Coffee Stuff

[aamefford]

ok here is a great iced coffee recipe. First, I’ve tried everything from cold brew (which can be good but is a whole different thing) to many of the various ways to make iced coffee.

IMO, THE BEST ways are the ones that use “flash brewing.” This means brewing with hot water but then going directly over ice to cool the hot coffee. This requires major adjustment to your coffee to water ratios. For example, if you’re used to 15g -17g coffee and 250 or so grams of water in an Aeropress, you need to adjust that to about half or maybe even less the amount of water. This is because the hot coffee immediately melts ice, and the whole premise of flash brewing is that the hot coffee immediately hits ice as it exits the coffee filter/brewing area.

So, my recipe is 17g coffee ground fine. Not espresso fine, but more like Moka pot fine. Pour 50g of so of 200 degree water for your bloom. At 10 seconds, stir for 10-15 seconds. Pour in the rest of the water which is 110-115g TOTAL! Stir one more time and cap. Oh, I do the upside down thing ALWAYS with Aeropress, so I never have water running out while brewing. At one minute you’re ready to press. You should be pressing into a FULL glass of ice, The bigger the cubes, the better as they’ll resist melting too easily. So no crushed is ever and no small cubes unless that’s all you’ve got and if so, pack them in good.

Press directly over the ice. If you get it right, you’ll melt enough ice to make up for the water that wasn’t in your brew chamber, meaning you’ll end up with 8-9 oz of iced coffee.

Now, I like both cream (half and half, the better it is, the better your coffee will be) AND a bit of sugar in my cold coffee. The way I make this work after lots of trial and error, put a teaspoon of sugar into the Aeropress before you put the coffee in. That way, the hot water desolves the sugar. Any way that you put it in once it’s cold, will leave un-desolved granules. Half and half goes in the glass with the ice before or after you brew. After is easier to stir into the coffee.

If you used some good fresh coffee, this will be the best iced coffee you’ve had. But there is an almost equal other method. I’m a big fan of the Hario V60 for pour overs. Well, they make one JUST for flash brewing iced coffee! The top is a V60 but the bottom is a pitcher with a center liner that holds ice. So as you do your pour over, it drains directly over the ice below. Again, about half the water you’d use for a regular pour over will be just about right.

In either method, if the coffee is a bit weak, that means you melted too much ice. This means either your water was too hot (which is why I use 200 or even 195 vs. 212 boiling) or your ice is not good enough. Big thick ice lasts better than small cubes. So turn your pour over pot temp down a bit, or put your biggest cubes on top.

This is too long but I can help you dial in your recipe from there as we talk more about it.

We hit hi 70’s to low 80’s midweek, I’ll give it a go then. I like the idea of adding the sugar before pressing.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I knew I had met the woman of my dreams when I went to her house and there was a full on high quality Breville machine. Then she made me my morning espresso and it was meant to be. And she doesn’t care how many PRS I have.

Listen very carefully, I will say this only once.

Never, ever let her go.

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

We hit hi 70’s to low 80’s midweek, I’ll give it a go then. I like the idea of adding the sugar before pressing.

Yes, lots of trial and error, this of the best way when flash brewing

 

[aamefford]

I finally am getting consistent with the espresso, based on my most recent 2 shots (consistent, 2 shots, lol). Both of them were shots that could be enjoyed straight up. I generally turn them into americanos, just easier on the maturing digestive system. 17.5 g in, 40-ish g out (36 - 42 g). I then dilute that about 4:1 with hot water. It's taken me a little over a week of 2-3 shots a day to get the grinder broken in. I ran 1.5 lb of Starbucks' "Midium Roast" through it. Starbucks medium is a black, oily bean. It was at Grocery Outlet pretty cheap. It ended up clogging the grinder. Once I cleared that, I had to start over dialing it in. I think I'm finally there. Oh, a switch to a more traditional espresso blend and roast helped as well. Later I'll make 1 or 2 oat milk white chocolate mochas, 'cause my mom likes them. About 10 years of Oatmilk white chocolate mochas, and it will be cheaper than Starbucks. As with most hobbies, there is no actual financial justification for a moderately expensive espresso machine.