Coffee Catch-All

Rallick wrote:

And because of the brewing method, as I understand it. Steam at high pressure is forced through the grounds, which picks up less caffeine than the drip method used in most other brewing techniques.

Not really. The primary reason/effect of brewing under pressure is to extract and blend the oils inherent in the coffee in a way that traditional brewing doesn't.

Sampled a lot of good coffee last week in San Francisco, Blue Bottle has some talented baristas, and some good product. Four Barrel coffee roasts were excellent. Also had a lot of pour over brews. I'm thinking i'll pick up that technique for morning coffee, so good. Time to get a burr grinder.

What type of alcohol goes good with coffee. I mean mixed in coffee or is that just dumb.

Whisky, Bailey's, kahlua, amaretto.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Whisky, Bailey's, kahlua, amaretto.

Pretty much any brown liquor, or a liqueur derived from it. So whiskey (scotch and bourbon), brandy, and Drambuie is a particular favourite.

I'm partial to dark rum in my coffee. Frangelico is also great.

I am particular to a decent vanilla vodka and some cream. Stoli is my go to. Absolute is fine, have not tried Smirnoff.

Some friends and I have put a hurt on a pot of coffee and Kahlua, but I would rather have a proper Mocha. I find the coffee makes Kahlua or Bailies tolerable to drink.

Vanilla extract itself is usually 35% alcohol (70 proof).

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Vanilla extract itself is usually 35% alcohol (70 proof). :D

Yeah, I usually keep a flask of VE in my hip pocket.

moo: At the coffee roaster I work at, we'll make 50% reg./50% decaf. blends for customers who request it. Worth looking into if you have a local coffee shop/roaster.

I finally got around to writing a blog post about my experience in becoming a coffee snob, if you care... =)

http://me.raccoonfink.com/2011/08/09...

Longtime user of the Aeropress here. I'm considering upgrading to the disk. Has anyone isolated the difference?

Ranger Rick wrote:

I finally got around to writing a blog post about my experience in becoming a coffee snob, if you care... =)

http://me.raccoonfink.com/2011/08/09...

Nice! You've discovered some great things. You mentioned that you don't like dark roasts which is awesome. Dark roasts=burnt beans=strong+bitter. This is why most everything from Starbucks requires cream or sugar of some sort. Medium roasts bring out rad flavors and have the potential to be not bitter. The problem with medium roasts is that there is a window for when the the beans will be best. I tend to think that a day or so after roasting to 2 weeks is a pretty good window. Even a few days after roasting, the beans start to change and I've tend to notice that you lose some flavors and get a bit of a "sour" flavor. Burnt beans from Starbucks can last way longer because they don't have any interesting flavors to screw up. They're bad from the get go, so they'll probably last months.

I liked how you discovered that lots of the bad coffee here is due to unclean machines. I think this is one reason that drip coffee always tastes bad. The main reason is that it's a bad process, but some of the really bad flavors coming from drip coffee are the oils that build up in the machines. Clean equipment is essential. This is the main reason I french press. Glass does not collect the oils that metal and plastic do. I can't use metal or plastic mugs because it instantly ruins the coffee from all the oil buildup. I can only use ceramic or glass to drink from.

Not much there you haven't said I guess. I was mostly just agreeing with what you've already said.

Edit: Another thing which I do to keep the beans fresh is to store them in a vacuum sealed container. The one I have has a pump which lets you suck out the air, which will hopefully help the beans from becoming oxidized. I'm not sure if it helps all that much, but I like to think it does.

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BreechLoad wrote:

Longtime user of the Aeropress here. I'm considering upgrading to the disk. Has anyone isolated the difference?

From a completely subjective point of view, I could not tell much of a difference from the paper filters, but I at least like the idea of not throwing out little pieces of paper every day.

I tend to like the flavor of coffee brewed through a paper filter the best. Plus, disposal of the grounds is easy. With the french press I'm using now (our drip coffee maker died), it's difficult to avoid washing at least some of the grounds down the sink, and I know for a fact that that's a good way to clog the drain pipe. If oils getting trapped in plastic are a concern, it's pretty easy to track down a ceramic filter holder (the kid that sits above a coffee mug).

Just bought some Stumptown Honduras San Vicente beans and made/drank a cup. It's so good when you can get the beans during the 2-5 day period after they've been roasted. For some reason, that window can yield amazing results. After 5 days, the beans start to change a little. Anyways, it is some great coffee.

complexmath wrote:

I tend to like the flavor of coffee brewed through a paper filter the best. Plus, disposal of the grounds is easy. With the french press I'm using now (our drip coffee maker died), it's difficult to avoid washing at least some of the grounds down the sink, and I know for a fact that that's a good way to clog the drain pipe. If oils getting trapped in plastic are a concern, it's pretty easy to track down a ceramic filter holder (the kid that sits above a coffee mug).

coffee grounds are actually a good way to clean your drain out. they are rather acidic and can chew though other build up. I've been dumping by ground out in the sink for years and I havent had a clogged drain yet. As far as paper filter vs french press its all up to the you! and I dont recommend staying with one. I tend to try different methods of brewing regularly as I evolve my roasting skill etc. I really do recommend trying different ways.

my current fav (other than espresso) has been this pour over which uses a paper filter.
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Paper filter I know, but sometimes you dont want all the oils getting into the cup, it makes for a much smoother cup.

I love coffee! There is so many different kinds/brewing methods out there that I love trying.
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here what I got kicking around that I use regularly
stove top espresso maker
french press
Vietnamese drip (sits on top of the cup)
espresso machine (not great but it and I have an arrangement to get an silvia hopefully soon)

Still need to try this brewing method. supposedly has caffeine concentration 40x higher than brewed coffee. So roughly 3.5 ounces of this contains the same amount of caffeine as 1 gallon of brewed coffee.

Blotto The Clown wrote:

coffee grounds are actually a good way to clean your drain out. they are rather acidic and can chew though other build up. I've been dumping by ground out in the sink for years and I havent had a clogged drain yet.

I've heard somewhat the opposite from a plumber. The problem is when grease has been poured down the drain. The coffee grounds get trapped in the grease lining the drain pipe and eventually cause a blockage. I had this happen at a house I rented, though to be fair, it was a very old house with a wonky pipe setup.

That's exactly the kind of ceramic filter I was recommending, too. Love 'em. There's a boutique coffee place nearby that does tastings... they line up the same coffee as espresso, through a french press, and through a cone filter. I've found that I generally prefer the cone filter to the french press.

Seems to me that in that scenario, the problem is the grease that you're pouring down your drain. That's a no-no.

Please gentlemen, don't say 'French press'; it sounds like a whore's speciality from Deadwood. Call it a cafetiere.

Blotto The Clown wrote:

my current fav (other than espresso) has been this pour over which uses a paper filter.

Paper filter I know, but sometimes you dont want all the oils getting into the cup, it makes for a much smoother cup.

Those pour-overs are great. I have one here, and I have to admit I haven't used it much (pulling a shot of espresso is just that much less hassle first thing in the morning), but a number of cafes here, including our local, offer them, and they're a really interesting way to enjoy coffee. I had an iced pour-over the other day, too -- I think they just ran the pour-over in to an ice-filled cup -- and it was a really lovely alternative to an espresso-based iced coffee.

Ranger Rick wrote:

I finally got around to writing a blog post about my experience in becoming a coffee snob, if you care... =)

http://me.raccoonfink.com/2011/08/09...

You're saying that in the US you roast coffee darker than in Europe? That is quite fascinating, I always thought it was the other way around (never been to US, so cannot compare, sorry). I personally prefer Italian roasting, which is darker than usual. Recently I found my new favorite, recommended by my purveyor of all things Italian.

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One kilo of beans costs the same as my previous favorite, Caffe Vergnano, but it has even nicer, more balanced flavor. We also had a great talk with the shop owner while I was tasting the coffee right from his nice and shiny Italian espresso machine, so I might have been swayed by that as well

1Dgaf wrote:

Please gentlemen, don't say 'French press'; it sounds like a whore's speciality from Deadwood. Call it a cafetiere.

Press pot.

wanderingtaoist wrote:

You're saying that in the US you roast coffee darker than in Europe? That is quite fascinating, I always thought it was the other way around (never been to US, so cannot compare, sorry). I personally prefer Italian roasting, which is darker than usual. Recently I found my new favorite, recommended by my purveyor of all things Italian.

That seemed to be the consensus of various forum posts and other things I read on the subject. Seems to be the case for the most part of what I've tried around here, until you get into the smaller boutique shops. The popular local roasts that I find around here (mostly Larry's Beans) are all very dark, and I don't care for them much.

Counter Culture, here, has more of a range; their Tuscan that I mentioned in the blog post is a very smooth espresso roast, but the Italian Rustico is more like what you describe. It's alright, but I much prefer the other.

1Dgaf wrote:

Please gentlemen, don't say 'French press'; it sounds like a whore's speciality from Deadwood. Call it a cafetiere.

Not now that is sounds like something Al Swearengen would say, I am sticking to it.

Drip coffee doesn't always taste bad. You just have to clean your equipment. That's true for all equipment, though. If you don't properly clean your espresso maker the next day's doppio is going to have the remnants of yesterday's in it. Filtered water, a really clean basket and carafe, combined with a regular schedule of cleaning the apparatus according to instructions is all you need.

For daily use, I do Starbucks Yukon blend which is bold, but not bitter or burnt. For a treat I have a friend in Hawaii who sends me real Kona coffee. The Peaberry medium dark is incredible.

I was talking to someone recently who said he used to love Sumatra coffee, but the tsunami in ~2004 changed the taste of the coffee and he hasn't liked it since then. I'd have thought that coffee would typically be grown at enough altitude to be safe from such things, but it was an interesting observation nevertheless.

The growing conditions, growth time and harvesting all affect the coffee's taste. In a situation where they need the money, the coffee growers could be pushing an extra crop or two a year, picking greener beans, and changing the taste of the coffee, even if the plantation was way above the flooding.