I have worked as a barista before, and also a pretty much life-long coffee drinker and lover, just a little bit of a snob and a seeker of quality.
I know more than 20 different ways of making coffee.
Here is the best coffee brewing method I've come up with.
First, I get some CLEAN water, and I boil it in an unfinished metal or ceramic-finished metal pot. I use a regular pot so that I can see inside. I also like to let a little bit of the water evaporate...
While it's getting ready, I get the best and freshest coffee grounds I can muster, it's better if I can grind them on the spot, but that's not always available.
I put the coffee grounds, as much as I think is necessary, into a glass or ceramic bowl, and pour the boiling water over them. I optionally cover and/or stir and let steep.
After about 5-15 minutes, I pour the coffee into another glass or ceramic bowl, letting the grounds stay at the bottom of the first bowl.
The coffee is now ready for drinking. To keep it warm, I cover it and leave it in the oven for insulation, or use an electric plate. It usually doesn't last long. It's good cold too.
The second best method I know is cold-brewing in a similar fashion, takes a number of hours I haven't tracked yet.
If anyone is interested in learning why this method is better than all the others, please reply with the method you think is better and I will explain why you're wrong. :^)
Edit: The method in the video is quite good, and my only complaint is that it uses disposable filters, which leads to unnecessary materials harvesting, human labor, biome squeeze, diesel use, waste output, and other artifacts of production.
Yeah, for those of you who like the simplicity, get a french press and a grinder. Grind the beans while you boil the water. Put both in the french press and wait for 5 minutes and you are done. In summer, use filtered water and let it sit in a fridge overnight, and you get yourself the perfect cold brew.
I grind up some beans and put them into a portafilter on a small scale, to a rough ~16-17g weight, then tamp it down and run a no-fuss ~$100USD breville espresso machine on it until it's about 34-40g pulled, then pour in ~140g of water I boiled in an electric kettle.
Your method sounds to me like it'd have some grounds and fines floating around in it, which is okay but I'm not a huge fan personally, and it'll also be multiple things to wash (though, they sound like easy washes). I also don't have nice coverable drinking bowls, or even very nice cookware for boiling water up in.
My method's pretty easy twice a day, but it's not perfect either: I couldn't make this somewhere else, but... I do live here. :) That said, it did take a while for me to find a good grind size with my machine, and to find scales and cups that fit under my espresso machine's group head and had the right range etc required, and I've got to wash my little espresso cup I pour into, and I had to buy my own non-pressurized portafilter basket, so it took some real time to come together right.
My Aeropress makes a very nice cup! Also uses an immersion technique, but produces a clean cup without coffee grounds and is slightly quicker.
No inverted method but just doing as it said on the box, except I let it steep for a minute or so before plunging. Freshly ground beans, just using (Dutch) tap water from an all metal kettle.
Avoiding disposable filters is a small lever for reducing negative impact compared to most consumptive behaviors by the average person. Any kind of subscription printed material will likely have significantly more impact, as well as napkins, grocery bags, paper towels, boxes, etc.
Disposable filters are my biggest conundrum. For years I would either use Aeropress with a metal filter, or French Press (metal carafe + press), or pour-over with something like the Bodum (metal filter). But I wasn't satisfied with my coffee. I went back to paper and it was like a breath of fresh air. I enjoy it so much more. I tried to tell myself I preferred the oils, etc. but in the end I greatly prefer the smoothness of filtered coffee.
So that's where I'm at now, buying big packs of paper filters for my Aeropress and V60. I'm not sure how to move past it. I guess I just tell myself it's infinitely better than Keurig for less waste and massively better flavor.
I find that pouring boiling water into coffee grounds makes a bitter brew. Instead I pour boiling water into a metal container, which is enough to drop it a couple degrees, and then mix grounds into it.
Wondering if there’s a low-bullshit reusable coffee filter medium to remove some of the oils.
What I want to get sorted most right now is water. I use tap water, but I need to filter it because it’s really, really calcareous. Most filters are made of plastic, or at least plastic cartridges with the filter medium. I was thinking about using glass or metal instead and somehow machine a container for the filter medium and buy that stuff in bulk. I really don‘t want to buy bottled water to make coffee.
How does this compare in oil content? I used to be a big, BIG coffee drinker, and I've been using a french press for 15ish years, but I get heartburn now and it hurts more than it used to.
What can be done to enjoy coffee, without so much oil?
Like the detail. I used to put a lot more effort into coffee. Then I had two kids and we were in the pandemic.
My no-effort method is to get a technivorm (not cheap, but not super expensive) and run that first thing in the morning with fresh grinds -> Super fast for 3+ people and good quality coffee. If I have the time - I'll do a pour over.
For 'normal' coffee this is indeed super nice, but I'm into the taste of espresso so I like what my Cafelat Robot produces more. Fairly simple manual espresso routine. Kinda hard to explain me I'm wrong because a) it's a bit of an apple/oranges comparison and b) taste is subjective anyway :)
Aeropress rivals anything I can get at Starbucks or anywhere else. I use the expresso base to make any coffee drink I want (without any milk frothing).
It cleans up quick, pop out the compressed spent coffee grind puck into the trash and rinse under water then you are done!
No one here seems to have mentioned stove top espresso makers, like Bialetti. After ceramic V60 it's my second best way of making coffee. Not so conv much richer.
A V60 dripper was one of my best purchases last year. They're about 8 quid. And even without a 'method' the coffee is still so much better than my Nespresso was. Furthermore - I thought I'd hate the faff, but it's actually pretty meditative. Especially first thing in the morning.
Without bad coffee you can't appreciate the good coffee.
That being said, for almost a year now if not more, I've switched to making coffee the following way: Take a pot fill it with water, add coffee, boil until the foam disappears, wait a few minutes for the coffee to rest. Pour into a cup, if desired add milk and/or sugar, enjoy!
What I like about it, is that due to the size of my pot I can just leave the coffee on the stove and get ready and by the time I'm done, the coffee will also be done.
What's important to remember is that everyone lives their life through their eyes, ears and perspective. Or in the other words, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
You may hate the coffee that I love. And that's okay ^^
Get beans green from SweetMarias.com or the like. Not expensive ($6-9/pound).
Get a cheap hot air popcorn popper. Mine was $3 used from Goodwill.
Pour in 1 cup of beans, turn on. After about 8 minutes you’ll hear beans start to crack - that’s a light roast. Cracking ends for a while - there’s medium. A second round of cracking happens around 9-10 minutes - dark. Past that you get oils extracting and near burned - French roast.
Not exactly sure how Kasuya claims to have invented this method. Graduated pours are pretty standard. I’ve been doing it with French Press for years and the results are pretty great.
Side Note: If you dislike the texture of French Press, puncture the bloom after 4 minutes of brew time then wait 2-3 minutes before plunging.
the best part of making coffee is the experimentation. I'd recommend trying out what works for you and keep at it. My go to for big family gatherings/mornings are just a regular drip coffee pot while throughout the day it might be the aeropress , v60 or even an espresso. It's very easy to get bogged down in the "perfect" cup but no two cups I've made have been identical and I just live with that fact. If you live beside a roaster/local coffee shop that roasts the best thing to do is go talk to them about the coffee. Water is also a very big component of good coffee as most of what you are drinking is water and there are many companies like Third Wave Coffee (https://thirdwavewater.com) that help with better tasting coffee. I get my coffee from a local roaster that sources direct from East Africa (https://kahawa-company.com) and they've been very helpful in answering tons of my questions.
So what you need is:
1. Good Coffee
2. Good Water
3. Reasonable Grinder
4. A preferred method/ tool (french press, drip, moka pot, aeropress etc)
5. Patience to experiment
How do the various pour-over methods compare to espresso machine type coffee?
I've got a strong preference for coffee brewed using an espresso machine (ie high pressure extraction pushed through a tiny hole), but I'm not really sure what the cause is - is it different levels of extracted compounds? Is there any pour-over methods (ie not pressurised) that are similar?
I've made my coffee using this same method for over 2 years with a plastic V60. It is super simple and requires very little thinking for a consistent cup. The only variables I have to adjust when I get a new bag is the grind size.
I have been doing manual pour-overs for about a decade and never figured out how to balance acidity and sweetness. It always seemed somewhat random and arbitrary to me.
The technique in the video blew my mind. I just tried it, balancing it on the "acidic" side as mine are typically fairly sweet, and it works as advertised.
Thanks 112233 for teaching this old dog how to gain better control over my brew! Now I can impress my coffee-loving guests even further by brewing to their preference.
I am thankful for having a dulled sense of taste because I like cheap coffee and have found my satisfactory level of flavor from a very basic level of effort. This amount of concern over all the factors of brewing a cup of a hot flavored beverage feels to be on the level of sound quality goals for audiophiles, purchasing ever-increasingly expensive accessories.
Well, there are two sides to being into something. One of course is the "hedonistic treadmill" of not being able to put up with "bad" coffee/audio any longer but the other side of it is that you can come to really enjoy something that is small and specific and wholly within your own power and ingenuity.
I think the nature of internet forums (and this particularly applies to audiophile ones) is that they can bring out the most neurotic personally traits - people complaining and making nonsense, unverifiable claims. But there is also the silent majority of people who are thrilled to be able listen to some recording of classical music without having to go to a concert hall (assuming their local orchestra are playing whatever it is).
Also - I don't use a v60 coffee maker so perhaps I don't know but I was under the impression that it's actually a very approachable way to make coffee at home and not that expensive an accessory. (I am on Team Moka Pot, and those really are cheap and easy to operate :))
The audiophile analogy is valid, but only because you can be an audiophile chasing brand names or status (and you will probably get it if you spend enough), or you can be an audiophile that seeks out high quality gear without the snake oil.
Same with coffee makers. I would consider myself a coffee snob but I've ditched all the fancy gear and use a $12 pour over device from OXO. That and a basic water kettle will get you world-class coffee for less than the cost of a basic Mr. Coffee unit.
The audiophile analogy is not a terrible one, particularly given there's "sensible" snake-oil-avoiding audiophiles out there, but there's still a few important differences that make coffee quite different:
1. The expensive accessories thing is actually a bit of a myth.
Espresso is expensive: a good home machine will set you back well over 500 $/€ and can go up into the thousands, and an accompanying grinder is about the same price range again. You can pay over 100 just for a tamper.
But, coffee snobs are typically not into espresso. The two biggest areas of "audiophile-esque" dedication are pourover (v60 funnel ~€4.50) and the infamous International Aeropress Championships (retailing ~€35). Filter-grade grinders are also much cheaper than Espresso, going in the ~€200-€500 range for electric, but most dedicated aficionados prefer manual grinders which retail as low as €25 for a decent quality one.
A part of the above differences is that coffee snobs are into the more direct & involved (slow) process of making
The bigger cost to coffee snobs is beans, retailing usually around triple to quadruple the price of major brands. I guess this could be likened to buying vinyl... ? Though the audiophile community still disagree on whether vinyl is worthwhile.
2. It's not all about taste
Major brand coffee is sold at well below reasonable cost of production. Coffee snobs are buying Direct Trade coffee, which is typically much more sustainable and equitable, even when compared to many of the mass-produced "Fairtrade-labelled" brands. While buying expensive beans will hit your pocket much more severely than the equipment costs, it is at least going toward something.
This could I guess be likened to audiophiles supporting artists by buying albums etc. but I'm not sure if that's generally true of audiophiles specifically (e.g. compared to serial concert-goers)
Like jldl805, I like my coffee too but my only investments are a £10 spice grinder and a Bialetti moka pot for hot coffee, and a muslin bag and a pitcher for cold brew using this[1] technique.
You can absolutely take it to audiophile level but doing something simple like grinding the beans before brewing instead of using pre-ground makes a huge difference. It's like using trash dollar store earbuds vs. a decent pair of headphones. Little bit of effort, huge improvement.
You and me both. I like to joke that I really just love coffee more than everyone else, because I like it equally in all of its forms instead of chasing meticulous preparations.
Coffee is a bit like high end alcohol. There's a world of really amazing experiences out there if you're willing to put in the money and time, and cut through marketing BS.
... but if you're perfectly happy with dewars white label and bud light, I'd recommend never losing that and finding another perfectly good hobby =).
I’m not super picky myself, but coffee is an incredibly fun hobby. There is a ton of equipment to try and endless varieties of beans. A lot of it is easy entry too, you can even roast your own beans with fairly simple equipment.
I'm in a similar yet different boat. I have a heightened sense of taste, but I have relatively terrible taste. I drink it all, black, no sugar. The thicker the better. My preferred brewing method is the one that gets it into my cup quickest.
Same here but perhaps to an even more pond-scum drinking level: instant coffee.
I found one I like (Mount Hagen), it tastes better to me than most exotic coffees my coworkers rave about, and that's it. Cheap, easy to make, taste like coffee.
Now take your hobby, and have someone say "Glad my senses are too dull to care about this".
"I'm glad I have a 5800X so I don't have to care about well-performing code".
Lots of people drink coffee. Many enjoy the taste of good coffee. Some people enjoy brewing the finest coffee as a hobby, just as someone else likes making wooden furniture, writing elegant algorithms, or painting.
[+] [-] forgotmypw17|4 years ago|reply
I know more than 20 different ways of making coffee.
Here is the best coffee brewing method I've come up with.
First, I get some CLEAN water, and I boil it in an unfinished metal or ceramic-finished metal pot. I use a regular pot so that I can see inside. I also like to let a little bit of the water evaporate...
While it's getting ready, I get the best and freshest coffee grounds I can muster, it's better if I can grind them on the spot, but that's not always available.
I put the coffee grounds, as much as I think is necessary, into a glass or ceramic bowl, and pour the boiling water over them. I optionally cover and/or stir and let steep.
After about 5-15 minutes, I pour the coffee into another glass or ceramic bowl, letting the grounds stay at the bottom of the first bowl.
The coffee is now ready for drinking. To keep it warm, I cover it and leave it in the oven for insulation, or use an electric plate. It usually doesn't last long. It's good cold too.
The second best method I know is cold-brewing in a similar fashion, takes a number of hours I haven't tracked yet.
If anyone is interested in learning why this method is better than all the others, please reply with the method you think is better and I will explain why you're wrong. :^)
Edit: The method in the video is quite good, and my only complaint is that it uses disposable filters, which leads to unnecessary materials harvesting, human labor, biome squeeze, diesel use, waste output, and other artifacts of production.
[+] [-] jxy|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wcarss|4 years ago|reply
Your method sounds to me like it'd have some grounds and fines floating around in it, which is okay but I'm not a huge fan personally, and it'll also be multiple things to wash (though, they sound like easy washes). I also don't have nice coverable drinking bowls, or even very nice cookware for boiling water up in.
My method's pretty easy twice a day, but it's not perfect either: I couldn't make this somewhere else, but... I do live here. :) That said, it did take a while for me to find a good grind size with my machine, and to find scales and cups that fit under my espresso machine's group head and had the right range etc required, and I've got to wash my little espresso cup I pour into, and I had to buy my own non-pressurized portafilter basket, so it took some real time to come together right.
I'll have to try your way out!
[+] [-] krono|4 years ago|reply
No inverted method but just doing as it said on the box, except I let it steep for a minute or so before plunging. Freshly ground beans, just using (Dutch) tap water from an all metal kettle.
[+] [-] antiterra|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] neogodless|4 years ago|reply
So that's where I'm at now, buying big packs of paper filters for my Aeropress and V60. I'm not sure how to move past it. I guess I just tell myself it's infinitely better than Keurig for less waste and massively better flavor.
[+] [-] user68858788|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] evilhackerdude|4 years ago|reply
Wondering if there’s a low-bullshit reusable coffee filter medium to remove some of the oils.
What I want to get sorted most right now is water. I use tap water, but I need to filter it because it’s really, really calcareous. Most filters are made of plastic, or at least plastic cartridges with the filter medium. I was thinking about using glass or metal instead and somehow machine a container for the filter medium and buy that stuff in bulk. I really don‘t want to buy bottled water to make coffee.
Any thoughts?
[+] [-] adenozine|4 years ago|reply
What can be done to enjoy coffee, without so much oil?
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] ks6g10|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pkulak|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] boringg|4 years ago|reply
My no-effort method is to get a technivorm (not cheap, but not super expensive) and run that first thing in the morning with fresh grinds -> Super fast for 3+ people and good quality coffee. If I have the time - I'll do a pour over.
[+] [-] stinos|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sizzle|4 years ago|reply
It cleans up quick, pop out the compressed spent coffee grind puck into the trash and rinse under water then you are done!
[+] [-] jptech|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bccdee|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] d13|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baby-yoda|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hahahasure|4 years ago|reply
But I suppose a disposable filter is slightly more.
[+] [-] iamben|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] teekert|4 years ago|reply
Is it time? Temperature? Amount (Probably amount)? Am I stupid?
[+] [-] LoveMortuus|4 years ago|reply
That being said, for almost a year now if not more, I've switched to making coffee the following way: Take a pot fill it with water, add coffee, boil until the foam disappears, wait a few minutes for the coffee to rest. Pour into a cup, if desired add milk and/or sugar, enjoy!
What I like about it, is that due to the size of my pot I can just leave the coffee on the stove and get ready and by the time I'm done, the coffee will also be done.
What's important to remember is that everyone lives their life through their eyes, ears and perspective. Or in the other words, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
You may hate the coffee that I love. And that's okay ^^
[+] [-] ctdonath|4 years ago|reply
Get beans green from SweetMarias.com or the like. Not expensive ($6-9/pound).
Get a cheap hot air popcorn popper. Mine was $3 used from Goodwill.
Pour in 1 cup of beans, turn on. After about 8 minutes you’ll hear beans start to crack - that’s a light roast. Cracking ends for a while - there’s medium. A second round of cracking happens around 9-10 minutes - dark. Past that you get oils extracting and near burned - French roast.
Easy, cheap, fresh.
ETA: https://youtu.be/mBU47Gzda3o
[+] [-] sammalloy|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] michaelgrafl|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hownottowrite|4 years ago|reply
Side Note: If you dislike the texture of French Press, puncture the bloom after 4 minutes of brew time then wait 2-3 minutes before plunging.
[+] [-] creamyhorror|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] natedubyah|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tamiral|4 years ago|reply
So what you need is:
1. Good Coffee 2. Good Water 3. Reasonable Grinder 4. A preferred method/ tool (french press, drip, moka pot, aeropress etc) 5. Patience to experiment
[+] [-] leoedin|4 years ago|reply
I've got a strong preference for coffee brewed using an espresso machine (ie high pressure extraction pushed through a tiny hole), but I'm not really sure what the cause is - is it different levels of extracted compounds? Is there any pour-over methods (ie not pressurised) that are similar?
[+] [-] jackdawed|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jokethrowaway|4 years ago|reply
At the same time, I think I'd take a machine that does espresso over drip
[+] [-] mbakke|4 years ago|reply
The technique in the video blew my mind. I just tried it, balancing it on the "acidic" side as mine are typically fairly sweet, and it works as advertised.
Thanks 112233 for teaching this old dog how to gain better control over my brew! Now I can impress my coffee-loving guests even further by brewing to their preference.
[+] [-] tmaly|4 years ago|reply
I still drink coffee outside the house, but this is my goto when I want a good cup.
[+] [-] failwhaleshark|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DHPersonal|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] calpaterson|4 years ago|reply
I think the nature of internet forums (and this particularly applies to audiophile ones) is that they can bring out the most neurotic personally traits - people complaining and making nonsense, unverifiable claims. But there is also the silent majority of people who are thrilled to be able listen to some recording of classical music without having to go to a concert hall (assuming their local orchestra are playing whatever it is).
Also - I don't use a v60 coffee maker so perhaps I don't know but I was under the impression that it's actually a very approachable way to make coffee at home and not that expensive an accessory. (I am on Team Moka Pot, and those really are cheap and easy to operate :))
[+] [-] jldl805|4 years ago|reply
Same with coffee makers. I would consider myself a coffee snob but I've ditched all the fancy gear and use a $12 pour over device from OXO. That and a basic water kettle will get you world-class coffee for less than the cost of a basic Mr. Coffee unit.
[+] [-] lucideer|4 years ago|reply
1. The expensive accessories thing is actually a bit of a myth.
Espresso is expensive: a good home machine will set you back well over 500 $/€ and can go up into the thousands, and an accompanying grinder is about the same price range again. You can pay over 100 just for a tamper.
But, coffee snobs are typically not into espresso. The two biggest areas of "audiophile-esque" dedication are pourover (v60 funnel ~€4.50) and the infamous International Aeropress Championships (retailing ~€35). Filter-grade grinders are also much cheaper than Espresso, going in the ~€200-€500 range for electric, but most dedicated aficionados prefer manual grinders which retail as low as €25 for a decent quality one.
A part of the above differences is that coffee snobs are into the more direct & involved (slow) process of making
The bigger cost to coffee snobs is beans, retailing usually around triple to quadruple the price of major brands. I guess this could be likened to buying vinyl... ? Though the audiophile community still disagree on whether vinyl is worthwhile.
2. It's not all about taste
Major brand coffee is sold at well below reasonable cost of production. Coffee snobs are buying Direct Trade coffee, which is typically much more sustainable and equitable, even when compared to many of the mass-produced "Fairtrade-labelled" brands. While buying expensive beans will hit your pocket much more severely than the equipment costs, it is at least going toward something.
This could I guess be likened to audiophiles supporting artists by buying albums etc. but I'm not sure if that's generally true of audiophiles specifically (e.g. compared to serial concert-goers)
[+] [-] signal11|4 years ago|reply
[1] https://boingboing.net/2013/07/20/cheap-easy-no-mess-cold-br...
Coffee definitely doesn't have to be a super-expensive hobby.
[+] [-] salamandersauce|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] BugsJustFindMe|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] showerst|4 years ago|reply
... but if you're perfectly happy with dewars white label and bud light, I'd recommend never losing that and finding another perfectly good hobby =).
[+] [-] mxcrossr|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kQq9oHeAz6wLLS|4 years ago|reply
<takes a sip of store-brand instant coffee>
Yep.
(yes, yes, I know, it's terrible..but it's so cheap, and I am if nothing else a major cheapskate)
[+] [-] stronglikedan|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] deeviant|4 years ago|reply
I found one I like (Mount Hagen), it tastes better to me than most exotic coffees my coworkers rave about, and that's it. Cheap, easy to make, taste like coffee.
[+] [-] unethical_ban|4 years ago|reply
"I'm glad I have a 5800X so I don't have to care about well-performing code".
Lots of people drink coffee. Many enjoy the taste of good coffee. Some people enjoy brewing the finest coffee as a hobby, just as someone else likes making wooden furniture, writing elegant algorithms, or painting.
[+] [-] floatingatoll|4 years ago|reply