The Official CPF Coffee Thread. All things Coffee... (And related beverages)

[quinlag]

Once coffee is roasted and sealed in a container, it'll hold its flavor for a couple weeks, then it begins to fade into a generic bitter roasted taste. That's why most store-shelf coffee tastes roughly similar, it's all beans that were roasted and ground months ago and have been waiting in the warehouse/on the shelf since, and why you pay a premium for fresh roast coffee that was roasted a day or two ago and still has its full flavor.

I don't see anything on Blue Mountain's website that says they're roasting immediately before shipment; if there were a picture of the bags that would tell you, because there would be a "roasted on" date (as opposed to a "best by" date.) It would appear that this is just store shelf grade coffee that they're charging you a hugely exorbitant price for. Store shelf coffee shouldn't be more than ~$10/lb, and (non-peaberry/Geisha) green coffee beans ~$7/lb.

That is very good info---Thank-you
Q

 

[StarHalo]

That is very good info---Thank-you

Most fresh-roasters gladly mail-order, so there's plenty to choose from out there once you know what to look for. My local place is one good option, most of their selections are $15-20 a bag. Be sure to order whole bean and grind only your serving of coffee immediately before making it, ground coffee starts going stale the moment it hits air.

Fresh roast coffee in a $10 drugstore drip coffeemaker tastes better than store-shelf coffee out of a $1,000 coffeemaker, so you have the right idea..

 

[PartyPete]

Wow, this is a ton of info to wrap my head around. I may just have to ditch the Keurig and get a better machine now.

I do have a new favorite though. I just participated in an at home "coffee study" where I basically got paid to try 24 or so different unmarked coffees. Granted, it was all commercial stuff but Green Mtn. French Roast was pretty amazing. Probably the best cup of coffee I've had, at home at least.

 

[StarHalo]

Wow, this is a ton of info to wrap my head around. I may just have to ditch the Keurig and get a better machine now.

If you're interested in trying fresh roast, you can get a My K-Cup Universal so that you can put fresh roast coffee into your own pod and brew that way, but know ahead of time that the Keurig is a strange beast to make any kind of serious coffee with, and you'll want to move to something else once you see what's possible.

 

[StarHalo]

The Aeropress is a Black Friday deal in a few locations; it rarely sells below its usual $30 list price, so if anyone reading is interested in seeing what the big deal is (especially if you enjoy iced coffee,) now's the time..

 

[scout24]

My arm has been twisted. Ordered with some filters...

 

[noboneshotdog]

My arm has been twisted. Ordered with some filters...

I just pressed a delicious cup a few minutes ago. Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[markr6]

From the latest study:

How you brew it also has health consequences. Unlike filter coffee makers, a French press, Turkish coffee or the boiled coffee popular in Scandinavian countries fails to catch a compound called cafestol in the oily part of coffee that can increase your bad cholesterol or LDL.

Damn! Maybe I'll go back to doing more Chemex coffee then.

 

[StarHalo]

How you brew it also has health consequences. Unlike filter coffee makers, a French press, Turkish coffee or the boiled coffee popular in Scandinavian countries fails to catch a compound called cafestol in the oily part of coffee that can increase your bad cholesterol or LDL.

It's true, my last blood test came back perfect except for borderline high LDL, that's how good the French press is..

 

[noboneshotdog]

It's true, my last blood test came back perfect except for borderline high LDL, that's how good the French press is..

Is there a particular French press worth recommending?

 

[StarHalo]

Is there a particular French press worth recommending?

For most people, the $30 SterlingPro Double Wall Stainless 1L model is just about perfect, a very straightforward design built like a piece of medical equipment, a serious tool. One liter means you can make a whole "pot", but I would advise that if you're going to make more than just what you're drinking in that moment, also use/get some sort of thermal carafe to put the rest of your coffee in - never leave coffee in the press after brewing.

I also use an 8.8 oz Bodum Chambord for my weekday mornings, but I have a very small serving I drink only with breakfast; if you just need the one cup in the morning, it covers all bases without taking up much counter space. The caveat as with all glass-chamber presses is that the glass will simply not last forever, with daily use you should assume replacing it every decade or so.

 

[noboneshotdog]

For most people, the $30 SterlingPro Double Wall Stainless 1L model is just about perfect, a very straightforward design built like a piece of medical equipment, a serious tool. One liter means you can make a whole "pot", but I would advise that if you're going to make more than just what you're drinking in that moment, also use/get some sort of thermal carafe to put the rest of your coffee in - never leave coffee in the press after brewing.

I also use an 8.8 oz Bodum Chambord for my weekday mornings, but I have a very small serving I drink only with breakfast; if you just need the one cup in the morning, it covers all bases without taking up much counter space. The caveat as with all glass-chamber presses is that the glass will simply not last forever, with daily use you should assume replacing it every decade or so.

That looks really good. Do you stick with the user instructions on these?

Do you prefer Aeropress over French press or vise versa?

 

[StarHalo]

That looks really good. Do you stick with the user instructions on these?

Do you prefer Aeropress over French press or vise versa?

There are no user instructions with a French press, they're so old-world ubiquitous that it's assumed you've already used one like a sink or toilet. But for the uninitiated:

Store shelf coffee/just-make-some-Joe method:
1. Heat water until just boiling
2. Dump scoop/serving of grounds into press
3. Pour just off-boil water into press, ~cup per scoop/serving of coffee
4. Wait four minutes
5. Press, serve as needed.

And the barista/good coffee method:
1. Heat water to 200F
2. Weigh beans to be ground (in grams) then grind and place into preheated press (via surplus heated water or just some hottest water from tap, dumped immediately before adding grounds)
3. Pour water into press (previously portioned 10:1 against the coffee, so 25g coffee needs 250g/ml water)
4. Wait four minutes
5. Press, serve (into preheated cup, dumped and dried of water before coffee,) place remainder in other carafe/container, press should have only wet grounds remaining.

All the extra work in method #2 is so that when you get a really good result, you can replicate it exactly every time after that. If the result isn't good, or you just want to "dial it in", you'll be able to make/notice small changes since all the other variables will remain the same. If you're experimenting with grind size, then you've already started this process.

I like to bounce back and forth between French press and another, less stout method; my local place does pour-overs which don't have the press' gravity or syrup-yness but retains all the top-end brighter flavors, which is a pleasant diversion from time to time. If I didn't have that it'd be the Aeropress. Breakfast coffee is definitely French press though.

 

[martinaee]

... ... so 25g coffee needs 250g/ml water
... ...

Oh snap. Is metric weight/volume based on water volume/weight? Or is it just coincidence that 1g water = 1ml water? Hmm...

 

[StarHalo]

Oh snap. Is metric weight/volume based on water volume/weight?

That's the beauty of the metric system, exactly 1ml of water weighs exactly 1g; for serious coffee you do away with the volume-based scoops/meniscus mess and just weigh everything on the scale in grams, quick and easy laboratory accuracy every time.

 

[PierceFan]

I don't drink as much hot coffee as I used to, tending to drink tea more often these days, although I still do love me some good coffee.

One thing I will never stop drinking is my Manhattan Special espresso soda. I've been drinking it for 40 years, the joke being that I used to have it in my baby bottle! Such is life as an Italian kid growing up in da Bronx

 

[noboneshotdog]

I don't drink as much hot coffee as I used to, tending to drink tea more often these days, although I still do love me some good coffee.

One thing I will never stop drinking is my Manhattan Special espresso soda. I've been drinking it for 40 years, the joke being that I used to have it in my baby bottle! Such is life as an Italian kid growing up in da Bronx

Dang! Looks cool, but $27ish for a 4 pack on Amazon. Maybe next time I'm in NY I will see if I can get some.

 

[PierceFan]

Dang! Looks cool, but $27ish for a 4 pack on Amazon. Maybe next time I'm in NY I will see if I can get some.

Yeah, the online/delivery prices are insane. I get the 32 oz bottle (used to be 28 oz) for around $3 at the local deli. You can find the stuff at most Italian delis around the NY/NJ/CT tri-state area.

They really do use high quality beans to brew the coffee, good NYC water, and pure cane sugar...no HFCS BS here. I once gave a bottle to a friend who is a big coffee snob, and even he admitted that the quality of the coffee was pretty dang good. It goes down very smooth, much smoother than you'd expect. A lot of head after pouring, but it's very creamy, no bite to it like most soda has.

 

[martinaee]

That's the beauty of the metric system, exactly 1ml of water weighs exactly 1g; for serious coffee you do away with the volume-based scoops/meniscus mess and just weigh everything on the scale in grams, quick and easy laboratory accuracy every time.

I usually get unground store-bought beans, so nice stuff but nothing too fancy, but I wonder if a scale and burr grinder would still make a big enough difference for me to care and pay for those things.

Yeah, and was metric divised around water or is that just coincidence? Is 1ml of water EXACTLY 1g or is it just very close?

For the French press question, it's kind of like a reverse auto drip maker. I think it's just fun to use a French press, but I don't do it much except if I need a bit more for some guests as I do single pour-overs usually. It's kind of annoying to clean the French press which is why I don't use it that much anymore.

 

[matt4350]

When I was in Indonesia, I went to a place in the jungle that roasted the beans in a huge old metal pot, then ground them in a hollowed stone with a log. I tried about 8 types and none of them was bad, this was old-school mass production.

I tried Luwak Coffee. The luwak (some kind of weasel, I think) eats the berries and the farmer harvests them from the luwak poop. The coffee is supposedly smoother for having been through the critter's digestive system. Can't say I picked the difference, but it was just one of those things I had to try.

At home I make coffee with a stove-top espresso, it works very well with fresh ground beans but once the stuff has aged a bit it seems to become bitter. For the summer, this device makes the absolute best iced coffee if you stir in a bit of cream and a smidgen of vanilla essence.