Cerridwyn Senior Member Joined: 6 Jun 2010 Posts: 393 Location: Inland Empire California Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Sun Mar 4, 2012, 10:19am Subject: Re: How to wean my wife off sugar in her coffee
It's both.
In a crappy brewer, no matter how good the coffee, it will never be great.
In a top of the line do it by hand artisan cup of coffee, if the coffee is crap, the drink will be crap.
Is she going to be one of those who weighs her coffee and grinds just what she wants? If you say yes, then your choices are endless. If you say no, you need to worry about the brewer first and get a way to store pre-ground coffee and grind it for her or buy pre ground.
Some people here will say it is heresy, but with a great maker (I still recommend the Bonavita) and good but not great coffee, you ill still be making better coffee than 99% of the people out there, even if it was ground yesterday and not 15 minutes before you brew it.
One other thing no one has mentioned is the roast. You want no darker than a medium roast. You get up in the ranger of a Pacific Northwest Roast and even the best of us will need to add something to make it tolerable.
Take her somewhere that does decent coffee and have her start sampling, find what she likes.
And one idea is to suggest to her that she start now by cutting back to 1 1/2 teaspoons. Maybe in a month back to 1. She might find being weaned more tolerable, just like your youngling.
Posted Sun Mar 4, 2012, 10:22am Subject: Re: How to wean my wife off sugar in her coffee
MARIOBARBA Said:
My wife likes coffee (so she says). She drinks pre-ground Folgers brewed in a Cuisinart coffee maker. She puts two teaspoons of sugar in her coffee. I only drink and have only ever drank espresso (without sugar) so I do not know what a good cup of regular coffee (I am not even sure what to call regular coffee so forgive my ignorance) should taste like. If regular is anything like espresso, the Folgers is probably the weakest link, followed by the brew method. I also hypothesize that the two sugars are to mask the flavour of stale, poorly brewed coffee. My thinking is that if I can get her to taste good coffee she may not need the sugar.
Can someone suggest a coffee and brew method that can help wean my wife off sugar in her coffee. I have a Vario so grinding fresh is definitely an option. I would be willing to invest moderately in a new brewer if required (for french press, aeropress, etc.)
Maybe you should have her try an americano. Personally, no way in heck would I drink folgers without sugar. You need that sweetness to cover up the bad taste.
Len
"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674
MARIOBARBA Senior Member Joined: 26 Sep 2011 Posts: 126 Location: MONTREAL CANADA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Ascaso DUO Prof TRONIC Grinder: Baratza Vario
Posted Sun Mar 4, 2012, 11:40am Subject: Re: How to wean my wife off sugar in her coffee
Ok, so step one will be to have her try some good fresh coffee ground within 24hrs in our existing brewer (http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/drip/cuisinart_brewcentral). I find it hard to believe that a machine that gets high reviews both here and elsewhere on the web is not capable of making a decent cup of coffee, but then again what do I know. If that doesn't work I'll explore different brewing methods (chemex, hario ceramic or clever + kettle).
Any recommendations for coffees? I have my go to blends for espresso but I doubt they would work for drip. Keep in mind I live in Canada so something from Social, Reunion Island or Terra Cafe would be great (I find they offer the lowest shipped prices). Something with little or no brightness to start would probably be best.
Posted Mon Mar 5, 2012, 9:37am Subject: Re: How to wean my wife off sugar in her coffee
MARIOBARBA Said:
I find it hard to believe that a machine that gets high reviews both here and elsewhere on the web is not capable of making a decent cup of coffee, but then again what do I know.
Well, those brewers are often rated more on features like timers and carafe design than brewing temps. There are a whole class of people who don't care about other stuff, either because of laziness or ignorance or sheer indifference. Oftentimes convenience or price is king: timers, pre-ground coffee, cheap grounds. There wouldn't be a market for Maxwell House or Folgers otherwise. The main problem from a "gourmet" coffee point-of-view is that the water temps from those brewers are not hot enough to do a good, flavorful extraction from high-quality coffee. You don't want that kind of extraction from Folgers, it is already bad enough as it is.
MARIOBARBA Said:
If that doesn't work I'll explore different brewing methods (chemex, hario ceramic or clever + kettle).
Not saying you want a new brewer yet, but Sweet Maria's is stocking a new high-temp brewer for $149, half the price of the Technivorm: Click Here (www.sweetmarias.com) I trust their opinions in this. But a pourover would work better as an experiment, before taking the plunge.
I don't have a suggestion for the source of new beans, especially from a Canadian point of view, but I do echo the point that a full-body, low-acidity, non-exotic bean such as a good Sumatra or Indonesian would be a good choice to start.
mlunn01 Senior Member Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 85 Location: Miami Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Silvia Grinder: Rocky
Posted Tue Mar 6, 2012, 12:01pm Subject: Re: How to wean my wife off sugar in her coffee
You may want to add the aeropress to that list. There are various ways of using the device. But I find it make consistently bitterless brews. I made an iced coffee the other day that tasted better that iced tea using the aeropress.
glcoffee Senior Member Joined: 15 Feb 2012 Posts: 67 Location: Los Angeles, CA & Taiwan Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Izzo Alex II Grinder: Vario Drip: Hario V60
Posted Wed Mar 14, 2012, 1:16am Subject: Re: How to wean my wife off sugar in her coffee
Milk and it does body good :)
“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” C.S. Lewis, The World's Last Night ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ I am Taiwanese.
BrianCoffeeCooke Senior Member Joined: 9 Aug 2012 Posts: 2 Location: Leeds Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Aug 9, 2012, 8:43am Subject: Re: How to wean my wife off sugar in her coffee
If you're worried about the sugar content you should try some of the Routin Coffee Syrups from a site called 'Coffee Buyer' - Click Here (www.coffeebuyer.co.uk) . I've tried the almond one which is sugar free so could add a bit of sweetness to your wife's coffee without the large intake of sugar. Check them out, the others are natural extracts too (no preservatives etc). This means she could have some sweetness in her coffee, together with experimenting with different flavours.
I hope this helps and gives you an idea for an alternative solution!
hankua Senior Member Joined: 29 Aug 2009 Posts: 204 Location: Jacksonville, Florida Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Salvatore One Black Grinder: Pharos,Rossi RR45OD, Lido,... Drip: CCD Roaster: Yang-Chia 800n
Posted Thu Aug 16, 2012, 6:13am Subject: Re: How to wean my wife off sugar in her coffee
My wife uses Demerara sugar in the same coffee I drink, espresso or drip. It tastes fantastic, but her sugar spoon is pretty small @ 1/2 tsp. So one idea would be to use a really small suger spoon. Then there's Powered Stevia which is not supposed to be sugar but tastes sweet.
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