CoderGal Senior Member Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 1 Location: USA Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Krups Grinder: Burr (generic) Vac Pot: No Drip: Krups Roaster: No
Posted Mon Mar 17, 2008, 8:25am Subject: Getting Started - advice?
Hi all,
I've been poking about the site for a while, and find myself in need of a little advice. In short, I need to know where to go from here (I apologize, this may not be super short).
I recently (finally) got out of grad school and find myself happily employed now. My university had some nice coffee shops nearby (I do not referr to Starbucks - local shops with organic coffees are what I mean). During that time I aquired at least a psuedo-sense of good vs. awful coffee. However I never much got into making coffee at home. Now I'm in an office, and while I appriciate that the coffee here is free, it's kind of retched. Everyone here agrees on this, but most of us aren't willing to front $3 a cup just for Starbucks (the only thing nearby - maybe I'm crazy but I really don't care for their coffee). The way our office works it wouldn't be a problem at all for me to bring in different coffee equipment and coffee just for me and the 2 coworkers who want to chip in.
But my question is, where to go from here? I feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of information out there, and how far one can go with how they make coffee (not a bad thing, but hard to just tackle at once).
Roasting our own is very out of the question for the moment anyways.
I own: A drip coffee maker (Mr. Coffee, it's nothing grand). It needs replacing though, and I would be happy to do so. I truthfully dont know what to buy however. A coffee grinder - Click Here (www.cafevalverde.com) - although i certainly didn't pay that much for it. Regular old coffee mugs.
I was given a gift card and was planning to buy: A french press - Click Here (www.amazon.com) A timer - The bodum small one that fits their presses.
I was planning on bringing the french press to work if we can work out water hot enough, otherwise bringing in a drip coffee maker, as well as the grinder and beans regularly.
I'm also looking for a source of roasted coffee beans that are good, I'm scouting locally but online recommendations would be welcome as well. The ability to purchase in relatively small quantities is a bonus here.
Does this sound like a decent plan to get started? And any recommendations on drip coffee maker, bean supplier, or if that grinder should be replaced first? And regarding
Grimlea Senior Member Joined: 7 Aug 2007 Posts: 135 Location: Canadian west coast Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: DeLonghi Caffe Figaro Grinder: KitchenAid ProLine burr... Drip: handheld single cupper Roaster: Digirosto Pro 1500+HD,...
Posted Tue Mar 18, 2008, 10:08am Subject: Re: Getting Started - advice?
Before going for the french press, make sure your co-workers are OK with it. Not everyone enjoys press pot coffee. As an alternative you might consider a couple of single cup, pour over filter cones and a good kettle. They are cheap and it lets everybody have their own coffee strength. To start with I wouldn't get an expensive grinder, even though, after the beans, it's the most critical part of the equation. I just wouldn't trust that it wouldn't wind up broken by "I didn't do it" or worse, getting flavored coffee ground in it....(shudder)... I can't help you with buying fresh roast. Mine comes out of my own roaster.
Larry .............................. .............................. Mrs. Tweek: Well have some coffee boys. I'll brew up another pot for later. Kyle: Coffee? I don't think I like coffee. Mrs. Tweek: Oh you'll like this coffee, it's fresh. Mr. Tweek: Country fresh, like the morning after a rainstorm.
Eiron Senior Member Joined: 12 Nov 2007 Posts: 132 Location: Loveland, Colorado Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: See above picture Grinder: Quick Mill 031, Solis 166 Drip: Technivorm KBTS Roaster: frying pan & wooden spatula
Posted Tue Mar 18, 2008, 12:22pm Subject: Re: Getting Started - advice?
Usually, the biggest factor in junk coffee at work is the low-cost grounds. Almost every office brewer I've seen is sufficient for making superb coffee, but since grounds are the only real on-going expense, it's what gets cheaped-out on. With that in mind, for upgrading office coffee I think you're trying to do too much. (Of course, you might want to go to a lot of trouble at the office, in which case you can completely disregard what I'm about to say. :-D)
Don't concentrate on equipment. You want to be able to enjoy your better brew without worrying about who's going to break what. Since you already know you need to replace your Mr. Coffee, buy a nice Braun unit to use at home & donate Mr. Coffee to the office. That way, you're the first to "give at the office" & yet you don't have to worry about what happens to it. Then, buy bags of quality preground (gasp! heresey!) so that you don't mess with grinding. If you have a Whole Foods nearby, they now own Allegro Coffee. Allegro is local to me, so they've been my favorite grocery store brand for over a dozen years. Or, you might see if there's a local shop that will deliver a couple of pounds at a time for you. Finally, be sure to get extra paper filters & a measuring scoop that allows anyone to use a single scoop for an entire pot.
I guarantee you that this will make coffee that far surpasses what the office already has. At that point, the next step would be to convince the company to buy better grounds for the office machine(s).
Have fun!
-Greg
"Just what I need - another 'geek' label..." - my friend Mark, on being told of Coffee Geek's existence
gimpy Senior Member Joined: 8 May 2007 Posts: 93 Location: Flagstaff, Az Expertise: I like coffee
Grinder: Zassenhaus Drip: the AeroPress Roaster: Walgreen's hot air corn...
Posted Thu Mar 20, 2008, 9:45pm Subject: Re: Getting Started - advice?
For starters, I am sold on Sweet Maria's. They do sell roasted coffee on their web site. They roast on Monday's and ship it out on Tuesday's, so you do get real fresh roasted coffee. Check it out on their web site to see if you might not like it.
I'm also sold on the AeroPress, but it makes only one cup at a time. If you already have the water heated and the beans ground, then you can make a cup in just a minute or two or three.
Posted Mon Mar 24, 2008, 9:56pm Subject: Re: Getting Started - advice?
OK - maybe I'm reading between the lines here but I get the sense that you want to keep your costs to a minimum. Let me tell you about a secret that I discovered a while back in a similar office environment - get yourself a good quality electric kettle to produce boiling water like this Click Here (www.amazon.com) and at the grocery store buy a Melitta cone filter "one cup" maker that sits right over the coffee cup Click Here (roosterbrother.com) and spend all your money on good coffee - I am a huge fan of Terroir Coffee http://www.terroircoffee.com/
What you will have is coffee stripped to it's bare essentials - if you let the water come to boil then allow it to cool off just slightly you will end up with water that is hotter than Mr Coffee can make which gets you better extraction and you have ultimate control with the single cone filter to produce an excellent cup of coffee. If this works out then spend your next paycheck on a good burr grinder (for drip or french press) and you are in business.
Posted Wed Mar 26, 2008, 3:18pm Subject: Re: Getting Started - advice?
Have you considered using a coffee plunger, when cuppers have tasting sessions they use a plunger to taste the roast and it characteristics, the flavours, aromas, mouthfeel and aftertaste are accentuated with this process. If you use fresh, good quality, ground just before use beans it should give you a wonderful coffee experience with very little effort. A decent conical burr grinder would be preferable, but total cost to set up would be minimal and easy for all to use. You can purchase different size plungers to suit to number of coffees you wish to make. Food for thought!!!
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