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A Coder's Guide to Coffee

blog.moertel.com

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Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#41

Post by ianbishop »

It seems like many people have problems with their french presses. When I first got my french press, it tasted like any coffee I had ever had from Starbucks. Recently, things have started to take a turn for the better - I can make a damn delish cup. This is what has changed:

A lot of it comes down to grinding your beans, right before brewing. How much do you put in the grinder? Usually I use +1 to however many cups I am making. The average mug can hold around 2 cups - so that means 3 tablespoons of beans.

Pour slowly some boiled water (usually you want to wait a moment after it begins to boil) over the beans. Stir briefly and let it sit.

What you should see is basically a foamy rich bit (kinda like crema on espresso) going on at the top of the brew. I've heard a friend call this 'the bloom', though I don't know if that is a technical term for it but I like it.

You wanna keep this bloom going, which means stirring intermittently for the next 4 minutes. Usually I stir a single brew once at the start, twice during the steeping, and once right before pressing it.

Place the cover and press on top and press down slowly. Try to press down with uniform pressure and keep it straight. I know my press is kinda jiggly when you press down. If you favour one side too much, you might let some grinds slip through the other side.

Pour and serve.

If you still find this dull, try other types of coffee. Try drinking it black (I know, this is daring for people who prefer 'sludge water' aka 3 milk 3 sugar). Personally I am a big fan of Ethiopian and Kenyan beans. I find they have such strong undertones. It is like drinking expensive wine!

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#42

Post by biohacker42 »

chaosmachine wrote: post #2

If you find "mainstream" coffee enjoyable, is it really in your best interest to raise your expectations? If you suddenly find normal coffee lacking, have you really improved your life?

As someone who moved from Europe the US, I can tell you I envy Americans who have never tasted anything other then standard US food. Ignorance truly is bliss.

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#43

Post by Mongoose »

nihilocrat wrote: post #17

Tea snobbery is a lot less complicated, and doesn't really require any special tools beyond a mesh strainer of some description.

I couldn't disagree more. There's at least as much variety in teas as in coffees and the "skill" needed to expertly discern between them is an equal breed of obsession to that of the most affected coffee-snob. Tea preparation can be equally complex, requiring certain timing and techniques, depending on the type and grade of tea.

Just sayin'.

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#44

Post by cvg »

colonhyphenp wrote: post #15
discojesus wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried all the stuff mentioned in the article, and to me personally (allow me to repeat this to nip the obvious retorts in the bud - to ME, PERSONALLY :P) it hasn't made one bit of difference. I still use a french press, but that has a lot to do with convenience. I just don't grind it fresh anymore or spend tons of money on fresh-roasted beans - a bag of 8 O'Clock Colombian works just fine. So you might find that…

I am in the same boat with the french press - I really can't tell that much of a difference between a cup of freshly roasted/ground french press coffee and a cup of coffee at Starbucks. However, I recently switched to an Aeropress single cup coffee maker, and it is a HUGE difference - it makes a small concentrated cup of coffee with very little bitterness, and brings out the coffee's natural sweetness. Also, I find i…

Can't beat the Aeropress for the price. Saving tons of money by stopping my daily Peet's runs.

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#45

Post by dkarl »

discojesus wrote: post #10
chaosmachine wrote: post #2

If you find "mainstream" coffee enjoyable, is it really in your best interest to raise your expectations? If you suddenly find normal coffee lacking, have you really improved your life?

I've tried all the stuff mentioned in the article, and to me personally (allow me to repeat this to nip the obvious retorts in the bud - to ME, PERSONALLY :P) it hasn't made one bit of difference. I still use a french press, but that has a lot to do with convenience. I just don't grind it fresh anymore or spend tons of money on fresh-roasted beans - a bag of 8 O'Clock Colombian works just fine. So you might find that…

Same here, until I got simple carafe-style water filter as a gift and realized/remembered that my tap water is really gross. It not only tastes bad, it literally stinks. I trained myself to drink it so I wouldn't waste money on bottled water, but I never realized how much it affects the taste of coffee and tea.

Actually, I'm surprised that nobody else has mentioned the importance of water. My cheap carafe filter makes a huge difference even to my relatively insensitive palate.

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#46

Post by Semiapies »

dkarl wrote: post #45
discojesus wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried all the stuff mentioned in the article, and to me personally (allow me to repeat this to nip the obvious retorts in the bud - to ME, PERSONALLY :P) it hasn't made one bit of difference. I still use a french press, but that has a lot to do with convenience. I just don't grind it fresh anymore or spend tons of money on fresh-roasted beans - a bag of 8 O'Clock Colombian works just fine. So you might find that…

Same here, until I got simple carafe-style water filter as a gift and realized/remembered that my tap water is really gross. It not only tastes bad, it literally stinks. I trained myself to drink it so I wouldn't waste money on bottled water, but I never realized how much it affects the taste of coffee and tea. Actually, I'm surprised that nobody else has mentioned the importance of water. My cheap carafe filter make…

This is a huge issue for coffee. Making sure not to use tap water here at my office vastly improves the output of the Keurig unit we have.

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#47

Post by keefe »

"As most software and creative professionals know, coffee is an important technology for boosting mental acuity and maintaining peak on-the-job performance"

I would personally worry much more about the real long term performance impact than the tastiness of my coffee. Do some googling on caffeine tolerance and caffeine dependence - something like 300mg of caffeine a day for 3 weeks and you are fully tolerant and typically caffeine intoxication starts around 500mg. 300mg is often one large latte. Caffeine binds to adenosine receptors and prevents proper sleep. It's also worth noting that caffeine has a half life of 6 hours and stimulates with a burst of adrenaline that is much shorter lasting than the adenosine binding which prevents proper sleep. Caffeine is a useful tool to have in the toolbox, but long term addiction leads to decreased performance, not increased performance. I personally will drink my coffee at Red Rock or whatever nice cafe because I find it necessary to manage my intake very carefully to maximize performance.

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#48

Post by keefe »

willwagner wrote: post #38

If you are in the sf bay area and want to try freshly roasted beans, I highly recommend ritual roasters ( http://www.ritualroasters.com/ ) in the mission district of SF, or if you are in the south bay, barefoot coffee ( http://www.barefootcoffeeroasters.com/ ). YMMV, but for me, it has made a big difference in quality between making my own cup in the morning vs going to a Starbucks. I also find having a good vacuum i…

I second that notion. You can also get ritual coffee at the creamery right by caltrain.

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#49

Post by proee »

tom_b wrote: post #20

I'm a espresso fan. A double or triple shot americano to start the day is awesome, particularly when the kids (toddlers) have kept Mom and Dad up half the night. I use a Gaggia Classic espresso maker (bought used on ebay for a decent price) and a hacked Krups burr grinder (added #4 washers to allow the burrs to get a good espresso grind). It's hard to make a bad shot with this setup - easily beats what you can get at…

Do you have any stovetop steamers you recommend?

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#50

Post by DougWebb »

dkarl wrote: post #45
discojesus wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried all the stuff mentioned in the article, and to me personally (allow me to repeat this to nip the obvious retorts in the bud - to ME, PERSONALLY :P) it hasn't made one bit of difference. I still use a french press, but that has a lot to do with convenience. I just don't grind it fresh anymore or spend tons of money on fresh-roasted beans - a bag of 8 O'Clock Colombian works just fine. So you might find that…

Same here, until I got simple carafe-style water filter as a gift and realized/remembered that my tap water is really gross. It not only tastes bad, it literally stinks. I trained myself to drink it so I wouldn't waste money on bottled water, but I never realized how much it affects the taste of coffee and tea. Actually, I'm surprised that nobody else has mentioned the importance of water. My cheap carafe filter make…

You want a Waterwise 9000. Really. Trust me. WORLD of difference.
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