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Most forgiving brewing method? (feddit.de)

submitted 9 months ago by Aarkon@feddit.de to c/coffee@lemmy.world

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My significant other doesn’t care nearly as much about coffee as I do, so we always have pre-ground supermarket coffee at home. Tastewise, it’s usually rather dull and bitter because apparently, that‘s what people expect coffee to taste like around here.

I wonder if there is a method/recipe that can compensate for those flaws. The Aeropress is pretty versatile, so going for lower temperatures and/or shorter extraction times comes to me as a natural first step in this investigation. Doing a pour over with this stuff feels like I‘m wasting precious V60 filter papers though tbh 😄

Any further suggestions? I own a V60, an Aeropress, a cheap drip coffee machine and the (in-) famous IKEA french press. My kettle only allows for adjustments in 10°C steps, but features a temperature display, so I can go reasonably precise on that end.

Cheers! ✌️

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[–] evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Personally I think a cooler temp aeropress is the way to go. Cold brew is a good idea too, but if you are looking for your morning cup of coffee, you might not want cold. You can steal a trick from the beer industry and add some calcium chloride to the coffee. Chloride ions suppress the "harshness" of bitter tastes. Some people add salt to their coffee to get the same effect, but then you get the saltiness in addition to the chloride ions.

Really, I think for the most part, the beans make the biggest difference, so there's only so much you can do. When I end up drinking mass market coffee, I'll sometimes just add cream. There's a reason so many people do.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I second cold brew. I don't know how you do yours, but Toddy is a cheap system and brews coffee concentrate (~3:1). I do a pound of beans at a time and keep the jar in the fridge. When I drink it, I fill a cup about 1/3 full and pour boiling water from a kettle to fill the cup. One brew lasts about a week.

With the right system, there's no need to drink cold brew cold; and I agree that as a method, it's more forgiving of bean quality. It was a good suggestion.

[–] Aarkon@feddit.de 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That’s just the sort of gadget I’m very likely to buy, please don’t point me to that kind of stuff! 😄

I might implement a routine though where I always have some cold brew concentrate available in the fridge in case I need coffee and can’t put in the time & effort of a pour over etc, so good suggestion!

[–] sxan@midwest.social 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's, like, $50. When I said "inexpensive," I wasn't exaggerating.

In order of importance for good coffee, are:

the beans themselves, and in particular, the age and type of the roast. If you're getting French roast (or darker), the coffee will always taste burnt; dark roasts hide many ills, which is why Starbucks mostly uses them. Something like Toddy helps here because once you brew the coffee, the beans stop oxidizing and aging, and you can brew an entire bag at once. Cold brews are often milder and can reduce the bitterness of dark roasts.
the grind. Again, cold brewing helps minimize the negative effects of an inconsistent grind.

Everything else is preference, or mitigation. Since you can't change the beans, getting a good grinder isn't going to help much, and I'd suggest spending the $50 on a Toddy. It's the cheapest single mitigation with the biggest impact for shitty beans that you can make. It also makes fantastic coffee from good beans and is super convenient.

[–] Aarkon@feddit.de 3 points 9 months ago

I’m less concerned about the money than the shelf space in my small-ish kitchen and that I have to justify another purchase to my SO, especially since "we have good coffee already!". 😄

I’ll look into the Toddy non the less. "Thanks" for another round of GAS! 🙈

[–] Aarkon@feddit.de 1 points 9 months ago

Our water always came across to me as acceptable, but I wanted to measure the aspects most important to coffee non the less anyway. I’ll keep your suggestion in mind, thanks!