Posted Thu Jan 4, 2007, 5:41pm Subject: Re: Best Method of brewing
Thanks for all of the great suggestions. What is a Mellita pour over?
I have been interested in getting a vac pot ever since I read about the Bodum Santos, but then heard that they were very hard to clean and not worth the hassle. What is a good brand of vac pot?
Thanks
"Duddly Dawson? Call me Booger!" -Revenge Of The Nerds-
scroll down to the pour overs -- note the cone filter you can use to brew directly into a thermos bottle.
I think a vac pot definiately is worth the hassle. You can get a clearning brush with the Bodum that makes cleaning a snap. It is a wonderful method -- relaxing when you have time, and when you don't, there is pour over.
Posted Thu Jan 4, 2007, 7:36pm Subject: Re: Best Method of brewing
xardoz Said:
Personally, for drip I love my Presto Scandi, but lately I've gone back to using my Bodum eSantos vac pot. I'm getting a consistent brew somewhere between the Scandi and a French Press. Cleanup is a bit of a bitch, but it's a damn fine cuppa.
Xcandescent Senior Member Joined: 7 Jan 2007 Posts: 21 Location: Oakland Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Espresso Grinder: MACAP MC4 Stepless Vac Pot: Nicro Stainless Steel, Yama... Drip: Not in a while ...
Posted Sun Jan 7, 2007, 11:43pm Subject: Re: Best Method of brewing
I've tried a number of methods over the years (manual drip with various filters, press pot, vac pot), and at the moment vac pot is my favorite.
I've been doing a bit of research, trying to get my head around the pluses and minuses of various brewing methods. This is what I understand so far; undoubtedly it's incomplete, so feel free to add/correct as necessary. (Or ignore completely ... it's kind of a long rant.)
Supposedly, the SCAA has stated that the optimal brewing temperature for coffee is "92 - 96C (197.6 - 204.8F) for 90% of the contact time". (Quoting second-hand from a website; I don't own the SCAA's $20 book.) I don't think an optimal contact time is defined exactly, as it varies according to grind (coarser = longer, finer = shorter).
I've never been particularly impressed by drip brewers of any variety. Supposedly, their biggest defect is that the vast majority of them are automatics incapable of heating water to the proper temperature. That factor is mitigated with a good thermometer and manual drip, but is still present to some degree due to the open brew basket -- I've never seen a basket that was insulated, so it's likely that the water temp drops somewhat during the filtration time. On the other hand, open baskets let you manually stir the brew, so it's a tradeoff. Then there's the issue of the filter, and how it may affect the taste of the final product (paper vs. metal, bleached vs. non-bleached, etc. etc.)
For me, the biggest problem with drip brewing is the difficulty with controlling brewing time. Remember that coarser grinds require more steeping time, and finer grinds less, in order to achieve similar extractions. The design of a drip basket flips that on its head -- coarser grinds allow water to flow through faster, finer grinds don't. Hence, the only way to control brew time (short of plugging up the flow hole) is to do it indirectly by varying the grind -- and even then, you may not achieve the brew time you want for the type of grind you have. Filters affect this as well; use a metal filter, and finer grinds aren't an option at all.
Of course, drip baskets are supposed to be designed so that the brew/flow time is optimized for a specific grind and filter, taking timing out of the equation entirely -- for better or worse.
Press pots carry most of the disadvantages of drip brewing with a metal filter (need to insulate brewer, can't use fine grinds), but with the crucial difference that you can directly control brew time. By reputation, they also tend to leave a fair amount of grounds in the brew (either due to grounds passing through filter, or around the rubber seal on the press plunger), which leads to the final product going bitter over time since those bits won't stop brewing. A lot of people swear by them, but I've never been happy with the results I've gotten. (It's great for making tea, though.)
Vacuum pots have the advantage of not requiring insulation during brewing, because a heat source is being constantly applied. In theory, you can manipulate the heat source in order to (indirectly) keep the brew temperature in the optimal range for as long as you want it. In practice ... well, I'm still working on that. Also, there's a little-known problem with current syphon-type brewers: when water first appears in the upper chamber, it's generally NOT at the optimal brewing temperature. This is because the boiling point of water drops as pressure is reduced -- i.e. when it's in a vacuum. My suspicion is that the current design of the syphon brewer results in that boiling point being lower than it should be (generally 180 F instead of 195 F, according to my measurements and a handful of others). I don't know if this holds true for balance brewers (a different type of vacuum brewer), because I don't own one. The workaround is to leave coffee out of the upper chamber until it reaches the right temperature, then reduce heat, add grounds, and brew as normal. I've had varying results with that, so far; the one theoretical strike against it is that overheating/overboiling water causes it to lose oxygen, which can cause a flatter tasting brew (this is also true for tea brewing). I haven't run into that particular problem; my issue is more controlling the brewing temperature overall -- which is tricky because it IS indirect, and dropping the temperature too much on the lower chamber can result in premature kickdown.
So after mulling over that issue, it occurred to me that the problem of direct brew temperature control had an equally direct answer: you heat a pot of water to the right temperature, and throw in the grounds. Duh. The cowboys had it right the first time. Of course, then you have to get the grounds out.
Enter: the Biggin pot. Supposedly, there existed a pot with an immersed sock-like filter, which was steeped in the water WITH the grounds. (Damned if I can find it, as there exists ANOTHER, far more common type of "Biggin" pot which is nothing more than a ceramic drip brewer.) You then lifted the filter out, and voila. I've read concerns about the filter imparting taste to the brew because it's cooking with it ... but really, that's true for ALL of the above methods, and you could mitigate that by not brewing with a filter, then straining into a separate container, only allowing contact with the filter during the pour. All the advantages of proper temperature and controlled brew time, minus the fussiness of a vac pot.
I'm intrigued enough by the idea that I wonder if hacking together a custom filter to try it might be worth it ...
Posted Mon Jan 8, 2007, 1:58pm Subject: Re: Best Method of brewing
Xcandescent Said:
... you could mitigate that by not brewing with a filter, then straining into a separate container, only allowing contact with the filter during the pour. All the advantages of proper temperature and controlled brew time, minus the fussiness of a vac pot.
What you describe is exactly how my Cuban-descent adopted grandmother used to make coffee:
>> heat water >> spoon finely ground full-city roast coffee into hot water >> stir and let steep for a few >> pour through a thick sock-like cotton filter
I'm not sure of the value of all the variables here: did she boil the water? did she cook the brew over heat? how long did it steep? To me at age thirteen, it was a crude, weird method. Especially the sock-- which is what she called it, by the way. A picture of a setup similar to what she used can be found in this other thread started by gerrym.
Eventually she moved over to a stove-top espresso maker. But I occasionally make coffee her old way. The main thing I don't like about it: cleaning grounds out of that sock is a mess. But you might like the control you have over it otherwise.
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