I’ve been considering the Able disc for awhile but I have so many paper filters left and they are so convenient.
Is it difficult to clean the metal filter after use? How do you get rid of the grounds?
For the metal disk, you can remove it by sot of scraping it off the cylinder to remove most of the grounds, then you just rinse it, very easy. You can eject the grounds from the cylinder the usual way (by shooting them out as fast as you can by plunging down, thereby ensuring that there is an even distribution of grounds all around your garbage can and surrounding floor ;) )
Yeah, you just scrape it off then continue normally. It’s a bit less satisfying than just ploooofing the whole coffee puck and paper filter into the trash. But I do think the coffee tastes noticeably better with the oils intact.
My sarcasm meter may be way off, but what does this mean (if it is not a joke)?
I don’t think I notice the difference in flavor too much between french press coffee and my aeropress with paper filter.
Also,apparently paper filtered coffee is healthier anyway.
Though I do love a good french press pot of coffee on weekends.
Inverted method for the aeropress is ideal, but I don’t think it makes as big as a difference as freshly ground fresh beans or filtered water. If you want the absolute best coffee, you want to do your aeropress the “inverted” way as it can stop any leakage and ensure the most precise amount of water to coffee grounds contact.
Yeah, you flip it over while steeping so water doesn’t leak through the filter. Leakage is minimal through the paper filter, but quite a bit is lost through the metal one. Underexposed coffee is sour in flavor.
Yeah, I figured it out while I was in the shower this morning.
I find it to be a good time to think (for me). A lot of “aha!” moments have happened while I have been in the shower.
However, I might just be a weirdo…
My wife is usually up before me, and has coffee already prepared (drip style) which I usually take to work with me. It isn’t the making that takes the time, it is the savoring (I drink the good stuff ‘now’). An elec. kettle sounds nice, but I seem to be doing okay with just adjusting the microwave time to experiment for now. I think a cheap hand burr grinder needs to come first.
This sounds intriguing, but my wife bought extra paper filters not realizing it came with like 700 to begin with. So I have about 1000 cups to go :) I read somewhere that if you’re doing the inverted style, if you keep it inverted and push the air out until some of the coffee starts bubbling through the filter you trap some of those oils (whereas normally they are lost because once you flip they float back to the top and you stop plunging before they come back out) - then you flip it over and plunge as normal. I have no idea how true this is, but I do it out of superstition.
Prewetting the paper filter with water helps too.
A short digression from the home-made to the coffee shop…
I got a pretty early start on coffee nerdness, as walking from my apartment in Berkeley to campus took me right past the original (and at the time, only) Peet’s. Peet always did over-roast, and they didn’t survive the great expansion with the same quality as the original, and then they sold to a multi-national and are everywhere, but in the late 70s it was literally the only game in town and sooo much better than anything else.
So visiting the Bay Area this week, and in the midst of my first-ever cup from Philz (who are about to go national, apparently).
Bad:
no espresso (I think), just pour-overs
most people in there are ordering silly things with sprigs of mint and who knows what else in them (hardly their fault, blame starbucks for the popularity of that crap)
the real coffee is only available as blends with silly names that have no hint as to what is actually in them
Good:
I have their apparently original blend (can’t remember the silly name) - and it really is quite a good cup of coffee
A friend gifted the wife and I with two huge bags of Starbucks French Roast beans. We both find this particular coffee way over roasted, to the point of burnt. So I decided to experiment with it. I ground up 1 1/2 cups of medium grind. Then I cold brewed it, 8 cups of water worth. This makes a concentrated ice coffee starter. Diluted 3-1 and mixed with a bit of simple syrup and some milk actually makes a very smooth and tasty iced coffee. No acidity at all. Not bad.
I need to get into coldbrewing. I’ve been purchasing 32oz bottles of coldbrew because it’s just so dang convenient. But it’s supposed to be really easy to do yourself, and I already have one of those iced tea infusion pitchers.
I followed the Serious Eats method with a large mason jar and a fine mesh strainer. I didn’t use or need the second straining with cloth because that will often remove some essential oils. YMMV.
Edit: I did strain twice with the fine mesh. That second time got a bunch of silt out.
I bought a Sowden Oskar Softbrew years ago. I use it for hot coffee most days, but occasionally I’ll make a batch of overnight coldbrew coffee with it. It works spectacularly for both.
I’m really intrigued by this, Rich. Thanks for breaking it down.
I really love Vietnamese iced coffee, and last week when we wanted to go get some at our favorite boba place, it occurred to us that it was Sunday. They are closed on Sunday. So I said I’d try my hand at making it at home. Before I could even look up a recipe, fire said she’d pick up some condensed milk and bring it over, and we were off to the races.
First time out was pretty good, although we just tried it hot with a pulled espresso shot. All of this is to say, combining the sweetened condensed milk with your method might produce some tasty results. I usually have a bottle of simple syrup on hand for iced coffee, but the condensed milk might take it to a different level if your coffee concentration is as you describe.
Just a thought.
-xtien
Of course it would be delicious with sweetened condensed milk, that stuff is solid sugar and fat. It makes everything delicious.
Well my only experience with it, heretofore, was in making pumpkin pies. Otherwise it was just some can of something I saw sitting around in the cupboard doing nothing in particular but getting older.
-xtien
I remember eating it straight out of the can when I was a kid. My mom had to hide it.
Fun recipe: Take can of condensed milk. Place in saucepan of water. Bring to low boil and simmer for 2 hours.
Voila! You now have a self-contained can of caramel.
Pumpkin pies typically call for evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk.
In addition to thai / vietnamese tea / coffee, sweetened condensed milk is used in many asian deserts, also often used to drizzle on shave ice. Also, tres leches cake. That’s where you’re most likely to have encountered it, if anywhere.
Ah. My mistake. I always got that mixed up and usually had to run out to the grocery store at the last minute.
Thanks for point that out.
-xtien