Brewing Coffee

[Carol and Mike]

Originally Posted by k corbin

I used to drink drip coffee years ago. But a 26 day camping trip to France changed my coffee consumption preference. You can't buy drip coffee there and they don't use French press makers at the coffee shops either. Straight espresso shots is all they were selling so I went "native". It is said that it takes 21 days to imprint a new habit and that might just be true

I lived and worked in France for two years and it definitely changed my coffee drinking habits. Nothing beats a good espresso. It also changed my wine drinking habits but that's a subject for another day!

[ZachO]

Wait you mean it's not normal to drink a 24oz coffee mixed with ungodly amounts of cream, tablespoons of sugar with flavorings, and some nutmeg zest??...

I heard some comments a new citizen, who came from an African country, made about his first thoughts on US culture. "All the food is so sweet!". Sugar in everything. Sugar makes it addictive, so put sugar in it and they'll keep coming back for more.

The less sugar you eat, the more you realize how sweet everything is. We've become very desensitized to sugar, since we're so saturated with it. A lot of ketchup honestly tastes like candy to me.

I really am trying to stop using this thread as my personal soapbox but clearly I can't control myself...

[War Eagle]

At home, it's Peet's Aged Sumatra and French Roast. If we start with good beans, most any of the methods mentioned above will make some great coffee - that and adding a little fresh 1/2 & 1/2. While camping, for us it's simply a teapot and Starbuck's Pike Place and French Roast in the little Via single-serve instant coffee packets - that and adding a little fresh 1/2 & 1/2. Once the water boils, there is no waiting and the only thing to clean is your coffee mug when you're done.

[Johnny M]

Me and the Mrs love coffee in the mornings camping and we have a traditional coffee maker for electric hookup sites and a percolator pot for boondocking. Last few times camping we opted for the percolator on the campfire even though we had electricity. Thought about filtering it when pouring to keep grounds out. YMMV

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Johnny M

Me and the Mrs love coffee in the mornings camping and we have a traditional coffee maker for electric hookup sites and a percolator pot for boondocking. Last few times camping we opted for the percolator on the campfire even though we had electricity. Thought about filtering it when pouring to keep grounds out. YMMV

If you boil water in the percolator, and then pour it over the grounds in a filter holder, you keep the grounds out of your coffee and you don't have to rinse grounds out of the percolator.

[Johnny M]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

If you boil water in the percolator, and then pour it over the grounds in a filter holder, you keep the grounds out of your coffee and you don't have to rinse grounds out of the percolator.

I thought about that Glenn and also wondered if I was doing something wrong with the percolator?:

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

At home, it's Peet's Aged Sumatra and French Roast. If we start with good beans, most any of the methods mentioned above will make some great coffee - that and adding a little fresh 1/2 & 1/2. While camping, for us it's simply a teapot and Starbuck's Pike Road and French Roast in the little Via single-serve instant coffee packets - that and adding a little fresh 1/2 & 1/2. Once the water boils, there is no waiting and the only thing to clean is your coffee mug when you're done.

I love Sumatrans (along with many other origins), which can be roasted darker than some keeping a good taste, but I never take roasts to the French Roast level, as they lose too much of the good flavours, along with the caffeine content. This is why diluting the taste with cream makes it better. We each should be drinking what we prefer, I just can't get into cream in my coffee that much, probably because I have never drank it that way.

I have tried the Starbuck's Via packs a few times, hoping they would be a good solution for canoeing trips. They taste too stale to me, being ground long before being used, kinda like those Keurig cups. I imagine adding cream would help smooth that taste out.

I really don't mind the 2 minutes it takes to make a couple cups of fresh ground using my AeroPress, or having to take a little extra kit along. Clean up is nothing more than a quick rinse.

[Raz]

Years ago before folks ground their own coffee just about every grocery store had A&P coffee. Each store had a grinder. As I recall there was a percolator setting, perhaps to keep the grounds out of the liquid? While I haven't seen Red Circle and Bokar for years, the Eight O'clock in the red bag is still around. I inherited my folks Revereware percolator. Judging by the holes in the basket my bean grinder would grind too fine.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Raz

Years ago before folks ground their own coffee just about every grocery store had A&P coffee. Each store had a grinder. As I recall there was a percolator setting, perhaps to keep the grounds out of the liquid? While I haven't seen Red Circle and Bokar for years, the Eight O'clock in the red bag is still around. I inherited my folks Revereware percolator. Judging by the holes in the basket my bean grinder would grind too fine.

I have ground for percolator coffee quite a few times, just set it to a much coarser setting is all, just as those that pull shots of espresso need to set it really fine.

Raz, is your's maybe one of those twirling kinds, that chop beans as opposed to grinding them? While they can do the job in a pinch, they do produce a very uneven grind, making just about any form of extraction tougher. I would highly recommend using a burr grinder. Some can be had at a fairly decent price too.

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Raz, is your's maybe one of those twirling kinds, that chop beans as opposed to grinding them? .

Yup. But remember, I drink cowboy coffee.

[War Eagle]

My dear departed father loved strong coffee, all day long, with lots of cream and sugar. Growing up, he tried and tried to get me to like his coffee, too, so he'd have a coffee-drinking buddy as we delivered truckloads of hay long distances to customers throughout eastern Colorado. I never liked it. Turns out it was the sugar I didn't like. Once I tried coffee with just cream, and got my own thermos jug, we drank lots of coffee together, driving down the road, talking about every topic under the sun. I miss those days, and I miss my Dad dearly, but he left me with a love for a good strong cup of coffee - "Cream please, no sugar"....

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Raz

Yup. But remember, I drink cowboy coffee.

What a rebel!

I like to use a coarse grind for cowboy coffee. It can be very good made right.

Originally Posted by War Eagle

My dear departed father loved strong coffee, all day long, with lots of cream and sugar. Growing up, he tried and tried to get me to like his coffee, too, so he'd have a coffee-drinking buddy as we delivered truckloads of hay long distances to customers throughout eastern Colorado. I never liked it. Turns out it was the sugar I didn't like. Once I tried coffee with just cream, and got my own thermos jug, we drank lots of coffee together, driving down the road, talking about every topic under the sun. I miss those days, and I miss my Dad dearly, but he left me with a love for a good strong cup of coffee - "Cream please, no sugar"....

If I was to use anything, it would definitely be the cream, no sugar.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by Johnny M

I thought about that Glenn and also wondered if I was doing something wrong with the percolator?:

You might be. If you perc too hard, the basket can fill and overflow, sending grounds into the coffee. The percolator should only "pop" every 1-3 seconds with a short pause between pops.

If you're using too fine a grind, grounds can get through the holes in the basket and/or clog the holes, causing the basket to overflow. Most pre-ground coffee is a finer grind for drip machines.

[ATHiker]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I love Sumatrans (along with many other origins), which can be roasted darker than some keeping a good taste, but I never take roasts to the French Roast level, as they lose too much of the good flavours, along with the caffeine content.

When you roast, do you visually check the roast or do you listen for the second crack?

[Raz]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

What a rebel!

You dont know the half of it, I only drink decaf. Milk and sugar too. My mother was a tea drinker. English. Bad influence.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by ATHiker

When you roast, do you visually check the roast or do you listen for the second crack?

I time it from first crack, visually check colour, and listen for second crack. It is rare for me to go more than a few seconds into 2C.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Raz

You dont know the half of it, I only drink decaf too. Milk and sugar. My mother was a tea drinker. English. Bad influence.

I have a few cups of decaf a week too, mostly after supper.

[ATHiker]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I time it from first crack, visually check colour, and listen for second crack. It is rare for me to go more than a few seconds into 2C.

Thanks. I visually check the color, but it seems invariably that I end up with a darker roast than I had planned. It is hard for me to hear the second crack.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

My dear departed father loved strong coffee, all day long, with lots of cream and sugar. Growing up, he tried and tried to get me to like his coffee, too, so he'd have a coffee-drinking buddy as we delivered truckloads of hay long distances to customers throughout eastern Colorado. I never liked it. Turns out it was the sugar I didn't like. Once I tried coffee with just cream, and got my own thermos jug, we drank lots of coffee together, driving down the road, talking about every topic under the sun. I miss those days, and I miss my Dad dearly, but he left me with a love for a good strong cup of coffee - "Cream please, no sugar"....

My father described coffee with sugar as "Warm Kool Aid"
Nothing like a cup of strong black coffee in the morning.

[Mike L.]

I love my Aeropress but one thing to be aware of is that cleanup is messy and it must be cleaned up fairly quickly after use or the plunger can be damaged. But it does make the best coffee I've had.