cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/533711 [email protected]
Do you have a go to system for coffee in the morning, if so what is? What tools do you use? What do you want to change?
Any brand pre ground 'Espresso` type coffee.
Empty about 6 tablespoons into a large french press (don’t measure anything, just eyeball it)
Pour over hot water and stir with a wooden stick.
Microwave some milk in a mug
Pour coffee into mug
Strong, easy and nothing to faff over such as weighing beans or waiting for a $1k machine to give you 30ml of drink.
It’s quick, dirty and damn tasty imo
Shoot me
Used to be a double latte or cappuccino from ol’ reliable DeLonghi Dedica, enjoyed on the porch while catching up on news.
Now it’s instant all the way, usually drunk with desperation while trying to keep the small human from killing himself in a really dumb way.
I really enjoy the ritual of espresso as a little morning meditation.
Here’s the current station, and the current process goes:Turn on Bambino, load portafilter with empty “double” single wall basket into machine.
Place a small glass on the scale, turn on, spoon in 16g of whatever coffee I have that week.
Start an empty single auto-shot into the glass I’m going to brew into to heat everything up.
Dump measured beans into SK40 grinder which will typically be about “6” on its scale for good fresh coffee, or 5 for not quite so fresh coffee, and start it.
Remove, drain, and wipe portafilter, set it in the little 3D printed base I ran off to hold it level (not my design). Drop the dosing ring on. Set glass of usually dirty with fines hot water aside.
Pump the grinder bellows 3 times when it sounds empty, then turn off.
Dump grounds into basket, massage briefly with a cheap little WDT tool and tamp.
Dump glass into a waste cup I keep on hand for the purpose, wipe, and place on scale. Place scale on drip tray, and re-tare.
If I’ve dialed the coffee: Hold single button for ~5s of preeinfusion, release, and tap again aiming for a ~32g shot.
If I’m still working on the coffee: Get out my phone, hold single button, start timer on phone when the preeinfusion pump kicks in, tap lap and release button at ~5s, watch timer and scale aiming for vicinity of 32g/30s. Grunt and adjust the grinder in the appropriate direction if it’s not close.
Stir espresso, taste, add a little milk while I make my breakfast food if needed.
Consume espresso and breakfast.
Come back to to put away the glass, dump the puck (no 3-way valve, it’ll sneeze at you if you don’t wait a second), and rinse the portafilter. Place it upside down on the base to dry.
The setup is a recent upgrade so I’m still pretty pleased and working on refining my technique. I’ve been trying different beans (mostly espresso blends from local roasters, but also some weird stuff just for fun).
Fresh beans from a few different local places that I like to rotate between. If it’s just me, an aeropress using 16g of coffee and 256g water, pretty standard brewing method you’ve seen a dozen times before. If me and my wife, I’ll use the chemex for the both of us.
As far as equipment goes I have a baratza virtuoso grinder and hario gooseneck kettle that have had both for years and serve me well. I have long considered swapping to an electric kettle but it’s also easy to keep using what works.
Have a digital scale, forgot the brand name, but I chose it specifically because it measures in 0.1 grams and I use it for things where that matters.
Turn on my Lelit Kate, go take a shower, weigh 24.2 grams of my locally medium roasted Arabica beans, grind with a finely tuned grind setting (to get 9 bars is pressure), comb a bit and give it around 8 careful taps to get a level fluffy basket. Tamp it hard, with the priority being to stay level. Put a steel mesh on top, drive it in, push the button and wait for 27 seconds as the 2 glasses get a significantly caffeinated and flavorful coffee. Add some whole milk and ice, and serve to me and my wife, with a Belgian waffle or croissant.
Folgers preground into ancient Bodum French press, fill with boiling water, steep 3-5min, press it and go lol
On Fridays once in a while I’ll stop at a local coffee shop thats on my commute, and get a good spiced mocha.
Grind some Jose’s Organic beans, into gold filter / Bunn coffee maker.
- Prepare AeroPress.
- Weigh 230 grams of water and pour it into an empty kettle.
- Weigh 12 grams of coffee beans.
- Put the kettle on the stove.
- Grind the coffee.
- Put the coffee grounds into the AeroPress.
- When the kettle boils, let the water cool down a bit, it will be around the required temperature.
- Brew the coffee using the Hoffman’s recipe (12 grams of coffee, 200 grams of water).
- Wait 10 minutes to get right coffee temperature.
It takes 8 minutes to make coffee and 10 minutes to cool it down to circa 50 degrees celsius.
I like making myself a nice cup aswell. But most morning the coffe has to be in my system within 5 minutes of starting to make it.
I heard coffee is less effective if taken immediately after waiking up. That’s why I wait for one and a half hour before drinking coffee.
I use James Hoffmann’s French Press technique. This is mostly because all I own is a kettle, scale, and press so it isn’t a question of what equipment I’m going to use but what technique. The technique takes a bit longer than the standard brew and immediate plunge technique but I tend to only make coffee on my day off (I hate feeling rushed to make and enjoy coffee) so it isn’t a concern. I did order a manual grinder (Timemore C3) that should be arriving today so I’ll get to play with whole beans and grind sizes in the future and I think I’m going to keep an eye out for an AeroPress or Moka Pot so I can expand my options and with options my go to may change.
P.S. To help combat the whole the you have to make coffee before coffee conundrum I have a coffee recipe app on my phone. So I don’t have to think. I can just follow the steps and instructions complete with an on screen timer and a pleasant little ding between steps. It’ll even let me make my own recipes so I’m not stuck with the preloaded ones if I want to experiment.
Enjoy the C3, best hand grinder I’ve owned so far!
That app sounds interesting, which one do you use?
It’s called Cofi. There are other ones out there, some allow recipe sharing or store more detailed information in the recipe template, but I like the streamlined interface of Cofi.
🏆 Shout out to Cofi & author Leon Omelan for being open source without tracking or network permissions, also available on F-Droid
Press button on the grinder, fill the water tank of my Moccamaster with 8 cups, fill in the freshly ground coffee, push the button. Five minutes later wonderful hot coffee.
Black, bitter, strong and plenty of it.
Daily driver is a breville drip. Current ratio is 1200g water to 42g coffee. Usually grind the night before (gasp) so I can just press brew when I’m ready. I have a daily driver coffee that stays on hand but am always happy to grab a new bag of something interesting
Weekdays I’ll make an Americano with some nicer beans, 15g in 33g out on a Decent DE1PRO with the Adaptive profile. On weekends I’ll make a brown sugar oat milk latte with the same profile but some older beans if I have them since it’s a milk drink anyway.
I cold brew my favorite bean the night before and enjoy it sugar free the next day. Hate the bitter.
Straight shot of espresso to wake up and check the grind for the day. Drink immediately.
Second shot is for the wife’s iced latte.
Third drink is usually a cappuccino to be enjoyed and sipped on.
Make lunch and head out the door.