How do you make Coffee?

[HerseyBA]

When I am not cooking on an open fire, I use this type of coffee.
http://www.mesquite-roasted.com/?page_id=2

[Don H.]

I've tried all sorts of brewing methods, including, but not limited to: cowboy coffee, vacuum pot, mocha pot, french press, aero-press, toddy (cold brew for coffee concentrate), percolator (can be OK if done correctly), and pour-through filter (Melitta type). I mostly use the pour-through filter these days, both at home and camping. I drilled extra holes in my plastic funnel to increase the flow. If I want to decrease it, I just add the water more slowly. I do wet the grounds first and let them bloom before adding more water. I prefer about 190 to 200 degree water - hotter will over-extract and make the coffee bitter.

I roast my own coffee, though I haven't been doing this very much lately. I usually don't do this when out camping, but I have done it a couple of times out in the boondocks with a roaster on a Coleman stove.

I only use whole beans, ground within a few minutes of brewing. For camping, I bring a hand grinder that fits nicely between my knees. Have also used a Soliz electric burr grinder powered through an inverter. The whirly-blade grinder can be OK too, but I don't use one anymore.

HINT: I've heard that you can power a hand crank grinder with a cordless drill. Haven't got around to trying this yet, but it sounds like it should work fine with the drill on low speed. This may require removing the handle first...

[Raya]

What kind of manual coffee grinder do you use, Don?

I quite like mine, and use it at home all the time. I'm a bit of a night owl, and the sound of someone using one of those electric grinders when I'm still trying to sleep put me off them. Even when I'm awake I don't like them!

I have a Spong (English, cast-iron)





and a Trosser (German) (The only photo I have of it is when I had it apart for cleaning, just after I bought it).





I bought them both used, and they were made in the 50s -70s era.

I tend to use the wooden one pretty much exclusively because I like the portability. I can take it to the living room and read or out on deck in the morning while I grind coffee

Combine them with my Chemex, and I'm a happy... camper I have to be a bit more careful with the glass (I have a smaller sized one for camping though), but I'm just not keen on pouring boiling water through plastic for my morning coffee.





I have used a French press, and like the coffee; but when water supply is limited it was a pain to clean (although a Rubbermaid type white pastry spatula thingie is helpful).

I like the looks of the chorreador for camping; haven't tried one yet though.

Coffee threads sure are fun

[Don H.]

What kind of manual coffee grinder do you use, Don?

... (snip) ...

Coffee threads sure are fun

I use an older wooden Zassenhaus (the one on the left):





It's indented at the sides to fit between your (in this case, my) knees. My first hand grinder was a Zassenhause that I bought brand new. Zassenhaus shut down a while back, and there was a scare that they were no longer available. By that time I had several older used ones, and I sold the new one for more than I paid for it. (The old used ones work fine). Zassenhaus eventually came back from bankruptcy or whatever had shut them down, and now you can buy new ones again.

I have several stove-top mocha pots that produce near-espresso strength coffee, including a larger one that has a wand for steaming milk for cappuccinos & lattes and the like. I haven't tried this one yet, but one of these days... It's third from right below:

[Lizbeth]

Don, love the coffee grinder collection. I would love to have an old hand grinder but don't know the first thing about them. Could you point me in the right direction or can you recommend a site with info?

[Raya]

I'm not Don, but as I did quite a bit of research/shopping before I bought mine (and I did also use a friend's, new, wall-mounted Zassenhaus).

If you're looking for a new one, then Zassenhaus makes good ones.

But, there are many used ones on eBay, which is where I got mine. A clean wooden one like mine should go for well under $50 (mine was about $17, I think).

Some common/decent brands (there are more, too):

Armin Trosser
KYM
Zassenhaus
PeDe

There are also the cast iron clamp on type, like my Spong, above. Also available on eBay, but more expensive and heavier to ship.

Then there is a series of wall mounted ones, with a wooden backing board, ceramic hopper, and glass (or plastic) accumulator cup at the bottom. The Zassenhaus I used on a boat was that type. Coffee beans store in the top (rubber gasket but still not sure how airtight?), and then are caught in accumulator at the bottom, which is handy and nice when the boat is rocking around. I like the old glass cup better than the new plastic because static makes the coffee grounds kind of stick to the plastic cup.

For just trying one, I'd recommend a wooden one from eBay for around $25 or so. The only thing I really watch for is that the gears and "funnel" at the top are not gross or too rusty. Mine was quite clean, but you can also take them apart easily.

Also, I like to make sure it has a grind adjustment (they may all have, but I'm not sure). On mine it's on the inside, so you don't see it at first.

I wouldn't want to grind coffee for a camp by hand, but for one or two, it's quite manageable.

Let me know if I can help further,

Raya

PS: Don ---- nice collection! I thought I was a nut with two

I'll be very curious to hear how the maker with the steamer works. I bought a Bellmann, specifically because it's a stovetop maker with a steaming wand, and although it's beautifully made, you can get spares, etc. -- I've never managed to make a decent cup with it, even after following instructions, and trying many times.

[Lizbeth]

Thanks Raya! Every once in a while I see one at a thrift store so now I'll have a little better idea of what I'm looking at.

[Raya]

Lizbeth,

I was going to look up a photo of a wooden one like mine that was not disassembled, and I came upon this photo. A pile of them

The one in the middle with the red handles is almost exactly like mine.





One note: I like the ones with a positively closing top because then if I'm sitting outside or wherever, I don't have worry about spilling the beans (so to speak), while I'm grinding.

Here's one of the older wall-mounted ones. There are variations in the canister style, but they're mostly basically like this:





I had to kind of force myself to stop at two

[Don H.]

...I'll be very curious to hear how the maker with the steamer works. I bought a Bellmann, specifically because it's a stovetop maker with a steaming wand, and although it's beautifully made, you can get spares, etc. -- I've never managed to make a decent cup with it, even after following instructions, and trying many times.

Raya,

I don't know anything about the Bellmann, but I've used several moka pots (without steam wands) with good results. I had an aluminum Bialetti that worked well, but decided I prefer stainless steel (another subject). Bialetti has several models in SS and aluminum, and I would recommend looking into these. Here's a LINK to their site. Probably the only spare part you might need is the gasket, and they are readily available through online coffee supply houses.

HINT: One thing I've decided is a must, is NEVER to use the full capacity of water. Stop brewing at 1/2 to 3/4 of the full volume. I don't know if or how this might translate to the Bellman, but here's what I do with the Moka:

1. Fill the basket with very fine ground coffee (do not tamp).

2. Fill the bottom reservoir with cold water up to the safety valve. This is the full amount of water.

3. Turn the heat on high until the coffee starts coming into the upper reservoir, then turn it down to medium or so.

4. When somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 of the water has passed through the grounds, pour the coffee into a preheated cup or pot. If the coffee comes out too strong, have some hot water ready to dilute it to your taste. I find that even if I dilute it to about the strength of filter coffee, it still has more of an espresso taste, sort of like a "cafe americain" (?).

Here's the proof: Much of the remaining water will continue to percolate through the grounds, even after you remove the pot from the heat. Give this portion a taste test. It will taste anywhere from very bad to downright nasty. You want to stop brewing before this gets into your final product. It may take some experimenting to figure out just how much water you should use, but I prefer to err on the side of too little, since it still makes good coffee, just stronger.

I haven't used the moka pots in quite a while, since I get about the same result with the AeroPress.

Don

[DonDeutsch]

I am a coffee drinker but I am amazed at the response on this thread.

Anyhow this works for me......I bake coffee beans in an old hot air pop-corn popper I picked up used. Does a great job and removes the silver-skin at the same time.

[Raya]

DonH,

Thanks for the tips. Maybe I'll have to dig out the Bellman again, especially now that cooler weather is on the way (I drink iced coffee most of the time).

It is a high quality machine (and I also wanted stainless and not aluminum), and they've been sold for years, so they must work for someone; but not me (nor a friend to whom I lent it).

I'll try it again with your tips in mind.

Here's what it looks like: (And... aha! I see they now sell a pressure gauge, which mine does not have. I will have to look into that! Maybe that would be the key )














Oh, and while searching online for a photo, I did find this review (link below). It does mention a couple of things (although... no gauge - maybe that is a new part):

1) They say you have to have fierce heat (no electric stove). I did use a gas stove (one reason I bought it is to use with no electricity), but maybe I didn't have the heat on "fierce," I can't remember now. I did whatever it said in the directions but maybe they under-emphasized the heat.

2) they do allude to the fact that the coffee might come out slightly weak (but I mix mine with milk so for me to taste it as weak I think it was really weak).

Nevertheless, they review it well, and it is really nice and stainless-steely and heavy duty in that old-fashioned "we can still get parts" way. And it steams milk, which is what made me buy it over other non-electric options.

Review, in case anyone's interest is piqued:

http://www.coffeecrew.com/gear/392-bellman...-maker-reviewed

[Kevin K]

I have

drank the stuff. Can't stand the smell.

[Raya]

But you clicked on the thread

(Of course I clicked on the "Bacon" thread, and I don't even eat bacon )

Funny though, I didn't drink coffee until a few years ago, but I always loved the smell. So we're opposite.

[Lori Rae]

We've always used an old school stove-top coffee maker until ... a friend gave us a Bosch Single server coffee brewer and we LOVE it.
It's small and easy to store and use. And the available blends would satisfy the most persnickety coffee lover - like me.
The downside: you are limited to their brands but with over 40 varieties and 12 brands we're not complaining.

From product description:
It's a fully automatic single-serve coffee brewer makes coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, as well as cappuccinos and lattes with real milk. The machine uses Tassimo discs (T-Discs), which contain precisely measured amounts of the ingredients for each drink and are sealed to protect the flavors inside.

Here's an Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001W3V88W/ref=as...ASIN=B001W3V88W

Yummy coffee and easy peezy!

[james kent]

While we were canoe campers we made CAMP KAWPHY
Use a quart coffee pot and fill with cold water
Add two handfulls of coffee grounds
Bring to rapid boil for about 3-4 minutes
Take pot by bail and whirl around at arms length several times to drivethe grounds to bottom of pot.
[This really impresses first timers.]
Pour into cups and cut off when full
Strain any remaining grounds through teeth
- - - - - - - - -
When pot nears empty refill with cold water and add another handfull of grounds to whatever is in the bottom
By nightfall there's not a lot of room for more water and the stuff tastes pretty bad but next day you can start over again with a fresh pot. Whahooooo!
After a week or two of this you really apreciate a good coffee shop!

Later I'll see if I can find the little personal coffe maker that I used last.

[John Hussey]

ATOMIC COFFEE MAKER

Anyone familiar with this old one:

http://www.made-in-england.org/atomic-coffee-maker/

or any of the subsequent copies?

I love their CDT video as I have walked a lot of it. If you do not know what really "HIGH" country is in the Rockys, the kind that you can only walk or climb to see, then this is beautiful. For those that have experienced it firsthand, it is a walk down a very pleasant, 'memory lane'!

[Angelo F.]

I have a nice espresso grinder at home which I use to grind up our coffee before we go on trips. Turn it on the highest setting and let it run for a while longer than normal, and it basically turns the coffee to dust. I put it in a baggie and just add a teaspoon to a cup of hot water and it's all set. No more mess or fussing with percolators, battery powered gadgets that never seemed to work *quite* right anyways, steam powered finger cookers, etc, and no mess to clean up. Very simple.

[Parker Buckley]

ATOMIC COFFEE MAKER

Anyone familiar with this old one:

http://www.made-in-england.org/atomic-coffee-maker/

or any of the subsequent copies?

Yep, have one of the originals I bought new in Australia about 1987. It's really a fun machine. Don't think I'll take it camping, though!

Parker

[Perry J]

I bought an insulated French Press travel mug 2 years ago on ebay.
It holds has 1 2/3 cup capacity.
Add boiling water, put on the top with the press let it step and your done
I bought it for camping but it makes such great coffee that I use it everyday.
There's no coffee maker to clean.
My coffee maker comes out only when I have friends over.
John

[Raya]

Hi Perry,

Could I ask what your mug is made of? I like the idea, and have looked at a few, but I've only ever found plastic ones (and I don't like to drink out of plastic that I've poured boiling water into).

Thanks,
Raya