magdt Senior Member Joined: 16 Dec 2003 Posts: 4 Location: New England Expertise: Just starting
Posted Tue Dec 16, 2003, 12:37pm Subject: What is a good brewing method for a newbie?
My experience with coffee involves a 20 dollar mr coffee that is now broken and some random drip coffee I get at the supermarket. I'd like to change all this and I find the choices rather confusing.
What are the advantages of different brewing methods? I've heard of drip and purculating methods and I assume there are others. Does anyone know where I could get an explanation. I'm most interested in the resulting taste differences and anything super expensive I would want to avoid.
Also what about grinding the beans? I just buy the pre-ground stuff but is there a substantial taste difference so that I should get a grinder?
Posted Tue Dec 16, 2003, 5:37pm Subject: Re: What is a good brewing method for a newbie?
You really should read a coffee FAQ. These questions have been answered ad nauseam here, on alt.coffee and many other places. Google is your friend.
The reason for grinding coffee is freshness. Ground coffee has more surface area and degrades in minutes. The reason canned coffee smells "fresh" is because they spray an artficial coffee scent in the can. Of course you need fresh beans. Millstone and 8 O'clock won't really cut it. Locally roasted beans used withing a week or two will give you the best coffee. Or better yet, buy green and roast.
For the non-espresso styles -- drip, press, ibrik and vacuum, the variables tend to be the amount of oils and/or sediment in the resulting cup. Drip through paper reduces oils and sediment. A press pot leaves you all the oils but may or may not leave sediment in the cup. A vacuum pot generally gives you the oils without the sediment. With the ibrik you get everything.
I probably drink more drip coffee than anything else. The Chemex produces the best drip coffee but I use a Mr. Coffee at work and still get drinkable coffee. Press pot is an excellent way to go though. I'd suggest trying different methods and see what you like. If you have no tolerance for sediment, an ibrik probably isn't for you.
magdt Senior Member Joined: 16 Dec 2003 Posts: 4 Location: New England Expertise: Just starting
Posted Wed Dec 17, 2003, 6:52am Subject: Re: What is a good brewing method for a newbie?
thanks very much for your reply! I know questions like this are annoying and I did search the net and some of the forums before asking.
It seems like the single best thing to do to get a better cup would be to obtain good fresh beans and grind them myself. Would my money be better spent on a good grinder than on a good drip machine? I figure I'll go drip because...well I'm used to it and I like things simple.
What about pre-packaged beans? My father really likes dunkin donuts coffee and I was wondering if a better cup would come from buying their beans and grinding them myself vs. buying their pre-grinded stuff. Or is this not worth it and I should hunt down a local roaster?
magdt Senior Member Joined: 16 Dec 2003 Posts: 4 Location: New England Expertise: Just starting
Posted Wed Dec 17, 2003, 8:21am Subject: Re: What is a good brewing method for a newbie?
I did a bit more reasearch now that I had some method names to search for (thanks again)
What method do people generally think is the best? I've pretty much ruled out perculators from what everyone said :) Also I think espresso right now is a bit too expensive for me.
I read on consumerreports.com (do a search for coffee) that the french press method lets all the oils go through and can lead to an unhealthy cup (too many fatty oils?) Any truth to this? I would probably avoid this method if that is true...do any others suffer from this as well?
Also I heard mention a manual pour method but I couldn't find much info on it...what is this?
Posted Wed Dec 17, 2003, 10:48am Subject: Re: What is a good brewing method for a newbie?
My father believed all beers tasted the same, so never cared which brand he bought. Obviously a lot of people, including me, have a different sense of taste.
What matters is what matters to you. Why not try the Dunkin' Donuts beans and compare them to a local, or internet accessible, roaster and see which one you like better, and whether the difference is worth the price to you. It's a cheap experiment. Drink what you like and are willing to pay for.
I don't have a clue about French Press being unhealthy, but it's definitely one of the tastier ways to brew coffee. Whether it's worth the effort, or in fact if you really prefer the taste, is something you have to figure out for yourself.
If you decide specialty roast is better than Dunkin' Donuts beans then you will very likely prefer fresh ground to pre-ground, and end up buying a grinder. If you do, don't scimp on it. Better grinders yield better tasting coffee, at least for me.
Here's a link to a very good coffee site with info on Chemex, a manual drip brewing method.
Posted Wed Dec 17, 2003, 4:46pm Subject: Re: What is a good brewing method for a newbie?
magdt Said:
I read on consumerreports.com (do a search for coffee) that the french press method lets all the oils go through and can lead to an unhealthy cup (too many fatty oils?) Any truth to this? I would probably avoid this method if that is true...do any others suffer from this as well?
For a while it seemed like on alternating weeks I'd read about some study confirming the evils of coffee or one touting it's benefits. Since I haven't been force fed 100 times my body weight in coffee lately, I haven't noticed any ill effects. Unless you have some sort of serious medical conditions, I think the health effects of coffee, pro and con, are negligible.
The oils contain a lot of the flavors which is why many people prefer French press or vacuum. The filters for the Chemex purport to allow more oils through. I'm not a chemist, I have to take their word for it but it's definitely more tasty that way.
If you are not hot on the idea of espresso for whatever reason, you can still be a coffee geek. I hardly ever drink espresso (hardly ever defined as not more than twice a week :) ) but I'm a hard core roaster.
Percolating is fine for camping or ice fishing but if a better method is available it should be avoided. Percolating results in overextracted coffee. If you don't mind standing around and pouring the water manually for 5 minutes or so, Chemex makes the best drip. Other people swear by Swiss Gold filters in a drip machine which allow all the oils through. I overfilled mine and had a big mess once so my ardor for them has cooled.
Posted Thu Dec 18, 2003, 4:15am Subject: Re: What is a good brewing method for a newbie?
I have something like 20 different devices and ways to brew coffee at home, between espresso, vacpot, french press, turkish, etc. You know how many are drip machines? Zero. I have one manual drip Chemex that I have never used. I simply don't like drip coffee. It is too thin and watery to my tastes.
Anyway, that being said, the easiest and best way to get in to having quality coffee at home is a french press. They are inexpensive, easy, and you control it. I've bought 6 of them between yard sales and thrift stores. I haven't used one since I got my vac pots though.
Vac pot coffee has the all the advantages of french press, ie the full bodied taste that comes from prolonged direct contact with the coffee, with none of the disadvantages, ie the grit in your cup from the coffee grounds that accompanies french press.
Vac pots are a little harder to clean, and are pretty fragile if they are glass, but they produce amazing coffee. However there are two pretty good options in acrylic vac pots. The first is the Bodum E-Santos (or the mini e-santos) and the second is the new Black and decker Infuze. I use an e-santos (which requires a bit of fiddling to get a good brew) on a daily basis at work. I got it for $50 at Starbucks when they were closing them out, and I have used it hundreds of times with no problems.
But I am sort of getting ahead of the curve for what you are looking for. As others have said, grind your own fresh coffee (preferably with a good burr grinder), and I suggest a french press. Start there, and see where it leads you.
Chris
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magdt Senior Member Joined: 16 Dec 2003 Posts: 4 Location: New England Expertise: Just starting
Posted Thu Dec 18, 2003, 7:49am Subject: Re: What is a good brewing method for a newbie?
thanks again everyone for all the help. Right now I think I'm leaning towards the vac pot and a manual drip method. Are there any auto drips that brew hot enough? I'd love one for ease of use.
I had a question about the vac pots and paper filters. I know I probably shouldn't be so focused on this but I was reading an article where it said it is best to filter through a paper filter to remove the chemical that causes cholesterol build up. My father has cholesterol problems and I don't want a brewing method that might be problematic. Are there any good vac pots that use paper filters?
pastorsteve Senior Member Joined: 16 May 2003 Posts: 17 Location: Suffolk, VA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Carezza Grinder: Solis Maestro Plus Drip: Presto Scandinavian; Bodum... Roaster: i-Roast 2
Posted Thu Dec 18, 2003, 8:14am Subject: Re: What is a good brewing method for a newbie?
Glad you're finding some good info on the site and in the forums.
I personally highly recommend the French Press method. It's easy to control, easy to clean, and if you break the carafe, easy to replace! Plus, the coffee really does have a richness that I can't get from a drip maker. I bought a $20 Bodum Brazil set last year, and now I rarely use my drip machine.
I'm not up on cholesterol levels in a vac pot or drip machine vs. french press, but whether that would be a factor would depend on how much coffee your dad drinks in a day. If it's just one or two cups, I can't see it making much difference either way.
Posted Thu Dec 18, 2003, 8:25am Subject: Re: What is a good brewing method for a newbie?
Read the review on this site for the Krups Moka Brew. It's not exactly a drip machine since it uses pressure to force the hot water through the grounds, but it's automatic, the water temp is correct and it produces an excellent brew. I own one and am very happy with it. I also own Bunn and Capresso drip machines, a vac pot, and Melitta manual drip. The Moka Brew is what I now use daily.
Another drip machine that is certified to use the correct water temp is the Technivorm. There are some reviews under the consumer review section on this site. They are more expensive than most drips machines and only available in the U.S. from Boyd's as far as I'm aware.
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