Fwd: Re: Wimsical silly question re: coffee making
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Fwd: Re: Wimsical silly question re: coffee making
 
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Mr. Coffee Gil - I usually make my coffee with folded filter paper in a beaker,
pouring through water just at the boiling point. I'm not
terribly picky about my coffee but I do enjoy the details of
such a ritual and try to stay close to some optimum. I think
the common brand is "Chemex" (speaking of Glen's utility of
beakers vs Popper's 3 worlds". I find the two biggest variables beyond the choice of
bean/roast is the grind and the temperature of the water. Being sometimes impatient, I am tempted to pour my water before
it is at full temperature, or at least to "wet the grounds" with
hot water in anticipation of the full event. My subjective experience is that wetting the grounds (or
starting with water not quite up to boiling) yields less-good
results. It could be a subjective judgement I have about "doing
it right". I seem to remember that English Tea is presumed to
be best made by letting the kettle settle for a moment after it
boils... that being too close too boiling is somehow a bad
thing? But you can't be sure it is "just below boiling" until
it hits that point first? I also find that the grind matters. I recently recovered my coffee grinder so am no longer dependent on the grinds I get from the grocery. For my method a finer, almost espresso-fine grind is preferred. I just recovered a French Press maker which is a good
alternative to the pour through, especially for just enough
coffee for myself. I think it is a 24 ounce vessel, so minus
the grinds I probably get about 22 ounces of coffee... two good
solid mugs. More than that and I start compulsively posting
nonsense to Friam! This prefers a coarser ground to avoid that
fine powdered coffee residue in the bottom of the cup. This summer I tried making "cold brew" which is pretty simple..
rather than dropping the dirty sock filled with grounds into
boiling water you put it in cold water and let it sit for 12-18
hours. Despite my crude ideations about making coffee with
dirty socks, I actually use a fancy carafe with a fine metal
mesh filter for this... it is much more civilized and doesn't
require finding a sock without a hole. Since I was *mostly*
drinking iced coffee anyway, I decided to give it a whirl... it
is supposed to (according to my PaleoDaughter) be healthier for
you and according to (some) afficianados of coffee to be less
bitter. I liked it (esp for iced coffee), but also enjoy my
coffee "brew" ritual enough that I'm very glad to have the
temperatures dropping again so that I don't mind dumping a few
extra BTUs into the house. I'm very much looking forward to
being able to have at least a small fire in my wood cookstove in
the morning, which allows my beaker of coffee to sit and stay
hot for much longer... right now my weekly Junk-mail burn
isn't quite enough to keep my coffee warm. As for coffee sources, I have to admit to not really having
good discrimination there. I am *almost* as whimsical about
that as about wine... I don't quite buy it (just) for the label
(or the name of the source) but it *IS* a temptation. I've a
good friend from the highlands of Ethiopia so I often buy coffee
from the region she came from just out of some weird loyalty.
After a long visit to Hawaii I found myself often enjoying Kona
coffee. I prefer a darker roast in general. Oh yeh, and it
almost exclusively involves some kind of Colonial Exploitation
and a fat Carbon Footprint to haul it halfway around the world
to me. If I continue on my social-conscious arc, I may be
reduced to dunking burned toast in a cup of hot water... What do you add to your coffee? I've always been a "I prefer
my coffee dark and bitter like my women" kinda guy, but on a
keto diet I'm learning to use a variety of fats to modify it.
The Keto/Paleo people suggest full on heavy creme (pure fat, no
lactose) but I find it too weird (oily). The hardcore Paleos
who also endorse cold-brew describe "bulletproof" coffee with a
dollop of butter, ghee, or coconut oil. As much as I like
butter, I don't like it much in coffee. I'm looking forward to
Pinon harvest because I grew up with the tradition of tossing a
dozen pinon nuts (shell and all) into the grinder with the
beans. The nuts' fat DOES cut the harsher overtones and add an
interesting aroma as well as a mild flavor. But you kinda have
to like "oily coffee" for any of these. As for your "Fred Burns what was that?" style... I grew up on
what most people would call "Diner Coffee" and have to admit
that I can drink a half-dozen cups of that a truck stop with a
traditional "Trucker's Breakfast" and be very happy.
Especially if the waitress (always named Flo) flirts with me a
lot. But it is not hardly the same as what I prefer to make in
my beaker at home. 'nuff for now - Steve
On 9/21/17 10:44 AM, Gillian Densmore
wrote:
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove |
Re: Fwd: Re: Wimsical silly question re: coffee making
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Mmm Kona Koffe and Kava Coffe are indeed gloriusly awsome On Thu, Sep 21, 2017 at 11:34 AM, Steven A Smith <[hidden email]> wrote:
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove |
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