Coffee question

Richard · May 28, 2010

I'm not a coffee drinker and don't know if my next question will be a cause of contention between those that DO drink coffee....my hope is it won't.

My wife likes a good cup of coffee in the morning. After we have dinner (with family or friends over) there is always a pot brewed.

I just now, heard for the first time, about a coffee press and the coffee 'vacuum pot'

I'm in process of reading about them and will probably get one of each for her so she can try them out.

That said... anyone familar with these two ways of making your coffee with pros/cons of either one?

Is one of them considered the "holy grail" method of brewing your coffee?

Any brands to stick with? To stay away from?

I've seen some pictures of these and if all other factors are equal, I'd personally be more intrigued about some of them with some visual impact. They might look like they were made in the 1800's but made yesterday.

I must say though that my FIRST priority would be their ability to do the job well and then look "intersting" as they sit on the counter top.

Any thoughts or advice?

MyFirstTractor · May 28, 2010

I hope this doesn't make things more confusing for you but I have a third option to add. A single cup coffee maker. I have a Keurig and I really like it. It is great when you have people over because each person can have a different flavor coffee (there are several dozen flavors available) or they could have tea or even hot chocolate. And yes it even looks good on your counter. As far as the options you mentioned, I have had coffee made with a press and it definately made a good cup of coffee. I have never had coffee made with a vacuum pot.

bp fick · May 28, 2010

The press is OK, but with no filtering the "bad" oils are not caught as they would be by a paper filter. Yeah, I have one, but don't use it much. The Keurig is really cool machine and my daughter loves hers.

I just brew in a normal Mr Coffee type, with paper filter type machine. But my gosh, how I am excited that there is finally a coffee thread on TBN!!!!

My name is bp fick and I am a coffe-haulic. Self confessed. But only the really good stuff. A coffee snob. Hopeless.

tallyho8 · May 28, 2010

Richard said:
Any brands to stick with? To stay away from?

Careful, this could be more dangerous than asking who makes the best tractor. :confused2:

Richard · May 28, 2010

I think this looks cool.

Cona CLASSIC Size C (1.5 pt) Chrome - Vacuum - Brewers

mburke121 · May 28, 2010

We started using a press about a year ago, and we'll never go back. I guess one man's "bad oils" is another man's "enhanced flavor" - my wife and I love the rich, deep flavor of pressed coffee.

I don't remember the brand, but we bought our press from Williams Sonoma. Look for a gold filter and a good quality silicone plunger seal, and you should be good.

There are lots of good brands of coffee or there. We're using a local brand, called Community Coffee. I highly recommend purchasing a burr grinder - fresh ground is great, and it adds to the "ritual" of coffee enjoyment.

bp fick · May 28, 2010

mburke121 said:
We started using a press about a year ago, and we'll never go back. I guess one man's "bad oils" is another man's "enhanced flavor" - my wife and I love the rich, deep flavor of pressed coffee.

I don't remember the brand, but we bought our press from Williams Sonoma. Look for a gold filter and a good quality silicone plunger seal, and you should be good.

There are lots of good brands of coffee or there. We're using a local brand, called Community Coffee. I highly recommend purchasing a burr grinder - fresh ground is great, and it adds to the "ritual" of coffee enjoyment.

Community Coffee, Good Man!!!!

The "bad oils" are not a flavor good or bad, but for those who must watch their blood counts, good and bad. Hope that helps.

Ken_CT · May 28, 2010

Good timing on this thread. There was a special about coffee on Modern Marvels on the History Channel last night. The French press was the preferred method for brewing a cup of coffee, and all the "experts" had different ideas of what is the best type of coffee. That said, I have a Kurig and am very happy with it. I found the cheapest way to buy the cups, and they carry quite an assortment, is W.B. Mason.

mburke121 · May 28, 2010

You've peaked my interest. Can you elaborate on the bad oils and their affect on blood count? That's one I'm not aware of, but definitely want to know about. I'm getting to that age when I'm watching intake more carefully.

bp fick · May 28, 2010

mburke121 said:
You've peaked my interest. Can you elaborate on the bad oils and their affect on blood count? That's one I'm not aware of, but definitely want to know about. I'm getting to that age when I'm watching intake more carefully.

Coffee and cholesterol - Heart health- msnbc.com

Read more here. Coffee is a tropical bean, so like most things from the tropics, there is inherent fats, oils issues. Filtering catches alot of them, apparently. Hey, what do I know? Not a doctor, but that's the deal.

kevindsingleton · May 28, 2010

We buy our coffee "green", and roast it, ourselves. We do about a couple weeks' worth, at a time, keep it in a sealed glass jar, grind it fresh, and use a drip coffee machine with unbleached paper filters.

We like our coffee a little less "done" than most of what you can buy (we call it "medium roast"). We get the beans from Green Coffee Beans | Home Roasting Supplies, U-Roast-Em, from all over the world. They have great descriptions of the differences, and the prices are very good.

I didn't care for "french pressed" coffee, but it was probably as much the burnt beans as it was the method.

mburke121 · May 28, 2010

BP, I was not aware of that. I will have to do some reading this weekend. Thanks for the info.

RobertN · May 28, 2010

I like a smaller coffee press for just a cup of coffee. Simple, works nice. Mine is just for a cup; I stash it in my backpack for trips out in the woods. I also have a stovetop espresso pot; nothing like a nice Mocha on a crisp moring sitting by an alpine lake...

Have you checked out the setups they use for coffee in Central and South America? Coffe I had in Costa Rica was really good!

Brew a great cup of Costa Rican coffee
http://gallaudetblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/nuestra-tierra2.jpg

orezok · May 28, 2010

We use a French press when were out camping, but I put a standard coffee filter on top before inserting the press. Slowly push it down and and it both keeps any of the fine grinds from slipping past the screen and removes the oils.

For the best coffee, I prefer a vacuum maker, but no one makes an "automatic" one any more (Bodum used to) and sitting and waiting for the water to boil to the top with a manual one is too much trouble.

If you don't know what a vacuum maker is, think back about 40 years and every restaurant used them.

bp fick · May 28, 2010

Anybody beside me think this coffee talk is at least as exciting as tractor talk?

Lots of favorites. Kenyan (kind of citrus like) Costa Rican is great!!! Love a local company called BiggBy, which is really roasted by Paramount. Best coffee I had was on a jet lagged morning, at a little hotel basement, in Rome, on Barberini Square. Unfiltered, silver coffee service, hot milk, linens on table. Ah......

RobertN · May 28, 2010

There was discussion here some time back(2-3 years?). There were a few folks at the time roasting their own beans and stuff. Never tried it, but it was interesting thread. Do not remember who the roaster were though. Maybe Bird remembers...

Edit.....

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/95811-any-home-coffee-roasters-here.html

Did a search for "roasting coffee"

bp fick said:
Anybody beside me think this coffee talk is at least as exciting as tractor talk?

Lots of favorites. Kenyan (kind of citrus like) Costa Rican is great!!! Love a local company called BiggBy, which is really roasted by Paramount. Best coffee I had was on a jet lagged morning, at a little hotel basement, in Rome, on Barberini Square. Unfiltered, silver coffee service, hot milk, linens on table. Ah......

Chuck52 · May 28, 2010

Didn't we once have a coffee supplier as a member? Anyhoo, I use a French press and my rule for judging whole beans is if they aren't oily they aren't worth buying. As to the taste of specific roasts, that to me is secondary to fresh. Fresh, any roast, is better than the best roast stale.

Chuck

ragkar · May 29, 2010

I'd like to suggest Home Coffee Roasting Supplies - Sweet Maria's as a source for coffee education and supplies. They have a very high reputation on the alt.coffee usenet newsgroup. I have been ordering from them, usually twenty pounds at a time, for over ten years.

As far as brewing there are various methods and from best to worst.
vacuum pot - rather costly, time consuming and difficult to clean. But it brews the best.
french press - a close second to the vacuum pot, less costly and fairly rapid (8.5 minutes for one cup from start to finish)
drip - rather poor taste but simple to make and clean afterwards
percolator - oily, rancid, over brewed, nothing to recommend it

Come over to my place and I might treat you to a cup of Kopi Luwak coffee. It's the world's most rare and expensive coffee at $400 a pound. The USA allotment is 50 pounds per year.

The frosting on the cake of roasting your own is that you get to sneer secretly at the supermarket shoppers that are trying to decide which gourmet blends to buy. A blend need be only 10 percent of the named coffee. The rest is junk.

jlrsn · May 29, 2010

ragkar said:
Come over to my place and I might treat you to a cup of Kopi Luwak coffee. It's the world's most rare and expensive coffee at $400 a pound.

I appreciate the offer but defecated coffee beans aren't my thing.
Jim