UKC

Following the other thread that didn't make any sense, I don't mind a cup of coffee now and again. It could be espresso, filter, latte etc. People go on about a good cup of coffee and I can never put my finger on what that is. I could describe a decent cup of tea, wine or beer. How do you decide if coffee is good or bad and do you need to be American to moan about it?

Phil

In reply to newkid:

You only know a good one, once you've drunk it, and it's unique to you.

smooth, strong, weee bit of froth on the top, that stays there after you've sipped from the cup. Just the right temp...

Much like the perfect cup of tea.

just the right temp to gulp down and feel the warmth percolate down your throat and in your stomach, slight sensation of the pores opening on your back because of the warmth, not too much tannin, and not watery. Impossible to describe, but hit about 2 of 10 cups.

In reply to newkid: no... its easy

First Your coffee making equipment must be spotlessly clean.

then Select the freshest, best quality beans available.

Purchase only enough coffee that is reasonable for your lifestyle.

Use the best possible water available.

Grind your beans just before you make your coffee to retain freshness.

Select the proper grind for your type of brewing method.

I can't stress how important this is. One six-ounce cup of coffee needs two tablespoons of coffee beans. If that sounds like a lot then you have probably been making less than full strength coffee as I was. For years I was making coffee with less robust flavors because I had too large a cup for the amount of coffee I was using. When I finally did begin measuring, my coffee drinking experience was transformed into the delightful, pleasing experience that remains constant if I follow these simple directions.

Store coffee in an airtight container on your counter or shelf if using quickly.

The less exposure to air and water caused by condensation in your refrigerator the better tasting your cup of coffee. If you do choose to store your coffee in the freezer, again, place it in an airtight container and use within 2-3 months.

Use only very hot but not boiling water for your drip coffee maker.

This would involve the French press, Neapolitan flip or a manual drip brewing method such as the well known Melitta.

Stir your coffee after it is made before serving.

This disperses the coffee particulates evenly instead of sitting at the bottom of the pot and therefore provides a consistent cup of coffee.

Store any freshly made coffee in a preheated air pot or thermos.







then once you have done all this pick up the cup pore it down the sink and get yourself a real drink ....like TEA

In reply to newkid:

realy strong and suggary and poured down the breast, stomach, thigh, calf, toe of some svelt columbian lass into your cup

im off to starbucks rightnow.

In reply to mux:


Oh come on - they're all out of Roger Mellie's Profanisaurus!

In reply to newkid: The only way to tell a decent coffee is not to pollute it with additives. Simple espresso ( there's no X in it !!), no sugar. Once you've identified it, by all means pollute it with sugar, milk, syrups etc. For me, it's black coffee every time. And under no circumstances use boiling water - it will only make your coffee bitter

In reply to mux:
Don't you need to shake the beans next to your ear in your hand first

In reply to newkid:

It needs to be strong and black for me. Kenco 'designer' dark and smokey instants get my vote every time. I would rather drink piss than starbucks etc.

In reply to newkid:
this stuff is pretty shit hot.
https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/Ethiopia-Yirgacheffe.html

In reply to newkid: It's like tea. There's a sliding scale from filtered fresh tea leaves, with the right amount of milk and sugar to taste, to a lukewarm cup of milk that only nodded in the vague direction of the teabag, or even worse, tea granules with hot water added. With coffee, if it is watered down it tastes like dishwater. If the beans are burnt, it tastes burnt. If it is granules, the quality is shite compared with freshly ground stuff.

In reply to newkid:

I get so many shocked reactions and called a mentalist or similar almost every time I get asked "how do you take your coffee?" and I answer "black no sugar". As far as I've always felt, if you're putting loads of milk and more than one sugar in a coffee then you don't like coffee so get something else!
Apologies for random rant there...

Here's a question - I'm skint but really like good coffee. Apart from a kettle I have no coffee making paraphernalia. What's the minimum I need to start making reasonable coffee and roughly how much is it gonna cost? (meant to do this for years)

In reply to Scarab9: You can buy a small coffee filter for about 2 quid in outdoor shops. Then all you need is the coffee....as to how much the coffee costs, it totally depnds what sort you eant and how much you get through!

In reply to Scarab9: Check out this beautie

http://cascadedesigns.com/msr/cookware/cookware-accessories/mugmate-coffee/...

In reply to Scarab9:

You have a kettle, as long as you have a cup and a spoon, that's all you need. There are many instant coffees as good as, if not better than, alot of the filter coffee you can buy. Just find an instant you like and drink that. No need to be a coffee snob.

It's all in the beans!
==>Jamaican Blue Mountain. Try it once and you will know!

In reply to newkid:

Anyone tried this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak

Good shit?

In reply to tommyb:

tried it, nothing good to report about it.

I like Cafe Direct. I used a gaggia machine for years but now swear by the Italian stovetop, made super strong 50/50 with hot milk.

In reply to jazzyjackson:

Ok. Anyone who can tell the difference between good coffee and instant tried it?

In reply to Scarab9: the best way to make a good espresso type drink relatively cheaply at home is with a stove top maker which you can pick up for under a tenner. most italians use one of these at home with the nona of the house making a brew first thing in the morning and then everybody getting a capacino on the way to work. to get the best out of this you need a grinder (a burr grinder is best as these dont burn the beans but these are dear, but a little blade grinder will do if you are really careful , again about a tenner if you look around ) . next you need good freshly roasted beans kept pretty much as described above. grind only what you need for a brew. to make a really good cafe like espresso shot at home is very difficult with out spending silly money (bottom end of acceptable is a rancilio silvia + a rocky grinder which will set you back about £450 new but they are readily available on ebay for about £220.next step up is a rocket giotto for about £1200 new ...your now looking at pretty much good cafe standard shots, after that the ultimate home machine is a la marzoco GS3, currently £4000 ish , any of the above really need a mazzer grinder to go with them, £500 upwards but easily available of fleas at bay for half that.
any road up to start off go and get a stove top maker then email me and as you are skint i ll send you enough freshly roasted beans freshly ground up to go in it for a few goes. beware if you really like coffee then you really will like this.
p.s to anybody who scorns coffee snobbery ..i send you lots of love . it is but one of my many vices.
mike
mike

In reply to Patrik:

Agreed! unfortunately once is about the number of times i can afford to try it!
Grrr

In reply to mike123: so how do you brew it using a stove top?

I appreciate good coffee, but the only way I can get a decent one out of a stove top is; fill the filter to about 5mm below the top. Brew, then mix 50/50 with hot milk. Not tried fresh ground beans though.

In reply to mike123:
bloomin 'ell! You may have a slightly more refined taste to me at the mo (I hope) as some of those numbers made me sweat just looking at em! However ya advice before and after is great, thanks a lot. Something to treat myself with for xmas :-p

hohoho! It's Christmas. I hope to get lucky!

In reply to newkid:
And what do the coffee snobs think of Nespresso?

My espresso machine's packed in and the burd's trying to convince me to buy one of these. I have to admit it would make less mess and have a lower failure rate than my manual machine. But I do quite enjoy the whole messy business!

In reply to WB: not used mine for ages but i did use one for several extended periods of living out of vans and estate cars. i actually have fond memories of climbing days starting with the ritual of brewing my morning coffee outside the car with an msr and a well loved stove top. the trick is to play around as you have and find what works for you. 50/50 stove top + milk is what the french drink as cafe o lait. one trick is to watch the brew happeing and pour it out of the maker as soon as its finished spitting this stops it burning. i ll send you some of my rocket fuel if you like.

In reply to Scarab9: 260506760896, well known flea traders . £12.50 free post. just the job. previous offer was genuine.
mike

In reply to newkid: Best coffee i ever had was home-made filtered. Spanked the pants off any cup you'd get on the high street

In reply to tommyb:

Cafe direct is real coffee you lunkfish, its not instant, why i outta.... ; )

In reply to Stuzz:

blue mountains expensive due to small yields, I dont think its any better than any good solid coffee. v v nice though.

In reply to newkid:

I always use Lavazzo Espresso in my reasonably priced Gaggia espresso machine (<£100). All very good value, and delicious.

In reply to Fredt:

Nice. a couple of amaretto biscuits and shazam : )

In reply to newkid:

In my view, the biggest difference you're going to experience will be from how fresh your coffee is before you brew it.

As has been said, grinding your own coffee beans just before you brew is the best way to obtain ultimate freshness. If you buy coffee that has already been ground, it will be good for a couple of days after opening (if kept in the fridge) but the taste will change quickly. If you regularly grind your own beans, you will soon begin to notice the difference.

In reply to Frogger:

I regularly grind my own beans, I love it.

In reply to Frogger:

generally agree but I have experienced poor coffee from old beans before.
Some ground coffee is hard to beat. Off course thee whole ritual of grinding and the aroma adds a lot to the coffee snobs experience : )

In reply to newkid:

During the last couple of days I have been using freshly hand-ground Sidamo beans (proper Ethiopian goat-food) filtered through a Melitta filter. One heaped tablespoon for an ordinary mug-full. Excellent!

In reply to jazzyjackson:

Agreed, there is definitely a ritual about the whole thing..

I have a friend who hates the faff of it all. She has a tasimo (don't get me started!).

But she loves my coffee if I make it for her

In reply to Frogger:

SO, good beans? Where from? I have a french press and use that pretty regularly as it is.

In reply to newkid:

no coffee can be considered good unless an old turkish or sicilian lady has made it.

anything other is instant.

In reply to newkid:


If you like the taste, then it's good. You're the one drinking it, not some coffee snob.


Judging by the comments on this thread, apparently not...

In reply to newkid: my favourite coffe is from the exchange coffee company in blackburn
http://www.visitblackburn.co.uk/site/food-and-drink/exchange-coffee-co-p425...

my favourite is Blue Sumatra (decaf)

I have a big cup latee with only 1 shot of coffee...(cos i am a wuss) and 3 sugars or sweetners....absolutely fab.

Bonus. They sell the cofee either as beans or ground to your spec too!

Fab shop!

In reply to andy moles:

Oh look, I left myself logged in at work!

Incidentally I don't grind my own beans, but I like the idea.

In reply to andy moles:
Don't really have a brand of coffee to recommend but even plain old instant coffee can taste like mana from heaven in the right circumstances, like when I wake up in a tent and crawl (still half in my sleeping bag) into the porch to brew up. Open the door to a refreshing waft of cool late-autumn/early-spring air while the sun sparkles on the dew-soaked grass and as I sip the brew I'll be looking around at the wisps of early morning mist drifting like restless spirits through the trees...

In reply to Snowboy: I know, I Know. I was gonnna call myself 'Cliche-boy' but it was taken...

In reply to newkid:
youtube.com/watch?v=1BXIbl2F6gs&

In reply to jmews: Another vote for buying beans from Has Bean http://www.hasbean.co.uk They only roast them AFTER you place your order, and then post them out to you. Not found anything fresher, and they can do the grinding for you too if you don't have a grinder at home.

In reply to newkid: not starbucks or costa

In reply to newkid: fresh, hot, illy

In reply to newkid:

Very personal. I hated coffee until I had Moka stovetop. This was my route into it, and this is what I enjoy most. A small amount of bitterness. Not burnt or smokey for me. Strong intense flavours, and not wishy washy.

Bad coffee to meis thin, lacks the oils that bring out the flavours, or is too old and has gone rancid.

Pity me as I am no longer allowed to have real coffee owing to a stomach ulcer


djb

In reply to newkid:

Coffee is always better from the place of origin. They keep all the best to themselves and give us the cheaper nasty tasting stuff. I have 3 large bags of costa rican coffee and its heaven when i treat myself to it. Black and sweet is how the coffee growers drink it over there, the perfect coffee in my opinion.

In reply to newkid:

you need one of these
http://mypressi.com/

In reply to nz Cragrat:

or one of these
http://www.ssadesign.com.au/blog/2008/03/atomic-v-otto-expresso-maker.html