Any coffee geeks out there?

[Freecare Spiritwise]

So my wife pointed out a couple weeks ago that buying two iced cafe mochas a day were costing $300 a month, $5 x 2 x 30 (yeah, I know, poor pity me), so I started making my own. I knew that espresso based drinks weren't as easy as pouring in water and flipping a switch, but man, it's about 10 times more involved than what I thought. I'm still learning the lingo (tamping, surfing, crema, etc.) and fumbling through it.

Right now I'm making pretty decent drinks, but I have a lot to learn, and I was wondering if there's anyone here that knows their espresso, that could give me some tips and pointers. Things like where to buy the beans and what grinder I should buy. Right now I have a cheap espresso machine that I found in the garage (unopened wedding gift from 10 years ago? lol) and average quality store bought coffee.

Thanks!

[Select]

Are your kids old enough to work yet? Send them to work at Starbucks and then have them tutor you.

[Klast Brell]

I practically lived in the local independent coffee house in the 90's. Unfortunately I take my coffee straight with nothing in it. No cream, no sugar, No frothed milk or flavored syrups. To me all that stuff hides the taste of bad coffee. Have you ever tasted plain Starbucks coffee with nothing in it? They have to torture the shit out of the beans to get them to have any kind of flavor after you mix half a cup of coffee with a pint of desert toppings.

If you want to try coffee that tastes good straight out of the plain old drip coffee pot I have some recommendations. Depending on where you live you may have to go hunting for these beans, but if you are willing to give it a shot you might be surprised how good plain coffee can be.

A nice nutty brown bean is wonderful. A black coffee bean does not make stronger more caffeinated coffee. It just makes yo think it's stronger because the flavor is stronger and more bitter. The bean was roasted till it burned. All the aromatics and oils have turned to char. Look at the pictures in this website. http://www.sweetmarias.com/roasting-VisualGuideV2.html


See the transition from brown to black at bean 14? It's burned. And like marshmallows or bread toasting is good. burning is yuck.

Beans from different parts of the world can have a variety of flavors. Just like different grapes and soil make different wines. My favorite is Kenya AA. Also good are Mexican Altura and Hawaiian Kona. And sure. Jamaican Blue Mountain is really very good. But I cant justify spending 30 - 40 bucks a pound just to get my eyes open in the morning.

But you were asking about cappuccino weren't you? Oh well.

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

And sure. Jamaican Blue Mountain is really very good. But I cant justify spending 30 - 40 bucks a pound just to get my eyes open in the morning.

Royal Farms sells a large cup of coffee for like 1.48 +/- with the tax (if you have them around). I don't do espresso. I brew the morning blend every morning, drink a cup, take a cup with me to work and generally take one with me after lunch (i live like 1/4 from work currently) and my little container of coffee costs 3.99 and it lasts me a week or more... however I do use the International whatever French Vanilla creamer (I like mine light and sweet) and a bottle lasts me a few days at about the same price as the coffee.

[Klast Brell]

And sure. Jamaican Blue Mountain is really very good. But I cant justify spending 30 - 40 bucks a pound just to get my eyes open in the morning.

Royal Farms sells a large cup of coffee for like 1.48 +/- with the tax (if you have them around). I don't do espresso. I brew the morning blend every morning, drink a cup, take a cup with me to work and generally take one with me after lunch (i live like 1/4 from work currently) and my little container of coffee costs 3.99 and it lasts me a week or more... however I do use the International whatever French Vanilla creamer (I like mine light and sweet) and a bottle lasts me a few days at about the same price as the coffee.

If you are talking about Blue Mountain then you are a criminal. Putting French Vanilla creamer in Jamaican Blue Mountain is like making a mixed drink with 25 year old single malt.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Thanks for the replies. I will pretty much drink anything that looks like coffee and has caffeine. I normally drink regular brewed coffee black (the wife uses a french press), but I prefer mocha espresso drinks when they can be had. Espresso is just coffee brewed under high pressure through coffee packed into a high density (i.e. the puck).

I know that the longer a bean is roasted, the less acidic it is, and the more complex taste it has, but that also reduces the caffeine content. Espresso is normally made with a darker roast but I agree that if it's too dark it's like drinking brewed ashes. There's a technique on the intraweb where people are using popcorn poppers to roast beans, but I couldn't find one laying around, and I'm not sure I want to go to that much effort.

I'm still learning the lingo but I believe (and still could be wrong) that:

Cappuccino is espresso with steamed milk
Latte is espresso with frothed milk
Hot cafe machiato is espresso with steamed milk and caramel syrup.
Hot cafe mocha is espresso with steamed milk and chocolate syrup.
The iced machiato and mocha is the same except over ice and using cold milk.

Since I'm already making mochas as good as starbucks and almost as good as the local coffee shacks (which are on every corner here in spokane), I might just try the grocery store which has a been grinder in the coffee isle. The beans aren't as fresh, but I'm starting to lower my standards. I just want something a little better than starbucks for under $1 a serving, and I can already make a 20oz iced mocha for around 50 cents using foldgers preground.

I did some research into espresso machines, and the one everyone is swearing by is $500, which negates the whole point of trying to save money on my addiction. The cheap espresso maker I have is doing much better since I got the tamping (compressing the grounds in the filter) down. I'm hoping to get the crema (the layer of coffee oils on the top that defines espresso) once I go to better beans.

And yeah, I've been trying to convince the kids for a long time to apply to those coffee shacks, but they're not doing very well in this economy.

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

I use the Breakfast Blend Klast. My coffee habit started forming around the time I was taking my EMT class and I had to be up all night, and most of the day, or vice versus. I still can't bring myself to drink it black, it's just so so that way. I like the flavors with the sugar and milk =D

You know what you can probably find Freecare ? Coffee making for dummies or something.

Oh and avoid McDonalds coffees at all cost, they're sux, like terrible "I drink it cause it's free otherwise I wouldn't pay for this swill!" sux !

[Klast Brell]

Try adding Folgers crystals to a glass of Nestle's quick. If you are drowning the taste of the coffee in all that milk sugar and chocolate I bet you can't taste the difference.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

A few weeks ago we ordered coffee at McDonald's (hey, it's the only thing open here late at night) and we got some tasty cafe mochas with cleaning solution in them. The conversation with them was interesting, and I appreciated the manager's honesty:

"Should we drive to the ER or something?"
"Nope, everything we use here is non-toxic, or trust me, McDonald's would be killing people"

The guy gave us a wad full of cash from the register, a bunch of coupons and our orders were free for the next week. It's not so much that the coffee there sucks - it was actually voted better than starbucks - it's more like the kids working there don't know how to use all the fancy new coffee equipment. It automatically goes into self-cleaning mode, and if they don't look at the flashing lights, well, I hope the next people they do that to are as non-litigious as us. The kid that did that to us was fired on the spot right in front of us.

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

OMG Freecare ! I know I shouldn't laugh but that's hilarious ! I would be a little miffed about it but I'm not really one to raise a fuss and threaten to sue or anything either. Personally I think the taste is terribly bitter, no matter how they try to cover it up.

I'd try it Klast but there's something wrong about coffee and chocolate. Now white chocolate (Mocha Cappacinos from Starbucks) I LOVE ! I like the taste of coffee, I just like the creamer with it as well. I was forced into black coffee in Europe so I can appreciate it, but I don't enjoy it as much,

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Heh, I can laugh about it now. At the time it wasn't so funny. It took about 2 days for that chemical taste to leave my mouth. I didn't threaten lawsuits or bodily harm. I just wanted to know that they were very sorry. Heh, I dunno what I would've done if they gave me a snarky attitude, which they didn't. On the drive over I was asking the wife if she would wait for me in case I had to go away for a while, which she didn't find amusing

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Fast forward a few months and now I have Espresso down to a science. I kept the cheapo espresso machine. You can pay $600 for the fancy one that has perfect pressure and temperature control but really it's just heated, pressurized water going through coffee grounds.

I do have a fancy coffee shop bean grinder though. It's all in the grind baby. Fresh from the grinder to the espresso machine and it's a thing of beauty. I use a medium-dark roast now after much experimentation. Too light a roast and it has no zing, and too dark a roast and it's bitter. Coffee places like Starbucks use a darker roast because they screw you on the espresso portions so you it doesn't taste bitter because you're not getting the full shots. I make my drinks with 2 1/2 shots so the medium dark roast is perfect and it has a higher caffeine content than starbucks, wooooo.

So the most important thing I've learned is the importance of the grind. Cheap coffee with a good grind actually tastes better than expensive coffee with a lousy grind. And the really good coffee with a really good grind is absolute fucking heaven on earth.

What's funny is we got about $50 in starbucks cards for X-mas this year. I'm going to take the wife out for sandwiches and cookies because I won't drink the coffee even if it's free. Even their beans you can buy aren't as good as the specialty section of the grocery store.

So what turned out to be a way to cut all those $5 coffees from our household budget turned into a hobby. My biggest problem is now that I can make espresso for near to no cost, I'm drinking way too many and I'm hopped up on caffeine all the time, so I've started to cut back. And now my family and guests always ask for my coffee drinks so I have the pride of making them without partaking as much as I was doing lol.

[Ddrak]

Tried decaf beans?

Dd

[Turaylon Soulshadow]

Fast forward a few months and now I have Espresso down to a science. I kept the cheapo espresso machine. You can pay $600 for the fancy one that has perfect pressure and temperature control but really it's just heated, pressurized water going through coffee grounds.

I do have a fancy coffee shop bean grinder though. It's all in the grind baby. Fresh from the grinder to the espresso machine and it's a thing of beauty. I use a medium-dark roast now after much experimentation. Too light a roast and it has no zing, and too dark a roast and it's bitter. Coffee places like Starbucks use a darker roast because they screw you on the espresso portions so you it doesn't taste bitter because you're not getting the full shots. I make my drinks with 2 1/2 shots so the medium dark roast is perfect and it has a higher caffeine content than starbucks, wooooo.

So the most important thing I've learned is the importance of the grind. Cheap coffee with a good grind actually tastes better than expensive coffee with a lousy grind. And the really good coffee with a really good grind is absolute fucking heaven on earth.

What's funny is we got about $50 in starbucks cards for X-mas this year. I'm going to take the wife out for sandwiches and cookies because I won't drink the coffee even if it's free. Even their beans you can buy aren't as good as the specialty section of the grocery store.

So what turned out to be a way to cut all those $5 coffees from our household budget turned into a hobby. My biggest problem is now that I can make espresso for near to no cost, I'm drinking way too many and I'm hopped up on caffeine all the time, so I've started to cut back. And now my family and guests always ask for my coffee drinks so I have the pride of making them without partaking as much as I was doing lol.

Well, as long as you don't graduate to cocaine it will be ok.

[Klast Brell]

Tried decaf beans?

Dd

You shut your mouth. Would you shoot up deopiated heroin?

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Tried decaf beans?

Nope, but that's an interesting suggestion. I'll go months at a time without drinking alcohol or smoking weed, but I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my last real drug of choice - caffeine. I'm sure the key will be moderation, but maybe I'll try a bag of decaf beans just to make sure I hate them

And other than a two week binge a few years ago, I generally stay away from white powders of any sort. The two months on business away from my wife and talking her into letting me withdraw 10 grand cash with only evasive explanations would make a pretty good epic story. Worst part of the story was all the white powders - best part was realizing that my wallet wouldn't fold with that many 100's in it. Think I'll just stick with legal stimulants

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Tried decaf beans?

Dd

You shut your mouth. Would you shoot up deopiated heroin?

That's my addiction philosophy in a nutshell. I'll do something or not do something. I had to give up sugar but I won't eat those hideous sugar free cookies. It's just not the same. I'd rather have one double-shot espresso than 10 decafs. In fact I'd almost rather give up coffee completely rather than go decaf. And unlike weed which tempts me into junk food, the caffeine helps me stay lean and mean. I have the ass of a 10 year old swedish boy so I'm not going to jinx that by giving up my legal stimulants. Wooo sugar free heroin.

[Turaylon Soulshadow]

Tried decaf beans?

Dd

You shut your mouth. Would you shoot up deopiated heroin?

That's my addiction philosophy in a nutshell. I'll do something or not do something. I had to give up sugar but I won't eat those hideous sugar free cookies. It's just not the same. I'd rather have one double-shot espresso than 10 decafs. In fact I'd almost rather give up coffee completely rather than go decaf. And unlike weed which tempts me into junk food, the caffeine helps me stay lean and mean. I have the ass of a 10 year old swedish boy so I'm not going to jinx that by giving up my legal stimulants. Wooo sugar free heroin.

I think a couple of those statements need to be nominated for HoF...mainly what Klast said and the part about having the ass of a 10 year old Swedish boy, since we haven't had anything go in there in a while.

[Garrdor]

I have a strict no-caffeine diet. My doctor was really concerned, as were the Medford city police - when I lost a bunch of weight, most of my hair, and started wearing a loincloth in public. Coffee fucks me up.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Either that or a cheeseburger, a good dentist and a bottle of rogaine. Oh, and get rid of the ring.