Coffee Appreciation

How long do you let it steep for?

I'd use more water but keep the same amount of coffee and leave less steeping time. You'll get less of the stewed flavour of a cafetiere.

As it says in the instructions really - about 10 secs, whilst stirring, then pushing the plunger over about 30 secs. How long would you suggest?

What I'm getting with the above method is a really good americano, but the subtleties of the beans i noticed when using a cafetiere aren't coming through - I guess that because I'm making espresso?

You're not making 'espresso', you are making a strong brewed coffee.

Check out brewmethods.com - loads of different ways to make coffee with your aeropress

I only ever use inverted method now, works better with longer steep time

^^^
That sounds about right. I do no more than about 40 seconds

Keeping myself busy whilst off my feet:

Trying to transport coffee from machine to sofa is tricky when you are reliant on two crutches.

^ u need Big Trak + trailer.

Trying to transport coffee from machine to sofa is tricky when you are reliant on two crutches.

^ u need Big Trak + trailer.

Shirley this is why you have a herd of cats?

Cat training is ongoing, but hard.

I like the Big Trak idea, but don't have one.

I do, however, have plenty of Scalextric, if anyone fancies wasting a Thursday playing it at my house do let me know.

In other news, I just fixed the weeping steam wand issue- took the steam assembly to bits, steam pin into the hand-drill, apply angled end of pin to sandpaper, then sanding pad, scale and corrosion removed, back together and bingo.

The coffee seedling I got from JDP is doing well in a partially sunny spot with occasional watering. Tiniest suggestion of some new leaves on the way. At the Eden Project today I was wandering through a big coffee plantation, was brilliant. Found a green bean on the floor, anyone know what I should do with it to get it to grow?

Chuck it in a pot?

That's what I did with mine, which is looking a bit better now- new leaves growing past the "burnt" ones:

Lots of new growth at the top:

But he's looked happier in the past- much denser, closer to the plants that Sparky has posted above, he's still a bit sparse at the moment:

The coffee seedling I got from JDP is doing well in a partially sunny spot with occasional watering. Tiniest suggestion of some new leaves on the way. At the Eden Project today I was wandering through a big coffee plantation, was brilliant. Found a green bean on the floor, anyone know what I should do with it to get it to grow?

The Eden Project is where your little seedling came from originally and one of my larger planst was grown from a bean taken from there.
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Grab as many beans as possible and we can start a LFGSS planatation.

Was my seedling nicked from the dome then, or bought in the gift shop? I felt bad about taking beans off the plants, but there was one on the floor so I pocketed that. Hopefully it will germinate...

Kew has some nice coffee bushes, but I didn't see any beans last Saturday :(

i've just been doing the brutal double espresso topped up with hot water method described in the instructions.

i guess using less coffee and more water in the actuall press makes for a more cafteriere like drink then? i've only had it a couple of days so not experimented yet

The faux-espresso method you describe is what I do at work. You need an espresso grind, and the extraction will be a little longer due to lack of pressure.

On the other extreme, you could try something more like a filter or cafetiere grind and steep for minutes.

The main difference between the aeropress flavour and the cafetiere is that it's much less rough, I find, and less likely to taste stewed.

I still prefer my Gaggia at home for most coffee though, even if they are still Americanos.

Oh, I know I always bang on about Monmouth beans, but I've been through a few varieties recently, and the Kiandu darker roast and the Guji Gorbiche which I've gone back to are just phenomenal. Consistent every batch, and just perfectly balanced in taste.

Currently firing through some Brasilian stuff which I'm just getting used to.

Aeropress - my current method for long coffee supping at work is Mocha Parfait beans from the ALgerian Coffee Shop - I grind 'em coarse ish, like a cafetiere grind. Inverted, two level scoops, fill all the way with sub-boiling water, stir for thirty seconds, rest for a good two minutes, press. Like a cafetiere but cleaner, more pronounced flavours and you can drink the last mouthful.

I gave my Gaggia Factory 106 a service (fixed the leaking steam issue, basically) and it is now consistently producing cracking coffee.

Very happy with my little lever machine.

Now if only my coffee plant would hurry up and bear fruit.

Do you really reckon you'll ever get a cup of coffee out of it?

No, frankly.

But I live in hope.

Was my seedling nicked from the dome then, or bought in the gift shop?

Yours came from a bought one one that I split when I re-potted it.

Anyone tried any cold brewing at home?

Did a bit last night with some Malawi Geisha beans. Came out very nice, even without a cold brew system (used a cafetiere instead) and was a pleasure sitting at my desk this morning drinking cold coffee.

Yours came from a bought one one that I split when I re-potted it.

Ah, there were some for sale in little ceramic pots that had about 5/6 stems in there. Should probably have got one and split them up for LFGSS coffee lovers. But instead I'm coming home with a tiny olive tree - another taste addiction - that has 1 1/2 olives on already. It's only 10 inches tall though, so it might be a while before there's enough fruit to warrant pickling them for eating...

If I cut the top off my coffee and put it in water, will it develop roots (like Lemon Grass), or die?

Anyone tried any cold brewing at home?

Did a bit last night with some Malawi Geisha beans. Came out very nice, even without a cold brew system (used a cafetiere instead) and was a pleasure sitting at my desk this morning drinking cold coffee.

got instructions?

Big movements in my world of coffee:
1)Discovering Yirgacheffe
2)Learning how to make filter properly.

For those interested, the biggest tips I've learned are:
Water off the boil (92.5 deg c I've been told),
Rinse filter with boiling water before adding coffee (rinses out starch, improves filtering)
Soak grounds in filter (with boiled water) and leave for about 30 sec before adding rest of water.
Fill filter all the way to the top and keep it topped up until you've added all your water.

I'm sure a lot of this is common knowledge but it's made a big difference for me.

The filter cones are also stupidly cheap, £2ish.