I got this Nespresso machine few days ago:
http://www.amazon.com/Nespresso-D120-US-BK-NE-Automatic-Sing...
It just simply makes awesome expressos.
Coders guide to good coffee
51–60 of 98 posts
Re: Coders guide to good coffee
#52I like nice things, I really do, but what I've found is that sometimes being a connoisseur kills your ability to enjoy simple things.
It doesn't totally solve the problem, but one approach I sometimes try is to only move up the quality ladder (insofar as there actually is a linear quality scale, which is itself a bit of a simplification) when I can consistently tell the difference. It seems many people jump straight to the best they can afford, while I find it more enjoyable to slowly work my way up, so e.g. there's no point in jumping straight to…
I make essentially the same compromise. If there is a big quality jump for minimal effort/cost, I go for it. My natural instinct is to try to find the 'perfect' cup of coffee/glass of wine/pint of beer, and I can easily obsess over it. However, it's not something that makes me happier or more fulfilled in the long run.
Re: Coders guide to good coffee
#53> As most software and creative professionals know, coffee is an important technology for boosting mental acuity and maintaining peak on-the-job performance.
There is good evidence that caffeine can increase human performance, but the human body also builds up a tolerance for caffeine very quickly. I wonder how much of the boost people believe they get is from caffeine and how much of it is a placebo effect. According to Wikipedia, 300mg 3x a day for 18 days (approx. 5-8 cups of drip coffee per day) is enough for many individuals to no longer experience any effects of caffeine at all.
Re: Coders guide to good coffee
#54I like nice things, I really do, but what I've found is that sometimes being a connoisseur kills your ability to enjoy simple things.
The author of the article is misled here. The key difference is the home roasted coffee. You can get a popcorn machine and roast your own green coffee and use a normal drip coffee machine to brew. The taste is actually pretty significant, and doesn't require expensive equipment. I have a normal el-cheapo blade-spinning coffee grinder and a drip coffee machine from walgreens. They still make wonderful coffee with gree…
"roasted using a popcorn machine as a roaster "
Seriously? I have a cheapie air popper thing that works great for popcorn.
For coffee beans, how does it work? For example, how do you know when they're roasted?
Re: Coders guide to good coffee
#55This is all spot on. The art of making the perfect cup of tea is fairly analogous: buy fresh, loose leaf tea, pour the right temperature water over the right amount of tea for the right of time, and then enjoy some great tea.
> This is all spot on
The beans really do not need to be roasted in the last few days. Roasted beans stay fresh for at least a month if stored properly.
Re: Coders guide to good coffee
#56I like nice things, I really do, but what I've found is that sometimes being a connoisseur kills your ability to enjoy simple things.
I don't want to be able to enjoy the bitter caffeine-infused black water that passes for coffee so many places. And sometimes I've found that being a connoisseur brings the ability to enjoy many other simple things: that a glass of really good wine can last for an hour, or that when I've had a good strong cup of fresh ground, fresh roasted coffee in the morning, I don't feel the urge to drink coffee for the rest of t…
Plus if you find a place that has decent, properly made coffee, the staff are probably into it and actually want to work there so the whole experience is just better and even educational. Quality begets quality.
Re: Coders guide to good coffee
#57I'm not sure about the "off the boil" advice for temperature. I read in Cooks Illustrated recently that boiling temperature water makes coffee taste bitter and that it's best to use water between 190F - 205F. I tried this recently, with my usual pour over cone, and found that 190F water made the coffee delicious!
by the time you pour the water and it hits/heats the room temperature grounds the water is going to drop several degrees, I could go test it but I suspect >90% of the brewing is at EDIT: for example when brewing beer my friends and I tend to add the grains when the water is about 10 degrees hotter than we want to mash at.
Re: Coders guide to good coffee
#58> [Originally I posted this article on Thu Apr 25th, 2002 at 02:29:34 PM EST to Kuro5hin.org. I am reprinting it here with minor corrections.] wow, kuro5hin.org, that brings back memories... and it is still kickin' (barely)
I've always wondered if a revival of kuro5hin-style huge articles & stories would be possible. Or maybe we call that blogs nowadays.
Less Wrong (http://lesswrong.com/) modified the Reddit code and made a "community blog" with long articles. The concept of blogging really has taken over this ontological niche, but there's room for a lot of variation in what you call a blog. It's flexible enough to cover everything from really long articles to tweet-at-a-time adventure serials like http://twitter.com/Othar .
I wonder what other types of blogging are still uninvented, or at least not yet popular.
Re: Coders guide to good coffee
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not a huge deal in practice in my experience. You could always buy a press that uses filters, such as the aeropress.
I love the AeroPress. Bought one a week ago and it makes pretty amazing coffee. No need for an expensive espresso machine to make super-smooth americano... PS: I don't work for AeroPress :)
I often wish I was on commission for Aeropress, such is my apparent ability to sell the things.
They are excellent though - practically sell themselves.
Re: Coders guide to good coffee
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
The author of the article is misled here. The key difference is the home roasted coffee. You can get a popcorn machine and roast your own green coffee and use a normal drip coffee machine to brew. The taste is actually pretty significant, and doesn't require expensive equipment. I have a normal el-cheapo blade-spinning coffee grinder and a drip coffee machine from walgreens. They still make wonderful coffee with gree…
"roasted using a popcorn machine as a roaster " Seriously? I have a cheapie air popper thing that works great for popcorn. For coffee beans, how does it work? For example, how do you know when they're roasted?
A couple references:
http://www.sweetmarias.com/airpop/airpopmethod.php
http://coffeegeek.com/guides/popperroasting
I'm thinking of trying this out; it sounds really easy.