Coffee Appreciation

Yup.....affogato is a win. Thank you danb for helping the scales fall from mine eyes.

i want to invest in some stuff to make nicer coffees at home than my current cafetiere / pre-ground coffee combo...

does anyone have tips on good grinders to buy?

and does the quality of the cafetiere make much difference to the brew? i know the rules for how hot the water should be and how long you should leave it before pluging etc.

also, i got one of those metal stove-top espresso maker things, but it was pretty cheap, and the coffee i make with it always tastes a bit odd. i dunno if it's because i'm doing it wrong (how much coffee? should the water be brought to the boil slow or fast? etc), or coz it's a cheap piece of turd.

advice please folks!

have just joined ridiculous home espresso machine/grinder club.
I've been buying beans and getting them ground from a few average places for my stovetop, but obviously this won't make the grade now. Apart from Monmouth, who else is roasting quality beans? Any good mail order places?

^^ ditch the cafetierre and go aeropress. porlex mini for grinding

^ hasbean.co.uk a good place to start

http://hasbean.co.uk/

http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/

Aeropress coffee is great but it's not really the right answer to 'how can I make nicer coffee than with my cafetiere and pre-ground coffee combo'.

IMHO it'd be a good idea to stick with the cafetiere as it can make great coffee and seems to be a pretty forgiving method. On grinders, my flatmate has a porlex mini and rates it highly, as does everyone else in this thread or so it seems.

does anyone have tips on good grinders to buy?

A second hand Zassenhaus grinder from ebay.de sorted me out. Does everything but espresso grind, though some claim it does that too

Aeropress coffee is great but it's not really the right answer to 'how can I make nicer coffee than with my cafetiere and pre-ground coffee combo'.

It's as much a right answer as suggesting buying a grinder is. Why replace one half of the combo but not the other?

The OP asked how to make nicer coffee, not how to make nicer coffee only via cafetiere... they also said they'd be willing to invest in some stuff. The aeropress is one bit of stuff that'd be worth investing in for sure, as well as a grinder.

A second hand Zassenhaus grinder from ebay.de sorted me out. Does everything but espresso grind, though some claim it does that too

Their turkish grinder (see my icon) easily does espresso and beyond, obviously, to turkish grind which is finer.

Naked portafilter question... How much coffee do you use and what kind of grind? I'm having issues... The portafilter is pissing coffee all over the shop...

usual espresso grind, and triple basket do the job for me

Naked portafilter question... How much coffee do you use and what kind of grind? I'm having issues... The portafilter is pissing coffee all over the shop...

Mine does this too.
I've given up, for now.

Using a baked portafilter doesn't require anything different to a regular one. What it does do is show you flaws in either your beans (too old, shit supermarket beans etc) or your technique.
If it's pissing out everywhere then I guess the grind is far too course or the beans are too old. Or the tamping technique is flawed etc etc etc

As Bombcup often says, home espresso is a pain in the arse

Porlex mini ordered. Hoping it will bring a new lease of life to the stovetop, but I'm not sure I'll be up to grinding enough beans for the percolator.

Just been to visit a coffee plantation on Kauai in Hawaii, very interesting, the flowers on the coffee bushes smell and look a little like Jasmine and the fresh beans kinda smell like string beans....

Will pop some photos up when I am back

As mentioned - a couple of shots from the Kauai coffee plantation:

Coffee harvester:

img409 by Dan Burbridge, on Flickr

img410 by Dan Burbridge, on Flickr

Interestingly the different varieties of plant/bean all had very different smelling flowers - these ones were very Jasmine like, smelt great just after it had rained
You can just about make out the white flowers on the plants here:

img412 by Dan Burbridge, on Flickr

Green beans - not quite ripe:

img413 by Dan Burbridge, on Flickr

Sample roaster for QC and cupping/experimentation:

img414 by Dan Burbridge, on Flickr

i want to invest in some stuff to make nicer coffees at home than my current cafetiere / pre-ground coffee combo...

does anyone have tips on good grinders to buy?

and does the quality of the cafetiere make much difference to the brew? i know the rules for how hot the water should be and how long you should leave it before pluging etc.

also, i got one of those metal stove-top espresso maker things, but it was pretty cheap, and the coffee i make with it always tastes a bit odd. i dunno if it's because i'm doing it wrong (how much coffee? should the water be brought to the boil slow or fast? etc), or coz it's a cheap piece of turd.

advice please folks!

I use the same equipment as Jim, but am not in the position to replace it, ie Bodum Cafetiere and a stovetop. I always do the following, rate my skillz.

Cafetiere

Put some coffee in the cafetiere (How much? I'm never sure)
Put fresh boiling water directly onto the coffee (Again, how much and can I 'scald' it?)
Plunge and lift the plunger, creating a whirling coffee-ground maelstrom
Leave it until I'm really hot for coffee (Maybe 4 minutes)
Guzzle thoughtlessly, maybe with a biscuit

Generally this leaves me with a not unpleasant buzz, but am I doing something that I could change to improve things? Ground coffee never seems to have any 'recommended dose' and there are no instructions with cafetieres, so I'd be interested to hear how an afficionado might approach my very limited equipment.

I use the same equipment as Jim, but am not in the position to replace it, ie Bodum Cafetiere and a stovetop. I always do the following, rate my skillz.

Cafetiere

Put some coffee in the cafetiere (How much? I'm never sure)
Put fresh boiling water directly onto the coffee (Again, how much and can I 'scald' it?)
Plunge and lift the plunger, creating a whirling coffee-ground maelstrom
Leave it until I'm really hot for coffee (Maybe 4 minutes)
Guzzle thoughtlessly, maybe with a biscuit

Generally this leaves me with a not unpleasant buzz, but am I doing something that I could change to improve things? Ground coffee never seems to have any 'recommended dose' and there are no instructions with cafetieres, so I'd be interested to hear how an afficionado might approach my very limited equipment.

I don't use a cafetiere often any more but this is what I normally do:

Get a measuring spoon, they often come with catetieres but if not a tablesoon of coffee.
Water just pre boiled/just off the boil, pour on about a half a centimetre to 'bloom' coffee and leave for 45 seconds.
Pour the rest of water on, leave for about 30 seconds.
Plunge slowly and pour into cup (no maelstroming!!)
Guzzle thoughtfully, definitely with a biscuit.

This is for good quality, freshly gound coffee. If you're using pre ground then it won't make much difference!

Coffee.

And croissants.

^^nursery escapee

I don't use a cafetiere often any more but this is what I normally do:

Get a measuring spoon, they often come with catetieres but if not a tablesoon of coffee.
Water just pre boiled/just off the boil, pour on about a half a centimetre to 'bloom' coffee and leave for 45 seconds.
Pour the rest of water on, leave for about 30 seconds.
Plunge slowly and pour into cup (no maelstroming!!)
Guzzle thoughtfully, definitely with a biscuit.

This is for good quality, freshly gound coffee. If you're using pre ground then it won't make much difference!

Do you only brew for 45+30 seconds? My method is to:

Boil kettle and leave for 1-2 minutes
Pour water on to freshly ground coffee (I grind two scoops of beans per mug using the 7g measuring thing that came with the cafetiere)
After 1 minute, stir once
After 2-3 minutes more, plunge slowly and pour into warmed cup/mug

I think Cafetiere coffee tastes horribly stewed if left to brew for any more than a minute, possibly two. Makes my guts feel poisoned as well. I'd rather go for 30-60s, and get a cleaner taste approximating a pour over.

Hmm, I'll try a shorter time, but I like the extra depth of flavour from a cafetiere over drip. If it starts tasting stewed, I'll cut the time a little, or adjust the grind.

As BMMF says it stops it getting stewed. Longer extractions allow more time for bad flaours to come through. If you want it strong, up the amount of coffee or go for a different bean.

thanks for the advice, I know the cafetiere is a bit simple but thanks for a poke in the right direction