Coffee

mantis
mantis Posts: 17,032
Hello everyone,
I just got back from Brussels Belgium where my wife and I spent 8 days and 7 nights there. We had an amazing time.
One thing that really stuck out besides Waffles, Chocolate and Beer is the Coffee served. It started in our Hotel Softiel I think it was called in Brussels had some amazingly thick creamy and wonderful non bitter tasting coffee. Then we went to Lunch at this bakery coffee shop called Paul and they had basically the same kind of thick rich full flavored coffee.
In Ghent I had more of this style coffee as well as when we went to Buggie which was really close to England across the water.
I have Kurig and for years I found it to be fine to brew a single cup for myself as years ago my family wasn't really into coffee. Now my wife is drinking coffee over tea as well as my Daughter and Son. What kinda sucks now is I'm less then happy with any choice I buy now for the Kurig. I usually drink organic Columbian with Honey and half and half and I'm not all that thrilled to drink it.
Without buying the crazy machine they have over there what is a really good quality coffee maker?
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
«13

Comments

  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    I use a Breville

    https://www.brevilleusa.com/collections/coffee-makers/products/the-grind-control?variant=33178484881

    Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Beans and paper filters.

    Smooth and never harsh or burnt...
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,053
    edited April 2018
    Use a French Press pot, you'll never go back to brewed coffee again. Use locally roasted beans so you know they are fresh and grind just before using.

    It's a bit of a pain to do French Press coffee, but the flavor, aroma and mouth feel of freshly roasted, freshly ground coffee can't be duplicated with a brew device.

    My favorite right now is a Mexican blend from a local coffee roaster.

    If a French Press pot is not practical. You need a machine that will keep the water temp constant (and the right temp) while brewing and in ALL cases use fresh roasted, fresh ground coffee. Spend the $100 or so and get a burr grinder for your beans.

    The difference between store ground and fresh ground coffee at home is huge, so even if you have to get a drip style coffee maker, still buy locally roasted whole bean coffee.

    This is an area when Consumer Reports might be able to help, because they rate many of the key characteristics of a good drip coffee maker. I am the only consistent coffee drinker in my house so a standard French Press works for me. I make 4 cups and transfer to a insulated carafe to keep warm.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,053
    edited April 2018
    I would also recommend with a drip type coffee maker to get one that brews into a insulated carafe rather than a glass pot with a warmer. If you're going to take the time to use fresh roasted, fresh ground coffee leaving it in a glass pot on a warmer will kill all the flavor after about 15 minutes.

    Always use non-tap water, I have a Britta filter pitcher and I use the filtered water, it does taste better.
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • Mikey081057
    Mikey081057 Posts: 7,127
    Agree a thermal carafe can keep coffee hot all day without burning it. Good water is key to not only the flavor of your coffee but keeps your coffee maker from calcium/mineral deposit buildup.

    I use R.O. water.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,053
    I only drink coffee at home on the weekends except in the Summer months I make a steady supply of Iced coffee for all week.

    I am lucky in that my work provides great coffee we buy from a local roaster. It's pre-ground for our commercial Bunn machine, but it's a couple steps above the stuff you buy in the store since it's roasted and ground on site. So during the Fall and Winter months I just drink work coffee. But on the weekends it's French Press time....lol

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    Avid coffee drinker my whole life. Treat it like audio, put more stock in the quality of the coffee you buy rather than the machine making it.

    Granted, the machine itself will vary in quality and capabilities, all have their pro's and con's. For both machine and coffee, you have to step outside the consumer grade junk that is sold in stores. Just like in audio, you step outside the consumer grade junk at BestBuy.

    Coffee is a matter of preferences, everyone has different tastes. If you like what you had in the hotel, call them and ask the brand they used and look for it here or order it on the internet from a roaster.

    The coffee you like will dictate the machine to use. In Europe, coffee means some kind of espresso. Your not using a drip machine for espresso. Know what I'm sayin' ?
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  • Jimbo18
    Jimbo18 Posts: 2,310
    Not expensive, has a pre-infusion option, stainless steel carafe and good temp. control. Very happy with this for the past year. I went to this, instead of doing the pour-over myself.

    https://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-BV1900TS-Carafe-Coffee-Stainless/dp/B00O9FO1HK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1524492035&sr=8-2&keywords=bonavita+bv1900ts&dpID=41CK31RprXL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

    Grinding the beans yourself, just before making the pot, is also the biggest difference, as well as the quality of beans, of course.
  • maxward
    maxward Posts: 1,490
    I roast my own beans and drink drip coffee. Technivorm are a little harder to find, made in the Netherlands. They are consistently tested as heating to the proper temperature. French press works well, too, but I like to brew more than most of those hold. They are a little messy to clean. Use fresh whole beans and grind before brewing.
  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,969
    Arguably the best chocolate I ever had was in Belgium. Agree with Heiney on French Press.
  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,521
    edited April 2018
    Rinse the insulated carafe out with hot water before brewing, and the coffee will stay hot better.
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  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    My wife got hooked on Nespresso machines while living in London, so we bought one when she got back to the states. https://www.nespresso.com/us/en/ This is the one George Clooney pitches...not that it matters, but you may have seen the commercials. It creates the froth. You do have to buy their pods...they have a variety to choose from in taste and size, including little espresso pods. We use filtered water from a ZeroWater pitcher.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,053
    Since we are on the subject. I participated in my first Kickstarter campaign and it was for a "new" French Press coffee maker that makes it easier to clean up after. Called Rite-Press

    I haven't received the unit yet hopefully in the next couple weeks, but for $30 I figured I couldn't go wrong. The exploded their funds goal early on and the team designing/manufacturing and marketing this unit is top notch.

    Here are a couple links if anyone wants to check it out. The campaign is over and they are working on filling the Kickstarter contributors orders. I am normally not one to get involved with something like this, but the no fuss clean up really appealed to me as that's the part I hate most about the French Press pot.

    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/146423791/rite-press-the-no-mess-french-press

    https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/no-mess-french-press-24-01-2018/

    http://techacute.com/rite-press-new-french-press/

    I am not any way affiliated, but it is a neat idea and I figured why not support it.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    Does Emotiva sell coffee?
    Asking for a friend.

  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 6,646
    We had our honeymoon in French Polynesia. Normally, I have to infuse coffee with a crapton of sugar and flavored creamer just to make it tolerable and make the bitterness go away. The coffee there was so fresh, I could drink it without adding anything to it, which is virtually impossible for me here.

    I have read that 90-something% of all coffee consumed in the United States is beyond it's ideal freshness, which accounts for much of the bitterness.

    Oh, this is where I enjoyed that amazing coffee. Club Bala Hai in Cooks Bay, Moorea. Maybe the location had a little to do with the amazing taste? :p

    875pqggbj07u.jpg
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,053
    edited April 2018
    When I source fresh beans and grind fresh and brew at the proper temp for the proper time I get ZERO bitterness. I get bitterness if the grind is incorrect and/or the temp is off or the coffee brews for too long. It's a fine line.

    While I agree that many places lead you to believe their coffee is fresher than it is, but based on visiting several local roasters that total of 90% seems very high. Just like anything you need to research and choose wisely to get the best product.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,557
    I was going to post in this thread but @heiney9 and others already got it covered. Nice job boys!
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    Jimbo18 wrote: »
    Not expensive, has a pre-infusion option, stainless steel carafe and good temp. control. Very happy with this for the past year. I went to this, instead of doing the pour-over myself.

    https://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-BV1900TS-Carafe-Coffee-Stainless/dp/B00O9FO1HK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1524492035&sr=8-2&keywords=bonavita+bv1900ts&dpID=41CK31RprXL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

    Grinding the beans yourself, just before making the pot, is also the biggest difference, as well as the quality of beans, of course.

    That's exactly the one I have and was going to recommend. Keeps the temp at about 203-206, and essentially brews more like a pour over than a traditional drip machine. Its bare bones, not timer or auto-brew, it doesn't even beep when its done! But it brews fast, and its damn good.

    And as for the beans, before I started making babies like some of you roll tubes, I roasted my own, and that is certainly the best. Find a local roaster, pick it up fresh roasted once a week, and grind right before you brew. Nothing quite like it...
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited April 2018
    For the record -- I love coffee but 1) I adulterate it (milk and sugar/sweetener) and 2) I am uncharacteristically unpicky about the quality. I do like and enjoy really good coffee, but I am fine with pretty mediocre coffee as well -- as long as it is strong and not sour or bitter.

    Now, if y'all want to talk about tea, let me know ;)

    Having nothing concrete or constructive to offer (as noted above, the ahem, ground has been well covered by otheres!), I'll leave you with one of my favorite coffee ditties:

    https://youtu.be/upfISIB5gck

    (the original recording sounds pretty good, too, BTW)
  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 6,646
    Wow! It seems like coffee has become a whole new form of artistry, much like home-brewing of beer. I am out of the loop. I am a dinosaur. :p
  • bikerboy
    bikerboy Posts: 1,205
    After our trip to Italy we bought a Rancilio Silva and a grinder. Best investment ever! Almost never buy a cup of coffee in this coffee crazed city. Paid for it self in the first year.
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,521
    Coffee with cream & sugar is hot chocolate. Just sayin'....LOL
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  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 6,646
    steveinaz wrote: »
    Coffee with cream & sugar is hot chocolate. Just sayin'....LOL

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUY9Y9RFiHY
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    bikerboy wrote: »
    After our trip to Italy we bought a Rancilio Silva and a grinder. Best investment ever! Almost never buy a cup of coffee in this coffee crazed city. Paid for it self in the first year.

    Your on the right track my friend. Though when it comes to espresso, I'm lazy, give me a super automatic any day. One touch, bam....done. Plus I drink too much of it to make a manual machine worth purchasing.
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,557
    edited April 2018
    Real MEN drink it BLACK! lol

    But in all seriousness, I bet a lot of the cream & sugar people have no idea what type of nuanced and delicate flavors are possible with a lightly roasted bean properly prepared from a press pot.

    If they experienced it, they just might give up cream and sugar for good.
    steveinaz wrote: »
    Coffee with cream & sugar is hot chocolate. Just sayin'....LOL

  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,053
    edited April 2018
    Viking64 wrote: »
    Wow! It seems like coffee has become a whole new form of artistry, much like home-brewing of beer. I am out of the loop. I am a dinosaur. :p

    It does make a difference, but like audio you can make very good coffee for not a lot of money. There is no comparison of fresh roasted, fresh ground coffee brewed at the proper temp for the proper amount of time.

    To me, it's worth a little extra effort and money. I only really enjoy coffee in the morning and I only drink a couple to 3 cups a day, so small batch, French Press works for me and it's not too terribly involved or inconvenient.

    Those that drink a "pot" a day may find this method a bit tedious.....lol

    H9

    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,521
    edited April 2018
    Now, I WILL admit to sugar in hot tea.....and I do indulge in an occasional non-sweet Latte.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    steveinaz wrote: »
    Now, I WILL admit to sugar in hot tea.....and I do indulge in an occasional non-sweet Latte.

    Sugar in tea is Soda pop. :)

    Can't drink coffee without some cream and sugar. Have to have something to cut that acid with or my stomach starts growling at me. Especially those darker richer roasts. Breakfast blends or lighter blends Like JBL I could probably do without the addition, but why change what your used to or like.

    My x mother in-law used to to take pre ground folgers, that crap in the plastic jugs, pour some scoops into a pot of boiling water for a few minutes and pour it directly into her cup. Want to talk strong mud....she made Ellie May Clampant proud.
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  • kharp1
    kharp1 Posts: 3,453
    edited April 2018
    Long time coffee snob...I have every type of pot known to man just about...and I have settled on Nespresso for many reason. Mainly, it's really good coffee. Every time. I have both lines of their machines, the Original as well as the Vertuoline. Machines are bullet proof, they have incredible customer service and a great range of coffee. I've had espresso from machines that cost $20-$30k and my $400 Nespresso is consistently better than any of them I've tried. They got this right.
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,474
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    Now, if y'all want to talk about tea, let me know ;)


    Let it fly Doc I'm a tea snob:)

  • Jimbo18
    Jimbo18 Posts: 2,310
    My friend at work is from Europe and he only drinks espresso. Not sure what he uses to make it but he always brags that it's creamy and smooth and doesn't need sugar or cream.

    And even he liked the Nespresso coffee maker that he tried at someone's house. Only mentioned that he thought the pods were expensive.