The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:
-
Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.
-
Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.
-
Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.
-
Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Do we have any coffee experts here? :)
What equipment do you recommend for home brewing? I don't mind waiting 5-10 minutes for the cup to become ready. Lots of pleasant aroma filling my home would be a bonus.
What are good reasons for taking coffee seriously?
How much subjectively experienced variety is there in terms of bean types?
If you want a really nice cup of coffee at home, on a budget and with minimal equipment, Turkish coffee is the simplest. All you need is a copper cezve and some fine ground coffee and away you go. Watch it boil carefully, get the foam off in each cup or you'll never find a husband. At the end of the cup, read your fortune in the grounds.
It's got the ritual, the smell, some uniqueness and show value if you have company, it's strong, it's available on demand without maintaining the equipment.
More options
Context Copy link
I'd say (as a complete normie) that you should take into account your morning routine and your willingness to operate the equipment as soon as you wake up.
As another complete normie (who doesn't even drink coffee), the only acceptable level of complexity in the morning is one of these all-in-one machines that grind your beans and foam your milk. There are a lot of shitty ones out there, though. Melitta, Nivona, DeLonghi are fine, as far as I know. There's a Chinese brand that is acceptable, DrCoffee, I think.
Another option (if you are someone who doesn't drink Italian-style coffee) is combining a good electric grinder with a good (ECBC-certified) drip coffee maker.
Anything else is for people who don't need coffee to wake up and can afford to wait for their perfect cup.
I'm on the high end instant coffee gig, and leaning into high caffeine black teabags. Happy where I am, no need to correct it.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
Also a complete normie, and this is why I make cold brew. Better than instant or any kind of preserved hot-brew coffee, you can still use fresh-ground beans and everything, but you can do all the work in the afternoon or evening and then the result is quicker and easier to put together in the morning than fresh hot-brew coffee.
Zero "pleasant aroma filling my home" is a downside, though.
If I was more of a coffee person I might switch to one of those coffee makers with a "set it up the night before to turn on right before you get up in the morning" electronic timer, but I'd assume that gets noticeably more expensive - not because of the electronics, but because it's got to have some way (pods? a perfectly sealed grounds compartment? a built-in grinder?) to prevent the grounds from going stale as they sit there overnight.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
If you are on a shoe-string budget I recommend investing in a decent grinder - I second the recs in the thread. If you don't mind hand grinders, they can offer a better set of burrs for the price. My friend recently got Fellow Ode 2 and it's pretty good. My setup for pour-over is Comandante C40 hand grinder, Hario V60, Hario filters, Fellow gooseneck kettle. I find V60 to be the least annoying method to brew in the morning.
It's fun! If you like conducting experiments and tweaking dials to get some subjectively better results, getting into coffee would be good for you.
A lot, but you'd have to buy from your local roasters or specialty coffee shops. Most of the stuff you can get at a grocery store is roasted way too dark and this is why most people think coffee === bitter. At your local roaster the dark roast is very likely going to be lighter than medium-light you can buy at a grocery store.
So if we are thinking about specialty coffee beans, there's a lot of variety. Start experimenting and comparing. Get beans from different countries, get beans that are processed differently (washed/natural/honey), get different bean varieties. My current favourite beans are medium-roasted Brazil.
Is the Comandante C40 supposed to be pretty expensive despite being a manual grinder? Might just be an artifact of a small market where I live.
How important is the gooseneck type of spout on the kettle if you intend on going the pour over/Chemex route? I've just bought a new kettle and it doesn't have a gooseneck. :(
Trying out various beans from around the world and getting the best quality out of them is a big part of the appeal for me. I like to nerd out a bit with food and drink. Sounds like fun!
Yes, but it has great burrs, which is why I bought it. You can easily get away with cheaper options that are electric - recs in the thread are solid.
Not at all, it’s just more convenient to pour with a gooseneck. I got pretty good with a regular kettle before I got a gooseneck
That's good to know.
I've gone with a cheap-ish but hopefully pretty solid intro package for coffee at home: Krups Silent Vortex blade grinder (saves a lot of $), Chemex 3 cup pour-over brewer with their proprietary filters + I'll make do with my non-goosenecked but pretty good new kettle with thermostat.
And I've informed myself a little on how to brew and where to get beans.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
I am not an expert. But I do like "good" coffee. After trying many things, my suggestion is don't over complicate. If you are going to want more than a cup, get a decent but not overly expensive cone filter drip coffee maker, paper filters, and a burr grinder. Otherwise, pourover is good for a single cup. Grind right before brewing and buy small bags of good quality beans so they are as fresh as possible from roasting. Keep it clean.
Beans vary wildly depending on source and roast. You will definitely want to find a local roaster and experiment with different options. My personal favorite right now is a medium-dark Guatemalan.
As with wine, there is no accounting for taste. I'm sure there are experts who would find what I like shallow and pedantic, and there is supposedly great coffee I don't much care for. But nobody can tell me I'm wrong! What's fun is trying different things and seeing what things you like or dislike have in common. Someday I may try roasting myself, supposedly it isn't too difficult.
More options
Context Copy link
The best thing you can do is to buy a burr grinder, and grind your coffee immediately before brewing. The second best thing you can do is weigh your beans and water so you're using the same ratios each time. The third best thing you can do is brew for a specific time. I usually manage about 1.5/3 for myself.
I used an Aeropress until I also decided to stop cooking in plastic. Now I use a french press from Le Cresuet which has no plastic parts.
More options
Context Copy link
Hario V60, gooseneck kettle, Baratza Encore/Capresso Infinity/OE Lido grinder. Krups blade grinder is acceptable for cheaper if you're on a budget. Brita filter or similar may be a good idea depending on the quality of your water. Freshly roasted beans--Happy Mug is a good start if there's nowhere near you.
I had my first really good cup of coffee and have spent fifteen years or so trying to recreate it at will, which is not an uncommon experience in the specialty coffee world. If you haven't had a cup that made you want to put effort into your home brewing, I don't suppose I'll be able to argue you into it, and if you have, nobody needs to argue you into it.
IMO, quite a lot. If you want to see for yourself, find a specialty coffee place near you and try a bunch of different brews. Also relevant to your second question, obviously.
Btw how do you find out if you should be filtering your water? Is there an easy test to run?
Try making a few cups with bottled water and see if you like it better, or at least that's what I did.
In response to one of your other comments, Sweet Maria's used to say that the blade grinders were good enough for pourover, and I'd say that one will at least pay for itself while you decide if you want to spend any more money on the hobby.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
This coffee venture feels frustrating so far, in the research and purchasing stages. I've spent a couple hours on research. It seems like almost everything is sub-optimal in some way, especially the budget models. And everything in terms of good equipment is expensive where I live. I can't even find a decent manual grinder for less than $60. The automatic ones worth buying cost 200+. We don't have any domestic Amazon warehouses or anything like that, and import fees are high. I've looked at second-hand listings; can't find the models I want. I may end up buying the Baratza Encore, but annoyingly it's priced at 30 bucks higher than it was a couple of months ago.
I think I do want a good burr grinder, because trying out various whole beans from around the world is a big part of the appeal of getting into coffee. As for the brewing instrument, I'll probably go for a Chemex with the glass handle. It doesn't look quite as cool as the classical one with the wooden handle, but it should prove more hassle-free. I might go for the "3 cup" version, which afaik doesn't really provide enough liquid for 3 cups, but I hope I can make coffee for two people in one operation.
But I may have hobbled myself a bit with this pour-over route. A few days ago I ordered a new electric kettle with a temperature/thermostat function, thinking that would come in handy for both tea and coffee. It doesn't have a gooseneck...! I don't think the spout is extremely unsuited, but it's not optimal. Sigh. It's the Bosch TWK7203.
Okay, I'm late to the party, so I'm going to jump in here with my reply instead of the top.
Getting into craft coffee is like getting into high end stereo equipment. Nothing is going to be optimal, but the higher-priced tiers of equipment will get you closer to your goal. Likewise, there's a wide variety in taste with various regions and beans for you to experience, especially at the lighter roasts where the individual flavor of the bean can shine. Practically speaking, unless you become a taster yourself you'll never run out of variety to try between the origin of the coffee, the process used to separate the bean from the fruit, the degree of roast in the coffee itself, etc. I tend to roast mostly African coffees and Central American coffees, but every region that can grow coffee has good things about it and good farms that produce coffee worth its premium price. Unless the roaster is an artiste, the flavors that the bean is supposed to evoke will be probably present more as suggestions than solid tastes at first, though the good ones are so damn good that you'll wonder if they added flavoring to the coffee. Regardless, the more you drink your craft coffee black, the more your palate will develop, and when you find yourself unironically talking about things like notes of stone fruit and hints of this or that spice or the type of citrus that the coffee evokes for you, you'll find that you've become a coffee connoisseur in your own right.
A Chemex is, by all accounts, a good pour-over, and your electric kettle, while not ideal, should be good enough to get you started.
However.
The freshness of the beans themselves is the most critical part of your craft coffee journey, ideally roasted within the last several days levels of fresh. I'm assuming you've already got a local craft coffee place that sells the beans that it roasts and this won't be an issue for you, but they're an absolute must if you want to travel this path. Given the assumption, you've got some good recommendations for burr grinders here already and they're the next most important piece of your potential coffee journey. With price being an issue, the good manual grinder might be the way to go for now but if you think you're going to seriously be into craft coffee, it might be a good idea to save up for a good grinder. FWIW. I've always liked Baratza grinders, and I personally use a Baratza Sette 270. That seems to be a bit of overkill to me for someone who just wants to be able to have a nice pour-over, but regardless you might be able to find refurbs on their website for cheaper. I did when I bought mine. Also, you'll want something with a one-way valve to store your fresh coffee in so that it can outgas while keeping outside air outside. A good canister or container shouldn't be too much money and will be worth the purchase.
One more thing to talk about. Inevitably, this rabbit hole includes taking the plunge and roasting green coffee beans for your own consumption. I've seen folks that have spent thousands on their roasters and espresso makers while other folks have gone with old-school methods like a popcorn popper or even just baking sheets in the oven. I started with a Fresh Roast two decades ago and have spent way too much money on better and better equipment as my earning power increased. Just something to keep in mind when planning for your next glorious level of
stereocoffee equipment. Enjoy!Strongly endorse all this, but re:
I'll add that this step entails the initial promise of freshly roasted beans on demand for the (low) cost of green coffee and amortized equipment costs, but also the dawning realization that you will have to spend a lot more time and money than you think to match the quality of product you can get from specialty roasters. Not to say it isn't 100% worth it, at least at the level of hobby roasting and freshly but not especially artfully roasted beans, but it's something to consider.
True! I thought that I was pretty explicit about the money part, especially with the upfront stereo equipment reference, but I had to think about your comment for a minute before I really unpacked the time part, mostly because my brain was stuck in the past and thinking about how unreliable specialty roasters could be and how a good one is worth their weight in gold when these days, any decent-sized town will probably have a coffee shop or two that sells good fresh roasted beans. Hell, I've bought them myself more than a few times to try and calibrate my own equipment against a fresh shot from the shop's machine, definitely good practice.
ETA: Not surprised to see that you're also referencing Sweet Maria's! They've taught me most of what I know about coffee and I've been buying my beans from them for decades.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
I've ordered a Chemex 3-cup glass handle thingy, and the corresponding filters. I've gone for this solution because reportedly it produces the richest and smoothest taste, while the handle version is easier to clean and hold. I more or less know what to do in order to use it well. Pre-soak the filter with boiled water, pre-heating the glass at the same time, then pour out the water, add 15g (for one cup) of medium coarsely ground beans, make a little hole in the middle with my finger, pour boiled water slowly and evenly over the coffee, let it 'flower' for half a minute or so, then pour the other half.
I'll be holding off on a grinder for now. As soon as I have the Chemex I'll be heading to a coffee shop and sampling some beans by buying cups of their coffe, and also buying one or two recently ground coffees they sell in bags, so that I can try out brewing it myself without having a grinder. Hopefully they have something that's been ground the same day or so.
It's not about 'saving up', it's about how much I'm willing to be ripped off my what I deem to currently be pretty damn high prices, and how much money I'm willing to put into this hobby that I'm not sure I wanna fully commit to or not. I suspect that, much like with wine tasting, there's a lot of BS and subjectivity involved, and that the flowery descriptions are partly from constructs in the creative mind of the taster, and/or coming from people with unusually sensitive noses. As you say, they are always suggestions and similarities, not solid tastes. That's my experience with wine, though my nose is mediocre. And there's probably quite a bit of caffeine addiction motivating the interests of "coffee enthusiasts". Any addict will always come up with legit sounding reasons for devoting more time and money into their drug, while recruiting others to legitimize it.
Edit: I've not held off on the grinder for long, I've now ordered a cheap-ish Krups blade grinder which seems to get the job done with pretty good reviews. :D
Then you're on your way! I do want to say that I totally understand and respect your skepticism WRT coffee tasting, but I strongly suspect that even with a mediocre palate, if you get into it in any depth you're going to find that there's enough flavor there to draw you in more deeply. The growing caffeine addiction is just bonus points! More seriously, though, regional coffee characteristics are often pretty distinct at the lower levels of roasts and are the gateway for lots of us that have taken the plunge. You'll notice the brightness of African coffees and the earthiness of Southeast Asian coffees, for example, even if you don't get every hint of lemongrass or honeyed almonds promised by a particular bean.
The other thing that I came back to say was that I'd strongly recommend that you stick with buying whole beans and let your Krups grinder do the work. As @srf0638 has said above, the Krups will be fine for pour-overs (and +1,000 for Sweet Maria's, yay!), and getting your beans pre-ground will effectively kill the advantage that you'll get from using fresh beans to begin with. Ideally, you want to grind your beans right before you begin your pour-over.
I'm aware of the importance of whole beans and grinding them fresh. That's why I'm getting a grinder, duh.
I was talking about the time when I don't have a grinder yet. I hadn't yet decided on one to get when I wrote that. And the one I have now ordered will take a while to get here. I might sample some pre-ground coffee if my Chemex gets here first. :)
Do you want to recommend some unique luxurious beans, even if they might be hard to find? Something to look out for in the future. I looked through the beans featured in a great video game, heh. (Persona 5). They've got trivia on coffee. Colombian Nariño, Hawaiiwan Kona, and Panama Esmeralda Geisha caught my interest.
If you like a chocolatey mocha flavor, Yemeni coffee beans (at least, the ones Sweet Maria's sells) tend to just naturally taste like that. The name mocha even comes from Yemen's main port city, Mokha.
Also, our kettle doesn't have a goose-neck and it works fine with our Chemex.
Alright. :)
When you use your Chemex, do you take the filter out when disposing of the soak/pre-heat water? Or just pour the water out through the filter?
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
Funny, of the three that you've listed I've only ever tasted Kona, though I have a Colombian Gesha and another one that I don't remember off the top of my head (don't think it was Panamanian), both waiting for me to clean my roaster and run a couple more batches through it so that I'm sure that my beans are tasting right again. Anyway, I generally steer folks away from the more expensive and rare pedigree coffees and usually recommend starting with trying some Central and South American coffees and some African coffees, but Kona and Gesha are both pedigree coffees for a reason, so if you want to start with one of those, go nuts. A good Nariño should give you an idea of what Colombian coffees can bring to the table: a nice silky body, a complex taste with hints of raw sugar sweetness. See, this is the wine talk stuff here, but I don't think you'll go wrong if you find some that's freshly roasted.
But yeah, if I'm going to name other regional coffees to try, Ethiopian is always high on my list, so if you see an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Sidama, or Guji for sale, they'd be good coffees to try. Sadly, I can't put Harar coffee on that list anymore but it's an old favorite of mine and my first, "yeah, this fresh roasted coffee thing is legit," coffee and was/is infamous for its tangible blueberry note. I've had lots of good Burundi coffees in the last several years, and have liked the coffees that I've gotten from Kenya and Tanzania as well.
Moving to Central/South America, Colombian is nice stuff as I said above, and Guatemalan coffee is another favorite of mine, Huehuetenango in particular has been a coffee region that I keep coming back to, and Antigua has been growing good coffee for hundreds of years. I could go on forever, but will say that more generally, as long as the beans and the roast are good, you're going to get a good coffee. I've also had tasty Costa Rican and Nicaraguan coffees that have worked for me, and I've had a couple of interesting Brazilian coffees as well. I think the only reason I haven't tried more Brazilian coffee is that there just haven't been many Brazilian coffees for sale when I'm buying, which is probably a me thing as much as anything else--there's a particular Christmas espresso blend that I absolutely adore and I invariably buy way too many other coffees to try when buying it so I don't tend to do any buying in the early parts of the year.
Okay, I've already geeked out for way too long on coffee. My suspicion is that you're going to find that there's something to this craft/specialty coffee business and that if you decide to keep at it you'll find plenty of different coffees that you like in your own right. Subjectivity aside, there's a definite superiority to this side of coffee that may well keep you coming back.
Sounds like a meme somehow :P
Making some notes of your remarks here. 'Preciated. I've found Yirgacheffe in a local store. Will probably buy a bag.
Are you familiar with any of the following:
Frinsa Edun (Indonesia)
Kiangoi AB, Kirinyaga (Kenya)
Magarissa Sede (Ethiopia)
Rugori (Rwanda)
More options
Context Copy link
These tend to be crowd-pleasers in my experience, I recommend for someone who isn't sure about all this fruit stuff.
Yeah, and I've also had a Yirgacheffe with very distinct key lime notes. These are a little more exotic, but also a good way to start branching out if you currently think that coffee pretty much tastes like...coffee.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
Any decent coffee shop will grind whole beans for you at time of purchase.
Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
I bought an AeroPress about five years ago and use it every day. (Being made of plastic, it's almost impossible to break, unlike the French press I bought the year before which I carelessly shattered a few months later.) When we moved into our apartment a few months ago, the owner had one of those Nespresso knockoffs that consumes pods. We tried it for awhile, but quickly went back to the AeroPress because we preferred the taste.
I don't think I want any plastic in contact with hot water. :-I An Aeropress made of other materials might be interesting though. Do you mind saying a bit more about how you notice the difference in taste, compared to, say, insta-coffee, which any enthusiast apparently refuses to drink?
I'm considering a Chemex ("pour-over" made of glass, with paper filters you have to buy from the same producer at not insignificant running cost) but it looks a bit too hipster-y for my liking. And having to tie that leather knot, hmm. Not sure...
There's an alternate model of Chemex that just has a glass handle, no leather knot involved. My husband, who's enough of a coffee snob that he buys green coffee beans to roast at home, is a great fan.
And speaking of roasting your own beans, it's not too troublesome or expensive to get started - the company we buy from, Sweet Maria's, has instructions for roasting beans in a cheap air popcorn popper - though be warned that home roasting creates a strong burning smell so it's best done outside.
Yeah I've ended up on the Chemex with a glass handle in my research, just not sure if I can go with the so-called 3 cup version (which is max 450 ml, I think) or if I need a bigger one. Most of the time I'll only be brewing for 1-2 persons.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
They offer one made out of glass. It's 10x the price of the normal one.
More options
Context Copy link
I think using freshly ground beans just results in a much richer, smoother flavour compared to instant coffee. I'd say the flavour has more to do with the fact of using beans rather than the brewing implement used - if you gave me a blind taste test of an americano brewed using an AeroPress and another brewed with a French press (but using the same beans in the same quantity), I'm not sure I'd be able to tell the difference. The main advantages of an AeroPress lie in its ease of use, its robust, non-fragile design compared to the French press, and the fact that it's better-suited to making espressos than French presses (as my preferred coffee is a cappuccino). But if plastic in contact with hot water is a no-no for you, I don't know what other advice I can offer, other than that I've heard moka pots tend to burn the coffee.
Out of curiosity I looked up whether AeroPresses contain BPA or phthalates, and apparently not, which is a relief as we've just recently replaced almost all of our plastic lunchboxes with glass ones for this very reason.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link