Thread: How to make Great coffee.

Originally Posted by DustinW

OK, reading this really has me thinking. My wife and I are just now really enjoying coffee... We always had some beans around and a coffee maker available in case family arrived for a visit but never really used it. Lately there has been at least 1 pot brewed every day and I am considering upping that amount. Here is my questions. 1. We have been buying quality beans at Sams club. Surely these are not the freshest available but they are high quality and 1/4 the price for the same beans in the coffee shop of the same name. Using beans like this, will it still be a benefit to use a FP? 2. Due to a broken pot a few weeks back we bought a $20 drop coffee maker made by GE I think. How much better will the quality be from a FP using the beans I discussed above? 3. We have been using flavored soy creamers. Am I a serious wannabe now? I use enough to just take the edge off the coffee and my wife uses way too freaking much of the stuff. What are the alternatives for flavors? 4. How do I stop this before it gets carried away like my razors?

1) Yes you will see a difference in the FP as it is a whole different animal than drip coffee. More oils are extracted and it has a bigger more silky mouth feel and a fuller flavor. You can get a drip maker to produce something more like a FP by using a gold filter which will let more of the oils into the brew.

2) How much difference? uuhh Its hard to quantify that. It depends on a few things like if the temp of the water in the coffee basket is 195-205 degrees or the total brew time is 4-7 minutes, etc. That said the biggest improvement for you would be a better grinder. Maybe a used hand grinder from ebay. I could see if there is a decent one there for you if you PM me.

3) flavorings. I won't tell you not to use them. I don't. I would rather say it would be better to get better flavored coffee. I have often had people ask me how I put this or that flavor into the coffee. It's high quality beans, roasted to the right degree of roast, freshly ground, properly prepared and consumed immediately. nothing else. Who roasts your coffee?

4) I have 4 working roasters, at least 7 differing methods of coffee preparation, more than 20 hand grinders, an spare high quality electric grinder (just in case). I also have a FP, espresso machine, hand grinder and electric grinder at our cabin so I don't have tomove things back and forth. I probably am not the one to answer that question.

If I were, I would say I think someone (not me) could be happy with a good grinder a hot water kettle and a FP as long as they don't get into espresso (which is a special money pit of its own) and don't ask more geeked out coffee folks if they could be doing this better.

The best way may be to avoid truely great coffee so you don't know what you are missing.

BTW, where are you? I may know someone near you who could start you on the road to perdition.

I am in the North suburbs of Minneapolis.

We typically buy Millstone or Caribou. I like the idea of more oils and such in the coffee itself. I have no idea what I would even be looking for in a grinder lol. The one I have is one of those Hamilton Beach silver ones. If turns beans into grounds. Beyond that I know nothing.

I'm with Joesixpack, while drip coffee is ok, turkish coffee is great, and its so easy to make.

You can do it camping or anywhere.

If you buy your coffee at the local roasting company, just ask for a quarter pound to be ground extra fine or turkish style, that should give you plenty to practice with.

You can use just about any container to make it, I have not tried a percolator such as Joe uses, but my trusty Steel Army canteen cup works great for large batches. These stainless steel canteen cups are great for so many different purposes. You dont have to pay for it with three years of active duty in an infantry division, like me (lol, ouch that hurts), but instead you can get them from an army surplus store for nine bucks.
http://www.1starmy.com/uploadimages/...t_2608_enl.jpg

but if you really want to do it the right way, you should get an ibrik. The copper is the traditional type, but stainless steel is also popular, according to my turkish friends. You can get them for around 10 or 15 bucks.
http://www.freshcoffeeshop.com/images/copper_mh_2.jpg

Anyway, you just use about one tablespoon of coffee and one teaspoon of sugar for every cup of coffee you make. And I mean cups the size of espresso cups.
http://www.tulumba.com/mmTULUMBA/Ima...1HH987_250.jpg

You add the water cold to the coffee and sugar into the pot then slowly heat it, gas electric, camp stove, any will do. You have to keep your eyes on the pot while it cooks. After a couple minutes you will notice the pot start to foam.

Take the pot away slightly let the foam die down and then put it back in after a couple seconds, repeat a couple times, not letting the foam get close to the top of the lid.

Then take the pot off the heat, and then pour into your cup, or cups if you are making a large batch. Try to get even amounts of foam into each cup. I have found that mocha java, especially yemen or other mideast varieties are especially good made this way.

mmmmmm (and to think I am trying to cut down on coffee right now, arrrgghhhh!)

Notes

-Its pretty hard to get a uniform turkish grind yourself in a home blade grinder, and if you have some large particles that escape fine grinding, they tend to float up into the cup and ruin the coffee drinking experience.

-if you really want to grind turkish coffee at home, then invest in a large mortar and pestle, that grinds it real fine, and thats the traditional way its ground anyways.

-you have to avoid sloshing the coffee around while you are drinking it but instead just keep it stable. Its good to let the sediment settle well on the bottom. That way you can drink more of the liquid before you get to the solid part.

-If you order turkish coffee in the U.S. even if it is in a turkish restaurant, sometimes they just make it american style and its not as good as the kind you would get in the mid east. Much better to make it yourself with fresh coffee.

-outside of turkey, other mid east countries just call it arabic coffee

-the sugar is best added to the coffee pot at the beginning rather than how we normally add it after you pour it in the cup. Thats because the sugar helps you to get the foam.

Originally Posted by DustinW

I am in the North suburbs of Minneapolis.

We typically buy Millstone or Caribou. I like the idea of more oils and such in the coffee itself. I have no idea what I would even be looking for in a grinder lol. The one I have is one of those Hamilton Beach silver ones. If turns beans into grounds. Beyond that I know nothing.

Bad news - you have one of the best roasters in the country near you. Paradise roasters is great. They get some of the best coffee in the world and do a great job of getting the most out of it.

Paradise is one of the best roasters around. Miguel no longer works there but the roaster is still in the family. He has moved to Hawaii and is working on a Kona plantation now.

The best favor you can do for yourself is use fresh (3-10 days from the roast date) coffee. Your cup will only be as good as the starting product. Even wonder why supermarket coffee tastes the same between the first day and 20 day you use it. It is already stale and dead, it has nothing left to loose, and never had anything to offer. Second biggest favor you can do is get a good grinder. Preground = stale/dead coffee. Invest $300 in a decent burr grinder.

Metropolis, Paradise, Counter Culture, Intelligentsia, Chestnut hill, Grumpy, PT’s coffee, Ecco café, Klatch, Blue Bottle, Barefoot, Caffe Fresco (caffefresco.us) are all top notch suppliers of fresh coffee just to name a few I reccomend trying.

Better yet, start roasting.

You can buy your beans from Paradise and roast them yourself! That way they will always be at the peak of freshness. There are some inexpensive ways to get started roasting like "heat gun/dog bowl" or "Turbo/crazy".

here is a link to Michael Lloyds HG/DB roasting article: Heatgun and Dogbowl Coffee Roasting

and a bunch of other homemade roasters:
Homeroaster ™ Homemade Coffee Roasters

You may already have some of the equipment needed to roast. If you have a Turbo convection (Galloping Gourmet, Decosinic, others) or if a family member has one they aren't using, you are half way to one of the more popular homeroasting setups. I am not a SC/TO (stir crazy - turbo oven) guy, but there are plenty at greencoffeebuyingclub.com

Someone would mentor you through it.

Oh boy... Paradise is litterally within walking distance of my house... You guys may have gone and done it now.

Originally Posted by DustinW

Oh boy... Paradise is litterally within walking distance of my house... You guys may have gone and done it now.

At least walking is good exercise.

Ya but I walk more in my house between my computer room and the kitchen over the course of a day than it would take to go to Paradise and back. 2 blocks LOL. I'm going to go there next week and get a tour and see the process and all that fun stuff.

BTW just cause I have a $300 grinder doesn't mean you have to.

You can make great pour over coffee (comparable to drip) with a manual pour over. like the one shown here:Bodum Kona Pour-Over Drip Coffee Pot

Then you decide what your price range is and put the most you can into a grinder Capresso Infinity runs about $90, Maestro Plus is about $100 Kitchen Aid Proline is available at $160-180 and on up