Coffee Appreciation

Picked up some Tijuco Preto Carmo De Minas from Square Mile the other week. Bit of a rip off.

I tend to drink single, or occasional double shots (with a little sugar) and I don't want to waste hand-ground coffee each time.

Keen to hear if anyone does this with an aeropress before I go back to a moka pot.

Nobody answered this for you, so thought I would. Yes I do this with an aeropress, if I am in a rush, just want a quick hit. Works just as good as any stovetop I've used (easier actually).

DO IT!

I bought an AeroPress a month ago and tbh I'm not seeing much difference in speed or convenience over my Moka pot. I suspect it comes into its own as a travel device when staying in kettle-equipped hotels/B&Bs.
Using the same espresso-ground coffee (Illy Dark), I think the Moka pot still has the edge flavour-wise.

Go for a much coarser grind

^^^ thanks.

^^^use a better coffee

Go for a much coarser grind

Care to elaborate as to why? Not getting any clogging with finer stuff, so shirley coarser stuff will just come out weaker?
I tried using a medium-ground coffee when I first bought it and tbh it was like dishwater compared to what I'm used to.
I usually tamp Espresso-ground coffee down hard into a 3-cup Moka pot, producing an almost Ristretto-short double shot. Can't see how I can get near that with the Aeropress.

FWIW, I like Illy. As far as supermarket coffee and making it at home goes, it's decent. If I can find it at a discount, I'll always buy it. Don't mind Lavazza Oro either.
If I want really nice coffee, I pay somebody else to make it on their six-grand La Marzocco and hand it to me with a big smile on their face.

I always run a very fine grind in my aeropress, and don't let it steep at all. Others use a coarse grind, let it stand for 60-90 seconds, and pull their coffee like a french press.

My comment about Ily is that it's an aribaca coffee, just like Lavazza and whilst it has a bold initial flavour, it's hollow and empty behind. IMO It's not a good coffee for determining whether your grind/pull set up is any good. You want a bean with a more complex note which you can either fuck up or make sing depending how you treat it.

But if you like Ily, and your moka pot, stick with it. if it ain't broke...!

"You want a bean with a more complex note"

(sorry, what you said pretty much hit it, seriously)

: ]

I usually tamp Espresso-ground coffee down hard into a 3-cup Moka pot, producing an almost Ristretto-short double shot. Can't see how I can get near that with the Aeropress.

I'd say that you're not "supposed" to with an Aeropress. Stick to your moka pot for that. The Aeropress is much better for making longer/filter styles drinks where you are trying to tease out different flavours rather than going for concentrated shots.

^ this.

Ah. Cheers Fred and jdp. Making more sense now.
The hilarious Microsoft-Word-1987 packaging suggests that Aeropress is The World's Greatest Double Espresso Device, cleverly disguised as a penis enlarger.
I'll have a mess about with it in due course.

I don't currently own a grinder, so I usually get the shop to grind it for me, or (gasp) buy ground coffee in supermarkets.
Have been tempted to buy a Hario Ceramic Slim MSS-1B though.
Any good?

I've an electric grinder so I've not used one of them but Hario stuff in normally quite good. The Porlex mini is also supposed to be good.

Pre ground shop stuff is awful bascially. It could have been sitting there for months so whatever you get you'll see a big improvement when grinding your own.

Don't know if you are US based (as you've linked to Amazon USA) but Coffeehit have the Porlex mini for £4 more than the Hario. http://www.coffeehit.co.uk/coffee-brewing/hand-coffee-grinders

Don't know if you are US based

I'm in LA. Thanks for the tip though, I'll look out for Porlex stuff here.

I'm back from Malta now, and my conclusion from a week of searching for a decent coffee, and eating around the island is that there are some grade A ingredients available, but almost no knowledge of what to do with them.

The best coffee I had was indeed on Republic Street, but in common with the food I enjoyed things the most when the least had been done- so espresso was acceptable, anything with milk not really.

Cheap Chris King / Rapha tampers here:

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?10949-Chris-King-Coffee-Tampers

Personally, I'll stick with my Motta, but I'm sure some people will really like these.

^ Oh how tempting. I love the weight of these.

This question in the comments amused me: "do cylcists [sic] use these for anything?"

not arrived yet but this sounds like the most ambitious hasbean guest espresso blend yet...

http://www.hasblog.co.uk/baked-beanz-guest-blend

not arrived yet but this sounds like the most ambitious hasbean guest espresso blend yet...

http://www.hasblog.co.uk/baked-beanz-guest-blend

That sounds pretty cool.

I've tried reading the first two paragraphs three times and I'm still struggling to understand.

Regarding Aeropress and short cups...

I'm not finding much online about the Aerobie vs Mokapot but I thought this below on the Hasblog. So I'm going to give it a double-shot –

For me the aerobie does a far better job of making espresso style drinks than most machines I have tried under a few hundred pounds. I wanted to clear that one up so it doesn’t come back to bite me and I’ll tie it together in one statement “The aerobie doesn’t make espresso, but it does make a style of espresso type of drink at a very affordable price." Stephen Leighton

My only 'problem' with a moka pot is that it can overheat if your not paying it full attention. I also find grounds can drop/overheat and cause bitterness if you don't stir the coffee as it comes through.

I think it's probably worth doing an A/B to compare.

How short are we talking? Whenever I made very short drinks with the moka pot, I struggled to avoid a lot of sourness. That's even with very fine grinds (note that this also causes the grinds to see water at probably over 100 degrees which isn't good).