Brewing coffee - How do you do it?

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,079
My Army daughter and I were wondering why military coffee is so bad. My cynical nature wonders who has the contract to supply the American military with coffee. Somebody’s cousin?

The histories of coffee and the military are deeply intertwined. There’s a legitimate argument that coffee helped the Union win the Civil War, although it was probably inevitable anyway.
It wasn't always bad. In our case there were several factors. The coffee in the officers and chiefs/senior mess as good because they knew exactly who made it. The crews coffee was made by some random poor slob stuck in the mess decks for months underway that never cleaned anything. The 'Radio Shack' had its own private coffee mess (with premium coffee) locked inside a secure space because we did 12 hour on/off shifts at sea during a 6 month deployment. The Radio Gang would all chip in a $20 to keep it supplied during the cruise.
 

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
When I was at the University the coffee was awful. Mainly because the young students working at the stop and grabs didn’t drink coffee most all of them are Mormon. So, it was either weak or burnt from sitting on the heat pad all day. I’ve been thinking about doing cold brew, I’m told your gut doesn’t get the acids like hot brews. I had one guy tell me he started doing cold brew at first he didn’t think he would like it, but slowly the coffee began to grow on him and both he and his wife have been making their coffee that way for years.

kv
 
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shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
I used to think I only liked dark roasts but over the holidays I had some Starbucks “Holiday Blend” from Costco. It was medium roast but had terrific coffee flavor. So I may be branching out. I like a ton of flavor. Dark roasting is one way to get that but maybe there are others. Kimbo Gold espresso is awesome by the way.
I used to think I only liked dark roasts but over the holidays I had some Starbucks “Holiday Blend” from Costco. It was medium roast but had terrific coffee flavor. So I may be branching out. I like a ton of flavor. Dark roasting is one way to get that but maybe there are others. Kimbo Gold espresso is awesome by the way.
Must have been some good coffee to repeat it twice. :p
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
I'm surprised no one has mentioned a Bunn coffee maker. In this area most restaurants use them and they make home style one too. Had one for years, but since retiring don't drink much coffee, so didn't replace the Bunn when it finally gave up the ghost.
https://retail.bunn.com/
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
Must have been some good coffee to repeat it twice. :p
No idea how that happened! Fixed now.

My other son-in-law also agreed today the French press is his favorite. I’m going to try it in the morning. As I understand it, it’s simply cooking the coffee with boiling water for a few minutes and then filtering. I can do that. Turkish coffee is similar but I think they cook it more - not just add hot water but actually continue heating - and they don’t worry about the sludge. In fact it’s crucial to have the right amounts of both foam and sludge in the glass. It settles out, no biggie.
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
When the mood strikes me I grind the beans of a brew I like and use a siphon coffee maker. I hadn't see any since being a kid and while in Japan I noticed them. Had my brother in law send me one while he was there. Even amusing to watch it work. :) As to beans? Columbian or Costa Rican are good with me in various roast.

Something I only discovered recently, in a thread here, was how much effort goes into roasting beans.

Ron
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
Before percolators were invented it was simply ground beans and boiling water. To "settle the grounds" you threw in an eggshell, not that I think it did a bit of good. I can drink sludge but getting grounds between the teeth is a hassle. Just give it a minute to settle. Same with real tea, don't need no stinkn' yuppie bags. Just good leaves and hot water. Strain for the ladies and sissies. Bags are for when the tea is basically floor sweepings, all broken up and full of dust. What is left over after they sell the good stuff.
 

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,388
Before percolators were invented it was simply ground beans and boiling water. To "settle the grounds" you threw in an eggshell, not that I think it did a bit of good. I can drink sludge but getting grounds between the teeth is a hassle. Just give it a minute to settle. Same with real tea, don't need no stinkn' yuppie bags. Just good leaves and hot water. Strain for the ladies and sissies. Bags are for when the tea is basically floor sweepings, all broken up and full of dust. What is left over after they sell the good stuff.
Hi,

Not sure if you have seen those tea balls that are made up of a ball shaped screen. You put the tea leaves inside the ball and then close it, then dip it into the tea. Works with raw tea leaves so you dont need bags.
 

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,388
When the mood strikes me I grind the beans of a brew I like and use a siphon coffee maker. I hadn't see any since being a kid and while in Japan I noticed them. Had my brother in law send me one while he was there. Even amusing to watch it work. :) As to beans? Columbian or Costa Rican are good with me in various roast.

Something I only discovered recently, in a thread here, was how much effort goes into roasting beans.

Ron
Hi,

Dont think i have seen one of them, i'll have to search on the web.

LATER
Ok found a couple, wow they are strange looking.
Also found a hand crank coffee grinder.
So should i go down to the river to wash my clothes now :)
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
I've had tea balls but I just put the leaves in the pot and let em steep a few minutes and pour. I have bought a lot of china tea and teaware once trade opened up. Prefer it over India/Ceylon. Both black, green and the fermented and green Pu'ehr. Still must have a coffee pot in the morn though. My kids prefer the flavored, not even tea crud. Chinese friend of the parents said "Southerners are a lot like Chinese, they drink a lot of tea, eat a lot of rice and revere their ancestors". Starbucks bought my favorite US tea importer, Specialty Teas and also Genvalia tea (terrible yuppie stuff for people that don't know real tea) that had shops in all the malls. They killed Specialty, got stopped from closing all the Genvalia stores and tried to incorporate tea into the Starbuck Stores. That doesn't seem to be working very well in the US market for them.
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
Mexico produces some of the finest coffee in the world, especially that which originates in the state of Chiapas. The "Coffee culture" down there is so dominant, that it has even become a tourist attraction. with very high quality hotels residing in the middle of historical plantations. One if them is the Hamburg Plantation.

Located 54 km from Tapachula, this farm was founded in 1888 by the German Arthur Edelman, when he was invited by the government of Porfirio Díaz, to undertake this adventure. He has over one hundred years of experience in the cultivation of coffee. Today, the fifth generation of the family is the one that continues to lead the place.
Another interesting article:


And a short video:
 
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cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
But about me... I like my coffee freshly ground from whole beans, and these last few years I noticed that I've become a little to sensitive to caffeine, so I make my own mix of 50/50 normal and decaf beans. I add nothing to my coffee... no sugar, cream or milk. And I never never ever use tap water. I can very easily notice the taste of chlorine whenever a neophyte commits said sacrilege.


748685b7-750f-404f-9d0a-5e31e6ed3170.jpg
 

shortbus

Joined Sep 30, 2009
10,045
Any one here that remembers the old A&P grocery stores? They sold coffee beans roasted but not ground in a bag. They had a grinder next to the shelf with the bags. You opened the bag, poured the beans in the top of the grinder, then put the bag on a spout at the bottom. Then pushed a button to grind the beans back into the empty bag.
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
Any one here that remembers the old A&P grocery stores? They sold coffee beans roasted but not ground in a bag. They had a grinder next to the shelf with the bags. You opened the bag, poured the beans in the top of the grinder, then put the bag on a spout at the bottom. Then pushed a button to grind the beans back into the empty bag.
Most of my local grocery stores still offer this. Unfortunately the pricing is usually not great.
 

bogosort

Joined Sep 24, 2011
696
I live on espresso. My machine is nothing fancy, an old mid-level Breville that I've learned to use well. It's definitely better to use freshly ground coffee, but out of convenience I purchase pre-ground (Cafe Bustelo brand).

Whenever I want coffee, I make a two-shot pull, finished with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Stir and enjoy.
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
Hi,

Dont think i have seen one of them, i'll have to search on the web.

LATER
Ok found a couple, wow they are strange looking.
Also found a hand crank coffee grinder.
So should i go down to the river to wash my clothes now :)
Al, as a kid I am sure you saw them. As the water gets hot and comes to boil the water is pushed up to the upper chamber through a filter. The heat is removed and the water returns to the lower chamber but is now coffee. The grinds were in the upper chamber. Growing up NYC (Brooklyn) and Long Island that's how every diner made coffee. Remember going to a soda fountain and asking for a Coke? A few squirts of Coke Syrup in a glass and then soda water. A quick stir and served. :)

Ron
 

SamR

Joined Mar 19, 2019
5,031
A Percolator! What most everyone used before Mr. Coffee came around, which is also a percolator without the recirculation even though they call it "Drip".
 

Thread Starter

atferrari

Joined Jan 6, 2004
4,764
Permanently at home in quarantine, my two daily espressos at the cafeteria are now two additional coffees at home. With time enough , I started to appreciate their incredible good taste. Next step is to buy the whole grain and ground it prior brewing. The intense fragrance you perceive after being grounded at the coffee shop, does not keep too long, no matter how tight you keep the coffee in the special bag they give to you, and flavor suffers.

Somewhere above, wayneh IIRC, alluded to the espresso in Italy. In my life, the best I got (many in fact) was during our stay, discharging bulk cargo in Torre Anunziatta, quite close to Pompei, at the small bar inside the train station, few blocks away from the silo's pier.

The man at the counter explained the mix: variety from Central America (Nicaragua?) plus another from a former Italian colony - maybe Ethiopia and the third which I forgot. Since I always asked it "ristretto", taste was intense and I concluded that it was the only coffee I could sweeten with sugar even in excess while maintaining a strong (good) flavor. Not bad.

My second best choice of ristretto: given the completely different type of coffee they produce, my surprise was when asking one at a McCafé in Sao Paulo - Brazil.

You see, quarantine gives way to serious introspection sometimes.

Back to LEDs as light sensors.
 
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