle I have is annoying to clean; the above plus a bottle brush works, but isn't as easy as thermos mugs.

[DiTBho]

Last time I visited  Yakutiya, I bought a big soviet thermos mug with a big red star on it. Funny coincidence, I found the same kind of object in Yakutsc. Now I have two soviet thermos mugs, easy to clean, and awesome to use!

I can make some coffee in the morning and the thermos mug keeps it hot for hours so I always have coffee when I work on my computer 

[Nominal Animal]

I love my thermos mugs exactly because when I get into flow, I can do two hours without noticing the passage of time.  In a normal cup, my coffee or tea would always be cold.

The bottle-shaped thermos flask is nice when going for a walk in the winter (hot drink!) or summer (cold drink!).
Because of childhood memories, I often put hot berry juice mix in mine in the winter: that's what we always got as kids when skiing.
That and steamed sausages.

When downhill skiing, hot cocoa is the thing.  After a few hours of clearing snow, hot rum, tea, and honey hits the spot perfectly.

[brucehoult]

E61-based HX (heat exchanger) espresso machine.

Right now I have a NZ [1] "Rocket" (original model) which I bought used two years ago when I arrived back from overseas. The whole setup with machine, grinder (Mini Macho), two handles and set of three baskets, aluminium tamper, a supply of cleaning materials, a set of four cups&saucers, two steaming jugs cost exactly NZ$1000 (US$680). Before that I had an Italian La Scala "Butterfly" for 10 years, also bought used. I took that to Moscow from NZ when I lived there and sold it there when I left -- for more than I paid for it :-)

I switch the machine on when I stagger out of bed. By the time I've been to the toilet and stuff it's hot. It then takes 3 minutes to grind beans, make coffee, steam milk, assemble a Flat White, and clean up. No biggie.


[1] NZ/Italian. Some NZ businessmen bought the rights (parts? factory?) from Italian company ECM when they decided to get out of domestic machines and concentrate on commercial.

[jh15]

Makita heat gun, large stainless bowl, colander, green beans. Beans good for a couple years, weigh them into colander, 70 grams after roasting, forget the green weight. Just as they turn dark brown and oily , and the first crack flak gone, dump in bowl to cool. It happens so fast, so is hard for me to not get dark roast which I like anyway.
     Then french press, then into a thermos thing.
     Haven't done it for awhile, and this thread reminded me I have a sack of green beans.
     It seems the caffeine in this is much stronger. I usually only have a cup of drip for for a kick start, but this is engine nitrous boost.

[Cerebus]

You can get nasty biofilms and burned in stuff off stainless steel with boiling water and machine detergent.  For the truly stubborn stuff, boil clothes detergent in it.

I'll let you into a secret that your grandmother knew: washing soda (Sodium carbonate).

Hot washing soda solution gets almost anything off almost anything. If it doesn't the muck is probably trapped in limescale and you need to descale it (I use hot citric acid solution) and then try the washing soda again. Washing soda is particularly good at cleaning off the stains from brewing coffee, most of the commercial cleaners for espresso machines are mostly sodium carbonate or some similar simple inorganic alkali. Also really good for removing burned on fat. Do not use it on aluminium, under any circumstances, it will eat the aluminium away.

[DiTBho]

Do not use it on aluminium, under any circumstances, it will eat the aluminium away.

Yup, I did that mistake. I won't repeat 

[DiTBho]

Today I bought a Chemex-glass coffee maker.

Unusual for me, but very interesting.

It will require coarse grind coffee 

[DiTBho]

I also bought this mini portable French coffee maker and a mini portable grinder.

It is so small that I can put it in my bag and it will surely be the perfect companion for the extreme summer adventure that I will have.

A man alone in the middle of nowhere with his bicycle, without wifi and telephone coverage but not without coffee

[DiTBho]

I had an Italian La Scala "Butterfly" for 10 years, also bought used. I took that to Moscow from NZ when I lived there

WOW, unusual and very professional coffee maker machine 

[Halcyon]

My daily driver is a Breville "Barista Pro". For me it's the right balance of automation combined with a manual machine and it gets to about 90% of the "quality" a professional would with a commercial machine. It's certainly good enough for me.

I drink my coffee black so the only time I use the steam wand is if I'm making coffee or hot chocolate for visitors.

My backup solution is a French press.

I will absolutely never ever drink instant "coffee". I would rather go without.

[brucehoult]

I had an Italian La Scala "Butterfly" for 10 years, also bought used. I took that to Moscow from NZ when I lived there

WOW, unusual and very professional coffee maker machine 

It's a domestic machine, but can also suit something like a pub or restaurant that gets asked for coffees from time to time, but isn't making them flat-out all day every day.

Like all or at least most E61 machines, most of the components are either built to last forever, or else have a lot in common with commercial machines. Every city in the world has some company that services commercial machines, and in my experience they are happy to look after the domestic variants too. The only parts that might sometimes fail and cost more than $10 are the boiler, the water pump, and the motherboard. All are easily replaced for not more than $200 each, and then you'll get another 20 years of service from the same machine.

[beanflying]

Doing some work on Group 1 (waiting to parts) of my 3 group Bench hog at present, major strip and clean is needed too after a busy last few months too 

I still drink a lot of brewed coffee as well but generally Siphon or Pourover brews.

Added a pic of the broken bit  Not sure if it was heat over a decade of use or more likely a manufacturing stress point that eventually fractured

[beanflying]

You can get nasty biofilms and burned in stuff off stainless steel with boiling water and machine detergent.  For the truly stubborn stuff, boil clothes detergent in it.
....snip...

Yep Napisan or Oxy type booster powders of various sorts break down coffee oils well. They share a fair bit in common with commercial coffee machine cleaners. Also works well on Glass for removing oil residues too.

*** Really important however be careful around some machines like Seaco and Delonghi as they have a stack of Aluminum parts in them and you might get issues with chemical attack.

For removing Lime, Calcium or hard water build up on machines or brewing gear then Food Grade citric Acid from a supermarket works well. Don't use Vinegar as is can leave a taint behind.

[SilverSolder]

I get good results cleaning coffee and tea stains by rubbing wetted salt (plain kitchen salt and a little water) on the affected area.  Use it as a kind of scouring powder to remove the stains from porcelain and stainless cups and mugs.

[DiTBho]

Today I tried to make coffee with Chemex-glass. It's definitely different from what you do with Moka and French-press, but it's delicious

[Alex Eisenhut]

Today I tried to make coffee with Chemex-glass. It's definitely different from what you do with Moka and French-press, but it's delicious

or

[beanflying]

Today I tried to make coffee with Chemex-glass. It's definitely different from what you do with Moka and French-press, but it's delicious

I am not a fan of Paper filtered coffee as it takes out to much of the oils/flavours. What you do get is a much cleaner lighter flavour cup which in the case of some beans is great.

For my Chemex I swapped it out to one of these https://ablebrewing.com/products/able-kone-coffee-filter I think yours is the narrow neck version so I am not sure this is an option. Still gives a very clean cup but lets most of the oils past.

Another cheap thing to get and try is the Neru Sock type of filter eBay auction: #392295810861 One of these will likely fit your Chemex for a cheap play thing. The Cup will be slightly cleaner than the metal Cone option but nearly all the oils will pass through. Cleaning in Oxy type cleaners and rinsing well say weekly and a good wash after use. Hario make a nice one with replaceable socks I use so look for a local source maybe.

[jpyeron]

Black Coffee Ice Cream

1 part solid coffee (E.g. spray dried instant coffee)
1.5 part heavy cream
2 part whole milk
1/96 part sugar
App 22x strength normal drip coffee

I use silicone egg molds to hold 7 days worth @ 2 scoops per morning (= 44/3 cups )

1 out of 10 tolerate it; 1 out of 20 enjoy it

[Halcyon]

Black Coffee Ice Cream

1 part solid coffee (E.g. spray dried instant coffee)
1.5 part heavy cream
2 part whole milk
1/96 part sugar
App 22x strength normal drip coffee

I use silicone egg molds to hold 7 days worth @ 2 scoops per morning (= 44/3 cups )

1 out of 10 tolerate it; 1 out of 20 enjoy it

A shot of espresso with vanilla ice cream works well too. I love a good affogato.

[Cerebus]

Another cheap thing to get and try is the Neru Sock type of filter eBay auction: #392295810861 One of these will likely fit your Chemex for a cheap play thing. The Cup will be slightly cleaner than the metal Cone option but nearly all the oils will pass through. Cleaning in Oxy type cleaners and rinsing well say weekly and a good wash after use. Hario make a nice one with replaceable socks I use so look for a local source maybe.

So let's just get this clear. You're telling him to strain his coffee through a sock!?!

Bloody Australians! 

[brucehoult]

Another cheap thing to get and try is the Neru Sock type of filter eBay auction: #392295810861 One of these will likely fit your Chemex for a cheap play thing. The Cup will be slightly cleaner than the metal Cone option but nearly all the oils will pass through. Cleaning in Oxy type cleaners and rinsing well say weekly and a good wash after use. Hario make a nice one with replaceable socks I use so look for a local source maybe.

So let's just get this clear. You're telling him to strain his coffee through a sock!?!

Bloody Australians! 

You sound like the kind of person who would be aghast at fashioning a shim for their BMW motorcycle using a bit of aluminium from a Coca Cola can, instead of a Genuine Part from Berlin.

[Cerebus]

Another cheap thing to get and try is the Neru Sock type of filter eBay auction: #392295810861 One of these will likely fit your Chemex for a cheap play thing. The Cup will be slightly cleaner than the metal Cone option but nearly all the oils will pass through. Cleaning in Oxy type cleaners and rinsing well say weekly and a good wash after use. Hario make a nice one with replaceable socks I use so look for a local source maybe.

So let's just get this clear. You're telling him to strain his coffee through a sock!?!

Bloody Australians! 
[/quote

You sound like the kind of person who would be aghast at fashioning a shim for their BMW motorcycle using a bit of aluminium from a Coca Cola can, instead of a Genuine Part from Berlin.

No I sound like the kind of person who'd take the mental image of beanflying pulling a sock off to make coffee amusing; and I look like the kind of person who can get a quote tag in the right place.

It used to be that you could trust an Aussie to know when one was indulging in a little friendly piss taking, rather than getting all chippy about it.

[beanflying]

Rather one of these socks than the likely Pommie version that Dobby the Elf was wearing 

Way back in the mists of Beanflying's adventures (circa 2009  ) into coffee these toys. The Kettle makes getting consistent pourover results much easier and the one on the right is for cold steeped coffee.

[DiTBho]

@Alex Eisenhut
LOL 

[DiTBho]

I am not a fan of Paper filtered coffee as it takes out to much of the oils/flavours.

It seems there is also a kit with some cloth filters. I have to buy them separately and check.
What is included is a set of paper filters. Apparently they don't look bad, but I have the same idea as you.

I think yours is the narrow neck version so I am not sure this is an option. Still gives a very clean cup but lets most of the oils past.

Umm, I will try this from Amazon. If it won't work, I will return it.

Another cheap thing to get and try is the Neru Sock type of filter eBay auction: #392295810861 One of these will likely fit your Chemex for a cheap play thing. The Cup will be slightly cleaner than the metal Cone option but nearly all the oils will pass through. Cleaning in Oxy type cleaners and rinsing well say weekly and a good wash after use. Hario make a nice one with replaceable socks I use so look for a local source maybe.

I want it I want it I want it 

(thanks for the info)

[DiTBho]

You sound like the kind of person who would be aghast at fashioning a shim for their BMW motorcycle using a bit of aluminium from a Coca Cola can, instead of a Genuine Part from Berlin.

(eheh, I did something similar because I was on the road with just a prepaid-card on budget
Not proud of the *wild hack*, but it worked  )

[DiTBho]

Black Coffee Ice Cream

Love this idea. I will try soon 

[Nominal Animal]

You guys are snobs

I don't mind drinking the dregs off the hot plate if there are pennies beneath the pot to stop it from burning.  I've even microwaved cold coffee.

Joking aside, I do like switching between dark and light roasts and arabica and robusta beans every now and then.

[DiTBho]

I've even microwaved cold coffee.

That's the kind of thing that I usually do when I cannot use kitchen stove or a camping gas stove. You are not alone with that 

My moka-coffee-maker is not for one cup but rather for three cups, so sometimes it makes more coffee than what I would like to drink, and another weird thing I sometimes do is storing the extra coffee in the fridge inside a glass bottle, so days later I usually boil some water and I add it to the cold coffee. The result is a hot drink where the coffee is diluted in water.

I rarely add sugar, but I sometimes add some lemon juice, or some distilled spirits, which in this case turns it into alcoholic drink.

[Nominal Animal]

I once had a thought: "I like coffee.  I like whisky.  I like honey."  So, I mixed them together, thinking I might have discovered an alternative to Irish Coffee.

The particular coffee blend, honey, and whisky, were all excellent when imbibed separately.  When combined, the result tasted exactly like licking an ashtray.

[Cubdriver]

I once had a thought: "I like coffee.  I like whisky.  I like honey."  So, I mixed them together, thinking I might have discovered an alternative to Irish Coffee.

The particular coffee blend, honey, and whisky, were all excellent when imbibed separately.  When combined, the result tasted exactly like licking an ashtray.

https://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=603

[jpyeron]

A shot of espresso with vanilla ice cream works well too. I love a good affogato.

Too sweet (and too much sugar for diabetics like me).

[Alex Eisenhut]

I once had a thought: "I like coffee.  I like whisky.  I like honey."  So, I mixed them together, thinking I might have discovered an alternative to Irish Coffee.

The particular coffee blend, honey, and whisky, were all excellent when imbibed separately.  When combined, the result tasted exactly like licking an ashtray.

+

[TimFox]

When still impoverished students, my wife found some recipes for commercial alcoholic beverages in "Women's Day" magazine, and we proceeded to make our own Kahlua.
As I remember, it started with immersing whole vanilla beans in very strong coffee, adding some other stuff, then mixing with high-proof vodka.
Seemed to work!

[DiTBho]

As I remember, it started with immersing whole vanilla beans in very strong coffee, adding some other stuff, then mixing with high-proof vodka.

WOW, great idea 

[beanflying]

Slightly fluffy but it's all about the taste 

[DiTBho]

Sllluuuuuuuuuuuurpp 

[Psi]

I always tend to get better coffee when I use the aero-press than anything else (proper barista expresso excluded).
But you do need to carefully control the hot water temp and the length of time before you press.
I also use a metal aero-press filter to get more of the coffee oils into the drink

Even the nespresso machine at work doesn't hold my interest over the aero-press when using the coffee beans I like

However I've found the style/type/quality of coffee beans/grinds you use matter more than how you make it.
There are so many styles of coffee beans available that you really have to try LOTS of them to figure out exactly what you enjoy.

When looking through coffee beans or ground coffee bags at the supermarket. I find squeezing the bag and sniffing through the air vent (95% have one) will guide you to one you like the most.  The bag with the nicest smell will, more often than not, make a coffee you will like.   If you live somewhere where the supermarkets only sell beans or ground coffee which is vacuum sealed into a brick, then i'm sorry. You're just going to have to keep buying them until you find one you enjoy.

[DiTBho]

Aeropress vs French Press - Pros and Cons you Need to Know 

[beanflying]

In theory you have a little more control over the Aeropress than you get in a French Press. The metal filter is a must have for it IMO as the stock paper ones are terrible. Typically the Aeropress will be a slightly cleaner tasting brew with little to no fines you tend to get with a French Press.

The Aeropress for a Camping toy is great as it is near indestructible. For preference I travel with a nice little Cup sized drip filter and ceramic grinder combo instead of the Aeropress.

For multicup as I am beyond extended hiking (got smarter as I got older) a twin walled 600ml Avanti French Press sits in my kit or I also have a fully metal Siphon Brewer that can go in for a trip.

The Answer is you need ALL OF THEM 

[DiTBho]

The Answer is you need ALL OF THEM 

LOL, next topic "hey guys? see my collection of coffee makers" 
edit1:
including a Japanese ceramic Chemex, because it looks different and interesting
edit2:
talking about *cups*, this website has weird stuff 

[M0HZH]

Bosch Tassimo capsules, the quality-to-convenience ratio can't be beaten.

[free_electron]

a spoon of nescafe gold instant espresso. hot water. lots of milk (at least 1/4 of the total volume)

[DiTBho]

so tasty 

[DiTBho]

So one week ago I bought a V60 Drip Decanter, Japan Import, made by Hario, coupled with a cone mini filter made by ABE Inc and compatible with Hario V60 size2.

Tried today, the glass decanter is tough and I feel like it wont break easily, the plastic V60 brewer itself is made up to Hario's usual scratch and works without flaw, and the rubber cuff is a rubber cuff.

I guess this is kind of Hario's take on the Chemex idea. Unlike the Chemex though, it's a two-part design with a separate brewing chamber that sits in the neck of the glass decanter. It's far easier to clean than a Chemex though, with a wider 'waste' allowing you better access to the lower part. The neoprene belt is also much more maintenance friendly as well as providing excellent insulation from the hot glass in use.

I love this stuff 

[Psi]

[Nominal Animal]

If you use Aerobie Aeropress filters, you can actually microwave the coffee without degradation in taste.
This is because the filters do filter out most of the fatty oils that get rancid fastest.

I wonder if there is a way to add something to the steeped coffee, to reduce its acidity?

Above the arctic circle, there are quite a few herbs that make for excellent infusions in alcohol (for taste, I mean).  The leaves of vaivaiskoivu (betula nana) and tunturikoivu (betula pubescens czerepanovii; prev. betula tortuosa), a small bush-sized (less than a meter tall) species of birch, also make for a nice tea (even when infused fresh).

I've mentioned I drink quite a bit of tea also, almost exclusively black teas.  There, the water temperature seems to be critical regarding the total flavour profile of the tea.  (Something to do with tannins? I dunno.)  I've often wondered how to cobble together something to provide a cup of pure water at the desired temperature.

I wonder if coffee grounds have a similar temperature dependence, just closer to boiling?  Has anyone tried steeping coffee in a pressure pot, to steep at well over 100°C water?

[Coordonnée_chromatique]

Hello,
Kinto make the fastest pour over, and the Timemore Chestnut is the fastest ginder.
The rancid taste appears very few minutes after the grinding and the temperature of the liquid is contantly falling farest from the ideal one, IMHO for this peculiar application the speed is GOD.
And put something inside is a design flaw.

[beanflying]

Lucky your translation to English is better than my French

The little Timemore Hand Grinder works well as do the Kyocera and similar Ceramic Burred hand grinders. For Brewed process coffee they are generally all up to it but for Espresso a lot lack the ability for consistent grind size for a decent shot.

The Kinto gear looks nice but it depends on where you live as to availability. Locally I can buy it wholesale but still to many $ for me



The last part I will take it to mean the brew temperature is important and so is the brew time 92C and something around 2-2.30 of brew time for two cups is a good start point. To slow and you get over extracted muck to fast and you miss all the good bits.

[Coordonnée_chromatique]

The trucated one is much better because of its superior speed and the basic dripper is only 20€
I'm only talking about the standard ordinary coffee 

[julianhigginson]

I got into cold brew coffee this summer... but have made coffee lots of ways... I have espresso machines and grinders (and still have a set of those I use at work for my afternoon pick me up) and have also got a french press and a stovetop moka pot.

Cold brew process is pretty easy, you need a coarse grind and you stick your coffee in a basket in water, in the fridge, for 24 hours (can apparently brew shorter time if you leave it at room temperature) and then pull out the basket....  you end up with about 1L of coffee, and apparently that lasts in the fridge for about a week (mine gets drunk faster than that)

I've dialled it in pretty well now, mostly, though I am getting a bunch of fines from the grind that make it through the whole process.. if I'm careful with the jug most of it stays down the bottom as sludge, but the last cup gets a bit grittier than I'd like. 

I tried filtering it with regular coffee filter paper from the supermarket, but the fines mostly go straight through the paper. Anyway... if I can fix that issue I'll be really happy.

Next step is to get a little gassing keg and some nitrogen bulbs, and do my own 1L batches of cold brew nitro coffee.

[beanflying]

Likely it is your grinding method giving you the fines, dedicated bag grinders with big flat burrs would fix most of that so see if you can get a local roaster to do your grinding and see if it helps the fines?

I made a large Calico filter for bigger batches (typically 8-10L) which works well or chase up the Mizudashi pot in this post https://www.eevblog.com/forum/cooking/(relax-topic)-whats-your-preferred-method-to-make-coffee/msg4044202/#msg4044202 there is plenty available in Oz these days and they are way cheaper than the cooler coffee drippers (got one of those too  ).

[julianhigginson]

Yeah it's definitely the grinder making the fines. Even a proper specialty coffee roaster place I went to and bought nice single origin coffee from and got them to grind it, I still get them (though it was only one place - I'm not sure they ground with flat burrs or not, they took it away to grind it... but they are a very comprehensive operation and I'm sure they know more about grinding that I ever will)

Capturing the fines as undisturbed sediment isn't too bad a solution. it wastes maybe 100mL of coffee at the end I think. I may be able to make that better if I can get a super gentle and non-turbulent way to get the coffee out of the jug... but I was very surprised just how porous the paper filters were when I tried them last week.. like, they were barely any improvement over the mesh in my cold brew jug.

Or maybe if I make a point to shake the jug up before pouring anything, the fines will get distributed through every glass of coffee, and I may not notice them that way. :-)

[beanflying]

There is a debate about flat vs conical burrs even in the high end grinders.

Typically for Espresso flat gets you a tighter grind distribution and a marginally cleaner cup (flame suit on  ) over even the big boy conical's which with their slightly increased spread are a bit easier to get consistent shots with with a small loss of clarity (Kevlar flamesuit now fitted on top). Over the last 15-20 years this has swung slow speed flat to big slow conical and back to even larger flat burrs

For Brewed process Flats every time for me and my daily driver is also a Flat burr for Espresso in spite of owning two large conical Grinders as well. The Conicals when I amwas punching out 3-400 coffees a morning at a market with two of us the grind speed advantage of these and shot consistency was well worth it.

[PlainName]

Hasn't anyone thought of using a centrifuge instead of filters?

[DiTBho]

Hasn't anyone thought of using a centrifuge instead of filters?

interesting idea 

a mini-centrifuge! I want it!

[DiTBho]

Next step is to get a little gassing keg and some nitrogen bulbs, and do my own 1L batches of cold brew nitro coffee.

that's sound interesting, nitro coffee 

[SeanB]

Was thinking of this today, so got a bottle. $10 Aus, though Dave will not drink it, and neither will I, but I do have friends who like it.

[SpecialK]

Melitta single cup pour-over with #2 filter.  Water just boiled from an electric kettle (might be too hot and burns the coffee - DGAF).  Any 2lb can of coffee from the supermarket is okay.  Maxwell House is too weak.

I drink with a bit of half and half cream and one tsp sugar. 

[rfclown]

My preferred methods are based largely on the fact that I'm the only coffee drinker in the house, and I want a quick easy clean up (I'm lazy, but I want to keep the paraphernalia clean or it interferes with the drink). I mostly do espresso, and I use a Braun steam machine that someone gave me after my Mr Coffee one broke. I grind with a blade grinder.. just keep going till it's powder ("Horrors" some say. I've tried different things and I get a taste I like with this). Seems that these steam machines (at least the way I use them) only work ok with 2 shots, so that's what I do. I'll often drink one shot straight, and one with heated milk. If I'm traveling, I take a small Moka pot. I don't use that at home (unless power is out due to hurricane and I'm working on the propane grill burner) because the espresso machine is faster to make the coffee, and easier to rinse off the parts. I do like the results of the Moka pot, but contrary to the advice I hear or read, I pack the grinds (not really hard). If I drip, I'll do one cup with a plastic Melita thing that sits on a mug. Have to grind course for that, for which the blade grinder is not that great. I don't understand brown paper filters. Run plain water through one and taste the results. 

[cdev]

I need a way to acceptably cream coffee thats good that doesn't spoil. My SO and myself are both on a keto diet which eschews a lot of foods.. Half and half my preferred cream only comes in pint size which is a lot of cream.

We have some coconut milk, we've been using that.. Coconut milk is good because it contains MCTs, which are good for your brain.

[SilverSolder]

I need a way to acceptably cream coffee thats good that doesn't spoil. My SO and myself are both on a keto diet which eschews a lot of foods.. Half and half my preferred cream only comes in pint size which is a lot of cream.

We have some coconut milk, we've been using that.. Coconut milk is good because it contains MCTs, which are good for your brain.

Freeze the half & half in an ice cub tray.  Conveniently pop a cube into your cup of coffee when needed! 

[Nominal Animal]

I need a way to acceptably cream coffee thats good that doesn't spoil. My SO and myself are both on a keto diet which eschews a lot of foods.. Half and half my preferred cream only comes in pint size which is a lot of cream.

I like UHT processed milk and cream.  It has a bit sweeter taste, but it keeps well.  Unopened, you don't need to refrigerate it.

[RocRizzo]

Mostly drip, but if I’m really desperate I take some coffee beans and chew them up into a fine paste before swallowing. Good caffeine ruse, and some extra fiber from the beans! 🤣😂🤣

[Nominal Animal]

That reminds me: caffeine alone does not do much for me.  I'm not sure I can tell the difference between decaffeinated coffee and normal coffee... I don't get any withdrawal, either, if I happen to not drink anything with caffeine in it for a few days (say, during hot days in the summer, when I tend to switch to carbonated water).

On the other hand, mix caffeine with lots of sugar, like in guarana cough drops, and it affects me hard... 

(I do eat too much candy.  I like the sour and salty varieties best, like "salmiakki" (ammonium chloride) licorice, and anything sour enough with lots of citric acid...)

[Siwastaja]

Filter coffee.

Haven't had a working coffee machine for ages, so manual operation, using a kettle to boil the water, and the cheap plastic thing in which the filter paper is placed.

Cheap ground coffee and cheap, non-bleached filter papers.

In general, quantity over quality. Most Finns prefer light roast level.

For consumption, sugar plus milk or cream. Whole milk is OK. Skimmed only in a pinch.

[SilverSolder]

I've just used my first pack of ground coffee bags (they work like tea bags, except have ground coffee in them).  Very good solution when you don't have any means of making coffee!  (construction site, in this case).

[brucehoult]

I've just used my first pack of ground coffee bags (they work like tea bags, except have ground coffee in them).  Very good solution when you don't have any means of making coffee!  (construction site, in this case).

You have hot water but not electricity?

Nespresso is kind of expensive (for the pods) and ugh compared to a proper E61 machine, but they have some REALLY tiny and portable machines now.

[penfold]

[...]
Nespresso is kind of expensive (for the pods) and ugh compared to a proper E61 machine, but they have some REALLY tiny and portable machines now.

Have you tried the reusable pods? A few guys at a client's office used them often and seemed to enjoy it, never bothered trying it myself as at the time I had a (working) expresso machine at home, which, alas, I was quite happy with.

[brucehoult]

[...]
Nespresso is kind of expensive (for the pods) and ugh compared to a proper E61 machine, but they have some REALLY tiny and portable machines now.

Have you tried the reusable pods? A few guys at a client's office used them often and seemed to enjoy it, never bothered trying it myself as at the time I had a (working) expresso machine at home, which, alas, I was quite happy with.

I've probably only had half a dozen Nespresso coffees in my life, at other people's houses. I'd had a traditional E61 machine at home for the last 15 years.

Reusable pods are no doubt money-saver for people who use a Nespresso machine heavily, but does the extra fiddling around make the Nespresso still worth it compared to a normal machine, given that convenience is pretty much the whole point?

[DiTBho]

You have hot water but not electricity?

That's the case when you are in a mountain hut.
You have wood to burn, but no electricity.

Oh, no electricity, but I somehow had my coffee

[beanflying]

This is why I have one of these in the back of the Truck along with a hand grinder and brewing device. Just add Beans and travel



Yes that is a 3458A below it too 

[Microdoser]

You sound like the kind of person who would be aghast at fashioning a shim for their BMW motorcycle using a bit of aluminium from a Coca Cola can, instead of a Genuine Part from Berlin.

Hehe

No I sound like the kind of person who'd take the mental image of beanflying pulling a sock off to make coffee amusing; and I look like the kind of person who can get a quote tag in the right place.

It used to be that you could trust an Aussie to know when one was indulging in a little friendly piss taking, rather than getting all chippy about it.

Actually, you sound like someone who has not read 'Zen, and the art of motorcycle maintenance'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance

Quote:
he knows exactly why a shim cut from an aluminium beer-or coke can will make a perfect solution to the slight looseness of John's handlebars, although John can't accept such defilement of his precious BMW and prefers to leave the handlebars loose, perhaps forever. “I was seeing what the shim meant.” Pirsig patiently explains. “He was seeing what the shim was.”

[Cerebus]

You sound like the kind of person who would be aghast at fashioning a shim for their BMW motorcycle using a bit of aluminium from a Coca Cola can, instead of a Genuine Part from Berlin.

Hehe

No I sound like the kind of person who'd take the mental image of beanflying pulling a sock off to make coffee amusing; and I look like the kind of person who can get a quote tag in the right place.

It used to be that you could trust an Aussie to know when one was indulging in a little friendly piss taking, rather than getting all chippy about it.

Actually, you sound like someone who has not read 'Zen, and the art of motorcycle maintenance'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance

Quote:
he knows exactly why a shim cut from an aluminium beer-or coke can will make a perfect solution to the slight looseness of John's handlebars, although John can't accept such defilement of his precious BMW and prefers to leave the handlebars loose, perhaps forever. “I was seeing what the shim meant.” Pirsig patiently explains. “He was seeing what the shim was.”

Actually I read it about 45 years ago.

[brucehoult]

Actually, you sound like someone who has not read 'Zen, and the art of motorcycle maintenance'.

Well spotted.

[DiTBho]

The first time I went to Amazon to buy a coffee filter, I did not know that several coffee filter sizes were available.

I thought it is only universal ... or one size fits all.

Forget it. No dice. So, I ended up going back home and looked for the manual that came together with my new coffee maker.

My new heatproof glass is a Japanese V60 Drip Decanter. Authentic coffee made stylishly. It's also dishwasher safe, and it's all based on the V60 cone shape, all good points, but ... the manual doesn't say a word (well, it's written in Japanese), and you do not know what type, shape, and size of coffee filters to buy.

Except "buy Hario 02 Filters" (this is the only thing written in English), where "02" means for 1-4 cups, it's only for their paper filters, and ‘Cups’ as defined by the brand are very modest; for reference, from my experience, the V60-02, which is considered the standard size, can comfortably make 600 ml of coffee, though you’ll get a better coffee if you make 300 to 400 ml.

Anyway, when you are starting to become one of the coffee enthusiasts and wanted to explore, or should I say, level up your coffee experience from instant to brewed, then you need to get covered: by doubts!

I do find the chemistry of photolithography fascinating and I'd like to buy stainless steel filter with thousand hundred holes of 0.25 mm, but should I use it directly with the decanter, or should I put the filter inside the dripped inside the neck of the decanter? Mumble .... And which size?!?

Code: [Select]

Plan-A (default set):
.       paper
     \ filter / dripper
    \ \      / /
   \ \ \    / / /
    \ \ \  / / /
     \ \____/ /
      \      /
       |    |
      decanter


Code: [Select]

Plan-B (experiment#1):
.   stainless steel
    \  filter  /
   \ \        / /
    \ \      / /
     \ \____/ /
      \      /
       |    |
      decanter


Code: [Select]

Plan-C  (experiment#2):
.     stainless
        steel
     \ filter / dripper
    \ \      / /
   \ \ \    / / /
    \ \ \  / / /
     \ \____/ /
      \      /
       |    |
      decanter

This time it all started with a coffee filter. Forty minutes. Googling on different online stores, only two coffee filters could fit.

• KINTO SCS Stainless Filter 27624, 2 cups, φ100 x H75 mm: will it fit the dripper?!?
• KINTO SCS Stainless Filter 27625, 4 cups, φ125 × H95 mm: will it fit directly the decanter neck?!?

We will see 

[Nominal Animal]

I'd like to buy stainless steel filter with thousand hundred holes of 0.25 mm, but should I use it directly with the decanter, or should I put the filter inside the dripped inside the neck of the decanter?

My Cloer 5548 tea maker uses a stainless steel "filter" to keep the tea leaves in place, with 0.5mm holes at a 1mm pitch pattern.

To ensure flow, it has plastic ridges in the steeper pot to ensure there is room all around the filter vessel.

So, if your dripper is the ridged kind, I would put the filter inside the dripper, so that there is a couple of mm of room on the outside of the filter for water to flow easier through.

And which size?!?

Hario V60/02 filters are conical (without the flat you see in 2 = 102 = 2K filters), with the size designation of 02, and V60 referring to the 60g of ground coffee it can take, I believe.

Hario's own V60/02 metal filter has a built-in dripper, it being double-walled mesh.  It's dimensions are stated as: Height 96mm; Width 148mm; Diameter 123mm.  Unfortunately, I can't tell if those are the outside/dripper measurements, or the inside/filter measurements; I suspect the former.

Interestingly, these filters are unlike the one in my tea maker – which uses a thin perforated steel sheet –: these coffee filters are usually made of stainless steel cloth.  Thus, no photolithography for you, I'm afraid. 

[DiTBho]

Thus, no photolithography for you, I'm afraid. 

D'oh 

That's the dude behind my Hario's decanter.
(it's all his fault, because he is *the* person who wrote the manual)

[Nominal Animal]

In reality, because it is conical without a flat at the bottom, all you'd need to do is check the apex angle is roughly correct, and the filter you get is large enough.

[DiTBho]

KINTO SCS Stainless Filter 27625, 4 cups, φ125 × H95 mm: will it fit directly the decanter neck?!?[/li]
[/list]

yes! Just arrived, it perfectly fit the decanter neck! 

[mnementh]

All y'alls who drink raw coffe make me sick. That muck ain't even good enuf to deserve the 2nd e.   

mnem

[mnementh]

I once had a thought: "I like coffee.  I like whisky.  I like honey."  So, I mixed them together, thinking I might have discovered an alternative to Irish Coffee.

The particular coffee blend, honey, and whisky, were all excellent when imbibed separately.  When combined, the result tasted exactly like licking an ashtray.

Substitute Frangelico hazelnut liqueur for the whiskey. Add Heavy Whipping Cream. Makes Kahlua taste like Cerebus' sock water. 

mnem
Columbian or die.

[mnementh]

Slightly fluffy but it's all about the taste 

Damn you bean... you got me missing mum-in-law's coffee shop. You got the roaster attachment for your LASER cutting table perfected yet...?

mnem

[mnementh]

You sound like the kind of person who would be aghast at fashioning a shim for their BMW motorcycle using a bit of aluminium from a Coca Cola can, instead of a Genuine Part from Berlin.

Hehe

No I sound like the kind of person who'd take the mental image of beanflying pulling a sock off to make coffee amusing; and I look like the kind of person who can get a quote tag in the right place.

It used to be that you could trust an Aussie to know when one was indulging in a little friendly piss taking, rather than getting all chippy about it.

Actually, you sound like someone who has not read 'Zen, and the art of motorcycle maintenance'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance

Quote:
he knows exactly why a shim cut from an aluminium beer-or coke can will make a perfect solution to the slight looseness of John's handlebars, although John can't accept such defilement of his precious BMW and prefers to leave the handlebars loose, perhaps forever. “I was seeing what the shim meant.” Pirsig patiently explains. “He was seeing what the shim was.”

Actually I read it about 45 years ago.

Not quite that long ago...

*sigh*

Probably due to revisit it; lessons remembered are no less valid than lessons learned anew...

mnem
https://archive.org/details/ZenAndTheArtOfMotorcycleRepair-RobertPirsig

[mnementh]

I need a way to acceptably cream coffee thats good that doesn't spoil. My SO and myself are both on a keto diet which eschews a lot of foods.. Half and half my preferred cream only comes in pint size which is a lot of cream.

We have some coconut milk, we've been using that.. Coconut milk is good because it contains MCTs, which are good for your brain.

Heavy whipping cream is much more Keto-friendly, provided you live somewhere they don't pollute it with copious amounts of carageenan to compensate for ruining the stuff with ultra-pasteurization. *blerk* And at least for me, a couple TBSP is fewer calories than a "almost satisfactory" amount of milk. 

mnem
*toddles off to do something... else.*

[Psi]

Here's my ususal.

Set the coffee grinder to something a small amount more course than expresso grind.  Medium-Fine Grind.

Put it into the areo-press and add water from the jug (~90degC).
I usually just eyeball adding a small amount of tap water to the jug after it boils to drop it back from 100C.

Stir the coffee and water for 1-2 seconds in the areopress.

Wait 10 seconds

Press areo-press down, It will take some force as the grind is small.

Add sugar/milk and enjoy

[SilverSolder]

Here's my ususal.

Set the coffee grinder to something a small amount more course than expresso grind.  Medium-Fine Grind.

Put it into the areo-press and add water from the jug (~90degC).
I usually just eyeball adding a small amount of tap water to the jug after it boils to drop it back from 100C.

Stir the coffee and water for 1-2 seconds in the areopress.

Wait 10 seconds

Press areo-press down, It will take some force as the grind is small.

Add sugar/milk and enjoy

I do something similar, except using a Bodum Travel Press so I can slurp it in the car,  or while working outside, or in the garage, etc etc and have it stay warm!

[mnementh]

mnem

[mnementh]

      

https://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-Brands-Percolator-Stainless/dp/B00C4VVLI8/

A new percolator for my dad; same as the one we've had for several years now. This one has all the features I consider "non-negotiable". Dad is staying with us now, and he drinks decaf. I just couldn't bear the thought of contaminating our pot with that wretched stuff. *blerk*

mnem

[PlainName]

I have my dad's percolator from 40+ years ago - sits on the stove for heating. Fired it up a couple of years ago to refresh some pleasant memories from my youth and it was utterly foul

Probably the coffee, though. Percolators needs a quite coarse grind and fresh, of course. Not being consummate consumers of same the stuff we had laying around was, er, non-optimal.

[Ian.M]

... Dad is staying with us now, and he drinks decaf. I just couldn't bear the thought of contaminating our pot with that wretched stuff. *blerk*

Wretched stuff is an excellent description for decaff.  Read: https://www.britannica.com/story/how-is-coffee-decaffeinated
and weep.

TLDR: water based decaffeination of whole beans is *SLOW* and *EXPENSIVE* so the odds are your dad's decaff beans were soaked in either ethyl acetate (also commonly used in paint thinners) or methylene chloride (the 'good' but highly toxic paint stripper). 

[mnementh]

Not my first rodeo.

This will do until I can find decaf whole bean coffee at a local grocery. While I'd love to get dad into a decaf Columbian brew, I'm not sure if I'm ready to take on the Karma of supporting people who would do that to Columbian coffee, even the lesser grades... 

I draw the line at grinding fresh in my home... I've done it and I refuse to deal with the mess anymore. Ground at the store before I take it home is as far down that rabbit-hole as I'm willing to go again. 


mnem
I have a life, and a wife, and things to get done.   

[floobydust]

What ground coffee/water ratio are people using?
https://coffeelikeapro.com/coffee-to-water-ratio-calculator website says 14g/237mL/8oz. US, which is close to Starbucks 2 tbsp/10g/180mL/6oz.
But I use 1/2 that, around 30g/L in a French Press so I wondered if that is weak, it doesn't taste that way though.

[mnementh]

One scoop for me, and one scoop for thee... and one more for the pot. 

mnem
"Clunk-tsssst, rattle-rattle, all morning long... tsssst-clunk, rattle-rattle, sing a perc song..."

[beanflying]

Typically brew ratios for Coffee are from 15-18:1 Water to Beans ('Golden Ratio'). Generally I brew 15:1 (adjust the grind and brew time for results) but for some more delicate beans I drop that toward 20:1. The Ratio is not a RULE but a guideline.

Coffee Cupping is generally done at 18:1 (SCA standard) but it is a slurp and spit looking for defects and individual flavour points rather than an enjoyable brew to drink. To heavy here and you will tend to mask out the more subtle flavours and notes of the beans you are slurping.

With French Press in particular the bean mass stays in contact with the water for the entire brew process unlike a drip filter brew so you can in theory get more out of a given lot of bean by extending the brew before plunging. Also a finer grind while it can give you a little sludge in the cup gives you a lot more surface area to more fully extract the beans. To much time will lead to over extraction and you will tend to draw out some of the more bitter flavanoids in the bean so shorter time (2 1/2-3 minutes) and more beans (15:1) is where I like to head in most cases.

So have a play with grind size, time and the ratio (only one at a time) and see if you get a result you like better.

[floobydust]

Well then, I'm not using enough coffee.  The grinder uses a timer and I'm finding the mass it grinds up varies quite a bit, mostly due to how full the hopper is. About a 30% difference between a hi-lo hopper and the same fixed time.

I've been preferring lower water temps for the press, pour around 85°C and brew a bit longer, maybe its cooled down to 65°C when I'm drinking it.

[thinkfat]

About 16 grams of fresh-ground beans, typically a light roast. Brewed in a filter, with only little time for blooming, 300ml of water heated to 90°C, directly into a 250ml cup. I drink without milk, no need if it's good coffee.

But most of the time I drink espresso, or double-shot capuccino with steam-foamed full milk.

[thinkfat]

What ground coffee/water ratio are people using?
https://coffeelikeapro.com/coffee-to-water-ratio-calculator website says 14g/237mL/8oz. US, which is close to Starbucks 2 tbsp/10g/180mL/6oz.
But I use 1/2 that, around 30g/L in a French Press so I wondered if that is weak, it doesn't taste that way though.

For a filter-brewed coffee I'd be at 55-60 grams per liter. No idea how that translates to a press.

[Zero999]

Moka is my favourite, but I often use a French press because it's easier. I always boil the water using an electric kettle, before pouring in to the Moka to speed things up.

When I'm at work, I use instant coffee and Options brand instant hot chocolate, with a dash of milk.

[metrologist]

Usually I just hold up the cup for the waitress to see. Bowls of cream and sugar usually come in one hand with a steaming pot of coffee in the other. If you see bubbles in your cup, it means good luck.

[mansaxel]

At home, the Moccamaster, with 1x4 filters, filled to brim, about 1,5 litres water, 71 grams dark roast filter ground. Very repeatable.

In the outdoors, the Trangia pot, cold water, coarse grind beans (as dark roast as possible) and bring to a boil, lift off, boil again, let stand for a minute to make the grounds sink off, and serve. Don't clean the pot for the next batch, just add more beans... 

Yes, we and our easterly brothers and sisters in Finland are the ones who drink the most coffee per capita in the world. 

[mnementh]

First brew for dad. Still working on the right amount of coffee for his tastebuds; also a lot of silt on the bottom due to fine grind, so we're gonna try disc filters. Yes, I know you're supposed to use a coarse grind with percolators; that was a trade-off made for being water-process decaf.

Worst case, we'll go on a store crawl to find someplace with decaf whole-bean as a regular stock item so I can grind it proper.

mnem
Life goes on.

[Psi]

Anyone have a recommendations for a 240V jug/kettle that is commonly available internationally (i'm in NZ) and has a programmable stop temperature in 1 degC increments?

[beanflying]

Anyone have a recommendations for a 240V jug/kettle that is commonly available internationally (i'm in NZ) and has a programmable stop temperature in 1 degC increments?

Should be plenty of options in NZ or even shipping from Oz shouldn't be to expensive. Hario gear is great but a little expensive https://coffee-tech.co.nz/product-category/brewing-gear/kettles/

On more of a Budget Breville make some ok gear too.

or chase up some of the brands listed here. The Bonavita gear is likely available in NZ and is also ok gear. https://bomborasupplies.com.au/brewing-gear-range/kettles

[mnementh]

At home, the Moccamaster, with 1x4 filters, filled to brim, about 1,5 litres water, 71 grams dark roast filter ground. Very repeatable.

In the outdoors, the Trangia pot, cold water, coarse grind beans (as dark roast as possible) and bring to a boil, lift off, boil again, let stand for a minute to make the grounds sink off, and serve. Don't clean the pot for the next batch, just add more beans... 

Yes, we and our easterly brothers and sisters in Finland are the ones who drink the most coffee per capita in the world.

Yup... same as I grew up with on grandma's farm: Ranch coffee made on a wood or gas hob, filtered by straining through your teeth. 

Guess all these years of marriage have made me some tiny bit civilized... we tried the Brew-Rite paper disc filters on dad's percolator and it works quite well. The Brew-Rite discs are definitely made of paper, and quite thin, so they conform very tightly to the bottom of the basket. 

I tried them in our pot, and one grain of coffee in my cup... we'll see what things look like when I get down to the dregs. 

mnem

[beanflying]

Today is the day they replace the rotten powerpole in the street.

Break out the camping gear because 'Coffee'.

Nice Yirgacheffe in the grinder 

[floobydust]

How hot is the water? I am finding boiling is not great for flavour compared to letting it cool to say 85°C, for a French press.
So I am curious how it matters in drip-through.

[beanflying]

Much over 90C and you bring out more of the undesirable flavours. So somewhere between 85-92 works best for brewed. Roast profile and bean choice plays a big part too. Typical heavy roasts taste like ass when used in a brewed process.

The other factor with a press is watch you don't steep for to long before pressing or you will over extract the brew.

[Psi]

If you want to get good coffee from a pod machine I recommend getting ristretto style pods and a machine that has a ristretto setting (very short/small extraction).  Pod machines just always seems to make better coffee with short extractions.

Use 2 pods per drink, since 1 pod is really intended for a tiny coffee mug anyway, and ristretto is pretty small amount of coffee.

You can add water/milk/sugar as you want. You don't have to drink it as a tiny ristretto shot.

[beanflying]

The best results from pods is just don't 

Typically they hold around 5-7g of floor sweepings and assorted flavours and preservatives.

'Traditionally' an Espresso is 30ml while a more modern trend has been to shut that off early at closer to 20ml/shot, this is generally based on an extraction time of around 25-30 seconds. However to get that to work you should be grinding and dosing differently too so it is not as some hipster wannabes do simply pouring a 15-20 second shot.

However this is generally not Italy and not the 1950's and 60's so we have typically moved on from single shot Espressos which would be made with (generally accepted to be 8-9g) and if you local coffee shop is doing it properly they will be making you a short to full double shot from 16-21g baskets. So even two pods is shortchanging you before you get to their other issues.

Your average cafe (not the better coffee shops) has also pumped up the size of their drinking vessels to stupidly large while 150-180ml were the norm now unless you get a Cappuccino in a 250-300ml bowl you think you are getting shortchanged. So if you get milky weak swill commercially then more than likely they used a single basket or split the double into two coffees or stop asking for a bucket

Ok Friday non rant time is over and it is Beer O'clock

[Psi]

The best results from pods is just don't 

Typically they hold around 5-7g of floor sweepings and assorted flavours and preservatives.

I agree, but sometimes you have no choice.

[mengfei]

New to the scene 

I like my coffee with milk & I use Camel Powdered milk which taste great "for me"

I either do a pour over of 600g in one go - is this OK to do or should i do a 300 + 300 pour 1:18 ratio

or

22g in 44g out espresso then add that to 600g of powdered camel milk or cows milk.
Before I was using a powdered mixture for Bulletproof coffee

Am I doing the unthinkable 

[Ian.M]

No.  The unspeakable/unthinkable is heating condensed milk + Cardamom pods to brew with (or even the whole brew) in a shared electric kettle used by others of different ethnicity!

Coming back to find a kettle tainted with fortnight old milk-impregnated limescale 🤮 is why we made Jaz buy the rest of us a new kettle.  He then made further efficiency savings by boiling his breakfast egg in his unholy brew in the same kettle, but after one too many boil-overs due to holding the switch down, was banned from doing so in the shared kitchen. 

[PlainName]

is this OK to do or should i do...

If you like it then it is perfectly OK.

[nigelwright7557]

Due to a dicky stomach I can only drink Birds mellow coffee.
I tend to make it with all milk.

Side effects of coffee can be a nuisance.
Cant drink it before bed time or I cant sleep.
It also keeps me up pee-ing all night.
Caffeine upsets my bladder and makes me pee more often.
I have a enlarged prostate which doesnt help.

[PlainName]

Tried Camp Coffee? My missus uses it to make coffee cake so it tastes reasonably close but doesn't actually have coffee in it.

[mengfei]

No.  The unspeakable/unthinkable is heating condensed milk + Cardamom pods to brew with (or even the whole brew) in a shared electric kettle used by others of different ethnicity!

Coming back to find a kettle tainted with fortnight old milk-impregnated limescale 🤮 is why we made Jaz buy the rest of us a new kettle.  He then made further efficiency savings by boiling his breakfast egg in his unholy brew in the same kettle, but after one too many boil-overs due to holding the switch down, was banned from doing so in the shared kitchen. 

oh my! that's nasty.

tried condensed milk the other day, didn't like it now but when we where young it was yummy 

[beanflying]

No.  The unspeakable/unthinkable is heating condensed milk + Cardamom pods to brew with (or even the whole brew) in a shared electric kettle used by others of different ethnicity!

Coming back to find a kettle tainted with fortnight old milk-impregnated limescale 🤮 is why we made Jaz buy the rest of us a new kettle.  He then made further efficiency savings by boiling his breakfast egg in his unholy brew in the same kettle, but after one too many boil-overs due to holding the switch down, was banned from doing so in the shared kitchen. 

Vietnamese Coffee is definitely out there  I actually do a Spiced Hot Chocolate mix with Cardamom, Nutmeg and Cinnamon but Coffee is Coffee 

Speaking of Eggs and horror cooking methods an old classic is using the steam wand on an Espresso machine to make scrambled eggs. Ever had to scrape and remove months old milk, egg and mystery detritus from those wands - I have for $ 

[mengfei]

Speaking of Eggs and horror cooking methods an old classic is using the steam wand on an Espresso machine to make scrambled eggs. Ever had to scrape and remove months old milk, egg and mystery detritus from those wands - I have for $ 

hmmm you gave me an idea with that egg+steam wand, mine has 3 holes   

[themadhippy]

Vietnamese Coffee is definitely out there

best coffee  out there according to my taste buds,but not boiled with the condensed milk ,you add a dollop of that to your cup first.

[Nominal Animal]

I like certain brands of UHT milk in my coffee.  (The ultra-pasteurization process generates a bit of sweetness that suits my tastes better than sucrose (table sugar) or other sweeteners.)
(I also like it in tea, although honey with specific flavoured black teas is quite nice too.  Oh, and a tiny bit of vanilla is sometimes very nice.)

Now, my own senses claim that there is a difference between mixing milk into coffee, and coffee into milk, even with the exact same amounts.  I've always wondered if that is true or not, but have never bothered to actually do a blind test.  Anyone else have an opinion?

[dobsonr741]

18 in 36 out espresso, in 30 seconds. We are engineers, aren’t we?

[mengfei]

18 in 36 out espresso, in 30 seconds. We are engineers, aren’t we?

Oh my! this has so many variables, i wish it was always as simple as 18in 36out 30secs 

oh BTW just moded my cheaaaap grinder coz the lowest setting just barely makes the cut in espresso
added a washer bellow the cutting head from 0.4mm to now 0.7mm & it "seems" to churn our powder type coffee which sometimes clogs the porta filter (depending on the type of beans)
it's similar to this

   

[beanflying]

And as Engineers we also know that there is way more than one way to write a specification let alone interpret it or even decide which specification should apply.

Italians will tell you are wrong period, Hipsters will want to debate you over the merits and the flavour 'notes' created by sticking to or varying from it 

Even if you take a numerical timed and weighed set of figures what temperature, pre infusion, pressure profile during infusion and on and on it goes. Coffee is part numbers and much more an ART.

[dobsonr741]

IMO there needs to be a solid foundation of technicalities - dialing in the espresso, and be able to do it repeatedly with the same results with the same batch of beans.

The art comes with picking the beans, and bending it even further to taste, up or down in extraction time, pressure and temperature.

[PlainName]

do it repeatedly with the same results

Not possible. You can have two cups exactly  the same, but the first will affect the taste of the second so you wouldn't be able to definitively say one is better than the other.

[beanflying]

IMO there needs to be a solid foundation of technicalities - dialing in the espresso, and be able to do it repeatedly with the same results with the same batch of beans.

The art comes with picking the beans, and bending it even further to taste, up or down in extraction time, pressure and temperature.

The numbers you offered up above just don't apply to my gear for example the baskets are 55mm doubles on my day to day machine and for my $ earner I am running 20g VST's. Gear varies.

While numbers are a good start point if I am punching out 50-60 coffees an hour I am not timing or measuring anything by the numbers after an initial dial in at the start of the session. As the temperature and humidity changes (generally I am doing outdoor gigs but even indoor varies) the grinder gets tweaked (in some cases a LOT) along the way to keep the shots in the 'ballpark'. This rig is setup as a purge pour (corrects the temp if the group has been idle), short double (around 45ml) and a full double (60ml) on the dosers. The machine runs fixed pre infusion which is 'ok' but I would like some more control over it. Any tweaking is done by 'feel' and 'look' at the pour for on the fly throughout the session and never by time.

My daily driver is a totally overkill  generally just for me a 3grp Izzo Lever but it pours 60ml shots regardless. I run it at around 35-38 seconds for that total volume but I am pulling the glass about 3/4 of that in volume for me but for a few of my bucket drinking mates I will make them a full double for their 12oz drinks. Unlike a pumped machine the pressure drops off a lot as the pour ends so it is far less prone to the over extraction issues of a constant 9bar pour.

So you cannot offer up an 'absolute' number(s) as something to be agreed on as a matter of fact but you can offer up 'guidelines' with caveats. The ART is being able to see and taste when it isn't right.

[metrologist]

My employer installed a fancy automatic coffee machine with about 50 selections and various adjustments, so now I just press on the touchscreen. I stopped making coffee at home.

[Siwastaja]

I have this coffee story which underlines the low quality (but high quantity) standards here. One winter Monday morning, I entered our office, with no one else present, and with my hands still very cold as I had forgotten my gloves somewhere, I tried the coffee pot. "Feels definitely warm, oh nice, I guess someone was here already and made some fresh coffee; it just needs a bit of reheating". Microwave, that is! Hm, tastes a little bit weird but no worries, quantity over quality and so on; another cup that is!

Then the other guy enters, and I say "oh you already made coffee, nice, I warmed it up". ... "nope, I didn't. That's leftover from Friday which I forgot to pour out". My hands were just calibrated to the cold, so the room temperature coffee pot felt warm!

But no problem whatsoever. Good enough coffee that was, sitting for 3 days. During winter it doesn't grow mold, which easily happens in summer.

[mengfei]

My employer installed a fancy automatic coffee machine with about 50 selections and various adjustments, so now I just press on the touchscreen. I stopped making coffee at home.

we have one of those in the Pantry, Delonghi, it's been there for months but no one has touched it yet 

what Roast type is good for pour over, all my beans are med-dark to dark roast for espresso but i used it too for pour over, haven't tried any other beans since the last one I got was a 1KG Lavazza Gold 

[beanflying]

My employer installed a fancy automatic coffee machine with about 50 selections and various adjustments, so now I just press on the touchscreen. I stopped making coffee at home.

we have one of those in the Pantry, Delonghi, it's been there for months but no one has touched it yet 

what Roast type is good for pour over, all my beans are med-dark to dark roast for espresso but i used it too for pour over, haven't tried any other beans since the last one I got was a 1KG Lavazza Gold

Find your nearest hipster quickly 

Even within countries beans very a lot but avoid in your case anything Vietnamese/Laos (generally robusta) if they are on offer. African or beans from Central America (so not 'generally' Colombia and Brazil).

Buy some Green and roast your own is alway an option, the quick and dirty Beanflying guide below For brewed a good starting point is between first and second crack but playing is fun.

[mengfei]

i tried it once, roasting beans, coz I bought it by mistake 

then I found out that you could use a a Heatgun to roast the beans & lots of flying debris around me & not sure if I did it right, taste was a bit weak & sour - oh well there goes the first try     

Dang!
just found out I still have a bag of green bean that was from India, maybe I could experiment with it but not sure if it's ok to roast  beans that's almost a year old.

[beanflying]

Sure Green beans providing you keep them dry are ok for several years. The Hipsters might tell you different but even beans at 5 years or more old just mellow out and can still be roasted. Depending on the Indian beans some are great as a brewed coffee too but there is also some fairly heavy Robustas grown as well

With the bowl and heatgun method in the PDF notice I am using a deep nearly vertical sided bowl to avoid escapee's

[Nominal Animal]

Good enough coffee that was, sitting for 3 days. During winter it doesn't grow mold, which easily happens in summer.

Can confirm.  As long as it doesn't have that burnt tannin tang, and the oils haven't gone rancid, I'll happily drink it. 
I'm perfectly happy even with freeze-dried instant coffee.

Do people still put copper pennies on the hot plate of their Moccamaster, or do they nowadays have temperature-controlled heating elements in the hot plate?
I know the water temperature is much better controlled nowadays.

[paulca]

I lived on instant (Nescafe) for most of my life.

2 years ago I decided to buy a coffee machine that cleaned itself out, the main reason why I hate percs or filters.

Got a Delonghi Magnificant bean to cup machine.  Awesome bit of kit.  The only annoying aspect is.. you can't set the water temp, so "Americano" long style coffees like I want are too cold to add unsteamed milk.  I can either do the "lengthing" myself with proper boiling water from the boiling water tap or... as I prefer now, I dump a spoonful of "coffee whitener" into it.

The waste is neatly placed in a little bin, and emptying that every 6th coffee along with the "dregs tray" and filling the water tank is about all it takes to maintain.  A bit of a wipe maybe and every few months I pull everything out of it, put it in the dishwasher and leave the unit open to dry, then it gets hovered to get all the loose coffee grinds out before they start moulding.

[mengfei]

what other good use for those discarded grounds?

I fling those cakes out the window to the garden, they say it makes good fertilizer

cake out of the 1zpresso Y3.3


my other setup, this coffee thing is getting addictive 

[DavidAlfa]

Anything fast, simple and clean that doesn't take 10 minutes at 5:30 AM, and by no way ties me to use capsules, coffee at gold price, no thanks!

That's why I went with an expresso machine.
Load the cup with any coffee brand, place in,  push the button, 20 seconds later wash the remains in sink and enjoy your last willing to live while taking the coffee before entering Mordor.
Not joking, I have "Mordor" in my alarm title.

[beanflying]

[mengfei]

do you take you eXpresso directly 

or make it into an americano or flat white?

[DavidAlfa]

At 5am I make a "zzzssspresso" and consider myself lucky to be alive one day more 

[ambitsme]

Any!? I mean if you really need coffee won't any method work? My least favorite is stream side with bugs in the water(think trout stream with serious mayfly or salmon fly hatch in progress). Although it is not often you can get natural protein as in ingredient rather than added. Preferred favorite is French Pot with coffee from gimme! coffee

Alan

[Nominal Animal]

Of course, the very best cup of coffee is when someone else makes it for you, right before you realize you want one. 

[Juup]

Very nice this forum has also room for other topics. I love cooking. Not good at it at all but it gives me a good feeling when something new worked out. After cooking Indonesian Rendang over and over again it's getting better.
I bought this coffee maker some 10 years ago on a flea market for €10. As you can see it is very used and the plastic parts are almost gone. But the coffee it makes is perfect. I love the light in the power switch. It dims a bit every second while drawing current. That only makes it a nice thing to look at. Maybe there are much better systems like this, but this is a no nonsense machine. It is fast to make only one cup or for 15 people. Before this i had a Senseo machine what should be a fast machine but this thing is much faster. The coffee it makes is also much better.

The best thing on this is the idea this thing is in service for many many years and people even before i was born were enjoying their coffee from this very machine. I am sure this will be my last coffee maker because this thing is solid. I can't see me switch to another system in the next 50 years.

I can see on the picture it is time for a good kichen cleaning again. I am a man alone. Please don't be to hard on me about that.