Coffee: Perked, Drip, French Press (kitchen, refrigerator, stomach, Washington)

[atlguy44]

I drink only one large mug of coffee in the mornings. I use a Kitchen Aid drip Coffeemaker. I buy whole beans from Aldi where they usually have a light roast Organic Peruvian or Guatemalan. I grind fresh every morning a mix of 2 tablespoons of the beans with 1 tablespoon of ground dark roast Colombian or Black Silk, and brew with about 12 ozs water. Nice strong brew results from all that effort!

[blktoptrvl]

A couple years ago I went simple.

• I got a mesh filter that fit over a plastic container;
• put a number two filter inside,
• added two spoons full of store bought ground coffee and poured boiling water through.

Simple with nothing to clean up (I have two filters that I rotated between active duty and the dishwasher). It did OK. The biggest PITA was having to slowly pour water from my kettle evenly over the grounds (stopping to let the water filter through a couple times) in the filter.

However, I was in Costco and talked to a man who HIGHLY recommended fresh ground and Costco was selling a Cuisinart Grinder/Brewer which I purchased for $29.

It is like night and day. The coffee taste so much better and cleanup consists of rinsing off the internal plastics which is a little more "work" but worth it for the much improved taste.,.

[elnina]

Originally Posted by Natnasci

Now I have a Breville and I love it. It makes wonderful espresso's and any other type you can get in a nice coffee shop.

Almost all small kitchen appliances from Breville are of absolutely outstanding quality. I have few and didn't regret buying them yet.

Originally Posted by history nerd

You can get a nice cup from most any brewing method if you know what you are doing... (temperature control is huge) But what really matters is high quality beans, not burnt to death like Starbucks, no more than a week old, ground fresh, properly stored, and used in the right quantity.

You should also consider this:
//www.city-data.com/forum/food-...er-coffee.html

//www.city-data.com/forum/48226262-post11.html

Here is an older, very informative thread about coffee makers :
//www.city-data.com/forum/food-...ee-makers.html

[TamaraSavannah]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

I hate Keurig coffee.

Percolator coffee tastes fine but not any better than drip coffee to me.

I drink drip coffee in the morning because I can set it to be ready when I get up, which is important to me. I do NOT want to wait for coffee when I get up! It tastes good but not "special" if you know what I mean. But the trade off - having a hot cup of coffee ready the minute I stumble into the kitchen - is worth it.
.............

That is indeed one of those "to each their own" things. When I get up for my night shift at the ranch, the isolation and quiet is like waking up as Major West on the Jupiter II. So an automatic system responding to me would be in the ball park, right?

Nope. It's another day, another peanut, stumble out to the kitchen to put the pot on, then sit on the edge of the bed reflecting (if I didn't do that first but tonight, my smart phone alarm was out in the kitchen on charge), and then realizing that I ought to put on some music to take the quiet out.

At least the automatics aren't like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shs7VQhVvxA

As it goes with my coffee, even poured from the pot, it is still too hot to immediately sip from it. I probably have to give it 5 minutes before I can.....and I use a pot holder to pour the pot. So the heat content of it all may be something to add to the equation but that just may be from using a gas stove.

[gouligann]

Originally Posted by history nerd

You can get a nice cup from most any brewing method if you know what you are doing... (temperature control is huge) But what really matters is high quality beans, not burnt to death like Starbucks, no more than a week old, ground fresh, properly stored, and used in the right quantity.

I agree, Starbucks is just nasty tasting, and you end up with a bitter aftertaste. I've tried it twice, thinking the first time was just old coffee at the bottom of their pot. The second time was just as bad.

When I see people lined up at a Starbucks counter, I wonder whether their taste buds are dead.

[jbgusa]

I make a full pot of perked coffee and pour it into a Tupperware to cool, then put it in the refrigerator. I do that all year round.

[rainroosty]

Instant Folger's. With Nestle's sugar-free French Vanilla creamer!

[VTsnowbird]

I don't think anyone has mentioned the vacuum method, which IMHO makes the best coffee. We had one for a brief time until my klutz of a husband broke one of the glass globes. But they make them in SS now too. Fun to watch in the glass ones though.

[elnina]

^^^^ Obviously there are many methods, therefore this article might be useful to OP:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...=.872be7c4b149

[bg7]

I use a Greca. Just can't get the flavor I want from a drip or a French press. It seems that a little bit of pressure is also required for the flavor I like best - not just heat.