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The beginner's guide to overcomplicating coffee
- asimpletune 4y agoI'm surprised no one is talking about mocha pots here. I love my aeropress but I also love the flavor of my mocha pot. If there are any Italians reading this, I would love to hear what coffee people drink.
- eole666 4y agoYes, mocha pots are great ! You can have way stronger and tastier coffee than with french/aero press or the kind of coffee machine used in this article. Most expresso machine for home use are worst too (but they do are more convenient). We call them "Cafetière à l'Italienne" in france.
- 5tefan 4y agoI dislike most the these espresso machines with touchscreen or dialing knobs on autopilot. This is disgusting coffee no matter the beans. Imho drip coffee makers in office kitchens would be nicer.
- seizethecheese 4y agoOne step upstream from this, you can also overcomplicate your supply of coffee with an absurd IoT device: https://www.bottomless.com/coffee/index.html https://www.bottomless.com/coffee/index.html
- xeromal 4y agoWhen you think you've seen it all...
- function_seven 4y agoI've been a customer of theirs for almost 4 years now[0], and I'm a convert. My initial reaction to them was also pretty dismissive. I'm not normally interested in IoT-with-subscription type things, but now I'm a fan. The coffee I really like is $14 a bag, and shows up just as my previous bag is almost finished. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19403664 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19403664
- kurthr 4y agoNeeds more process control data (full Design of Experiment) to prevent Poor Over Complicating Coffee. One of the key aspects of Peets/Starbucks/Dunkin' is that they roast the bean within an inch of their lives. That produces an extremely CONSISTENT coffee flavor. It's process control.
- seizethecheese 4y agoYou’re right of course, but also the mass market really likes dark roast beans. (I run a YC backed coffee-related company and see this first hand.)
- kelseyfrog 4y agoYou already know that the mass market really likes sugar and milk to the point where dark roasts don't do much other than provide an abstract coffee flavor.
- seizethecheese 4y agoThat’s certainly part of it. A lot of people drink these dark beans black, too. One aspect of this so that cheap coffee machines are terrible at brewing lighter roasts.
- throw_pm23 4y agoThe article is remarkably self-aware on all this, but everything surrounding gourmet coffee is so insufferable. Talking about coffee varieties, roasting, grinding still makes some sense, but these microgram-level scales, calling a stupid plastic funnel "the Hario® v60" and the other one the AeroPress™ (1) sometimes make me want to give up coffee, just to avoid having a common experience with those people. I can make coffee in a hundred different ways, one of which is putting the damn sieve on top of the cup and pouring hot water on it. The other: mix a spoonful of coffee and a cup of water and boil the damn thing. All the ways come out perfectly fine. How many layers of complexity can you add to something so simple. (1) yeah, that one's more like a syringe than a funnel.
- spion 4y agoI'm going to regret reacting to this, but here we go - Nobody cares about microgram scales. 1/10 of grams, however, are important, especially if you are dosing for espresso, where the amount of coffee affects the flow rate. - Hario v60 and Aeropress are very different. The second one is an immersion brewer, which makes it easier to get good results even when your grinder isn't the best. The fact that they're made out of plastic is meaningless. - Its really not simple at all. For years, I didn't have to care because I was blessed with pretty great instant coffee in the country where I lived. Unfortunately I moved to the UK and got to experience instant coffee hell. It was so bad that something had to be done. Few years later and here I am with a Flair manual lever espresso machine, temperature-control kettle and all the other tools you mention. Sometimes, the taste sucks so much you gotta do something.
- throw_pm23 4y agoThanks for the response and information, and no need to regret it, I often take part in this type of conversation.
- PaulKeeble 4y agoWe can do surprisingly good coffee with 100C water, a cheap burr grinder like from Hario and an Aeropress. You can outperform a lot of coffee shops quite easily with this very basic setup following recipes and slowly learning how to set the grind better.
- ggm 4y agoPicked two out of 6 tests wrong. That's one pick away from 50/50 in a 1 in three random selection test. Methinks he overcomplicated his story!
- kelseyfrog 4y agoThe author's right in that this is truly a beginner's guide as it neglects to mention that optimizing TDS and extraction is a process that is not only contingent on the brewing method and equipment, but also the coffee being brewed. You're going to be doing this for every bag you brew. It doesn't stop. The more advanced guide will have you dialing in brew temp, preheating, pour schedule, recipe, water treatment &c. It really doesn't stop.
- papandada 4y agoI've never used a bripe, but I assume it's firmly a novelty contraption and doesn't offer any competition in terms of making good coffee. Anyone with personal experience can confirm/deny?
- Gerard0 4y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tltBHjmIUJ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tltBHjmIUJ0
- fabian2k 4y agoOne thing I find interesting, though a bit annoying in practice is that coffee from the same materials and with the same process still can vary quite a bit. I've been using an Aeropress for some months now, and even if I keep all the major variable the same, it still tastes different. I don't trust my senses here entirely, and as it's not blind I can easily fool myself. But the amount of agitation and differences in pouring might affect the taste here sometimes. Though my impression is that this is not always noticeable, but if I'm on the border of the coffee becoming bitter or sour it gets noticeably variable between preparations. The other part that I'm quite sure of is that the temperature you drink at affects taste a lot more than I thought. If I drink the coffee too hot it tastes bitter, and it noticeably improves at lower temperatures (which is different from what I remember from cheap, pre-ground coffee, which tends to taste really bitter when it gets colder).
- ska 4y agoanother possible factor here is that roasted beans aren't so stable over time, so "the same" materials, aren't.
- PaulKeeble 4y agoThe beans degrade daily. In my experience you have to grind a little courser as time goes on and they will loose the interesting qualities of a week to ten days.
- 4y ago
- iamthepieman 4y agoWant to taste coffee? Switch to light roasts. Want coffee flavored drink? Do whatever, mixing it with cream and sugar and flavor will make all the prep in the world pointless. For real though, light roasts and a couple different beans and you'll really be able to taste the differences. I'm not talking subtle either. There will be some you hate, some you love and some that make you go "wait! That's coffee?"
- dunefox 4y agoLight roasts are rough. Really strange flavour, everytime I tried it it was not enjoyable.
- esperent 4y agoMany of the best flavors in life take time to get used to. Blue cheese, durian, whiskey, coffee. Just because you don't like something immediately doesn't mean it won't grow on you. Or maybe it won't. I personally really dislike whiskey. And I'm Irish, I've tried a lot of good whiskeys. Still tastes bad to me.
- Tao3300 4y agoI've never had durian, but I liked the rest of that stuff right off the bat. Really I get pickier over time. I'd probably dump out the thin black coffee I used to buy at high school football games if I had it now.
- roflyear 4y agoHave you tried specialty coffee or light roast from the supermarket?
- dunefox 4y agoI bought it from a roaster.
- 4y ago
- themadturk 4y agoI love coffee, though apparently all the wrong kinds. I like Starbucks dark roast. And around the house, it's all instant, all the time, either Walmart or Cafe Bustelo instant espresso. Half and half, no sugar, maybe sugar-free chocolate syrup (I'm diabetic). At work, we have a remarkably good machine that puts out a variety of coffees. No overcomplication for me.
- peruvian 4y agoYeah nowadays outside of my Clever Dripper (probably the simplest "enthusiast" coffee maker), it's Cafe Bustelo in a Moka Pot, McDonald's, or even NYC street cart coffee.
- jszymborski 4y agoSame here. My brother is a coffee nut, and seeks out third wave coffees. I like over-extracted, dark coffee. I absolutely _hate_ the fruity notes in some of the hip coffees of today.
- yamtaddle 4y agoI looooove fine-quality beans with all kinds of delicate flavor complexity (I don't buy them much because they're expensive, but I love them when I get them). But the ones where "sugar" or sweet-bright berries make there way into the tasting notes, I usually like less than, say, Kirkland-brand beans. Just gross to me.
- astrange 4y agoI tried one recently (Mojito Washed) that claimed to be lime flavored. …It was, but I don't know why you'd want that.
- jszymborski 4y agoSee, I totally agree with you, and yet we apparently "need to try Coffee lemonade" [0]. [0] https://www.eater.com/drinks/2016/8/3/12358318/coffee-cold-brew-espresso-lemonade https://www.eater.com/drinks/2016/8/3/12358318/coffee-cold-b...
- mynameishere 4y agoJust use a Moka pot. You can't go wrong, unless there's a meltdown and everyone in the house burns to death.
- curiousgal 4y agoI am actually considering getting one. I grew up in North Africa where this was the standard way of making coffee and it was a part of breakfast. But ever since I left many years ago, I stopped drinking coffee and now I have zero tolerance for caffeine (as in, even a coke in the morning will keep me up at night). But everyone around seems to be into coffee and it seems like a nice bonding activity, I'm thinking if I get back to drinking it maybe I'll build up my tolerance to caffeine.
- slothtrop 4y agoI've reduced my consumption to one cup, and in very little time exceeding that amount now makes me jittery. Amazing how we adjust to that, but I enjoy the ritual and taste so I allow myself the one.
- klyrs 4y agoOkay but real talk if you're at all distractibile in the morning before you've had your first cuppa, at least melting the gasket is inevitable. Speaking from experience, obviously. But yeah, they make a good brew.
- caboteria 4y agoWhile it's certainly possible to overcomplicate things, I find that brewing a good cup of coffee in the morning is a pleasant ritual. Some amount of complexity is actually fun, although it's a different amount for different people. In that sense coffee is no different than hifi, wine, chocolate, weed, or any other sensory-driven hobby.
- CTDOCodebases 4y agoI think it adds a pleasant type of certainty to the day. Perhaps it engadges that part of the brain and switches focus from internal thoughts to the real world too.
- trizzle21 4y agoI find it a mix. There are days where the complexity is fun, there's (most) other days where I just need coffee before a day of complexity at work.
- sgtnoodle 4y agoMy wife broke her leg and the 3 month old poops every few hours in the night. I still enjoy hand grinding my beans and doing a pour over in the morning, though!
- photochemsyn 4y agoFar and away the best cups of coffee I've had were when I worked in a kind of industrial-mixed-use-complex with a high-quality roaster in one of the buildings. If you came in before starting work in the morning they'd have just finished a roast and would prepare coffee from the still-hot beans. Incomparable.
- nickff 4y agoIt's interesting that you should say that, as the consensus among most roasters and coffee aficionados is that beans don't reach their peak until two or three weeks after roasting.
- 2devnull 4y agoAs short as a few days for some roasts and beans, but yes.
- doubleg72 4y agoYeah I heard this as well, I'm curious if it similar to placebo effect..
- mrmincent 4y agoI’ve tried roasting my own coffee beans in the past, honestly couldn’t tell much of a difference over time - they were all equally bad, as it turns out I’m pretty terrible at roasting coffee.
- 24t 4y agoIt's more like waiting 2-3 days after roasting. Beans should ideally be used within 2-4 weeks of the roast date, with darker roasts/blends being more forgiving.
- jna_sh 4y agoFor espresso at least, the advice is to let it rest for 1-2 weeks after roasting. Roasting traps CO2 in the beans, and the aim with resting the coffee is to let some of it escape. It’s especially important for espresso but resting filter blends up to 2 weeks after roasting is becoming common advice too.
- rcarr 4y agoI worked as a barista for years, including Costa, Caffe Nero, and high end independent coffee shops that get mentioned in guidebooks. What do I drink today? 'Barista style' fine ground instant coffee from Lidl. I also worked in a ton of bars. Ask any good cocktail bartender what their drink of choice is and nine times out of ten they'll say a bottle of beer. If you've had to spend a good chunk of your life fannying around with this marlarkey to make a living, more often than not you want nothing to do with it. Is it better than the instant coffee? Yeah. Is it worth the money, maintenance and hassle? Probably not unless you're loaded. If ever there was an indicator of a privileged existence, fucking about with coffee is it. Yes, I know I need to stop being grumpy. I'm trying to work on it.
- deterministic 4y agoI love coffee and I have found a few places in my city that makes coffee I love. So I stick to those places and it really makes my day. Bad coffee makes me cranky! And instant coffee even worse! However if instant coffee works for you then great! :)
- rcarr 4y agoI still drink the good stuff outside the house, I just don’t mess about with it myself at home.
- jna_sh 4y agoI think this is a common sentiment. Prolific coffee YouTuber, roastery-owner, and former World Barista Championship winner James Hoffman doesn’t do espresso at home, and says something to the effect of “home espresso is a hobby, not a way producing coffee”.
- Gigachad 4y agoThe guy undoubtably knows how to make coffee. But this is a silly opinion. I’ve got several methods of making coffee at home and the espresso machine is the cheapest, easiest, and best tasting result.
- CTDOCodebases 4y agoInventing and using a pour over technique that is so convoluted that even you yourself mess it up every time you make a coffee is one way to humble yourself daily.
- williape 4y agoV60 brewing is great but my best and most consistent results have been from a recipe shared by a friend which uses an Aeropress and freshly roasted (<2 weeks old) single origin light roast beans. Here’s the method as shared to me 0) pre warm your mug and rinse your aeropress filter 1) course grind - more than normal aeropress, more like v60+ grind - 35g of you fav and fresh light roast coffee bean into aeropress. On a Comandante C40 hand grinder, this is about 25-28 clicks out. 2) pour 150g of 85c water into aeropress 3) stir for 10 seconds 4) put aeropress end and filter on 5) wait 1:00 6) press coffee into mug, aim to finish at ~1:30 mark 7) pour 100-150g of 85c water into your mug, diluting to taste enjoy a very flavourful coffee
- qbasic_forever 4y agoYeah I have both a V60 and aeropress and enjoy them for their unique strengths, neither is 'better' than the other. The V60 has a learning curve and is much more fussy, kind of like using a manual espresso machine, where you really have to rely on grind size and technique to get consistent results. When you dial it in and nail it a good V60 brew with a light roasted but flavorful coffee is just amazing. The aeropress is awesome in it's great consistency at putting out good cups with little fuss. I use my aeropress multiple times a day and never get a bad cup.
- timerol 4y agoI'm very confused how you get to the point where water and coffee are mixing in your Aeropress before adding the filter. I know that people like messing around with their coffee, but I assumed that the process had to be 1) filter, 2) coffee and water, 3) plunger end cap. (I guess you could switch 1 and 3, but I'm pretty sure liquid physics means that you need a container before you add the water)
- bee_rider 4y agoIt isn’t in the instructions for some reason, but some people put the plunger into the Aeropress first, flip the whole thing upside down, and then put the beans and water in what normally would be the bottom. It makes more sense to me, although it is probably just silliness. Some water escapes before brewing if you go filter down!
- givemeethekeys 4y agoIs there a "good enough" guide to making an espresso?
- qbasic_forever 4y agoUnless you're ready to spend about 1000 bucks (at least 500 on a brewer and a similar amount on a grinder), IMHO I wouldn't try to replicate espresso at home. There's no real cheaper shortcut to getting real espresso--lower cost options can't evenly extract a puck of coffee and will give wildly different (and usually unsatisfying) results with every brew. IMHO I'd get an aeropress, moka pot, or similar setup for brewing good cups of coffee at home.
- mekoka 4y agoI disagree. For 50$ you can get a basic second-hand espresso maker that produces decent servings. 10$ gets you a grinder. I've tasted espresso from all kinds of makers. Admittedly, some were noticeably better. Very rarely it was because of the machine. Mostly it was the beans. So save all that money and reinvest it in testing various beans, until you find some you like. What does a 500$ grinder even do?
- chii 4y ago> For 50$ you can get a basic second-hand espresso maker that produces decent servings. i highly doubt you can get any espresso maker with $50 that produces the right pressure, consistently enough, and with evenly heat enough, to produce anything that someone would call espresso. The secondhand, $10 hand grinder _might_ be good, but most hand grinders aren't good enough to grind fine for espresso. The cheapest cost, real espresso is a manual press like the flair. These won't cost $50 secondhand.
- mekoka 4y ago> i highly doubt you can get any espresso maker with $50 that produces the right pressure, consistently enough, and with evenly heat enough, to produce anything that someone would call espresso. I just did. I'll spare myself the snobbery in your remark and stand by mine. There's quite a bit of sophistry in how coffee is (subjectively) appreciated and my argument is based on one such observed fallacy. As a traveler, I've noted that the problem of finding a good espresso is common among people who would call themselves aficionados. I've also observed such people who would normally look down at the entry-level Breville or DeLonghi machines, with similar arguments to yours, be perfectly content with the output of a Staresso or Nanopresso when traveling/camping, even if it's admittedly not on par with what their high-end machine usually produces at home. Now, forgive the subjective argument, but I'd say that the popular Breville Roma produces a noticeably better espresso than either the Staresso or Nanopresso. If you like the latter, you should also be able to somewhat enjoy the former. Hop on Facebook Marketplace and I bet you could find a second-hand Roma for around 50$.
- tptacek 4y agoTo set my non-coffee-snob bona fides, I exclusively drink decaf (I've avoided caffeine for almost 10 years now). The reactions this post is getting are kind of odd. A typical home coffee brewing setup is going to offer you just a couple of variables --- a set-it-and-forget-it grind size, water temperature, and the dose of grounds you use for whatever amount of coffee you brew. It is not especially weird or "gourmet" to be interested in what the right values are for each of those variables. You figure out the right grind size and dial it into your grinder; you figure out the right temperature and hit that button on your kettle; you figure out the right dose and either weigh or scoop-measure that much grounds. Mostly what I'm describing is the simple act of brewing a cup of coffee.
- readingnews 4y agoMeh, just join any good coffee forum and see how far the rabbit hole goes. Here, I will start you off... https://home-barista.com https://home-barista.com Good luck.
- MisterBastahrd 4y agoI have an italian manual espresso maker. I used it twice. Loved the concept, hated using it. I have a moka pot. When I get an envie for coffee, I will brew about 2-3 pots a morning. Makes a great cafe cubano. But in South Louisiana down River Road, you grow up drinking coffee. I started drinking coffee with condensed milk from the time I was old enough to hold a cup. Also, a proper New Orleans style cafe au lait is second to none when it comes to coffee with milk preparation. So I've conquered coffee. Sure, there might be better technical applications out there where you can taste all the fruity nonsense of the beans, but coffee has never been about that for me and I've never wanted to demand much more of it. I suppose if I were a multimillionaire I'd get a cool grinder and cool espresso machine with all the bars or whatever, where it would inevitably collect dust because I'm not a fan of routines for routine's sake. I like high quality espresso... just a shame that I feel like I have to drink 8 shots to feel like I'm actually drinking coffee.
- roflyear 4y agoVery easy method for good coffee with an okay grinder: use a Hario switch or similar immersion brewer. Very forgiving. Heat water to roughly 200f and add water first in a 16:1 ratio. Add beans on top and let sit however long. Maybe like 5+ minutes. If the coffee is astringent grind corser. If it seems weak either up the ratio to 1:15 or 1:14 or grind finer. Very easy, repeatable, good, almost as quick as a drip. Water is very important to a cup of coffee. It is mostly water. I would suggest you make your own or use a brand of bottled water.
- nbk_2000 4y agoHario Switch is my next device to try to perfect the pour over. It gives a much needed control knob (time) to twiddle. And besides, James Hoffman likes them[1], how bad could they be? :P [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjIvN8mlK9Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjIvN8mlK9Y
- roflyear 4y agoWhat I love about it is if you do the immersion "float your coffee on top of the water" technique it is super forgiving, like a french press.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- sfpotter 4y agoCoffee is a fun hobby. It doesn’t have to be anything more than that. If it is, that’s OK, too. If you feel a strong need to decide whether other people are “right” when they seem more enthusiastic about coffee prep than you, and whether you might be “missing something”, consider chilling out. You’ll be happier.
- itpragmatik 4y agoIsn’t this true for every field - wine, front end development, highly scalable fault tolerant systems blah blah blah and so forth…
- baguettefurnace 4y agoI think Folgers classic roast is pretty dang good.
- shanebellone 4y agoIf anyone else hates lukewarm coffee, the Espro P7 Stainless 32 oz is both fantastic and painless. It sits on my desk between 5am and 11am before it starts to cool. It's such a pleasure.
- Tao3300 4y ago> lukewarm I like to think of that as "chugging temperature" or "protein shake temperature".
- Aloha 4y agoI drink medium roast Maxwell House or Tim Hortons and brew it in a pretty old (60's era) West Bend 9 cup percolator. I put 1c of coffee in, and as cold of water as I can get, then plug it in. The key to good, is to drink it within a half an hour of brewing completion, unless you unplug it and wait. When I make coffee for folks, they love it, rave how its the best coffee they've had.
- krumpet 4y agoI use an Aeropress at work, but at home, Trader Joe's Joe Light Roast Ground Coffee 100% Arabica Ground in our drip coffee maker is just fine. And it retails for $4.99 / 14oz!
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- causality0 4y agoThere's an easy way to make almost any cup of coffee taste incredible: dump a packet of Swiss Miss into the cup. I'm never going back.
- hedora 4y agoThe author of the article should consider getting a Flair “classic” espresso machine: https://flairespresso.com/products/espresso-makers/flair-classic/ https://flairespresso.com/products/espresso-makers/flair-cla... For an incremental $165, their setup could be very competitive with a multi-thousand dollar espresso setup. The trick is to get a pair of kitchen tongs, and heat the stainless steel cylinder in the pour over kettle with the water for the espresso. (The tongs are needed to remove the cylinder from the hot water. I’ve found 208F is ideal across many different types of espresso beans.) I think the baratza grinder they use will be passable for espresso (I blew the money I saved on the espresso machine on a nicer grinder.) Other than cost, this setup has an additional benefit over conventional machines: Most have a boiler that contains brass parts, which adds lead to the water. This doesn’t matter in coffee shops, since there is high water flow through the machine. However, for home use, the water sits in the boiler for roughly a month, leaching a ton of lead per shot of espresso. Of course, I’m hoping they take my advice and publish the results. I don’t own a brix refractometer.
- jasoneckert 4y agoAs a coffee lover, I've spent decades and thousands of dollars on expensive equipment in the search for the perfect cup. And at the end of it all, I found that all I needed was a $40 AeroPress, $50 Chestnut C2 hand grinder, and some good quality beans.
- floodfx 4y agoSame. Aero press for last decade or so. Ethiopian light roast ftw.
- lacrosse_tannin 4y agothat's what i use. it's OK. if you know how to make it like that one cup i had that one time that was the best coffee i ever had, let me know. for a while i knew what bean it was but that's lost to the sands of time/node_modules. El Salvador? it was definitely very light roast.
- anon84873628 4y agohttps://youtu.be/j6VlT_jUVPc https://youtu.be/j6VlT_jUVPc
- thomasahle 4y agoHow long before those beans have set you back thousands of dollars as well?
- Foobar8568 4y agoIt takes as low as 100gr of coffee (could be less depending of the batch) to set you back a few thousands USD.
- silisili 4y agoSame here, except all metal French press instead of aero. I started noticing differences in beans when hand grinding. Some are tough, and feel like trying to grind rocks. Some churn like butter. I'm not smart enough to know why, but that led to me buying the 'butter' varieties. Best I've found yet is Red Bird coffee. Easy to grind and tastes awesome. Hardest to grind was Happy Mug, closely followed by SW. Guatemalan is our favorite, so same country of origin for all 3. (All 3 taste great, only referring to ease of grind).
- hardwaregeek 4y agoNot to get all nerdy, but there's a couple missing variables: water temperature and evenness of extraction. Water temperature is pretty easy. For light roasts brew hot, almost boiling. For dark, brew a little cooler, maybe 88-90 degrees. Evenness is really the key. Now depending on your method you can do all sorts of rituals whether it's using some super thin needles to rake your coffee in your portafilter to remove clumps (WDT) or pouring careful concentric circles into your V60. But the easiest answer is to eliminate the variable by brewing with immersion. I'm a huge fan of the Hario Switch, but you could just as easily use an Aeropress, a Clever brewer or a good old french press. If you do immersion, steep for a reasonable amount of time (2 minutes on a Switch works well) and adjust the grind according to your taste buds (too bitter -> grind coarser, too sour -> grind finer), you'll be in the ballpark of good coffee very quickly.
- Groxx 4y agoImmersion is so easy and so consistent I can't go back. You can screw it up badly and it's still quite good.
- brewdad 4y agoBecause I need my morning cup of coffee before I can perform any elaborate ritual to create the perfect cup, I stick to immersion and my French press. Very satisfying coffee every morning. If I want something amazing, there’s about a dozen coffee shops I could visit that can truly nail that last few percent I can’t/won’t.
- chaxor 4y agoThe proper answer here is to: 1st) Study chemical engineering 2nd) Apply kinetic and thermodynamics models to a fixed bed desorption column There are a large number of variables to optimize such as the: bed height, column diameter, particle size, pH, equilibrium constant for optimizing caffeine. ... Then to only realize that practically all you need to do is put the whole bucket of grounds in a small amount of water to and chew it for best results.
- 4y ago
- cmurf 4y agoAeropress a month in. It is the most overhyped ridiculous nonsense. Uninteresting. Flabby. No body. Everything else is better. Nothing beats espresso. French press is my daily go to. In every possible way aeropress is over complicated compared to French press. It is possible to get ok coffee with an aeropress. Make it more like French press. Courser grind. Longer steep time. I guess the pour over fans are ok with aeropress because it's simultaneously inferior and over complicated. And yet is familiar by being excessively filtered.
- xamde 4y agoThe ROK is a nice way to make Espresso. Manual pressure. Try it .
- felixnm 4y ago"I don’t need you to tell me how f**n’ good my coffee is, okay? I’m the one who buys it. I know how good it is. When Bonnie goes shopping, she buys s*t. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff ’cause when I drink it, I wanna taste it. But you know what’s on my mind right now? It ain’t the coffee in my kitchen. It’s the dead ** in my garage." - Jimmy, Pulp Fiction
- user3939382 4y agoI got to the point of adding mineral packets to distilled water for reproducibility. Slurry temperature, bloom size. It’s a sickness.
- grogenaut 4y agoAs a coffee latecomer, I've spent little time and way less than a thousand dollars equipment in the search for the perfect cup. And at the end of it all, I found that a used jura on craigslist makes everyone go "wtf have I been diong" and when travelign I just dropship an aeropress and a bag of grond beans to the friend I'm visiting. but the jura is better.
- fwlr 4y agoThere is a lot of desire for an amazing cup of coffee, and this desire pays for a LOT of ritual and effort, which is reflected in the kinds of information you can find out there for making coffee well. If you’re okay with “just” a really good cup of coffee and your real desire is consistency with a strong secondary criterion for efficiency, there’s less information out there (probably because this type of person has less desire to make blog posts about their “just” really decent coffee). The process for this efficient, consistent, “just” really good coffee is pretty simple, though. The efficiency and consistency criteria require brewed, not espresso (espresso requires expensive equipment just to get started, and requires relatively high effort for consistency - that’s what you pay a good barista for). The quality criterion requires you to “grind to order”, as ground coffee oxidizes quickly and that tastes bad - buy whole roasted beans that you like the taste of in small airtight bags (whole coffee beans are still slightly perishable). The consistency criterion requires a consistent grind, which means a high quality grinder, specifically the “burr set”. With hand grinders you are paying for just the burr set, while electric grinders you are paying for other things too, so pick a good hand grinder (James Hoffman has extensive reviews of hand grinders and his style is likely very palatable for tech people). This is the only part you should invest in research. The consistency criterion also requires a robust brewing process without too many pitfalls or rituals, which is immersion brewing. A Haribo Switch or any French press is the answer here. You should mis-use the French press, though: do not plunge, just let it steep and settle, then bring the strainer down to just above the liquid and gently pour out most of the liquid. Doing it this way means you don’t have to worry about water temperature, blooming, puck prep, channelling, clogging, or any other of the myriad ways in which a cup of coffee might go awry.
- planckscnst 4y agoMany people like Aeropress for their immersion brews. That's what I use for my "just good" cup of coffee
- CAPSLOCKSSTUCK 4y agoToo much fuss for making a lot of coffee per day . . . I'm happy with my $30 electric grinder and $220 SCAA-certified drip machine.
- akiselev 4y agoThat’s too much fuss too. I’m happy with my $15 hand grinder and a $10 Turkish coffee pot. The hand grinder is both aerodynamic and cheap enough to throw at the kids on my lawn. Liability insurance not included.
- ParetoOptimal 4y agoThat’s too much fuss too. I just chew the beans and drink warm water.
- rcarr 4y agoCheck out mr fancy pants over here with his warm water
- galaxyLogic 4y agoPerfect cup of coffee is in the mind. Sometimes it's perfect, sometimes not
- quickthrower2 4y agoJust watch https://www.youtube.com/@jameshoffmann https://www.youtube.com/@jameshoffmann and you will be overcomplicating your coffee in no time :-)
- bobby_bbb 4y agoRobin Williams said that cocaine was God's way of telling you that you have too damned much money. He should have read this thread first! ;)
- aaronbrethorst 4y agoMy preferred process is water heated to 190ºF, a pourover cone, and medium-fine ground beans (medium-dark roast). I use 35 grams of coffee to about 500ml water. I hate 'bright' coffee with a sour taste, which is what I generally associate with Stumptown. The Aeropress is great, except that I like to have a bigger cup of coffee to start the day. The Aeropress comes with on trips and when I need a pick-me-up mid-afternoon.
- tempodox 4y agoMy portafilter machine, a bean grinder, and some good espresso beans are all it takes for me.
- hanslub42 4y agoAfter buying a decent espresso machine (or whichever method you prefer) and grinder, the thing that will improve your coffee immeasurably is home roasting (like I started to do 15 years ago, and never looked back) It is not difficult (although I occasionally over- or underroast a batch) and great fun. Green beans keep for a long time (at least a year) so it is easy to buy in bulk, which is cheaper. Also, I'm never out of coffee....
- dranudin 4y agoI am interested in that. How do you do it? Do your roast the coffe in a skillet, or do you have special equipment?
- wuiheerfoj 4y agoI dunno about OP, but you can get home roasting machines that look a bit like a submarine that you throw the beans in and leave to roast. They’re not super cheap, but in the order of the price of a good grinder or coffee machine and confer enough cost savings to be worth it longer term.
- hanslub42 4y agoA skillet will work, but results in a very uneven roast (which you may like, but I didn't) I started with a popcorn roaster I bought second-hand for €10. Those work already surprisingly well, but will spread chaff (the thin membrane around the bean) around the house. Then I graduated to a simple roaster (aorund €100) , which basically does the same thing (blowing hot air upwards through the beans) but with a chaff filter, and allows for larger batches. Now I use the Gene Café, which stil uses the same principle (hot air) but has a rotating drum and lets you regulate the temperature. Most roasters have a timer, but I never use it, it is important to stay around and look at (and smell) the beans. The whole process takes at most 20 minutes. Googling for "best home coffee roaster" will tell you all you need to know, and then some.
- gorgoiler 4y agoWith respect to the original investigator in the 2006 linked blog post, isn’t it rather obvious that a way to measure the total-dissolved-solids value, where those solids affect the way light refracts in water, is to use a refractometer? I would guess that different solids cause different amounts of refraction. Most beekeepers have a telescope refractometer that’s calibrated for checking water content in honey. (Wet honey bad, dry honey good.) You’d probably be able to use it for salt content too, for example, but if you brew coffee then put honey and salt in it, one measure of refraction obviously isn’t going to help you pick apart how much of each substance you have. (The original refraction post talks about this — sugar in your coffee will taint your refraction reading’s ability to proxy for TDS because now it’s measuring coffee+sugar. Although you could of course weigh how much sugar you put in the coffee. A handy technique if you have a cheap refractometer calibrated to a specific range into which the additional sugar can place you, and the deviation from which you can use to measure how strong your coffee is.)
- 2-718-281-828 4y agoother people here who love coffee but feel like it's impacting them mentally detrimental in some way and hence decided to either ditch caffeine altogether or switch to a milder source like green tea? my impression is that avoiding caffeine intake of +30mg (rough estimate) helps me stay calmer and more collected. but i miss the buzz ... the mental fireworks.
- rcarr 4y agoI know you mentioned green tea but you might want to look at matcha if you haven't already. Similar caffeine level to coffee but the theanine balances out the caffeine so you don't get as jittery.
- 2-718-281-828 4y agoI'm not sure if I want to increase my caffeine intake further. I'd rather decrease it progressively. But thumbs up for the Theanine. It helps that I really don't enjoy the taste of green tea (while I really enjoy a properly prepared cup of coffee :/)
- EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 4y agoIf I disclose my coffee preparation method, I will get canceled, eternally shamed and downvoted into oblivion. Now guess it.
- shever73 4y agoNot sure I agree with the “pizza cognition theory” being applied to coffee. The coffee I started drinking in the 80s was very firmly first wave stuff. Instant Maxwell House kind of stuff. I now very much enjoy and prefer the fruitiness of third wave coffee. Maybe that’s James Hoffman’s fault.
- aszantu 4y agois there a way to microdose caffeine? I'm kind of hyper-reactive and suffer anxiety and can't focus when I'm in the office, I usually don't drink coffee - having a hard time letting go of milk - but when in the office it's too convenient to just drink latte-macchiato.
- ValentineC 4y ago> I'm kind of hyper-reactive and suffer anxiety and can't focus when I'm in the office, I usually don't drink coffee - having a hard time letting go of milk - but when in the office it's too convenient to just drink latte-macchiato. Pair it with L-Theanine, maybe: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301051107001573 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03010...
- nwiswell 4y ago> is there a way to microdose caffeine? Er... Using a milligram scale, measure a hundred milligrams out, dissolve it into perhaps 100 ml or 500 ml of water (depending on your target dose) and use a pipette or small measuring cup to dispense?
- ravagat 4y agoI'm always amused whenever I see these type of coffee posts. All too similar. If you really want to try something different, I recommend trying out different water filters and using commercial machines. I still use an espresso machine, chemex, and grinder but now have a "daily" setup of commercial beans, Bunn CWT15-3, and Mocamaster that's served me faithfully for almost a decade now.
- SergeAx 4y agoIsn't it interesting that caffeine is the only drug fully approved and even encouraged by the society today?
- 2b3a51 4y agoA Turkish cafe near here served coffee in the traditional manner: little copper jug with handle, hot water and a pile of coffee grounds at the bottom. You got a separate glass of hot water and a Turkish delight cube on a small saucer. Basically served like alcohol. Brought home the drug-nature of the drink. Disclosure: I'm a moka pot and cafetière type. Bought ground coffee of various makes.
- aktuel 4y agoThe perfect coffee is the one I make myself.
- javaunsafe2019 4y agoMy advice for always good coffee after years inside the rabbit hole: use a French Press.
- sfpotter 4y agoI spent $700 on a decent semi-automatic espresso machine and burr grinder, learned how to make espresso correctly, and spend $15-20/12oz bag of beans. This translates to well below $1/16g of espresso. Cost of milk if my wife or I want it is negligible per drink. Considering that espresso drinks are at $4-5 for decent quality, this invest repaid itself very rapidly since we make 2-4 drinks per day between the two of us. At this point, my routine is pretty much dialed in (pardon the pun), and is quite uncomplicated. Everything is on autopilot. I’m not operating at a very high level. A small amount of effort initially was all it took to get very good results. If I ever feel the need to get deeper into this hobby, the option is always there, and it will probably be there. As a hobby it’s a nice one, because there are lots of little ways to tinker. I could get a bottomless porta filter and play with that. If I really wanted to be spendy, I could get a manual espresso maker. I haven’t worked as a barista before. I think maybe working as a barista causes you to have an unhealthy and sort of extreme relationship with coffee. If you are deciding whether to get deeper into coffee or not, as a non-barista, I can say that has been a lot of fun and a good way to save money.
- r00fus 4y agoI used to have a super-automatic but the deep cleaning was non-trivial and tedious. Even at once/month it was not worth it in comparison to my chemex pour-over or Indian filter coffee (for an even faster brew).
- sfpotter 4y agoI have a semi-automatic and the cleaning is a breeze.
- panda888888 4y agoBut were you actually purchasing 2-4 drinks per person per day before getting this setup? If not, this doesn't pay for itself as quickly as you'd think.
- sfpotter 4y agoEdit: misread your post. We were buying 2-4 per day between the two of us. The rate at which it paid itself off was quite reasonable. Considering that this purchase was not a major outlay for us, we didn’t bother working the numbers. But since we bought it three years ago, I can safely say it has paid itself off several times over at this point.
- gtech1 4y agoWe have a Delonghi Eletta which automates everything, but the real secret are the high quality beans. I discovered Cafe Richard , Florio mix, it's fantastic. Amazing cup after cup of excellent coffee
- StevePerkins 4y agoThe entirety of this thread is people talking about their espresso machines and grinders, or else contrarians talking about their instant coffee. Am I really the only one speaking up here who simply enjoys "Mr. Coffee"-style drip coffee from a paper filter? This used to be so ubiquitous. Today, when I go to the local grocery store there is more space dedicated to plastic K-cup nonsense than to regular normal ground coffee. Not only is it easier, it's just better. I feel like the Simpsons principal in the "the kids are wrong" meme, I just don't understand normal drip coffee falling out of style.
- rsync 4y agoI agree with you. A cheap drip coffee machine (sometimes an actual Mr. Coffee) is what I typically find at airbnb or vacation rentals, etc., and it makes me perfectly happy. At home, I have what should be considered "the cadillac" of these type of makers - the Technivorm Moccamaster - and I feel squarely on the correct side of diminishing marginal returns (especially given the relatively low price).
- urbandw311er 4y agoAbsolutely agree — I once went on a tour of a coffee roastery. The guy who ran it was a total coffee nerd; knew 1000 different varieties of beans, taste profiles, etc. When I asked him what he uses personally to make the best cup of coffee he answered without hesitation that his preference is a basic drip filter machine every time.
- 2devnull 4y agoI take slight issue with a few things here: 1) grind settings will change for different coffees, roasts and ages (time since roast), 2) liking strong coffee and light roasts is a contradiction, the author likes dark coffee and that’s ok, 3) the 3 “waves” are not really so distinct as suggested - light roasts are not new and dark roasts are not old, and blends are favored over single origin by large coffee producers because they can be more consistent than single origin.
- screye 4y agoI have begun appreciating not having an espresso setup at home. Cortado is my drink of choice, and it is mighty-hard to make it for cheap at home. Aero press is a good backup for lazy days. But, there is something about the ritual out going to a streetside cafe in the morning. It pushes you to step out if you work exclusively from home; gets you that essential morning sun and serves as a social third-place for those lonely days. It also serves as a great lubricant to do secondary chores on your way back. It costs money ofc, but as far as activities that facilitate those specific things, a semi-regular cafe visit is a fairly cheap 'indulgence' to have. I feel bad for Americans who live in neighborhoods where everything is a drive away, and chain cafes like Starbucks are the only type of establishment that can survive. As much as I crib about Seattle, it pulls off prison-cell-sized espresso-cafe-on-the-corner pretty well.
- creamyhorror 4y agoVery well stated. Having a reason to get out to a cafe is nice. Cafe staff over here aren't so social - they mostly don't seem to want to chat - but the few who do are great to talk with. Now if only the cafes near me offered better coffee... Home coffee is a little time-consuming without an automatic machine. I do pourover when I work from home and it takes at least 20 minutes (Aeropress or Clever would be faster, it's true). It's a nice ritual, but I can definitely understand why people want something that doesn't take much attention to make.