KAWFFEE

[adam-aussie-vac]

For all the users of automaticwasher.org/Vacuumland.org

How do you do your coffee? I use a Apuro ( Buffalo) G108 commercial drip coffee machine So far it works great, with me I tend to look for anything medium roast when it comes to trying what kind of coffee that I want, I really do enjoy the Dunkin’ Donuts original blend, I buy that from Costco, after brewing the coffee, I pour most of the brew into a mug, shake a bit of Nestlé coffeemate onto it And yes I do add coffee and milk because I love myself, because I am not one who subscribes to “burns your tongue fire liquid / Hot IS fresh” (those were both technology connection quotes)

Oh and by the way I put the coffee into the filter basket the night before I plan to have coffee

Anyway the point is how do you do the morning cup of Joe

 

[chachp]

Coffee...well in this house it's a process

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I am a little bit of a nut when it comes to coffee.  I roast my own beans in that contraption that looks like a toaster oven.  I plan on getting a commercial like drum roaster when I finish building my dedicated coffee roasting space in the house.  Then depending on my mood I use one of the makers in the pictures.  I almost always start with a double shot espresso and steamed milk then later in the morning I make a pot in something else depending on my mood.  I was using the Cory Vacuum pot every morning for a while but then I picked up a like new Jet-O-Matic percolator.  It makes a really good pot of coffee.  I don't do a lot of drip (the Moccamaster) but I do pour over frequently (Chemex).  Then later in the day if I want a little something with a biscotti I will make a single cup of pour over.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Yeah, it's a bit of a big deal here.  I would have to say the pots I use most often are percolators and until I got this Jet-O-Matic I really liked a GE Potbelly pot but this new one really makes a nice pot. We don't use the Nespresso that much except when we travel.  We take it with us to have decent coffee in a hotel.</span>

 

[oliger]

Percolator does nicely on the exact temperature burner. Set at about 200 degrees (F) to keep it from burning. Let it perk for about 10 minutes until it's dark enough. Usually doing it's thing while I make breakfast. I like it dark, but you can subtract time to make it not so strong. Still part of the stone age compared to most ways to make coffee.

 

[arbilab]

You'll throw sugar cubes at me.  I use microwaved bottle water, a spoon, and Nestle Taster's Choice. 

If it's any consolation, it's relatively expensive. 

 

I've tried everything short of roasting my own, could never get consistent results much less satisfactory.  The only coffee I could drink black was at a friend's house with her French press and fresh ground Kona.  So I got those.  There's more to it than 'getting'.

 

[mrsalvo]

Now this is a serious subject!! LOL.  Gotta have that coffee to start out my day. It's a BAD day when I don't. LOL.

I prefer to keep it simple these days. In the past I've had fancy this and fancy that in making coffee and I prefer what I do now. I think the secret to good coffee is good water and a flavor of coffee that one likes....think I'm much like my Dad in this respect. Also I'm on a septic system and don't want coffee grounds down the drain....nope. I have an electric percolator that I tried but don't use, my cousins have tried to ween me of using any plastics in food or drink prep!!!

 

Sticking with a Mr. Coffee maker, one or two flavors of HEB coffee, and good drinking water. I have 7 one gallon jugs that I fill each week at the water machine outside the grocery store for drinking water. Often like to fix the coffee maker before going to bed and just turn it on when I rise and shine. I like the Breakfast Blend best and Chocolate Creamer with a little milk and Stevia.  I'm keeping it simple.

 

Barry

[this post was last edited: 7/16/2021-14:03]

 

[hobbyapocalypse]

Cowboy style

I boil my water in a pot on the stove (unless I'm out on the RANGE, haha), when it comes to a boil I remove from heat and stir in the ground coffee, let it sit 2 or 3 minutes, and give it another stir. Then I let it sit another couple minutes before pouring. While the water is heating I grind the beans in a little electric Krups grinder. Unless I'm out on the range, haha.

 

[chachp]

Joseph,

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I have a friend whose mother used to mix the coffee beans with a raw egg and put that in the boiling water.  I don't recall what all she did after that but I remember it was a really good cup of coffee.</span>

 

[ea56]

Ralph,

My Mom called this Hobo Coffee, and she made if frequently. We had a Pyrex percolator and the stem and/or basket was often broken soon after replacement and this forced Mom into reverting to making the Hobo Coffee. She’d boil the water in the Pyrex pot, add the coffee grounds and an egg shell or two from the preparation of breakfast, but not the egg. Then she’d stir the pot, turn the heat down and let it settle for a few mins. Then she’d pour it into the cups through a small strainer. My Dad really liked this coffee.

Eddie

 

[chachp]

Eddie,

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I can't remember if she included the shell or not.  I don't think she did.  I remember my friend, David, saying they turn off the pot and let it sit because the grounds and egg will fall to the bottom of the pot.  I don't think they strained it.  It's funny though that you say your Mom used a pyrex percolator because that is exactly what my friend's Mom used.  </span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Oh, great memories.</span>

 

[awooff]

Pyrex perculator

The perculator produces the best tasting imo.

Had been looking for a pyrex percolator for years locally, as ebay had high prices on these. Had been using a farberware superfast which had to be unplugged just before the pot would overboil. Mentioned my search to my brother in laws mother which she stated she had one on a basement shelf for 40 years, never used from a wedding gift!

Have seen too many moldy water reservoirs from keurigs etc - all dishwasher safe parts on the percolator was another selling point.

 

[maytagbear]

There ARE times......

When a person might not have many choices, and fewer good ones.

Here at the nursing home in which I now live, there are two choices for coffee.. very poor, undrinkable stuff from the central kitchen,, Cheap Robusta beans, made poorly, or Keurig, with pods of decent quality, Peet's Major Dickison's Blend, a dark roast. I supply the pods.

Lawrence/Maytagbear[this post was last edited: 7/17/2021-18:38]

 

[lakewebsterkid]

Coffee

Big coffee guy here. Best IMHO is with a Pyrex Percolator or French press. Always fresh ground and always filtered water. People nearly shit when they drink my coffee. In PA school I actually got quite a few people drinking black coffee because of it. As people always say, black coffee puts hair on your chest. Maybe that’s why I have so much of it.

 

[perc-o-prince]

When Rich doesn't use the Miele coffee center, he prefers French press or a vac-pot brew. I love the smell of brewing coffee but hate the taste!

 

Interesting note- did you know that the Miele cups of coffee are not usually fresh grind, even though it grinds the beans right then and there for each cup**? To prove this, with the power off, pop your finger up the chute where the "freshly" ground coffee dumps into the percolator unit. There will be 1-2 cups worth of grind there! So when you ask it to grind and brew a cup, you're actually getting the grounds from the last cup or the one before that, and the fresh grind just pushed them forward!

 

Chuck

 

**Does not include the original 600 series. On those, the grind was put into the chute and a solenoid-run hammer of sorts vibrated the fresh grind into the percolator unit!

 

[ea56]

I love coffee! But unfortunately, I also suffer for severe acid reflux. Until last July I was able to control it enough with PPI’s (proton pump inhibitors) so I could enjoy at least 2 cups of strong, black coffee a day. But I began to suffer from very bad generalized muscle pain throughout my body, which is a symptom of long term use of PPI’s. So last July 25th I had my last cup of coffee. I now drink 2 cups of Green Tea a day, one in the morning and one after dinner. I stopped the PPI’s and the muscle pain went away.

This certainly interfered with my life long obsession with coffee and coffee pots of every kind. I’ve easily spent thousands of dollars on coffee pots and coffee makers of every variety over the last 50 plus years. I’ve since given away most of my collection, but I did keep a few of my favorites. Over my years of collecting I learned that I preferred coffee pots that were manual rather that electric. Almost all electric coffee pots have some quirk that I don’t like, mostly the lack of control of the brewing time and temps.

Three of my favorite manual coffee pots are the Farberware Stainless Steel 8 cup Stove Top Percolator, in my opinion superior to the Pyrex perc, because of the lack of potential breakage and I believe its basket is superior to the Pyrex perc, lets fewer grounds into the finished brew. It makes delicious, clear strong coffee. It uses the same basket as the Farberware electric percs. My favorite manual drip pot is a 7 cup Comet aluminum pot, it makes an excellent pot of clear, strong drip coffee very quickly. And as far as vacuum pots go my favorite is the 8 cup Yama Vacuum brewer with a Cory glass rod filter. Always makes a dependably great pot of coffee with no drama of slow draw down or failure to draw down at all. I’ve owned vintage Cory, Nicro and Silex vac pots, but none of them hold a candle to the Yama. The Yama is still readily available new and the gasket always make a good tight seal so there is never a problem with slow draw down to the lower pot.

Here are photos of all three.

Eddie[this post was last edited: 7/18/2021-17:58]

 

[warmsecondrinse]

My grandmother had the Sunbeam in the middle of pic 2. She gave it to me and for reasons I've forgotten I loaned it to my mom. So I'll likely never see it again. What I loved about it was that after perking it could keep the coffee hot without cooking it. It took some practice with the dial, but I eventually got it down to a science. I'd serve coffee to people after it'd been sitting for 3 hours and they were amazed at how fresh it tasted.

My Covid buddy doesn't like strong coffee because it's "too bitter" So I started throwing egg shells in with the grounds. He thought I was crazy. He'd never heard of it but admitted it cut the bitterness. he asked me where I'd heard of it and I'm stuck. I've no idea. But it sounds like the kind of tip I'd've gotten from my grandparents or one of the assorted grand aunts who lived near by.

While looking for proof that that eggshells in coffee was a real thing, I found the egg coffee described above. Basically:
1. Beat an egg/eggwhite (recipes vary)
2. Mix it with the grounds and boil.
3. Boiling will cause the egg and most of the grounds to float to the top in a froth/scum.
4. When coffee's ready, turn off heat and let the boiling stop. Pour one coffee cup full of COLD water in top of the froth,
5. Froth solidifies a bit and falls to the bottom of the pot.
6. Wait a few minutes to make sure everything has settled out then pour.

A few recipes mention that the coffee may look weak/light when poured but tasting will prove it is not weak at all.

What I think is interesting is that I found recipes for egg shells and recipes for beaten eggs, but not a single one with both. I have to wonder why.

I might try this with my daily driver French press.

 

[angus]

I have heard of but never tried the eggshell or egg white trick. However, my friend's mother used to add a pinch of salt to the grounds before brewing - supposedly to cut the bitterness. I haven't tried that in many years so I can't recall whether that actually made a difference. I have used Peet's Major Dickason's roast for a while now and I don't find it bitter - but I guess coffee is a very personal thing. Two of my friends use nothing but their Farberware electric percolators but they prepare the weakest coffee I have ever tasted. For coffee, one uses Maxwell House Colombian and the other uses Caffe Lavazza.

I have used the Farberware percolators myself and no matter how I try, I find that the coffee has sort of a metallic taste. I still do have and use my mother's clear glass Pyrex stove top percolators as well as her stainless (with copper bottom) Revereware percolators. To my taste both make excellent coffee.

 

[gizmo]

Eddie...

Can you drink decaf?

I can't do real coffee for other reasons, (tinnitus) but a GOOD decaf is delicious.

That means fresh beans ground immediately before you make the coffee.

Melbourne is a heart of coffee snobbery and we export baristas to the world, so hating on decaf drinkers is a sport here, both playfully and sometimes seriously. I get fed up with cafes sneering at me saying "Oh, we don't do decaf." One place is a nearby town has a sign that says "we only serve decaf if you have a medical certificate." (That one is in jest, they actually do a good decaf.)

Unrelated but funny, another place has a sign that says " Please keep your children under your supervision. Unaccompanied children will be given a triple espresso."

 

I drink a couple of decafs a day, usually an almond-milk latte or a long black. (can't do dairy either...)

 

I will post pics of my espresso machines soon, but not tonight. I have 3.

 

[ea56]

Re: Replies #15 and 16

Chris, It’s not the caffeine that causes my acid reflux its the acid. I haven’t tried decafe in over 40 years so I don’t doubt that the newer decafs, especially if you get fresh beans and grind them yourself are a vast improvement over Sanka. But, I think unless they have a way of extracting the acid it would probably still bother me. But thanks for the suggestion.

Angus, I’ve owned several Farberware Superfast electric percs and they will make weak coffee unless you use at least 1 tb of ground coffee per cup, this is primarily because of the short brewing time. Also, the thermostats in these pots are a weak point and in older ones will eventually fail and shut off sooner during the brewing cycle resulting in even weaker coffee and also they will fail to keep the coffee hot after brewing. The newer Farberware’s from China are pure CRAP! I’ve returned at least 2 right out of the box because the the thermostats were bad from the first use, wouldn’t even reach 160 F.

I’ve never noticed a metallic taste using either an electric or stove top Farberware pot. They are stainless steel just like your Mom’s Revereware perc. I’ve also owned a Revereware perc and I agree with you, they make a great pot of coffee. My stove top Farberware is easy to keep spotlessly clean because its SS and there is no danger of breakage.

Also, filtered water is a necessity when making coffee or tea for that matter. We have a faucet mount filter that delivers great tasting filtered water and its much cheaper to use than bottled water. Our water here is loaded with chlorine and minerals and the filter gets rid of it all.

Eddie

 

[foraloysius]

Here's my coffee gear. The Nivona coffee grinder is sold in the USA as Capresso. I use the Dolce Gusto machine for an after dinner decaf. In the morning it's coffee with caffein for me.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

" ... It’s not the caffeine that causes my acid reflux its the acid."

That begs the question of how much X amount of eggshells raises the pH of Y amount of coffee.

I couldn't find the pH of egg shells but egg whites run about 7.6 when first laid and rise to about 9 after a week or so.

Maybe egg shells or egg whites would let experience the joy of coffee once more?

 

[ea56]

Re: Reply#19

You know Jim I also thought about trying putting an eggshell in the coffee grounds. I think its probably the calcium in the shells that would help to neutralize the acidity of coffee and contribute to the smoother flavor. My father had severe acid reflux too and in the late 50’s and early 60’s the only thing they had for treating this were anti acids. This is probably why he liked my Mom’s Hobo Coffee.

But since I seldom eat eggs it would require wasting an egg every day to make coffee. I’ve already learned to live without coffee and acid reflux for the last year so I’ll probably just leave well enough alone. But thanks for the suggestion.

Eddie

 

[seedub]

The Keurig when I need it fast, the french press (with an electric grinder for whole beans) for leisurely days. I have been faithful to Folgers since the days of my General Electric 12-cup drip machine, so ancient that I do not recall when I bought it. I stopped using that and got the Keurig when the glass carafe broke and paying the replacement cost made no sense to me.

 

[jakeseacrest]

Maxwell House or Chock Full Of Nuts whichever is on sale. I prefer Maxwell since it is a bit richer. I use a Bunn as my daily driver

 

[twintubdexter]

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #339966;">I really enjoy this discussion. You have coffee drinkers that range from those who roast their own beans to those that enjoy instant. The same is true for brew methods, from modern coffee makers to vintage stove-top percolators to adding ground coffee to a pot of hot water, stirring and then allowing the grounds to settle. As a kid I had a friend who's mother made coffee like that. She called it "Navy Coffee". </span>

 

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #339966;">I started coffee drinking in college with Swedish friends I had known since age 3. I never realized Swedes were such coffee officiandos with Sweden being so far from coffee-growing regions. I guess I never thought of Mrs. Olson as Swedish, even though you saw her on TV every 15 minutes. I have experimented with different brands but keep returning to Folgers and my 21 year old Capresso brewer. I used to like that Folgers Half-Caff brand but have since switched to all decaf . Ever since I got my illness diagnosis it makes me less jittery and it's easier to sleep. I always drink the entire pot in 2 or 3 hours.</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #339966;">I like this short clip from the various old Folgers commercials with devoted wives being told the heart-breaking news that their coffee is no good branding them sub-standard wife material.</span>

 

[petek]

I've run the gamut of coffee makers since the 70s starting with a Melitta electric drip and gone through so many now it's gettting hard to remember. Plus I've collected dozens vintage auto percs. I don't drink much coffee anymore because it bothers my gut but Larry still does. The last machine I really really really liked is the same one Louis picture above,, the little Dolce Gusto machine. It made excellent single cups and was twice as fast as any Keurig machine. Hugely disappointed when they left the market here about 2 years ago, they'd just sent me a new machine for free. I guess they wanted to get rid of all the excess... Such a shame... And it got top ratings in CR for single serves. So when that went Larry said get one of those ones that do both carafe and kpods..so I got a Hamilton Beach.. it works okay but it doesn't close the speed or taste of that little Dolce Gusto.

 

[whitewhiskers]

my daily drivers

Here's a picture of two machines operated at an insanely early hour, when most people are still asleep. I get up early to watch the previous night's TLS with Stephen Colbert on the Roku. The KitchenAid grinder I'm sure is not Hobart. It does a good job but is very messy. I'm surprised the collection cup hasn't broken as it's made of very thin glass and wouldn't take much effort for the cat to sweep it onto the floor. Nothing special about the Cuisinart. I buy a new one every 4 years or so, as that's how long they last before the water temp drops and the keep warm-plate peels and rusts into a mess. Costco sometimes has them on sale for around $50. I have several gold filter baskets that I never use from all the replacements. I prefer Melitta brown paper cones.
Like Eddie, I too suffer from really bad acid reflux and thought I was locked into taking PPI's for the rest of my life. Two weeks ago I switched to Pepcid AC (famotidine) 20mg daily. I seem to be surviving. If quitting coffee stopped the heartburn, I would do so, but my problem seems to be more serious. I may have to go to a GI clinic for a more thorough examination. Getting old ain't fun...

 

[ea56]

Gary I’m glad that the 20 mg of famotidine twice daily is working for you and allowing you to still drink coffee. When I swore of coffee last July 25th I also switched to 40 mg of famotidine twice daily. This along with no coffee has kept me acid reflux free. My acid reflux had gotten so bad that I’d wake up in the middle of the night with the contents of my stomach backing up into my throat. I was afraid that some night I wouldn’t wake up and suffocate from the regurgitation. Much as I loved my coffee, I love life more and I’ll likely never drink another cup of coffee.

Acid reflux is no joke, if unchecked it can lead to esophageal cancer. I’ll pass on that thanks very much. I believe that my acid reflux problem is genetic. My stomach lays more sideways rather and down rather than up and down in my abdominal cavity, causing the contents of my stomach to empty into the small intestines more slowly. My Mom’s was the same way and she had the same problems as I do. My Dad had the same condition and so do both of my siblings.

Eddie

 

[seedub]

Reply #23: one of my guy friends mixes loose grounds and water from a tea kettle directly in his mug/beaker and waits for the grounds to settle. He claims that he gets more flavor in this manner. Cafe Bustelo is his one and only choice.

Reflux sufferers: I have been free of the pain of AR for four years after my GP gave me a script for pantoprazole.

 

[Chetlaham]

@ea56

Can you post more pics of your range? The knobs, burner and oven cavity? And the tech sheet if you have it? I like your taste

 

[gizmo]

Here's my 3...

1. Quaha Napoletana II. This is an old machine I found on a roadside hard rubbish collection. It just needed a good clean and some seals. Since then it has had a bit of TLC including a solenoid coil replaced (whole solenoid valve to be replaced soon), more seals, internal hoses and adjustment of the over-pressure valve. It is my daily coffee machine - one or two decaf almond lattes a day, the occasional long black decaf. This is still a current model, though they are now sold as Lelit Combi. (They have been sold under several other names over the years.) It has its own grinder, which is quite noisy.

 

2. Saeco Via Venezia - my first espresso machine. This one came from the recycle shop,about $10. Saeco have a clever technology (for which I believe they hold a patent) that has a pressure valve in the handpiece, so that no coffee is released until it has built up 9 bar pressure, the correct pressure for espresso. It makes them very user-friendly, you can make a good espresso with not much skill, and with pre-ground coffee from the supermarket (which is usually too coarse for good espresso.) Other basic espresso machines try to do the same with twin-wall baskets that have a pinhole outlet to allow some pressure to build up, but they are nowhere near as good, the control isn't there.

 

3. My new toy is the Saeco Odea Go, a "superautomatico" machine that grinds the beans, compresses the ground coffee, and doses the water through the grounds automatically. You still foam the milk manually. I got it for $20 from Lifeline opp shop, a bargain as it was over $1000 new. It needs a kit of new seals, as it is a little erratic at present. Sometimes it makes a great coffee, other times some water leaks past a seal and the resulting brew is weak. I will get the seals soon.

When fixed, I will donate it to the local community hall where we practise yoga. We stay afterwards for coffee, at present I bring my machine and make the coffees, in future I will leave the Superautomatico there so anyone can make a coffee even if I'm not there.

 

The magnetic sign on the Quaha machine was given to me by our Yoga teacher.