What's new

What did you learn from your coffee brewing method today?

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
Please, before abandoning this, try a more standard dose of coffee. You know that you are way under the recommended as is plus you are under extracting with your temperature choice, what you were tasting previously is probably not improving your coffee, only increasing the TDS. Please try 50g once, with the same method above.
Aaron, so.... bump up the grams to 50... what temperature should I try first? As I said, for this coffee roasting level (Medium/Dark), James recommends 176 to 194F in his book: How to Make the Best Coffee at Home and I've been at 185F for awhile now.

I'm still fussing with my hand grinder a bit. I might have had it a bit too coarse this past time as well. I noticed I had some "flakes" in it this time... instead of all round grinds. I moved the dial a few clicks in the "finer" direction. With this grinder, I get what looks like chaff to me... not fines, as in finely ground coffee but very light in color particles. I didn't get those with my Cuisinart electric grinder but I got quite a lot of what I'm calling "fines"... very small, but dark in color particles. The overall grind with this KINGrinder K-1 is pretty consistent other than that. I might be expecting too much from a $69 hand grinder.
 
Aaron, so.... bump up the grams to 50... what temperature should I try first? As I said, for this coffee roasting level (Medium/Dark), James recommends 176 to 194F in his book: How to Make the Best Coffee at Home and I've been at 185F for awhile now.

I'm still fussing with my hand grinder a bit. I might have had it a bit too coarse this past time as well. I noticed I had some "flakes" in it this time... instead of all round grinds. I moved the dial a few clicks in the "finer" direction. With this grinder, I get what looks like chaff to me... not fines, as in finely ground coffee but very light in color particles. I didn't get those with my Cuisinart electric grinder but I got quite a lot of what I'm calling "fines"... very small, but dark in color particles. The overall grind with this KINGrinder K-1 is pretty consistent other than that. I might be expecting too much from a $69 hand grinder.
Ah, so you are still dealing with variables that need to be sorted out. You probably need to standardise as many things as you can so you can play with one variable at a time.

The water temp you decided on is good because you found it reduced bitterness and it's in the middle of the range given.

The flakes are chaff, the silver skin left on the bean after roasting. Different origins are more or less prone to chaff. You probably didn't have as much trouble previously because the static from the Cuisinart was pulling it out of the grounds. There is a device for sifting it out, but even I don't futz with such things.

One of the reasons for standardised grams per litre is because they are know to produce a cup of coffee that most people will like and get you into the right range quickly. This leaves the grind setting and your brew technique as the only uncontrolled variables. If you set your brew technique and ratio, even if it is higher than you think it should be, to something that has been well tested by others, it makes it a lot easier to get the grind figured out. I may not have emphasised enough why I was trying to get you to use a stronger ratio, not to keep it, but to quickly get in the right area. Then you can start grinding courser and courser to taste, until you run out of settings. Then is when you should use a weaker ratio if it's still not smooth enough for you. The reason for this is a ratio and time that are broadly in the zone will produce a full extraction which gets you the best flavour, even if it's too strong. To make it less strong, it's usually best to dilute to taste after brewing, but with FP it's not that simple from a technical perspective. I can see the case for adding more water(weaker ratio) in the pot, but I just think it's probably the last thing to do if you are at the bottom of the recommended range(ratio). TDS(total dissolved solids) is what you are reducing by adding more water after the fact, but extraction is fixed when you brew. The TDS does go down with a lower extraction, but that only works up to the point where you under extract the coffee.

I used to get FP at Peets all the time 10-20 years ago. It was made with so much coffee, like a third of a small press pot! What I did was request a cup with hot water and treat the FP as a concentrate that had the right flavour, but was too strong. I did this instead of requesting that they make it weaker because it's more reliable, but if the extraction is still too high then you push the plunger earlier. This might be the origin of why I started brewing FP for only 3 minutes...

(sorry for another essay)
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
Ah, so you are still dealing with variables that need to be sorted out. You probably need to standardise as many things as you can so you can play with one variable at a time.

The water temp you decided on is good because you found it reduced bitterness and it's in the middle of the range given.

The flakes are chaff, the silver skin left on the bean after roasting. Different origins are more or less prone to chaff. You probably didn't have as much trouble previously because the static from the Cuisinart was pulling it out of the grounds. There is a device for sifting it out, but even I don't futz with such things.

One of the reasons for standardised grams per litre is because they are know to produce a cup of coffee that most people will like and get you into the right range quickly. This leaves the grind setting and your brew technique as the only uncontrolled variables. If you set your brew technique and ratio, even if it is higher than you think it should be, to something that has been well tested by others, it makes it a lot easier to get the grind figured out. I may not have emphasised enough why I was trying to get you to use a stronger ratio, not to keep it, but to quickly get in the right area. Then you can start grinding courser and courser to taste, until you run out of settings. Then is when you should use a weaker ratio if it's still not smooth enough for you. The reason for this is a ratio and time that are broadly in the zone will produce a full extraction which gets you the best flavour, even if it's too strong. To make it less strong, it's usually best to dilute to taste after brewing, but with FP it's not that simple from a technical perspective. I can see the case for adding more water(weaker ratio) in the pot, but I just think it's probably the last thing to do if you are at the bottom of the recommended range(ratio). TDS(total dissolved solids) is what you are reducing by adding more water after the fact, but extraction is fixed when you brew. The TDS does go down with a lower extraction, but that only works up to the point where you under extract the coffee.

I used to get FP at Peets all the time 10-20 years ago. It was made with so much coffee, like a third of a small press pot! What I did was request a cup with hot water and treat the FP as a concentrate that had the right flavour, but was too strong. I did this instead of requesting that they make it weaker because it's more reliable, but if the extraction is still too high then you push the plunger earlier. This might be the origin of why I started brewing FP for only 3 minutes...

(sorry for another essay)
Here's the thing... or at least, what I think the "thing" is.... at 185, 43g to a full French Press.. doing the 9 minute brew, pushing the plunger but not all the way, just to the grinds touch the bottom, is keeping the fines settled out.. and giving me/us great tasting coffee, the best we've ever made at home.

I don't know what improvements could be made, if any. That's why I'm experimenting. Leaving the plunger up produced less enjoyable coffee. I had only changed one variable: the plunger.

As far as the grind goes. I only did one brew with that coarser grind. As I think about it... that more coarse grind was used with the additional plunger change. I put the grind back to where I've been using it since I got the hand grinder.
 
Today I learned that there's no really good way for me to make iced coffee quickly.

I normally do Cold Brew or brew extra strong in the drip machine and place it in the fridge overnight. That works well for me. This afternoon, I had a hankering for an iced coffee after dinner and had no luck. Just a weak and lukewarm coffee no matter what I did. I do not add milk or anything to my coffee, so even trying to make it "Americano" style (with added cold water) and lots of beans still came out poorly. Oh well.

I'll just wait until tomorrow for the one in the fridge...
 
Today I learned that there's no really good way for me to make iced coffee quickly.
Works really good for a single cup, if you can find one


It's always in my freezer, ready to go!
(there are make shift solutions, search: how to cool a beverage quickly)
 
That my Aeropress makes a better cup than my French press. (Or maybe it's that I make a better cup with my Aeropress than my French press.) I was a FP guy only for a LONG time. But years ago I was introduced to an Aeropress and it became my primary because I am the only one in my house who drinks coffee so I prefer to make one cup at a time. I have gone down the rabbit hole of measuring to the .1 gram and timing my blooms and timing my steep time, but end of the day the Aeropress is just so darn user friendly that I can take a big spoon of freshly ground coffee and make a cup without thinking about it. Here's where the learning starts.

Last week I had some other people at the house who wanted coffee so I decided to make a full FP. (Again, it used to be the only thing that I used.). But it just wasn't as clean and as smooth of a cup of coffee as my Aeropress. So...end of the day, the Aeropress is my brewer of choice, and I'm not sure that there is much that will change my mind.
I think I agree with you. I rarely make coffee only for myself, so I’ve gravitated more to the V60 and Clever (french press and drip as well now that my son is obsessed with coffee). On the occasions I make one cup for myself it’s almost always the aeropress. I don’t think anything can make a “better” single cup.
 
As far as the grind goes. I only did one brew with that coarser grind. As I think about it... that more coarse grind was used with the additional plunger change. I put the grind back to where I've been using it since I got the hand grinder.
I’d bet this is more responsible for the weak brew than the plunger. I use my French press pretty much like you - longer steep and gently press before I pour. But I didn’t notice the coffee tasting weaker with no plunge. It seemed inconsequential to the flavor to me and I believe Hoffman does it because he is much more averse to the fines escaping than myself.

Today I learned that there's no really good way for me to make iced coffee quickly.

I normally do Cold Brew or brew extra strong in the drip machine and place it in the fridge overnight. That works well for me. This afternoon, I had a hankering for an iced coffee after dinner and had no luck. Just a weak and lukewarm coffee no matter what I did. I do not add milk or anything to my coffee, so even trying to make it "Americano" style (with added cold water) and lots of beans still came out poorly. Oh well.

I'll just wait until tomorrow for the one in the fridge...
You can do this easily using pour over methods. I do it by placing half the water (by weight) in the carafe or cup below the cone in the form of ice. Then pour the other half from the kettle over the coffee bed. The concentrated hot coffee instantly chills as it drips onto the ice and dilutes to your target ratio. It’s not as good as a true cold brew, but it’s far and away the best cold brew I’ve been able to make quickly. Search for Japanese style cold brew and you’ll find plenty of recipes.
 

Eric_75

Not made for these times.
Today I learned that there's no really good way for me to make iced coffee quickly.

I normally do Cold Brew or brew extra strong in the drip machine and place it in the fridge overnight. That works well for me. This afternoon, I had a hankering for an iced coffee after dinner and had no luck. Just a weak and lukewarm coffee no matter what I did. I do not add milk or anything to my coffee, so even trying to make it "Americano" style (with added cold water) and lots of beans still came out poorly. Oh well.

I'll just wait until tomorrow for the one in the fridge...
I've never made iced coffee. I think the only ones I've had over the years were from Starbucks.
 
I’d bet this is more responsible for the weak brew than the plunger. I use my French press pretty much like you - longer steep and gently press before I pour. But I didn’t notice the coffee tasting weaker with no plunge. It seemed inconsequential to the flavor to me and I believe Hoffman does it because he is much more averse to the fines escaping than myself.


You can do this easily using pour over methods. I do it by placing half the water (by weight) in the carafe or cup below the cone in the form of ice. Then pour the other half from the kettle over the coffee bed. The concentrated hot coffee instantly chills as it drips onto the ice and dilutes to your target ratio. It’s not as good as a true cold brew, but it’s far and away the best cold brew I’ve been able to make quickly. Search for Japanese style cold brew and you’ll find plenty of recipes.
Doing it Japanese style was my first attempt but I didn't have the ratios I needed. I definitely didn't weigh any ice. Spur of the moment type thing and I failed with that. I'll remember to do that next time. Luckily, the urge to have an iced coffee immediately doesn't happen often and I'm pretty pleased with how I make one when time isn't an issue. Thanks!

@APBinNCA Thanks also for the rec on the chiller. "My" counter space is already a contention between my wife and I and I just started storing my bulk coffee in our one and only freezer (hidden in the back- wish me luck) so adding another piece of equipment is definitely out of the picture. Thankfully, it was out of stock. :D
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
I’d bet this is more responsible for the weak brew than the plunger. I use my French press pretty much like you - longer steep and gently press before I pour. But I didn’t notice the coffee tasting weaker with no plunge. It seemed inconsequential to the flavor to me and I believe Hoffman does it because he is much more averse to the fines escaping than myself.


You can do this easily using pour over methods. I do it by placing half the water (by weight) in the carafe or cup below the cone in the form of ice. Then pour the other half from the kettle over the coffee bed. The concentrated hot coffee instantly chills as it drips onto the ice and dilutes to your target ratio. It’s not as good as a true cold brew, but it’s far and away the best cold brew I’ve been able to make quickly. Search for Japanese style cold brew and you’ll find plenty of recipes.
I did back off on the coarseness today... Three whole numbers. I inspected it after a few turns of the handle. It looks what I think it perfect based on other photographs I've seen... like coffee bread crumbs... no flakes. That grind produced excellent coffee at 43g for me and 40g for my wife in a full 34 ounce Bodum French Press (glass.... and the original and Brazil model in red). For $20 for a Bodum Brazil, it might just be the least expensive, idiot proof coffee maker out there. They are so easy to clean as well.

Edit: The KINGrider K-1 and their other models have 140 to 240 adjustment settings. Mine came set up with a very fine grind. I should have counted as I opened it up to more coarse grind. I have it set on "0/Zero" but I have no idea where I started. LOL

I only know, the adjustment knob is out about hmmmm 1/32" or so. The adjustments go from 0 to 9 in half steps. I can make adjustments from here easily, but it would have been nice if I knew the true "finest" setting was.. or the max coarse setting was. I could turn it all the way in to get to the most fine setting, I'm sure... but I'm getting a great grind at this setting.... so I'll just go in or out if I want to experiment further.
 
Last edited:
Been eyeballing my ratios the last few times with good luck. Decided to do the same this morning but weigh everything just to be sure. Almost on the dot. 22g of coffee for 350g of water (the ratio called for 21). I put a sharpie mark on the FP to make it easier as to how much I need to fill. The scale can go back in the cabinet for now until a new ratio is needed. ;)
 
I'm just happy to be here. 😊
Me, too. Although I apologize if I am not getting Eric_75's context just rightl

This is a great thread. I am really just getting into, or maybe back into is the better way to say it, pour over. This time weighing things carefully, using a swan neck kettle, a fresh grind but not with a reasonably good burr grinder yet, watching the temperature (but not the time so much yet), etc. The results are better enough that I cannot go backwards, and the Zen of the process is calming.
 
A few days ago, I learned that pouring direction matter with pour overs. I am able to make a much nicer circle and keep the flow rate more consistent pouring clockwise with my right hand. As silly as it sounds, I forced myself to learn to pour counter clockwise a few years ago, the thinking being that everything flows counter clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. I don't know if it's the fact that I am pouring against the prevailing direction or it simply doesn't matter which way I pour, the whole process is better. The taste is no different so that seems like a win to me!
 
A few days ago, I learned that pouring direction matter with pour overs. I am able to make a much nicer circle and keep the flow rate more consistent pouring clockwise with my right hand. As silly as it sounds, I forced myself to learn to pour counter clockwise a few years ago, the thinking being that everything flows counter clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. I don't know if it's the fact that I am pouring against the prevailing direction or it simply doesn't matter which way I pour, the whole process is better. The taste is no different so that seems like a win to me!
I am sincerely in awe of your patience and attention to detail. I tried counterclockwise a few times, but it just felt weird so it didn’t stick. I never even considered the physics of it, but I’m glad you did!
 
I am sincerely in awe of your patience and attention to detail. I tried counterclockwise a few times, but it just felt weird so it didn’t stick. I never even considered the physics of it, but I’m glad you did!
Wait until you see the contraption I have coming next week! It's already cleared customs and is currently 300 miles away. Let's just say, I am going to bring some objective data to my brewing. The nerd level may may approach infinity!
 
Top Bottom