11 ms·

Things Worth Knowing About Coffee

120 points by pegobry 17y ago

sleepingbot 17y ago
Jared Diamond explains in "Guns, Germs & Steel" that coffee beans were first domesticated in what's currently Ethiopia, yes, and from there it spreaded through Eurasia via de Fertile Crescent. Does that fact have anything to do with the battle between Starbucks and Ethiopian local coffee producers around the right of using the names of the different local coffee beans?
- pegobry 17y ago
  Not that I can tell. The Economist had a very good article on this dispute a while back, don't know if it's been paywalled yet.
stcredzero 17y ago
The most important thing I know about coffee: most of what you buy in stores is stale. Even vacuum-sealed roasted whole beans are a compromise, expiration date notwithstanding. Buy roasted whole beans at a place that roasts every week, and posts the roast date on the bin. Never mind stuff being from Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Kona, &c. It's most important to get the degree of roast you like, as recently as possible. I go to the Allegro Roasters counter at Whole Foods each week and buy a medium roast from that day, or the day before. I have a cheap grinder at home, and I just use cheap #2 cone filters in a cheap single-cup cone brewer. I emphasize that those last 3 items are cheap. You don't need a fancy-schmancy grinder. You get a huge bang for the buck just by using beans roasted in the past 2 weeks. The other thing: make sure your water is the right temperature. (190 to 195 degrees seems to work for me.) Just borrow a candy thermometer, always use the same amount of water, the same pot, and figure out how long to wait to let the water cool to the right temp. I have wowed friends with my coffee. Not rocket science. It's just brewed at the right temp, and it's fresh! Cheap cone brewer: http://amzn.com/B001S353EQ http://amzn.com/B001S353EQ Cone filters (hate the eco-guilt marketing, though): http://amzn.com/B000U5ACLW http://amzn.com/B000U5ACLW My cheap grinder. Has nice design features. Still a mediocre grinder. Doesn't matter so much. http://amzn.com/B00006IUX5 http://amzn.com/B00006IUX5 Aeropress for cheap DIY "Espresso" http://amzn.com/B000GXZ2GS http://amzn.com/B000GXZ2GS (Don't have one, but people seem to like it.) EDIT: I grind for 20-25 seconds with my blade grinder. Again, this works for me. YMMV.
- chaosmachine 17y ago
  "hate the eco-guilt marketing, though" Wow, you weren't kidding. The brand name is "If You Care"..
  - stcredzero 17y ago
    Makes me suspect the people who run that company are actually SUV-driving smartass cynics. I just buy whatever filters are in the store.
  - xinsight 17y ago
    I buy disposable filters because I care? Wouldn't one of those micro-mesh cones that you can use forever be more eco?
- mseebach 17y ago
  100% agree on freshly roasted bean. I see people put week-old store-brand coffee beans in a $500 Kitchen Aid grinder and serve a cup of absolutely vile tasting coffee. Some people simply don't deserve nice things. However, a Burr grinder is good investment, especially if you need the finer grinds. The cheapest one you can find will do fine, however. The blade-grinder will beat randomly around all your beans for the entire grind-time. This will kick the crap out of the aromatic oils, and you lose some flavour. The Burr grinder "crunches" each bean once and never touches it again, leaving the oils alone.
  - stcredzero 17y ago
    I'll have to borrow a burr grinder from a friend sometime and give it a try.
  - tel 17y ago
    This is exactly where I am on the coffee spectrum. Cheap everything, fresh beans, plus a $40 investment on ebay to nab a burr grinder.
    - pasbesoin 17y ago
tel 17y ago
The roasting section actually has a few hidden gems. The first "pop" (called the first crack in roasting lingo) occurs slightly after the green bean begins to brown from carmelization and the moisture trapped inside rapidly expands via evaporation cracking the bean. After the first crack is known as a City Roast and is lighter, more woody and fruity tasting than the darker roasts. The second crack occurs shortly after the first one at the end of the City Roast range as the cellulose matrices that form the coffee bean themselves begin to break down from the heat damage. At exactly the start of the second crack the beans are called Vienna roasted and begin to have darker, richer flavors. These coffees are where you hear about honey and chocolate flavors. As you keep going the beans will continue to crack as they begin to literally degrade to ash. Further carbonization begins to take over the flavor alongside the aromatic oils which seep out of the now lipid-hostile inner bean environment. These form the oily-looking French roasts which are known for strong flavors, intense bodies, and bitterness. If you do start to buy fresh coffee, play with the roasts. A single bean from a single place in the world has a wide spectrum of flavors depending on how long it's been roasted. Notes: http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.php http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.php
- lssndrdn 17y ago
  Really nice explaination! Now I'm trying to resist shopping for a home coffee roaster, right this second...
  - khafra 17y ago
    If you do shop, bear in mind that you can get great results inexpensively with a modified popcorn maker; there's DIY guides and instructables all over the place for all different brands.
- hanskuder 17y ago
  Awesome, thanks. I never knew the different roasts had an explanation behind them.
- sandGorgon 17y ago
  wow...thanks!
michael_h 17y ago
Another fun fact: a shot of espresso generally has slightly less caffeine than a regular cup of coffee. Not sure why, but I'd always assumed a shot of espresso was like a concentrated giant cup of regular roast. However, a regular sized cup of espresso is a different story...
- joeycfan 17y ago
  I read that that is because the longer the roast the more caffeine gets destroyed. So stronger coffees are actually less buzzy.
- rdtsc 17y ago
  I could be just a matter of volume. The volume ratio is greater than the concentration ratio. You can say the same thing about espresso vs. soda -- drinking a shot of espresso will probably result in less caffeine than downing a large soda bottle. For example 1oz a espresso would have about 70mg of caffeine, which is less than 20oz of Diet Coke (80mg of caffeine).
jcapote 17y ago
Does anyone know of a brand of coffee thats 100% robusta?
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- jrockway 17y ago
  The cheap grocery store brands.
imok20 17y ago
I've had some of the best homemade coffee by using (1) fresh beans (2) a French press. My secret to a good roast is http://www.stumptowncoffee.com/ http://www.stumptowncoffee.com/ - you can't go wrong with a good roast there. Not only that, but you can order the specific coarseness you'd like the coffee ground at, and they roast it and grind it after you order and send it to you with priority mail. It's nearly as fresh as it gets, anywhere in the US.
dylanz 17y ago
I have a friend who meticulously puts a small pinch of salt in her coffee before brewing. She says the salt slightly cuts down the acidity, and the flavor comes out a bit more. I'm not sure of the science behind it, but, she makes a damn good cup of coffee.
chrischen 17y ago
You guys should also know there's a coffee called Kopi Luwak, where the beans are ingested, shit out, and then people make coffee out of that.
- actionjackson 17y ago
  The way you put it almost makes me think that people are brewing their own poop instead of a civet's poop.
gcheong 17y ago
"Coffee was originally eaten". When I worked in the Alaskan fish canneries during summer break from college, one of the things we used to do to help stay awake and alert during peak times was eat chocolate covered coffee beans.

120 points by pegobry 17y ago

Jared Diamond explains in "Guns, Germs & Steel" that coffee beans were first domesticated in what's currently Ethiopia, yes, and from there it spreaded through Eurasia via de Fertile Crescent. Does that fact have anything to do with the battle between Starbucks and Ethiopian local coffee producers around the right of using the names of the different local coffee beans?

pegobry 17y ago
Not that I can tell. The Economist had a very good article on this dispute a while back, don't know if it's been paywalled yet.

stcredzero 17y ago

The most important thing I know about coffee: most of what you buy in stores is stale. Even vacuum-sealed roasted whole beans are a compromise, expiration date notwithstanding. Buy roasted whole beans at a place that roasts every week, and posts the roast date on the bin. Never mind stuff being from Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Kona, &c. It's most important to get the degree of roast you like, as recently as possible. I go to the Allegro Roasters counter at Whole Foods each week and buy a medium roast from that day, or the day before. I have a cheap grinder at home, and I just use cheap #2 cone filters in a cheap single-cup cone brewer. I emphasize that those last 3 items are cheap. You don't need a fancy-schmancy grinder. You get a huge bang for the buck just by using beans roasted in the past 2 weeks. The other thing: make sure your water is the right temperature. (190 to 195 degrees seems to work for me.) Just borrow a candy thermometer, always use the same amount of water, the same pot, and figure out how long to wait to let the water cool to the right temp. I have wowed friends with my coffee. Not rocket science. It's just brewed at the right temp, and it's fresh! Cheap cone brewer: http://amzn.com/B001S353EQ http://amzn.com/B001S353EQ Cone filters (hate the eco-guilt marketing, though): http://amzn.com/B000U5ACLW http://amzn.com/B000U5ACLW My cheap grinder. Has nice design features. Still a mediocre grinder. Doesn't matter so much. http://amzn.com/B00006IUX5 http://amzn.com/B00006IUX5 Aeropress for cheap DIY "Espresso" http://amzn.com/B000GXZ2GS http://amzn.com/B000GXZ2GS (Don't have one, but people seem to like it.) EDIT: I grind for 20-25 seconds with my blade grinder. Again, this works for me. YMMV.

chaosmachine 17y ago
"hate the eco-guilt marketing, though" Wow, you weren't kidding. The brand name is "If You Care"..
- stcredzero 17y ago
  Makes me suspect the people who run that company are actually SUV-driving smartass cynics. I just buy whatever filters are in the store.
- xinsight 17y ago
  I buy disposable filters because I care? Wouldn't one of those micro-mesh cones that you can use forever be more eco?
mseebach 17y ago
100% agree on freshly roasted bean. I see people put week-old store-brand coffee beans in a $500 Kitchen Aid grinder and serve a cup of absolutely vile tasting coffee. Some people simply don't deserve nice things. However, a Burr grinder is good investment, especially if you need the finer grinds. The cheapest one you can find will do fine, however. The blade-grinder will beat randomly around all your beans for the entire grind-time. This will kick the crap out of the aromatic oils, and you lose some flavour. The Burr grinder "crunches" each bean once and never touches it again, leaving the oils alone.
- stcredzero 17y ago
  I'll have to borrow a burr grinder from a friend sometime and give it a try.
- tel 17y ago
  This is exactly where I am on the coffee spectrum. Cheap everything, fresh beans, plus a $40 investment on ebay to nab a burr grinder.
  - pasbesoin 17y ago

tel 17y ago

The roasting section actually has a few hidden gems. The first "pop" (called the first crack in roasting lingo) occurs slightly after the green bean begins to brown from carmelization and the moisture trapped inside rapidly expands via evaporation cracking the bean. After the first crack is known as a City Roast and is lighter, more woody and fruity tasting than the darker roasts. The second crack occurs shortly after the first one at the end of the City Roast range as the cellulose matrices that form the coffee bean themselves begin to break down from the heat damage. At exactly the start of the second crack the beans are called Vienna roasted and begin to have darker, richer flavors. These coffees are where you hear about honey and chocolate flavors. As you keep going the beans will continue to crack as they begin to literally degrade to ash. Further carbonization begins to take over the flavor alongside the aromatic oils which seep out of the now lipid-hostile inner bean environment. These form the oily-looking French roasts which are known for strong flavors, intense bodies, and bitterness. If you do start to buy fresh coffee, play with the roasts. A single bean from a single place in the world has a wide spectrum of flavors depending on how long it's been roasted. Notes: http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.php http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.php

lssndrdn 17y ago
Really nice explaination! Now I'm trying to resist shopping for a home coffee roaster, right this second...
- khafra 17y ago
  If you do shop, bear in mind that you can get great results inexpensively with a modified popcorn maker; there's DIY guides and instructables all over the place for all different brands.
hanskuder 17y ago
Awesome, thanks. I never knew the different roasts had an explanation behind them.
sandGorgon 17y ago
wow...thanks!

michael_h 17y ago

Another fun fact: a shot of espresso generally has slightly less caffeine than a regular cup of coffee. Not sure why, but I'd always assumed a shot of espresso was like a concentrated giant cup of regular roast. However, a regular sized cup of espresso is a different story...

joeycfan 17y ago
I read that that is because the longer the roast the more caffeine gets destroyed. So stronger coffees are actually less buzzy.
rdtsc 17y ago
I could be just a matter of volume. The volume ratio is greater than the concentration ratio. You can say the same thing about espresso vs. soda -- drinking a shot of espresso will probably result in less caffeine than downing a large soda bottle. For example 1oz a espresso would have about 70mg of caffeine, which is less than 20oz of Diet Coke (80mg of caffeine).

jcapote 17y ago

Does anyone know of a brand of coffee thats 100% robusta?

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
jrockway 17y ago
The cheap grocery store brands.

imok20 17y ago

I've had some of the best homemade coffee by using (1) fresh beans (2) a French press. My secret to a good roast is http://www.stumptowncoffee.com/ http://www.stumptowncoffee.com/ - you can't go wrong with a good roast there. Not only that, but you can order the specific coarseness you'd like the coffee ground at, and they roast it and grind it after you order and send it to you with priority mail. It's nearly as fresh as it gets, anywhere in the US.

dylanz 17y ago

I have a friend who meticulously puts a small pinch of salt in her coffee before brewing. She says the salt slightly cuts down the acidity, and the flavor comes out a bit more. I'm not sure of the science behind it, but, she makes a damn good cup of coffee.

chrischen 17y ago

You guys should also know there's a coffee called Kopi Luwak, where the beans are ingested, shit out, and then people make coffee out of that.

actionjackson 17y ago
The way you put it almost makes me think that people are brewing their own poop instead of a civet's poop.

gcheong 17y ago

"Coffee was originally eaten". When I worked in the Alaskan fish canneries during summer break from college, one of the things we used to do to help stay awake and alert during peak times was eat chocolate covered coffee beans.