Coffee Catch-All

Bit the bullet and ordered a burr grinder and Aeropress in one fell swoop -- should arrive by Monday. Any bets as to how much longer I put up with my Keurig...?

Foxua wrote:

Bit the bullet and ordered a burr grinder and Aeropress in one fell swoop -- should arrive by Monday. Any bets as to how much longer I put up with my Keurig...?

Not much longer looks like a safe bet.

I decided to put a burr grinder on our wedding registry. Debating between the baratza encore at $130 http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007F1...
or the virtuoso at $230. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006ML...

Any thoughts on those (or other grinder options) are appreciated. I couldn't bring myself to spend the $ personally but it seems like a good candidate for the registry. But even as a registry item $230 seems really steep. Anyone here have experience comparing the two?

I primarily use a bialetti moka pot and a hario cold brew, so I generally go for a semi-fine grind or semi-coarse, but I don't need to hit either extreme.

LiquidMantis wrote:
realityhack wrote:

Recently got a 52 oz 'mug' for work. I was not previously aware you could have too much coffee.

That's called a coffee pot and you're supposed to leave it at the machine.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003X42PIA/...

I like my coffee about 50/50 with milk so it is about half a pot.

Scaphism wrote:
Foxua wrote:

Bit the bullet and ordered a burr grinder and Aeropress in one fell swoop -- should arrive by Monday. Any bets as to how much longer I put up with my Keurig...?

Not much longer looks like a safe bet.

I decided to put a burr grinder on our wedding registry. Debating between the baratza encore at $130 http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007F1...
or the virtuoso at $230. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006ML...

Any thoughts on those (or other grinder options) are appreciated. I couldn't bring myself to spend the $ personally but it seems like a good candidate for the registry. But even as a registry item $230 seems really steep. Anyone here have experience comparing the two?

I primarily use a bialetti moka pot and a hario cold brew, so I generally go for a semi-fine grind or semi-coarse, but I don't need to hit either extreme.

I would go with the Bodum grinder over either of those. It gives you a perfect grind at any setting (even with NO powder). Mine is still running great after over a year. The build quality might not be as good as those, but the functional design is perfect.

realityhack wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:
realityhack wrote:

Recently got a 52 oz 'mug' for work. I was not previously aware you could have too much coffee.

That's called a coffee pot and you're supposed to leave it at the machine.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003X42PIA/...

I like my coffee about 50/50 with milk so it is about half a pot.

That's about right. My go-to mug is a 48 ounce plain white ceramic thing I bought at a craft store in some sort of "stick a mustache on it" kit that never got done.

I just realized that means I probably have a stray vinyl mustache in my house somewhere. I think I'm kind of creeped about that.

realityhack wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:
realityhack wrote:

Recently got a 52 oz 'mug' for work. I was not previously aware you could have too much coffee.

That's called a coffee pot and you're supposed to leave it at the machine.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003X42PIA/...

I like my coffee about 50/50 with milk so it is about half a pot.

Do they make a Venti version of that thing? That's what I want.

Edit: Seems that they do!

LMAO.

I was not previously aware you could have too much coffee.

That, sir, is a damn dirty lie.

Finally traded in my Cuisinart Drip Coffee Maker with a Bodum French Press. It's weird...I forgot how much coffee machines alter the taste of coffee!

Or maybe I should have cleaned the damn thing?

The taste of coffee out of a French press is very different from out of a drip, though using a gold foil filter in the drip approaches French press taste. However, I find the foil filters drain too fast and so make weak coffee.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Scaphism wrote:
Foxua wrote:

Bit the bullet and ordered a burr grinder and Aeropress in one fell swoop -- should arrive by Monday. Any bets as to how much longer I put up with my Keurig...?

Not much longer looks like a safe bet.

I decided to put a burr grinder on our wedding registry. Debating between the baratza encore at $130 http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007F1...
or the virtuoso at $230. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006ML...

Any thoughts on those (or other grinder options) are appreciated. I couldn't bring myself to spend the $ personally but it seems like a good candidate for the registry. But even as a registry item $230 seems really steep. Anyone here have experience comparing the two?

I primarily use a bialetti moka pot and a hario cold brew, so I generally go for a semi-fine grind or semi-coarse, but I don't need to hit either extreme.

I would go with the Bodum grinder over either of those. It gives you a perfect grind at any setting (even with NO powder). Mine is still running great after over a year. The build quality might not be as good as those, but the functional design is perfect.

Have you considered the breville smart grinder? Love mine

http://www.amazon.com/Breville-BCG80...

I got a Cuisinart burr grinder (this one) for Christmas.

It does exactly what I expected it to do. You dump the beans in the top, spin the dial press a button and watch the coffee grounds come flying out into the plastic cup at the bottom.

A few ignorant impressions (because I've never used one before and have no expectations beyond beans in/grounds out):

* The size of the grounds seems pretty consistent. (I've used a mini food processor in the past, and the size was all over the place.

* The plastic catch cup generates a lot of static. It's not a problem per se. I just think the grounds should fill the cup, not stick to the sides.

* It's about as messy as the mini grinder, which is to say I'll lose a teaspoon of coffee to the floor or counter in the process.

TL,DR: It seems to be an OK nothing fancy burr grinder.

Using a mini food processor to grind your coffee?!?!? You heathen! The horror. Never ever ever do that again.

JC wrote:

Using a mini food processor to grind your coffee?!?!? You heathen! The horror. Never ever ever do that again.

That's why I got a burr grinder!

Tried cold-brewing for the first time. Turned out super-tasty!

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkD74wXIYAAwcOT.png:large)

I used Counter Culture's blend made for a local well-known restaurant, Magnolia Grill; they sell it around retail stores in the area. It's a pretty good medium-ish blend with a lot of flavor. Really happy with how it turned out.

Also, HOLY CRAP it's a messy affair. Mostly because doing a coarse grind of an entire 12-oz bag of coffee generates so much static electricity, the grounds actually poured up and around the hopper the grinder grinds into. What a pain in the a**.

Ranger Rick wrote:

Tried cold-brewing for the first time. Turned out super-tasty!

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkD74wXIYAAwcOT.png:large)

I used Counter Culture's blend made for a local well-known restaurant, Magnolia Grill; they sell it around retail stores in the area. It's a pretty good medium-ish blend with a lot of flavor. Really happy with how it turned out.

Also, HOLY CRAP it's a messy affair. Mostly because doing a coarse grind of an entire 12-oz bag of coffee generates so much static electricity, the grounds actually poured up and around the hopper the grinder grinds into. What a pain in the a**.

When I use my Toddy, I go to the local roaster and have them grind the beans on-site for that exact reason. Since I'll be using the entire bag for the coldbrew, I don't worry about the beans going bad, but I also don't have to use my POS Mr. Coffee grinder for an entire bag.

trichy wrote:

When I use my Toddy, I go to the local roaster and have them grind the beans on-site for that exact reason. Since I'll be using the entire bag for the coldbrew, I don't worry about the beans going bad, but I also don't have to use my POS Mr. Coffee grinder for an entire bag.

Good idea, I'll do that next time. I didn't go in with much of a plan other than "Oh, hey, I should try the cold brew thing finally; I'll wander the Whole Foods coffee section, look for a local coffee I've had before that I liked that was roasted in the last week or two."

Speaking of Counter Culture, I finally made the correct decision to start swinging by Whole Foods when I'm up in Raleigh to restock on bourbon barrel stouts and better whole bean coffee. I've got a good CC stock (I'll post flavors when I remember them) for the French press at home, and I finally started grinding beans at home, putting them in sandwich bags, and using them for the crappy drip machine in my office.

Any better way to grind at home and bring to work besides grind the night before, throw it in a sandwich bag in the 'fridge, then bring it with me in the morning to run through the drip?

I've moved to using half-and-half instead of milk in my coffee. The creaminess is just too good.

IMAGE(https://31.media.tumblr.com/0c115ddf600f0aa228801cb4ba8b52a0/tumblr_inline_n6nuvv0tRi1qb25dg.jpg)

Quintin_Stone wrote:

IMAGE(https://31.media.tumblr.com/0c115ddf600f0aa228801cb4ba8b52a0/tumblr_inline_n6nuvv0tRi1qb25dg.jpg)

I'm sick of you coffee snobs telling me it's not okay to add bacon fat to my brew!

Almost zero poison, no bacon fat.

Check.

I froze coffee in an ice tray to make coffee-cubes for my iced coffee, so I can ice my iced coffee with ice-coffee. -Xzibit

It was great, but now I have to go to the next level and cold brew the coffee I'm eventually going to ice down. any tips on getting in to cold brewing? (I own a burr grinder, French press, espresso machine, and milk frother if any of that is needed.)

Squee9 wrote:

I froze coffee in an ice tray to make coffee-cubes for my iced coffee, so I can ice my iced coffee with ice-coffee. -Xzibit

It was great, but now I have to go to the next level and cold brew the coffee I'm eventually going to ice down. any tips on getting in to cold brewing? (I own a burr grinder, French press, espresso machine, and milk frother if any of that is needed.)

Coarse grind lots of beans and let it brew for a day somewhere out of the way—and keep stuff from getting in there to mess with the taste. That's enough to get me what I need.

Is this thread really a cover for the heroin thread I can never find?

wordsmythe wrote:
Squee9 wrote:

I froze coffee in an ice tray to make coffee-cubes for my iced coffee, so I can ice my iced coffee with ice-coffee. -Xzibit

It was great, but now I have to go to the next level and cold brew the coffee I'm eventually going to ice down. any tips on getting in to cold brewing? (I own a burr grinder, French press, espresso machine, and milk frother if any of that is needed.)

Coarse grind lots of beans and let it brew for a day somewhere out of the way—and keep stuff from getting in there to mess with the taste. That's enough to get me what I need.

Yup. It's that super easy (and so much better tasting than iced coffee). I typically do about a 12-hour brew.

Squee9 wrote:

I froze coffee in an ice tray to make coffee-cubes for my iced coffee, so I can ice my iced coffee with ice-coffee. -Xzibit

It was great, but now I have to go to the next level and cold brew the coffee I'm eventually going to ice down. any tips on getting in to cold brewing? (I own a burr grinder, French press, espresso machine, and milk frother if any of that is needed.)

I buy cold brewed concentrated coffee at Trader Joes too.

Strangeblades wrote:

Is this thread really a cover for the heroin thread I can never find?

The reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you have coffee?

But seriously, we are talking about legal stimulants in here, not illegal opiates.

wordsmythe wrote:
Strangeblades wrote:

Is this thread really a cover for the heroin thread I can never find?

The reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you have coffee?

But seriously, we are talking about legal stimulants in here, not illegal opiates.

Yes. Those are over here

Squee9 wrote:

I froze coffee in an ice tray to make coffee-cubes for my iced coffee, so I can ice my iced coffee with ice-coffee. -Xzibit

It was great, but now I have to go to the next level and cold brew the coffee I'm eventually going to ice down. any tips on getting in to cold brewing? (I own a burr grinder, French press, espresso machine, and milk frother if any of that is needed.)

I use a hario mizudashi to cold brew.
Here's the amazon link but it's up to $35 now, I think I paid 20. You can probably find it for less elsewhere. I really like it though.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001VP...