Dorm room - Coffee / Tea preparation

[Darkbulb]

I'd recommend the process I'm using here: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/360603-Coffee-On-The-Go

 

[whiteweed]

My son and I was talking dorm room coffee today. He purchased a 4 cup Mr Coffee or Black and Decker, Not really sure. He said the coffee was tasting a bit more "acidic" compared to our home brew with the same coffee. Any ideas, he is using bottled water, at home we used a simple filtered water from the fridge. Our local roaster grinds it for use when we purchase ever Saturday. Any ideas? My suggestions was to change filter type, allow more break in, and maybe a bit coarser grind.

 

[StillShaving]

Changing the filter might reduce papery taste (if any existed) but I doubt it will make a big difference in the end. By "acidic" might he also possibly mean "bitter"? Since the auto-drip machine is in control of the brewing process, one of the few things to try is grinding the coffee either more or less coarsely, to see if that works better for his particular machine.

 

[whiteweed]

Yes, I think finding the right grind will help, I am sure he will find the right combo. A little off topic, but I truly love our coffee roaster here is his web site http://threebearscoffee.com/
We have a few good roasters in the Knoxville area as well as a Green Mountain. I ran into a guy who worked there and I did not have to ask twice what he did, he had just got off from work. He must have been cleaning the grinder because he left a trail of ground coffee in my shop.

 

[Sneetch]

A lot of folk are headed back to school. What equipment would you recommend for Coffee / Tea preparation.

• Should be minimalistic
• Relatively inexpensive

I really like my Aeropress for the office along with (gasp) an electric blade grinder.

What do you guys suggest? (Tea and Coffee)

Just sent my daughter away to her freshman year and this was her setup:

• 8 Cup Lexan French Press
• Standard coffee measure
• 8 Cup Electric Kettle
• A couple of pounds of local small batch dark roast Sumatra

Talked to her the other night and she says the the setup is working great. Only issue so far is that the press is a bit hard to clean in the room (they have a nothing but water and toothpaste down the sink policy), but she just heads down the the floor lobby kitchen to wash it up. Her dorm allows the electric kettles, but not all schools do so that might be something to check on. Whole setup excluding the coffee was under $40.

Cheers,
JW

 

[Sneetch]

My son and I was talking dorm room coffee today. He purchased a 4 cup Mr Coffee or Black and Decker, Not really sure. He said the coffee was tasting a bit more "acidic" compared to our home brew with the same coffee. Any ideas, he is using bottled water, at home we used a simple filtered water from the fridge. Our local roaster grinds it for use when we purchase ever Saturday. Any ideas? My suggestions was to change filter type, allow more break in, and maybe a bit coarser grind.

I think you are probably on the right track. Grind can have a lot to do with flavor characteristics. It often takes me 4-5 batches to get the grind and amount zeroed in on a new system. One other possible thing to look at: A few years ago we got a new drip maker and something was just tasting a bit off, almost chemical like. Turns out the plastic was giving an off taste. We ran white vinegar through a number of cycles and then a pot of just water and everything was fine from there on out.

Cheers,
JW.

 

[nymtber]

I had a Mr. Coffee Espresso maker in college and a blade grinder...

I remember some darn good cappuccinos, well considering what I had into the whole kit (<$60 in 2001). I had a Mr. Coffee 1 cup coffee maker for a while till I fell in love with cappuccino and Latte...

I still want a nice Espresso Maker. Nothing too crazy but something that WORKS. I still enjoy me a cappuccino! I'm addicted to French Press right now. I love the elegance of my Bodum Chambord 8 cup

 

[Aristeros]

First, the grinder.
http://compare.ebay.com/like/281147284900?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar#
This is a Turkish type grinder and I have a couple and they work okay. More convenient than the wood box type grinder. The problem is, the grind only adjusts just so much. It comes out fine, even at the coarsest possible adjustment. Good for espresso. So-so for drip. Worthless for FP. But you can do like me, and disassemble the grinder, and carefully grind down the burr cone on a bench grinder to increase the gap, if you want to use it for FP coffee. These go for about $10 in Istanbul. Elsewhere if you get it including shipping for $20 you are getting a good deal.

http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmarias/grinders/manual-grinders/zassenhaus-175-m-turkish-mill.html
Zassenhaus is well known in Europe. This is a Turkish style grinder made by them, with a much higher quality burr and it grinds much coarser. In fact I would guess that it can't grind fine enough for espresso. It certainly grinds too coarse for Turkish coffee. For pourover, perfect. However, for THIS price, you could just as well have a Hario.

If you pass by a grocery every day, just use the store grinder. Get just a few ounces of coffee, run it through the grinder, and use it til it's gone, hopefully no more than a couple of days. Store it in a SMALL airtight container for best results. Okay, not as good as fresh ground right when you brew it, but nearly there. And you are in college, after all. Your station in life is to endure hardship LOL!

Now the coffee maker. For a dorm room might I suggest a $3.99 Melitta pourover from the grocery store? More and more are stocking this cheap little unit. Don't look for it at walmart, though. They make too much money selling applicances for 10x that amount that do the same job. A French Press makes better coffee (YMMV) and is cheap, but you got to scoop out the grounds and stuff. With a pourover just toss filter and all. Easy Sneezy.

Hot water... try to find a "stinger" type immersion heater if you are just wanting to make a cup for yourself. Yes, you can boil water in a microwave. The popsicle stick trick just makes it a little faster. Be sure your water container has no metal and won't melt in the micro. Any cheap electric kettle will do, too. Don't expect it to last more than a year, unless you move up a notch in quality and price.

Nice ideas. I have been using a french press in military-type billets, similar to barracks with no microwave or running water, and the Melitta pourover sounds like a much cleaner solution. Thanks!

 

[Aristeros]

I think an Aeropress is perfect for coffee for one. Far far better than any instant I've tasted and close to as quick as instant.

I have an Aeropress and it is pretty good. Cleanup of the pseudopuck is easier than the rinsing of the FP, too.

 

[Aristeros]

That's not an old picture, that's my desk right now at work...

Ha! Excellent work. Good old canteen cup. I guess the pot was shattered at some point?

 

[ShaverGN]

Save money! Make your own immersion heater

 

[Alacrity59]

Save money! Make your own immersion heater

View attachment 388904

An idea that seems to come with its own toe tag. Na . . . don't try this.