coffee thread

[SalsaWood]

The best espresso I ever had was during a vacation to the Philippines at this island resort. They had a lot of the best everything I've ever had, frankly. I think they hooked us up here and there for being one of the few guests who weren't a total pain in the ass, I definitely got double shots but only charged for singles. I should have asked them what espresso it was.

As far as coffee machines, I was jokingly being aloof about it before, but I honestly won't mess with them at all. They're kind of gross beyond the simple fact they make utilitarian compromises which I don't think are worth it. That's when they work at all. My Keurig was so fond of breaking down that I eventually threw it out in the yard and put it out of its misery with extreme prejudice (addictions are bad, kids). French press or pour over for me all the way now.

 

[SalsaWood]

The ultra fine metal strainers ensures no grit gets into my cup.

There are upending methods which make this much less vital. I don't actually press my french press, I plunge it to the top of the grounds on the surface and then tip the whole thing up to drip out the coffee. This makes the grounds filter themselves pretty effectively.

Then there's the whole endeavor of preheating the press container and strainer which I won't really get into, but I usually splash some really hot water into the beaker and soak the strainer for a few seconds, then dry it off and put in the grounds in right before the rest of the boiling water.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

There are upending methods which make this much less vital. I don't actually press my french press, I plunge it to the top of the grounds on the surface and then tip the whole thing up to drip out the coffee. This makes the grounds filter themselves pretty effectively.

Then there's the whole endeavor of preheating the press container and strainer which I won't really get into, but I usually splash some really hot water into the beaker and soak the strainer for a few seconds, then dry it off and put in the grounds in right before the rest of the boiling water.

I don't think you understand just how fine Espro's strainers are. They are more equivalent to a suuuper fine metal pour over filter than a typical french press wire mesh strainer. The first strainer is pretty fine and the second is even finer (which catches super fine sediment). The only thing entering the cup is the oils and liquid.

It's a massive step up from other french presses in terms of the straining ime.

Plus I can get away with finer grinds using this press than I ever could with other presses.

 

[SalsaWood]

@KnightBrolaire Yea, I know what they are. I'm saying they aren't the only way to skin a cat, they're just a way which involves more tool than method. With the way I do it in my traditional style press I can get to the last drop with no mud at all, which is the same thing right?

 

[KnightBrolaire]

@KnightBrolaire Yea, I know what they are. I'm saying they aren't the only way to skin a cat, they're just a way which involves more tool than method. With the way I do it in my traditional style press I can get to the last drop with no mud at all, which is the same thing right?

Yeah you're right, there are lots of ways to approach that particular problem. As long as you're getting the end product you want, you do you man. Swedish coffee (where you chuck an egg in and it binds to the grounds/clarifies the coffee) works insanely well for this purpose too but it's not a practical thing for small batches of coffee. I've experimented in the past with using another super fine filter after the press and that works pretty well.

I just didn't want to constantly mess around with stuff like that day in and day out. The nice thing about the espro is I can just slap some grounds in it with some hot water and I get the same result with essentially no hassle.

 

[p0ke]

As I wrote in the FWP thread yesterday, my mother in law melted my coffee maker onto the stove during the weekend. So today I had to make my morning coffee manually - I boiled water to 95°C (our tea water boiler has different temperature settings, one of which is "coffee") and ran it through the filter by hand. Triple effort for the same coffee

I think I'll pick another coffee maker up while I pick up my daughter from daycare...

 

[TedEH]

I've been sad about one of my local coffee places - they've been slowly replacing the staff, who were friendly and competent, with folks who don't speak English or coffee. I can forgive the language, but maaaaan it's so disappointing to go to an old favourite place to learn that they don't know how to operate the machines or follow the recipe book or whatever.

I got legitimately the worst coffee I've ever paid for from that place - I asked for plain old americano, it's not complicated, and she didn't know what that meant. So I explained it, and she proceeded to ignore what I said and pulled lukewarm water through a shot until the cup was full and handed that to me. I had no idea espresso could taste that bad.

 

[thebeesknees22]

I've been sad about one of my local coffee places - they've been slowly replacing the staff, who were friendly and competent, with folks who don't speak English or coffee. I can forgive the language, but maaaaan it's so disappointing to go to an old favourite place to learn that they don't know how to operate the machines or follow the recipe book or whatever.

I got legitimately the worst coffee I've ever paid for from that place - I asked for plain old americano, it's not complicated, and she didn't know what that meant. So I explained it, and she proceeded to ignore what I said and pulled lukewarm water through a shot until the cup was full and handed that to me. I had no idea espresso could taste that bad.

I was wondering how QC was doing with the new hardcore language laws. Sounds like it's working as they intended eh?



sounds like time to buy an aeropress to take with you on the go

 

[TedEH]

I've got plenty of at-home options for coffee - a simple drip machine, one of those moca pot things, a basic "espresso" machine (like a $200 delonghi kind of thing), so I'm not hurting for home coffee at all. To me, the cafe thing is about the travel and the destination - go take a break, go for a walk, talk to the barista person, read a book, be outside of the house for a while, that kind of thing.

I think the staff change is a seasonal thing - this one in particular was a small shop glued onto a bus station, and they cycle through employees pretty regularly, but had gotten into a pattern of hiring people who were very friendly and very competent with coffee, so it was good. They still have a larger full sized cafe a few blocks away, which has it's own kinda weird hiring pattern, but it doesn't affect the products at all. It's just slightly less convenient to get to, and during lunch has longer lines. Very first-world problem kind o thing.

 

[p0ke]

Here's my new coffee maker. Looks pretty cool, I'll find out tomorrow morning whether it makes good coffee. It should, it has that Belgian coffee bean institution seal of approval on it.