coffee anyone?

[wayoutwest]

Have you guys seen this app from Intelligentsia? Great looking app to make a great cup of coffee.

http://www.dearcoffe...sia-iphone-app/

What are your guys' favorite methods of brewing? I've been a french press man for a long time, but I'm thinking about getting in on cold brewing toddy for this summer.

a cold brew system can be indispensable for the summer. Last summer I just used a big pot and soaked the grounds in the pot for 18-24 hours, then filtered them withe a sieve and a few #2 filters. I am considering getting a legitimate toddy system to make the whole thing better. Ice coffee and coffee milkshakes all summer long.

[ajchen]

Have you guys seen this app from Intelligentsia? Great looking app to make a great cup of coffee.

http://www.dearcoffe...sia-iphone-app/

What are your guys' favorite methods of brewing? I've been a french press man for a long time, but I'm thinking about getting in on cold brewing toddy for this summer.

this app is super useful for its timer feature, i use it pretty much every day when i'm making a carafe of chemex at the office. at home i am only making one cup at a time so i usually use an aeropress.

[dhopz]

i use the app as well for the timer. especially handy if you change up brewing methods often

Q - just bought an espresso machine and wondering if anyone has bean/blend suggestions

Edited March 5, 2012 by dhopz

[mapz]

this app is super useful for its timer feature, i use it pretty much every day when i'm making a carafe of chemex at the office. at home i am only making one cup at a time so i usually use an aeropress.

interesting aj, i'm about to pick up an aeropress and was going to do the exact opposite in regards to locale. just curious, what's your method with the aeropress?

and dhopz, what espresso machine did you pick up?

Edited March 7, 2012 by mapz

[ajchen]

interesting aj, i'm about to pick up an aeropress and was going to do the exact opposite in regards to locale. just curious, what's your method with the aeropress?

and dhopz, what espresso machine did you pick up?

for me, i flip the aeropress upside down and put the grinds in there. i put in enough water to cover the grinds and let it bloom for 10-15 seconds, then fill the hot water to the top and attach the black piece that holds the paper filter, and give the water + grinds a few stirs to agitate. after 2 minutes i flip it over and put it over the cup and press it out. this wasn't what the instructions say but my friend taught me how to do it... i like that the coffee steeps like french press but then yields a cleaner cup due to the paper filter.

[Sugar Mountain]

worth paying a visit to http://brewmethods.com/ - I found several inverted aeropress techniques that we were useful.

i use a grind finer than what I would use for french press but courser that for v60 (two clicks up from french press on my hario slim), 16g of coffee, 200ml of water, pour over the grounds slowly while starting a 2min timer and then when the timer has finished, gently scrape the crust off the top of the water, stir two or three times and then flip (with the lid on!) and press. I then top up with an extra 50ml of water. with a finer grind and shorter brew time, my results were too bitter and didn't bring out the best of the coffee's flavour. this technique works well for me.

[super]

Here's how I brew my Aeropress, inverted style:

1. Measure 15 grams of coffee

2. Add water to kettle and wait until near boil

3. When water is almost boiling, start grind then add grounds to inverted Aeropress

4. Let boiled water rest for ~30 seconds

5. Put Aeropress on kitchen scale, tare to 0

4. Quickly pour 100 grams of water, give it some quick stirs

5. Wait 10 seconds, then add 100 more grams of water

6. Let sit for 10 more seconds, then quickly screw cap on and invert onto cup

7. Give the Aeropress a quick clock-wise shake then slowly press down for ~30 seconds total.

I figure the Aeropress' full-immersion factor allows for quicker extraction time so there's no need to let it steep for over a minute. I also like my final cup of coffee to be about 60% coffee and 40% hot water for the best taste.

[poly800rock]

Just got back from Lombok Indonesia and the local coffee there is great. its like Turkish thick as mud and very strong. Anyone else tried any other South East Asian coffees ?

I've had my fair share of vietnamese coffee. It's good, not excellent. It's like what you describe though, thick and strong. My father had an opportunity to invest in vietnamese coffee a while ago, he decided to pass, wondering if it was a good idea.

[poly800rock]

Have you guys seen this app from Intelligentsia? Great looking app to make a great cup of coffee.

http://www.dearcoffe...sia-iphone-app/

What are your guys' favorite methods of brewing? I've been a french press man for a long time, but I'm thinking about getting in on cold brewing toddy for this summer.

my neighbor works there, he told me about it after my coffee maker broke and borrowed his v60. really cool app, really like that they tell you what's in season as well.

[mapz]

nice, dudes! love talking methods and techniques. i'll have to give each a spin - i'll be tampering with mine soon enough.

Just got back from Lombok Indonesia and the local coffee there is great. its like Turkish thick as mud and very strong. Anyone else tried any other South East Asian coffees ?

i remember being really surprised by the coffee in chiang mai. upon further investigation i learned a bunch of small-scale operations were popping up all over northern thailand . not only did i find awesome coffee shops, but i was definitely taken back by the overall quality and depth of the coffees i had. high altitude, subtropic temps and lots of rain, it's a great region. took it mostly iced, with a touch of milk. and the caffeine seemed inherently stronger, maybe it was the travel - but shit after three glasses, i'd be flying.

Edited March 7, 2012 by mapz

[Christmas In A Submarine.]

nothing revolutionary but i just picked up this frieling press:

amazon is having having a pretty steep sale right now and I've been looking for a nice insulated press for the days when i want to work from home and drink a lot of coffee over a long period of time. the aeropress will still be my daily though.

[mr.invincible]

^ how long can those thing retain drinkable coffee temperature?

[Christmas In A Submarine.]

I'll let you know. fwiw their website claims it retains heat "4x better than glass" so who knows...

a friend who has one says they're superb. and at the very least there's nothing to break... which is a plus for me.

[dhopz]

and dhopz, what espresso machine did you pick up?

bought a nuova simonelli oscar from the back of some guy's truck in LA thanks to craigslist

tryin out red bird coffee

[pokpok]

^^^^ having their guatemala antigua currently and have a lb of ethiopia yirgacheffe before they were sold out. their description is pretty spot on. amazing coffee

[mr.invincible]

question - what do you guys think of kona coffee (100%)? is it the most legit shit you ever tasted?

[renski]

It's going to depend on who roasted it. There's variations on bean quality and blend. I've seen 12 oz bags go for $45.

[dhopz]

have had some kona blends but never had anything 100% kona. people seem to prefer the peaberry variety of kona, but it's often sold out, too expensive, or both (i.e. http://www.huladaddy.../catalog-coffee)

[grilled cheese]

question - what do you guys think of kona coffee (100%)? is it the most legit shit you ever tasted?

If you scroll up a bit you'll see that I just had some Hula Daddy (100% Kona). I was also on the big island for a piece, and was able to check out a bunch of the other Kona growers, including Greenwell, Kona Le'a, Mountain Thunder, etc. I would say that Hula Daddy is among the best of the Kona producers, and probably the best.

It's hard to say that Kona is the most legit shit I ever tasted. It is very good--in some cases extremely good--but it's really hard for me to justify the price (aside from the fact that it uses US labor and production inputs, something almost all other coffee on the world market does not). The Hula Daddy in the picture above cost north of $40 per 16oz bag. The genetics of Kona coffee are essentially (Guatemalan) typica (often via Brazil), with a far smaller number of bourbons mixed in (frequently not recognized by many of the growers themselves). So the anomalous Hawaiian climate and soil is what makes Kona coffee special. In my experience Kona beans will frequently be larger than their Central American counterparts when genetics are controlled for. I have no idea how this correlates with Kona's characteristic smoothness.

Before dhopz's post, I wasn't really aware of people's preference for peaberry Kona. Given that peaberries are comparatively rare it makes sense that these coffees would be even more rare/expensive. I've tried Hula Daddy's Kona Sweet, which I have to say was a fantastically original and interesting coffee. It was fruity beyond your imagination of what coffee can be like. It's cool that somebody makes a coffee like this, but I couldn't drink it everyday if cost weren't a factor--and it costs $60/lb.

Conclusion: Kona coffee is awesome, but ridiculously expensive.

[mr.invincible]

^ i like coffee, but not THAT much. holy shit. I should try it one day, but im happy with dunkin donuts so far.

sorry renski but i should have looked a page back and would have made this suggestion based on a couple of recommendations from my friends,

http://www.yelp.com/biz/temple-coffee-house-sacramento

never tried since I haven't been back up for awhile.

In NorCal until the first. Where can I grab some good beans in SF or sac area? I was going to go to blue bottle but after some hate I'll consider other options.

Edited March 13, 2012 by mr.invincible

[renski]

only reason i won't do kona is because of the price for quality beans... budget keeps me at 20 and under a bag.

[wayoutwest]

nyc coffee addicts. I will be staying in midtown east in two weeks. Any roasters/shops I should check out? I plan on stopping by Stumptown and Abraco. Any others?

[polishmike]

nyc coffee addicts. I will be staying in midtown east in two weeks. Any roasters/shops I should check out? I plan on stopping by Stumptown and Abraco. Any others?

Abraco is my daily stop but also check out www.joetheartofcoffee.com www.lacolombe.com www.cafegrumpy.com www.ninthstreetespresso.com Edited April 4, 2012 by polishmike

[lmk1995]

looking for a budget burr hand grinder. any suggestions? looking at this: http://www.amazon.com/Kyocera-CM-50-CF-Ceramic-Grinder/dp/B003S9XF7K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333586842&sr=8-1

[pepper davies]

I've got one of those, Mike. Super inconsistent in larger grinds, but very consistent with small grinds. I don't have the room for a nice grinder right now, but as soon as I do I'll ditch this one.

[lmk1995]

I've got one of those, Mike. Super inconsistent in larger grinds, but very consistent with small grinds. I don't have the room for a nice grinder right now, but as soon as I do I'll ditch this one.

damn. i use a french press so i need that coarse grind. have you found anything suitable for ~$50?

right now i'm grinding at the grocery store and drinking stale coffee.

Edited April 5, 2012 by littlemike

[wayoutwest]

damn. i use a french press so i need that coarse grind. have you found anything suitable for ~$50?

right now i'm grinding at the grocery store and drinking stale coffee.

I've used my Hario Mini Mill for french press and thought the results were great.

[lmk1995]

kind of wish it was bigger, but it may be the best I can do in the price range i'm looking at. thanks!

[exitrow]

I went to the porlex tall grinder from the hario skerton, which i think is identical to the kyocera, and I much prefer it. Much easier to quickly adjust keep track of your grind setting and it grinds pretty consistently for me. Also has a larger capacity than the porlex mini, while not being too big. It also conveniently in the aeropress for travel, for anyone interested. And with the metal disc filter from able brewing, you have a very small self contained kit.

One complaint about the porlex is that since there is nothing attaching the handle onto the shaft of the grinder (just a hexagonal hole that fits over the same shaped-shaft of the grinder), it can sometimes come off in your hand as you're grinding.

Another difference is that instead of screwing together, the grinder top half and the resevoir bottom half nest together, for a slightly looser fit.

[noobedloser]

Cafe Dulce is having their 1 year anniversary

$1 Dulce Lattes!