I love coffee. These are the things I use to make it, drink it, and enjoy it.
I'm speechless...
The Scanomat Top Brewer fully automatic coffee machine completely redefines how we perceive a coffee brewer. All drinks are brewed to barista standards using...
...OK, I've recovered.
Wow. This is the first ever product that I've seen be off the charts on both the coffee lover scale and the geek scale. (It can be controlled from your iPhone.)
(and probably, unfortunately, the affordable scale. But we'll ignore that for now.)
I can definitely see one of these in my future...
Gleb Polyakov and Igor Zamlinsky is raising funds for PID-Controlled Espresso Machine on Kickstarter! A home espresso machine that provides commercial quality temperature and pressure consistency at an affordable price.
My business partner and I went on a small field trip today to stock up on some great coffee to use in our Aeropress coffee brewers. Today's destination: Karma Coffee in Sudbury, MA.
This is a great coffee shop that roasts up lots of coffee fresh. He bought a pound of Ethiopian Sidamo, and I got a pound of Ethiopian Adamo roasted just two days ago. Can't wait to try it.
Of course we treated ourselves to some Cappuccinos.
How many lattes and cappuccinos did that barrista have to make to be able to do this?
I just tried this method and the coffee turned out pretty well. I didn't get a very good bloom, so I'm thinking my beans may be a bit on the older side (they're not fresh-roasted, just some Starbucks beans from the grocery store).
What I like about the inverted method is the longer brew time and the more water that's used to brew with -- to me, that means more coffee extraction, and less water added after the fact.
The method is a bit clumsier than the standard method advertised by Aeropress themselves, which couldn't be simpler.
Need to get me some fresh beans to test out some new Aeropress methods...
...which I'll be sharing here!
When the power goes out, Marco Arment (the man behind Instapaper) boils water with his match-lit gas stove and powers his coffee grinder via UPS battery backup.
That's pretty badass.
But for those of us without a gas stove, more drastic measures are called for...
Therefore, my instructions for the Impatient, Geeky, Coffee Snob is slightly different than Marco's
If the generator happens to be out of gas, step zero is to drive to the gas station where there also happens to be a Dunkin Donuts.
That doesn't change the rest of the plan.
I was spending some office time at the nearby Starbucks today and this was on the wall.
Apparently this past fall they announced that this was coming, a lighter roast. I guess this is for people who don't like their beans burnt, which many feel that Starbucks tends to do. (I happen to enjoy their coffee).
So for all you people out there that cry, "Starbucks coffee is too strong!!!", maybe you can join the rest of us at the nearest Starbucks. (But hopefully not, it's already too tough to get a table.)
It's important to note the distinction between the roast and the brew strength. Regardless of the roast (light or dark), you can brew a stronger cup of coffee by using more beans and longer brew times. The roast has more to do with the flavor. A darker roast can have a stronger taste, but not necessarily be a stronger brew.
What, I think too much about this stuff? Probably.
In seven days, I'll give it a go and report back.
This belongs on my wall.
Yesterday, armed with our new Aeropress and the concentrated coffee that it produces (am I allowed to call it espresso? I'm still not sure.), I set out to make cappuccinos for a few guests that we had over for New Years Day brunch.
I made a single serving of espresso, I used the Aerolatte to foam up some hot milk nice and stiff, and started to pour the cappuccino.
But how much hot milk, and how much foam on top?
I quickly realized that I had no idea what I was doing, and what proportions I was dealing with.
I winged it, and everybody was happy with the results. But since I knew that my products were inconsistent, I wasn't happy with it.
This graphic by OrbitVisual, and thanks to CoffeeNate for posting it a few months back with some color commentary, belongs on my wall or on my chest.
More Aeropress hacking here...
Crema Coffee has a detailed brewing method that they call the Inverted Aeropress method. Being an Aeropress newbie, I'm not sure if this is commonplace, but this is something I intend to try out.
I do like the idea of getting more water into the Aeropress than the official method, from which this differs dramatically.
You can check out their website for the full instructions, but this is basically it...
There are a few things I like better about this method, on paper anyway. First is the longer brewing time. Second, more water is used to brew the coffee. Third, they suggest a more traditional water temperature.
I'll be trying this, and any other Aeropress methods I can think of, and will provide furhter comparisons.
This little device mixes up a great frothy cup of milk, perfect for cappuccinos out of the Aeropress.
Lots of Aero's going on around here!
We've had this device for a year or two now, mostly used by my wife because I drink mostly black coffee. But after introducing the Aeropress to the coffee workflow, I can definitely see more lattes and cappuccinos in my future.
I had a friend and his family over last night for New Years eve and we did a head-to-head demonstration of the Aeropress and Siphon pot. I don't make Siphon pot coffee very often any more as the cleanup is a definite disincentive. But the preparation of coffee with that method is a fun show, especially for people who haven't seen one before. It's like a science lesson in every cup.
The clear winner between the two in prep time was the Aeropress. The siphon pot takes not only time for the water to boil, but also about 4 minutes to brew.
With the aeropress, after the water is boiling, you pretty much have a cup of espresso in seconds.
And last night we foamed up some milk and made cappuccinos. I'm more of a black coffee drinker myself, but this was good. I can see some more espresso drinks in my future.
(And I just heard that he bought his own Aeropress this morning on Amazon.)
Aeropress Hacking
The coffee produced by the Aeropress is also much more versatile. Since you have espresso, you can simply add water to it to get regular coffee (Americano). Or you make any number of espresso drinks, if you have the means to steam or foam up some milk.
As I experiment, I'm seeing the differences when changing variables like amount of coffee, grind, amount of water, etc. Obviously these things will affect it, but the outcomes are interesting.
Crema!
The finer the coffee and the more of it, the harder it is to push the plunger down. This results in higher pressure, and therefore some nice foamy crema. This is what I did this morning:
The cup in this picture is a double-shot with the Aeropress this morning. There was actually a good deal more crema stuck to the bottom of the Aeropress. I'll be working on the technique.
This may very well be the best Christmas present that changed hands in our house this year, if I do say so myself.
I gave this to my wife who also loves a good cup of coffee. While I'll put myself through just about any coffee-brewing procedure, her priorities are more toward being able to make a good single cup of coffee as fast as possible.
The Aeropress is easy, quick, and neat. And it makes delicious coffee.
I've mostly used it so far to make Americano type coffee (brew up espresso and add hot water to get a full cup), but I used a battery powered milk foamer and made a fantastic cappuccino.
If you love coffee, you owe it to yourself to get this device and try it out. It's inexpensive enough to just give it a go and if it doesn't replace your daily coffee routine, save it for special occasions.
In my book, still the best, cleanest, smoothest cup of coffee you can make.
This strange device makes coffee by sending boiling water up into the upper chamber, where it brews the coffee while you watch. You control the water temperature and brew time by moving the pot on the burner while the water is in the upper chamber.
Once ready, you remove the heat source, and the vacuum formed in the bottom pulls the coffee through the cloth filter, extracting the coffee from the grounds.
It's not only a pot of coffee, but a science lesson.
This one is a bit more for the coffee devotees as a pot of coffee is a bit of a project. I can make a pot faster than the drip coffee maker, but it's an intense five minutes.
And there's quite a bit of cleanup as you've got spent grinds to deal with that don't come out neatly in a paper filter for discarding.
To me, all worth it.
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