When you come right down to it... my Mr. Coffee does the job I bought it to do... and I have figured out, for the most part, what ratio of ground coffee to water I like... a drawback to most home drip brew coffee makers is that the heating element just does not get the water hot enough to extract enough of the essential oils.... I do use a gold plated filter basket instead of paper filters... which helps with essential oil retention... while not giving me the muddiness of the French press... and I always use filtered water that I keep in the fridge (because my local water eats appliances and tastes like crap).
I did get a burr grinder... and from there I played around with coffee amounts until it was right... for me (and as it turns out, for other people I serve it to as well)... I no longer just offer tea after dinner or when people stop by... I make them coffee... without a single bit of trepidation.
For me using a Cuisinart burr grinder... I have it set for 6 cups of ground coffee using a medium grind (using 10 cups H2O according to the pot). Theoretically a burr that has cup settings is basing the amount of ground coffee on a six ounce cup. If you want to be truly anal... weigh your ground coffee each time... but this brings me back to subjectivity... and for what I have my burr set to it makes consistently good coffee every time...
This burr is not for a true coffee nerd who wants to make barista quality espresso... this is an inexpensive option for someone who likes to drink a good cup of drip coffee or French Press... simply put, it's a good grinder for the money.
The Cuisinart is noisier than say a Capresso... but for the short time it runs in the morning... it's not an issue in our house (besides, it signals that the kids need to get up... and if that does not do it the smell of freshly brewed coffee will).
* Why not an electric mill or blade grinder... these $10 grinders create inconsistencies in the grind size, basically the longer you keep it on... the finer the grind... this also tends to heat the coffee due to prolonged friction...
For a couple years I consistently bought beans from Intelligentsia, Starbucks, Peet's and the occassional fair market trade organic from Whole Foods Market... Peet's being my preferred go-to bean (not to mention they have great tea).
Enter the "new kid on the block"... I Have a Bean... my new go-to roaster.... the coffee is roasted with care, it's fresh (very often I pick it up the same day it's roasted), and they have great commitment to community... they tend to only do coffees that are in season.... meaning that if they get green beans from Papua New Guinea... they pretty much only have it during that picking season in that part of the world...
It is very nice to have a local, small batch roaster... and I am happy to support their mission and purpose... and the bonus is I get great, fresh coffee in the bargin.
When it comes right down to it... it's all about how it tastes to you.
Next: Bulgogi anyone?
I just received 2 lbs of this wonderful coffee AND this very coffee grinder. Now, I don't have a standard coffee pot but I do have a French press. I have also been thinking about getting a standard stove-top percolator. I used to have one and aside from it getting scaly inside (made of aluminum), it made fantastic coffee. I can't wait to try this coffee!!! Thanks for the beans and grinder sis!
ReplyDelete