Coffee

[earlymodernsteve]

If you're getting one of those filter coffee machines with a hotplate under the jug, make sure you drink the coffee fairly quickly because if you leave it there too long it starts to taste a bit burnt.

Personally I prefer a cafetiere to a cheap filter coffee maker, but they are more awkward to clean.

If you do have to drink instant coffee, I recommend Douwe Egberts Continental Dark (or Continental Gold, if you can't get the dark). I reckon that's as good as instant coffee gets. But the thing with instant is that it changes taste an incredible amount depending on where you are. Presumably because of how hard or soft the water you're using is.

This is all sounds advice. I use cafetiere at home and a cheap filter with a hot plate in the office. Cafetieres are awesome and, as long as you clean them as soon as possible, not that much hassle to maintain. You can pick up ace little single cup cafetieres too which are a good starting point if you aren't necessarily downing pints of the lovely stuff. The hot plate burning flavour is an occupational hazard for me. I use the machine so that I don't have the excuse to wander down the corridor to the kitchen and have lots of procrastinatory conversations - leaving more time for productive browsing on Rllmuk.

When I drink instant, I always go for the Douwe Egberts (they do an espresso blend which may or may not be the same as the Continental Dark but is often in our local Home Bargains). You will find that once you get used to drinking filter coffee, then going back to Nescafe is a real culture shock. I always make sure I ask for tea whenever I visit the in-laws to avoid having to make the 'screwed-up-nasty-coffee-face' whilst trying to be polite about it...

[Vin]

When I drink instant, I always go for the Douwe Egberts (they do an espresso blend which may or may not be the same as the Continental Dark but is often in our local Home Bargains).

A mug of Egberts's Continental Dark with two spoons of honey is the ONLY thing that can get me up in the morning. Keeps the fire burning during the day, too.

Hits the spot big time.

[jimmbob]

Holy shit, Cappuccinos are fantastic.

[evilwallpaper]

I just got given one of these Cona Vacuum coffee makers, like the Aeropress it's 'the best way to make coffee'. As nice as the Aeropress is I've not had much success with it and it takes way too much coffee. I've made one pot with this new gadget though and I'm quite impressed, nice flavour and not bitter.

Also the moka pot method mentioned in here hasn't produced a bad result yet, thanks for posting that.

[wev]

Admittedly its Instant, but bought the Chocolate and Caramel one of these whilst out at the River Festival yesterday

[Stilly]

Admittedly its Instant, but bought the Chocolate and Caramel one of these whilst out at the River Festival yesterday

Any good?

[wev]

As far as my tastebuds are aware (only ever drank instant coffee) its rather nice. Nowhere near as harsh or bitter as something like Nescafe and has a slightly sweet caramel taste to it that doesn't overpower the taste of the coffee.

[Spuck]

As far as my tastebuds are aware (only ever drank instant coffee) its rather nice. Nowhere near as harsh or bitter as something like Nescafe and has a slightly sweet caramel taste to it that doesn't overpower the taste of the coffee.

Why not just buy some flavoured coffee syrup and add it to some decent normal coffee though?

Best investment you will ever make coffee-wise is a grinder. I have an admittedly shitty one thats lasted me 7 years now and cost under twenty quid. Ground coffee goes off incredibly quickly..

[Spuck]

As far as my tastebuds are aware (only ever drank instant coffee) its rather nice. Nowhere near as harsh or bitter as something like Nescafe and has a slightly sweet caramel taste to it that doesn't overpower the taste of the coffee.

Why not just buy some flavoured coffee syrup and add it to some decent normal coffee though?

Best investment you will ever make coffee-wise is a grinder. I have an admittedly shitty one thats lasted me 7 years now and cost under twenty quid. Ground coffee goes off incredibly quickly..

[Moz]

Got my aeropress this morning, used it with some bog standard Taylors medium roast coffee (ground unfortunately, I don't have a grinder at work...). Still, the results were great. A rich, smooth, massively full bodied coffee, which actually made my head swim for a moment with the intensity of flavour. The four guys in my office all just commented on how good it smells too

[Scribblor]

Yeah, it's excellent. Beware though, if you like strong coffee (like me), the Aeropress uses up gallons of the stuff.

For a single mug of Americano, I fill the coffee (and water) to '3' on the guide, and then top the mug up with boiling water. It's fantastic, but I go through bags of coffee really quickly.

[rundll]

Re the rapid loss of freshness in ground coffee, am I the only person who keeps it in the freezer rather than the fridge? I don't drink enough to get through a packet/pot very fast and I've noticed a marked difference in fresh-aroma retention since storing it in the freezer. And no loss of taste in my latte, though I'm not a connoisseur.

[Scribblor]

If you store it in an airtight container, you should be fine putting it in the fridge. Unless you're talking about months and months, I suppose.

[SPE]

I used to store ground coffee in the freezer, but then was told not to by the dudes working at the place coffee seller in Melbourne. The reasons they give are on their website:

http://www.jaspercoffee.com/training.jsp?id=5

I think the best tip (other than buying beans and grinding your own - I personally can't be bothered) is to just buy enough to last a week. 250g gives me a week's of a couple of coffees a day.

[Shimmyhill]

What with doing the house up etc i had stored my Gaggia in the pantry and not used it for ages, poss over a year - however with Italian relatives staying at mum & dads i had an espresso round there the other day and i simply had to get it out again.

Jesus, bloody thing wasnt getting any water out of the shower head spent all afternoon faffing around with it using the anti-scale stuff and just before 6 i had it working. Of course i had run out of time to actually have my well deserved espresso ( i couldnt find the lid for my grinder either)

I'm on a mission tomms, new grinder and some more cleaning solution and i best get some fresh beans too !

Bloody coffee !

[Moz]

Yeah, it's excellent. Beware though, if you like strong coffee (like me), the Aeropress uses up gallons of the stuff.

For a single mug of Americano, I fill the coffee (and water) to '3' on the guide, and then top the mug up with boiling water. It's fantastic, but I go through bags of coffee really quickly.

Isn't that like a triple espresso like a dash of hot water in?

1.

2.

[Scribblor]

It's more like half a mug of espresso and half a mug of hot water. If I was getting an Americano from Starbucks or whatever, I'd ask for two extra shots of espresso, so it's pretty comparable to that.

I'm so caffeinated that frankly, it barely has an effect on me. I feel more alert, but that's about it.

[Moz]

Whatever works! I'm quite caffeine sensitive, but I also really like strong coffee, so I tend to drink strong-uns in the morning and decaff after about midday.

[Shimmyhill]

I got a grinder today, happy days !

First espresso after another clean out of the machine and not bad, old beans so a little bitter - off to order some fresh beans now !

[womblingfree]

As far as my tastebuds are aware (only ever drank instant coffee) its rather nice. Nowhere near as harsh or bitter as something like Nescafe and has a slightly sweet caramel taste to it that doesn't overpower the taste of the coffee.

I picked up a milk frother the other day. Wonderful froth every time for a tenner!

[Scribblor]

No good to me. I drink coffee black as midnight. Because I'm a REAL MAN or something.

I'm trying to cut down on coffee, to 2 cups a day. It's so bloody difficult.

[earlymodernsteve]

No good to me. I drink coffee black as midnight. Because I'm a REAL MAN or something.

I'm trying to cut down on coffee, to 2 cups a day. It's so bloody difficult.

I hear you man. One thing I've started doing which seems to help is to make a small flask of coffee (one of the ones with the tiny cup lids) and then sip over a few hours. Similar to that lose weight by eating small amounts rather than several large meals kind of mentality. Obviously really good coffee wouldn't be as nice by the end of that, but it works fine for my cafetiere brewed stuff. Prevents the 'ritual' procrastination a little too.

[bear]

I've been using the inverted method with my Aeropress since seeing it on Tested just over a week ago. The results have been encouraging so far but I did make an awful mess the first time I tried it.

[Scribblor]

Inverted method, eh? Do tell...

[redbloodcel]

I tried it earlier after going for a look, it tasted alright (I should have used cooler water) but blew my head off a little bit.

[bear]

The Tested method uses more water and a shorter brewing time so its not nearly as strong as the coffee in that video.

The Tested Method

Will Smith on that site is a bit of a coffee nerd so they've put up videos of a few different ways of brewing coffee. The Toddy looks interesting but you'd have to be a pretty heavy coffee drinker to justify using it for just one person.

Toddy

[Moz]

The tested inverted method works brilliantly. Delicious.

They made some kopi luwak (civet poop coffee) on tested recently. Ryan Davis, such a chubby little funster

http://www.tested.com/in-search-of-the-perfect-cup-of-coffee-kopi-luwak/47-157/

[Scribblor]

Chubby? You're kinder than I am. The man's enormous.

[Mortis]

Kopi Luwak is lovely (I bought some off hasbean years ago after seeing it in an episode of CSI of all things) but it's just so ridiculously expensive (50g for £26 at the current prices) that you feel a bit self indulgent even grinding the beans.

[redbloodcel]

The Tested method uses more water and a shorter brewing time so its not nearly as strong as the coffee in that video.

The Tested Method

Will Smith on that site is a bit of a coffee nerd so they've put up videos of a few different ways of brewing coffee. The Toddy looks interesting but you'd have to be a pretty heavy coffee drinker to justify using it for just one person.

Toddy

Don't think its too bad for a week (about 3 cups a day if you follow his dilution), but surely there's something better than that for it?! The whole filter system sounds incredibly prone to clogging which is a bad bad thing.