Your coffee brewing method

[halvor]

Finally upped my office cup a few notches with an (unbranded) Aeropress from the 'bay.

I have only made three cups with it so far, changing only the time factor. 13-14 g and just over 200g of water. As my grinder is in storage during the move of house, I either use grocery store grinders or beg nicely in coffee shops, but regardless I have to get a full bag at the same grind size. The grind I have here is quite coarse, French Press type I'd say. The Aeropress gives incredibly clean cups, I must say.

 

[Grarea]

I only have one cup a day, I really enjoy it.
I started getting local roasted beans. Single origin.
I couldn't believe the difference over supermarket beans.
Bit surprised that I could tell the difference actually.
I was using a cafetiere. Trouble is you can only have coarse ground or you end up with sludge (which continues to brew in the cup and
causes more something or other.

I got an aeropress and it allows you to fine tune your coffee more to how you like it.
(As I see it)
The variables are grind size and brew length.
So, obviously a smaller grind needs a shorter brew.
Apparently (I haven't played properly yet) but a coarse grind for longer tatstes different than a fine grind for shorter.
It brings different flavours from the beans.

So, with the adjustability (and consistency) of a decent grinder and an aeropress, you can fine tune it to just how you like it.

I am still new to it, but, (Again, as I understand it):
If you use too hot water, it burns the coffee.
The sugars come out of the bean at the end.
So, there is a sweet spot.
Too short a brew is sour, too long a brew (for the grind size) it draws bitterness out.

 

[Uncle Bertie]

One mug of french-pressed Morrisons fair trade Espresso for breakfast. Then possibly another cup with my darling from the menu at Northern Tea Merchants incredible cafe, 40 different teas and 30 coffees to try. £2.95 for a cafetierre for 2.

 

[Godfather]

One mug of french-pressed Morrisons fair trade Espresso for breakfast. Then possibly another cup with my darling from the menu at Northern Tea Merchants incredible cafe, 40 different teas and 30 coffees to try. £2.95 for a cafetierre for 2.View attachment 1782

Great to see an independent thriving like this. It's what we need more of..

 

[halvor]

On that note, what does the coffee scene in UK look like? My little and often late in picking up trends country had an early spur of specialty coffee shops a little over twenty years ago, most of which are still in operations as chains, but good ones ( as in, they care properly about coffee). The later one to two years have seen a growth of two, among 'snobs' very unpopular chains, however, Swedish(?) Espresso House and infamous Starbucks, neither of which have much better coffee than the run of the mill old-school type of cafe. The absolute top shops are, like you say @Godfather, a few independent ones, but a few chains are indeed very good. Norwegian coffee is even famous among connoisseurs and we have, funnily, become a coffee destination.

(I currently subscribe to monthly delivery of beans from Coffee Collective in Copenhagen, though.)

 

[Godfather]

The independence scene is growing with some real artisan type establishments blooming and by that I mean the shop roasting their own beans and cold brew filtering (I'm not into that as am an espresso man!)

 

[Grarea]

Just a passing suggestion that might appeal to someone.
I have a porlex mini hand grinder.
It comes with a funnel for pouring the beans into.
You have to hold it as it doesn't fit over the grinder. Anyway, I am lazy and spill beans.
So I went to wickes. A VERY helpful man was trying all sorts of things for me and he came up with the following:
Miniline Downpipe Connector Black.
The code is 114589. It has an internal diameter of 50mm which fits lush to the grinder and the funnel.
You then don't have to hold the funnel when it you are filling the grinder.
I will probably tape it to the funnel.
Makes my life a bit easier in the morning.

 

[Sid James]

Having tried various methods it all comes back to using the briki.

 

[Nishy]

Thinking of getting a nespresso coffee machine, I read a previous post that said they are good, anything to look out for, completely new territory, I only have a stove pot thing.

 

[dadant]

Thinking of getting a nespresso coffee machine, I read a previous post that said they are good, anything to look out for, completely new territory, I only have a stove pot thing.

They're okay, the coffee I've tasted has been fine BUT it's same model as razor and cartridge...machine is cheap but you might eventually resent paying a premium for the refills.

 

[Redd]

Thinking of getting a nespresso coffee machine, I read a previous post that said they are good, anything to look out for, completely new territory, I only have a stove pot thing.

We have a Nespresso Pixie and an aerocchino (only me who uses it as I am a latte fan, the wife doesn't do milk). Yes it makes good coffee, although as Tony says above, it is not the cheapest option. That said, £3 for 10 pods compared to £2-3 a brew in a shop, it does make some sense, provided you are not using it exclusively.

There are a shed-load of different flavour/strengths/bean type and it is very much trial and error. I would suggest going into one of their shops, or big Dept stores with concessions for tasters before you buy. I would also suggest having a good shop around, particularly in the run up to Xmas for deals and vouchers. When we got ours we got £75 of vouchers for their online shop and so bought swanky cups and samples.

 

[Nishy]

Thanks chaps, have a load of gift vouchers to use up and it comes with the £75 of vouchers which is good.

 

[halvor]

Thinking of getting a nespresso coffee machine, I read a previous post that said they are good, anything to look out for, completely new territory, I only have a stove pot thing.

Good or bad depends on what sort of reference point you have... It's better than instant, but miles behind what you can do with a pour over or aeropress for instance, and decent beans from your local specialty store/micro roastery. Advantage of the Nespresso, of course, is the time it takes - drop a pod in, press the button and ready you are in a jiffy. I find that although the variants indeed are different, they all share a distinct Nespresso flavour note which has nothing to do with coffee, in my snobbish opinion. Snobbery aside, we have a Citiz w/steamer from a few years back. She uses it, I rarely do, only when in an absolute hurry.

As Mick says above, go visit a Nespresso store and sample a few of the different variants. If to your liking, go ahead!

 

[Redd]

As Mick says above,

Ah.... Nespresso Advisor to the Royal Court of Norway

Is there a fancy medal on a chain with that position?

 

[Godfather]

If I may venture an option coming from an old school espresso drinker!! if you are looking for sheer ease the nespresso is certainly better than Tassimo which my wife and kids use (actually they are band from using the grinder and espresso machine).
Is there are reason why nespresso rather than oldish school?