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So I need some advice. There are three coffee drinkers in my household, two of whom prefer fairly dark coffee, Continental Dark from Second Cup, if there are any Canadian coffee aficionados here (I know I should be roasting my own, but  ) and one of whom likes the comparatively light Tim Horton's coffee, and says she has stomach issues digesting the Second Cup coffee. We are all up around the same time in the morning, and currently use a crappy single-cup coffee maker from Toastess similar to this one. The valuable thing about this coffee maker to us, is that we can make cups sequentially, with one person setting up the machine for the next, using our own coffee of choice per cup, and, most importantly, we don't need to use paper filters, actively measure the amount of coffee we're using other than to eyeball it, or expend any valuable effort towards thinking about coffee preparation in the morning when none of us are particularly compos mentis. The problem is: This is a terrible coffee maker. The coffee comes out lukewarm, sometimes insipid for no adequately explainable reason, but never twice in a row, and is, above all, messy. I am, ideally, looking for a single cup coffee maker to replace it that does not suck, and, ideally, uses a permanent cleanable filter, or, alternatively, suggestions that do not involve K-cups, Tassimo, or any of the other wasteful plastic pods, and take into account the fact that none of us really want to have to work all that hard, or wait all that long for our coffee. Having a reservoir for water would help, but is in no way essential. I have, so far, investigated several coffee press methods, but neither of my housemates are particularly enthusiastic about them. I took a look at the Clever Dripper some folks have been recommending, but that appears to use paper filters, and takes 5+ minutes to make a cup, in addition to us not owning a good kettle. I've investigated buying one of the K-Cup or Tassimo ones, both of which claim to have a refillable, reusable "pod" which one can fill with the grounds of their choice, but reviews online have been extremely scarce, and, when there are reviews, they're not positive, claiming lots of spillage, due to the way they're designed. We could also go for one of the carafe coffee makers listed, but we would be wasting coffee due to the fact that not all of us like the same type of coffee, and the fact that we all leave afterwards, and the remaining coffee would go to waste. Is there a good solution out there for me, or should I accept that our needs are too many to be adequately satisfied by a single piece of equipment? Should I just swallow my trepidations about having to think about coffee preparation in the morning before I know I'm awake and try something that might result in a better cup? Edit: Changed links to amazon links because Toastess' site is as terrible as this coffee maker. Fusbolito McGiggola fucked around with this message at 01:04 on Feb 15, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 22:47
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Uh, those links are giving a redirect loop. You could probably just get an ok kettle, 2~3 small french press pots (you can get $10 ones at IKEA that work just fine). Alternatively, Cold Brew, but I forget the process. Maybe try to get a press pot for yourself and share it with the other dark coffee person to see what they think? Switch off coffee duties each morning? Usually when I get up to make myself a press pot I start the kettle, prep the press, make my breakfast/do my makeup, pour the kettle, do some other thing, coffee. I also use a moka-pot thing, too, which means I just set it on my stove and go faff around until I hear it finish. My kettle is a piece of poo poo, but since I live at a moderately high elevation I just stop the kettle as soon as I hear it go quiet. Local boiling point of water for me is ~95C, which is in the ideal range, I think. Also I don't always care first thing in the morning. 
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Feb 14, 2013 23:23
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It sounds like you want cold-brewed, instant, or something else easy. Nothing that makes good coffee is going to fulfill the parameters of no thought, no measurement, no filter, no kettle, and can brew multiple types of coffee at once. Just get a kettle and a single cup dripper for yourself and let them worry about their own coffee. You can use pre-ground coffee and still get a decent cup, and if you buy high quality paper filters you probably don't need to rinse them as you won't be able to notice the taste (Hario, for example).
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Feb 14, 2013 23:34
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What's the best drip machine for under a $100? It's for my parents.
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Feb 15, 2013 01:26
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Google Butt posted:What's the best drip machine for under a $100? It's for my parents. If you have to stay under 100 bucks, Bunn Phase Brew HG. Gen 1's had some rather nasty quality control and shorting issues, but supposedly they've worked all of that out. Probably the most temp-stable (meaning keeping things between 195 to 205F) drip machine at that price point. I would personally go for the HT to get the thermal carafe, but that would go over your price point.
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Feb 15, 2013 03:23
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I just found out about this thread, and I've been browsing up to page 28, but one thing astounds me: the way everyone seems to grind for the french press. I've had mine for a month or two, and I use a very fine grind with it, just a bit coarser than filter grind. When I see the rocks people throw in their pots here I'm stunned as to how they could ever make a decent pot from them. I'm using a La Cafetiere pot, with just the metal filter it came with, blade ground beans (I know I know, looking for a Baratza). I seem to have a magical grinder tough because in 20 s I can get a pretty even, fine grind. Not burnt from the motor either, the whole machine, including blades, feels cool. The only failure I've ever had was when I was grinding for a bit too long and sludge literally exploded out of my press while I was applying heavy pressure to it. Which is also the only time I've had any sludge at all in my coffee. I'll try to post some pics of my magical blade grinder/french press combo when I get to brewing some.
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Feb 15, 2013 14:27
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newreply.php posted:I just found out about this thread, and I've been browsing up to page 28, but one thing astounds me: the way everyone seems to grind for the french press. I've had mine for a month or two, and I use a very fine grind with it, just a bit coarser than filter grind. When I see the rocks people throw in their pots here I'm stunned as to how they could ever make a decent pot from them. I'm using a La Cafetiere pot, with just the metal filter it came with, blade ground beans (I know I know, looking for a Baratza). I seem to have a magical grinder tough because in 20 s I can get a pretty even, fine grind. Not burnt from the motor either, the whole machine, including blades, feels cool. The only failure I've ever had was when I was grinding for a bit too long and sludge literally exploded out of my press while I was applying heavy pressure to it. Which is also the only time I've had any sludge at all in my coffee. How long are you letting it steep for?
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Feb 15, 2013 17:10
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Doh004 posted:How long are you letting it steep for? a bit less than 4 minutes, with a very brief stir after pouring. i took some pics today, will post later.
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Feb 15, 2013 19:16
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Google Butt posted:What's the best drip machine for under a $100? It's for my parents. The Zojirushi EC-BD15BA in the OP is a perfectly fine coffeemaker. The only issue I've noticed is that the coffee isn't incredibly hot after a minute in the carafe. Not lukewarm, but enough that if you want your coffee to be near scalding it'll be disappointing. Preheating the carafe by rinsing it with boiling water helps here.
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Feb 15, 2013 21:24
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Thanks for the advice folks. I'll probably try the kettle-dripper solution, since there don't seem to be any of what I was looking for out there. Are there any reusable filters that are any good? I'd prefer not to use paper if it's avoidable, but I'll try it if I need to.
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Feb 15, 2013 21:54
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Is this a good French Press grind? 
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Feb 16, 2013 02:11
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The big pieces yes, the tiny fine stuff, no, and since it's all going in the FP together, no, it's a pretty terrible grind for FP. The key to good FP coffee is in a regular grind so you can get an even extraction (and no sludge).
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Feb 16, 2013 02:51
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I recently threw together a home roasting setup. A West Bend Stir crazy electric popcorn popper with it's heating element disconnected is used to stir the beans during the roasting process, and the lid from one of those Mr. T. Flavorwave halogen convection cookers is used as the heat source. I got the convection cooker head for  on eBay from someone who had broken the pyrex cooking vessel, and the popcorn popper was $30 at target. I can get a full city roast in about 10 minutes, and espresso in 15-20. The cooker head uses a fan to circulate the air, which happens to work really well for blowing the chaff out through the gaps between the popcorn popper and the lid.  This was my first attempt. I discovered that the heating was somewhat uneven. I found that raising the heat source up a bit with a ring of sheet metal really improved the results. 
MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 03:08 on Feb 16, 2013 |
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Feb 16, 2013 03:05
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AriTheDog posted:The big pieces yes, the tiny fine stuff, no, and since it's all going in the FP together, no, it's a pretty terrible grind for FP. The key to good FP coffee is in a regular grind so you can get an even extraction (and no sludge). That's how a nearby coffee shop ground it when I asked them to show me what a french press grind is supposed to look like  They make good espressos but I avoid everything else there
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Feb 16, 2013 03:07
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I could be wrong, but it looks really uneven to me. They probably just have a lovely grinder.
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Feb 16, 2013 03:34
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Mu Zeta posted:That's how a nearby coffee shop ground it when I asked them to show me what a french press grind is supposed to look like Mmmm espresso.. 
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Feb 16, 2013 04:13
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MullardEL34 posted:I recently threw together a home roasting setup. A West Bend Stir crazy electric popcorn popper with it's heating element disconnected is used to stir the beans during the roasting process, and the lid from one of those Mr. T. Flavorwave halogen convection cookers is used as the heat source. I got the convection cooker head for That doesn't look somewhat uneven, it looks REALLY uneven. It's hard to judge a roast by color, but you can definitely tell the range of roast you've got going on there. I'd wager you have everything from a City or City+ roast to Vienna in there. Some of those look like charcoal and probably taste like it too. Also, espresso is not a roast. You can make espresso out of any roast. You need way more movement than you have now to even out your roast. Edit: You may also want to try a much smaller batch. rockcity fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Feb 16, 2013 |
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Feb 16, 2013 05:36
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MullardEL34 posted:I recently threw together a home roasting setup. A West Bend Stir crazy electric popcorn popper with it's heating element disconnected is used to stir the beans during the roasting process, and the lid from one of those Mr. T. Flavorwave halogen convection cookers is used as the heat source. I got the convection cooker head for As Rockycity said, that's an extremely uneven roast. I'm sorry but you probably would have been better off with just using the popcorn popper and nothing else.
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Feb 16, 2013 08:43
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Doh004 posted:As Rockycity said, that's an extremely uneven roast. I'm sorry but you probably would have been better off with just using the popcorn popper and nothing else. rockcity posted:That doesn't look somewhat uneven, it looks REALLY uneven. It's hard to judge a roast by color, but you can definitely tell the range of roast you've got going on there. I'd wager you have everything from a City or City+ roast to Vienna in there. Some of those look like charcoal and probably taste like it too. Also, espresso is not a roast. You can make espresso out of any roast. You need way more movement than you have now to even out your roast. That was my first attempt. I threw that batch out. I ended up looking at the turbocrazy mod posted in the OP of the thread after that batch and bought a spacer ring meant for a 14" wok. I used that to raise the heat source up about 4" and backed off on the temperature. Subsequent roasts have been much, much more even. I'll post photos of the mod and my subsequent roasts when I get a chance. MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 09:10 on Feb 16, 2013 |
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Feb 16, 2013 08:59
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MullardEL34 posted:...and espresso in 15-20. Not to really split hairs to harp on what's already been said, but you do know that espresso is a brewing process and not a roast, yes? Those beans are showing an amazing amount of oil and hell and gone past anything I've pulled or had pulled as espresso in probably the last several years. Even if you do get the roasts evened out, you may want to consider not going quite so deep on what you consider an "espresso roast". If you dig 'em that dark, then by all means more power to you, but even the "lighter" ones of those look overroasted to my eyes.
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Feb 17, 2013 20:35
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Alleric posted:Not to really split hairs to harp on what's already been said, but you do know that espresso is a brewing process and not a roast, yes? Those beans are showing an amazing amount of oil and hell and gone past anything I've pulled or had pulled as espresso in probably the last several years. Even if you do get the roasts evened out, you may want to consider not going quite so deep on what you consider an "espresso roast". If you dig 'em that dark, then by all means more power to you, but even the "lighter" ones of those look overroasted to my eyes. Yeah, I'm still pretty new to this and trying to learn the correct terminology. I also should have been more clear in my first post, the photo of the "finished product" was from my first attempt after throwing the contraption together. It was uneven and burnt and I tossed it. I haven't had a chance to take pics of the roasts I've done since I added the Sheet metal spacer and backed off the heat. Things are now looking much better (more like full city, less like charcoal. )
MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 12:42 on Feb 18, 2013 |
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Feb 18, 2013 12:39
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Does anyone here have both an Able Kone and a French press? I'm using the Able Kone lately and like it a lot because it doesn't filter out the oils. Is a French press going to taste pretty much the same?
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Feb 19, 2013 02:29
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Mu Zeta posted:Does anyone here have both an Able Kone and a French press? I'm using the Able Kone lately and like it a lot because it doesn't filter out the oils. Is a French press going to taste pretty much the same? Having said that, the Kone still gives a cleaner and more precise cup and I generally get more bright tones out of it; it's a lot funner to use.
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Feb 19, 2013 14:27
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So I ditched the magic blade grinder for a better (burr) grinder, and I've been setting it to a grind that's about 2/3 the grain size of a filter grind, which is much finer than it used to be. Tastes a lot better, but I did notice that as soon as I invert my press, the trickle starts, as opposed to needing some pressure earlier. Pressure when pressing feels normal. Also the amount of residue in the press seems much less, and rather than the previous thick (~2cm) layer I had, reduces to a < 1 cm thick "cake" with little cracks on top when fully pressed. Haven't tried non-inverted as I'm scared the whole cup will fill with unextracted coffee before I get to actually pressing the thing. So my question is: is it normal for a finder grind in an Aeropress to start "leaking" quicker when inverted? I'm applying french press logic here, but seems like a coarser grind should leak more?
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Feb 20, 2013 13:20
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Just picked up some Kona from Sweet Marias. The beans are nearly 2x the size of the Guatemalan ones I've been getting from them.
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Feb 20, 2013 23:16
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ded posted:Just picked up some Kona from Sweet Marias. The beans are nearly 2x the size of the Guatemalan ones I've been getting from them.
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Feb 21, 2013 02:36
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Roasted a couple pounds this past weekend, one of which was the last of my Rwandan Kyangera for mid-late 2012. SM doesn't have anymore, haven't for weeks, so this is the last of the last for me. I had it in the degas tins since Sunday, pulled my first shot on it this morning. I'd taken it to a bit of a darker roast than I usually had as an experiment. Good god that stuff is chocolate graham cracker butter goodness. From a coffee perspective this is going to be a very happy and sad next couple of days. 
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Feb 21, 2013 07:58
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I read that you should be using about 15 pounds of pressure to push down a French press. I'm trying out different grinds with my Baratza Encore and Bodum Chambord (4 cup) and I don't need any pressure. I set it to a coarse grind and the plunger went down easily. I set it to medium (about a Chemex) and it was exactly the same. I set it for the Hario V60 (fine) and it's still exactly the same when I plunge it. Do I have a defective plunger? I don't notice a difference in amount of sediment, but I also don't drink the last few sips.
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Feb 22, 2013 20:22
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I think there is too much going on to be able to judge anything based on the resistance from the plunger.
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Feb 22, 2013 20:23
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I don't know what that means I'm using these instructions, should I try something else? http://www.bluebottlecoffee.com/preparation-guide/french-press/
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Feb 22, 2013 20:32
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I meant that you shouldn't read anything in to how hard it is to push the plunger. If the coffee that comes out tastes good to you then the method is fine regardless of what the  instructions might say.
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Feb 22, 2013 20:37
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That's another thing - the coffee doesn't taste all that good. I'm getting richer and more aromatic coffees from my pour overs. I think I need to let it brew longer than 3 minutes. Also cleaning a French press sucks. Mu Zeta fucked around with this message at 20:41 on Feb 22, 2013 |
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Feb 22, 2013 20:39
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Mu Zeta posted:That's another thing - the coffee doesn't taste all that good. I'm getting richer and more aromatic coffees from my pour overs. I think I need to let it brew longer than 3 minutes. Dump grinds, add a drop of dish soap, fill about 1/3 with hot water, and repeatedly plunge. Dump & rinse. Done!
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Feb 22, 2013 21:00
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Mu Zeta posted:That's another thing - the coffee doesn't taste all that good. I'm getting richer and more aromatic coffees from my pour overs. I think I need to let it brew longer than 3 minutes. I've always done at least 4 minutes of steeping with my French press. Do that.
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Feb 22, 2013 21:59
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Doh004 posted:I've always done at least 4 minutes of steeping with my French press. Do that. Scooping the floating grinds before plunging made a noticeable difference for me as well.
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Feb 22, 2013 22:27
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Behmor ordered. Happy birthday to me!
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Feb 23, 2013 07:11
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Mu Zeta posted:That's another thing - the coffee doesn't taste all that good. I'm getting richer and more aromatic coffees from my pour overs. I think I need to let it brew longer than 3 minutes. I find that although French Press isn't inherently bad, or even less-dope, at making coffee, I can never make it taste as bright and complex as a pourover. It's like comfort coffee; it just feels nice to drink until I'm more prepared to face the day and have a slap-in-the-face Haru, or an endlessly deep Hacienda.
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Feb 23, 2013 07:17
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Mu Zeta posted:That's another thing - the coffee doesn't taste all that good. I'm getting richer and more aromatic coffees from my pour overs. I think I need to let it brew longer than 3 minutes. You can try messing with almost every part of it to see if it goes in a direction you prefer. Grind size, grounds:water ratio, brewing time... changing only one of these can alter your coffee. French press does come out different from anything with a filter though. Pour overs are much cleaner cups of coffee- you could even try filtering your french press to see if it's simply the sludge/microparticles/whatever that you get from a french press/lack of filter that you're not liking! Make the french press, try it, then filter it, and try it again and if you consider it a large improvement you may just not be a huge fan of french press. If it's still mediocre-to-terrible I'd alter something with how you're making your french press. I just follow the directions that came with mine and it makes a good enough cup. Looking at the directions you follow, I think I use more coffee, a more coarse grind, and brew longer (4 minutes!) than it suggests. Comic fucked around with this message at 07:38 on Feb 23, 2013 |
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Feb 23, 2013 07:34
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Do none of you have cameras?
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Feb 23, 2013 13:57
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porktree posted:Do none of you have cameras? Page me when they invent a camera that engages smell/taste.
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Feb 23, 2013 21:47
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