Nanohedron wrote:
But trust me, it must be roasted. I tried making coffee with green unroasted beans once, thinking it might be in some way analogous to green tea. Well, whether it is or not, green coffee beans are kind of rubbery and don't grind well, and the flavor is freakin' awful. Awful. I almost hurled.
BLAH!!!
When I was still in analytical, I had a run of having to extract green, robusta coffee beans, concentrating the extract from 100mls to 50ul, then injecting that on a instrument and sniffing the volatile compounds as they came off.
Disgusting.
CHasR wrote: If Wawa ever makes a Turkish coffee, Philly , south jersey and Delaware will never, ever, sleep. ever. nope . not one blink. Completely awake.
I drove non-stop from AZ to WI on a pot of Turkish coffee and some baklava, took at least four hours after I got there to relax enough to get some sleep. I'd say I was fairly close to a caffeine OD, loads of fun, of course I guess it could have been the baklava.
In practicing for the Southeast Regional Barista Competition (yes, I competed), there was one night where I probably consumed a total of 25 shots of espresso, a sip here and a sip there. By the end of the night, I could hardly stand I was shaking so violently.
So now, when I'm tasting espresso, I spit it out. It's an important lesson.
Nanohedron wrote:
But trust me, it must be roasted. I tried making coffee with green unroasted beans once, thinking it might be in some way analogous to green tea. Well, whether it is or not, green coffee beans are kind of rubbery and don't grind well, and the flavor is freakin' awful. Awful. I almost hurled.
This is a most satisfying post. I really, really, really thought I must have been the only person in the entire world who'd ever done such a thing....
Someday, everything is gonna be diff'rent
When I paint my masterpiece.
Congratulations wrote:
Important things to note in brewing coffee at home:
1. Get a grinder. Get a BURR grinder. That's the kind where you put coffee in the top and it comes out, ground, from the bottom/side. This is the most important thing. I promise, you'll have the best coffee in your entire neighborhood. It'll cost you like $50-$80 one time.
2. If at all possible, use a gram scale. Not as important, but still important.
3. If you're using a manual method (chemex, french press, not a Mr. Coffee), get a good digital thermometer.
4. Play around with your grind/dose to get the best results. This part is more complicated. If you're interested in what different grinds/doses do to your coffee, let me know. I'll explain.
I have the burr grinder, and I did tinker around with the dosage of the coffee until I found settings that I like, but a gram scale and freakin' thermometer sound too much like work...
I use a Mr.Coffee drip with a brew timer. Just about when my alarm clock rings, I can hear the "blessed gurgle of life" as the coffee finishes brewing. Walking downstairs and getting that first cup is one of the great pleasures of the day. Maybe it COULD technically be "better", but for a minimum of fuss and muss, it'll do.
Do explain about the grinds and doses though if you feel so inclined.
Another thing: Although it is certainly enticing to have your coffee brewed and ready when you wake up in the morning, it's probably not the best thing in the world for the taste of the coffee itself. Quite a lot of the wonderful aromas and such of the coffee leave within the first minute (or so) after you grind it.
You won't much need a thermometer for your Mr. Coffee. It takes care of that (hopefully well). You might check to make sure the water coming out of your Mr. Coffee is an appropriate temperature. You're looking for a temp (Fahrenheit) somewhere around/just above 200 degrees, mostly. Just off the boil, as it were. 208 is a number commonly thrown around. But I wouldn't much worry about it if the machine does it for you.
HERE'S THE DEAL WITH GRIND/DOSE, IN SHORT AND OVERSIMPLIFIED:
If your grind is too fine or if your dose is too small, your coffee will overextracted (bitter). If your grind is too coarse or if your dose is too large, your coffee will be underextracted (weak and maybe sour). That's kind of where it starts. It gets complicated when you try to find that perfect grind/dose balance. With most coffees, there's actually a rather large "window" of good extractions--closer to the underextracted side will tend to get you a sweeter coffee, closer to the overextracted side will tend to get you a drier, more savory coffee. I'd go into what grind settings are appropriate for a given brew method, but every grinder is different. You can't completely trust the markings on your grinder, but they're a good place to start.
The important thing to remember is that coffee-making is a global process. Any small change in any small variable (even stuff like barometric pressure) will show up in the cup. That's why some days the coffee is just better than normal. So anything you can do to maintain consistency is a good thing (thus the suggestion for gram scale and thermometer, if possible). It's all about eliminating variables.
Of course, you can always go to your friendly, local specialty coffee shop. Ask if they're part of the SCAA. "Yes" is the correct answer.
And that's quite enough nerding for now. Any further questions will be answered at my leisure.
This is a most satisfying post. I really, really, really thought I must have been the only person in the entire world who'd ever done such a thing....
