Coffee Thread

[machinebacon]

A great overview of different manual pouring methods: https://prima-coffee.com/blog/v60-brewmethod-review

Overall, I find using a french press (with a fairly coarse grind) to be more pleasant, fragrant with absolutely no bitterness, compared to dripping through the V60. Until now, I mostly used Latin and South American beans, city roast or darker.

Seems that these also fit the standard espresso machines best. I get perfect, finger-thick crema on top of the shot. Prerequisite: absolutely fresh coffee beans, ground extremely fine (I used a Hario Slim burr grinder), 8g per shot.

The french press is extremely forgiving, no matter what beans I used it was always at least good, sometimes extremely good. The coarser the grind the more mellow it turns out. Infusion time is 4 minutes for me, mostly, and the temperature... unsure, after boiling I wait exactly 1 minute. Didn't put my finger in for an exact measure :D

Of course, manual pouring is more "zen" and you have more control (if you allow yourself enough time to experiment), but at the end of the day the motto is "de gustibus non est disputandum".

And I did try pidsley's cold brew system, which was surprisingly delicious and quite strong on the coffeine side (which I do not mind at all). I used the exact amount that pidsley mention above. This extract can be stored for quite a while in the fridge and is a perfect base. So again, thanks for that!

[wuxmedia]

nice, we've been slumming it with *gasp* instant for a while. time to get back to the beans.

[bizcuit]

Drink the cheap stuff, errrr cuz I's po. Not surprised to see many of the nixers here such as the mighty Baconator have class and sophisticated knowledge/tastes on the subject. Nothing wrong with that, am sure nobody's surprised to find out biz has no taste or sophistication, that's a real shocker right. :P

Just for the record, I sometimes want to shoot the people at starbucks paying $7.50 for a medium sized latte in the face with a high pressure potatoe-gun. However I resist the urge and have to admit Starbucks does have good coffee.

Vll!

[wuxmedia]

^ treat yourself ?
If you look at one of my earlier posts; only a suitable receptacle, the ground coffee and a source of hot water is all that's needed to get a half decent brew. Think of yourself as our own Eliza Doolittle :p
hell even going up a pay bracket on the instant is better than the real barrel scrapings in the super cheap stuff.

[bizcuit]

^How dare you Sir, Folgers is not bottom barrel. Runs through a filter n everything ! :P Nah you're right, pretty much is. Fortunately years of excessive ethanol abuse have permanently killed off my taste buds anyway. So could be drinking rust water, would be the same to me. Lol ...

For real I also have a tendency to take caffeine to the extreme too. There's this gas station chain here in the states ( at least in my area.) Kum n go, they have and put out these coffee booster shots, like 200mgs of caffeine in them. Used to grab a double handful of the things and then drink em back to back like doing shots. :D

Whoooooo weeeee fellow nixer, you wanna talk about coffee. You can feel the friggin universe vibrate and hear an ant's footsteps walking across a table. Errrrrr ... surgeon general says someone isn't supposed to take more than 2 of those boosters a day though. So am not encouraging such practices in any way. Someone gets inspired by this stupid babbling. If anyone's heart explodes, it's their own fault. :P

[machinebacon]

Guess it's the same as with cigarettes/tobacco. You can satisfy your craving with any stinky supermarket cigarette, or a super-cheap coffee, or you can dedicate a few minutes of your valuable time enjoying a good cigarette, or a freshly ground coffee. I wouldn't smoke a bowlful of Skiff Mixture when waiting for the bus, and I never think "oh how I wish to be at home, sitting there reading a good book and sipping on a Nescafe". It's definitely a different story when you simply have no time (or opportunity, or resources, or equipment, or location) - in this case anything that smokes/smells like roasted malt/steams will do.

[wuxmedia]

^^

^ indeed - have got some lavazza rossa this morning, tasty, supposed to be for the press, but it didn't press too well, probably didn't let it brew for long enough.

How do you contain your coffee? most packs say "keep sealed and in the fridge" when in the office we had PACT coffee it said " leave it in the bag (which has a little hole in) not in the fridge, as it dries out too much" So i normally just roll the pack up and put it on the shelf.
any thoughts?

[machinebacon]

^ good point. My ground decaf I store in its own bag, but placed into a "vacuum jar". It's basically a jar with a lid that has a little lever which sucks out a bit of air when lifted. I wouldn't put the stuff into the fridge, just keep it protected from sunlight and extreme temperature. The best, of course, is to have beans and a manual grinder (something like the Hario). 8-12 gr. per portion (that's quite exactly a measure spoon), depending on how much water and which brewing method.
1) The grinding by hand takes less than a minute but makes a huge (I mean: HUGE) difference in taste.
2) Storing roasted beans is also way more convenient, you won't lose any aroma even with "older" beans.
3) The ready-ground stuff should really be consumed ASAP, and it does change in taste.
4) You can pick a more coarse setting for your press, a medium-fine setting for your drip, or a fine setting for your espresso. A ready-ground coffee limits your choice.
5) Once you grind by hand you never look back. I promise.

[machinebacon]

add.
Link to the Hario Slim grinder: https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Mini-Mill- ... B001804CLY
For bigger portions at the same time (slightly improved design, I haven't tried it though): https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Skerton-Ce ... B001802PIQ

[wuxmedia]

yeah, my dad used to grind the beans (didn't roast 'em though)
I suppose it's a bit like black peppercorns, it always tastes so much better than the pepper dust one gets in packets.

[ivanovnegro]

add.
Link to the Hario Slim grinder: https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Mini-Mill- ... B001804CLY
For bigger portions at the same time (slightly improved design, I haven't tried it though): https://www.amazon.com/Hario-Skerton-Ce ... B001802PIQ

Wow.

I know I used this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-5548-Coff ... ee+grinder

when I was a student or something similar.

I leave my coffee in a classical but small coffee box, the espresso. I anyway consume it asap. I never was a fan of the fridge idea and I also read that it is not recommended or at least coffee snobs say so.

[wuxmedia]

^ classic, Dad used the same sort of machine, with the little drawer.

[machinebacon]

^^ yeah the coffee snobs are right - you get condensation in the coffee when you take it out of the fridge and put it back again. Moisture is the worst shit that can happen to your ground coffee. So, the coffee box (not transparent) with a good, tight lid will be perfect.

[noo_b_nomnoms]

Probably surprises no one that I am a lover of Community Dark Roast, lols.
When I can find it.
I have also taken to the Cajun way of adding Chicory to my dark brews....Yummy!

[wuxmedia]

^ perhaps interestingly - also know as French Coffee in the UK.

[machinebacon]

^ or as Prussian coffee in France ("Café prussien")

In Germany it carries the beautiful name "Muckefuck".

[wuxmedia]

^ you are kidding. mukerfucker...
oh right never had any English named "french coffee" in France called Cafe Pussian.

[franksinistra]

These days I drink Mandheling and Gayo almost exclusively.

[machinebacon]

^ both excellent Indonesian coffees, I have them here too. A bit more "earthy" than the South American ones, nice. Do you drip it?

[ChefIronBelly]

Columbian fresh ground this morning.