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What is Your Favorite Way to Make Coffee?
markov_chain asks: "For a while I've been making coffee using home-ground whole beans and a standard drip maker. I settled on this method for its simplicity and good taste, even after trying numerous other methods (such as the French press, gravity percolators, and pressure percolators), each coupled with either pre-ground or whole beans. So far, the fresh ground beans are the only factor that made a significant difference in taste. However, when I recently spotted a a site that vaguely extols freshness, I began to wonder how much the freshness of the beans themselves affects the quality. Normally I thought the whole beans would retain the quality far longer, due to less surface area exposed to air, but clearly there still must be a decline; worse yet, it is difficult to gauge that decline since the sellers usually do not advertise the age of the beans. I would now like to pose a few questions. What is your preferred coffee-making method, and how does it compare to other methods you've tried? What are your favorite beans?"
I can affirm that the pump-powered espresso machine is the best way to brew coffee ever(However, it's expensive.). If you're still a drip coffee fan, go for the french press. All of the essential oils and flavors stay intact, unlike filter-brewed coffee.
If you can find someone to supply you with green beans, your can roast your own in a hot air popcorn maker. The beans float once roasted and you can control how dark a roast you want.
You'll also want a very fine grind to get the maximum flavor out of your beans.
Indeed, I love french press coffee, but the whole cafestol situation is pretty sad. They've done the experiments, given french press coffee to one group, and drip coffee to another, and after 6 months the french press drinkers had about 10% more LDL cholesterol. Here's the study, and a non-technical blurb. There's also a lengthy review I haven't gotten around to reading yet.
I don't know what to do. Going back to drip coffee would make me awfully sad, but better to be sad than prematurely dead.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Okay, I had a girlfriend in college who worked at New Haven, Connecticut's snootiest coffee roaster. She and they gave me a fairly complete education in coffee. Here's the scoop.
Coffee beans lose 90% of their varietal aromatics within 3 days of roasting if unground, and within four hours if ground. Coffee quality is at least as much a function of the care taken in combing over the beans for clinkers as it is in the quality of the beans. A single clinker, that is, an immature bean, can ruin an entire pot of coffee, imparting a bitter, burnt flavor. They will look lighter in color, may be smaller, and will be lighter in weight than other beens, and you can remove them yourself. Obviously, if you are buying a blend with lighter and darker beans, they will be harder to find than a single varietal.
Method of brewing is important, with the major factors being the temperature of the water and the length of time the water is in contact with the grounds. Water temperature should be between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, and ideally should not stay in contact with grounds for more than six minutes. After that amount of time, the grounds start to release more bitter compounds.
As for the taste of beans, you will find there are three distinct coffee producing regions. Central and South American beans have low acidity, medium to high body (that is, the feel of the coffee in you mouth. If it feels thick, that is high body. If it feels watery, that is low body.) and tends towards spicy flavor notes. Eastern African coffees tend to have high acidity, low body, and winy flavor notes. Southeastern Asian coffees tend to have medium to low acidity, medium body, and earthy or nutty flavor ntoes. Of course, I am talking about Arabica beans from these regions, not Robusta, which all tend to taste like hay.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Pick up a coffee roaster, and some unroasted beams. You can even use a air popcorn popper if you would like. Coffee ground and brewed within 4 hours of its roast has the best flavor. How you brew your coffee will change specific flavor aspects along with the grind of the coffee, preference is really up to you. My favorite method is Turkish, however when time needs to be considered a manual cone filter produces adequate results.
I like your style, but I am a bit more cautious.
I use a Chemex coffeemaker, which is every chemistry geek's dream. It is a very simple all-glass vessel that accommodates a lab-grade folded square filter. You pour hot water through the grounds and end up with a very nice cup o' joe. It looks elegantly labware-like.
I like it because the water never touches metal or plastic, which impart a flavor. I like it because the lab-grade filters make for a very mild flavor even with lumberjack-strength brew. People marvel at how good my coffee tastes "for how strong it is."
I suppose if you want to be truly geeked-out you could use a vacuum pump and extraction funnel. I've done that myself to show off, but it is a lot of work to do before I've had me coffee!
Man, you really need that seminar!
My setup:
In detail:
Grind the beans, boil the water then wait a few minutes for it to cool a few degrees, pour and enjoy fresh.
Green beans are less than half the price of roasted beans. Green beans are available at several websites, just search on 'green coffee beans'.
Stovetop roasting is interesting, but it is difficult to produce an even roast. Using a hot air roaster, even an old hot air popcorn popper, will make a real difference in the final product.
OK, this is the half-italian style, like my heritage. Get a Mokka pot, also known as a stovetop espresso pot (it isn't really espresso, more pressure percolated). The Italians in the know use the aluminum ones, the taste is better, the steel ones cost more. I use steel because I'm aluminum-shy. A 4-cup model does me two cups. Buy vacuum packed whole beans, one pound bags. Make sure they're fair-trade and shade grown, so you cup doesn't have the bitter flavour of exploitation or deforestation (hey, those birds migrate through my forest in the summer). A medium roast has more complexity, but a dark roast has that espresso flavour kick. Not too dark--or you'll get that Starbucks charred flavour with hints of unlovely burlap. Fill the pot to the level of the safety valve, no more. Grind the beans fine but not to dust. Use them immediately. Don't pack a Moka pot down firmly the way you would an espresso maker. The trick with a Moka pot is to never ever let it boil dry, take it off when it starts making the spitting sound. Best to use a medium-high setting on the stove, not maximum. When you're done, rinse the pot out right away, don't let it sit, and don't use soap. The slight residue from the oils sticks to aluminum better, thus the flavour improvement. If you're going for a cappucino or latte, you can heat milk in a small pot and use a small battery powered whisk to get a foam that's even better than steamed milk. That's it, ciao!
Damn those pesky terrorists
Agreed fresh ground is best but how you store the beans makes a difference. I always used to use a sealed air tight container and a cool dry place for storage. I recently adpated to a different storage system. Co2 pressurized.
I have discovered that buying good high grade single crop coffee beans is far cheaper in bulk, it also ensure freshness from the roaster. Problem, I cant drink 25 pounds of beans in time.
I came across a solution that works very well. I use cleaned and sanatized 3 liter pop bottles. I fill them with beans and then by using a modified cap I seal them up and charge them with Co2. Getting the air out is not important.Gassing them with co2 from a tube can do that but keeping them under pressure with a high concentration of Co2 is important. I then store them in the basement wher e they are in the dark and in a cool place (66 degrees F.)
They amazingly stay incredibly fresh. Way fresher after 6 months than a new bag of starbucks beans at a grocery store (starbucks beans suck to begin with but that's a roasting problem).
It really works! you can easily make a cap or a modified neck of the 3 liter bottle to have a co2 inlet valve. I get my high grade coffee at way lower prices than you can in the stores or "shops", It's far fresher as they ship directly from the roaster company. and I found a way to store for long duration.
the "vacuum" packed crap is a gimmick you do not want a vaccuum you want pressure and co2 to fight the loss of the co2 in the beans.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
The Co2 part is correct, but I don't know about the need to pressurize them. My brother (who has a coffee roasting company) says the biggest enemy to coffee flavor is oxygen. He uses special coffee bags that have a one-way valve in them. Coffee, right after being roasted, continuously gives off Co2 for a while and the one-way values allows the oxygen in the bag to be displaced by the Co2, which leads to a very long storage life for the coffee as long as the bag is not opened.