Too Much Coffee

bruceb wrote:I can really heartily recommend the Aerobie Aeropress for roughly 1/100th the price of a good espresso machine.

Fabulous, it's worth a try and wont take-up much kitchen space. I'm internet shopping for an Aeropress, where I live everything come via the internet and courier, sometimes it's chancy so I rely on recommendation a lot, so-far-so-good.



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Whilst I know where I would prefer to buy my coffee related paraphernalia from, it might helps others to know that the Aeropress seems to be available in quite a few "outdoor equipment" shops, like Ellis Brigham et al. I was quite surprised when I first saw one, but give the press we have all given it for travel use, they would be mad not to market it in these places.

The 'French-press' I use the most was actually purchased with travel in mind. It's a stainless-steel body rather than glass. The glass looks very nice but I have a terrible habit of catching the little pouring spout whilst cleaning-up. Getting a replacement this far west is difficult and at around £4 postage and packing made the whole thing unsustainable.

Let me just share this with you, last year I was in Egypt, hotel food and coffee sustains you but you do need to be hungry and after a week on Nescafe I promised never to go without my press and some coffee.

It was hell, can you imagine ? Nescafe.

So far my aeropress has been with me to 3300m... next year the objective is 4554m That said, I've had pretty good espresso around 3000m before!

Gouezeri wrote: I've had pretty good espresso around 3000m before!

Respect.

Bruce wrote:This week I have mostly returned from Italy.

Which bits have you left behind??

PS I heartily recommend the Aeropress. I take one and a hand grinder (Zass) every time we go on holiday. I tend not to bother with french press now. I just use vac pot for larger quantities - that's the main issue with the aeropress - small quantities. OK for one person though. Or take more than one with you

phil wrote:OK for one person though.

I mostly drink coffee alone On the few occasions I have company they will have to rough-it with the french-press.

Aeropress on it's way to the far-west.

Neo wrote:I say hario bloom or any other similar products. You wont find any sediments in your cup and that improves the taste quite a lot. The body may not be as good as french press but still lot better than paper filters since oil droplets are able to pass through the cloth a bit.

Not good if he wants to use an espresso grind for everything tho. The grind really effects how the coffee tastes in my Hario. The french press always seems far more forgiving.

phil wrote:

Bruce wrote:This week I have mostly returned from Italy.

Which bits have you left behind??

The parts that know that there must be more to life than plaster and cement, that enjoy sitting in an olive grove with a bottle of heavy red wine and a plate full of olives and freshly baked bread slices, rubbed with fresh garlic and drizzled with olive oil, reading Dante and knowing that within 10 minutes walking distance there is a cozy café with a barista who prides himself in producing shots with thick, reddish brown crema and who serves freshly baked pastries to go with them.

The rest of me is back home, covered with plaster and cement.

squallleonh wrote:Not good if he wants to use an espresso grind for everything tho. The grind really effects how the coffee tastes in my Hario. The french press always seems far more forgiving.

I'm a strong believer in each-brewing-method-neeeeeds-its-own-grind-and-theres-no-one-size-fits-all.
Of course, if you have a very fine grind, you can take countermeasures and make the brewing process really short (and vice versa), but in my experience this doesn't necessarily lead to better coffee. That's one of the reasons why I have so many grinders

Wow, zippy service, I ordered my Aerobie yesterday and had my first cup today. A further improvement, no slurry, thanks guys.

bruceb wrote:... that enjoy sitting in an olive grove with a bottle of heavy red wine and a plate full of olives and freshly baked bread slices, rubbed with fresh garlic and drizzled with olive oil, reading Dante and knowing that within 10 minutes walking distance there is a cozy café with a barista who prides himself in producing shots with thick, reddish brown crema and who serves freshly baked pastries to go with them...

Under these conditions I think it unlikely I would come any further than to the purgatorio... *)

Where have you been, given the weather we had in Friuli it sounds like you were farther in the south...

*) ...in English that is. If I attempted to read it in Italian I'd probably be stuck in hell forever....

Gouezeri wrote:So far my aeropress has been with me to 3300m... next year the objective is 4554m That said, I've had pretty good espresso around 3000m before!

4554m I laugh at such lowlands, try 6100m thats fun the water even boils quicker

lukas wrote: That's one of the reasons why I have so many grinders

That's one the worst (or best??) excuses I've ever heard

Steve wrote:

Gouezeri wrote:So far my aeropress has been with me to 3300m... next year the objective is 4554m That said, I've had pretty good espresso around 3000m before!

4554m I laugh at such lowlands, try 6100m thats fun the water even boils quicker

Apparently the water boils at ~83 oC at such altitude.... How do they brew coffee at the correct temperature for french press?