Thread: A Cup of Joe

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Cuban coffee,,Café con leche style, Cuban espresso, cortadito,,, either with a couple of croquetas & a Guava Pastelito, starts the day off great.

Umm, could you please translate that for me? I'm afraid I don't habla.

Love my Joe but am off the caffein. I roast my own weekly and use a pour over Chemex...31 grams coffee to 497 grams water. My morning ritual.

It started off slowly.

When the second or third Mr. Coffee conked out I switched to Miletta filters. Then I started grinding my own beans from the grocery store. When the second or third Hamilton Beach or whatever they were, conked out, I upgraded to a KitchenAide ProLine burr grinder with adjustable settings.

Then I started to order green beans online where you can chose the varieties of coffees, Java, Brazilian, Central American, etc, that have been bought from different estates rather than in bulk. These were also a couple of dollars less a pound that the roasted store bought coffee beans. And fresher. I roasted these in a $10 hot air Mr. Popper, a 1/4 lb. at a time. I discovered what fresh coffee really was, that roasted, ground and brewed within 72 hours makes a startling difference in taste, aroma and after taste. I started to drink coffee black and don't get any heartburn or other nasty side effects.

After a very long, hard production last summer, I treated myself to a Belmor 1600 Roaster which will do a lb. at a time and you can adjust the heat levels.

My beans come from Sweet Maria's which has a buying program that, when possible, buys directly from the grower in smaller lots. They also offer coffee beans from different parts of the world as the harvests come in. Today I received a shipment of 10 lbs. of beans, 2lb.s each of a Brazil Mogiana Dry Process Peaberry, Costa Rican San Martin de Leon Cortes, Ethiopian Sidama Deri Kochoha, Guatemala Antigua Finca Cabrejo and a Java Kopi Sunda. The cost was $64 before shipping for 16 oz. bags. Most of store bought beans come in 8 oz. and 12 oz. bags.

I can't claim to have a palate developed enough to taste all the different subtleties of these beans. Each bean roasts in a little different manner, some with a longer roast and some with a shorter roast. I've found that I personally prefer a lighter roast now rather than a dark, dark Starbucks type roast. You get more flavor of the bean than the taste of the roasting process. I don't drink expresso.

It's taken some time to get to this point (6 to 8 years) and I'm pretty happy with where I'm at. I'm not going to cupping parties or arguing online about the roast times and mountain varieties. I enjoy a good cup of coffee in the morning, I like how the apartment smells when I'm roasting (I've figured out how not to set off the smoke alarms) and I like having some control over the process. I also now know what a bad cup of coffee tastes like.

As I now know what a smooth shave is now that I'm using straights, I know what kind of coffee I like. Just as I'm not going back to disposables, I'm not going back to instant.

I like to grind my own beans, creol blend is my favorite. Drip machine, no milk, no sugar. Dark, rich, and bold. Beautiful. Pairs excellently with an Irish stout/ chocolate cake. A true way to start a day off.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Cuban coffee,,Café con leche style, Cuban espresso, cortadito,,, either with a couple of croquetas & a Guava Pastelito, starts the day off great.

Yeah That! Naviera, a cuban style espresso made by a local company that's been around forever is a favorite. Not only dark but has a touch of chicory as well. I also recently acquired an old school stove top purculator (American style, full size. It really does make a great cup of coffee and since I've had it my drip machine has seen very little action.. At the moment Eight O'clock Italian Roast is the deal. I generally prefer the darker roast but any port in a storm.

Love my cup of joe. I normally buy whole bean and grind it myself right before using. For that I use a simple kenmore burr grinder. It is a little on the fine side and the course setting is need for a French press or percolator.

As to brew method I grew up with drip coffee in the house and that's how I got started in coffee. After moving out got a bhg grind and brew that did a good job but had issue with keeping the coffee warm. The drip coffee markers really are hit and miss in my experience for getting good coffee. Next I tried a stove top percolator that I loved. It gave a piping hot full bodied coffee but as the only coffee drinker in the house I found myself wasting a lot off coffee as that if I didn't make enough coffee that brew just didn't turn out right. Finally settled on a 12oz french press that by far gives the best cup of coffee takes a little time (about 9 min to make and 1-2min to clean up) but the coffee has a deep rich taste to it. Also perfect amount for one American mug

My in-laws bought us a pretty nice counter top espresso machine as a house warming gift, as they know I love my coffee. I also have an aero-press which does a great job. Right now I've been buying ground coffee from the store (but it is great stuff) as we don't have a good grinder yet. At some point I'll have to rebuild my hand crank burr grinder. I'll have to try cold brewing one of these days as well.

95% of the time, I use fresh Trader Joes "Cup o Joe" grounds in the trusty Mr.Coffee. 20oz Autoseal mug, and life is good

The other 5% is fresh grounds in a french press. That's a weekend, relaxing time kinda thing.

I used to work in a local coffee shop during my undergrad years. I wont say I am a coffee snob but I will say I don't like Starbucks. I won't get into that on this post. But to answer the question at hand. I usually pick up a pound of a good smelling dark roast un-ground and just use my Mr. Coffee with proportions close to the coffee shop. I do have an old espresso pressure pot that you put on the stove. I keep her maintained and once in a blue moon I will make myself a treat. I use Cafe Bustello for her.

Anyone ever use a Vacuum coffee maker? I have a Cona and I think it makes the best coffee in the world. The only problem is I live in a high altitude area and the process is badly affected by the pressure difference. I had to buy a Butane burner so I could adjust the heat to tailor the process to the altitude.