Thread: Coffee or Tea

Originally Posted by pjrage

That thing is pretty cool! I've never made my own espresso, but that has good enough reviews and is cheap enough that I might try it out. Forgive my newbiness, but do you just use regular coffee grounds? Well, not folgers or maxwell house, but just regular "good" coffee grounds?

As long as you don't expect real espresso.

elements of good coffee

1) high grade fresh roast coffee

2) grind just before brewing, don't grind more than you will use in the next hour (in reality 20 mins, but I am a lenient guy)

3) Quality grinder- the better the grinder the more constant particle size is and fewer under or over extracted particles.

4) water - remember water is 95% of what you are drinking. You can't make good tasting coffee with bad tasting water. The water needs to be at the right temperature for the method 195-205 F for most methods. The Aeropress says to use 170 degree water. I find the usual temp does a better job. YMMV. it gives you something to adjust.

5) contact time- This can vary a lot by method. For true espresso this is 25-30 secs. for drip this is 4-6 mins. You can adjust contact time down as you go to finer grinds.

6) Serving - Thermal carafes are good. Heating plates are bad. Coffee flavors scorch quickly. serving temps - for most coffee it is 170 deg some people like it hotter. Good coffee flavors change subtly as it cools. This is part of the experience, enjoy it! Avoid reheating at all costs. If you have a coffeemaker that has glass on a hot plate, pour it into a thermally insulated container immediately after brewing.

7) Save the oils. There is a lot of flavor in coffee oils. These end up in paper filters if you use them. Filters that do not retain oils are preferred. that is why French press coffee has a more body and flavor than methods that use paper filters.

If you are a newbie to coffee prep. I would suggest a french press (cheap) and to buy the best grinder you can afford. You will get more improvement in your coffee per dollar spent if it is spent on a grinder.

Back to the Aeropress, there is a guy on the GCBC website whom I consider to be the aeropress guru. He goes by the name of Rasquale there. He has come up with some non-paper filters for the aeropress (no, I am not selling mine) and uses an inverted aeropress method that gets abdolutely the most oils out of the coffee.

Some threads there that discuss the Aeropress:

Aeropress methods - the definitive thread
World Aeropress Championships
Aerobie Aeropress

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I really love strong black coffee or espresso, but ever since I cut out all other sources of caffeine in my diet coffee gives me the jitters. Unfortunately, that means no more coffee for me.

There is such a thing as good decaf. You want I should send you some?

Originally Posted by Elliette

My condolences.

Haha, thanks.

Originally Posted by Pyment

There is such a thing as good decaf. You want I should send you some?

Hm, you'll have a PM from me shortly.

Wow Py, thanks for the tips.

Are there any good coffees that you recommend buying locally? I'm nothing of a coffee guru, but I wound up with a supply of Gevalia that I've been enjoying, but it is now dwindling and I'm going to be looking to get some more coffee soon. Any recommendations for something, preferably locally, but anywhere really? I haven't been grinding my own, but I do have a grinder, some $30 cuisinart stainless steel looking grinder that I actually bought to use for grinding spices originally - would this work ok?

Garrr, I better cut it out or I'm going to have to divert razor resources to coffee paraphernalia, lol.

Originally Posted by pjrage

Wow Py, thanks for the tips.

Are there any good coffees that you recommend buying locally? I'm nothing of a coffee guru, but I wound up with a supply of Gevalia that I've been enjoying, but it is now dwindling and I'm going to be looking to get some more coffee soon. Any recommendations for something, preferably locally, but anywhere really? I haven't been grinding my own, but I do have a grinder, some $30 cuisinart stainless steel looking grinder that I actually bought to use for grinding spices originally - would this work ok?

Garrr, I better cut it out or I'm going to have to divert razor resources to coffee paraphernalia, lol.

I think I know which grinder you are talking about and it is a burr grinder. Not a great one, but any burr grinder puts you ahead of the curve. I am sure it is plenty good either way for starts.

I did a quick look around and found that Misha's has a very good rep.

http://www.alexandriacitywebsite.com...%20Roaster.htm

Pyment knows his coffee guys. He roasts a fine Guatemala!

I own a Ikon Burr grinder. Can't bring myself to spend $200+ on a grinder.

Coffee.

At work I brew my own because the vitriol from the machine does not compare to the real stuff.
I use 100% arabica beans. Primarily from columbia or egypt.
I usually buy preground for use at work, but at home we grind our beans with an antique hand grinder.

I love both coffee and tea. any english tea will do I also Love Chai

Originally Posted by Bruno

I use 100% arabica beans. Primarily from columbia or egypt.
I usually buy preground for use at work, but at home we grind our beans with an antique hand grinder.

Prices on Colombian have shot up this year (at least for the top lots). Supply is low.

Leighton,

Doesn't fresh roasted coffee make good packing material?
If you aren't doing Espresso, you don't need the $200 grinder (I am using a doserless Rocky Rancillio because I bought it for espresso and kept it when I decided a superauto was for me (I didn't hit it off with the espresso ritual).

There are a number of good grinders right around $100. I got a Saeco Titan for my in laws for $65 at Costco a while back. That was a sweet deal so they are out there

Got tired of ritual for espresso so finally got automatic, just keep filled with water and beans. Push 1 button, grinds, tamps, makes shot, then discards puck.

Used to roast my own until Hurricane Katrina wiped out my local green bean sources.