How to make better coffee

For casual coffee makers, I suggest a French Press. It's what I use now.

 

My favorite is Ethiopian, has been from the first time I tasted it. But, now I'm retired my wife and I are spending more substantial time in Hawai'i with our daughter and I really like their coffee. I'm thinking I may decide to tinker with roasting in the near future, just playing around with it.

 

Yeah, I drink far too much coffee for that! If they made a 55-gallon drum French Press that would be different.

The French Press you sit on?

Actually, I have seen some fairly large ones. Mine is only for a single cup.

 

Always wanted to try Civet coffee.

 

This kind of coffee is also called 'Arab coffee' or in Israel 'the mud coffee'. There are different traditions of mixing some spices and culture wars if the sugar should be added before or after boiling.
VERY IMPORTANT - don't ask for Turkish coffee in Greek restaurants - once I asked for Turkish coffee NYC Greek restaurant almost got killed.

 

Too funny! To me it was originally Iranian Coffee because my good buddy from Iran showed me how to make it. But I think even he called it Turkish coffee.

 

Oh, that's one coffee I DON'T want to try.

 

Oh, why not?

 

It's made from poop.

 

Do you subtract that from the water you normally would have poured in the top of the coffee maker, or are you actually diluting the strength of your coffee, as well-- or am I talking about old technology, here?

I never heard of the Cold water trick, to settle the grounds-- but that means your coffee is much sooner going to become lukewarm.

I have continued using the method I began employing, during an extended period of camping/outdoor living. It is similar to a French press, but without the convenience of the filter press. I just pour boiling water over the grounds, steep to taste, and then pour it through a strainer designed for loose tea (actually, I think it is one half of what was originally a tea- baller).

Occasionally, when I want an extra kick, I put the grounds in a pot on the stove, & simmer gently, to mimick a percolated coffee.

I have done only limited sampling of nation- specific coffees. Columbian coffee has always suited me, fine.

Interesting. But @(original)late says that a lot of Ethiopian coffee is really expensive counterfeit.

I'm not a real fan of Sambucca-- I don't care for its sweetness. Though I haven't combined them in a long while, I used to think Anisette made a better accompaniment.

If I had a coffee (or espresso) maker, I'd be tempted to try the Cafe Bustelo-- so many people rave about it. One person said their top of the line, Gold(?) version, is like liquid opium (which does seem, as an aside, an odd description, for a stimulant).

Isn't Turkish coffee, traditionally, highly sweetened? I prefer coffee, black. Even when I used to have espressos, I usually opted for what is sometimes called French coffee: an espresso, diluted with an equal amount of hot water (so 50% strength-- but twice as much of it!). And these I would also drink black, unsweetened.

Tell me what you think of it, Mswan, since at least our ideas about coffee seem somewhat similar. But that sounds like a very strange combination-- isn't ghee, similar to butter? (You definitely want to wait until you've poured the coffee from your French press, before you add any of that!)

 

I understand about Columbian coffee, it's so available and always tastes pretty good to me. I'm not really a fanatic about coffee but I do like trying whatever the locals like best about their food and drinks when I travel. People always have something they're proud of and I give it a try. Luckily I like all kinds of food and coffee.

 

I've tried it.

Twice.

It gets intensely washed, and the roasting process would kill anything, so no worries there.

But it's bad coffee, with a weird taste.

It's a fad that pops up from time to time, but for the life of me, I couldn't tell you why.

 

https://www.sweetmarias.com/

 

LOL! Not really. The beans are just processed by the intestines. Hopefully they rinse them off before making the coffee.

I saw that the guy who started the Civet coffee craze in the UK is trying to reverse it because it has become a scam. Never thought I would see the day where you can get scammed by not getting coffee beans that were pooped out!

 

Because pooped beans are cool?

I was thinking about starting a coffee house where you can get civet coffee directly off the tap. The cat jumps up on your table and poops them out on command.

 

I'm sure that's the case, but I can't get past the thought of it.

 

It's a version of 'bulletproof coffee', ghee vs MCT oil or both.

 

MCT can jump your blood sugar. A small amount, done bulletproof style, won't hurt a normal person. Overall you just don't eat many carbs, and you exercise right afterwards.

But if you're not exercising, it's not a great idea.

MCT is extracted from coconut oil, which would be a better choice for most. Butter or ghee would be fine. For that matter so would cream.

Another thing that I learned from my gym rat days, the extra weight you can get from MCTs is damn hard to lose.

 

I just take a little from the water that goes into the coffee maker otherwise. So the final strength is the same.