Coffee Stuff

aamefford

aamefford

The (should be) Committed
Joined
Nov 17, 2021
Messages
946
I just picked up a new espresso machine. I thought I'd fire up a coffee thread, because the newest one I see is from 2013. We had some discussion here:
forums.prsguitars.com

New Amp -OR- Midpriced modelers -OR- Is anyone here (still) playing a Tonex?

I have two old tube amps. A Twin and a Boogie Studio 22+. Problem is that when I say old I mean old. They are noisy and need a shedload of work done. re-tubing, and complete overhauls. They're noisy and like me have a lot of dry joints. I'm working on an album project where we live in different...
forums.prsguitars.com forums.prsguitars.com

But I figured a new thread might be fun? If not, it's die on the vine I guess.

My Keurig broke, and I made a conscious decision to become a coffee snob nerd. First stop, Aeropress, Baratza Encore and decent beans from a local roaster. And Home Barista dot com, and r/espresso. Second stop, maybe 9 months later, after putting it off as long as I could - Lelit Mara X espresso machine, DF64 Gen 2 grinder and the same decent beans. After a few days, great Americanos, good oat milk lattes, decent espresso, and I get better every time. Much, much fun. Being newly retired, it's ok that my first cup of coffee takes at least 30 minutes from switch on to first coffee sip.

So, any other coffee nerds here?

@DreamTheaterRules - I'm interested in roasting beans, just haven't gotten that far yet. I'd love to hear about it.
 
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Delonghi Magnifica XS I bought a few years ago. Let's me do regular coffee (3 "talls" for decent sized mug) or espresso. I use the steamer to heat water when I'm cooking and need a specific temp for yeast to activate as well. For what I paid, I do get a lot of use out of it.

I tend to try different blends of coffee when I get tired of what I've been drinking, but dark roasts are best - light roasts have too much caffeine for me.
 
I drank Keurig stuff from Green Mountain for years, but decided to try doing pour-over a while back… bad move. I’m spoiled by it now. I got some Geisha type coffee from Panama early on that was really good. I’m no expert at all, I just like flavorful, smooth, not-bitter coffee. Also using the Baratza grinder, a kettle and pour-over setup. Hopefully, I’ll learn some more here.
 
RickP said:
I drank Keurig stuff from Green Mountain for years, but decided to try doing pour-over a while back… bad move. I’m spoiled by it now. I got some Geisha type coffee from Panama early on that was really good. I’m no expert at all, I just like flavorful, smooth, not-bitter coffee. Also using the Baratza grinder, a kettle and pour-over setup. Hopefully, I’ll learn some more here.
Click to expand...
I was headed to pour overs, and, kinda, accidentally bought an espresso machine instead. Ida probably been just as happy with pour over. I drink americanos most of the time. I’m a gear head though, so the espresso machine kinda fits for me.
 
RickP said:
I drank Keurig stuff from Green Mountain for years, but decided to try doing pour-over a while back… bad move. I’m spoiled by it now. I got some Geisha type coffee from Panama early on that was really good. I’m no expert at all, I just like flavorful, smooth, not-bitter coffee. Also using the Baratza grinder, a kettle and pour-over setup. Hopefully, I’ll learn some more here.
Click to expand...

I’ve used a cafetière for years.

We’re lucky in Dundee to have a company that roast their own brews.

I buy a bag of their “coffee of the month” every time and they make some great roasts.
 
I got off of coffee a year or two a go due to blood pressure issues. I was drinking a lot of it. I switched to hot tea. It is better for your body. It did help lower my blood pressure a bit. I was using Keurig pods for it but earlier this year I decided to go to loose tea and brewing it in a French press. That has been working really well and what my hot drink of the day is these days. My wife is still a coffee drinker.
 
I used to have a Keurig, but I couldn't get along with it. The commercial pods were always too weak--coffee-colored water. I used one of the pack-the-pod-yourself things, but I still couldn't get it where I wanted it.

For the last 6 or so years I've had a Jura automatic. I don't do anything fancy with it. It just makes good coffee. Been very happy. I took it apart earlier this year to give it a good cleaning. They actually use a little football-shaped screw head to try to keep people from doing that. What a pain.
 
I don’t drink much coffee, so when I do I tend to be fussy about it. The coffee is always espresso from a boutique roaster.

I found the wands on espresso machines annoying so got a Breville frother if I want a latte and it works a charm heating to the temperature you set. Oatly is by far the best milk alternative for steamed milk.

I started traveling with an OutIn about a year ago and it does a great job of making an espresso in the middle of no where.
 
I can't really offer much as to various coffee makers or blends or bean preference, since I don't partake of that hot darkness anymore.
Being a former pilot, I used to drink coffee by the gallon. FBO coffee is likely the worst brew on the planet and yet us fly boys drank it down like liquid candy. I finally gave up coffee about 15 years ago when I realized that wearing out two 10 cup coffee makers in my office was a bit much. I used to drink two pots a day by myself. Sure, the occasional customer would take a cup now and then, but it was mostly just me swilling back the dark liquid. Now I have no more sleep issues, no more headaches, hands don't shake from the caffeine buzz, and no more jitters and upset stomach from substituting coffee for meals....
Of course, now I'm kinda stuck on strong black tea (none of that wimpy herbal s**t)... 😱
 
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.
 
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