the coffee thread

[ken k]

Good morning fellow tubenetters,

so i am sitting here enjoying my morning joe and thought hey we've had bar-b-q threads, food threads, beer threads, but i do not recall a coffee thread.

So how do you prepare and enjoy the nectar of the gods?

For me nothing too fancy. I buy Dunkin Donuts whole beans and grind them just before brewing in a Senseo pod brewer. At work I have a Black & Decker single cup Brew 'n Go. I add a touch of half and half and I am good to go, no sugar (that is what the donut is for....)

Anyone out there use a french press? I am dropping hints for a french press for a present. also my friend told me about a cold brew system that looks interesting with less acidity.

any thoughts

Also if anyone can find pictures of girls showing cleavage while drinking coffee, feel free to post those as well...

ken k

[Matt G]

Also if anyone can find pictures of girls showing cleavage while drinking coffee, feel free to post those as well...

ken k

I don't drink coffee, but I can help here with some google-fu skills.

Megan Fox:


Roadside vendor:


Coffee drive through in Seattle:

[Chadtuba]

I've got one of the Gevalia coffee pots at home that I got free with membership into the Gevalia mail order, which I later cancelled but not till I stocked up on their Dark Roast. I order it ground but if I get the new grinder we registered for at the wedding in a couple of weeks I'll start ordering whole bean and grinding it myself. Little bit of half and half and some splenda and I'm good to go.

[Carroll]

The cold brewed process is a very interesting one and effective at reducing acidicy. I own one of these.
http://www.toddycafe.com/" target="_blank
You basically dump a pound of coffee into the bucket, fill it with water, and stick it in the fridge. The next day you drain the bucket through a hockey puck size filter and have a carafe full of coffee concentrate. Put a tablespoon in a cup of hot (or cold) water and you have brewed coffee as quick as instant. It is too good. I drink more than I should, so I limit myself to using cold brewed for special occasions.

[ken k]

Thank you matt for the pix. However technically none of those women are actually drinking coffee...

I did Gevalia for a few years and got tired of the expense. I am the only coffee drinker here so I do not go through much coffee. it is excellent coffee I will agree.

Cold Brew, yes my friend has the hourglass brewer... http://www.hourglasscoffee.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank

I am experimenting with the cheapo version... http://www.ineedcoffee.com/06/coldhome/" target="_blank" target="_blank

I have not found the right proportions yet, but it is easy and convenient. Especially great for making cold coffee drinks.

come on folks, there has got to be more coffee drinkers on tubenet!

ken k

[Todd S. Malicoate]

I've tried the "premium" coffee houses in my area (Aspen, Starbucks) and have not found a justification for the extreme price.

Maybe I'm just easy to please, but I enjoy the simple drip-brewed stuff we get at work from an independent vendor (Richard's Coffee). Like SoundMinistries I enjoy some "sweet stuff" in the cup, but I opt for real sugar and the real Coffee-Mate brand creamer (original, none of that "flavored" stuff). I recently started limiting myself to 1 large cup in the morning, since I used to drink 5-6 large mugs a day and found it more and more difficult to get to sleep at night!

[Matt G]

Taking this off-topic a bit...

I used to drink coffee, but I am a bit too sensitive to caffeine and the days off (Saturday and Sunday) from coffee were giving me bad headaches.

However, good coffee seems to be more about the quality of the water and the temperature it's brewed at. Seeing as the water in most areas is sub-par (chlorination, pH levels, w/e) the coffee usually requires (heavy doses of) dairy and sweetener.

But, about 5 or 6 years ago my wife and I went on a short vacation around the Kancamangus Trail area of New Hampshire during "mud season". There were roadside areas that you could jump in the river, and at those areas you could pump water from the aquifer, and it was tasty water. So, one morning we stopped by this little diner that would have been tapped into this aquifer of fantastic water. The place was busy enough so the coffee didn't sit. At all. Tried the coffee black just to get a feel for what was needed to make it good. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I can still remember how clean and crisp the flavor was, and how there was no bitter aftertaste.

[Donn]

However, good coffee seems to be more about the quality of the water and the temperature it's brewed at.

No question that both of those matter a lot. I don't use a drip brewer, but I understand that for whatever reason, it's common for those machines to brew at a lower temperature than they ought to, for best results.

One of the best brewing methods is the relatively ancient siphon or vacuum pot process, and I imagine one of its advantages may be that by virtue of its physical dependence on water just below boiling, temperature is more or less guaranteed. The usual equipment in the US (and Japan) is a pair of pots, one on top of the other, such that the water boiled in the lower pot is first forced up into the upper pot, where the coffee has been placed, and then sucked back down (through a filter) when the now empty lower pot cools and the vapor condenses. Usually fire proof glass, though my '30s Sunbeam is chrome plated copper.

Ideal water is actually a little harder than our alpine runoff water here in Seattle. Some "dissolved solids" mineral content is particularly helpful for espresso, but we make do. We drink most of our coffee in the form of espresso in my household - plain, no sugar, no cappuccinos or anything like that. Afterwards I like to rinse out the cup with a splash of grappa or pisco, though.

But -- you could be excused for thinking it's all about water and brewing technique, because it's ridiculously hard to get freshly roasted, high quality coffee. Old, stale, over roasted coffee is indeed all pretty much the same. Cheap average quality coffee blends are all pretty much the same. Pre-ground coffee is all pretty much the same. If you can find someone who roasts the good stuff, though, and grind it yourself when you need it, it can be rewarding. Might cost double the price of a fancy supermarket blend, but it will make a lot of cups of coffee, so still not expensive.

But don't try to stretch good coffee too thin. US taste in coffee was sadly distorted after WW II, when sailors came home who learned to like hot brown water as served on naval vessels. This preparation actually works better with cheap, gnarly tasting coffee as found in the big cans at the supermarket. The really good stuff doesn't do its thing at that dilute concentration, you have to crank it up to European (or US pre-war) concentration.

I roast our coffee myself. That isn't really necessary in Seattle, but it might be a bit cheaper that way, for what you get.

[rocksanddirt]

I agree quite a bit with Donn. I've never found fresh coffee more than about 100-200 miles from SF, or Portland, OR. (don't have experience with Seattle area, SoCal is very hit or miss).

Our local chain (NorCal mostly) is Peet's, and they are pretty good, the import and roast in the SF Bay area and ship it to their outlets pretty regularly in smallish batches. Starbucks is to large for fresh any more, especially away from the import/roasting centers. There are numerous small roasters with quality stuff in the area as well.

I'm not a coffee snob, I'm an enthusiast. I drink it black (like my heart). Usually straight up regular coffee, sometimes espresso or a fancy drink.

I use a travel french press a fair bit, as i'm the only one at home who drinks it.

[tubatooter1940]

I am the opposite of a coffee snob. I have been known to drink a second cup of steamy Nescafe instant out of a microwave.
I like my coffee like I like my women - bitter and murky.

[bearphonium]

Drip style coffee maker; usually locally roasted beans from a co-op. Daily application, sometimes directly to the frontal lobes.

That cold-brew process sounds interesting, since I am a big fan of cold coffee...

[jbeish]

I roast my own at home and I use either a vacuum pot or a coffee press. Great coffee doesn't have to be too expensive, just depends on how much effort you wish to put into it. A pound of home roasted coffee is extremely fresh and costs me around $5-6 a pound for the highest quality beans. I'm a big coffee fan...

[ken k]

When you roast your beans at home. How do you do that? Do you lay them out on a cookie sheet and stick them in the oven or what?

k

[Donn]

When you roast your beans at home. How do you do that? Do you lay them out on a cookie sheet and stick them in the oven or what?

There are quite a few ways to do it, but that's not one of them, too hard to get an even roast that way.

I started with a hot air popcorn popper, a Wearever Aluminum Company Popcorn Pumper, several of them to be precise because they tend to fail after a while when used this way. (They also may need to be modified, to run that hot.) I now use an ordinary outdoors propane grill, with a spit-mounted fabricated drum. You can buy a home roaster, you can cobble together appliances made for other things, you can use a good heat gun, or even just a cast iron skillet as the Ethiopians do.

Just a fine point on the economics - note coffee loses a significant amount of weight when roasted, so $5 /lb green might be equivalent to $7 /lb roasted. I just pulled that number out of a handy orifice, weight loss will vary (depends on moisture content.)

As a very general rule, I think people who like very dark roasts, don't get much out of it. On the other hand, once you're roasting your own and find out what lighter roasts taste like fresh, your tastes can change. The process is pretty simple, the coffee notifies you with various crackling noises when it's time to come out.

[MaryAnn]

I am very far from a coffee snob but I know what I like. I'm very caffeine sensitive so I have 1/2 cup per day, weekends included. I use pre-ground Hawiian Isles chocolate macadamia. I use a coffee press, hot water, let it sit for a few minutes. Black.

I found that using the exact same coffee and a drip maker, that it tastes terrible and is very acidic. I think the filter is to blame, frankly. I keep the coffee press (a really small one) at work and just use an old-fashioned strainer at home. If your coffee tastes bitter, acidic, etc, dump the paper filter and use a strainer or coffee press. Every coffee I've ever tasted that came through one of those filters tastes like swill unless it is doctored up with creamer and sweetener. Both at home and at work I used bottled water, because the utility water here has chloramine (not chlorine) in it, which not only tastes bad but is also bad for you.

MA

[elimia]

Meijers store brand, fair trade, dark roast. A little creamer and a teaspoon of sugar. Yum. Auto perculator.

One of my most prized possessions is my beat up Thermos. It gets filled black for the cold mornings in the tree stand in November. It is also great for holding a cup back in the morning, setting it in the dashboard, and when I get back to the truck from the field around 5 nice and hot. You know you're an addict when you're drinking hot coffee when it is 90 degrees.

[Bill Troiano]

I usually only drink one cup in the morning. So, we have this Keurig, one cup drip coffee maker that we use. You can buy several flavors that come in little sealed containers. You just fill the machine with water, pop in the sealed coffee contanier, push the button, and you have a cup of good coffee in about 30 sec. We bought it in Bed, Bath and Beyond. (WARNING: don't go to the beyond section.)

[ken k]

I usually only drink one cup in the morning. So, we have this Keurig, one cup drip coffee maker that we use. You can buy several flavors that come in little sealed containers. You just fill the machine with water, pop in the sealed coffee contanier, push the button, and you have a cup of good coffee in about 30 sec. We bought it in Bed, Bath and Beyond. (WARNING: don't go to the beyond section.)

Hi Bill, Yes that is sort of on the order of my Senseo machine. since i am the only coffee drinker in my house i thought i would give it a try.

ken k

[Chadtuba]

Well I got the coffee grinder when we opened wedding gifts this morning so next I'll get some whole beans and start grinding my own coffee.

[Donn]

Well I got the coffee grinder when we opened wedding gifts this morning so next I'll get some whole beans and start grinding my own coffee.

Congratulations! That's a big step forward, in life ... grinding your own coffee, I mean.