Coffee beans. How do I make them make coffee?

[Benchwayze]

Hi folks,

I want to try making my coffee from 'real' beans.

After grinding them, how does one turn them into coffee?

I am probably making myself look stupid, but the nearest I have come to making 'real' coffee is a filter machine, (in the 80s) and today's method of using a cafetiere.

Also once ground does the coffee ever become stale? ( I also assume that once brewed, like tea, the results can become 'stewed'. )

Maybe you connoisseurs can help me decide if it's worth the bother, as I only drink at the most three cups a day; some days, none!

Cheers and Thanks in anticipation for any recommendations and things to watch out for! :lol:


John

 

[Farmer Giles]

I've had all sorts of machines over the years but keep coming back to the cafetiere or french press as the US call them. Easy to use, easy to clean, no faffing about and inexpensive. You can spend loads on kit. I have a Cuisinart Burr Mill, comes in about 50 to 60 quid and is still going after over 10 years. Apart from that the cafetieres are about a tenner or so and you can get replacement glasses but theses tend to be almost as much as a complete unit.

I grind the beans medium, and just enough for each brew, you will have to experiment how strong you like it with beans you have to get how much to put in, also depends on the size of the cafetiere. I add the ground beans to the cafetiere, add boiling water, stir a bit, wait for 30 seconds, stir again, stick the plunger on then plunge after 2 to 3 minutes.

If you want cappuccino, espresso etc. then you will need more kit and there's loads of ways of getting there but can cost a few pounds to hundreds. I would start with a cafetiere.

 

[CHJ]

I'm no expert but I do appreciate a selection of good coffee and like sampling different bean types and roasts.
I'd rather go without than drink a 'bad brue' shall we say.

Are the beans you are obtaining 'green' and roasting the beans yourself, or obtaining already roasted.

If the latter then keep them whole until needed for best flavour.

Grind in coffee grinder as needed, adjusting the 'finesse' of the grind to suit your brue method.

Or if must grind a quantity at a time place in airtight container once ground.

Use Filter or cafetiere to 'brue'

Stale? looses some aroma if not fresh, hence why ready ground coffee is in sealed packaging and in some brands controlled atmosphere.

Coffee can go bitter if kept on heated hotplate and loose subtle aroma details, if you must brue enough for several cups or to be consumed over half an hour or so keep in thermal jug.

 

[Benchwayze]

Much appreciated info. As I usually buy ground coffee and use my 'French Press', for a special drink, I think it now depends on which make I finally prefer.
At the moment I am using Taylor's After Dark, and it makes me smile, so I guess it suits my palate. That's from the cafetiere of course. For a quick cup of coffee I use Alta Rica instant from Asda. That is the nicest instant coffee I have ever drunk, and it does have a true, smoky flavour.

So thanks again. I will just use the kit I have already, and need only buy a grinder of some sort. From then on it's experimentation, with some Colombian coffee!

I am going to have some fun I sense sorting out which beans to buy (Although I thought they were all brown. Never tasted green coffee) :wink:
I wasn't planning on roasting the beans myself. BTW, and I do already have a cafetiere so I'll be using that.

 

[Chris152]

Apparently 'The brewing temperature of the water used is very important. It should be between 195 F (91 C) and 205 F (96 C). The closer to 205 F (96 C) the better. Boiling water (212 F - 100 C) should never be used, as it will burn the coffee. Water that is less than 195 F (91 C) will not extract properly.' I tend to just wait a little before pouring water that's boiled into the cafetiere from the kettle.

 

[Benchwayze]

Apparently 'The brewing temperature of the water used is very important. It should be between 195 F (91 C) and 205 F (96 C). The closer to 205 F (96 C) the better. Boiling water (212 F - 100 C) should never be used, as it will burn the coffee. Water that is less than 195 F (91 C) will not extract properly.' I tend to just wait a little before pouring water that's boiled into the cafetiere from the kettle.

Same applies to tea Chris, where boiling water is concerned. Bring the water to the boil then let it go off the boil, and stand for about 15 seconds, before wetting the tea. I use that principle even for a teabag in a mug. I also warm the mug under the running hot tap first! Makes a difference. For my Earl Grey I use a china pot! (Not to drink from of course! :mrgreen:

John

 

[CHJ]

Like most things convenience and process repeatability often comes at a price, modern electronic controlled kettles make a real difference to the appreciation of differing Tea and Coffee flavours without some of the guesswork.

Totally indulgent on some fronts just like the equivalent in modern semi programmable toasters and slow cookers etc. but Hey why not just enjoy a little luxury if you can afford the pension hit.

 

[jlawford]

Google search for Brew Methods- you will find there are many ways to make coffee!!

Simplest way is a cafetière/French press (they are the same thing). You are going to want to grind medium to coarse, and use 20g coffee to 300ml of water. Use a digital scale- water is metric so 1 litre = 1kg meaning you can weigh the water as it pours in.

Biggest factor is the freshness and quality of the coffee beans. HasBean cofeee and Square Mile Coffee are recommended. In time, and depending where you live, you might find a local coffee roaster.

Don't bother with a temperature gauge for, just leave the boiled water for about a minute after it's stopped bubbling.

In time you might also look at a manual pour-over/filter set up like the V60. Each method has their own differences. Main thing is to buy freshly roasted coffee. 1-2 weeks!! If you buy from Square Mile you can get it the day after roasting as they only ship two days a week. That is going to make a HUGE difference

Quarter Horse coffee in Brum is my favourite. They roast right in the shop and can advise you.

 

[AJB Temple]

I am a bit of an addict and have a semi commercial Rocket double boiler espresso machine, and heavy duty Italian grinder (which is necessary for a fine even grind for espresso). If you are after true espresso then a proper pressurised machine is essential. Lots of people prefer a variant of filtered coffee though. Steam wand for frothing milk is fun.

Roasted beans go stale in a few weeks, so buy small quantities and see them in an airtight container. Only grind as you need to. Some of the UK on-line shops do taster sets of small quantities of beans, which is quite good when you are working out what you like.

 

[RobinBHM]

The most important thing to achieve good tasting coffee is: buy whole beans and grind just before making the coffee.

ground coffee looses its flavour very quickly, the flavours start to get lost as soon as the beans are ground and will be pretty stale after a few hours.

French press coffee, pour over and filter can be brewed with quite course ground coffee.

there are some fantastic artisan coffee roasters around now, Hasbean, Rave, Union, Silver oak (these sites have useful brewing guides, especially Hasbean)

I like this one:
https://ravecoffee.co.uk/collections/co ... ture-blend

tasting notes of chocolate, caramel and nuts

If you are interested in getting the best from coffee, try an aeropress coffee maker, although you will need a half decent coffee grinder (blade grinders that are cheap are also very poor at achieving a consistent grind size and produce too many fines) There are hand grinders available though.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aerobie-AeroPr ... =aeropress

If you want to know everything there is to know about coffee, try this forum:

https://coffeeforums.co.uk/forum.php

Its full of coffee geeks!

 

[Jacob]

Moka.

On a gas ring the handle might get melted like this one, but easy to replace with a bit of brass etc.
Very fast on an induction hob.
NB when it says "6 cup" model it means 6 tiny espressos, which is equivalent to 2 large cups.

 

[Bm101]

I'm with Jacob. French press is to weak for me and I don't have the money to invest in a proper machine or the time to faff about with one in the morning. I'm out of bed, dressed in the dark, teeth done and coffee made and in the van in 20 minutes. Fireman Sam can't manage those times. At 4am every minute in bed counts.
The stove top is the best of all worlds for me. Fast, easy, cheap, makes strong espresso (of a kind) to which I add water milk and sugar. No expert but I can't drink instant. I just drink pre ground lavazza. No civet cat beans in my life. I just keep it in a jar but I'll do a pack in a week. Sure there's more delicate and refined tastes than mine though.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I got introduced to "cold brew" recently. Was pleasantly surprised at how good it is - was expecting it to be a gimmic. But I'm not rushing to get set up for it - can't imagine waiting overnight for coffee! I rarely drink coffee without milk, but I do in that case.

So meanwhile, I too am back at the cafetiere, although the coffee is Taylors's already-ground from Waitrose around the corner. It's our selected discount item, and we buy it when it's on offer in quantity (have on several occasions emptied the shelf), as the discount then is quite substantial.

 

[RobinBHM]

Espresso is difficult to do properly, so without the investment in a decent burr grinder and a quality espresso machine that can maintain pressure and temperature reliably, I would say choose an easier brewing method.

If you like milk based coffee drink, like latte, flat white etc then an espresso machine is needed as they all have the steam wand that does it -again only decent machines have the power to produce enough steam.

The best tasting coffee at home is always going to be freshly ground beans what ever the brew method.

The independant artisan roasters have really moved the quality of coffee forward in the last few years. Independant quality coffee shops are now appearing in the high street and competing against the Costanerobucks of the world!

The big chains use budget coffee beans and tend to roast the beans until they are burnt, so the subtle flavour notes are lost, but they do it so the strong bitter coffee taste cuts through the milk based drinks that are so popular.

 

[Lons]

I have a pod machine and an American Cuisinart bean to cup thingy, both are disappointing but mostly use the same pot that Jacob listed, we have 2 sizes and also use the pre ground Lavazza that Bm uses and it's not bad.
Just can't bring myself to spend several hundreds £s on a decent machine or hours faffing about making by hand.

 

[Rorschach]

Moka.

On a gas ring the handle might get melted like this one, but easy to replace with a bit of brass etc.
Very fast on an induction hob.
NB when it says "6 cup" model it means 6 tiny espressos, which is equivalent to 2 large cups.

How do you use an aluminium moka pot on an induction hob?

 

[Jacob]

Moka.

On a gas ring the handle might get melted like this one, but easy to replace with a bit of brass etc.
Very fast on an induction hob.
NB when it says "6 cup" model it means 6 tiny espressos, which is equivalent to 2 large cups.

How do you use an aluminium moka pot on an induction hob?

Good question. The answer is we have a stainless steel one. Not the one in the photo. Basically the same but a few design (and material) changes. More like this:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Put a magnet on it - if it sticks, it'll work on an induction hob, if it doesn't it won't. You can get intermediate mats to transmit the heat but they are inefficient.

 

[Harbo]

I use a cafeteria for dinner parties but for myself I use an Italian Expresso machine - that way you can produce the crema, something that a Mocha cannot do ( I have a stainless steel one too).
I buy my beans from a small roaster in Stratford upon Avon, who roasts to order and doesn't charge postage if 4 or more packs are ordered.
I grind each brew with a variable grind grinder to achieve the correct rate of flow.
The whole process is very quick once set up - a few seconds to grind directly into the portafilter, compressed with a calibrated tamper, express for 30 seconds- done. Yummy coffee with the rich crema on top. My wife likes lattes so I add milk to the mug and microwave for 1 min. Cappuccinos are more time consuming having to froth the milk with the steam wand before adding to the expresso. Americanos - just add hot water to the expresso.

Rod

 

[Benchwayze]

I use gas for cooking, so I suppose I could stick my griddle iron on the jets, to use a pot on the stove? :idea:

This all seems like an Alchemist's dream and a bit arcane. Usually I just like my coffee black; or on occasions I drop in some cream.
But it's an interesting subject and I am learning a lit!

Cheers

John