What is Your Favorite Way to Make Coffee? 592
markov_chain asks: "For a while I've been making coffee using home-ground whole beans and a standard drip maker. I settled on this method for its simplicity and good taste, even after trying numerous other methods (such as the French press, gravity percolators, and pressure percolators), each coupled with either pre-ground or whole beans. So far, the fresh ground beans are the only factor that made a significant difference in taste. However, when I recently spotted a a site that vaguely extols freshness, I began to wonder how much the freshness of the beans themselves affects the quality. Normally I thought the whole beans would retain the quality far longer, due to less surface area exposed to air, but clearly there still must be a decline; worse yet, it is difficult to gauge that decline since the sellers usually do not advertise the age of the beans. I would now like to pose a few questions. What is your preferred coffee-making method, and how does it compare to other methods you've tried? What are your favorite beans?"
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Roast your own (Score:4, Informative)
If you can find someone to supply you with green beans, your can roast your own in a hot air popcorn maker. The beans float once roasted and you can control how dark a roast you want.
You'll also want a very fine grind to get the maximum flavor out of your beans.
Turkish FTW - or if drip, freshly ground (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.natashascafe.com/ [natashascafe.com]
Finely ground, boil a couple times. My small "ibrik" makes about 3 espresso sized cups per batch, but trust me, that's all you need. Unfiltered too - you end up leaving a sludge at the bottom of your cup.
In regards to the original question, I've seen the coffee fool site, haven't tried starting with unroasted beans. I have had the best luck, drip coffee wise, using this:
http://www.cuisinart.com/catalog/product.php?prod
and grinding the beans fresh. There's definitely a difference to me using freshly ground vs. pre-ground. Cleaning the coffeemaker every couple weeks by running vinegar through it, then a couple carafes full of water helps too.
Re:After working at Starbucks for 3 years, (Score:5, Informative)
water temperature and grind (Score:1, Informative)
the finer the grind, the more surface area. the hotter the water, the more acids. boiling water will turn the best freshly roasted/ground coffee into something that tastes like it came from denny's. also, coffee grounds have a "useful flavor life", the first 500-600mL will have most of the flavor, anything extra will taste bitter.
i pre-mix turkish grind with water at 140-160F, let sit, then pour the resulting sludge through a melitta #6 filter cone; i used to pour directly into the cone, but discovered signifigant flavor loss where the grounds weren't getting wet. (fwiw, the melitta filter cones are a perfect fit for 1000mL griffin beakers.)
Re:Use a press pot (Score:5, Informative)
I don't know what to do. Going back to drip coffee would make me awfully sad, but better to be sad than prematurely dead.
I'm your coffee answer man! (Score:5, Informative)
Coffee beans lose 90% of their varietal aromatics within 3 days of roasting if unground, and within four hours if ground. Coffee quality is at least as much a function of the care taken in combing over the beans for clinkers as it is in the quality of the beans. A single clinker, that is, an immature bean, can ruin an entire pot of coffee, imparting a bitter, burnt flavor. They will look lighter in color, may be smaller, and will be lighter in weight than other beens, and you can remove them yourself. Obviously, if you are buying a blend with lighter and darker beans, they will be harder to find than a single varietal.
Method of brewing is important, with the major factors being the temperature of the water and the length of time the water is in contact with the grounds. Water temperature should be between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, and ideally should not stay in contact with grounds for more than six minutes. After that amount of time, the grounds start to release more bitter compounds.
As for the taste of beans, you will find there are three distinct coffee producing regions. Central and South American beans have low acidity, medium to high body (that is, the feel of the coffee in you mouth. If it feels thick, that is high body. If it feels watery, that is low body.) and tends towards spicy flavor notes. Eastern African coffees tend to have high acidity, low body, and winy flavor notes. Southeastern Asian coffees tend to have medium to low acidity, medium body, and earthy or nutty flavor ntoes. Of course, I am talking about Arabica beans from these regions, not Robusta, which all tend to taste like hay.
Re:Fresh ground (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Fresh ground (Score:3, Informative)
Chemex (Score:5, Informative)
I use a Chemex coffeemaker, which is every chemistry geek's dream. It is a very simple all-glass vessel that accommodates a lab-grade folded square filter. You pour hot water through the grounds and end up with a very nice cup o' joe. It looks elegantly labware-like.
I like it because the water never touches metal or plastic, which impart a flavor. I like it because the lab-grade filters make for a very mild flavor even with lumberjack-strength brew. People marvel at how good my coffee tastes "for how strong it is."
I suppose if you want to be truly geeked-out you could use a vacuum pump and extraction funnel. I've done that myself to show off, but it is a lot of work to do before I've had me coffee!
my personal setup (Score:5, Informative)
My setup:
In detail:
Grind the beans, boil the water then wait a few minutes for it to cool a few degrees, pour and enjoy fresh.
My system is simplicity itself (Score:3, Informative)
I have been known to grind and brew from beans on occasion, but that's become rare since discovering the Keurig. I have one in my house and I bought another one for the office.
home roasted turkish (Score:2, Informative)
I roast it myself with a table top roaster that does about one pot worth of beans.
Once the beans have cooled down I grind them to a nice fine powder
Then I put the powder and about 8 cups of water in a sauce pan
Bring it to a boil while stirring continuously.
Shut off as soon as a boil starts, if not slightly before it starts to boil.
let is settle a bit
Some people like to pour it through a filter to get the sediment out.
I prefer it straight into the cup from here.
Check the alt.coffee guide (Score:2, Informative)
Re:It's the roast that matters the most (Score:3, Informative)
We actually went up to a Blue Mountain coffee farm and got some on a day trip. The trip was more interesting than the coffee.
Re:I'm your coffee answer man! (Score:5, Informative)
The important thing is to consume it right away, like within a week - in an airtight container, they say 14 days, but in my opinion its a little less.
And never freeze your coffee, like I've heard some people say. I've read that it is the release of carbon dioxide and other minerals that makes coffee go stale and lose its sweet taste. Freezing does delay this, however, freezing causes the air moisture, along with impurities in the air, to freeze on the coffee, and when thawed, leaves unpleasant flavors and aromas in the coffee. So don't freeze it unless the air in your freezer and between the coffee beans inside the container is completely free of impurities of any kind. The coffee will also more readily pick up any smells present when frozen.
Re:I'm your coffee answer man! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:It's the roast that matters the most (Score:5, Informative)
Green beans are less than half the price of roasted beans. Green beans are available at several websites, just search on 'green coffee beans'.
Stovetop roasting is interesting, but it is difficult to produce an even roast. Using a hot air roaster, even an old hot air popcorn popper, will make a real difference in the final product.
Re:It's the roast that matters the most (Score:2, Informative)
New World Italian Style (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Fresh ground (Score:5, Informative)
I have discovered that buying good high grade single crop coffee beans is far cheaper in bulk, it also ensure freshness from the roaster. Problem, I cant drink 25 pounds of beans in time.
I came across a solution that works very well. I use cleaned and sanatized 3 liter pop bottles. I fill them with beans and then by using a modified cap I seal them up and charge them with Co2. Getting the air out is not important.Gassing them with co2 from a tube can do that but keeping them under pressure with a high concentration of Co2 is important. I then store them in the basement wher e they are in the dark and in a cool place (66 degrees F.)
They amazingly stay incredibly fresh. Way fresher after 6 months than a new bag of starbucks beans at a grocery store (starbucks beans suck to begin with but that's a roasting problem).
It really works! you can easily make a cap or a modified neck of the 3 liter bottle to have a co2 inlet valve. I get my high grade coffee at way lower prices than you can in the stores or "shops", It's far fresher as they ship directly from the roaster company. and I found a way to store for long duration.
the "vacuum" packed crap is a gimmick you do not want a vaccuum you want pressure and co2 to fight the loss of the co2 in the beans.
Aeropress! (Score:2, Informative)
My recipe:
2 scoops freshly ground coffee (currently I have some Hawaiian beans, and some Tasmanian Peaberry, yum!)
175degF water to the top of the 2
10 second stir
nice firm 20 second press
dilute 1:1 with water for a nice americano
little milk, little sugar, and thats what I have every morning. Delicious!
Re:Whoa there on the Kona.... (Score:3, Informative)
The only reason Kona is special is that it is the only coffee grown in the US.
Re:Fresh ground (Score:3, Informative)
Personally, I think the best way to good coffee is to avoid anything roasted or sold in America. I lived in Germany for a while, and found on my return to the US that I couldn't stand ANY of the coffee. Since then, I've been forced to bring back a suitcase full of coffee every time I go to Germany (six times a year). Tchibo's Beste Bohne is my favorite, and it completely blows away even the Tchibo brands that are sold here in the US. Oddly enough, most of my German friends actually prefer Italian coffees. But anyway, the bean and the freshness matter much more than the brewing method. Automatic drip is the easiest method for me, and doesn't differ substantially from any other method I've tried.
Re:New World Italian Style - now with line breaks! (Score:3, Informative)
Very competent overview on the italian moka style. =)
If you're interested in it here's a spot on tutorial with pro tips and some "classy" touches:
http://www.caffeina.org/caffe/inglese/casamadre.h
some hilights:
- avoid pressing the powder with the spoon at all. just fill the filter a make a dome in the middle
http://www.caffeina.org/caffe/inglese/08.htm [caffeina.org]
http://www.caffeina.org/caffe/inglese/09.htm [caffeina.org]
- the stove goes at the minimum setting
http://www.caffeina.org/caffe/inglese/11.htm [caffeina.org]
- stir the coffee in the pot before pouring
http://www.caffeina.org/caffe/inglese/13.htm [caffeina.org]
- prewarm the cups
http://www.caffeina.org/caffe/inglese/05.htm [caffeina.org]
- if you like sugar in the coffee, just make the delicious "cremina"! It's very simple, it takes just a minute but the outcome is surprising, you'll get a smooth cream on top of your coffe cup like the best cafeteria espresso
http://www.caffeina.org/caffe/inglese/17.htm [caffeina.org]
Buona degustazione =)
I hope youn never try Kopi Luwak coffee! (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Fresh ground (Score:4, Informative)
Coffee Researcher (yes, some of us do that) (Score:2, Informative)
Here are a few websites that have very reliable information: www.coffeegeek.com and www.sweetmarias.com are two that come to mind, also look at www.scaa.org (Specialty Coffee Association of America) as they are the authority on coffee quality.
aside from that you have to ask yourself what you are starting with.
You need good water, not too hard (maybe a simple water filter is all you need) The references in the US are San Francisco and Seattle water.
Instant, then just close the lid of the can (though the flavor won't really change much if you don't)
Preground coffee from the big four (Folger's, Maxwell House, Nestle, etc.) or flavored coffees (do you know what kind of solvents they use to retain the flavor through roasting?), then just close the lid and keep in a dark cool place (cabinet that is not above a stove is a fine place).
Preground coffee from a coffee shop, then buy small amounts (a pound or less) and just close tightly and store in a dark cool place, not in the freezer or refrigerator since humidity will affect the flavor. An airtight container that is not too large should do fine
Of course, the best possible way to drink fresh coffee is to roast it yourself and consume it within three weeks.... this might be a bit much for most, but the second best thing is to buy freshly roasted coffee from a reputable coffee shop (need not be expensive), that prints the date on the package. The few I know that are distributed nationwide are Green Mountain Coffee and Tully's. There are smaller ones that are amazing like Intelligentsia (Chicago and soon in L.A.), Groundworks (L.A.), Barefoot Roasters (Sunnyvale, CA), Stumptown (Portland, OR) Counter Culture (Durham, NC), and many others I have not included due to space, but if they roast locally, they are bound to be great. All the ones I mention print the date of roasting (not the date that they are good until).
Why don't I recommend Starbucks or other well known coffees? Well, they are good if you like the way they roast (and a good many people do. They are after all the largest specialty coffee company in the world. I don't buy their coffee because, 1) too dark for my taste, 2) no roast date on package -- no other reason, and the same goes for others who do not print the roast date on the package).
Packaging only does so much, whether it is vacuum, co2, nitrogen, etc. Coffee is a very complex thing that has something like 600 or so identifiable components after roasting. Not all of them remain stable for the same amount of time, and most of the flavor in coffee, like anything else, is in the smell. Roasting is a process of controlled destruction and most of the smell of coffee is trapped in microscopic gas pockets inside the bean, out-gassing will occur, oils and similar substances will sublimate, etc. this process cannot be undone with any known technology today (no magic crystals, no fancy gases, nada). Coffee should be ground right before consumption with a good grinder (burrs and not blades) and coffee should not sit around too long... a month or five weeks tops (I prefer three weeks... you can tell if a coffee is fresh if when you brew it, a foamy crust forms, the thicker-- the fresher. The crust is a combination of emulsified gases and oils. As the components evaporate, sublimate, or deteriorate, the foam becomes thinner or non-existent).
Brewing... there are a number of methods, but most do not bring the best out from the coffee. Some of the best ways to prepare coffee are not that expensive at all.
French pot (Bodum is nice, but you can easily find some for $14 or so that work just as well) is quite good. Boil water and add it to the ground coffee, steep for four minutes and it is done (water should be around 200F or so, which is what water will be off the stove a minute or so after boiling, if it is t
Moka Express (Score:3, Informative)
August 28 2000 was a significant day in my coffee life as I changed to the Italian Moka Express http://www.bialettishop.com/MokaExpressMain.htm [bialettishop.com]. This radical change followed a change in my perception of what constitutes a true coffee experience after a visit to Italy. Since then I only drink moka or expresso. I bring my own coffee maker on any travels not destined for Italy. There should be left no doubt that a trip to Italy for the coffee experience is a must for the true coffee enthusiast.
I think the best maker is the 2 or 3 cup size, the bigger the makers have higher water:coffee ratio. But the right maker is not enough, you gotta get the right blend of torrefacto and natural roast (torrefacto is made by roasting the beans with sugar). Shop arround to find the blend and roast that you like. Once you have found your coffee pusher, stick with him as he will know your specific taste and preferences and make sure to have your blend.
Re:Fresh ground (Score:3, Informative)
I have a cheap burr mill grinder, a $30 Mr. Coffee brand machine, that is good enough for the day-to-day. I got it at a Target store last year, but I haven't seen it on the shelves recently. It never makes a mess, if you treat it right. There's a picture of it here [amazon.com], seemingly on the wrong product.
The trick is to find a grinder with a durable cup that has a lid with a small opening (this one is lexan, and the input opening is about 1cm x 2cm). Cover the opening with your thumb, shake the grounds around, and use a spoon to sharply strike the lid from the side, knocking all the grounds down into the body of the cup. Then, remove your thumb and the lid, pour the grounds into the filter (I use a cone filter), and strike the bottom corner of the container from the side with the spoon again. You should be left with virtually no coffee outside the filter, and a minimum of coffee powder stuck inside the cup. Obviously, YMMV.
Re:Divine Turkish Coffee (Score:3, Informative)
The classic way to make Turkish coffee is in a fujuan (sp?), it is a small pot with a tapered opening... first you put in water ( about 6 or 7 oz ) and 1 tablespoon of sugar, add a pinch of Hawadg (sp?) (special blend of spices for coffee) or just Cardamom. After the watter is boiled and the the sugar dissolved, remove from the fire, float a big heap of coffee ( about tablespoon ) on top of the water, then return to the fire... if you did everything right it will start to foam up... remove from the fire right before it over flows... you can do this a few times (3) .... pour out the liquid.. and drink.
above when ever I said fire, I meant sand that was heated by the sun...
Re:Fresh ground (Score:2, Informative)
I also roast my own coffee, but I have found that grinding the freshly roasted coffee within the first 24 hours yields a grassy flavor. I started out using an I-Roast [i-roast.com]. Although the device didn't last very long, I figured it paid for itself in about 38 weeks (based on brewing 1 pot of coffee per day) because the green beans were significantly cheaper than roasted. The only problem I had was that toward the end of its life, the I-Roast started acting weird and would ruin batches of coffee if I didn't watch it closely and monitor the temperatures. The I-Roast is essentially an air popcorn popper redesigned specifically to roast coffee. That is, it works uses the same principal to roast the coffee as the popper.
Now I use a small drum roaster [hottopusa.com] that cost about 3 times more than the I-Roast, but gives a more consistent roast. It's one drawback (as compared to the I-Roast) is that the roast profile is essentially preset. You can control the length of the roast, but not the temperatures. That bothered me at first, but I'm so much happier with the roast that I guess they did a good job with their profile and I've been quite happy with it.
I have a burr grinder and a technivorm brewer. The grinder gives a consistent grind over the whirly bird method and the brewer is supposed to be the only consumer brewer sold that brews coffee at the correct temperature. All of this I bought from http://www.sweetmarias.com/ [sweetmarias.com]. They have good reviews and information.
And my favorite coffee is Costa Rica La Minita.
Re:Divine Turkish Coffee (Score:2, Informative)
Sorry poor transliteration, Finjan [walla.co.il] is a little more accurate, or Dallah for another name.
Just cause you've never heard of it doesn't mean it isn't called that, unless maybe your an expert on semitic languages and cultures.
Also the link you provided is to an article written by some one who came from Russia to the US. I'm not sure why you would think she would be an expert on the names for the pot used to make coffee in middle eastern countries, and provide an exhaustive list of those names.