Perfecting your coffee experience

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ethiopian coffee 👍

starbucks drip 👎

if you're in seattle, check out zeitgeist in pioneer square.
 
i don't see how that study has anything to say about caffeine intake <200mg/day. have your morning espresso and go about your business.

it's like the alcohol issue. social drinking at levels established as otherwise safe for women of the same age has never been shown to effect pregnancy or the health of the child. but women are still shamed into abstaining because of the stigma. (i'm a Mad Men fan, can't you tell??)
 
gravitywave said:
i don't see how that study has anything to say about caffeine intake <200mg/day. have your morning espresso and go about your business.

it's like the alcohol issue. social drinking at levels established as otherwise safe for women of the same age has never been shown to effect pregnancy or the health of the child. but women are still shamed into abstaining because of the stigma. (i'm a Mad Men fan, can't you tell??)
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Mad Men 👍 Although, why was the season so short??
 
I recently stayed with a student host who did not have a coffeemaker / did not drink coffee at all in med school. How is this possible?? 😱
 
Klemptor said:
This. Tea is way way better than coffee. I'll take a strong cup of Yunnan over coffee any day. 🙂
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Long Jing or Mo Li Hua tea for me. i buy em in their dried leaf form and actually make them with the traditional way.

back on topic, i luv coffee and tea for the flavor. but damn, the caffine contents in those drinks are huge, if i don't have them for a day, i fall asleep before 11 lol.
 
Coffee socks are the best way to make strong, tasty coffee.

http://www.fantes.com/images/17630coffee_filters.jpg

The key is to make sure the water is just below boiling (200-205 F) before SLOWLY pouring the water through the sock. It comes out best when your pour time is around 3 minutes. Be sure to hit all sections of the grinds as your pour. Some people will take the filtrate and pour through a second time albeit much quicker to stay within that 3 minute limit.
If you go too hot (i.e. @ boiling) or too long (> 4 minutes) then you are bound to release more of the bitter tannins that will ruin the experience.
The whole process takes a few minutes and can be a bit cumbersome (for some) because it gives you a bit of an arm workout. The coffee is da shiznit though. Give it a try for the fun of it.
You coffee lovers will have fun and being that most of you have gone through orgo lab, this should be a piece of cake... with some killer coffee.
Enjoy!

BTW those coffee socks are mad cheap.
 
VikingLegacy said:
Oh hai, I'll just leave this here...
Caffeine Is Linked to Miscarriage Risk, New Study Shows

:ninja:
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Old news, though that is a lower number than I always heard before (300 mg/day). Regardless, you can still have a 12-16 oz cup of coffee every day and pose no increased risk to your fetus. I'd have been asleep on my feet if I didn't get some coffee in the morning when I was pregnant, that first trimester especially knocks you out.
 
Organic, fair trade, my own grinder, french press, 5-10 min brew.
 
Dianyla said:
Allann's beans are fine in and of themselves, but the problem is that they often sell to coffeeshops where the "baristas" overfroth and scald the milk. Not to mention the poorly tuned espresso machines that turn out either a sour (too cold) or bitter (too hot) shot.
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Yeah, we usually take the beans home and brew ourselves.

Anyone drink cold brewed/toddy? Best iced coffee....yummmm.
 
What about charcoal roasted coffee? Besides, why not Coffee Bean instead of Starbucks or Old Town?
 
avion321 said:
Organic, fair trade, my own grinder, french press, 5-10 min brew.
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okay, i can't keep quiet about this anymore. a $25 aeropress, costco beans freshly and finely ground, 80ºC water (or just shy of when i see vapor coming out of the kettle), 10 second brew. so fast, so cheap and so good.

aeropress makes the best coffee i've ever had, largely because it's much closer to an americano. french press is nice but you get a lot of coffee residue that makes it into the cup. it also requires a longer brewing time which seems to extract unpleasant flavors and acidic compounds from the beans. brewing around 80º and for only 10 seconds (then topping off the "espresso" with hot water) makes for some seriously smooth black coffee. starbucks and stumptown alike taste funky after getting used to it.
 
drfancypants said:
okay, i can't keep quiet about this anymore. a $25 aeropress, costco beans freshly and finely ground, 80ºC water (or just shy of when i see vapor coming out of the kettle), 10 second brew. so fast, so cheap and so good.

aeropress makes the best coffee i've ever had, largely because it's much closer to an americano. french press is nice but you get a lot of coffee residue that makes it into the cup. it also requires a longer brewing time which seems to extract unpleasant flavors and acidic compounds from the beans. brewing around 80º and for only 10 seconds (then topping off the "espresso" with hot water) makes for some seriously smooth black coffee. starbucks and stumptown alike taste funky after getting used to it.
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Drfancypants......your username makes me so so happy.
 
My perfect cup of coffee consists of a lovely Dunkin Donuts crap-flavored brew, with more coffee on the outside of the cup than the inside.
 
TaylorMDhopeful said:
Cops in NYC (at least, I don't know where else) use Coke to clean blood up from crime scenes, lol. I don't think I want to put that stuff in my body.
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That seems odd. Hydrogen peroxide takes blood right out of clothing.
 
oh oh oh you guys need to try aeropress to make your coffee. oh you can use any type of grinds - even espresso grind. it makes a perfect cup of espresso-strength coffee.

i love my locally roasted Small World Coffee in Princeton. http://www.smallworldcoffee.com/

their espresso is just perfect.

oh i hate starbucks. their coffee tastes burnt to me. I like my coffee smooth and nutty and BLACK.
 
swineflu said:
oh oh oh you guys need to try aeropress to make your coffee. oh you can use any type of grinds - even espresso grind. it makes a perfect cup of espresso-strength coffee.

i love my locally roasted Small World Coffee in Princeton. http://www.smallworldcoffee.com/

their espresso is just perfect.

oh i hate starbucks. their coffee tastes burnt to me. I like my coffee smooth and nutty and BLACK.
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I work at Starbucks, I do not drink the stuff we brew in our machines but I do enjoy some of our whole beans brewed with a french press. I've tried aeropress, it makes a delicious cup of coffee for sure but it is so smooth and soft! Can you really make espresso with it? I like the bitterness and texture (and oils) that french press coffee retains, personally. And I do drink all my coffee black 👍
 
Evergrey said:
I work at Starbucks, I do not drink the stuff we brew in our machines but I do enjoy some of our whole beans brewed with a french press. I've tried aeropress, it makes a delicious cup of coffee for sure but it is so smooth and soft! Can you really make espresso with it? I like the bitterness and texture (and oils) that french press coffee retains, personally. And I do drink all my coffee black 👍
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Starbucks is good. It may not be the best, but it is way better than most. Of the crap you can buy in any super market, it is your safest, most consistent option for a good cup of coffee.

Also, there is no accounting for taste. Different people like different roasts, different brewing methods, and different disgusting additives.
 
Evergrey said:
I like the bitterness and texture (and oils) that french press coffee retains, personally. And I do drink all my coffee black 👍
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+1. Totally agree and I'm the same way. I'm not a big fan of Starbucks brewed coffee but whenever I was studying there I would have them make a french press run and it was much better.
 
My current espresso machine:

http://www.seekoutcheap.com/images/DeLonghi-Espresso-Machine-ESAM5500M.jpg


It is really great in that I put whole beans and water in it and let it do all the work. It grinds, brews, and steams the milk for me with the push of a button. It is well worth the investment if you consider how much coffee you buy outside of your home or how much you drink. I got a crazy deal on mine though during a price mistake+sale combo at williams sonoma 😎 . It also brews regular coffee but it is extremely strong.
 
+1 for french press with freshly ground coffee, served black, with mabye a touch of cold water to reduce the wait until I can sip my luscious brew. You actually retain the oils and flavors that make freshly ground coffee delicious. Of course it also makes it more noticeable of your using crap beans or grounds. I use a burr grinder on the coarsest setting to minimize seep through the filter and to avoid burning the grounds.

As for beans, there are definitely ways to get great coffee beans on the cheap. Coffeebeandirect.com has amazing deals for amazing coffee (~$5/pound) if you can buy 5 pounds at a time and either freeze it (less than ideal, but I do it sometimes) or split the order with fellow cofeeholics. Some costco beans are surprisingly decent, namely their columbian supremo and sumatran mandelhing are also a steal at 4-5$/pound.
 
nlax30 said:
Have any of played with different water temps when using a french press? Do you just pour the boiling water in or do you just heat it to a certain temp?
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I try to get it at 94-95 C. I dont actually take the temp, i just bring the water to a boil and let it sit for a few mintues.... apparently the rate at which water loses heat at a given temp is kinda consistent.
 
Buy $0.50 cent coffee with donut from donut shop. Add 1/5 milk of total coffee volume. Add sugar. Crush 5 200 mg No-Doz. Add to coffee. Eat donut. Drink coffee. Coffee experience perfected.:banana:
 
ILikeDrugs said:
Buy $0.50 cent coffee with donut from donut shop. Add 1/5 milk of total coffee volume. Add sugar. Crush 5 200 mg No-Doz. Add to coffee. Eat donut. Drink coffee. Coffee experience perfected.:banana:
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you weren't kidding when you said you like drugs. jeez, 1200 mg caffeine/drink? 😱😱
 
To the OP:

Actually, French/darker roasts (generally) have less caffeine content than Robusta/lighter roasts. You've been duped!

I may not be an MD, but I'm a killa barista.
 
hiphopcrates said:
To the OP:

Actually, French/darker roasts (generally) have less caffeine content than Robusta/lighter roasts. You've been duped!

I may not be an MD, but I'm a killa barista.
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Yeah I don't know exactly why but I've been told that the longer roasting time causes more of the caffeine to be extracted from the bean.
 
Yeah, Arabica beans give you better quality, but less of the OOMPH factor.

A cold shower + cheap coffee helps...

Or a nice, long guilt-talk about how you'll regret not studying all night for that Organic Chem test when you're on your deathbed.

That's generally the point at which I call my mother.
 
Evergrey said:
I work at Starbucks, I do not drink the stuff we brew in our machines but I do enjoy some of our whole beans brewed with a french press. I've tried aeropress, it makes a delicious cup of coffee for sure but it is so smooth and soft! Can you really make espresso with it? I like the bitterness and texture (and oils) that french press coffee retains, personally. And I do drink all my coffee black 👍
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You work at starbucks? Hm I know their store-brewed coffee tastes pretty bad, right? Even their espresso tastes pretty bad....

I do like some of starbucks whole beans, actually. Aeropress makes espresso-strength coffee, but not the actual espresso with crema. Aeropress is great for retaining the original coffee characteristics--all the hidden flavors come bursting out! I found french press annoying to clean and I really don't like the coffee residues, which give my coffee an overextracted taste....Only if I could afford an actual espresso maker....

Coffee Coffee Coffee 😍. i need to go to a medical school with a decent coffee culture.
 
hiphopcrates said:
To the OP:

Actually, French/darker roasts (generally) have less caffeine content than Robusta/lighter roasts. You've been duped!

I may not be an MD, but I'm a killa barista.
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i had meant weak tasting, but i always appreciate sound coffee advice. i still stand by my starbucks opinion though.

but now, donuts or biscotti... harder question
 
I think americanos taste much better than regular coffee, though they both have similar strength. Please try americanos if you haven't (long black if you want to preserve the crema). I don't like any type of milk in my coffee. I think milk contaminates the coffee flavor... The thing about french press is that you can only use coarse grinds and thus you can't get all the nice aromatic oils and flavors out of your beans. I think both aeropress and decent espresso makers achieve retaining most of the oils/flavors.
 
Evergrey said:
Yeah I don't know exactly why but I've been told that the longer roasting time causes more of the caffeine to be extracted from the bean.
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yes, for all you coffee nerds (including myself), the higher/longer temperatures associated with the dark roasts cause more of the caffeine to sublimate out into the gas phase. The lighter, less processed beans have more of the active ingredients.
 
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