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Let’s talk coffee
- Thread starter jmattbassplaya
- Start date
I tried many different coffees, including some exotic from Trinidad, but Supercrema is the one. Gaggia Classic rocks!
the Supercrema is just really smooth. I agree about the Gaggia too.
For those who are more knowledgeable than I, how much of a difference does the freshness of whole bean coffee matter? From experience, it seems like freshly roasted coffee tastes better than whole bean that may have been in a bag for several weeks, but I don't know what science may support that. It may be the beans they use and not the length of time it's been in a bag.
Is it subject to the same oxidation as ground coffee, just slower in whole bean form?
Is it subject to the same oxidation as ground coffee, just slower in whole bean form?
If it's strong and black, I'm in. Aside from that I really don't care a lot.
R.A. Heinlein wrote in Glory Road: "Coffee comes in five descending stages: coffee, java, jamoke, joe, and carbon remover."
I'm good with anything in the top three stages.
R.A. Heinlein wrote in Glory Road: "Coffee comes in five descending stages: coffee, java, jamoke, joe, and carbon remover."
I'm good with anything in the top three stages.
You get out what you put in. It is all still coffee, but fresh-roasted coffee tastes amazing, provided it is a quality bean. After a few weeks, you still have coffee and it can be "good", but it won't be amazing. After that, the coffee takes on a "cardboard-ish" smell and kinda tastes the same....like cardboard. You will get out what you put in.
How you store the coffee will also affect how quickly it will turn. A cool, air-sealed environment can do wonders.
- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,222
- 45,020
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
Today we did a comparison - same beans. Not a double blind study, and only 4 data points (me and my wife and daughters).
Same beans, same amount.
Ground in my old Braun blade grinder and poured into my old and very basic french press for "sample 1".
Ground the other in the new Oso burr grinder and poured into the new double filter french press for "sample 2".
Brewed both for the same amount of time.
Sample 1 was noticeably both blander and more bitter - sample two was richer and smoother.
Good gear (or perhaps expectations and optimism...) FTW!
Can we talk bad coffee? Some time in the late 1980s the Howard Johnson's on the Pa. Turnpike, and probably other places, served coffee made from condensed coffee syrup which I believe they made in quantity in their old coffee urns. Just add water and let it set on the heat for a few hours.
It's up there in the Worst Coffee of a Lifetime category. I haven't had anything that bad since. Not even the weak, brown liquid they served in the Aemy came close.
I'm not sure how long it lasted, I waited till my exit to tank up, but it may be one of the reasons They went under.
It's up there in the Worst Coffee of a Lifetime category. I haven't had anything that bad since. Not even the weak, brown liquid they served in the Aemy came close.
I'm not sure how long it lasted, I waited till my exit to tank up, but it may be one of the reasons They went under.
Way to go with that little sample comparison to prove it to yourself. Well done.
Blade grinder is an oxymoron, ha. They just rip and shred beans.
Next up, get yourself a Kruve and you can really dial in your coffee.
-Mike
I’ve been working on this all week as a kind of morning zen exercise. I can’t do it all in one long slow pour yet, but getting closer. It’s kind of a nice ritual to start the day, before my brain starts jumping around to all of the crap that needs to happen that day.
Caffeine is my drug of choice on the gig!
My POR:
Fresh Local Roast (Medium) beans. Currently Peruvian.
1ZPresso Manual Burr grinder, 30g grind
Hario V60 pour over funnel
Ovalware Paperless Stainless Funnel
Lafeeca Thermal Carafe, 800 ml
Cuisinart non-pour-over kettle.
I had a Bonavita pour over kettle; which worked well, was expensive, and died a week after the 1 year warranty ran out.
So, I went back to a standard pour kettle; which does disturb the bed of grounds a lot more. My solution is to simply agitate the bed more frequently to keep it uniform. It’s a bit more fussy; but, I can’t discriminate any flavor diffs.
1 minute minimum bloom to get the CO2 out of the grind.
I find the Lafeeca carafe at 800 ml to be right at the limit of getting the most extraction before the bitters enter into the palette.
Going to the gig, I’ll filter directly into a Starbucks tumbler for the road, and finish into a mug.
I’ve looked at the Breville burr grinder and Espresso machine. I do like the stronger brew for an Americano. But, the capital cost doesn’t match up with the advantages.
FWIW; Enjoy!
My POR:
Fresh Local Roast (Medium) beans. Currently Peruvian.
1ZPresso Manual Burr grinder, 30g grind
Hario V60 pour over funnel
Ovalware Paperless Stainless Funnel
Lafeeca Thermal Carafe, 800 ml
Cuisinart non-pour-over kettle.
I had a Bonavita pour over kettle; which worked well, was expensive, and died a week after the 1 year warranty ran out.
So, I went back to a standard pour kettle; which does disturb the bed of grounds a lot more. My solution is to simply agitate the bed more frequently to keep it uniform. It’s a bit more fussy; but, I can’t discriminate any flavor diffs.
1 minute minimum bloom to get the CO2 out of the grind.
I find the Lafeeca carafe at 800 ml to be right at the limit of getting the most extraction before the bitters enter into the palette.
Going to the gig, I’ll filter directly into a Starbucks tumbler for the road, and finish into a mug.
I’ve looked at the Breville burr grinder and Espresso machine. I do like the stronger brew for an Americano. But, the capital cost doesn’t match up with the advantages.
FWIW; Enjoy!
Walmart Great Value Classic Roast, pretty strong into a French Press for 5-10 minutes. Every morning.
it definitely matters. lots of "real" experts will give their idea of when is ideal to drink after roasting. basically, you do want freshly roasted coffee.
oxidation/degradation of flavor is way, way faster on pre-ground - think of how much more surface area there is compared to whole bean.
That's what I assumed. There's some kind of rate of oxidation which is obviously much slower (or nearly zero?) with properly packaged whole bean coffee. Freshly roasted (within 1-2 weeks) coffee tastes "better" to me, but wasn't sure if there was science behind it.
We blend our freshly roasted coffee about 60/40 with pre-ground coffee for flavor and cost reasons. It works well for us.
Like a lot of you I know how exactly I like my coffee. Of the local coffees at a reasonable price my daily choice is Ruta Maya Medium roast, Espresso ground daily in a French press with a pinch of kosher salt. Although if my jazz band keeps playing Mozart's on the Lake their medium roast whole bean coffee is very good and I can usually get a bag free, can't beat free!
For cold brew I use 50/50 blend of a dark roast and medium roast again to an espresso fineness and let soak overnight.
For cold brew I use 50/50 blend of a dark roast and medium roast again to an espresso fineness and let soak overnight.
im not sure what budget you aim for when brewing daily, but i LOVE this coffee and it's really pretty cheap:
Shop Brazil, Medium Roast - Browny Coffee Roasters
Buy the medium roast coffee originating from Cerrado Brazil. Has notes of Almond, Cinnamon, Apple which is medium roast and processed by Dry (Natural).
brownycoffee.com
i tend to love brazilian coffee/lower acidity, and although there are some that are "better," it's honestly only marginally (maybe 5% better tasting, realistically) but they're more than 2x the price. $56 for 5 pounds vs some others that are $22 for 12 oz.
i do drink a lot of coffee (maybe 110ish grams per day?) so we go through the 5 pounds fast, but it still tastes great even after we've gone through 5 pounds.
There is science behind it just as there is science behind the roasting of the bean. If you want to learn more about the science of roasting coffee search for Maillard reaction and coffee. It's not unique to coffee roasting, but is a big factor in how roasters roast.
As for the roasted bean, oxygen and light are the two main factors causing your coffee to lose flavor and go stale. Moisture and heat are also factors, but the air and light have a bigger impact. The science behind that comes from how the oxygen will degrade the oils (the natural flavors) in the coffee bean rapidly accelerating the decrease in flavor and aroma.
A good way to know if your coffee is stale, besides the flavor and aroma, is how it looks and responds when you brew it. For example, a pour over bloom will be less bubbly and kind of blah looking.
You can freeze your coffee beans to make them last longer, but be sure the bag is airtight and the beans are at least a week past roasting date. Freezing stale coffee beans won't bring back the flavor though.
Keep your beans in an airtight container, we use Airscapes, and away from light in a cool dry spot.
For best results, grind your beans just before you plan to use them and grind just enough for what you're making. You could get away with grinding I'd say up to 15-20 minutes ahead of time and still be ok. If the coffee is freshly roasted, maybe even 30 minutes.
My apologies for that rambling novel. Coffee is my thing like bass is for some of you.
-Mike
Yeah, this got me thinking. We drink a locally roasted coffee, because we love the flavor, and the price is affordable. It's a roaster called EOTE in OKC. I just ran the calcs, and it looks like spend about $4.21/day to brew our 12 cups in the morning. It works out to roughly $126/mo on just the coffee. If my calculations are correct, we could cut that to $2.35/day and $71/mo if we started getting their 5 lb bags. We'd need just over 1 bag per month.im not sure what budget you aim for when brewing daily, but i LOVE this coffee and it's really pretty cheap:
Shop Brazil, Medium Roast - Browny Coffee Roasters
Buy the medium roast coffee originating from Cerrado Brazil. Has notes of Almond, Cinnamon, Apple which is medium roast and processed by Dry (Natural).
i tend to love brazilian coffee/lower acidity, and although there are some that are "better," it's honestly only marginally (maybe 5% better tasting, realistically) but they're more than 2x the price. $56 for 5 pounds vs some others that are $22 for 12 oz.
i do drink a lot of coffee (maybe 110ish grams per day?) so we go through the 5 pounds fast, but it still tastes great even after we've gone through 5 pounds.
If the beans can hold flavor well over a roughly month timeframe if stored correctly, then this is certainly an option we need to consider.
I dunno. I have a 4 cup Mister Coffee filter drip coffee maker. I’ve been using two TBL spoons of Aldi’s German Roast coffee, a little creamer and sweetener.and depending on proportions can get an approximation of FiveBucks Coffee, to a nice after diner brew.
