As it turns out, it does work for me. I tried two pour-over cups; one with a regular Melitta cone, and one with the Hario, both using a nice Hacienda la Minita that a local roaster sells. Surprisingly different characteristics with each. The Hario cup was brighter and cleaner, not underextracted (I managed to get nearly three minutes on my pour), but it had a noticeably lighter mouthfeel to it. Not in a bad way, but I do need to play with it some more. The Melitta cup was closer to what I’d expect from a French press, minus the sediment. Very rich and unctuous–lots of body. Possibly a tiny bit overextracted, but coarsening the grind a bit would likely address that.
Both cups were considerably better than what we get out of the automatic drip machine (even freshly brewed), and not at all time consuming to make, so I packed up the machine and put it in storage. When you can turn out a way better cup with a $15 filter cone on your first try, why bother with a machine? Brewing at the right temperature probably has something to do with it. Very few automatic drip machines do that, but when you are heating the water yourself, it’s not a problem.
Also: man, is this new grinder nice. Much more consistent, quieter, and it produces almost no static at all. I’m used to getting grinds all over the place when I make coffee, but with the Virtuoso, they just drop into the bin and behave.
Yeah, that’s pretty much the method I’m using. The method does require a bit of care in pouring, but that kettle makes it extremely easy to control the pour. I don’t weigh or measure my water; instead, I just purchased some clear glass coffee mugs, which makes it easy to see when you need to stop. Aside from that, I’ve found that there are just a few key things to remember:
Blooming the coffee really does help. Even if the particular roast that you have doesn’t bloom much, wetting the grounds and letting that water soak in makes the subsequent pour a lot easier.
Don’t rush. As you are pouring, a sort of “foam dome” will spread across the top of the grounds. You don’t want the foam to reach the edge of the grounds and run down the outside of the filter, so if the dome “makes a break” for it (which it will) just stop pouring for a second and let it go down a bit. Also, never pour water directly on the filter, or where the grounds contact the filter. Pour more towards the center.
You also don’t want to over-fill. The amount of water that you put in controls the brewing time, because when you add a lot of water all at once, you dilute the grounds and increase the pressure, which in turn lets the water run into the cup more quickly. So it’s good to be patient, pour slowly (like drizzling olive oil into an emulsion), and not raise the level of the grounds too much. You can actually hear how quickly it’s filtering through; if you hear the water go from a trickle to a stream, ease off.
It sounds more complicated than it really is, in practice. And I will say, it does make a fine cup of coffee. I’m not sure that it makes a better cup than a Melitta cone, but it’s not really any harder to use once you get the hang of it, either.
After I read this thread and talked it up a couple of months ago, my wife bought me a grinder and an Aeropress for my birthday. It’s a blade grinder, but it’s my first one and it seems to grind coffee beans pretty well so I’m happy. It does a fine grind and has a timer, so no over- or under-grinding. I Went out and bought a half-pound of some good fancy-schmancy coffee the other day, and today I finally dragged my ass out of bed early enough to make my first Aeropress’d cup o’ joe.
My god! Is that what coffee is supposed to taste like? I’m used to starbucks and bitter drip coffee from my office machine. Today’s cup was wonderful! I usually drown my coffee in milk and put two+ spoonfuls of sugar in it–today it was a couple drops of milk and a pinch of sugar and it was perfect. I am definitely a fan.
The only downsides I can see are cleanup and the above-mentioned fact that it takes twice as many beans per cup than my grinder says it should. 3 Tbsp whole beans made me one cup. A quick calculation from online sources tells me that that means my 8 oz. of coffee will yield about 12 cups, at about $0.75/cup. Not bad, but not great. I don’t think I’ll make time to brew a cup every morning (I’m not a morning person), but it looks like my original plan of 1/2lb. per month isn’t going to cut it.
Still, overall, I’m pleased. Best cup of coffee I’ve ever made.
I’ve been in the market for a new grinder, how favorable is your impression of the Baratza Virtuoso after a few weeks of hands on time? I don’t have the patience for pour over but I do press my coffee and want a decent grinder.
I like the Virtuoso a lot–big thumbs up. It puts out a nice, consistent grind every time, and produces very little static. I really like having the manual button on the front (hold down to grind) in addition to the timer on the side. And the thing is obviously well-built–it weighs around 8 lbs.! It has a lot of grind settings and will put out an espresso grind that is probably adequate for pressurized portafilters. (If you have an espresso maker that is really touchy about grind size, though, you’d probably do better with the next model up, which has a lot more adjustment levels.) It also does a much better coarse grind than our old grinder did. More consistent, less fines. So if you do a lot of French press: definitely recommended.
Re: pour-over: it’s actually a pretty fast method for making coffee, once you get the hang of it. It takes less time to make two cups of pour-over (one for me, one for Karen) in the morning than it takes to make a pot of drip, with less cleanup. Of course you then have to do it all over again when you want a second cup. But on the upside, every cup is fresh, and the difference in taste between pour-over and drip is considerable.
I find an aeropress cleans up remarkably quickly. Don’t pull the plunger back out right away when you’re done. Unhook the filter basket and use the plunger to push the puck and paper filter straight into the garbage, then clean off the end of the plunger before you pull it back out. The plunger is like an air-tight squeegee - it already basically cleaned the inside of the aeropress when you pushed it through the first time. I generally give everything a quick rinse then set it out to dry.
Your cost seems odd to me though. Generally you can find a good pound of whole bean coffee for around $12. This should be enough to brew about 25 cups of coffee, so the end cost should be at most $.50 a cup.
Yeah, the coffee I bought for my maiden voyage was expensive–$9 for 1/2 lb. from a little boutique local place near my office. I won’t be making a habit of that.
Count me in as another Aeropress fan. I got one as a gift and finally tried it out. I’m amazed at how easy it is to use and how rich a cup of coffee it makes. And I agree about ease of cleanup; I’ve never had a coffee maker that was so easy in that respect. Blows my french press out of the water.
Also, there’s something pleasing about popping out that little puck. Ah, euphemisms.
-xtien
“Back when I was picking beans in Guatemala, we used to make fresh coffee, right off the trees I mean.”
Personally, I’m doing great with my various solutions (Aeropress, Bialette stovetop, Clever Coffee Dripper) but my girlfriend (who has never owned anything other than basic drip devices) is only partially satisfied:
[ul]
[li]She likes the Bialetti stovetop espresso maker for quality/taste, but isn’t happy with temperature retention or volume. She hates cold/warm coffee, and wants to brew the equivalent of a full pot and have the temperature remain constant.
[/li][li]She liked what I prepared for her with the Clever Coffee Dripper on a couple of occasions, but hasn’t gotten the hang of it herself yet and is close to abandoning the idea of using it altogether.
[/li][/ul]
My first thought was to get a big thermos carafe for the Clever Coffee Dripper so that we could start making bigger batches together, but my stubborn girlfriend really wants something with a hotplate. She thinks a thermos carafe won’t retain heat like a hotplate can.
How do I talk her out of this insanity? And which thermos carafe is best suited for the Clever Coffee Dripper?
Thermal carafes work great. You can point out to her that most high-end drip machines come with thermal carafes instead of hotplates, if it’ll normalize 'em in her mind.
(In addition to holding heat better, they’re also more convenient, as you can set them right on the kitchen table and not have to get up and walk to the machine when you want more coffee.)
A hotplate will theoretically keep coffee hot forever, but there’s a limit to how long it will last before it becomes burnt and nasty-tasting. So if you don’t care at all how coffee tastes, then yeah: hotplate. If taste factors into the equation at all, however, I’d argue that a thermal carafe will keep coffee drinkable for longer than a hotplate. You can get a 2-3 hours out of a good thermal carafe–longer if you preheat it with hot water.
Personally, my tastes have moved pretty heavily in the direction of made-to-order methods. I’m currently doing pour-over with a Bonmac filter cone, but obviously the Aeropress and the Clever Coffee Dripper also fall into this category. Because not even a good thermal carafe can keep coffee tasting like it was just brewed.
How the hell did I miss this thread? Sheesh. Anyhow, just another vote for the Virtuoso here. I absolutely love mine and it’s the first grinder that I haven’t destroyed in a year (Capresso, Bunn, Cusinart, even a Baratza Maestro all failed).
I have a Keurig and love it, press a button-get coffee, couldn’t be happier but…
I’ve been using my French press lately, buying ground coffee from a local shop. The coffee I bought is nothing special or expensive, but damn if it isn’t miles better than instant or Kcups. I never really noticed because at most I’d drink a random French press cup here and there, never drank it over a long enough period of time to really get into it.
Now I have and now when I look at my Keurig I can’t help but think “That’s a two hundred dollar instant coffee maker now” instead of “that’s a miracle coffee machine”. It’s sad.
If 14 ounces of coffee is enough, my favorite coffee mug: Nissan thermal mug You twist 90 degrees to unlock and sip coffee. I’ve used one for years, big fan.
Save money on replacement keyboards (spill resistant)
+1 on wisefool’s Nissan thermal mug. Been commuting with one for many years. I own two. Among other things, it’s truly spill-proof, unlike most other mugs that claim as much.
Ordered a thermal carafe on Amazon and will commence Project Girlfriend Coffee Brewing Methodology Acceptance Phase II next week. Wish me luck!
