All Things Coffee ...

I'm out of Jamaican Blue Mountain. :-(

Now to sift through this thread for a new place to try buying from...
 
Also since its in the neighborhood the village box kite has closed, at least for now. I walked by there the day they shit the doors with no real internet fanfare and as I walked away another guy and his girlfriend walked up. He was all "now where can I buy coffee". I had to reassure him there were other shops. Oh well the baristas at the uptown location are better anyway.
 
I bought a filtron a few weeks ago and have been really happy with the quality of its cold brew. Definitely worth it if you're an iced coffee person.
 
kylelovescrayons kylelovescrayons fantastic post:



I have enjoyed french press coffee many times, and have a big one at home. I occasionally use this to make coffee when I have a few guests over. Not a bad method - but the actual pressing can lead to some grit and some bitterness that is not intended so i prefer the Sowden Softbrew - also what I have brought to work to replace the K-Cup. Plus it makes great cold brew overnight in your fridge!



Although the Sowden is an incredibly low acid high flavor brew

Best low-skill ease of coffee-making - Sowden Softbrew


I'm seriously considering buying a Sowden Softbrew 8-cup for work. 5 or 6 guys are throwing in $25 each so we can drink good coffee at work.

My noob question is.....

Is it practical for work? How do you boil the water? We have a kitchen at work but only a microwave. The sink will be helpful for cleaning.....

Any other work issues you can think of?
 
I'm seriously considering buying a Sowden Softbrew 8-cup for work. 5 or 6 guys are throwing in $25 each so we can drink good coffee at work.

My noob question is.....

Is it practical for work? How do you boil the water? We have a kitchen at work but only a microwave. The sink will be helpful for cleaning.....

Any other work issues you can think of?
I'd suggest getting an electric kettle as well rather than microwaving the water.

Other than that, it's just figuring out a system for buying the coffee.
 
The Sowden Softbrew 8 cup, 2L electric kettle and Krupps grinder just arrived at the house!

Now let's talk coffee beans!

Any recommendations?

I want to try a high quality Kona bean and some unblended single origin beans.

The lighter the roast the more caffeine, right?

Any other tips? I still need to buy an airtight container for the beans that I buy.
 
Anyone have a good moka pot they like?
 
Hey Folks!

I have been meaning to get in here and post for a lil bit. As far as beans go ... I have two subscriptions going and had some awesome separate beans recently.

Rundown of what I'm drinking lately:

Subscriptions:
Tandem - they have a great record+beans subscription. All of their stuff is single-origin. They tend to be either amaze-balls or meh. Never bad. I really like the roaster in general. The records are bat-shit crazy - I've gotten a Junior Kimbraugh Record, a Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks record which were cool. I've also gotten some really crazy records from around the world. some good. some not so much. It is cool because the idea is that the record matches the beans.

Verve - I am doing their roaster's choice African. It's been pretty damn good so far. I love me some kenyan's and Ethiopians so it works for me. I have had one repeat but I get it twice a month so that's to be expected a little. The Wingate Estate Kenyan that I just got - muy bueno!

Random - Had slate's Guji Ethiopian. I love me some slate. One of the best from Seattle by far. Very solid as coffee and as espresso.

Also got an aeropress for Christmas. I take back anything I ever said about it that was not incredibly glowing! Holy Poop! If I was a robot ... I'd have an aeropress for an arm.

But seriously for one cup of coffee at a time making it is the berries!

21Architect 21Architect sorry i missed your sowden question. how has it been working for you all? I had mine at work all last year, but my boss poo-pooed it this year ... something about hot kettles and children. I hope you are enjoying it!

Cheers!
 
So after being out of service for a good 2-3 months, the office espresso machine was working this week, and I've been happily drinking iced americanos all week.

Today, the only espresso capsules are decaf, and I've been forced to go back to the pod machine.

Today is a bad day.
 
So after being out of service for a good 2-3 months, the office espresso machine was working this week, and I've been happily drinking iced americanos all week.

Today, the only espresso capsules are decaf, and I've been forced to go back to the pod machine.

Today is a bad day.
Only decaf left? lets take a live look into Joe's office right now:

 
I'm thinking of moving away from machine made coffee to a stovetop esspresso maker and coffee grinder. Grind my own beans. Make my own espresso, americano, or get fancy with the sugar and Cuban cofffee.

Any suggestions, tips, warnings?
 
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Suggestion - Baratza Preciso grinder. It's about the best you can get without spending a small fortune.

Warning: You will want something better (more expensive) sooner than you think.

Sadly they discontinued the Virtuosa Preciso - you should still be able to find one - it is a great deal for the price. I'd get the Virtuoso (or read back in the thread you can easily swap out the conical burrs on the lower end model and basically have the same thing for cheaper (Encore)) either way make sure you get a burr grinder.

I personally don't have a ton of recent experience with stovetop espresso makers (moka pots/bialettis) when I was using them it was early in my coffee insanity and I preferred making a strong french press. I know I was new to the game, and probaly didn't have my grind dialed in very well. I was using measuring scoops not a scale etc. So I am sure user error/inexperience played into the cups of joe not being perfect.

If you decide to go the moka pot route I have read on nerdy coffee forums that the Bellman brand one is excellent - it develops more crema (that light brown stuff at the top of your espresso shot) than the traditional bialetti. Again this is based on other people's experiences not mine.

As a side - you can make a great americano using an aeropress (I am truly a convert and fucking love the aeropress) - using a more coffee less water ratio you can get an espresso like shot that in my mind is superior to anything I could do with a moka pot. Plus you can use it to make a more traditional cup of coffee as well.
 
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Sadly they discontinued the Virtuosa Preciso - you should still be able to find one - it is a great deal for the price. I'd get the Virtuoso (or read back in the thread you can easily swap out the conical burrs on the lower end model and basically have the same thing for cheaper (Encore)) either way make sure you get a burr grinder.

I personally don't have a ton of recent experience with stovetop espresso makers (moka pots/bialettis) when I was using them it was early in my coffee insanity and I preferred making a strong french press. I know I was new to the game, and probaly didn't have my grind dialed in very well. I was using measuring scoops not a scale etc. So I am sure user error/inexperience played into the cups of joe not being perfect.

If you decide to go the moka pot route I have read on nerdy coffee forums that the Bellman brand one is excellent - it develops more crema (that light brown stuff at the top of your espresso shot) than the traditional bialetti. Again this is based on other people's experiences not mine.

As a side - you can make a great americano using an aeropress (I am truly a convert and fucking love the aeropress) - using a more coffee less water ratio you can get an espresso like shot that in my mind is superior to anything I could do with a moka pot. Plus you can use it to make a more traditional cup of coffee as well.

I googled the aeropress. Everyone raves about it. Can such a small and inexpensive thing really produce such great coffee? I guess I'm about to find out.
 
Sadly they discontinued the Virtuosa Preciso - you should still be able to find one - it is a great deal for the price. I'd get the Virtuoso (or read back in the thread you can easily swap out the conical burrs on the lower end model and basically have the same thing for cheaper (Encore)) either way make sure you get a burr grinder.

I personally don't have a ton of recent experience with stovetop espresso makers (moka pots/bialettis) when I was using them it was early in my coffee insanity and I preferred making a strong french press. I know I was new to the game, and probaly didn't have my grind dialed in very well. I was using measuring scoops not a scale etc. So I am sure user error/inexperience played into the cups of joe not being perfect.

If you decide to go the moka pot route I have read on nerdy coffee forums that the Bellman brand one is excellent - it develops more crema (that light brown stuff at the top of your espresso shot) than the traditional bialetti. Again this is based on other people's experiences not mine.

As a side - you can make a great americano using an aeropress (I am truly a convert and fucking love the aeropress) - using a more coffee less water ratio you can get an espresso like shot that in my mind is superior to anything I could do with a moka pot. Plus you can use it to make a more traditional cup of coffee as well.
If you're going to talk me into and out of a moka pot in a single post, you could at least include your aeropress recipe.
 
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