Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I'm a Coffee Roaster: Here's What You're Doing Wrong That's Ruining Your Coffee

hudsonroastingcompany.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 93 posts

Re: I'm a Coffee Roaster: Here's What You're Doing Wrong That's Ruining Your Coffee

#71

Post by robocat »

admn2 wrote: post #40
faizshah wrote: post #2

Does tap water really make that much of a difference? Anyone tried side by side?

They sell something called (no joke) third wave water, which are packets you add to distilled water

https://thirdwavewater.com/

"Profiles" product menu: Classic | Dark | Espresso

Here's some of their copy:

«Life is Too Short to Ruin Your Coffee with Bad Water» • Bad water destroys great coffee • Don't drink boring, flat coffee anymore • Starting your day right shouldn't be this difficult

«Protect Your Coffee Maker» • Stop ruining your coffee maker by causing lime scale buildup! • Do you have an espresso machine? • Third Wave Water has a water profile just for your needs

«Find Full Flavor» • Achieve Optimum Extraction and taste your coffee like the Roaster intended • Reduce Bitterness with all natural minerals • Balanced Water Chemistry to compliment your coffee (pH and kH)

«Brew Consistently» • Stop Chasing the Perfect Cup • Brew the same amazing cup of coffee every morning

Over 3 million gallons of coffee brewed.

"This coffee tasted 10X better with Third Wave Water! This stuff is the real deal! If you love coffee you'll love Third Wave Water!"

Re: I'm a Coffee Roaster: Here's What You're Doing Wrong That's Ruining Your Coffee

#72

Post by fouc »

I'm surprised the article doesn't go as far as to mention about avoiding dark roast, and only going for light/medium roast.

It's my understanding the real coffee snobs avoid dark roast because it burns off a lot of the flavor and natural sweetness of coffee.

Re: I'm a Coffee Roaster: Here's What You're Doing Wrong That's Ruining Your Coffee

#73

Post by cosmotic »

The post says don't use tap water, but what are the alternatives? Brita or Pur filter? Bottled water (that is most likely just tap water itself)? spring water? Distilled water? I suspect the only one without solutes would be distilled, but distilled makes for awful drinking water.

Re: I'm a Coffee Roaster: Here's What You're Doing Wrong That's Ruining Your Coffee

#74

Post by BlackLotus89 »

eps wrote: post #39
httpsterio wrote: post #33

As a coffee enthusiast, I can wholeheartedly vouch each and every one of the points raised in the article, except maybe the tap water and temperature. The biggest upgrade you can do on your setup is getting a proper coffee grinder with burrs and not blades. There's little sense in buying any fancier beans if you're grinding them in store and drinking it over a period of several weeks. In a matter of hours after grind…

I have a manual grinder (Hario) and I really don't like how long it takes to grind the damn things with it. IMNSHO it adds to much friction to the process /rimshot/ and makes it that much less enjoyable. Caveat emptor, basically.

What kind of burrs? If it's the usual cheap hand grinder (hario slim) it got a ceramic burrset which is not only slow (3 times as slow as my favourite the 1zpresso), but has a bad distribution.

If you don't need espresso fine grounds buy a timemore c2, normcore or 1zpresso jx.

If you want to brew espresso take the 1zpresso jx pro.

Edit: all those recommendations are best band for the buck. For an equal electric grinder you will pay a hefty extra. For the same quality the cheapest electric grinder I could find was more than double the price. I don't want to pay 150€ for a motor

Re: I'm a Coffee Roaster: Here's What You're Doing Wrong That's Ruining Your Coffee

#75

Post by fanf2 »

httpsterio wrote: post #37
httpsterio wrote: post #33

As a coffee enthusiast, I can wholeheartedly vouch each and every one of the points raised in the article, except maybe the tap water and temperature. The biggest upgrade you can do on your setup is getting a proper coffee grinder with burrs and not blades. There's little sense in buying any fancier beans if you're grinding them in store and drinking it over a period of several weeks. In a matter of hours after grind…

Why I don't necessarily agree about tap water: many countries have excellent tap water and it's perfectly fine to use. If you have an automatic machine you might have to descale it a few times a year but it's perfectly fine for brewing coffee. Bottled water can often have more impurities than Finnish tap water. Why I don't necessarily agree about temperature: coffee beans are already roasted at temperatures far hotte…

In Britain the quality of tap water varies a lot from place to place. I live in Cambridge where the water comes from a chalk aquifer; it is very hard and has a distinctly unpleasant flavour. We got a water softener installed, including a separate filter for drinking water, and that made it a lot more palatable.

Last weekend we were visiting family in Sheffield, which is on the edge of the Peak District, and their water comes from hard sandstone hills, beautifully soft.

Re: I'm a Coffee Roaster: Here's What You're Doing Wrong That's Ruining Your Coffee

#76

Post by fanf2 »

xcambar wrote: post #65
albertopv wrote: post #54

Or buy a Bialetti moka and that's it.

I have never understood the love for these. They're small, hot as hell, you don't prepare much coffee out of it, the coffee is burning hot, it's easy to fail your coffee, and the taste is most of the time very (too?) bitter. But at least... digestion will indeed be facilitated ^^ Source: my family in Italy became Bialetti cultists, I have to bear it to avoid boring comments on "real" coffee.

I usually make coffee in a cafetière (french press), but in hot weather i like an iced latte. At home I make them with a moka pot; I have a small pot which can make a double espresso, which I needed to run twice to get my daily fix.

So I bought a “12 cup” Bialetti, which makes about a pint each time, which is enough to keep me going for a day or two.

And yes it took me a while to get the hang of getting it to siphon all the water through the coffee properly without over-cooking.

Re: I'm a Coffee Roaster: Here's What You're Doing Wrong That's Ruining Your Coffee

#77

Post by CarelessExpert »

canjobear wrote: post #7

I've studiously avoided gaining the ability to discriminate good from bad coffee. I don't see any upsides, and the coffee snobs are insufferable.

Eh, I just see them as "different" coffee. I have a decent burr grinder, buy fresh roasted beans, and brew with a Moka pot. I also have a drip machine when I plan to drink a lot of coffee over a period of time, i.e. a lazy morning reading. I've got an aeropress when I'm feeling like something a little different (or when I'm making coffee at the office). And I keep good ol' freeze dried coffee in the cupboard when I'm feeling lazy or want a quick caffeine buzz.

They're all different and I love em all for different reasons.

Though I will say I absolutely refuse to drink Keurig coffee. It's an environmental disaster and it has the strength and flavour of coffee brewed with used beans...

Re: I'm a Coffee Roaster: Here's What You're Doing Wrong That's Ruining Your Coffee

#78

Post by anotherevan »

httpsterio wrote: post #33

As a coffee enthusiast, I can wholeheartedly vouch each and every one of the points raised in the article, except maybe the tap water and temperature. The biggest upgrade you can do on your setup is getting a proper coffee grinder with burrs and not blades. There's little sense in buying any fancier beans if you're grinding them in store and drinking it over a period of several weeks. In a matter of hours after grind…

I think the rule of thumb regarding water is to not use water you wouldn't enjoy drinking straight. If you drink your water straight from the tap then go ahead and use it for brewing.

I have an under the sink in-line water filter and that's what I use to fill up the kettle.

Re: I'm a Coffee Roaster: Here's What You're Doing Wrong That's Ruining Your Coffee

#79

Post by anotherevan »

carols10cents wrote: post #64

The article says this about Baratza grinders: > I prefer the Baratza line of grinders which can be easily maintained over time. An entry level model will set you back about $150 and you may be able to find it cheaper used. Which I think undersells the best part of Baratza, as a part relevant to HN: the company actively supports maintenance, sells all parts and refurbished models, and has very helpful customer support…

I have a Baratza Sette 270 which I'm also quite happy with. I like this because the beans drop straight through, not shunted out a chute to the side. Amount of remains left in the grinder are quite minimal.

Re: I'm a Coffee Roaster: Here's What You're Doing Wrong That's Ruining Your Coffee

#80

Post by anotherevan »

cosmotic wrote: post #73

The post says don't use tap water, but what are the alternatives? Brita or Pur filter? Bottled water (that is most likely just tap water itself)? spring water? Distilled water? I suspect the only one without solutes would be distilled, but distilled makes for awful drinking water.

I think the rule of thumb regarding water is to not use water you wouldn't enjoy drinking straight. If you drink your water straight from the tap then go ahead and use it for brewing.

I have an under the sink in-line water filter and that's what I use to fill up the kettle.

Post reply on HN