Live data from Hacker News

Handbrewing Coffee

quanttype.net

161–170 of 217 posts

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#161

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.

could you link to the filter and note your process? I'd be very interested in making my own cold brew!

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for this. I’m not suggesting you change what clearly works well, but anyone starting out should consider second hand gear. The best espresso gear ages well, is repairable and is readily available second hand. The machines Rancillio Silva, La Cimbali Junior and the grinders by Mazzer are all readily available and affordable if you are patient. Bought dirty, chipped and not working is best - then the price is lo…

Where would you recommend searching for used espresso gear? ebay?

I've got a stainless steel Gaggia Classic I'll send you for the cost of shipping if you'd like. I got it refurb and was never able to get a consistent shot out of it, but I don't know how much of that was due to the machine vs user error. Anyway, I got tired of pouring sour shots down the sink, so I cleaned it and put in storage years ago.

It's probably $30-50 to ship given its size and weight.

My email is in my profile.

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#163
post #95

For anyone interested I did a fair bit of research into how I could step into the passable home espresso / coffee game as I WFH a lot. Given that : - I make at most 3 coffees a day, usually 1. - I prefer espresso I found the traditional options lacking. I'd need: - a machine costing about £600 - a solid quality grinder. - machine needs 20 minutes warmup minimum before you can pour a consistent shot (or you need to le…

I went through a similar search for a cheap homemade espresso and ended up landing on the 3-cup Moka pot. It's not exactly espresso, but I find it's good enough for me, especially if I put it into a cappuccino or something else.

My wife makes her coffee in an moka pot. IMO it's fine for cafe cubano or maybe a latte, but I'd never drink it straight. It's much too bitter and lacks the natural sweetness and full body of a proper espresso shot. So while you can make passable espresso-type drinks with it, it's not really espresso.

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#164
post #95

For anyone interested I did a fair bit of research into how I could step into the passable home espresso / coffee game as I WFH a lot. Given that : - I make at most 3 coffees a day, usually 1. - I prefer espresso I found the traditional options lacking. I'd need: - a machine costing about £600 - a solid quality grinder. - machine needs 20 minutes warmup minimum before you can pour a consistent shot (or you need to le…

I have the Breville Barista Express and it takes like a minute to warm up and has a fantastic grinder built in, as well as a steamer for those who are into that sort of thing. And that's at a lot lower price point than £600, I think I paid ~$600USD for the whole getup.

I have this one too. It's a great machine if you are willing to spend ~$500. I've had it for over a year, and it's still making great coffee.

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#165
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.

I quit cold turkey because of sleep problem I was having and stayed off it for about a month while I was isolating possible causes.

I don't really think cold turkey vs gradual cutoff would have made a difference for me. The biggest thing that helped was having something else to sip on (decaf tea + sparkling water in my case). The lack of caffeine was really only noticeable for a few days.

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#166
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't buy the article's "study" whatsoever. From the pictures, they are testing the "flavor" using a drip method and don't control for the temperature. Using a drip method the ground should be fine. Fine is fine. .05mm coffee grains should mechanistically speaking soak through just as well as .08mm coffee grains. It also strikes me as odd that each of the grinders was exactly consistent across an entire week for it…

Low quality grinders will result in unequal sized grains of coffee. Given that the flavor of coffee is largely based on the degree of extraction, having an even sized grounds will improve the consistency of the produced coffee.

quality filters will work with unequal size grounds.

example: a chemex with a barrista warrior filter will work amazingly well with medium to coarse grinds - just as well with medium or coarse only.

however, if you still subscribe to 'it must be the same size grind' - grind it twice at the same setting, then use a Kruve filter. I like using a 1100 and 400 size filters in my kruve, to give me the three types of grind i prefer (under 400 for my espresso, between 1100 and 400 for drip, and above 1100 for pourover. - all with the same bean!

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#167

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.

could you link to the filter and note your process? I'd be very interested in making my own cold brew!

Filter: https://www.amazon.com/KLEIN-Cold-Brew-Kit-Concentrate/dp/B0...

Jars (I think these are the right size): https://www.amazon.com/32oz-Regular-Mouth-Canning-Mason/dp/B...

My process is that I fill the filter halfway with coffee, fill the jar with cold water, wait 24-48 hours, then refrigerate. That's it.

The entire process is super simple. I don't need to worry about presses, disposable filters, machines, etc. I just need to rinse the filter and clean the jars occasionally.

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#168
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I drink it straight, but probably end up drinking half as much by volume. It's really easy to drink too much and end up in jitter-town.

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#169

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.

That's why I use one of these steel-mesh filters. I used cheesecloth before and it was super annoying.

https://www.amazon.com/KLEIN-Cold-Brew-Kit-Concentrate/dp/B0...

Re: Handbrewing Coffee

#170

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 do cold brew in the summer too. If you hand grind it's not less time consuming since it uses more beans. If you have an electric grinder it's faster.

I am way too lazy to grind and don't want a dedicated appliance for it, so I just buy cheap pre-ground. I personally can't tell the difference between good and mediocre beans with cold brew.
Post reply on HN