[geeks] Barbeque Geekery

[Dan Sikorski]

Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
> The people on mailing lists that are in the U.S. and are much more into
> these things use Berkey filters. They say the filters remove things that
> really make their well water taste bad, such as sulfur. They run between
> $200 and $300 in the U.S. and no one sells them here, so I would have
> to import one on my own, which would double the price or more. 
>
> You're right about the water, although someone I knew in the 1970's always
> added a pinch of salt to his Mr Coffee.
>
>
>   
Hrm, They don't look too bad, but don't make anything that would really 
fit into the way i use water.  I can't see devoting precious kitchen 
countertop space to one of those.  The Pur and Brita filter pitchers 
that i can put in the refrigerator work well for me, but I'm thinking of 
switching to a water cooler with the 5 gallon jugs for drinking water.
>> How would you compare drip coffee to vacuum pot coffee?  If you've ever 
>> used a press pot, how does that compare to the vacuum pot?
>>     
>
> This is purely subjective. First some basic chemistry. Coffee flavor consists
> of oils which don't dissolve and solids which do. The exact combination of
> temperature of the water, how long it contacts the grounds, pressure,
> etc effect the balance and therefore the flavor.
>
> The exact results from a drip coffee make are effected by the temperature
> of the water, how much coffee you put in it, how finely it is ground, etc.
> In general, I find it the most pleasant way of making coffee since I no
> longer have a vacuum pot. The biggest difference between the two of them
> is that the vaccum pot gives you consistent results. As long as you use
> the same amount of water and the same coffee, it will come out exactly the
> same, which IMHO was a smooth pleasant cup of coffee.
>   
I chose my drip coffee maker because at the time, it was regarded as 
being the best at maintaining 200F for brewing water.  My limited 
testing has indicated that indeed it holds very constant water 
temperature throughout the brewing process.  I use a Rancilio Rocky 
coffee grinder, which gives me a pretty consistant grind. (I had a DOA 
Mazzer Mini, and decided that it was just too big for my kitchen.)  
Using the same grind setting, same amount of water and coffee and the 
same type of coffee, i get very consistent results.
> This forces me to pour water twice to get a regular sized cup of coffee.
> The first one runs quickly through and the second pouring takes a lot longer
> and I get the balance I like. I did not get the same balance using
> #4 filters, but I did get it using #2 filters in the #2 funnel.
> I think it's the second pouring that does it.
>
> Although I have a "French Press", I rarely use it because I don't like the
> taste from it. I expect that if I were to have my coffee using a French
> roast (very dark, even darker than Starbucks), coarsely ground, and had
> something, e.g. sugar and milk to offset the bitter flavor, I'd drink it.
>
> But I don't really have access to the coffee, and don't add sweetner
> and milk, so it stays on the shelf. 
>
>   
It took quite a bit of experimentation to get coffee that i really enjoy 
out of the french press.  Once again, careful control over grind 
coarseness, water temperature, and in this case, brew time is 
essential.  I've made some awful coffee with the french press, but I've 
also made some of the best coffee that I've ever had. 
> To summarize, if you like a consistent smooth cup of coffee, then a
> vaccum coffee maker would be a good investment. As I said before, I'm
> limited to one cup a day, so it would have to be a very small device to
> be of any use to me. I'm the lone coffee drinker. My wife and kids drink
> tea, except for my oldest son who does not live here. 
>
> It's taken me years to find a supermarket coffee that IMHO tastes good,
> and I buy a package (half a kilo) once a month. I split it into two
> Illy Espresso cans (I had bought a case of it once when I had money),
> and put them in the freezer. It's a race against time for me, by the
> end of the month they start to taste like "pencil grounds" and I can't
> drink it. 
>
>   
Here in the US, i order Peet's coffee.  They roast and ship the same 
day, and i get it a couple of days later, right at  what should be it's 
peak flavor.  There are also a few coffee shops in town that roast 
daily, but they don't seem to have as good of beans as Peet's.  It's 
amazing what a difference freshly roasted coffee makes.  I haven't taken 
the next step and tried home roasting, but I've considered it. :)
> Today I went out for brunch and the restaurant served a common item here,
> a single use funnel from a company called Rombouts. 
>
> As an example:	http://www.rombouts.com.sg/products_filter.htm
>
> It's pretty good, and I'm sure it makes economic sense to them because
> it's only weird people like me ("Americans") who don't want an espresso
> with warm milk (in Hebrew they use the word for "mixed up" which is the
> same as "fubar").
>
>   
I'm not real big on most of those types of coffee products, primarily 
because i prefer to grind the beans fresh.  In effect, whole beans 
package the majority of the coffee inside the bean and protect it from 
drying out.  Grinding exposes that coffee to air, so if you put it off 
until the last minute, you are doing everything you can to keep the 
coffee fresh as long as possible.
> In fact the only way you can get anything like regular drip coffee here
> is to ask for "fill-TER" or "caf-FAY a-MER-i-cai-eet". Although often it's
> just bad espresso with added water.
>
>   
A Cafe Americano here is just that, espresso with hot water.  While that 
is similar in strength to drip brewed coffee, it tastes quite a bit 
different, as I'm sure you know.  Since is is made with espresso, it 
changes the fundamental properties of brewing: temperature, pressure, 
time in contact with ground coffee. That means that it changes what is 
extracted from the grounds, and in the end, how it tastes.
>> I drink press pot and drip coffee black.  I do enjoy mochas, but prefer 
>> them when they are not overly sweet.  Personally, i cannot stand 
>> artificial sweeteners in anything.  They all have a strange taste or 
>> aftertaste to me.
>>     
>
> To me sucralose (splenda in the U.S. is the best), but barely eddible
> is better than inedible. 
>
>
>   
I agree on both counts. :)

>> I also think their coffee is overdone and overhyped.  There are two of 
>> their coffees that i have liked.  One is their new Pike's Place blend, 
>> and I don't remember what the other was.  I order coffee from Peet's 
>> Coffee and Tea, i like it much better than Starbucks.  I also prefer to 
>> go to local coffeehouses when i'm going out for coffee. 
>>     
>
> You'd love it here. There are tons of them.
>   

There are quite a few here too, unfortunately, making great coffee 
doesn't always seem to be their priority.

    -Dan Sikorski