Now my only concession to coffee is brewing a cup on a Technivorm. Also Hawaiian coffee is super smooth and mellow which I like, but serious coffee aficionados apparently don’t like it for the same reason.
I don’t like expensive coffee that use “fruit” descriptions to their flavors. I like the expensive ones that use “chocolate” or “nuts” descriptions.
I like anything from 1:12 to 1:16 ratio (in my routine, 9g to 12g of coffee to 150ml of water).
Grain should be fine, but I don’t need a precision grinder.
Precise water temperature doesn’t matter much.
I like pour over. Not so much french press, aeropress, espresso, or moka pot. I still drink it, just prefer pour over.
I got the beans, same beans roasted and ground in the same way in the same shop where I found my desired taste recently, and after making it a couple of times learned that too many things affect the taste. The first time it was good, the second time it was too sour. It is “fun” trying to diff the culprit: water temperature? way of pouring water? psychosomatic factors?
A fun fact I re-learned recently and was able to replicate for myself for coffee: there are different sensors in different parts of your tongue that taste different aspects; sides taste sour more so even the shape of your cup affects the result (wider cup may taste more sour with the same coffee).
The palate is a bit like a muscle. Some people have bigger/better ones naturally, but everyone can improve what they have with training.
There's also value in having a mediocre cup of coffee on the regular. A little saline solution goes a long way in improving palatability.
I will say that I just bought a used Bonavita BV1800TH for $9 from a Goodwill store, and all the sudden my 3lb $17 bag of Costco ground coffee tastes significantly better in the Bonavita. Although I'd love a Technivorm one day.
I might have to revisit some different beans again, now that I have a decent machine.
Then I got into coffee again and wondered what the hell was wrong with me. Life is too short for bad coffee. If something is forcing me to make such sacrifices in things like coffee and food I fix the thing.
Amen.
Some would argue you adjust your "baseline" overall satisfaction by going without x/y/z regularly, but why race to the bottom into asceticism with that idea? It's basically the most pleasant thing I consume all day, as I do away with junk foods.
But maybe the CO2 removal stuff really is a big deal.
It’s definitely a thing. There are some super light roasts that if you try to brew them without enough resting time, you can sort of cheat by just grinding the coffee about 30mins before you brew for a hacky quick degas. It really helps get rid of that grassy vegetal taste.
That said, is it really meaningless if it gives you personal satisfaction and peace? Is it any different than any other routine or ritual, like going to church on Sunday?
Guesses were revealed simultaneously. 100 percent hit rate.
Come on over and we can do just this in my half assed home espresso machine.
There will be a difference.
The process, roast and general quality of coffee matter.
Can one make magical claims about all of this. They sure do and charge an arm and a leg for it. But you can get a quality product an a consistent cup at a reasonable price if you shop around.
I laugh when people say two colors are the same.
Gentle circular pouring can prevent dry coffee blocks and the creation of channels. I also do a little swirl with the filter to flatten the coffee bed. So it is possible to avoid those issues even without the bloom phase.
It works for me, even though I am not a hundred percent sure that I got the science of it right.
At least, some coffee specialists support my choice:
The first compounds to be extracted with coffee tend to taste sharply sour, shifting to sweet and then to bitter as the brew progresses - you can actually taste this directly by sampling a bit of the coffee that drips out at the start, middle, and end phases of your brew.
I found this guide to be helpful when I was first getting started: https://www.homegrounds.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Coffee...
Thanks for the correction. Nice chart too
The barista in the video does use fine grind for this no bloom method, though, so it makes sense. I like the result of the no bloom with my grinder though, so I am happy with it
On the day I brew it, it's a dark brown translucent.
But if I leave it in the pot overnight, it's definitely more opaque.
My wife claims it tastes the same as the day before.
I can definitely taste the difference, and I much prefer fresh coffee.
She just can't taste the difference for some reason. Which surprises me, because AFAIK her sense of taste is otherwise normal.
One difference might be that I strongly notice "bitter" and find it unpleasant. Maybe bitterness is one of the key differences in stale coffee?
I used to use a Chemex but found the whole process so fickle and involved. I've since switched to a Clever dripper (similar to the hario switch) and found that my coffee life has improved substantially. The basic idea is to let the coffee sit with the water for a bit and then flip a switch to drain it into your coffee. I prefer the consistency of the method and haven't noticed a difference in flavor.
My latest project has been attempting to speed up the cold brew process (to get low acidity cold coffee for the summer) and I've taken to using a sous-vide. The idea is that low heat will reduce the time needed for extraction without actually causing the water to leech acidity from the beans. It's worked, but results were kinda meh. I just bought some PH strips to run a more thorough experiment, though.
Woah, that's too hot IMO, and a bit watered-down.
Me: 33g coffee, 350g water at 190°F
I’ve found that darker roasts are much nicer around 195F, I mainly brew very light roast and almost all of them come out under extracted at temps below 200F
For OP's light medium roast (dark roast prefers cooler temps) Hoffman says high temps aren't a problem and shows hard boiling water lead to peak brewing temperatures of 90-93C: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_r5kpXPRYo Other youtubers have done blind taste tests and found they liked boiling water brews best with light roast coffee.
Not saying your taste is wrong either, just that OP is doing things a way described as ideal by at least one coffee expert! Lots of ways to brew.
Obligatory James Hoffman link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_r5kpXPRYo
