how do you make coffee?

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hunter

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This thread may have been here already but looking at someone's thread about a drip coffee pot for >$150 (no criticism here - I have bought expensive stuff like that in the pats). But I'm curious how folks like their coffee ?

I personally grind the beans then use a percolator.
 
We get locally-roasted beans (Anderson's Coffee Company...Java Pantjur!), and grind them fresh for each pot.

Boil water in a kettle on the stove. Use a Melitta drip-cone with brown paper filter, set directly on top of a thermal "air pot" carafe so the coffee never gets heated or burned.

When the water's boiled, turn it off, remove the top of the kettle and let it sit while you grind the beans and arrange the filter cone. Pour just enough hot water through to thoroughly wet the grounds, and then WAIT for about thirty seconds.

Then pour the rest of the kettle of water through at a steady, slow pace. Let it finish draining and cap the carafe...perfect coffee, stays hot for about four hours.
 
8 O'Clock coffee ground in a vintage Kitchenaid coffee mill, perked in a Corningware Electromatic percolator and served (of course) in cornflower Centura mugs.

veg

veg-o-matic++10-8-2009-10-32-12.jpg
 
Peet's Major Dickason's Blend/bottled water/Melita brown filter in a Zojirushi BD15 with thermal carafe.
 
Freshly ground

100% Arabica beans (Blue Mountain Jamaica when possible even before it was 'in' and especially now it is 'out')
Fresh cold water brought just to boiling at 7000 feet and just under at sea level.
A once through system, whether Italian 'Espresso' maker (which isn't, yes we had that discussion once) or the Melita filter system through a wonderful antique Melita porcelain 104 filter.
Drunk at once, no keeping and no aluminum anything.

Black.

My American friends say my coffee is four x too strong for them, I find American percolated coffee in general undrinkable. Too weak by far and burned on top of it.
 
Well...

...I understand what coffee experts say about percolation. However I think the bigger problem with American coffee is that:

1. it is too weak - you MUST use at least 1 tablespoon/15 ml of coffee per 6 ounce 'cup'
2. it is usually a roast that is too dark - I seem to be one of the few people on earth who detest starbucks (personal preference only, please i don't want a pro-vs-anti starbucks rant from anyone because i'm not trying to be offensive).
3. the water is only so-so (I use an antichlorine filter).
4. It is made in aluminum - which is OKAY but it does add a flavor that stainless steel or glass percolators don't have.

I am with panthera -- most coffee here in USA is way too weak. I'd rather have ONE cup of proper strength than FIVE cups that taste (to me) like dishwater.

I, too, drink my coffee black. I want to taste coffee, not cream/fake cream/or sugar. But that's also personal preference - as all these are, really.
 
corningware

The corningware percolator is very attractive. Interestingly enough, I have one as well, and a modern kitchenaid coffee bean grinder - though I bought mine at Goodwill for $3. (I am in the mode of 'spend no large sum of money on modern small appliances because I question their long term quality and reliability')
 
I think a lot depends on the beans one chooses. We threw a big party for my mom's 90th birthday and with much dread, I hauled the aluminum 30-cup percolator up from the basement. I went to the independent roaster I've been patronizing for over 20 years and asked which roast and grind would be best for such a horrible brewing method. She was spot-on with her recommendation and the coffee was quite drinkable. So it's possible to produce a decent cup via percolation, even though it's not my preferred method. Meanwhile, my sister swears by her Chemex automatic, which she has had for many years. Basically an old Norelco type system but with a Chemex carafe and filter.

I like a stout, full flavored cup and drink it black. Only if it's really bad coffee do I try to cover things up with cream and sugar. Weak coffee, however, is a lost cause and I'd rather refuse a cup than put myself through that sort of early morning depression.

For a real treat I'll brew up an ibrik of Turkish/Greek coffee, usually after dinner. Mmmmm mmmmm muddily good!

Ralph
 
Perc coffe

can be good, but it depends on quite a few factors.
First, the percolator must be scrupulously clean. That is not easy, unless you can run it through the dishwasher.
Second, I don't care whether it is safe or not, aluminum adds a horrid taste to the coffee. Stainless steel, copper, glass, porcelain don't.
Third, cold fresh water matters. I am highly skeptical of bottled and filtered waters, then again, our water in Munich qualifies as a mineral water and then some. We don't use concrete here, we just pour water into the form and let it dry...
Fourth, perc grind for coffee is coarser than for espresso (and yes, I know those little machines for the stove aren't really espresso, like their coffee anyway) but not as coarse as for a French press.
Fifth, if it isn't a fresh 100% Arabica it isn't coffee. Robusta is to coffee what pears are to apples, except pears taste good. Not too dark, as has been pointed out above.
Sixth, coffee is not tea. It is meant to be strong. This 'two tablespoons for 10 cups' stuff frequently served in the US is not coffee, I am not quite sure what it is, but it is not meant for human consumption.
Finally, you have to drink it right away. Electric percolators hold it at the just the right temperature to ruin the taste quickly.

The greasy spoon truckers' Cafè 'Crossroads' in Cheyenne, Wyoming does coffee by the ton. It tastes great. Starbucks coffee (and this has nothing to do with politics) makes me want to hurl. It's to coffee what chicken McNuggets are to real fried chicken.
 
Coffee.

I make my coffee several ways, depending on my mood at the time.

If I'm feeling nostalgic, I'll use my little aluminum stovetop percolator. Not the best coffee, but it's a flavor I sometimes like.

Sunbeam Vacuum Pots. I have a C30C and a C50. Lately I have been using the C50 more. I was given the percolator by my mother (it had been unused since I was a kid), the C30C came from a cousin who found it while cleaning out her mother-in-law's beach cottage, and I paid all of $9.00 for the C50.

I use filtered water and freshly ground beans. Usually, I like beans from PT's Coffee, but I like trying others too. I usually go for a medium roast. I just don't like dark roasts that much, especially if they are burned.

I had the good fortune of having a housemate who was a nationally-ranked barista and he taught me much about coffee. I used to always take sugar and cream in my coffee. I still do much of the time when I am out or at a friend's home. When I make it, however, I usually take it black, even from the percolator.

I own a Corningware Cornflower stovetop percolator, but have never used it. I would love a Pyrocream electric perk, but I haven't found one yet. I have the carafe and lid to a Pyrex percolator, but I need a set of guts. I also want a vintage Kitchenaid bean grinder.

Now I need to go make coffee,
Dave

http://www.ptscoffee.com/
 
I almost always use Eight o' Clock bean coffee, I keep it in mason jars in the deep freeze. I grind my coffee in Aunt Thresa's mid 50's KitchenAid A-9 coffee mill. I then use a perc. Either the GE oval perc, or preferably my Cory crown jewl. I use cold tap water, which is unfiltered unsoftened well water. I dont make coffee real weak, but I dont like it strong either, but I prefer it to be closer to strong coffee than weak. If in a pinch I will use Maxwell House Master Blend, which is the only pre-ground coffee I can stand. Also sometimes I will use a Sears Counter Craft automatic drip pot, similar to the Norelcos. I drink my coffee with just a drop or two of milk, and a little sweet n low.
 
The roaster says...

The man I've been buying beans from for the last 26 years (who learned his stuff from none other than Alfred Peet) maintains that the whole beans should be kept in an air-tight container at room temp...refrigerating or freezing the beans alters the flavor of the final cup o'joe in unpleasant ways.
 
I don't think

air-tight freezing affects the taste, in fact when I do have the money (and can get Blue-Mountain) I freeze the unground beans for special occasions.

Don't notice any loss of flavor, but then, when I say air-tight, I do mean air-tight. Plastic bags don't cut it alone.
 
I'm a coffee slut

I shouldn't have it period, according to my doctors, but I do, anyway. My cardiologist takes a dim view on even decaf for me, but.....

I can tell the difference between Columbian and Mocha-Java, or Costa Rican, but as long as it tastes pretty much like coffee, I'm ok with it.

My preferred roast is called "full city," which is one darker than the standard American roast, but not nearly as dark as French or espresso roast.

I drink it hot and black, or iced and with milk and syrup (the new McCafe iced Hazelnut is addictive).

I have a one cup manual Melitta cone, a 10 cup Krups automatic drip, a large Corning Electromatic perk, and a jar of Medaglio D'Oro instant.

My Braun burr grinder has died (non-replaceable plastic parts), so right now, I get pre-ground. I am planning on getting a Capresso burr grinder in a few weeks. The only KitchenAid mill available at the moment seems to be the huge, huge "Pro Line" thing, and it intimidates me, so the Capresso.

I keep reading that coffee has valuable antioxidants, and so I keep drinking it several times a week.

I know enough about it to care, but I just don't go overboard fussing about it.

I have even been known to drink gas station coffee.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
It all depends...

We've got all manner of coffee stuff here, but I always migrate back to a French Press...

...and I may line up for cruxifiction here, but we use Aldi ground dark roast coffee (from Germany)....

and the coffee snobs at work are all happy to drink it
 
Panthera, I wonder if it is the amount of coffee in the percolator--I like my coffee quite strong (far stronger than many people from what I've seen) and for me one of the reasons I've never cared for those automatic coffeemakers is the coffee always seems watered down and weak to me. The "Bunn" is the only one that even comes close to making a decent cup of coffee to me, I guess it has something to do with the way it sprays the water down onto the grounds in the basket. They are fast and seem to be of better quality than others of its ilk. I may try a "Chemex" sometime just because they look cool and it's such a Mary Tyler Moore thing to do. Probably wouldn't be for every day due to the non-automatic nature of the beast, but fun nonetheless.

The vast majority of my coffee is made in a Farberware percolator, and I use "Don Francisco's" Northwest Dark coffee from the grocery store, which I drink black (which I find rarer than I thought). I don't remember seeing it before moving to California. It goes to work with me in a stainless Thermos, but if I'm home yes I drink it from the percolator even after it's been plugged in for several hours and don't think a thing of it. I do use wrap around filters in the percolator basket and Brita filtered water. Water does make a palatable difference for me.

I have no interest or patience for grinding coffee, I've tried and abandoned it quickly several times, done with that. Likewise, I have no interest in expensive coffee unless I stop for a cup with a friend at Starbucks or something now and then. Except for coffee being weak, and except for when I tried the store brand, I can't tell the difference, so I don't spend the money. I buy store brand of just about everything, the coffee was one of very few things I just didn't like.

My family always drank percolated preground grocery store coffee, so I don't know if it's upbringing or what I got used to or whatever the case, but it works for me. I'm in it probably more for the caffeine than anything else anyway, LOL.
 
Scott,

I think it's partly the quantity, mainly tho', percolators need to be shiny clean if they are going to make good coffee. When I'm in the 'States, I use an ancient Corning Ware percolator (the kind which have the handle fall off at the worst moment). Since I put all of it in the dishwasher after every use, it always makes wonderful coffee.

Actually, grinding coffee only takes a moment and the taste is so noticeably better, I find it's worth it.

Life without coffee is not worth living. Same for a really good cup of tea.
 
What Ron doesnt point out, is that Most Aussies dont own any kind of coffee machine at all here.

Most people all drink instant, with the occaisional swerve into Plunger Coffee.

I was amazed on my first trip to the US that the hotels all had drip machines with stupid little single serve packets of ground coffee, yet there was no milk, always creamer. In AU, you get a kettle, with instant coffee and Milk in the minifridge.

Some of the instant coffee we get here now is quite good, even compared to freshly brewed.

Coffee machines are a bit of a novelty, and only 2 people I know actually use them on a regular basis. I play with my Percs, but find the cleanup for 2 cups of coffee in the morning quite onerous.

I'm sure you've all just keeled over with shock, but thats how it is here.
 
Most of the time, I use a one cup drip maker that parks on top of the cup. My ex-roommate thought it crazy--more practical to make more than one cup at once. But it makes better coffee than the standard electric drip pots I've encountered. (A top flight maker, though, might be a different story!) Plus I get the freshest coffee if I make it right before I want it, rather than letting a second cup linger fifteen minutes in a coffee pot.

I've also sometimes use a French press.

I've played a bit with percolators. I find that the coffee is not as good as drip, vaccum, or French press. Although, some percolators aren't too bad. I have a Farberware that does surprisingly well--not as good as the best drip, but better than bad drip.
 
Keeling over in shock...

Actually, what was a revelation to me was finding out that evidently in Europe and Australia, the "electric kettle" is considered an absolute fixture and necessity. They're only now becoming common in the USA! We got one recently, and I still feel like it's a "novelty"...I'm just old fashioned enough to still enjoy boiling a kettle of water on the stove! It's a "comfort" thing, I s'pose.
 
Electric kettles in the US

They do seem like rare novelties. Until you've had one for a while. I got mine several years ago, and it's become one of the most important gadgets in my kitchen. Right now, I don't have a microwave. I'm keeping an eye out for a microwave, but if I had could have either a microwave, or keep the water kettle, my choice would be the water kettle.

Of course, in my case, I'm using a drip maker that requires me to pour in boiling water. And I drink a lot of tea. If I didn't drink tea, and I were like most Americans who get by with Mr. Coffee, that kettle probably wouldn't be so important.
 
Coffee Drinkers....

Hi All
I have to admit in general I have found Americian coffee shockingly bad. Weak, not very hot & no milk ONLY powdered creamer!!! WRONG! And tea.... dont get me started!!!

Sydney people are coffee brand faithfuls will walk past 5-6 other cafes/ coffee shops to get to their coffee shop that sells their fav brnd of coffee DeLorenzo, LavAzza, Campos, segafredo etc etc
I live in inner western Sydney & am so spoilt for choice... 5 decent cafes all with good coffee within 5 mins walk from home. Also have a couple of good coffee roasters/ wholesalers who will supply me (Ya gotta know someone to be "in the club" & they will share blends only available to cafes)

Anyhow.. I have got into stove top espresso makers in a big way using a stailess steel beast.. it takes no longer than boiling a kettle & when i have finished with it, rinse & bung it in the dishdrawer to wash... SIMPLE

I have beenusing Aldi Dark Roast at work with an Saeco Espresso maker & it is perfectly fine!!!!

View attachment intuitive++10-8-2009-17-47-1.jpg
 
mmmmmm

I'd say that all depends where you live or were brought up Nathan.

As a group of people, my friends, family and work colleagues all tend to have at least one coffee maker (electric) and often more...

Off the top of my head, the majority of my friends (and us) have a small espresso machine (Krups or similar) as well as plungers...

We have 3 plungers, a Krups Novo 2000 and a filter coffee maker....

I can thank my parents for my enjoyment of reasonable coffee...they have 2 squat Westinhouse perculators, a senseo and a filter coffee maker.....

ronhic++10-8-2009-17-56-59.jpg
 
Spoiled I Am...

That day 26 years ago that I walked into Anderson's and bought that first pound of fresh-roasted beans, I was spoiled. Completely. I can't even stand the thought of "canned" or pre-packaged coffee of any sort. This place has beans from all over the world. They roast on Mondays and Thursdays. We get two pounds a week.

Used to love the blend he called "Alfred's Blend" which was mostly Central American beans, but the siren call of the Indonesian beans finally got me. "Drug of Choice" is a bean called "Java Pantjur"...although Dark Sumatra comes in a close second. Their "Jakarta Blend" is a mix of the best Indonesian beans.

Oh yeah...they will UPS you two pounds of beans anywhere in the US. ;-)

http://www.andersonscoffee.com/home.html
 

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