Coffee - do you and how do you consume it?

[ryanosaur]

woah! I never heard that (ratio) before.
dose:yield=1:2 is the starter (starting?) ratio that I am aware of.
On my LaPavoni lever machine, I do 16.5gm dose to ~35 gm yield.
(I just confirmed this 1:2 ratio answer here)
YYMV (Your Yield May Vary)

I’m a big fan of a good ristretto pull. I like it syrupy. Done right, sweet rather than bitter.

Espresso is an adventure, though.

 

[Helicopter]

I use an aeropress and measure time, weight, and temperature. I get consistently good results. I am also getting to where I am doing things right by memory and only verifying, so I am sure someone could get consistent grwat coffee without measuring if they had grwat technique. But it easy with a coffee scale and such.

 

[dfuller]

Can an experienced AeroPress user please provide explicit (yet succinct) instructions/steps on how to achieve espresso-nirvana using this device?
One was gifted to me many years ago. At that time of my trials with it, I was not impressed w/my results as being an "espresso" drink; but rather, more of a "coffee" brew.
Based on the satisfaction of many AeroPress aficionados in many posts in this thread, I think it would be a service to ignoramus like myself, who have not been able to pull espresso shots with the AeroPress.
10Q

I don't understand quite why it gets marketed as "you can make espresso with this!", like - you can't, full stop, there is no way you could ever build enough pressure for that with an aeropress.

I love my espresso!
Rancillio Miss Silvia (special edition)
Lelit Fred stepless doserless grinder
20 g dose, 30 sec, ~14g yield

Been drinking Ratio from LAMILL, lately. Nice beans, pulls a great shot on my machine.

Wow, that is a short ratio. I think you're grinding a bit fine there, even for a ristretto. I'd be doing 20:20 - 20:30.

I do think the Nespresso machines make an amazing espresso indeed. I had a $2k machine. The Nespresso is better. And so easy and clean (I recycle the little capsules). I religiously make myself a cappuccino with two espresso shot every morning - it's a sacred ritual. And I listen to relaxing classical or jazz while doing so. The other cool thing about Nespresso is the varietals. I use colombian for my cappucino (I am half colombian), but if I get Blue Mountain or other ones, it has to be just an espresso shot...

Attached a typical breakfast for me...

Not for nothing, and I don't want to get all elitist, but I have not once been impressed in any sense by Nespresso machines. Is a semiautomatic harder to use? Yeah, for sure, but it also actually makes espresso. The ratios are so far off in the long direction that I'd sooner just call it a strong drip coffee. Figure true espresso is in the neighborhood of 1:2.5 coffee grounds in to drink out by weight - ballpark 18g:45g for a double. A Nespresso is about 1:7, there's about 7 grams of coffee in that basket and you get ballpark 50ml of coffee out.

Plus, the very idea of giving Nestle money is abhorrent to me.


Anyway, on my Lelit MaraX, I'm doing 18:40 in about 28 seconds with specialty medium beans.

 

[ryanosaur]

Wow, that is a short ratio. I think you're grinding a bit fine there, even for a ristretto. I'd be doing 20:20 - 20:30.

I was taught a proper ristretto was in the neighborhood of 14g yield where a regular pull is 28g yield. Admittedly, I do (personally) up-dose beyond the more conventional 18g of a "double" dose. To that point, the dose and grind are also a function of how the machine functions.
The Linea PB I used to work on was far different than the Classic (semi-auto) machine.
Regardless, that is the challenge and adventure of Espresso!
Whether at home or in a Cafe, it is the "simple" goal of finding the right balance where all components come together: bean, environment, grind, machine capabilities, and the dose and tamp...

I'm doing 18:40 in about 28 seconds

To me, that is a long pull! Not to be confused with a lungo which would be 18:60 in about 60sec, by my understanding.

One thing I learned in my barista training is there is a lot of variation, whether good or bad, in the world of coffee. Even among "good" coffee shops.

The important thing is we love it, still, and we know what we like when we get it!

 

[Helicopter]

Fortunately, the Milchkaffee I am trying to replicate is based on strong coffee, but not espresso. Also, I bet I get more pressure than the rest of you... not 10 bars, but a good amount... ok, lets measure and calculate...7ish bars... yes, I am a giant... not bad for a recipe calling for strong brewed coffee. hopefully it gets worse, that is, I lose aome weight

Agree no normal human will make proper espresso with this.

 

[dfuller]

I was taught a proper ristretto was in the neighborhood of 14g yield where a regular pull is 28g yield.

Yeah, that's for 14g in though (a traditional double). Generally you're pulling ballpark 1:1-1:1.5 for a ristretto.

To me, that is a long pull!

Not super long, only about 1:2.2. About average, really.

Fortunately, the Milchkaffee I am trying to replicate is based on strong coffee, but not espresso. Also, I bet I get more pressure than the rest of you... not 10 bars, but a good amount... ok, lets measure and calculate...7ish bars... yes, I am a giant... not bad for a recipe calling for strong brewed coffee. hopefully it gets worse, that is, I lose aome weight

Agree no normal human will make proper espresso with this.

7 bars is like 100psi, so... doing the math... An aeropress is a bit bigger than a normal 58mm espresso basket, so we're talking about ballpark 400 pounds of force. I'm pretty sure that would break something, lol. Not sure you could get that kind of force without a lever.

 

[JWAmerica]

Aeropress marketing aside, it doesn't come close to espresso. In addition to low pressure, the brewing temperature is too low too. The manufacturer recommends 175F(!) water and to begin pressing the coffee immediately. This method when used with the paper filters they sell, produces a cup similar to coffee brewed with a Clover machine. Clean, minimal bitterness, but somewhat lacking.

In the years since it hit the market, users have devised a much better technique which Counter Culture Coffee details here. I like the ultrafine metal filter because it allows the oils through, but that's just a matter of preference. Paper filters work fine too.

Guide To The AeroPress

AeroPress coffee makers are compact, convenient, and easy-to-use. Learn how to brew the best coffee at home using the AeroPress.

counterculturecoffee.com

 

[pablolie]

... A Nespresso is about 1:7, there's about 7 grams of coffee in that basket and you get ballpark 50ml of coffee out.

It is configurable.

While not quite the experience of having a cortado in a bar in Barcelona, it is pretty darn good. I am having one and listening to jazz as we speak. [Pic w/ double shot cortado and Beyerdynamic DT1990 :-D ... it's 4.30am in California, I am an early bird]

Plus, the very idea of giving Nestle money is abhorrent to me.

Supposedly they are pretty decent to the coffee farmers. But I always take those corporate stories with a grain of sand.

 

[Spkrdctr]

I still use my Maxwell House instant that is vacuum packed at the exact correct time for freshness. I add one or two 100mg capsules of caffeine depending on the day. Once in awhile I don't add any caffeine. Last time I had 2 pills added I got a warning from Adam for posting inappropriate material on ASR while in a caffeine induced high! Now that is a real mans drink. Well, until you end up in the ER with the doc saying what have had to drink or eat this morning? Then it gets kinda weird!

 

[Doodski]

I still use my Maxwell House instant that is vacuum packed at the exact correct time for freshness. I add one or two 100mg capsules of caffeine depending on the day. Once in awhile I don't add any caffeine. Last time I had 2 pills added I got a warning from Adam for posting inappropriate material on ASR while in a caffeine induced high! Now that is a real mans drink. Well, until you end up in the ER with the doc saying what have had to drink or eat this morning? Then it gets kinda weird!

I OD'd on caffeine. It's a horrible feeling. I read somewhere long ago that caffeine has been used for torture due to it's crazy effect in large dosage.

 

[pseudoid]

I OD'd on caffeine.

Wimp!

 

[Doodski]

Wimp!

Lol... I'll tally up the consumption. 4 double espresso in the early morning before 7am and then I progressed to drink ~several 12 cup carafes of very fine ground potent french roast. I was a smoker at work at the time (I quit 10 years ago), my workmate/boss was a heavy cannabis smoker at work and he encouraged me to drink coffee, smoke ciggies and participate in cannabis at all times. So by about 2:30pm I was fried and loosing my mind...lol. It felt gross. I've never been able to drink as much coffee since.

 

[mansr]

Maxwell House instant

Sorry, this thread is about coffee.

 

[pseudoid]

Maxwell House instant

Sorry, this thread is about coffee.

But it WAS coffee at some point...

This is even more instant!

 

[Doodski]

But it WAS coffee at some point...

This is even more instant!

I gobbled down a bag of those one morning and wowowow did I get a buzz. I was floating and buzzing and talking fast.

 

[FishInLA]

I have two coffee methods for home use. My primary is a Technivorm drip coffee maker - your standard drip, but with an apparently nuclear-powered heating element that gets the water to actually proper brewing temperature. It's not particularly fancy in any way, doesn't even have a timer, but it does its one job very, very well.

For special occasions or a special bag of beans I get out my Bodum vacuum pot, which IMO makes an absolutely exquisite cuppa.

Never got into pulling espresso at home, I am lucky to live in a city with many excellent coffee shops with very expensive espresso machines and talented baristas and can satisfy any jonesing I may have for espresso drinks that way.

 

[Madhuski]

I have a technivorm for my drip coffee. After debating for a few months, pulled the trigger on my first espresso machine. Decided on the breville oracle to automate things as much as possible, without going the fully automated route.

 

[Spkrdctr]

Sorry, this thread is about coffee.

Normally I would agree. But as soon as anyone mentions Starbucks as coffee it makes my Maxwell House vacuum packed fresh coffee look like elixir from the Gods. Starbucks is coffee at its worst! In fact I'm going to go get a nice 24oz cup of the custom Maxwell House that I drink now!

 

[TrevC]

I mix Taylors Decaffeinated with Lazy Sunday and use a cafetiere. Lovely and smooth. And I too think Starbucks is horrible!

 

[FishInLA]

I am glad Starbucks is around, because I remember the Before Times when it was really difficult to get a good cuppa in vast swathes of this fair country of ours. I don't think I ever even had good coffee until a collegiate road trip to the Pacific Northwest. Big cities and college towns have always had good coffee available, of course, but there were a lot of regions where it just wasn't a thing.

There are a couple of Starbucks brews I don't mind, but it's always hit-or-miss as to whether they will be brewing them on any given day.