I’m almost 70 and I’m just learning to shave and switched to French press coffee just a few months ago.
Who said you can’t teach an dog new tricks?
Who said you can’t teach an dog new tricks?
What did you learn from your coffee brewing method today?
- Thread starter GoodShave
- Start date
I can't tell you why, but this gave me a bigger chuckle than I was expecting, bordering on chortle! Just remember, you looked up how much this thing cost(I need to get my review posted).Oh yeah! I forgot about needing to save my money for one of those. I am half serious. A refractometer seems more fun that a decent grinder or scale!!
EclipseRedRing
I smell like a Christmas pudding
I was lucky enough to receive two kilograms each of 100% robusta and 100% arabica beans from a small farm in the Philippines. I have used and enjoyed the robusta, and also the robusta and arabica mixed in equal proportions. Today I used solely the arabica beans and found the coffee lacking in body and flavour. I normally buy Lavazza blended beans and attach a premium to those blends with a high percentage of arabica beans, but wonder if I have been wasting my money. I may source some more robusta heavy blends as a trial.
Thats strange, because usually Arabica beans have a lot of flavor, thats what they are usually known for. Where as Robusta is usually not known for its flavor profiles, and usually known to be less flavorable and more bitter. I suppose it depends on the coffee bean, as well as how its roasted, but still, I was not expecting to hear that. I suppose this is why some coffee brands, blend Arabica and Robusta together. Then again, some folks are all about that caffeine high, and your only going to get high levels of that in Robusta lol. Thanks for your report!
I don't have time to go open the book right now, but it has to do with the location(Philippines). A lot of these countries have had difficulty producing high quality Arabica and the lack of taste, or worse, is the result. Generally, they have had better luck producing Robusta and it's what the locals drink now. I believe they have an older history with coffee like so many former colonies, but haven't had as much success at re establishing their production.
As for the original poster; if you can tolerate, or even prefer, Robusta then what might be a better idea is to duplicate what Lavazza is producing. Basically, it's Brazilian Arabica from what I understand, but any Latin American Arabica that suites your budget should suffice. If you are mixing it with inexpensive Robusta, you should get some unique flavours from the Arabica and the heavy body and caffeine from the Robusta. You may have to experiment to prevent the Robusta from drowning out the Arabica flavours, it's one reason the percentage is well under 50% usually.
What an awesome thread! I’ve been using a French press for the last two years. Before that we used a moka stovetop.
What I learned recently is not to stir the coffee after pouring in the water. I had my doubts but I find the coffee tastes even better! Our go to coffee beans are Lavazza Qualita Rossa. Love it!
What I learned recently is not to stir the coffee after pouring in the water. I had my doubts but I find the coffee tastes even better! Our go to coffee beans are Lavazza Qualita Rossa. Love it!
Hello everyone, SWCT here, with an update on what I ordered today! 
Specialty Coffees:
Bones Army Of Dark Chocolate 2 12-OZ bags on auto renewal order!
Equator Mocha Java Blend Fair Trade!
Equator NICARAGUA SACACLÍ - REGENERATIVE ORGANIC CERTIFIED
SuperMarket Coffee:
Because it takes 1 to 2 weeks for me to receive made to order specialty coffee, I am going to run out of coffee before then. An Amazon over for a popular branded supermarket coffee, will get here in a couple days, so I ordered out of necessity, hopefully I like the coffee.
LaVazza Crema E Aroma Whole Bean Coffee Blend
Would anyone like to raze their hand, to tell me what all of these coffee's have in common?
If your response was chocolate, you'd be right. Chocolate
WOOHOO! 
Specialty Coffees:
Bones Army Of Dark Chocolate 2 12-OZ bags on auto renewal order!
Equator Mocha Java Blend Fair Trade!
Equator NICARAGUA SACACLÍ - REGENERATIVE ORGANIC CERTIFIED
SuperMarket Coffee:
Because it takes 1 to 2 weeks for me to receive made to order specialty coffee, I am going to run out of coffee before then. An Amazon over for a popular branded supermarket coffee, will get here in a couple days, so I ordered out of necessity, hopefully I like the coffee.
LaVazza Crema E Aroma Whole Bean Coffee Blend
Would anyone like to raze their hand, to tell me what all of these coffee's have in common?
If your response was chocolate, you'd be right. Chocolate
WOOHOO!
Hello everyone!
LavAzza Crema E Aroma, a classic supermarket coffee came in the mail today.
On initial impressions, I am happy to see that these bags contain CO2 relief valves, this helps to maintain coffee freshness somewhat. However, I am disappointed that this coffee bag is not a resealable design, nor do they print the batch roast date or batch numbers, they just have a best buy date. I think they do this, so that its not easy for a consumer to track, how fresh the beans are. The bag has a nice label though, definitely more involved then Foldiers!
Looking at the condition of the beans, they are definitely looking a bit stressed, which indicates, that these are not high quality beans, like you'd find, in specialty coffee. If you look close, you can see the stress points, where the beans are cracked beyond the usual. Now, I am well aware that these are a blended coffee, it says so right on the bag. Its a blend of Arabica and Robusta, but the company doesn't state the percentages of each. The coffee blends origin is South America, Africa, and Asia.
The coffee beans are produced and processed in Torino Italy, so I guess this is an Italian coffee all the way through. This coffee is classified as a medium roast, and claims to have aromatic notes of chocolate. When weighing these beans, while they seem to have the same mass as a medium roast specialty coffee, they feel lighter in a scoop. And while they classify this as a medium roast, I think the profile is more of a medium-dark roast, judging by how easy it was to grind these beans.
I used the same recommended coffee ratio for my brewer, as I do with specialty coffee. 48-Grams for 6-cups of coffee out. I also used the same brewing temperature as I have been using for both my medium and dark roasts, 200F. And I also used the same pre-soak time of 30-seconds. After grinding the beans, I found the scent a bit weird. And even the initial sniff test of the beans in the bag, smelled a bit weird too. The brewed coffee smelled about the same.
Having said that however, while tasting the black coffee, the taste was OK, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything to ride home about. I did find however, that the strength of the coffee, for the same amount of grams going in, was slightly weaker, then when brewing the same amount, using specialty coffee. This indeed could be due to the fact, that the coffee is less fresh, but also could be due to the low quality beans.
It is clear that the intention of the blended coffee, was to introduce a more interesting flavor profile. It was also clear that their intention was to introduce a chocolate flavor. It might be indeed the case, that one would have to make an espresso, cappuccino, or late, in order to receive the chocolate notes. Making this in a high end drip brewer, I really didn't taste much of a chocolate note. I own a Behmore Brazen Plus 3.0 brewer, if there was any chocolate in this coffee, believe me, I would know it.
It is no doubt, that I have been spoiled by specialty coffee! Having said that however, I've drank supermarket coffee for most of my life. Knowing how terrible Foldiers coffee is, for which I'd give a 1 out of 5 stars. I can at least say, that LavAzza coffee is better then Foldiers. And I am going to rate this coffee a...................
out of stars.
LavAzza Crema E Aroma, a classic supermarket coffee came in the mail today.
On initial impressions, I am happy to see that these bags contain CO2 relief valves, this helps to maintain coffee freshness somewhat. However, I am disappointed that this coffee bag is not a resealable design, nor do they print the batch roast date or batch numbers, they just have a best buy date. I think they do this, so that its not easy for a consumer to track, how fresh the beans are. The bag has a nice label though, definitely more involved then Foldiers!
Looking at the condition of the beans, they are definitely looking a bit stressed, which indicates, that these are not high quality beans, like you'd find, in specialty coffee. If you look close, you can see the stress points, where the beans are cracked beyond the usual. Now, I am well aware that these are a blended coffee, it says so right on the bag. Its a blend of Arabica and Robusta, but the company doesn't state the percentages of each. The coffee blends origin is South America, Africa, and Asia.
The coffee beans are produced and processed in Torino Italy, so I guess this is an Italian coffee all the way through. This coffee is classified as a medium roast, and claims to have aromatic notes of chocolate. When weighing these beans, while they seem to have the same mass as a medium roast specialty coffee, they feel lighter in a scoop. And while they classify this as a medium roast, I think the profile is more of a medium-dark roast, judging by how easy it was to grind these beans.
I used the same recommended coffee ratio for my brewer, as I do with specialty coffee. 48-Grams for 6-cups of coffee out. I also used the same brewing temperature as I have been using for both my medium and dark roasts, 200F. And I also used the same pre-soak time of 30-seconds. After grinding the beans, I found the scent a bit weird. And even the initial sniff test of the beans in the bag, smelled a bit weird too. The brewed coffee smelled about the same.
Having said that however, while tasting the black coffee, the taste was OK, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything to ride home about. I did find however, that the strength of the coffee, for the same amount of grams going in, was slightly weaker, then when brewing the same amount, using specialty coffee. This indeed could be due to the fact, that the coffee is less fresh, but also could be due to the low quality beans.
It is clear that the intention of the blended coffee, was to introduce a more interesting flavor profile. It was also clear that their intention was to introduce a chocolate flavor. It might be indeed the case, that one would have to make an espresso, cappuccino, or late, in order to receive the chocolate notes. Making this in a high end drip brewer, I really didn't taste much of a chocolate note. I own a Behmore Brazen Plus 3.0 brewer, if there was any chocolate in this coffee, believe me, I would know it.
It is no doubt, that I have been spoiled by specialty coffee! Having said that however, I've drank supermarket coffee for most of my life. Knowing how terrible Foldiers coffee is, for which I'd give a 1 out of 5 stars. I can at least say, that LavAzza coffee is better then Foldiers. And I am going to rate this coffee a...................
out of stars.
Alright, throw stuff at the wall mode engaged! Going to edit as I see things, too lazy to deal with quotes...
First thing, right on the bag, that's meant for a Super Automatic espresso machine hence the blend. Not that you can't use it, obviously. There is a lot of Robusta in there and it's likely what you are smelling! The percentage can be looked up, look awfully high to me. The roast date reversal can also be looked up, some are as far back as 15 months from the best by date!
Never mind, nothing else useful to add. I have had some of the other ones, traditional espresso I think, and they looked better than this. Maybe I didn't look as closely, maybe mine was 100% Arabica(they do sell that). Might be a good time to get a Bialletti moka pot to use this properly!
First thing, right on the bag, that's meant for a Super Automatic espresso machine hence the blend. Not that you can't use it, obviously. There is a lot of Robusta in there and it's likely what you are smelling! The percentage can be looked up, look awfully high to me. The roast date reversal can also be looked up, some are as far back as 15 months from the best by date!
Never mind, nothing else useful to add. I have had some of the other ones, traditional espresso I think, and they looked better than this. Maybe I didn't look as closely, maybe mine was 100% Arabica(they do sell that). Might be a good time to get a Bialletti moka pot to use this properly!
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I don't know why I didn't think to take a picture of the best buy date and the UPC barcode. Because its honestly probably the only useful information off the bag, the rest of it is marketing hype and instructions for use.
If you bought Folders coffee, you'd be throwing it at the wall, just saying lol.
They state you can use this coffee for drip too. But just like you said, probably requires the fancy espresso machine to get the full effect. Yeah, I'm not so sure that I like Robusta heavy coffee's. Of course, knowing the differences between the two beans, I always assumed that I would appreciate Arabica more anyways. Just sad it appears that they did not balance the two coffee's beans evenly.
I've had 100% Arabica coffee before, remember the Kirkland coffee I used to drink before I jumped onboard the specialty coffee train? That Kirkland coffee both smells better, and tastes better, and I can easily give Kirklands coffee a stronger recommendation for supermarket coffee. Kirkland is actually a good brand, I love their black peppercorns for my pepper mill.
Good news(if true)! It looks like your coffee is only about 6 months old.
%
I don't brew my own espresso any more and this article is way too scientific for my simple mind, but thought some of you guys would enjoy it.
dailycoffeenews.com
New Research Explains How Finer Grinds May Lead to Weaker Espresso
Research published yesterday shines a new light on a counterintuitive phenomenon in espresso craft, whereby finer grinds may lead to underdeveloped, or "weaker," espresso.
dailycoffeenews.com
Haven't read it yet, but I am going to go ahead and guess channeling. This has been a problem as people try to push the extraction higher and higher. Even without visible channels, I have measured lower extraction when I push the pressure too high. Sorry for the side track.
I learned the last two mornings, if you get up way before sunrise and
are staying in a place with no screens, where you can’t turn on the lights or hundreds of bugs come in (and this isn’t an exaggeration or hyperbole), it’s possible to fill your grinder twice and grind your beans, boil the water, set two time cycles and make perfect French Press coffee……all by the light of your cell phone screen (not the phone flashlight).
are staying in a place with no screens, where you can’t turn on the lights or hundreds of bugs come in (and this isn’t an exaggeration or hyperbole), it’s possible to fill your grinder twice and grind your beans, boil the water, set two time cycles and make perfect French Press coffee……all by the light of your cell phone screen (not the phone flashlight).
I am devoted to French Press. I have been complemented on my coffee. At one time, I was in charge of the engineering department for a well known appliance manufacturer. I learned about coffee making. Here is my "secret". Boiling water at 212F is too hot for a good brew. That high heat brings out the acid in the coffee grinds. You need a temperature of about 194F. An open carafe of water will drop about 5 degrees per minute. So after I boil my water for the French Press, I set my timer to about 90 seconds or so and then do some other chores - like getting my cups and milk ready. After the 90 seconds have passed, I stir the grinds into my 194F water and let them steep for 4 minutes. The result is a great coffee taste with much less acidity. And the French press (or a pour-over) will accommodate that method. There are drip coffee makers that let you select a temperature lower than 212F. But they cost about $300 USD.
So now you know my "secret".
So now you know my "secret".
I have had this post on the back burner for some time...
I learned that I can make decent pour over with a regular kettle. The thing is I am using a lot of specialised equipment to pull this off so it's pretty silly. This is the reason I emphasised the I, I am not sure how repeatable this is without a scale that measures flow rate. I am averaging 4g/s, but it's taking constant adjustment to my technique while watching the gauge. Generally it's advised to target 2.5g/s to avoid upsetting the coffee bed too much so I was using a flat bottom brewer which is more tolerant of imperfect pouring. I guess I am doing a sort of variant of a pulse pour receipt!
It is worth mentioning that I had at least one errant batch that was over extracted. And there wasn't really anything that I can point to to avoid it, my technique must have been just a bit off. Further, a larger V60 batch tasted a bit off even though the extraction was in range. All I can say is, just fork out the money for a goose neck kettle and save yourself a headache!
I learned that I can make decent pour over with a regular kettle. The thing is I am using a lot of specialised equipment to pull this off so it's pretty silly. This is the reason I emphasised the I, I am not sure how repeatable this is without a scale that measures flow rate. I am averaging 4g/s, but it's taking constant adjustment to my technique while watching the gauge. Generally it's advised to target 2.5g/s to avoid upsetting the coffee bed too much so I was using a flat bottom brewer which is more tolerant of imperfect pouring. I guess I am doing a sort of variant of a pulse pour receipt!
It is worth mentioning that I had at least one errant batch that was over extracted. And there wasn't really anything that I can point to to avoid it, my technique must have been just a bit off. Further, a larger V60 batch tasted a bit off even though the extraction was in range. All I can say is, just fork out the money for a goose neck kettle and save yourself a headache!
I bought a French press recently and I think it’s preferred method currently. Much better than pour over or drip coffee.
Key word is decent, Brother. There are plenty of times that I don't strive for perfection and get happily surprised.
Keeps things interesting and fun.Similar threads
