Coffee beans and such

[Gordie]

How many of you guys/gals grind there own coffee beans and what do you like ?

I got some for Christmas and they are from Nicaragua they are really rich in flavor.

I also use the coffee grinder for other things as well like making spice mixes, if you dehydrate veggies or peppers then use the grinder to bowdlerize you have great stuff for adding to recipes. You can also make a great hot spice for bloody marys that way. just serve Bloody marys and add your temperature to taste

Enjoy

[fishinchicks]

I like to grind my own beans. I like places that roast the beans themselves. They are super fresh, and you get the good coffee flavor when you brew it.

I really liked the El Salvador blend from a place in Iowa, but they are currently out. I'll go with either the Guatemalan blend, or their Ethiopian blend the next time I go see my relatives.

I have one grinder dedicated to coffee, and another for other stuff. Alton Brown recommends a burr grinder for the coffee, but my little blade grinder seems to work well. The burr grinders that work really well are a little too expensive for my coffee habit.

[OnAFly]

I grind my own because I like to use a French Press. You need a really course grind that I can't get from the store. Best way to make coffee IMO.

[picksbigwagon]

I have a burr grinder and a french press as well. I like the really dark roasted coffee's and just picked up some nicaraguan otian roasted beans from my local Dunn Bros. french press is the only way I like my coffee now. The guys at deer camp thought i was crazy when i walked into the cabin with a box of stuf for making coffee. The next morning they were apologizing!

[KrabbyPatties]

What's so great about a French press? For me, I don't care what kind of coffee I drink, I just make it strong and don't adulterate it with anything. But, my wife prefers spendy coffee so I bought her a grinder and a bunch of bean samples for Christmas but now I'm curious from your comments if she would enjoy a French press.

[OnAFly]

With a press you don't get the acidic flavors that you can get with a dripper. It's faster too They are also good for camping as all you need to do is put coffee in, pour in boiling water, press and you have coffee.

[picksbigwagon]

Yep ease of making coffee, really good coffee too. Just grind beans ( or grind them at the grocery store) add to press add hot hot water, 4 minutes later press the coffee and you are done.

[Gordie]

May have to check into the French press.

My Aunt still makes cowboy coffee and its always perfect that way but I just cant get the knack of that yet I can make it but its never as good as hers.

I also like the old fashion percolator style coffee makers. The ones over he flame. Thats how I make in the duck blind or deer camp

[Jim Almquist]

I guess I go a little too far when it comes to coffee. I use a Behmor 1600 coffee roaster to roast my green beans. I buy my beans by the 50 pound sack for right around $5.00 something a pound. My roaster will roast a pound but I do a batch at around 14oz at a time to get my beans done were I want them. I started out with popcorn poppers when I first started but they became scarce so I had to make a investment. They now have the right kind at Target but for a while no one sold the right kind. My coffee maker is a Melitta fast brew. They no longer sell them but I found a couple on the Bay and have kept them running with spare parts. I will have to give a French Press a try because it should make the coffee even better tasting. I roast 3 batches at a time but only keep a 3 day supply in a air tight container. The rest of the beans get stored in the freezer in a ziplock bag. I grind my coffee every morning with a Saeco burr mill that work great but is messy. I got it on the Bay for right around $50.00 so it was a decent deal.

[Chef]

I used to get Dunn's beans exclusively, but got tired of paying 15 bucks a pound. I buy Costco Kirkland Guatamala whole beans now and grind 'em fresh every morning. 3.5lbs. for $14.99. Cold Filtered water is a key to good taste.

[Jim Almquist]

Good point Chef!

I use nothing but water ran through our Brita. We have one of the bigger ones that hold like 2 1/2 gallons.

[iland99]

Just like Jim, I roast my own too. Nothing fancy, I'm still using popcorn poppers. I have the wife keep her eyes peeled at thrift stores, I now have 3 of them and the most expensive one was $5 (AND SHE DIDN'T TRY TO TALK THEM DOWN??!?). I'm lucky to have a good supply of fresh green beans from a professional roaster in Bagley (Roma Kawa). He sells me green beans for $5/lb with a 5 lb minimum order. Pretty good deal.

As for brewing, yes, french press is the way to go!

[Jim Almquist]

I did not mind using the popcorn poppers. I just could not find any of the right ones anymore and was unable to keep 1 running out of the 3 I owned. No regrets on going to the Behmor because now I can do 14oz in about 20 minutes. I see that Target now sells the right kind of popper.

[KrabbyPatties]

Does French Press brand matter much? Are you really going to be disappointed if you try to save a little money?

[fishinchicks]

Target has french presses now where there is a thing that goes in the bottom - under the grounds. When you are finished brewing, you lift the grounds out. Looks so much easier to clean than my current one. Otherwise, they all pretty much do the same thing in my opinion.

[Kyhl]

I'm jealous of the Behmor. I've been drooling over that fore a couple years mainly because I like lighter roasts and they are hard to find. My point for the lighter roast was to get more of the bean flavor uncolored by carmalization.

My favorite was a simple full city Columbian from our local Dunn brothers. I asked a couple of times for a half city and they attempted it once with a small batch but the smaller batch cooked faster than expected and still ended up full city. Oh well, they tried.

Some day I'll have my own roaster.

[OnAFly]

I've used only 2 types of presses, the GSI polycarbonate one and glass ones. The poly one had a plunger that consisted of a 2 piece gasket with a steel filter sandwiched between two more pieces of plastic. The glass one has a spring "ring" which the steel filter goes over then a piece of steel for rigidity. Overall performance, the glass plunger is better, while the poly one held heat better. Both were ~$20.

I don't think you can go wrong getting one for $20.

[Fish Head]

+1 on the french press. We've been using one every morning for the last couple years. You can't beat fresh ground beans and a press.

If buying a new press, personally I would go with the glass.

[OnAFly]

Yeah, the poly is really only for camping. Getting out of a tent at 20degrees is a whole lot nicer when you know you'll have a great cup of coffee ready for you in ten minutes

I use a glass one at work. I just couldn't take our coffee anymore. I'm pretty sure that stuff is ground up rabbit turds.

[picksbigwagon]

I have a stainless steel press (12 cups) that I use at home and camping, although I noticed at REI they have a 12 cup press for about 40 bucks that I will probably buy and put in my camping cook box.....

[Kyhl]

We finally broke down and purchase a Technivorm Moccamaster for home.

It replaced a crappy Quisinart that we've been complaining about for a couple years.

There was huge buyers remorse when we brought it home. I was almost ready to bring it back later in the day.

After a few days of use, it is staying. It makes a great pot of coffee and much simpler than using a press.

The only down side, it makes a smaller pot.

A Baratza Virtuoso Preciso grinder should arrive today. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Now that I'm broke, it will be another year before I can splurge on Behmor roaster.

Any suggestions on where to find lighter roasted beans locally?

I may look into a cheaper roasting option too.

[picksbigwagon]

Kyhl, have you been to dunn brothers off of 42? not sure what the crossroads is, but it is near the quick trip corner, just east of Lifetime....

[Kyhl]

Yes, they have a few full city roasts. I miss the previous owners. They had a full city roast of every bean they sold.

I like to stop there on the weekends after running dogs early in the morning at the Cleary Lake park.

[Jim Almquist]

I have told myself when my Melitta Fastbrew breaks down that is what I want to upgrade to if I have the money. The way I understand the Technivorm is you can buy any part for them if something were to break.

@ Kyhl

Do you know if that is the case ?

Do they come with a complete parts list ?

[Kyhl]

I do not know about the replacement parts or list but I will check.

I ordered the grinder from Whole Latte Love which I just noticed an add in this thread as I type this. Target audience.

Trying to dial in the grind. Set it in the on the fine side of the middle for an initial test and it was way too fine. Backed it off to right in the middle and ran a pot this morning. Still too fine. It plugged the paper filter. So I took off two more clicks to try again tomorrow.

Btw, todays bean was Drunkin Donuts regular. I bought the an unground bag by accident a few weeks ago. I don't think the Drunkin Donuts brand is even a full city roast. Might explain why so many like it.