18psi

iTrader: (76)

UPDATE:

Got an aeropress
I agree about the inverted method: way better IMO than the "normal"
My FIL also gave me his Black&Decker grinder. Not great, but better than the cheapie units and it was free, so whatevs
So far I've tried the department stores "premium" stuff, because I want to know what I'm doing before I spend silly money on Temple coffee balleur beans

So far it's been fun, and even with my n00bish brewing skills (experimenting with different roasts, proportions, temps, and times) the quality is already LIGHTYEARS above the stuff we have in the drip machine at work, and the instant I have at home, so pretty cool.

Kinda time consuming to do at work though

Schuyler

iTrader: (1)

<p></p><p>I've gotten some pretty decent coffee beans at World Market.</p>

Erat

iTrader: (5)

I watched someone do this in Dearborn out front of a hookah / Arabic specialty place a few months ago.

AlwaysBroken

Took apart the group head and sandblasted it this weekend. Was totally coated with crud, old grounds and scale. Maybe I'll go back to distilled water I think. Tap water is murder on espresso machines.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

I've had this morning:
Sumatra Espresso (medium roast)
and
Columbia Supreme (light roast)

To try and figure out the difference in flavors for myself and decide what I like more. They were...................different.............and I kinda enjoyed each the same.

Which sucks cause now I still don't know what I like :(

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

<p>It's OK to like them both. Not a wife, just coffee.</p>

SchmoozerJoe

iTrader: (2)

Glad to hear you've discovered the light.
A lot of people swear by the beans from Trader Joe's too.

And, there are a lot of great locally roasted coffees in the area for $12-$15 a pound.
Thanksgiving Coffee Company and Bella Rosa are two here in Sonoma county.

Does the stuff delivered from Canada (49th Parallel) taste better?
Yes.

Does the local stuff taste delicious as well?
Absolutely.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

But what if the light roast drags me to Jerry Springer and demands child support?

AlwaysBroken

If your roaster has a decent supplier, some of the ethiopean beans are really good. That's pretty much my go to bean around here. Or it used to be, until they ran out a few months ago.

Should be lightly roasted with lots of floral and fruit character.

Efini~FC3S

iTrader: (4)

I ordered an aeropress yesterday to try out.

If it's too much work for my wife I'll just take it to work and brew my own coffee instead of drinking (ie choking down) the swill they have available.

I have excite

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

Dangit Vlad, had I seen this thread sooner I would have brought you a bag of beans from Acme Coffee Roasting Co's motto is Resist Corporate Coffee. yesterday. Next weekend maybe if I remember. I'll see if I can get you a sticker.

I miss my Bodum french press. I used to drink an entire press worth of coffee in the morning when I lived in the woods.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

It's pretty cool. Lots of parts though, so it's kinda awkward at work since you have like 6-7 parts that you have to carry to the break room/etc (we're in a huge corporate building with a shared break room, might be fine at a smaller company where you can keep your kitchen stuff in the kitchen)
lol no worries.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

some things to consider when trying beans:

(and here are some images to help with understanding)





As you increase roast / darkness, the flavor of the bean will give way to the flavor of the roast. somewhere between the first and second crack (literally a cracky type noise heard when roasting) is when this takes place.

(skip to 0:40)

So when you're buying, if you find you like darker roasts over lighter, remember that it wont be worth spending more on beans at that level of roast. You'll still get the flavor, but it will be less noticable than the roast flavor.

Definitely if you like Full City+ or darker (Starbucks) beans become much less important as long as they are simply good quality.

Some people wont even bother with a "shiny bean" roast (the French range roasted for any time after 2nd crack) because the roast is overly dominant and you will lose the acidity and sweetness of the bean.

If you're up for it, you can sometimes find the same bean in multiple ranges of roasts. Give it a shot and see if you can tell. Sometimes places like Whole Foods sell by the pound and you can just get a small handful of beans to try without annoying the staff of a coffee shop.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

Also a great resource for coffee nerds: https://www.sweetmarias.com/

JasonC SBB

I discovered this coffee in Vietnam. I found out I can buy it from Asian groceries locally. F*n delish even if only available ground. I never buy anything else anymore.

And the Krups Il Primo coffee machine which I bought for next to nothing at a garage sale:

y8s

iTrader: (8)

Had never heard of it so I checked the googles.



Ingredients... coffee and... wat.

SchmoozerJoe

iTrader: (2)

Artificial fish flavor.
No. Seriously.

It's what makes Vietnamese coffee so tasty?
Something about them roasting the beans with a splash of fish sauce.

A touch of unami (and of course salt.)

AlwaysBroken

I had one of those cheap krups machines back in college. It was consistently awful. I don't even think it has a pump, it's just a boiler that relies on steam pressure, so you get overly low pressures and overly high temperatures every time. You're pretty much guaranteed to get liquid **** in every cup. Bitter liquid ****.

SchmoozerJoe

iTrader: (2)

Those Krups make delicious cuban coffees.
The trick is to use the steam setting and then blast it over yo brew.

Otherwise it takes too long to get a shot pulled.
24g in. 1.5 ounces out.

kenzo42

iTrader: (6)

I'm thinking about getting an aeropress, but no way am I going to grind my own beans bc of allergies and laziness.

Does it defeat the purpose to use an aeropress if not grinding?