How picky are you when brewing coffee?

[sciphi]

What kind of ritual do you have when brewing coffee? Also, are you picky what water goes into your machine?

My morning coffee ritual goes like this: Stumble out of bed, beeline for the fridge, fumble half-awake with the coffee jar, get ready to spoon the ground coffee into the machine, remember I need a filter, fix that issue, then make sure the scoops are the correct size. Somewhere in there water from the filter pitcher finds its way into the coffeemaker, then I sit and wait the agonizing 5 minutes while the machine spits out its 2 cups of coffee. It's about down to a science at this point.

I'm picky about the water. Only filtered water from the filter pitcher goes into the coffeemaker since our tap water tastes nasty, and makes an awful cup of coffee. The machine stays a little cleaner, to boot.

 

[dparm]

I typically use a Bodum French Press (depending on the type of coffee) so I'm not terribly picky about the water. This is what I drink:

http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/

Locally roasted, sustainable, etc. I just toured the place this past weekend. We also buy it for our secret coffee machine at work.

 

[CivicFan]

I used to be picky about the whole process - from selecting the green beans to hand roasting to hand grinding to different methods of preparing.

Now I don't have time so I buy pre-roasted beans and grind them in the store. I have a coffee maker in my office so I am usually set for the whole day.

I will only drink "corporate" style coffee (aka swill) if I have no other choice.

 

[brandini]

I'm more like dparm, but a bit worse.

I'd use a french press but I don't like the sludge it leaves at the bottom of the cup. It always gets me. I use a manual pourover with the paper cone filters, works like a champ:

Fill electric kettle with water from brita dispenser, set to boil. (Before this step I'd filled up the carafe with cup marks and poured it into the kettle and marked with a sharpie on the outer level indicator the water level for each capacity)

While heating, grind proper amount is grossly oversized grinder that grinds better than most everything out there:

Got it for $60 on craigslist, have a friend that works at a coffee equip company tune it up to proper grind size for my method, it's SO QUIET 1/2 HP motor.

Plop pourover, filter, and grounds over whatever i'm brewing into, be it cup or the carafe it came with.

Pour from a bit of a height to fully saturate grounds, stop pouring, wait until bubbling stops, all grounds must be wet, then pour in large circles and crossing center to keep grounds evenly wet when brewing.

Kettle empty but still brewing, walk away to get cup, add H&H & splenda, pour coffee, toss filter, leave kettle open to dry, rinse filter holder and carafe, plop in couter drying rack.

Enjoy!

Most people use too fine of grind, you want to use a shade finer than drip for this method. As for the different versions of pourover they go into 2 categories: flat bottom and pointy bottom.

Oh and some days I use an aeropress (think upside down french press, paper filter circle, way faster, like a syringe but instead of needle you have coffee filter. Makes a concentrated coffee you can add water to to get to normal strength or add a bunch of milk to and get a fake latte.

 

[crosseyedwx]

I use Brita pitcher water as well, but I grind my own beans right before I brew, usually Eight o'Clock, Seattle's Best, or World Market, all colombian or sumatra or similar variant, no flavored. Brew it in the Mr. Coffee 12 cup. Sometimes, I'll break out the Bialetti stovetop espresso brewer... I'm pretty picky about the coffee, not so much the process, I suppose.

 

[mpvue]

I grind Community Coffee beans in a burr grinder right before brewing in a Kitchenaid coffee maker (it has a showerhead water dripper, and a stainless steel carafe w/ NO hotplate)
because it's not heated up just to get a burnt taste, the coffee still tastes great many hours later (usually still warm too)
the coffee maker has a small water filter in it already; I haven't noticed a difference from tap water to filtered water.

 

[suspiciousmind]

I roast my own beans bi-monthly, expresso-grind them in my KitchenAid burr grinder right before assembling and pulling a double shot in my Saeco expresso machine.

Usually it only takes one of these to get me motivated and I'll usually pick up a cup at Mcdonalds/Bojangles/Hardees on my way to work to keep me busy through the morning.

I actually enjoy the roasting part. It only takes me about thirty minutes to do aabout 3/4 pound. No special equipment... just the right pan and a propane burner, outside on the deck. I have total quality control and guaranteed fresh roasted coffee.

 

[mongo161]

I use a Brita Pitcher for water.
I freshly ground up Starbucks Coffee, usually Colombian or Espresso Roast.
The only Coffee Pot I use is a 16 cup Stove Top Percolator. IMO Perked Coffee makes the best coffee.
I use the regular basket filters for the Perk basket. I just fold the filter in half, lengthwise twice, and snip off the point at the bottom of the filter.....you have a nice circle cut out of the bottom of the filter that fits the basket nicely.

After my Coffee has been Perked and settles down, I transfer the HOT coffee to a warmed up Very Large Stainless Steel Nissan Thermos Carafe which keeps my coffee hot for the day.

I still LOVE Perked coffee on the gas stove top. No automatic drip machine to replace or glass carafe to crack and break.

I've had my Stainless Steel Perk for over 20 Years and the only item I've had to replace has been the Glass Dome on occasion. I can always find these at "True Value" hardware stores for under $2.

Cleaning the Perk is easy with a couple of tablespoons of Powered Automatic dishwasher powder in the basket and a full pot of water. Just let it simmer for 20 minutes on the stove and then, when cooled down a little, invert the basket and soak the basket upside down. Rinse the pot well when cool and your ready to go again. Simple and spotless clean pot, basket and stem with this procedure.

 

[opus1]

I have a Braun coffee-maker with a built-in water filter.

No real technique, I just dump in enough water for 4 "cups"

, a generous scoop of coffee and then a little extra into the basket/filter and let 'er rip.

 

[Stelth]

Folger's Classic Roast, tap water, Big Lots filters, whatever drip coffee maker is on sale when mine breaks. So, not too picky except that I really NEED to have half-and-half. No sweetener.

I have a french press and a coffee grinder. Haven't used them in years.

 

[JOD]

I used to be really picky about water, until I moved to Seattle. My water now comes from a natural aquifer (Cedar River) right to my tap. It's literally like having bottled water come out of the tap (and I installed a new water line from the street in the last 10 years, so there's no funkiness there either).

It makes it difficult to drink tap water when I'm anywhere else.

See, another benefit to moving out here!

I've gone to French press exclusively--portion control! Otherwise, I'll drink too much...

 

[Quest]

I don't grind my own beans anymore (busy with family, no time to enjoy coffee), so store-bought ones such as Folgers Black Silk, President's Choice Gourmet West Coast Dark Roast gets my vote.

just like JOD: I live in an area where water straight from the tap tastes just as good as those "filtered", so no need to add additional processed water.

Brewing machine: for extremely dark/oily, french-like roast, I'll do it in my stainless steel Superior coffee percolator (electric of course). For everyday enjoyment: I use either a Braun (no longer has it: ex took it along with her just to hurt my feelings); or genuine Philips 12-cup. I recently also bought (stock up) on a Melitta 12 cup, citing that European brewing coffee machine tends boil water hotter before sending it through the grinds, thus the flavour is more to my taste (had/owned some domestic brands such as Blk and Decker, etc. before, nothing comes close to my Philips I'm using right now).

For grinder, I use a French Moulinex burr grinder.

Q.

 

[shrooms]

I used to go through the coffee faze. Grinding, filtered water, etc. Got sick of it. Too much work for some colored water.

Max House, tap, brew, done.

 

[UncleS2]

Not very- though I do use "spring water" bought in gallon plastic jug for the water in hot weather. My everyday rig is a small cheap 4-5 cup capacity Mr. Coffee basket-filter drip coffee maker(~$15), with plain white paper filters. Works real well, think I lucked out & got one that heats the water just about right.

Occasionally I use a Black & Decker Brew & Go- 1 big cup(~15 oz) into its included insulated mug. I found online & bought a whole bunch of #1(yes, #1!) cone-type paper filters for it- white paper, gonna be a lifetime + supply for sure, no mud in the bottom with paper, unlike the included screen filter. Works great, this model is famous among the hard-core coffee folks for proper brew water temp- but coffee tastes just like from the small Mr. coffee mentioned above. The little B&D can be very convenient though.

Sometimes I use a Melitta pour-through, with plain white cone filters, either #2(recommended by mfgr) or #1(since I have so many of 'em!). Excellent coffee, but a little fiddly to mess with.

Coffee- I buy canned or bagged & pre-ground, tried out & gave up on the grind-my-own business many years ago. Maybe my taste buds are just getting old, but I'd swear that Yuban isn't what it was a few years ago. I tend to experiment now with dark & medium-dark roasts, but right now am in the middle of a can of Chock Full O' Nuts regular roast. Sure wish our stores carried their Columbian and Dark Roast versions.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
What kind of ritual do you have when brewing coffee? Also, are you picky what water goes into your machine?

My morning coffee ritual goes like this: Stumble out of bed, beeline for the fridge, fumble half-awake with the coffee jar, get ready to spoon the ground coffee into the machine, remember I need a filter, fix that issue, then make sure the scoops are the correct size. Somewhere in there water from the filter pitcher finds its way into the coffeemaker, then I sit and wait the agonizing 5 minutes while the machine spits out its 2 cups of coffee. It's about down to a science at this point.

I'm picky about the water. Only filtered water from the filter pitcher goes into the coffeemaker since our tap water tastes nasty, and makes an awful cup of coffee. The machine stays a little cleaner, to boot.

Try this, I think you'll like it better: Pour 1/4-1/2 cups filtered water into the coffeemaker, let coffee soaked for few minutes and in the meantime freshen up and put on cloth ready to work, then pour the remaining 1 1/2-3/4 cups filtered water into the coffeemaker. Few minutes later you will have better/stronger cup of coffee with the same amount of ground coffee.

 

[sciphi]

^^^ I'll try that tomorrow morning. Thanks!

 

[PandaBear]

1 cup of hot water with 2 servings of coffee, microwave for 23-26 seconds (depends on ambient temperature), drain through a strainer, coffee back into the original cup with 1 more cup hot water, microwave for another 20 seconds, drain through the strainer again.

Basically unfiltered drip coffee with turkish ground. I like to have some coffee grind in my mouth and that's how you enjoy good coffee.

 

[Swift]

I don't have time for picky.

Water + 1.5 min in microwave + 2 Tsp Tasters Choice = Coffee.

 

[greenjp]

Originally Posted By: Swift
I don't have time for picky.

Water + 1.5 min in microwave + 2 Tsp Tasters Choice = Coffee.

That brew is no more coffee than Tang is orange juice

 

[mpvue]

I find it curious how many people 'don't have time' to make good coffee; it takes all of 5 minutes or less to grind beans, load them, pour in the water and brew it: done.