Coffee tips for a noob

Steverino

Steverino

black sheep
After reading Dave's thread on coffee I'd like to start a new one, asking for help in getting away from ordinary off the shelf coffees. All my life it's just been the pick-me-up beverage in the mornings. Folgers, Maxwell House etc through a regular drip coffee maker. Then, at work, someone brought in a Keurig, which was an improvement. It was enough to get me interested in something better. I've played around with some of the different flavours. But now I've met a guy who grows his own, and he's been kind enough to bring some by. The last thing I wanted to do was run it through that drip maker, but I did, just enough for a few cups.

I didn't even know how to grind it :embarrassed:. I googled, and half-assed a way to grind up some of the beans and run them through the drip maker. It was good, far better than the usual stuff, but I know I'm not even close to doing it right.

The burr type grinder seems to be the way to go. And a coffee press? Would this be a decent way to get started? Can you freeze coffee beans? How do you keep it fresh, other than leaving it in it's sealed ziplock bag? Thanks for any help.

The funny part is this guy I've met who I've met at work asked me if I'd like some coffee, that he grew his own. I'd repaired a guitar amp for him. I said "sure". In my mind, I figured he had a small garden or something. Turns out he's got 125 acres in Costa Rica.
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Edit: Recommended videos are welcome too.
 
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Steverino said:
The burr type grinder seems to be the way to go. And a coffee press? Would this be a decent way to get started? Can you freeze coffee beans? How do you keep it fresh, other than leaving it in it's sealed ziplock bag?
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a burr grinder and press (or pour-over aparatus/filters) is an excellent way to go.

in general it's best to acquire (whole) beans in quantities that you can use fairly quickly and avoid freezing them. (store them in something dark and airtight at room temp. a jar with a lid in a cabinet works)
 
French press is simple, impressed people because it's different but I find it less pretentious than some fancy hipster machine. You actually have to work washing that thing too. Makes exceptional coffee as well.

Or make yourself some Gale Bettiger apparatus from Breaking Bad.
 
I still use a $15 blade grinder and a $20 drip machine. I also use a water filter. Beans come in 3lb bags from Costco for about $5 per pound.
 
You are certainly on the right track. Freshly roasted beans, burr grinder, and a coffee press will get you a heavenly cup of coffee. The problem is that roasted beans have a shelf life measured in weeks.

For the next level up, get green coffee beans (I recommend Sweet Maria's) and roast them yourself. Go to their website and you'll find various ways of roasting beans cheaply (like hot air popcorn poppers or even a metal dog bowl and propane torch). If you live in a mid sized city, you might be able to find a roaster near you.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
I still use a $15 blade grinder and a $20 drip machine. I also use a water filter. Beans come in 3lb bags from Costco for about $5 per pound.
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You'll probably laugh at this, but all I had last night was a blender and/or a food processor. The blender did a better job, but still seemed like it took too long to grind them into something I thought was a fine enough grade to run through my drip maker.
 
GomezAddams said:
You are certainly on the right track. Freshly roasted beans, burr grinder, and a coffee press will get you a heavenly cup of coffee. The problem is that roasted beans have a shelf life measured in weeks.
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Good to know. I'll certainly be through this particular bag before then.
 
Yes all that is great. I’ll do French press occasionally and pour over is great traveling or camping.
But I consume mass quantities. Publix coffee in fine ground for about $4/bag. Makes decent coffee in a drip machine.
 
Pine Apple Slim said:
Yes all that is great. I’ll do French press occasionally and pour over is great traveling or camping.
But I consume mass quantities. Publix coffee in fine ground for about $4/bag. Makes decent coffee in a drip machine.
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It'd be nice to go between the two, the press when I have time, and drip if I'm running out the door.
 
Get a Burr grinder. You can get one as cheap as around 60 bucks but it'll probably be noisy. My first was a Starbucks which i got one year for my birthday and lasted several years and then i had a cheap kitchen aide one which worked well enough but noisy and a bit messy and when I acquired my brothers stuff i got his Solis which I'd highly recommend. Super quiet, clean quick, etc.

Get yourself a pour over coffee method like a basic Melitta available at any Grocery store, something like this get the one for #2 filters if you're just gonna be brewing for yourself (one cup at a time) or get a Kalitta 155 (its the small one) it's better than the Melitta style but requires different filters....any pour over coffee is superior to any from a machine. I have heard the Aeropress is also good

Get an electric tea kettle (you should have one anyway :wink:) great for warming water for instant soup, broth, tea and of course coffee. You could use a stovetop but electric is less than 25 bucks and heats your water in about 1 1/2 minutes saving you electricity to boot.

Don't fret over the freshness BS. Sure a newly opened or newly roasted bean will of course be better but honestly 2 week old beans are just fine, also just keep them in the bag and grind only a day or two's worth at a time and keep that in an airtight container (vacuum or other). I wouldn't recommend freezing beans. i guess one could but I've never seen the need to.

There are many places to buy beans online or your local town probably has small roasters, or whole foods, etc.

FWIW I have been buying beans and grinding my own since 1994 and I've tried all kinds of different methods, brands etc. this is what works for me
 
Yea French press is great when you want one large mug of coffee out the door. Fast and it goes in the dishwasher.
Pour over works great too about the same speed and almost nothing to wash.
 
Pine Apple Slim said:
Yes all that is great. I’ll do French press occasionally and pour over is great traveling or camping.
But I consume mass quantities. Publix coffee in fine ground for about $4/bag. Makes decent coffee in a drip machine.
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as do I :embarrassed: probably around 5-6 cups per day on average my tea kettle is constantly going and all I've used since mid December is pour over, it's as quick as the kuerig for the most part...
 
I only use the “Mr C” to make a POT of coffee. As said French press or Melita is way superior.
We have a grinder but there are no fresh roasters or even a Whole Foods anywhere near me.
But even plain old arabica 8 o’clock ground at home a batch at a time makes for better coffee. I’m just lazy and don’t particularly care for the task of grinding beans before I can have my coffee.
 
DdBob said:
Get a Burr grinder. You can get one as cheap as around 60 bucks but it'll probably be noisy. My first was a Starbucks which i got one year for my birthday and lasted several years and then i had a cheap kitchen aide one which worked well enough but noisy and a bit messy and when I acquired my brothers stuff i got his Solis which I'd highly recommend. Super quiet, clean quick, etc.

Get yourself a pour over coffee method like a basic Melitta available at any Grocery store, something like this get the one for #2 filters if you're just gonna be brewing for yourself (one cup at a time) or get a Kalitta 155 (its the small one) it's better than the Melitta style but requires different filters....any pour over coffee is superior to any from a machine. I have heard the Aeropress is also good

Get an electric tea kettle (you should have one anyway :wink:) great for warming water for instant soup, broth, tea and of course coffee. You could use a stovetop but electric is less than 25 bucks and heats your water in about 1 1/2 minutes saving you electricity to boot.

Don't fret over the freshness BS. Sure a newly opened or newly roasted bean will of course be better but honestly 2 week old beans are just fine, also just keep them in the bag and grind only a day or two's worth at a time and keep that in an airtight container (vacuum or other). I wouldn't recommend freezing beans. i guess one could but I've never seen the need to.

There are many places to buy beans online or your local town probably has small roasters, or whole foods, etc.

FWIW I have been buying beans and grinding my own since 1994 and I've tried all kinds of different methods, brands etc. this is what works for me
Click to expand...
Lots of good info, thanks. I'm putting a few items on my Amazon wish list.
 
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