Coffee: drip vs percolate vs...

[Nitroz]

I will get some pictures of the Nuova Simonelli tommorow when I am at the shop.

I would like to see what others are using. Post some pics.

To the OP, great thread!:thumbsup:

 

[Flying Turtle]

I like using the French Press and grinding my beans. Not a coffee snob, by any means. I'll still down a cup or two of instant most any day.

Geoff

 

[kwkarth]

You forgot to include an "other" category since my favorite brewing method is not listed in your poll.

My preferred method is to use the Aeropress, one cup at a time.

3 scoops of beans, ground to fine drip, water 10 seconds off boil. Add water to grounds and stir for 10 seconds, then press water and grounds mixture into cup through lab grade filter paper. Fill remaining mug space with hot water to fill mug.

 

[ElectronGuru]

Re: Poll: What are your favorite coffee brewing methods?

It's interesting to note that the topic (question) addressed by the OP has only been addressed by one responding reply.

Actually, I started with a title of "Coffee: drip vs percolate" and upon seeing how quickly the scope needed to expand, I changed it to "Coffee: drip vs percolate vs...". Having moved from drip to percolation and being very much happier, I was seeking other experiences. But I didn't want to bias the answers. BTW, this is the wonderful percolator in question:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006IV0Q/?tag=cpf0b6-20​

But yes, lets please keep roasting tips under low heat... :nana:

 

[gswitter]

My preferred method is to use the Aeropress, one cup at a time.

3 scoops of beans, ground to fine drip, water 10 seconds off boil. Add water to grounds and stir for 10 seconds, then press water and grounds mixture into cup through lab grade filter paper. Fill remaining mug space with hot water to fill mug.

I love the Aeropress, but I can never justify the amount of beans required to make a single cup based on their directions. I've had pretty good results from 1/2 or 1/3 the beans for the same amount of water and stirring for 2-3 times as long.

 

[LuxLuthor]

You forgot to include an "other" category since my favorite brewing method is not listed in your poll.

My preferred method is to use the Aeropress, one cup at a time.

3 scoops of beans, ground to fine drip, water 10 seconds off boil. Add water to grounds and stir for 10 seconds, then press water and grounds mixture into cup through lab grade filter paper. Fill remaining mug space with hot water to fill mug.

Can you say a bit more about your technique of obtaining the right water temp? I understand 10 seconds, but are you using a clear glass kettle, where you can see when the water is just starting a few bubbles vs. a full "rolling" boil which did not give me the result of the Technivorm brewing temp. I know water boils at 212°F which I assume would be associated with a "rolling/full" boil whistling kettle.

Boyd's has this Brewing Guide description on their site:

Temperature

A second requirement of water for good coffee brewing is the water temperature as it passes over the coffee grounds. Ideal brewing temperature is 200°F, plus or minus 5°F (at sea level). Subtract 2°F for every 1,000 feet of elevation. Too low a temperature causes flavor compounds not to dissolve resulting in an under extracted weak beverage. Too high a temperature will cause flavor changes resulting in an over-extracted bitter and astringent beverage. By maintaining the proper temperature throughout the brew cycle, optimum extraction can be attained.

Gourmet Coffee Shop has this guide....but there is just starting to bubble, and a full boil that is not distinguished.

When brewing your coffee you should always ensure that the temperature is between 195 F and 205 F. This is vital, as the correct temperature is needed in order to extract the best flavors from ground coffee.

If you are not using a coffee maker it can be hard to judge the correct temperature. The easy way to do this is to bring your water just to the boil and then allow it to stand for a minute before brewing. If you are using an electric drip coffeemaker you should make sure the model you choose has at least 1200 watts and at the correct temperature it should take approximately six minutes to make a ten cup pot. An important point to remember is never to boil coffee, this ruins the flavor.

 

[brucec]

I have one of those aluminum Moka pots, but don't use it anymore because I don't like the taste of aluminum. Thanks for all the info on the stainless versions. In the meantime, I've been using a French press. After reading all of these posts, I think I'll give the Aeropress a try.

While I certainly appreciate a properly brewed cup of coffee or espresso, when it comes down to it, I'll drink practically anything. I might be drinking luke warm stale hotel conference room coffee and thinking, "wow, this coffee is unbelievably bad", but it's going down the hatch anyway. Heck, I'll even eat coffee beans if given no other options...

 

[cernobila]

First, thank you for the poll......We use the French press if we make real coffee but mostly due to being lazy, I drink the instant stuff when on my own and have things to do......I remember when I was young, my parents used no equipment at all, (except for the hand grinder to grind the coffee beans to the right texture) the skill of good coffee was all in the beans and how they were treated from start to finish, just as mentioned here. The ground coffee was placed in the cup and the water went in, left alone for a specific time and then ready to drink. Quite often the cup was turned over on the plate and the coffee "sludge" left behind was "read" by fortune tellers...........I have to drink more good real coffee and lower the consumption of the instant stuff.

 

[mudman cj]

You forgot to include an "other" category since my favorite brewing method is not listed in your poll.

I created the poll but due to the merging of the threads I am now unable to edit it. Perhaps a moderator can add an "other" category.

 

[Pellidon]

I have a Chemex drip pot and a Bodum version of the same. Looks like a mad scientist chemical beaker. Those are my faves. Then I have a Keruig K-cup single serve machine. Have a Senseo Pod machine but since Target stopped selling my fave pod I haven't found a suitable replacement. I like the moka pots as well and have had pretty good luck with them.

I did a beta test on a wiki site last year and made this page. It has some home coffee geek making equipment.

 

[bullfrog]

Re: Coffee: drip vs percolate

Ya know what is the hardest thing to find....a large 20oz mug that has a lip to prevent dribbling down the side. I finally found a brand made by North Creek Cabin Company, and one listing is here. The dolphin & sailfish are truly beautiful mugs.

Hi Lux, I totally agree! It is really hard to find a good BIG mug - I've been using the same couple of oversized University of Wisconsin mugs that we've had for years (wife's alma mater) - they've been the best and biggest I could find. I love a good mug that works your forearms while you drink

Thanks for that link - GREAT site. Being a northeastern fly fisherman I'm a bit biased towards my trout My wife has been alerted and the site added to the "gift list!" Really digging the rainbow trout :twothumbs

I guess we sorta cheat counting my cups considering my mug holds maybe three :tinfoil:

 

[kwkarth]

Can you say a bit more about your technique of obtaining the right water temp? I understand 10 seconds, but are you using a clear glass kettle, where you can see when the water is just starting a few bubbles vs. a full "rolling" boil which did not give me the result of the Technivorm brewing temp. I know water boils at 212°F which I assume would be associated with a "rolling/full" boil whistling kettle.

Boyd's has this Brewing Guide description on their site:



Gourmet Coffee Shop has this guide....but there is just starting to bubble, and a full boil that is not distinguished.

Sure Lux,
The way I produce hot water is using an electric hot water kettle. I used a Braun for years until it started to fall apart. About a year ago I bought an Oster stainless electric hot water kettle that has served fairly well, but it is not the holy grail. (more about that later)

The Oster heats the water until it reaches a rolling boil then throttles down to a hot water hold setting at 190F.

Since 212 is too hot and 190 is too cold, somewhere in between is just right. Brewing coffee with too hot a water temperature will yield the characteristic rancidy over extracted flavor, while using too cool of a water temperature will yeild too thin tasting a brew, lacking the full bodied flavor that good coffee is capable of producing. I could monitor the temperature with a probe, but c'mmon, we don't want to go overboard do we?

Subjectively, I experimented with waiting for different amounts of time, and came upon what works best for me. After the water has come to a boil, the sound of the boiling eventually subsides. 10 seconds after complete silence is when I begin my pour. I leave the 190F warmer on to slow the further rate of cooling until I'm done with making my cup of coffee.

BTW, I do use filtered water. Good water, is, as many say, an essential component of good coffee.

My next hot water kettle will be the Breville 820 which lets one choose the exact temperature. Check the link below. On the site, they have a short demo video:

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/prod...g&cm_cat=NexTag&cm_pla=default&cm_ite=default

The Breville Variable Temperature Water Kettle is a tea lover's dream come true for quickly and conveniently heating water to specific temperatures for precision brewing tea. This 1500-watt electric kettle has 5 pre-set brewing temperatures, for Green Tea (175° F), White Tea (185° F), Oolong Tea (195° F), French Press (200° F) and black tea and boiling (212° F). It features a stylish brushed stainless steel multi-directional base and jug, left and right handed water level indicators with blue backlighting, can hold temperatures up to 20 minutes and a removable scale filter. The hard part is figuring out what to actually drink. 1.8 Liter
Fast boil 1500 watt concealed element
Allows for precision tea and coffee brewing to elicit the perfect drinking profile
Water level indicators are located on both sides of the kettle for the left and right handed viewing
Blue backlight behind water window
Brushed stainless steel base and jug
Multi-directional base
Removable Scale Filter


Cheers!

 

[kwkarth]

Someone mentioned in an earlier post that they couldn't bring themselves to use an aeropress because it required so much coffee per cup...

I agree to a point. (more about this later...)

I use 60-90ml (2 to 3 scoops) of whole beans per 16 oz mug.
The quantity of coffee varies depending upon the particular bean and my mood.

I like my coffee black and really strong. I only drink one cup a day 9 out of 10 days. Many days I drink no coffee at all.

If coffee were made to the strength that I prefer by a traditional method, it would probably peal paint, and certainly not taste very good. I hate bitter coffee.

The secret to obtaining paint blistering strength with no bitterness is as follows;

• Use really good top notch freshly roasted (full city or less and less than a week out of the roaster) beans.
• Use the right temperature water.
• Make sure that the grounds are in contact with the water no longer than 1 minute total time before extraction.

So I add the ground coffee to the aeropress and place it on top of my coffee mug. I begin to add water. As I do, the grounds foam up considerably (this is a good thing contrary to what Boyd's website claims) and stop adding water when I have the chamber about 1/3 to 1/2 full. I stir the mixture with the supplied stirring paddle for about 10 seconds. (Actually, I just stir enough to make sure all of the grounds are fully hydrated) Then I continue to add water until the chamber is topped off. I dribble a bit more hot water in as the foam subsides for another few seconds.

I then insert the plunger and extract all of the coffee from the aeropress.

I rinse out the aeropress and put it away (takes about 30 seconds to soap and rinse every part.)

Turning back to my coffee mug, I add enough hot water to fill it up and I'm done.

The extraction process produces maybe 4 to 5 ounces of highly concentrated coffee extract so adding over 10 ounces of water to that completes the process.

This produces for me, the sweet nectar of the gods.

Here's how I rationalize it for myself;

• The taste is so amazingly good, it doesn't matter how much coffee it takes
• It's only 1 cup a day at most.
• I roast my own coffee beans so the cost of the beans (as long as I don't factor in the cost of all the roasters I've bought) is minimal. I pay anywhere between 3 to 5 bux a pound for most of my coffees.
• The wife doesn't like her coffee as strong as I and uses a single cup filter cone because she thinks the Aeropress is too much trouble. Besides that, she uses cream and sugar, so who cares what the coffee tasts like?

Qualifiers:

• If I were making 10 cups for company, I would not use this method, for one or two guests, yah, ok.
• For a room full of people I would use the electric vacuum pot that I have or buy a Technivorm.

 

[da.gee]

I guess I'm a dripper. Too lazy or busy to roast my own beans although I thought long and hard about it. Still may someday. Scared I might really like it!

The combo pictured below with Trader Joe's French Roast ground fresh everyday does me fine. Several times at social gatherings people have remarked on how good the coffee tastes. It is most definitely better tasting than the run of the mill consumer brewers I had prior to the Technivorm. The Maestro is a burr grinder.

I include my favorite portable stainless cups in case anyone can point me to some good modern models. Both these were purchased probably a decade or more ago from Starbucks and I have never, in all these years, found any that work better. Believe me I have tried to find a good one. My mother-in-law has the same situation; a couple stainless cups from Starbucks she guards with her life that are a decade old.

You can have my stainless cup when you pry it from my cold, dead, coffee-stained hand!

 

[Diesel_Bomber]

While I certainly appreciate a properly brewed cup of coffee or espresso, when it comes down to it, I'll drink practically anything. I might be drinking luke warm stale hotel conference room coffee and thinking, "wow, this coffee is unbelievably bad", but it's going down the hatch anyway. Heck, I'll even eat coffee beans if given no other options...

This is funny, but I'm the same way. Wet? Contain caffeine? Okay sure I'll drink it. One of my best buddies will eat coffee grounds out of a coffee can with a spoon, just like cereal. I'm not that bad.

Once I had just finished working 14 hours in near 100 degree temps(I'm uncomfy in anything over ~75 or so, 100 nearly killed me) and was driving back to my house when I saw a sign saying "coffee 1/4 mile ahead, start slowing down now." Hehe, okay! Stopped in and bought the biggest iced mocha they had with as many extra shots as would fit in the cup. No whipped cream(why dillute coffee w/ whipped cream?). Strong enough to take my breath away with every sip and not the slightest bit bitter, undoubtedly the best coffee of my life. Fast forward to two months later, my wife and I are driving home after spending four days vacationing at our beach house. Absolutely no hardship whatsoever. This coffee shack is only a couple miles out of our way, so we stop in. Ordered exactly the same thing from exactly the same barrista. :sick2: Did not taste the same.

Lesson relearned: Hunger really is the best seasoning.

To the OP's question, I prefer a french press. I would not feed percolator coffee to my dog, and I don't even have a dog. If you're not a snob ( :kiss: ) you can get decent coffee out of a cheap drip coffee pot by leaving it OFF and pouring your own near-boiling water into the filter basket, and only making a cup or two at a time. Whatever will drain through in less than 2.5 minutes or so. Or dump a good sized cup of coffee grounds straight into the pot of near-boiling water. Let it sit a minute or so, dump in a cup of cold water to get the grounds to settle, then pour the sludge off the top. Yum.

:buddies:

 

[kwkarth]

This is funny, but I'm the same way. Wet? Contain caffeine? Okay sure I'll drink it. One of my best buddies will eat coffee grounds out of a coffee can with a spoon, just like cereal. I'm not that bad.

Once I had just finished working 14 hours in near 100 degree temps(I'm uncomfy in anything over ~75 or so, 100 nearly killed me) and was driving back to my house when I saw a sign saying "coffee 1/4 mile ahead, start slowing down now." Hehe, okay! Stopped in and bought the biggest iced mocha they had with as many extra shots as would fit in the cup. No whipped cream(why dillute coffee w/ whipped cream?). Strong enough to take my breath away with every sip and not the slightest bit bitter, undoubtedly the best coffee of my life. Fast forward to two months later, my wife and I are driving home after spending four days vacationing at our beach house. Absolutely no hardship whatsoever. This coffee shack is only a couple miles out of our way, so we stop in. Ordered exactly the same thing from exactly the same barrista. :sick2: Did not taste the same.

Lesson relearned: Hunger really is the best seasoning.

To the OP's question, I prefer a french press. I would not feed percolator coffee to my dog, and I don't even have a dog. If you're not a snob ( :kiss: ) you can get decent coffee out of a cheap drip coffee pot by leaving it OFF and pouring your own near-boiling water into the filter basket, and only making a cup or two at a time. Whatever will drain through in less than 2.5 minutes or so. Or dump a good sized cup of coffee grounds straight into the pot of near-boiling water. Let it sit a minute or so, dump in a cup of cold water to get the grounds to settle, then pour the sludge off the top. Yum.

:buddies:

Maybe the second time you visited the shop, their batch of coffe was stale/bad?? :sick2:


Good advice! Yeah, those methods you mentioned will work pretty well!
I've been there and done that. I also totally agree with your statement about percolator coffee and we have three dogs. They'll generaly eat or drink anything, (well, two of them would) but I'm sure they would wonder if I was trying to poison them if I set percolated coffee in front of them.

 

[LuxLuthor]

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/prod...g&cm_cat=NexTag&cm_pla=default&cm_ite=default

The Breville Variable Temperature Water Kettle is a tea lover's dream come true for quickly and conveniently heating water to specific temperatures for precision brewing tea. This 1500-watt electric kettle has 5 pre-set brewing temperatures

LOL! Oh you just happened to have known about something so perfect like this, didn't you! There goes $150 as I just ordered it. Although I love my Technivorm, I also want the option of having the perfect brewing temp options like this. Seriously, thanks!

 

[kwkarth]

LOL! Oh you just happened to have known about something so perfect like this, didn't you! There goes $150 as I just ordered it. Although I love my Technivorm, I also want the option of having the perfect brewing temp options like this. Seriously, thanks!

Well, you know what they say...

"Welcome to CandlepowerForums, sorry about your wallet."

I'm going to try and make it over to Williams Sonoma tomorrow to pick one up.

 

[kramer5150]

Coffee noob and I prefer a french press. Its so simple and easy and to my unrefined taste it tastes good.

 

[Nitroz]

Here is the machine that the Wife and I use at our ice cream shop.