Lets talk about COFFEE



patrickBOOTH said:

I am going to Seattle next month any coffee shops I should drop into?

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It's been a long time since I've been there but If the Torrafazione guys still have a place there that would be my rec.

Anyone an idea as to what causes these bubbles (poured ~2 minutes ago)?



Apparently also common and much more extreme with Square Mile's beans (not my picture).

In the foam? I have no idea, but I think that's supposed to be a sign of good latte technique. The bubbles in the 2nd picture look way too big, though. They're usually pretty fine.

A temporary bar of a new coffee shop in SanFo. I give its design the maximum score:



http://www.dearcoffeeiloveyou.com/public-bike-saint-frank-coffee/

Pop up coffee bar in Hamburg:



Oh, and I think the bubbles have something to do with the coffee. I mean the huge amount of bubbles in the top halfmoon/dark brown part of the cup, not the few in the "white/light brown part" (these are cause I didn't tap thoroughly enough).

Extraction might be too hot, I've seen intensely dark crema a result of that.

That's not it. It was light crema and not much of it anyway.

Might be just the beans and how far it is from roast date

8-9 days.
The coffe of the other guy was 10 days old. He's also had another Square Mile roast where the bubbles occured too. He says it's the norm with Square Mile's roasts. Looks odd, I know, but it's not a fault in the steaming process. It's definitely the coffee. How light does Square Mile roast? I think it may have something to do with light roasts. But then again, I doubt coffees in London that use Square Mile coffee serve their guests cappuccini that look like this. Weird.

I've recently been introduced to the pleasures of drinking black coffee, though I largely stick to green tea. As such, I don't keep a coffee maker at home and am considering whether I should get one to explore the various roasts (Is that even the proper term?) on my own.

An additional wrinkle is that when I have ladyfriends over-night, some are surprised that I don't have a machine - which never bothered me since I would stop by a Starbucks during my morning jog.

If I decide to purchase a machine, which would best handle non-daily use? Additionally, what are roasts worth exploring (for myself), and which appeal to the largest spectrum of women?

get an aeropress and a hand grinder like the hario skerton. buy the pre-modded version from orphan espresso.

as for beans not sure what's available in your area.

A kinda survey article on crema:

http://theshot.coffeeratings.com/2013/07/the-controversy-over-crema/

Crema means cream in Italian, the mother tongue of espresso. It is the light colored foam at the top of your espresso shot like the head of foam on a beer. It is also something of a misnomer, and that adds to the heated arguments surrounding it. Is it a good thing or a bad thing to have in your demitasse? Some say crema is sweet and some say it is bitter. People tend to fall into three heavily fortified battle camps: mixers, scoopers and hoarders. This radical polarizing effect leads to different espresso preparations and feeds the flames of controversy.

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I didn't know pressurized portafilters were used to create fake crema.

On the CO2 side, for drip brew, I've noticed that dark-roasted coffee (like Peet's) will outgas CO2 like mad, even when it's a couple of weeks old. Lighter roast stuff will bubble a bit when it's really young (like the 1st week), but then be pretty flat after that.

Speaking of Peet's, the Ethiopian Queen City is something else: strong blueberries combined with a wine-like complexity. It's a limited edition, so get it while you can!

A particular technique now is to use a demitasse spoon and mix or fold the coffee into the crema, helping to distribute and even out the taste. Some say this technique also helps to provide better consistent latte art in milk drinks as well as a more even taste in a cup.

Experiment and see.



indesertum said:

get an aeropress and a hand grinder like the hario skerton. buy the pre-modded version from orphan espresso.

as for beans not sure what's available in your area.

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Yeah, the best thing is something to boil water in, and either a French Press, Aeropress, Clever Pourover or something of the sort. Regular drip machines are garbage unless you spend big bucks.

A Y said:

A kinda survey article on crema:

http://theshot.coffeeratings.com/2013/07/the-controversy-over-crema/
I didn't know pressurized portafilters were used to create fake crema.

On the CO2 side, for drip brew, I've noticed that dark-roasted coffee (like Peet's) will outgas CO2 like mad, even when it's a couple of weeks old. Lighter roast stuff will bubble a bit when it's really young (like the 1st week), but then be pretty flat after that.

Speaking of Peet's, the Ethiopian Queen City is something else: strong blueberries combined with a wine-like complexity. It's a limited edition, so get it while you can!

Click to expand...

Yeah cheaper machines use pressurized portafilters. I had one a while back. It was awful. It just shakes up the coffee inside of it creating bubbles that somewhat mimic crema.

I've been trying the Starbucks Reserve coffees lately made in the clover. They are good. Very dark roasts, but you can still make out the nuances in he individual coffees.