The Coffee Thread

Yea I am not an avid drinker, I really don't know what makes a coffee good or not as I put so much creamer in it that is all I taste but I do know what makes a bad coffee. I do know I prefer medium to light roasts over dark roast. We have a dark roast at work that I tried and it is awful. Well, both the medium and the dark that we have here are awful. Both are Costco Kirkland brand, dark is a Columbian and medium is a Kirkland Starbucks brew. Both are shit so I can tell you do not get that one lol.

I probably wouldn’t have gone that way regardless. My wife did get a bag of Starbucks Holiday roast as a gift and I can say it was pretty good actually. Pleasantly surprised.

I probably wouldn’t have gone that way regardless...

I didn't think you would lol. Nor anyone else in this thread. I was just making a joke of it.

Truth. The Bones coffee reco'd in this thread took too long to arrive and was trash, I didn't comment publicly....But how about you private message direct questions if you don't want public opinion?

 

Don't whine at me...as usual.

I ordered the Bones Coffee because of this thread. I ordered it on Dec 23 and it arrived the day after Christmas. I got two sampler packs to try different flavors. So far I love it. The mint chocolate chip was one of my favorite coffees I've ever tried and the French Vanilla was very good too. I have 8 flavors left to try. The dark roast was good as well.

And anyway I got the Moccomaster Coffee machine I was talking about for Christmas and I also got a Breville Smart Grinder Pro to go with it because there is no point in using the best coffee machine without grinding your own beans. It was a $200 grinder and is very high tech, however it didn't work very well with the Moccamaster. The Moccamaster needs a bit of a coarser grind than normal and though the Grinder had 60 settings and could grind very course it seemed to be producing too many fine grinds along with the coarse ones and they were falling to the bottom of the filter and slowing down the whole process and a brew cycle that was meant to take four and a half minutes was taking almost seven, thus leaving me with over extracted and bitter coffee.

It drove me nuts for a week and I wasted a lot of good beans trying to make adjustments to the stupid grinder settings only to get the same results. Finally I sent it back to amazon and bought the Baratza Virtuoso Plus instead. It was $50 more but well worth it. After getting it all calibrated it produces very consistent coarse grinds that have the brew cycles running perfectly and making some incredible coffee.

I'm a bit new to this stuff and there was a lot I didn't know about what makes coffee good or bad or have certain tastes. I had a Ninja coffee maker before this, I put the coffee in, pushed the button and hoped for the best. Often mixed results. Never knew why coffee at home couldn't be as good as coffee from coffee shops. Maybe some people here already know this stuff but since it's the coffee thread maybe it's worth explaining some of what I've learned in case anyone is curious or didn't know.

First the water temp is most important to get what you want out of your grinds. Most home brewers simply can't get hot enough, quickly enough and maintain the constant temperature for the whole brew cycle. That's why the Moccamaster costs what it does. Again, hand assembled in the Netherlands with copper heating elements and the highest quality parts. It's really the only home brewer that can do it.

Fresh ground beans are key because they still have all of the oils and whatnot that don't last in grounds that sit. It makes a huge difference. I had never ground before. And then there is the extraction process, or how long the water is in contact with the coffee. Finer grinds take longer for the water to flow through and coarser lets water through more quickly. There is a sweet spot based on water to coffee ratio to get the perfect cup with the perfect intended taste and flavor that your beans possess. Too coarse and the water goes too quickly leaving your coffee with that sour and watery taste. Too fine and it sits in the grinds too long giving it that bitter unpleasant bite.

With what I've been working with now, I was shooting for 41.25 grams of coffee beans ground up (and yes I also got a scale to weigh the beans) to 6 liters of water, which should complete brewing in 4:30 with this machine. After getting the new grinder and finding the correct grind setting it works perfectly and it produces a cup of coffee that tastes like it came straight from a high end coffee shop.

So to sum up it's a lot of money, a little bit of work, and a lot of getting used to but once you have it figured out it's worth it to get a great cup from you kitchen.

I ordered the Bones Coffee because of this thread. I ordered it on Dec 23 and it arrived the day after Christmas. I got two sampler packs to try different flavors. So far I love it. The mint chocolate chip was one of my favorite coffees I've ever tried and the French Vanilla was very good too. I have 8 flavors left to try. The dark roast was good as well.

Maybe because it was a sampler? I read on the site that they don't roast your beans until they receive your order, but I'd imagine the samplers are ready to just ship, plus the holidays. Either way a long time to wait and a lot of money to pay to not be impressed.

We got Salted Caramel, Peppermint Mocha, Raspberry Mocha. It took two full weeks to get it. The beans smelled really good, but there was no flavor at all in the coffee. And I don't use milk or sugar.

At $15 a bag I expected more. I thought $6 or $7 bags in HomeGoods where the flavor was stronger.

Wifey just gave me an early bday present. Ovalware cold Bree coffee maker. Just set it up and will try it out tomorrow morning.

https://www.ovalware.com/collections/cold-brew/products/coldbrew

Wifey just gave me an early bday present. Ovalware cold Bree coffee maker. Just set it up and will try it out tomorrow morning.

 

 

https://www.ovalware.com/collections/cold-brew/products/coldbrew

Having first cup now. Very impressed. As long as u have your own grinder or a way to grind beans very coarse, it comes out very good. Basically u fill the filter part 5/6th the way up with a very coarse grind, fill it with room temp filtered water, put in fridge, 12-18 hours later remove the filter part and left with cold brew that tastes very clean without that watered down taste you get from stores for them just using old coffee and ice lol. I left mine for 15 hours.

If u get one I recommend the larger size because they do have an airtight seal so it says it can last in the fridge 2 weeks so once you brew it, you have a good amount for a few days.

Excited to try diff beans and roasts. Try to hit that exact sweet spot for which roast is best for cold brew.

So got stone street coffee delivered today out of Brooklyn. Saw a lot of good reviews that they roast a great bean for cold brew, so giving it a try tomorrow. Will post up results. Link for reference.

https://www.stonestreetcoffee.com/

Why are ceramic coffee mugs still a thing? They don't keep coffee warm. Why hasn't the world switched exclusively to insulated mugs?

Makes no sense. 

1 hour ago, Pete said:

Why are ceramic coffee mugs still a thing? They don't keep coffee warm. Why hasn't the world switched exclusively to insulated mugs?

 

Makes no sense. 

This is a great question, since my mother in law's only complaint about our coffee is that it's cold. I think we should all adopt sets of Yetis in our homes.

Because it just doesn’t read as well on a Yeti mug compared to a nice white ceramic mug with the saying 

   EEFFOC is Coffee spelled backwards as in 

“I don’t give EEFFOC until I’ve had my coffee” 

Figure I’d revive this in a simplistic way. What are some of your go to pods for k cups? There are all the usuals but has to bomb favorites, no? 

My DeLonghi milk frother attachment stopped working. It’s taken almost three weeks to get a replacement (under warranty) but I honestly don’t think it will fix the issue. The milk ‘draw straw’ no longer sucked up the milk to mix with steam. Customer Service said they’ve experienced problems with it and this should do the fix. I haven’t been home to try it yet but me thinks it’s a ‘vacuum’ pressure problem from the coffee machine side of things. Not surprised they didn’t want to replace that as a first step. We’ll see tomorrow morning when I give it a test.  

Just bit the bullet and purchased a Nespresso Vertuo Plus. Looking forward to brewing ice coffee/espressos with the pod options. Comes with the Aeroccc No3 frother as well. Looks like a ton of pod options to study up on.

1 hour ago, Parsley said:

Just bit the bullet and purchased a Nespresso Vertuo Plus. Looking forward to brewing ice coffee/espressos with the pod options. Comes with the Aeroccc No3 frother as well. Looks like a ton of pod options to study up on.

Let me know what you think.

I'm on the fence about it, just seems much easier than brewing a pot of coffee but the pods seem so expensive and are really bad for the environment, or so I heard last. 

2 hours ago, Pete said:

Let me know what you think.

 

I'm on the fence about it, just seems much easier than brewing a pot of coffee but the pods seem so expensive and are really bad for the environment, or so I heard last. 

Will do. My first thought is it’s cool the machine knows what size setting to brew (bar code on each pod) so basically you pop the pod in and hit start. (Roughly) 1oz, 3oz. 5.5oz, 7.7 ounce brews are the pod options with the Vertuo. 
 

I was sent 3 recycle bags that I can mail via UPS for free (holds up to 4 lbs of empty pods) that nespresso then recycles. Not sure what the cost is if I want bags in the future but I feel with online purchase they may often throw them in for free. 
 

Yesterday I brewed a 3oz espresso pod. Definitely not weak stuff. This morning I did a 7.7oz coffee pod. It was good, the machine produces a nice little “froth” on the brew which sits at the top. I’ll keep ya posted. Will try some ice brews this weekend. Maybe use the froth machine. Does both cold and warm froth. 

I'll add, my wife is not a coffee drinker at all (LAME). She is solely tea. So, I never needed a full size coffee pot. Had one in my 20's but when Keurig came around we got one of them. I got tired of those brews and "upgraded" to a Versimo machine from Starbucks which I liked but they stopped making pods for it in 2020. So, this if my first machine in nearly 2 years. My wife uses the Keurig for hot tea brews which they have a great selection for. Obviously, Nespresso machine does not brew tea pods of any kind. My other go to continues to be La Colombe cans and jugs. Iced brews are my favorite option by far. But I'm glad to have a machine options back in the home.

5 minutes ago, Parsley said:

I'll add, my wife is not a coffee drinker at all (LAME). She is solely tea. So, I never needed a full size coffee pot. Had one in my 20's but when Keurig came around we got one of them. I got tired of those brews and "upgraded" to a Versimo machine from Starbucks which I liked but they stopped making pods for it in 2020. So, this if my first machine in nearly 2 years. My wife uses the Keurig for hot tea brews which they have a great selection for. Obviously, Nespresso machine does not brew tea pods of any kind. My other go to continues to be La Colombe cans and jugs. Iced brews are my favorite option by far. But I'm glad to have a machine options back in the home.

Well if you're ever not using the Nespresso, this is a great cold brew.

https://www.califiafarms.com/products/pure-black-medium-roast-2/

39 minutes ago, Pete said:

Well if you're ever not using the Nespresso, this is a great cold brew.

https://www.califiafarms.com/products/pure-black-medium-roast-2/

 

Sure is! I always grab a jug of what’s on sale when I shop.
 

One of three: 

Califia Farms, La Colombe or STOK. I believe they had a 2 for $7 deal on Califia jugs within the last month out here. Right now I’m finding LaColombe jugs (42oz.) 2 for $8. Meanwhile one cold brew can (9oz) is like $3! I love grab and go cans but much cheaper just filling something from home with the large container. Sometime I can find a 4-pack of cans for $9. 

10 hours ago, Pete said:

Well if you're ever not using the Nespresso, this is a great cold brew.

https://www.califiafarms.com/products/pure-black-medium-roast-2/

 

Good recommendation. I’m going to have to give that a try.

10 hours ago, Parsley said:

I'll add, my wife is not a coffee drinker at all (LAME). She is solely tea. So, I never needed a full size coffee pot. Had one in my 20's but when Keurig came around we got one of them. I got tired of those brews and "upgraded" to a Versimo machine from Starbucks which I liked but they stopped making pods for it in 2020. So, this if my first machine in nearly 2 years. My wife uses the Keurig for hot tea brews which they have a great selection for. Obviously, Nespresso machine does not brew tea pods of any kind. My other go to continues to be La Colombe cans and jugs. Iced brews are my favorite option by far. But I'm glad to have a machine options back in the home.

I have a 1st gen Nespresso. Loved it but my only gripe is that it really never got the coffee/espresso hot enough. I think later generations are fixed. Is yours hot enough? I love the crema it produces. Really softens the bitterness of so,e of their stronger stuff. 

3 hours ago, Keirik said:

Good recommendation. I’m going to have to give that a try.

I have a 1st gen Nespresso. Loved it but my only gripe is that it really never got the coffee/espresso hot enough. I think later generations are fixed. Is yours hot enough? I love the crema it produces. Really softens the bitterness of so,e of their stronger stuff. 

You need a day to get outta the house....just sayin'!

12 hours ago, Keirik said:

Good recommendation. I’m going to have to give that a try.

I have a 1st gen Nespresso. Loved it but my only gripe is that it really never got the coffee/espresso hot enough. I think later generations are fixed. Is yours hot enough? I love the crema it produces. Really softens the bitterness of so,e of their stronger stuff. 

Yeah. Plenty hot. But honestly I don’t like my coffee piping hot so I may not be the best to ask. Lol. 
 

This morning I brewed a 7.7 coffee oz. pod -ICE FORTE- (made for drinking over ice). Taste delicious. Straight over ice/black. Like you said the creama it produces takes the edge off just a bit. No need for milks or sugars. Reminds me of when I buy a NITRO Cold Brew at Starbucks for like $5.50.