A Thread About COFFEE

[ronmac]

I have heard many people swear by freezing coffee. I have tried it. I won't do it again. Store it in a cool, dark place. That works best for me. Freezing takes away some of the flavor.

Indeed. Somewhere along the line, people began to store it in a freezer. I did, as well, because I read the same bad advice. Definitely in a cool, dark, dry place, seal airtight.

[meimjustalawnmower]

Indeed. Somewhere along the line, people began to store it in a freezer. I did, as well, because I read the same bad advice. Definitely in a cool, dark, dry place, seal airtight.

True, but really how long does a pound of coffee last anyway? 2 weeks, maybe? Treat it like you would a loaf of bread.

[arabicadabra]

Agree with you all, I'd never freeze coffee, let alone store it for 8 months! But the point of my story was that, with some thought given to the grind size and steeping time, even a compromised coffee under non-ideal conditions can yield something special.

Or else maybe I just have a brown thumb.....

[PeterG]

I can't brew coffee to save my life. Help!!! No matter what I try, it's always too weak or too bitter but never too strong. It doens't matter if I use a stove top percolator or a stove top espresso machine or an electric coffee brewer with filter paper. I'm seriously considering gettin one of those Nespresso capsule machines so I can have some good strong espresso. I wonder If i'm boiling the stove top cofffee too quickly? Are there any dummies guides for making real coffee. HELP!!!

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Re: Freezing coffee. I did that once. I noticed when I pulled it out of the freezer that some of the oils had frozen out of the beans. Never again!

[arabicadabra]

> I can't brew coffee to save my life. Help!!! No matter what I try, it's always too weak or too bitter but never too strong. It doens't matter if I use a stove top percolator or a stove top espresso machine or an electric coffee brewer with filter paper. I'm seriously considering gettin one of those Nespresso capsule machines so I can have some good strong espresso. I wonder If i'm boiling the stove top cofffee too quickly? Are there any dummies guides for making real coffee. HELP!!! <

I meant to reply to this sooner but work's been crazy. Okay - your electric coffee maker with filter paper won't get the water hot enough. The stove top espresso maker I haven't had enough practice with to expertly advise you on. But the percolator I can help with. First make sure you're using enough coffee. The correct ratio of ground coffee to water volume is between 3.5 and 4.25 ounces WEIGHT in ground coffee to 64 ounces VOLUME water. So yes - get a digital scale. Then make sure you grind it coarsely - maybe half the size of a Rice Krispy - and the speed at which you bring the water to boil isn't the problem, it's the fact that you don't slow it down a bit BEFORE it boils - you want to get as close as you can to boiling without ever letting it fully bubble. That way you can "ease" the water up thru the stem without having a severe burning of the coffee.

[R. Totale III]

I'm a coffee achiever

[PeterG]

First make sure you're using enough coffee. The correct ratio of ground coffee to water volume is between 3.5 and 4.25 ounces WEIGHT in ground coffee to 64 ounces VOLUME water. So yes - get a digital scale. Then make sure you grind it coarsely - maybe half the size of a Rice Krispy - and the speed at which you bring the water to boil isn't the problem, it's the fact that you don't slow it down a bit BEFORE it boils - you want to get as close as you can to boiling without ever letting it fully bubble. That way you can "ease" the water up thru the stem without having a severe burning of the coffee.

Thank you very much, that does actually help a let because from what you've said I realise I was 1) using too little coffee 2) using a too finely ground coffee, and 3) I was just letting it come to a full boil and then boil away all the while it was percolating up through the pipe.

Back in the early 90s I was a coffee addict but I gave up almost overnight, then came back to coffee less than a year ago, and I seem to have forgotten all the basic tips & tricks. Thanks again.

[arabicadabra]

You're most welcome Peter. Actually, one fourth the size of a Rice Krispie would be closer than half - that's TOO large. My mind was fuzzy when I typed that and I'd hate to steer you wrong. Good luck!

By the way, if your coffee STILL comes out nasty, then you're probably buying nasty low-grade stuff without realising it....

[Trane]

Thank you very much, that does actually help a let because from what you've said I realise I was 1) using too little coffee 2) using a too finely ground coffee, and 3) I was just letting it come to a full boil and then boil away all the while it was percolating up through the pipe.

Back in the early 90s I was a coffee addict but I gave up almost overnight, then came back to coffee less than a year ago, and I seem to have forgotten all the basic tips & tricks. Thanks again.

Well if you got problem with cafeine, what you can do is let the first five or six drops percolating out of the coffee mug or pot... Cafeine is really volatile... and it (as much as 98%) goes right away in the cup/pot.... So by letting these drops out, you basically get a decafeinated coffee without having to buy it already treated so... This is very important in case you like origin coffees..

You're most welcome Peter. Actually, one fourth the size of a Rice Krispie would be closer than half - that's TOO large. My mind was fuzzy when I typed that and I'd hate to steer you wrong. Good luck!

By the way, if your coffee STILL comes out nasty, then you're probably buying nasty low-grade stuff without realising it....

That's kind of obvious... since cafeine is volatile, it can't be grinded too thinly (it then escapes during the grinding), but if you grind it too thick, uyou won't be able to get much essence out in the short brewing time (even with pressurized espresso machines)

One might also make sure about the quality of tap water, if he's getting nasty results...

[Garyhead]

Been drinking Raven's Brew for the past year. My current fav is Deadman's Reach....."Served In Bed, Raises The Dead!" Tried Bruin's Blend & Three Peckered Billy Goat....but Deadman's makes the best Mocha IMO. Roasted in Ketcikan, AK but recently opened a bigger roaster in Tumwater, WA to cover the lower 48. Order off the Website. Yes, yes, yes...Filter that tap water! It makes a HUGE difference!
As for Starbucks, yes I use it when traveling....It's a known quantity.
Remember 25+ years ago driving the 45 miles to Pike Place Market in Seattle to buy Starbucks beans......only One store back then.....
Add a bit of half & half to skim milk for steaming. Holds the foam without tasting "thick". This posts seems a bit disjointed....only had 1 cup this morning.....

[Garyhead]

Oh.....and another thing about Raven's Brew....Graphic artist Ray Troll is the coffee bag equivalent of Roger Dean!

[Dave (in MA)]

I got two pounds of MaryLou's for Christmas.

[East New York]

Indeed. Somewhere along the line, people began to store it in a freezer. I did, as well, because I read the same bad advice. Definitely in a cool, dark, dry place, seal airtight.

I have heard many people swear by freezing coffee. I have tried it. I won't do it again. Store it in a cool, dark place. That works best for me. Freezing takes away some of the flavor.

Re: Freezing coffee. I did that once. I noticed when I pulled it out of the freezer that some of the oils had frozen out of the beans. Never again!

Yeah! Many centuries ago when I was a brand-new chef, front-of-house in the first restaurant at which I contracted stored their coffee in the freezer and would not change policy; it was then that I learned never to freeze it, as the resultant brew was pretty horrible!

[East New York]

Last night I visited friends after church and they asked me to show them the right way to use their French press. They pulled out a whirly-blade grinder. Then they handed me a bag of Kona they had stored in their freezer. I asked for bottled water and a digital scale and they had both on hand. We boiled 32 ounces of water then removed the kettle from the burner and set it aside. I weighed out approximately 2.7 ounces of coffee beans out (their French press caraffe holds 32 ounces) and ground it coarsely to about the size of pencil shavings. Then we poured the water over the grounds, stirring to saturate at about halfway full and again after it was all full of liquid. Then we set a timer for 8 minutes, after which I plunged the press down.

These beans were 8 months old - and to my astonishment, the coffee was very good - not magnificent by any means, but way better and more flavorful than any restaurant in a 50 mile radius, with no apparent unpleasantness or stale taste.

Kudos! I miss my French press (it finally shattered a few months ago, and I must get a new one when I'm able) and the process you describe is almost exactly the way I prepare my coffee.

[sdavmor]

I'm just an amateur coffee fiend. I like a coarse ground very dark roast, mixed approximately 50-50 with a coarse ground decaf dark roast. Doctor's orders to reduce my caffeine intake. I have a Mr. Coffee grinder and a Gevalia coffee maker that really kicks the water temperature up there. I have a Gevalia subscription so I'll try different coffees from round the world, but I generally buy from Trader Joe's. I tend to make it on the strong side using water out of the freezer filter that gets changed regularly so the taste is always good. I figure you can dilute the resulting brew if it's too strong, but you can't save weak-kneed dishwater!

[Duncan Glenday]

Has anyone seen the "Dangerous Grounds" show on the Travel Channel?

Pretty interesting.

[Greg]

"Dangerous Grounds"

I've seen a few of them--my DVR is supposed to be recording them, but I think the series is in hiatus at the moment.

I think it's really interesting, but I'm not sure how much of an actual expert the guy is on coffee so much as an addict and fan boy ;-) In each show he seems to settle for the first large farm he hits, but that could just be due to time constraints on the hour and editing. I would have expected him to pass on some or at least visit several farms just to compare quality before dumping $20k - $100k US on bags of beans.

I also like the show for the travel aspect. Always nice to see actual local areas in a more Tony-Bourdain-gritty style than you could ever hope to get with Samantha Brown.

[markwoll]

Just got a couple of bags of counter culture coffee today.
Nice stuff. My brother-in-law and I are trading coffee subscriptions for the holidays.

Too many choices. Not a bad state, if I do say so.

mark

[arabicadabra]

My only problem with counter culture is that they put the "socially conscious" aspects of coffee buying ahead of the "how amazing does it taste?" factor - the socially conscious stuff has nothing to do with why I drink, brew and buy coffee, the quality of the taste is paramount to me. The fact that this type of thinking has overrun the coffee industry is why the overall quality and consistency has dropped noticably. I'm expounding on the merits of SOME environmental measures in the coffee book I've been writing forever as well as exposing the worthlessness of MOST of these knots that US imbecile earth biscuits are tying the hands of growers with.

[arabicadabra]

... I didn't mean any of you, though... and I've had some VERY tasty stuff from Counter Culture in the past... just illuminating a negative trend that has forced coffee growers AWAY from careful picking, milling and sorting only the BEST ripe coffee cherries into jumping thru hoops for the Organic Nazis....

[Greg]

After watching a few more episodes of Dangerous Grounds on NatGeo, I broke dowm and decided to order a couple of the single origin farm coffees from this guy's company. I thought the prices would be hugher, but they're actually pretty reasonable at $12 to 17$ for a 12oz. bag.

I've always had a thing against Colombian coffees... they seem to have am underlying sourness that I just can't get into, and the Colombian Pedregal coffee that was featured in the episode with the Arhuaco tribe was not much different. I had higher hopes for this one, although that sourness is not as prominent in this one, it's still not my favourite.

I also tried the Papua New Guinea grown Blue Mountain from the Ilokko village episode which, for only $12.95 a bag is actually quite good. I still prefer the Blue Mountain grown Blue Mountain, but I just can't afford it now.

Has anyone else tried this guy's coffees?

[chalkpie]

What happens when you smoke coffee beans?

[spellbound]

What happens when you smoke coffee beans?

Colombian, or Jamaican?

[arabicadabra]

You have good instincts when it comes to suspicion . In the early 90s the original estate coffees were farms that produced an exceptional bean - much better and more complex than whatever the high grade beans from that region or country tasted like. By lowering the standards of what true specialty is, coffee buyers the world over are just looking for any farmer with a half-decent crop they can make a deal with, then pushing their "story" as though just having a story made the farm special.

I notice you're from CT - any chance for the Prog On The Sound concert series to get you out to a show? Scott Corcoran the promoter is going to have to stop doing them if the turnout doesn't improve.

I think it's really interesting, but I'm not sure how much of an actual expert the guy is on coffee so much as an addict and fan boy ;-) In each show he seems to settle for the first large farm he hits, but that could just be due to time constraints on the hour and editing. I would have expected him to pass on some or at least visit several farms just to compare quality before dumping $20k - $100k US on bags of beans.

I also like the show for the travel aspect. Always nice to see actual local areas in a more Tony-Bourdain-gritty style than you could ever hope to get with Samantha Brown.[/QUOTE]