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A Coder's Guide to Coffee

blog.moertel.com

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Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#51

Post by iron_ball »

xayide wrote: post #33
tortilla wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, I did the same. The French Press was great and all, but I couldn't produce a good cup consistently and it was quite messy. Didn't particularly like the grit either. Have been using the Aeropress for about 4 months straight and really love it. The flavors are great, clean up is quick and painless. Now I'm thinking about roasting my own beans. A local roaster recommended the Behmor: http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod…

I’ve never had good results using a french press with a blade grinder. You need such a coarse grind for the press, and fine grit is just inevitable with a cheap blade. I got a burr grinder several years ago, and my french press coffee has improved immensely. Of course, the clean up still sucks - I only break out the press for fresh, interesting coffee that I happen in to.

What's wrong with the cleanup? I've never had a clog just rinsing the grounds right down the kitchen sink.

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#52

Post by chancho »

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…

Don't sell 8 O'clock short.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/204/con...

I have this sneaking suspicion that its harvested by third-world leukemia patients, or fertilized with aborted ponies or something else terrible, because it's too good to be true. I live out in the sticks and my coffee options are the grocery store and the gas station. It's not only tastes better, it's half the price of any other whole-bean coffee you can find in a typical grocery store. (I like whole-bean original myself. The Columbian is too sour for me.)

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#53

Post by baddox »

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?

The actual value of connoisseur-ship can be debated in ANY category, from coffee to beer to audio equipment, ad infinitum. I do think it would be worth it, since being able to discern depth, nuance, and quality is very rewarding. However, what I absolutely hate is arrogant connoisseurs, whether or not they actually know their stuff. You know the guy who asks what you're drinking, and when you say Miller Lite he scoffs and claims that all domestic light beers taste the same, then glances around to see who was impressed. I'm sure the same thing occurs in the coffee world.

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#54

Post by tmoertel »

keefe wrote: post #47

"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 typi…

I'm fairly confident that the author meant the opening line to be taken as humor, not actual advice about maintaining peak on-the-job performance. Yeah, I'm fairly confident about that.

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#55

Post by tom_b »

proee wrote: post #49
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?

I have the one pictured here (http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/accessories/stovetopfrother/ar...). I've had two of these - the first somehow broke at the thumb handle part internally, but it was replaced for free.

The one thing I don't like about it is that where the top screws to the main body, there is a rubber gasket with holes about the diameter of a pencil eraser. You want one of these holes to match up with the hole on the steam wand - if you tighten the lid in a way that makes the gasket slide away from that, it seems like the wand isn't as effective.

But with a little practice (oddly enough, the sound is the key), you get a really decent foam out of it. You won't be making latte art, but you'll do much better than the vaguely hot milk splashed around by some coffee shops. I found a thermometer to be really helpful as well - I use one that I bought for $5 at Borders one day on a whim.

The other thing is that you have to let the steam pressure build back up between drinks - you can't really do three drinks in a row without doing that. But for one latte or mocha it's fine. It probably takes less than 5 mins on the stovetop to get the pressure back up though.

If I get another stove top steamer, I'll probably try something like http://www.1-800-espresso.com/stove-top-steamer.html to avoid the gasket issue I mentioned.

It's funny, but the stove top steamer works better than the steam wand on the Gaggia - the Gaggia has some weird foamer attachment that creates really bad bubbles without making any nice pourable foam.

http://www.wholelattelove.com has great online videos that talk about/demo various espresso machines and http://www.coffeegeek.com/guides is another great resource.

Re: A Coder's Guide to Coffee

#56

Post by keefe »

tmoertel wrote: post #54
keefe wrote: post #47

"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 typi…

I'm fairly confident that the author meant the opening line to be taken as humor, not actual advice about maintaining peak on-the-job performance. Yeah, I'm fairly confident about that.

nevertheless, many use it in this way...
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