Everything to do with Coffee

[BLachance75]

Anyone have a favorite aeropress recipe they’d like to share. I got one the other day and have been messing around with it the past few days trying new recipes.

I quickly realized how bad my cheapo electric grinder was. I never paid attention to the grinds before. The settings on it didn’t change the grind size at all. I always ended up with a mix of all different grind sizes from powder to large chunks no matter what I set it at. I don’t drink a ton of coffee so I ended up buying a hand grinder and the difference is night and day.

[Jonnydread]

Inverted aeropress is my favorite. I’ll try and find the recipe I used to use.

[bellicose]

My grinder is also crap. Sometimes have a whole bean in there. I do inverted on my aeropress. I forget to press often, and let it brew while I shower. Honestly, I can't tell the difference between that and being meticulous.

[BrickHaus]

Get an ALTRA stainless filter to start.

I make mine like a heathen.

Inverted aero press, 2x scoops of the good chit. 16 ounce cup. Get water to 195 in an electric kettle. Fill the press 2/3 full, stir grounds, put the filter and cap on. Let step for a min or so.

Flip and press. Now here is where Im a heathen.

I press only to the "2" on the tube. Then I cock the plunger and pull it out, and repress. I repeat this until the tube is empty. I re fill the tube with more water and keep repeating this until Im out of water.

Eventually you have pressed the whole cup of joe through the grounds, and you have a delightful, oily, black cup of soul.

[Menso]

Can anyone recommend a hand grinder that’s quality but won’t break the bank? Our electric grinder is straight booty and it’s time for a change.

[BLachance75]

I watched a lot of videos on hand grinders and read a lot of reviews. I had no clue how expensive they can be. In the end I ended up getting a Normcore V2. Every review I saw placed it just below the high end grinders. It is probably better than I need but I figure I can spend $90 today or buy a cheaper one then end up buying a better one later. The old buy once cry once mentality.

[Jonnydread]

I have a Hario hand crank that was $35 and works great.

[Loophole]

I have a Hario Skerton Plus that has been working great for 5+ years so far!

[Mr.Rush]

I personally love my Option-O Remi but it isn't what I would call inexpensive.

James Hoffmann did a video a little while ago on the truly cheap options you can find on amazon. Some of them seemed to be decent.

[RedLeaderSB]

Baratza Encore for home, timemore C2 for work/travel.

edit: have had some of those cheap hand grinders in the video above, and the timemore C2 is heads and shoulders above due to Stainless burrs and aluminum construction.
I think I got it for 50$ which after using it feels like I stole it.

[Menso]

I appreciate the responses guys. I know I said I didn’t want to break the bank, but after looking through some of what you guys posted and going down the rabbit hole of coffee grinders… I’m leaning towards breaking the bank LOL

[BLachance75]

I definitely fell down the coffee grinder rabbit hole. From my research it seems like there is quite a few quality grinders on n the $100-150 range.

[BLachance75]

I primarily drink iced coffee so I've been messing around with the aeropress to get it how I like it. Here is what I came up with as my preferred daily coffee.

Using the inverted method
22gr of coffee ground med/fine
I fill the aeropress about half way with boiling water and let it bloom for 30 seconds then stir it for 30 seconds
Fill the aeropress to the top and let it steep for 3 more minutes. So a total of 4 minutes of steeping
Press it into a cup. It usually takes me 30-45 sec to press it. I press it all the way until I can't press it anymore
Pour the coffee over a 16 oz glass full of ice

A few notes
I don't actually weigh the coffee daily. I know about where 22gr of beans fill my grinder so I eyeball it
I primarily drink dark roast coffee
I like a strong coffee
Enough ice melts to dilute the coffee to a level that I enjoy
I've tried it with paper filters and a metal filter. I prefer using a paper filter

[BrickHaus]

Sounds like a good cup.

[BrickHaus]

Heres one for ya Brian. Since you like it cold.

I take my french presses. And I put 80 grams of coffee in each. Brew with room temp water for 24 hours. french press. Then I pour through my aeropress with stainless filter to strain any sediment that gets by the french press plunger.

Makes a bitchin batch of cold press coffee.


Then I cut that with a little water.


I prefer to use french or dark roasts for this as cold pressing doesn't pull the tannins out of the coffee. Lighter roasts end up lacking the boldflavor I enjoy.

Garuntee it will cure constipation.

[BLachance75]

I prefer dark roast when I do cold brew as well. Next time I make it I’ll have to run it through my aeropress to filter it more. I’ve been using a meta filter that fits inside of a half gallon mason jar. The ends up with a lot of fines in the bottom so I would usually dump the last inch or so. I had a cheap French press at some point but I don’t know where it went. I’ll have to dig around in the back of the cabinets to see if I can find it.

I make it with 100 gr of coffee in a half gallon mason jar then top it off with water. I let it sit on the counter all day then put it in the fridge before bed so it was cold in the morning. I’d pull the filter and pour it over ice.

[BrickHaus]

You will still get some sediment with the aeropress filter, but a quick swirl or shake will re suspend it, but it definitely doesn't get that gritty hairy texture a normal filter leaves.

[BrickHaus]

Dug my nitro keg back out for a summer time treat. First cups always a bit heady.

[splat15k]

Wow, that royal brew nitro keg looks awesome...time to do some research!

[BLachance75]

Time for the first installment of Brian’s average man’s unsophisticated coffee review.

I had an appointment a few weeks ago and right down the street was a small local roaster so I figured I’d stop by. I had never been there before and I honestly didn’t realize it was a coffee roaster until very recently because from the street the building looks like a Chinese restaurant.

I told the guys working that I wanted a pound of each of their favorite coffee and this is what I ended up with.



Both light roasts and very enjoyable and entirely different that what I usually drink.

The Kenyan is like drinking coffee flavored orange juice. A punch of citrus acidity at first then it has a sweet smooth finish. I’ve been enjoying it in the afternoon while sitting outside watching the dogs run around.

The Ethiopian is smooth and sweet on the front with a light citrus acidity on the finish. This is my favorite of the 2 and has quickly turned into my everyday coffee. I will be buying more of this.

In case anyone wants to try the coffee.

https://www.esseloncoffee.com/

[Jonnydread]

Glad you're opening to light roast! I love the nuance vs. the tongue slap of darker roasts.

[BrickHaus]

Had a late morning espresso shot, figured I'd document.

First, the prefect cup is said to be brewed between 194 and 205 defrees Fahrenheit. We have this awesome Aroma electric kettle with temperature set points. At 194 it will over heat water to 205, so perfect for a cup of joe at any level.

Couple that with some Onyx Coffee Labs Costa Rica Jas Lajas Sl28 Natural ( unwashed) coffee. Finely ground and loaded in the Staresso. Hand pressed espresso shot for some morning bliss.

[BLachance75]

How do you like the Staresso. I’d like some sort of manual espresso maker and the prices are all over the place.

[BrickHaus]

For the price it rocks. I initially got one for back packing with my buddy, and or camping.

I had the original kick starter version, and I used that a lot. It was plastic where it threads to the filter basket. It ended up snapping off at said threads.

This one my wife got me with my Christmas present. Its stainless where those threads are now.

The ability to make an espresso shot is nice. It makes a nice frothy shot of joe. The oversized glass allows you to add milk. You can also froth milk with the pump if you desire, but that weirds me out so I tend to avoid it. ( leaving milk residue in the piston.)

Id say my main complaint is clean out. If you want to make espresso shots for you, and a friend its hard to get the filter basket cleaned out in a hurry to make back to back shots. It also leaves more water in the grounds than Id like so you have to be careful taking it apart to clean. It comes with a little brush to scrub the grounds out of the filter, but its still messier than simply blasting your grounds into the garbage like the aero press allows.

All in all, I'd buy one again for the 30-50 bucks they cost. Plus its compact size allows you to bring it anywhere. Its especially nice in hotels and work where you have hot water available at the press of a button.

[BrickHaus]

BLachance75 also, they make a check valve style filter for our aero presses. Ive been tempted to buy it, but Id imagine its a similar cup of joe as the staresso. You may just want to get that and accessorize your aero press.

[BenoitOWN]

BLachance75 Try à flair espresso machine?

[BLachance75]

On a whim I bought an electric grinder.



I had been looking at the Lagom Mini but it is out of stock until September. Then I found this SPTK-38G which most people say is a clone of the Lagom. It was in stock and slightly cheaper than the Lagom.

[Jonnydread]

ooooh let me know how you like it. I'm still in the market for a good electric burr grinder

[BLachance75]

Jonnydread I've had it for about a week so far. Made 20ish cups with it. The grind consistency is excellent. It is shockingly heavy for how big it is. You could probably get 30g of beans in the hopper as you see it in the picture. If you put on the included bellow I think you could put over 50g of coffee in at once. It takes maybe 15 seconds to grind the 22g of coffee that I use per cup. It is quiet enough that I can use it while my wife is on a conference call in the next room.

I'd say that overall I'm very happy with the purchase and it is worth the $300.

[lew]

I'm more of a quantity over quality guy, but I have my limits. Our Nescafe has been rocking for a decade, but, with relatively newborn twins, it's the coffee pot that usually gets tasked to do the job.Café Pilão is our standard, but we've been getting into the Extra Forte as of late. The stuff my in-laws brings back from Brasil tastes a little bit better than the stuff available on slamazon. Coffee gets me started in the morning, then I have two gallon pitchers of tea- one bag each Lipton, Alwazah, and a Twinings variety, usually with rosemary added- in the fridge to keep me going.

[BLachance75]

I've been drinking BenoitOWN Brazilian coffee. I'd put it up there with the Papua New Guinea, I'm a fan and will be buying more.

Also, when you weigh your coffee in your grinder catch cup you want to make sure you put the catch cup back in the grinder before turning it on. I ended up with a nice little mound of ground coffee on my counter the other day.