Coffee drinkers, how do you brew yours?

[Atalanta]

Now that I roast for "real" I'm running a Phoenix Oro Gold roaster. Gas-fired drum roaster. My home roaster is a hottop, amazing craigslist find!

I used to get my beans from The Coffee Project. I still have decaf that I bought about 10 years ago from eBay. Not bad, but you have to let it rest after roasting for several days or it tastes terrible. Wonder if there's a market for "vintage" coffee. I also have a pound of Kona I have to roast that a friend brought back from a trip to Hawaii. Now that I'm playing in the "big kids" pool, we get our coffee from Zephyr by the 130+lb sack!

With all these beans, how do I turn them into coffee? I used to use a Capresso grind/brew, but decided it took up too much counter space (and the coffee wasn't as good anymore so I think the temp was wonky) and pulled out the french press. Work was automatic drip. Now, you'd think I had a full-service coffee shop at home (ok, we had to test out some methods for the shop....). For espresso we have a Breville and a Mazzer grinder. For everything else we have a Baratza grinder and ... a small and a large french press, a Bodum chemex-like brewer ($25, much cheaper than the real thing), a clever dripper, and an aeropress - which I haven't tried yet. Got the aeropress for my birthday and want to use it for work. I also have a hand grinder.

[Ernest]

I'm not a coffee lover, drink one every now and then. I always bought pre ground stuff until a few
months ago I bought a bag of organic beans at Costco. WHOA!! What a difference. I'll never buy pre ground coffee again.
So I grind my own coffee with cardamom just before brewing.

[Ernest]

fzxdoc Henrik I buy seeds, shake some with the coffee beans and grind together. Amount? I don't know, maybe half a teaspoon to a tablespoon of coffee beans

[Henrik]

I think my proportions are about the same. Both pods and seeds can be used.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, Ernest and Henrik. I'll give that a try.

Kathryn

[Nightrayne]

Wow - this was a fun thread to read through on a break. We have gone through several different methods in my household over the years. To date, we normally do a French press on weekends or when camping as there are usually several drinking. My wife uses an aeropress when it is just herself or at work, and I use a K-cup at my RV during the week (as I am lazy). I tend to like the smooth chocolate/hazelnut flavors, while my wife likes deep, dark Italians and island roasts. My daughter prefers 1 part coffee and 4 parts sugar and creamers. She calls that "coffee", and we humor her on it...

Cheers!

[Henrik]

I'm not a huge coffee fan, but I make it on the weekends and then it's always French press. We used to have an espresso machine, but I think I like the making of the coffee (tinkering with the machine) better than drinking it, so we sold it. I do like the French press style, it feels 'authentic' and it tastes good too.

[cscheib]

I was using French Press for a while, but I've been doing Aeropress primarily recently.

Technique: Measure by weight - 20 g of freshly ground beans (and in my case, fresh roasted), 170g of water, 2 minutes of contact time. Top off coffee mug with water (i.e. pseudo-Americano).

[binarypaladin]

I've never been a fan of black coffee but even growing up with coffee strictly verboten I loved the smell and the what it added as a complimentary flavor. When I got a lot older I found I liked foo-foo coffee every now and then.

Nowadays I drink it most mornings as part of a smoothie or latte or latteish drink. (I'm not much of a snob. I can detect no subtle flavors in coffee nor wine. I can only sort tell a light roast from a dark roast and actually enjoy dark roasts.)

I usually just get a bag from Costco and freeze it.

I cold brew. I've preferred this method for years. Just like tea, I prefer less acidicity and the improved smoothness. I also prefer drinking cold coffee and cold tea.

I grind with with a little hand grinder since it doubles as a spice grinder.

I brew a liter at a time which is good for about 5 cups. I usually mix heavy cream, coconut milk, maple syrup, cocoa powder, and cold brew. Sometimes I mix whey protein in there when I want to make it a meal.

I wish I had known what people would pay for cold brew a few years ago! It's stupid easy to make and like 1/20th the cost to do yourself.

[Atalanta]

Please don't freeze your coffee. Yeah, I used to do that too but it was explained at a seminar that too much moisture can get to the beans and negatively affect them. You're better off vacu sealing smaller batches and storing them in a cool dark place.

[binarypaladin]

Negatively affect them how? I haven't noticed any flavor issues. Like I said, I'm not very picky. Unless there's a health reason not to freeze them, I don't mind.

[AdamJG]

I'm a big fan of Community Dark Roast. It's pretty reasonably priced on Amazon. My father's family is from Baton Rouge and I was turned on to it while visiting Louisiana. Great stuff, especially if you like bold, dark French roasts.

[RonB]

I'm definitely not a coffee snob - I either like it or I don't. I'm still looking for a really good coffee and have gone from cheap to really expensive without finding one that really suits me. The expensive coffee was just not noticeably better to me, and, frankly, I'm glad.

I did have some great coffee in Acapulco many years ago, but I hadn't developed the habit then, so I didn't bother to find out what brand it was.

I find that the Aeropress consistently makes the best cup of whatever I'm drinking though

[Steve Vojtek]

About two months ago I acquired the AeroPress and an adjustable hand coffee grinder. I was really surprised at the quality of coffee that thing makes.
I am not a coffee expert and don't drink it everyday so when I do I want to enjoy it.
BTW that "hand" coffee grinder is now an "electric" grinder. I pull the removable handle off and attach a cordless drill on low speed.
What can I say I'm a bit lazy sometimes

[RonB]

Hmmmmm - I have both too.

[GregS]

Over the past couple of months I've started cold brewing. I bought one of the pitchers with the filter down the center. My cold brew is not a concentrate, so all summer I've been drinking it cold. Once the weather gets cold, I'll probably go back to standard automatic drip coffee. But for now I'm digging the cold brew.

[texastweeter]

3 different ways, Keurig (most often cause I am lazy), percolator, or cowboy coffee.

[Mr. Bones]

Ma's c~'60 Corningware perc ~90% of th' time, (Gma's ~50's Corningware as a backup )
Blue speckled porcelain Cowboy coffee out on th' cookers, when Life allows...while heatin' up CI fer smoker breakfast...

[rgriffeath]

I tend to go as over the top with my coffee as with my bbq 😜 Here is my setup: Ratio Eight, Baratza Forte Brew Grinder & a Jura ENA Micro 1.

[JCBBQ]

"Silvia" as my wife knows is my girlfriend or as they say in NJ my gumar. 😀 My Ranchilio Silvia is something I can't live without. 2 double espressos to start the day and another two throughout the morning. THE best coffee I've come across is La Colombe. I buy the beans and have my coffee place grind it for me. No point in my getting a grinder bc I go through about a pound a week. It's always fresh.

[texastweeter]

Fancy stuff.

[lonnie mac]

I try not to get too elaborate with our coffee. Just a little roasting, grinding and pressing... Bout as far as I will go.

[Donw]

The Behmor is a great roaster, especially for the price. Nothing better than finding the beans you like best, roasting them to your favorite profile, and grinding just before the brew.

[Gooner-que]

I hope to upgrade to a Behmor soon.

[Atalanta]

When I upgraded, I was lucky to find a HotTop on craigslist (I know, right?). Since we've gone pro, my HT is sitting by the Breville waiting for us to use them again.