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Handbrewing Coffee

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Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#81

Post by bvinc »

earthscienceman wrote: post #50
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #22

I got ruined for regular coffee when I found a local shop that roasts its beans sorted by size . So it doesn't taste scorched. Apparently most commercial coffee makers roast them in arbitrary batches, which means by the time the big ones are roasted the small ones are burned. I know there's a lot more that can be done with roasting. But that one small change means you can have strong coffee without having burned coff…

It's really funny to me to just how much junk information there is in the coffee world and just how strongly people believe it. Even here on hackernews it seems. This is the exact sort of 'fact' that sounds good, and makes you feel like you know what you're talking about. I'm a roaster. All coffee is sorted by size, or at least all quality coffee. It's necessary, not only for an even roast, but it's also an inherent…

I will back you up. I visited a coffee plantation in Guatemala and they said they sort all of their beans by size before selling them. I asked if people paid different prices, but they said no. The reason was that the roasters want consistent sizes.

And this was just some small coffee plantation.

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#82

Post by blarg1 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #33
oftenwrong wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a big fan of the steel "drip-o-lator"-style coffee brewers. They are a predecessor of electric coffee makers. It is similar to a pour-over, but you can just dump the hot water in and walk away. Unfortunately, they are no longer in production, but I have purchased several from eBay. One day I would like to design and build my own version with vacuum-insulated walls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg4ncWWqjno The…

Sounds like the Vietnamese single-serving coffee apparatus! Fun to use too.

I've got one of those, they work great!

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#83

Post by dreen »

Has anyone here managed to quit coffee completely after being really into it? I have 1-2 a day, can't imagine starting starting a day without it, but despite really loving the taste I would rather not feel the need to have it.

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#84

Post by spurcell93 »

ubermonkey wrote: post #29
nukeop wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chemex is just an expensive, proprietary coffee pot.

Chemex pots are NOT expensive. I don't know where you got that idea. The classic (which is to say, fancier, with the wooden collar) 8-cup model is $37 on Amazon right now. At our house, going to Chemex meant shifting from genuinely expensive drip machines that were hard or impossible to properly clean, and which therefore got replaced every few years. It's a drastically LESS expensive method than most.

IMO, $37 for what amounts to a flanged glass jar is ludicrous for many people. Even if it ends up cheaper in the long run. For what it's worth, I live with a couple roommates and they are on their third chemex, since glass breaks easily. Maybe our brand is bad. Maybe our coordination is worse.

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#85

Post by chrisgat »

I'm a coffee ritual person as well, though I think you can get a similar experience using a machine.

With that being said, my coffee maker device of choice is a Peruvian coffee pot (for lack of a better name, essentially this: http://cuzcoeats.com/perus-great-way-of-making-coffee-esenci...). It creates a dark rich full body concentrate that hits the nail on the head for me. With that being said, I'm not a big fan of the subtle flavours of coffee that you might get in a high quality pour over with a lightly roasted coffee.

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#86

Post by williamdclt »

dreen wrote: post #83

Has anyone here managed to quit coffee completely after being really into it? I have 1-2 a day, can't imagine starting starting a day without it, but despite really loving the taste I would rather not feel the need to have it.

1-2 cups a day? I don't see that building an addiction (I hope at least, or I'm going to have a hard time)

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#87

Post by arya169 »

madaxe_again wrote: post #64
cooooooffffeeee wrote: post #61

I just cold brew my coffee. Amazon has a good reusable filter that drops in to a large mason jar. I make 3-4 jars a week (You literally just add ground coffee, water, and wait 24 hours). Even mediocre beans taste pretty good as cold brew.

Also, from what I understand, and my experience, it’s a lot stronger than hot brewed coffee. Win-win.

Are you drinking it straight? Usually you're supposed to mix one part of cold brew concentrate with one or two parts water.

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#89

Post by Scown »

oftenwrong wrote: post #24
mymythisisthis wrote: post #11

Got tired of buying coffee makers that always burned out. A drip cone is the easiest to clean, never breaks.

I am a big fan of the steel "drip-o-lator"-style coffee brewers. They are a predecessor of electric coffee makers. It is similar to a pour-over, but you can just dump the hot water in and walk away. Unfortunately, they are no longer in production, but I have purchased several from eBay. One day I would like to design and build my own version with vacuum-insulated walls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg4ncWWqjno The…

Big fan too!

They're still around, really popular in Europe at least (Bialetti is probably the best-known brand).

Quite hard not to over-extract the coffee, but still my go to when I need an industrial-scale caffeine hit...

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#90

Post by darkarmani »

cooooooffffeeee wrote: post #61

I just cold brew my coffee. Amazon has a good reusable filter that drops in to a large mason jar. I make 3-4 jars a week (You literally just add ground coffee, water, and wait 24 hours). Even mediocre beans taste pretty good as cold brew.

I just do it in a half-gallon container and then filter it in a french press. That much quantity clogs up paper filters, although i guess you could refilter in paper in half batches after pushing through a french press.

I find cold brew really convenient the rest of the week and it has a much mellower flavor.

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