Thread: Coffee Enthusiasts

Hmm... well I do have an ibrik sitting here more or less unused.

I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

I noticed in the first vid quite a bit of sugar was added. I like my coffee straight-up and just black. This goes for brewed, espresso, whatever. Do I need to change the process beyond just not adding sugar? Experimentation ahoy!

As you may have guessed, a friend brought the ibrik from Turkey for me several years ago but it has sat more or less unused since then. I just never took the time to really give it a good try.

Originally Posted by Cangooner

Hmm... well I do have an ibrik sitting here more or less unused.

I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

I noticed in the first vid quite a bit of sugar was added. I like my coffee straight-up and just black. This goes for brewed, espresso, whatever. Do I need to change the process beyond just not adding sugar? Experimentation ahoy!

As you may have guessed, a friend brought the ibrik from Turkey for me several years ago but it has sat more or less unused since then. I just never took the time to really give it a good try.

Really the only thing necessary is water and coffee. I let mine just begin to boil and take it right off to keep the crema intact. Other than that there is no real hard and fast rules. If you watch enough vids on Turkish/Arabic/Greek coffee you'll see so many variances it's mind boggling but of course that in itself tells just how simple and tolerant this coffee is. I highly recommend using proper Greek or Arabic coffee however. I tried once to home grind beans and it' wasn't fine enough even when I took it to the espresso setting. It's gotta be like powder literally,

Ibrik experiment #1: crunchy and bitter!

So, I ground the coffee as finely as I could, which is probably about 2/3 of the way from a good espresso grind to the powdery grind needed. I am a) someone who enjoy roasting his own beans, and b) stubborn. So I'll fight this for a bit to see if I can get my beans ground properly before picking up some Greek or Arabic ground from the store. I like bitter coffee, but that cup pushed the bounds a bit. I wonder if the grind would be part of that issue. Also, I forgot what I was drinking by the end and swigged the last sip. Yeah, don't do that. Mmm... crunchy coffee in the morning... I should have strained that last sip between my teeth.

Anyway, that's something to build on.

Originally Posted by Cangooner

Ibrik experiment #1: crunchy and bitter!

So, I ground the coffee as finely as I could, which is probably about 2/3 of the way from a good espresso grind to the powdery grind needed. I am a) someone who enjoy roasting his own beans, and b) stubborn. So I'll fight this for a bit to see if I can get my beans ground properly before picking up some Greek or Arabic ground from the store. I like bitter coffee, but that cup pushed the bounds a bit. I wonder if the grind would be part of that issue. Also, I forgot what I was drinking by the end and swigged the last sip. Yeah, don't do that. Mmm... crunchy coffee in the morning... I should have strained that last sip between my teeth.

Anyway, that's something to build on.

Well ha ha learn the hard way like I did but,don't say I didn't warn you. There is a reason that Arab/Greek coffee is special and that is due to the coffee both in grind and in roast which is almost always lighter which also means more caffeine but,like I said, you'll find out. Good luck. ..........

When you do finally succumb I found Bravo to be the best brand by the way. Keep it rolled tight and sealed in the bag as it goes stale quicker in a jar I found out.Again it's because of the grind. Also once you succumb you will see what I mean by powder and all will be crystal clear. It's different in taste and mouth feel and everything but it's divine !

To beat a horse to death I should point out also that this is finer than espresso even believe it or not.

I consider myself duly warned!

Like I said before though...you watch enough of these videos and every one of them will staunchly tell you "this is the correct authentic way to make x"....you will find that to be so fickle and untrue it hurts ha ha. Mine turns out perfect every time and I find it actually better than my neighborhood Greek joint so learn and perfect and it don't require magic.

Well, I have to say, now after the weeks of trial and error my Espresso is solidly good now.
I am using the lighter roast, shutting off the boiler and letting the pressure come down a bit.
Then pull my shot.

I still can't thank Richard enough for the guidance and information he provided me

To add to this thread, I say… my recipe: 5 spoons of coffee, medium roast, just grinded and an Alessi 10 cups, Sapper! (before that false alarm that "works on induction") at full… And just Enjoy!… No details because every bean of coffee is different!.

Quick tip for Dave and any other Freshroast users out there: don't let five years pass with your machine before taking it apart for a cleaning! I took mine apart the other day and the amount of chaff, dust, and spider webs (!) I discovered made me thankful in retrospect that the thing hadn't caught fire.

Also, be careful when re-assembling. My caveman electronics skills led to me pressing too hard on a connector which forced a couple of pins to push through and disconnect from the control board, which then tested my even more caveman-esque soldering skills to patch it up. But it's up and running again.