Thread: Coffee Enthusiasts

Originally Posted by JHBBlade

I've had a lot of success freezing my beans, but there are some important caveats to freezing beans.

Firstly make sure the beans are freezed in an air tight container. A freezer is a very dry environment.

Secondly I find I need to grind frozen beans while still frozen. So each day I quickly weigh off what I need, then immediately return the container of beans to the freezer. And grind immediately.

If I allow the beans to defrost before grinding I find the flavour is not as good, and if the beans wait for say a day after defrosting then the flavour is worse.

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Aloha!

Right on the money my good man. I have been freezing beans since the late 80s when I read an article about fresh grind coffee in "Esquire Magizine" that recommended freezing beans. Plus in Hawaii, you quickly discover that you must store most "Dry Goods Food" things in the fridge or freezer (like cereal, oatmeal, coffee and sugar) or risk it getting too hot and humid or infested with tiny insects. The beans always go in the freezer in an airtight container, and yes, I grind them frozen, only enough for that morning's use.

Mahalo!

-Zip

Good morning and some great coffee

I'll be right over. You got donuts?

Aloha!

On another unrelated forum, I participated in a "Coffee Swap" where some of us members "swapped" coffee pound-for-pound. This can work out really nice if there is a local roaster that you think is just superb, and that does not ship - you can only get it locally. If you can get it online, that defeats the purpose of the coffee swap.

One guy really begged me to ship 2# of Kona from Hawaii and he sent me two delightful roasts from a very small roaster in Rhode Island. It really was fantastic. But once you drink Kona, it's hard (IMO) to beat that combination of flavor and smooth taste. The issue is, many of my favorite Kona roasts are actually available now via Amazon, so I have to hunt for something Amazon does not have - and that means small local roasters - and that does not mean it's going to be better than the Kona Amazon offers. Perhaps my beans would be a tad fresher, but with shipping from Hawaii (you really have to ship two day priority box and pay state/local tax when you buy it), I'm not sure you make out well price-wise or taste-wise.

If you walk into a "Long's Drug" (Long's is a CVS affiliate) here in Hawaii and go to the coffee isle, you will probably be amazed the first time you see it. You have 30 linear feet of Kona coffee in all sorts of varieties and packs. It can be overwhelming the very first time you see this cornucopia of Kona. I've tried dozens of Kona and Kona blends. One of the advantages of living where it's grown and roasted.

Just thought I'd mention the coffee swap for you gents. I'm too remote to participate, but if you get enough members to join it, it can work out really dandy for you.

Mahalo!

-Zip

Originally Posted by Dieseld

Good morning and some great coffee

The coffee looks great, but you really want to know what looks amazing to me? The Gas Stove. Try getting a natural gas stove in Hawaii. It's certainly available - at a premium cost like anything else in Hawaii, but it does not run in to most condos and apartments. So it's electric or nothing. I miss cooking with gas. I've become used to electric, and it's certainly better than having to build a fire or use a coal stove, but gas was the ticket for me. Instant heat/no-heat.

TBS always got a good breakfast for friends. This morning was fresh pulled pork from a pig I roasted last night

ZipZop, the coffee trade sounds really cool. Great idea.
And I couldn't give up my gas/propane stove. Love it. Used to have a wood cook stove miss that one

Originally Posted by Dieseld

Good morning and some great coffee

Once the water fully enters the top how long do you let keep it there before shuting off the heat to vacuum back to the bottom?

Originally Posted by paco

Once the water fully enters the top how long do you let keep it there before shuting off the heat to vacuum back to the bottom?

About a minute or two. Actually when enough boils to the top, the vacuum is broken and it begins to drain back down

Cold brew coffee sure seems to be popular right now, and I love most of the ones I've tried. So yesterday I thought I'd try making my own. I used 3 - 900ml mason jars and my french press to hold the brew. I did a coarse grind, the same as what I use for my french press, and did around a 5 parts water to 1 part coffee grounds. I let it sit for around 22 hours, and did a flip of the jars at 12 hrs. Strained it through a metal sieve, and then through a reusable basket coffee filter. I may pick up some paper filters for next time, because there was some sediment left in the bottom of my first glass.

Turned out fantastic! Not a whole lot of flavour on the tongue, but tons on the back end. My wife even like it, and she doesn't drink coffee. I can see this being something I can enjoy even in the colder weather.

There's a pretty cool sieve setup on Amazon that fits right into the wide mouth mason jars. Around $12-15 and works well. Easy cleanup. Cold brew seems to be less acidic to me. Good taste too. Not very cost effective to me vs. espresso for the 'kick'. I used a lot of cold brew coffee for the same kick.

Tip for the fines... Don't shake the mason jar before you pour your cup. When you get down to nearly the bottom of the jar, just dump that last 1/4 cup with the fines. A lot less trouble than all of the filtering.