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COFFEE !!!

Leo Voisine

Leo Voisine

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Location
East Freeetown, Massachusetts
I got my OXO coffee grinder and an inexpensive french press. A few more items will come in next week

I also bought a bag of Dunkin coffee beans.
100% Arabica

It is going to take a little learning, but so far I have brewed 2 servings.

Last night was the first.
I ground at the coursest setting and did the coffee per instructions
1 slightly rounded TBS
VERY weak and watery but a decent flavor

Second was for lunch today
Ground on course but just a little over medium.
1 well rounded TBS
I stired for 4 minutes let it sit for less than 1 minute then plungered
Much better, but I still like it a bit bolder, but a good cup of coffee.

Certainly light way down there in the tunnel.
 
I use a coffee to water ratio of about 1:16. It is a fairly strong brew. I always weigh my beans as it is a more dependable way to get a correct brew. I believe that the recommended ratio for a strong coffee using a French Press is about 1:12.

I don't know anything about Dunkin Donut coffee but100% arabica just means it doesn't contain any robusta species of coffee. Within the arabica species there can be vast differences in taste depending on where it is grown, method of processing, etc. A better indication of quality is cupping reviews done on specific brands of beans.

I am not sure but there may be specific brands of coffee beans that work better in a French press vs a automatic drip. I think I have seen some reviews that suggest this.
 
Leo Voisine said:
I stired for 4 minutes let it sit for less than 1 minute then plungered
Click to expand...

I would do more or less the opposite...

Ideally you're pre-heat your press by letting some hot water sit in it for 3-4 minutes then dumping. I almost never do this but it does help a bit.

I use about a 1oz (weight) to 12 oz (volume) water mix or maybe a smidge more coffee depending on the type.

Put in the coffee and pour about 1/3 of the water over it fairly evenly. Wait 1 minute.. This is the "bloom" where you're wetting the grounds. This is pretty important for getting an even extraction.

Stir to break up the crust/surface grounds..

Add the rest of the water, let sit for 4 minutes, gently stir.

Press and pour.

There is a huge variation on coffee and technique depending on the coffee to optimize the experience..

For light roasts you'd want to raise the dose, reduce the grind size, and raise the water temp (each in small increments until you find a brew I like), do the reverse for dark roasts. Dark roasts also extract faster so you can play with the time, but generally you'll get more consistency adjusting the other variables. Dark roast is also more brittle so if you're getting to many fines for a darker roast you might want to grind coarser.
 
Don Baer said:
and then there's Navy coffee....
here is some interesting fact about the coffee the Navy uses. We would go through 3-4 20 pound cans every patrol just in the engine room.

Lifeblood of the U.S. Navy: Good Coffee

www.seabeecook.com
Click to expand...
From that article:
Just to make certain it’s done right, the Navy operates its own coffee roasting plants.

At two huge roasting plants located at Oakland, Calif., and Brooklyn, N.Y., carloads of green coffee beans are received from South and Central America, graded and stored.
Click to expand...
What did you do in the big war, Grandpa?

I was a coffee roaster, Timmy. 🤣
 
Don Baer said:
and then there's Navy coffee....
here is some interesting fact about the coffee the Navy uses. We would go through 3-4 20 pound cans every patrol just in the engine room.

Lifeblood of the U.S. Navy: Good Coffee

www.seabeecook.com
Click to expand...
That's an interesting story Don... I rarely drank coffee until I went aboard ship out of San Francisco the last 16 months of my enlistment.... as far as I know, the ship's crew did not brew coffee anywhere except on the mess deck... we had two huge coffee urns/pots on the mess deck and the mess cooks made coffee early in the morning.... when the pots were empty, usually by evening mess, they made two more pots.... by evening mess you could almost stand a spoon upright in the stuff.... we only had 6 officers on board, and I don't remember if they made coffee in the ward room or not.... they did not make any on the bridge or in the radio shack... my radio shack was too small so there was no place for a coffee pot.... I'm sure they had one in the chief's quarters as most of the chiefs on board spent 2/3 of their time on the fan tail with fishing lines over the rail, standing about with a coffee cup in their hands watching the lines. I saw my radio chief at the beginning of the shift every morning and not again until next morning.... I was lead POINC in the radio room for last 6 months aboard.
During all the years I worked in the forwarding business, I had a cup of coffee sitting on my desk from beginning of the day until I clocked out... even had a little hot plate for the cup to keep it warm all day.... my last boss complained that his coffee expense doubled when he hired me.
I'm down to just two cps in the morning now.
 
Ryan Mooney said:
I would do more or less the opposite...

Ideally you're pre-heat your press by letting some hot water sit in it for 3-4 minutes then dumping. I almost never do this but it does help a bit.

I use about a 1oz (weight) to 12 oz (volume) water mix or maybe a smidge more coffee depending on the type.

Put in the coffee and pour about 1/3 of the water over it fairly evenly. Wait 1 minute.. This is the "bloom" where you're wetting the grounds. This is pretty important for getting an even extraction.

Stir to break up the crust/surface grounds..

Add the rest of the water, let sit for 4 minutes, gently stir.

Press and pour.

There is a huge variation on coffee and technique depending on the coffee to optimize the experience..

For light roasts you'd want to raise the dose, reduce the grind size, and raise the water temp (each in small increments until you find a brew I like), do the reverse for dark roasts. Dark roasts also extract faster so you can play with the time, but generally you'll get more consistency adjusting the other variables. Dark roast is also more brittle so if you're getting to many fines for a darker roast you might want to grind coarser.
Click to expand...
I will give this a try after lunch.

I don't have a scale YET
 
I have never been much of a coffee connoisseur. I can take it or leave it. I have had a few really good cups of coffee and usually the criteria for a good cup of coffee for me is the quality of the ingredients I add to the cup. I don't drink it black so I add sweetener and cream. In other words I drink coffee for the ingredients.

Worst cup of coffee I ever had was at Starbucks. Really hurt my feelings to pay $2 for a cup of bad coffee.
 
Also I also have had 3 Keurig machines they make a passible cup of coffee it's convenient but the pods make a difference. I found Pete's coffee pods to be my favorite especially Major Dickensons. But almost anything fresh ground in a press is better. IMHO
 
Speaking of Starbucks . . . I went to one at an airport on a business trip many years ago - asked for a plain cup of black coffee - they had no idea how to do it and suggested I go to the bar because the bartender kept a fresh pot going all the time. :huh:

When Keurig first came out, my wife tried to get me to buy one. K-cups were at least $1 at the time and the brewers were over $100. Told her no way!

Fast forward some years to about five years ago. WallyWorld had a special on a Keurig and I saw the K-cups could be had for as little as $0.30 each so I took the plunge. I've tried umpteen different types of K-cups and liked several of them.. My favorite is Green Mountain Dark Magic, a dark roast, full-bodied coffee that I find fantastic. I have my coffee with nothing in it - as close to the bean as possible without having to grind it myself. I'm too impatient to have to grind my own!!!
 
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