Another Coffeemaker Dies

[HHP]

Originally Posted by Denny B

For me, I'd call it my obituary...

"Denny B died today...we knew it was critical because he made 8 cups of coffee and only drank 4..."

.......

I'm the same but when I want 1 or 2 cups, like in the afternoon, its hard to just make that in a drip machine, always end up making 4-5 cups so I end up using twice as much coffee as I need.

[Puerto Player]

I love a good cup. My Dad even retired from being a coffee broker most of his adult life.

I've tried everything out there. Here's my picks for the best dark, rich, cup of coffee in order.

Bonavita coffee maker with a shot of espresso in it (just hard to beat)
French Press
Areopress straight not diluted (wish the jerk who owns the company would make a bigger one).
Moka Pot

[BrunoBlack]

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

I prefer the thermal carafe....!

FYI, here’s how these work
https://www.popularmechanics.com/tec...december-2017/

[Larry Pattis]

Originally Posted by Haasome

FYI, here’s how these work
https://www.popularmechanics.com/tec...december-2017/

Cool.

The thermal carafe (not shown on the link) does also use a "destratification tube", although it does not get close to the bottom...it goes about 3/4 of the way down the length of the carafe.

I always pre-heat the carafe for several minutes with close-to boiling water, of course. We rarely brew a 10-cup pot, generally 5-6 cups, so pre-heating is mandatory, IMO.

[dirkronk]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

Wow. I really am the only one to use a black plastic Melitta brewing cone, $3.99 at Bed - Bath - and BEYOND!

Chemex 8-cup ($40-something) for when company's coming.

Nope. You're definitely NOT alone.

The Melitta cone is my preferred way and has been since the early/mid 1990s. For about 3 years back then, I wrote the copy for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters' annual reports and catalogs. First year, I had to travel up to Vermont and go through what they called "Java U" or "Coffee College," a week-long intensive course on all things coffee: how it's grown, picked, roasted all the way down to the preferred ways it should be brewed. The two top ways they recommended then were (1) Melitta single serve cone or its direct-drip multi-cup counterpart (the Chemex "hourglass" pot works well for company occasions, as you say) and (2) French press. Keep in mind, this is the same company that would later come up with and make a fortune from Keurig...but sorry. I cannot STAND any coffee I've made with Keurig machines. Too weak no matter what you do, at least for my taste buds. And it totally makes me squirm to think of all the darn K-cups clogging landfills. Of course, if I had taken my pay in company stock instead of cash back then, I'd be a bazillionaire today...but I did not. Anyway...

As for coffee-making techniques. Love, love, LOVE French press coffee but hate the cleanup. So cone it is.

Early on, I tried permanent (gold, other) washable filters with the Melitta cone, but could always detect unwanted flavors, so have settled on #4 paper as my long-term preference. It's larger than the cone (which is designed for #2 size), but allows me to pour enough water in at one time to keep the coffee in proper suspension while it drips through. I use enough coffee myself for two mugs at a time. When done, clean-up is simplest imaginable: pop the filter and grounds out together into the trash or a recycle container (I use old coffee grounds to mix with earth out back of the garage, turn it every so often, and use the result in my flower beds as needed...and fishermen take note: the earthworms LOVE it), rinse the cone and you're done.

My hint: grind the coffee beans extra fine (not Turkish, but just under that, about the coarsest espresso setting if using a commercial burr grinder--or just grind long if you're using a cheap home bar grinder) and use more grounds than you think you should for every cup. You can add water after brewing if it's too strong, but you can't add flavor or strength if you use too few grounds to start. Bring your water up to JUST UNDER a boil...NEVER let the water get to a full or rolling boil for coffee (that's appropriate only for tea). Do a gradual, steady pour so that those grounds are held in suspension until you know you have enough water in there for your full mug or carafe. Do NOT pour a little, wait for it to drip and then pour more in over clumped-up grounds...you'll clog the filter and won't get the flavor you want.

Enjoy.

Dirk

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by Fogducker

One puts in a couple scoops of ground beans into hot water and stir it up getting "Cowboy Coffee" then one takes a plunger looking thingy and shove it down the container putting the grounds on the bottom--------it's called a French Press, this is really good coffee!



Fog

Yep I might be getting into hipster land here, but nothing beats a good French pressed coffee.

[jmat]

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

Technivorm MoccaMaster.

There is no substitute.

Those are cool however - however, for the control freak - it has to be single pour with a good goose neck kettle with an accurate temperature gauge. I like the Hario V60 cone and the Bonavita kettle.

Of course one must get their coffee here: https://www.caffeamouri.com/. This will do if you find yourself on the other side of town: http://www.mishascoffee.com/