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Coffee - do you and how do you consume it?
- Thread starter spacevector
- Start date
From my local expert: The oils at the surface aren't particularly acidic, but they can make for a thicker mouth-feel if that's what you're looking for in a particular brew. Ditto for crema, which is very much a function of method, especially temperature and pressure. That's one of the hardest things to train new baristas about- I can always spot their attempts from the lack of proper crema.
Darker roasts have an oily surface; lighter roasts don't.
If you like dark roasts, sure!
No, coffee oils are the polar opposite of acidic -they're quite bitter.
Considering crema is by and large CO2 that has been forcefully emulsified into coffee via a very large amount of water pressure... No. It's actually pretty bitter, all things considered.
And just for @SIY who loves James here is a video about tasting just the oils from espresso.
It might seem from that video that getting rid of the oils might be a good idea, but humans like lots of things with a balance between sweet and bitter, e.g. beer, which is massively improved with bitter hops compared to without hops.
The oils are essential for mouthfeel. If you want a thicker texture, use a bean type that has a high oil content. If you want it thinner and leaner, then get rid of the oils.
It has as much or more to do with the roast than the bean. Oil on the surface of beans starts to show up as you get into the second crack in the roast. Any bean can be an oily bean.
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Coffee bean chart I created showing the degree of roast of each stage in the roast process from green to brown to black. The gray stripes on either side of this image are a photographic 18% gray card. To my delight, I have found my photo here shared around the world, sometimes even with credit! I have seen it translated into many languages and edited with improvements. Cool!"
https://library.sweetmarias.com/using-sight-to-determine-degree-of-roast/#:~:text=Coffee bean chart,with improvements. Cool!
I've always wondered how Americans get into coffee. American food is pretty, well, sweet tasting and coffee (especially black, as it is mainly drunk in the US) is rather bitter, seeing as Americans aren't generally keen on bitter/sour foodstuffs, when do they start liking/drinking black coffee?
Is it something of a machismo thing in the same way bitter (type of beer) drinking is in Britain. I think most teenagers who want to look mature drinking bitter probably don't like the taste much at all.
So, what's the deal? Is it all about being mature or sophisticated, because I imagine there is a pretty lengthy period of acclimatisation.
Is it something of a machismo thing in the same way bitter (type of beer) drinking is in Britain. I think most teenagers who want to look mature drinking bitter probably don't like the taste much at all.
So, what's the deal? Is it all about being mature or sophisticated, because I imagine there is a pretty lengthy period of acclimatisation.
I think some of it was WWII and the vast pots of Joe consumed by GIs and navy folk.
My folks folks only cared for 'swedish' coffee (boiled in a pot!), but my folks loved Just Black percolator brews (WWII generation).
I suspect that cream and sugar were still scarce enough to not make it at at that time, and yah, Black was probably seen as bit macho too (the GI association?).
Then A&P came along with a variety of beaned coffee (with grinders in store, but made it easy to buy Just Beans), which I know from personal experience was very popular in their stores in the 60s.
Next up was Starbucks, who added the sugary blends, and Voila.
? Maybe?
My folks folks only cared for 'swedish' coffee (boiled in a pot!), but my folks loved Just Black percolator brews (WWII generation).
I suspect that cream and sugar were still scarce enough to not make it at at that time, and yah, Black was probably seen as bit macho too (the GI association?).
Then A&P came along with a variety of beaned coffee (with grinders in store, but made it easy to buy Just Beans), which I know from personal experience was very popular in their stores in the 60s.
Next up was Starbucks, who added the sugary blends, and Voila.
? Maybe?
I’m not sure what “American” food is. New Orleans is very different than New England which is very different than Tex Mex which is very different than Californian which is…
Your Lelit machine. Which model is it and how do you like it?Got my hands on a Niche. I must say - what an excellent piece of engineering! Nothing extraneous, everything there is to serve a function. The internal design is fantastic too. Grind quality is excellent too.
Ricardus
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I drink it, but they spell it TEA.
If you ask me it would be burgers, American style Italian food, English style roasts (only special occasions like Thanksgiving?). Naturally there is a myriad of American cuisine, but if I asked you what British food was you might say (aside from bland) fish and chips, roast dinners, toad in the hole, shepherds pie. Shall we call these national dishes?
Anyway, when did you start drinking coffee, did you start with it black and enjoy it immediately that way?
I started late because it was generally too bitter and bad tasting. I was exposed to my first good tasting coffee when in Costa Rica. Then I started chasing that coffee back in the US. I found coffee shops that did pour over with high quality beans were not bitter at all and best drunk black. So thats how I adapted to black coffee. Other than that, you get used to it.
Not me, sadly. Enjoy the taste, but gives me cracking headaches, so I just stick with tea and coffee flavoured food.
The true answer to the national dish of England might surprise a lot of people.
It's a MaraX - I dig it!Your Lelit machine. Which model is it and how do you like it?