Life is too short for bad coffee - The Off Topic thread

zweton

Whats it like and where did ya order from?

Klopp

zweton wrote: »

Whats it like and where did ya order from?

I ordered from Ponaire ( Irish Roaster ) and it is one of the nicest i have tasted.

caviardreams

Does anyone know if Bailies are affected by Brexit at all? They have 15% off atm!

Bigbooty

Nope, North is still in the customs union so no tariffs.

Bigbooty

Got a clever dripper just to see what the fuss was about. Tried Hoffman's method a few times but something was missing for me. Added my own step and it turned out much better.

Before adding the coffee to the water I added 70g of the water to 20 g of ground coffee in a separate cup. Stirred it and let it bloom for 30-40 seconds. Then transferred it into the clever dripper. Really good.

caviardreams

Bigbooty wrote: »

Before adding the coffee to the water I added 70g of the water to 20 g of ground coffee in a separate cup. Stirred it and let it bloom for 30-40 seconds. Then transferred it into the clever dripper. Really good.

You could do that in the clever dripper itself I guess (not a separate cup) - just pour in 70mls let it bloom, and then pour in the rest?

Bigbooty

Ya I'd imagine so but I'll tinker with it. I've added coffee first and I found it slowed the drawdown to well over 1:30 which isn't ideal. The cup turned out better adding coffee to water.

KnicksInSix

I bloom in the dripper (yes I caved :pac: ) and my draw down is about 65 seconds, full Hoffmann method draw down is about 45 sec for me. I do like the dripper but I haven't the workflow down yet. When I'm back in my own kitchen next week I will try and improve it a bit. Not sure if its my grind or the beans (fresh local stuff 21/12).

Somewhat related, I was gifted a ceramic V60 in the family Secret Santa. Apart from looking and feeling very nice the only noticeable difference I can discern is the finished product is certainly, and obviously, hotter. It is nice enough for me to consider asking my carpenter friend to make a dripper stand/station. Has anyone used a dripper stand as a matter of interest?

cnocbui

Got home from shopping to find the power was out. Robot on the phone said it would be out till 17:45. I'd only had one cup! Saved - I just happen to have some ground coffee to hand in the freezer, which I normally never have, so I was able to get out the mocha pot i haven't used in about 9 years, as I have gas as well as induction.

Yuck. And then to add insult to injury, the power came back on, just as I was pouring the cup. It's going down the sink and I'll fire up the espresso machine and make a decent cup.

Mocha pots just get the water too hot.

Krusty_Clown

cnocbui wrote: »

Got home from shopping to find the power was out. Robot on the phone said it would be out till 17:45. I'd only had one cup! Saved - I just happen to have some ground coffee to hand in the freezer, which I normally never have, so I was able to get out the mocha pot i haven't used in about 9 years, as I have gas as well as induction.

I have a hand grinder and an Aeropress for just that eventuality. Also handy for visiting the rellies - though that's not on the cards for a while.

Got an electric popcorn maker for christmas (definitely needs power!), so going to roast some green beans this evening for the first time. Will keep the fire blanket and extinguisher on hand!

cnocbui

My weak link is the grinder. Perhaps i should grind a small amount and keep that to hand in the freezer for such occasions. I have a Chinese knock-off of a Waccaco nanopresso plastic, portable espresso maker, and it makes an excellent cup, much better than the Mocha.

I should have just boiled some water on the gas and used that instead, but I thought I would try the mocha, armed with the more recent knowledge to use as little heat as posiible. Turns out even that is still too much as on the minimum gas setting and taking it's sweet time, it still doesn't work untill the water has gotten too hot so it cooks the coffee grounds.

I make popcorn in a saucepan with lid, made some last night, as it happens, so I suspect you could roast coffee in a saucepan on a stove. I had an electric popcorn maker but it didn't last very long before expiring.

Krusty_Clown

cnocbui wrote: »

I make popcorn in a saucepan with lid, made some last night, as it happens, so I suspect you could roast coffee in a saucepan on a stove. I had an electric popcorn maker but it didn't last very long before expiring.

The wok seems to be preferred over the saucepan, but the popcorn maker is supposed to give a much more even roast. Sure half the fun is melting the popcorn popper! Would like to be able to roast small batches on demand, so I can buy larger batches of green beans and not worry about staleness, while saving a few quid. I don't have a very big freezer. 3Kg from Adam and Russell for €51 (incl. fixed £10 delivery), and no worries about staleness. Worth the cost of a cheap popcorn popper anyway.

dominatinMC

cnocbui wrote: »

Got home from shopping to find the power was out. Robot on the phone said it would be out till 17:45. I'd only had one cup! Saved - I just happen to have some ground coffee to hand in the freezer, which I normally never have, so I was able to get out the mocha pot i haven't used in about 9 years, as I have gas as well as induction.

Yuck. And then to add insult to injury, the power came back on, just as I was pouring the cup. It's going down the sink and I'll fire up the espresso machine and make a decent cup.

Mocha pots just get the water too hot.

Are Moka pots really as bad as you describe. I use mine all the time and, whilst nowhere near as nice as an espresso from a proper machine, it's more than adequate for home brewing imo. Although maybe my palate isn't as refined as yours :pac:

Damo 2k9

I got a Ponaire Gift Hamper for Christmas, I already have about 500g of Su Nollag from Coffee Angel left, can I put these ponaire bags straight into the freezer as is?

cnocbui

dominatinMC wrote: »

Are Moka pots really as bad as you describe. I use mine all the time and, whilst nowhere near as nice as an espresso from a proper machine, it's more than adequate for home brewing imo. Although maybe my palate isn't as refined as yours :pac:

Unfortunately, I believe so, after using one for multiple decades before switching to an Espresso machine.

The ideal water temperature for coffee extraction is around 91-93° C. A Moka pot boils water at pressure, and as per Rault's law, the boiling point of water at pressure is higher than at normal sea-level atmospheric pressure. Consequently, a moka pot can be extracting coffee with water that is actually above the normal boiling point of 100° C, which is too hot anyway, producing a burnt/bitter taste component.

This has been experimentally confirmed:
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00618977/document

Glebee

Have decided im going to try and cut out sugar(sweeteners) in my coffee entirely. So from now on its black, no sugar please. I used to use 3 sweeteners.
Two days in and its like trying to give up the cigarettes again.. Its not easy.

Hodors Appletart

yeah I've never gotten good coffee from a moka pot

wonder does the method of heating matter, we have an electric hob

would gas make a difference?

dominatinMC

cnocbui wrote: »

Unfortunately, I believe so, after using one for multiple decades before switching to an Espresso machine.

The ideal water temperature for coffee extraction is around 91-93° C. A Moka pot boils water at pressure, and as per Rault's law, the boiling point of water at pressure is higher than at normal sea-level atmospheric pressure. Consequently, a moka pot can be extracting coffee with water that is actually above the normal boiling point of 100° C, which is too hot anyway, producing a burnt/bitter taste component.

This has been experimentally confirmed:
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00618977/document

Cheers, appreciate the detailed reply - and the document, will definitely have a look at that later!
Just wondering, what would you recommend/what is generally recommended as a Moka alternative? Something fairly inexpensive and quick that gives a good espresso - maybe Aeropress/V60? I've never used anything other than Moka

adrian522

I think it is greatly improved by preheating the water before adding to the Moka Pot. Then the usual thing of keeping your equipment clean, grinding fresh etc and you should get good results.

https://www.stumptowncoffee.com/blog/brew-guides-moka-pot

adrian522

dominatinMC wrote: »

Cheers, appreciate the detailed reply - and the document, will definitely have a look at that later!
Just wondering, what would you recommend/what is generally recommended as a Moka alternative? Something fairly inexpensive and quick that gives a good espresso - maybe Aeropress/V60? I've never used anything other than Moka

Bailies are giving a free V60 Kit with an order of 2 bags of coffee now, or they were at least. Good place to start as it is pretty cheap.

Aeropress is also a good option and would be closer to espresso than a V60 which is more like a traditional black coffee.

dominatinMC

adrian522 wrote: »

Bailies are giving a free V60 Kit with an order of 2 bags of coffee now, or they were at least. Good place to start as it is pretty cheap.

Aeropress is also a good option and would be closer to espresso than a V60 which is more like a traditional black coffee.

Cheers, I was actually considering an Aeropress for a while. Might as well bite the bullet so

adrian522

There are around a million different ways of brewing with the aeropress, its very flexible. Well worth the price in any case.

Krusty_Clown

Here's the results of my first popcorn popper roasting experiment: One is roasted by Badger and Dodo, the other is from the Popcorn popper. Can you tell which is which? :rolleyes:

While it's pretty obvious, I'm pretty happy with the even-ness of the roast. Look forward to giving the coffee a try tomorrow, after the beans have had a chance to de-gas. The roast process took about three minutes, for around 90g green beans, which is probably a little quick, so for my next experiment, will play around with slowing the process using more beans, and liberal use of the popper's on/off button. Managed to contain most of the chaff, and the smoke for the most part went up through the extractor fan. Hopefully tastes good. In any case, have ordered 3kg of green beans. I'm an 'all-in' kind of person.

adrian522

Looks good, let us know how it tastes!

Krusty_Clown

adrian522 wrote: »

Looks good, let us know how it tastes!

Will do! 'Krusty's House of Brown' opening Q2 2021. May need to work on the branding.

Damo 2k9

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

I got a Ponaire Gift Hamper for Christmas, I already have about 500g of Su Nollag from Coffee Angel left, can I put these ponaire bags straight into the freezer as is?

So I put each 250g bag into a ziploc bag, squeezed the air out of both the coffee itself through the one way valve as well as the ziploc bag, and put into the freezer, heres hoping I havent ruined 5 bags!! :pac:

Although from reading back on the forum, it seems to be common enough.

caviardreams

What roast type do people choose for clever dripper? cafetiere?
Seems like the closest option - others are pour over, aeropress, or moka pot

cnocbui

dominatinMC wrote: »

Cheers, appreciate the detailed reply - and the document, will definitely have a look at that later!
Just wondering, what would you recommend/what is generally recommended as a Moka alternative? Something fairly inexpensive and quick that gives a good espresso - maybe Aeropress/V60? I've never used anything other than Moka

I haven't tried one, but everyone seems to rave about the Aeropress. Personal experience, wise, the next best thing to a proper espresso machine has been a Waccaco nanopresso knock-off like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AKlamater-Pressure-Espresso-Portable-Campaing/dp/B08NSWYGH2/ref=pd_day0_200_2/262-1565910-8879505?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B08NSWYGH2&pd_rd_r=0a9d5c61-1c3d-41b9-b2df-a14b37c9772c&pd_rd_w=KQtz5&pd_rd_wg=UvZWy&pf_rd_p=82bea144-0110-40ad-957f-5614a5716224&pf_rd_r=QMQFBZ33JWWYWH3W9FDS&psc=1&refRID=QMQFBZ33JWWYWH3W9FDS

And the flip over Neapolitan type Italian coffee makers can produce a much nicer result than a moka, IMO: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ilsa-Napoletana-Coffee-Stainless-Silver/dp/B003HDFBNI/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=flip+coffee+maker&qid=1609958204&s=kitchen&sr=1-9

The coffee is in a compartment in the middle, you heat it on the stove then invert it and the coffee flows into the bottom receiver. This allows you to let it cool from boiling a bit, or pull it off before it gets that hot.

Bigbooty

caviardreams wrote: »

What roast type do people choose for clever dripper? cafetiere?

I personally only use light to medium roasts for all filter coffee including the clever. Most good roasters specify espresso or filter but many also Omni roast. I don't know why they don't specify this as I'd imagine it's off-putting for some if you're not familiar with the roaster already.

caviardreams

Cool - might go for "pour over" roast then this time round and see