@Turningjapanese I have this. It’ll give you excellent results with filter coffee. I expect some of the electric, flat burr grinders would best it, but not by much and they would be a whole lot more expensive.
I can lend you a manual grinder to have a go with Darren, and can recommend a couple of mail order companies.
That would be helpful Mike thanks, which brand of beans, we have Italians staying this weekend so would like to give them proper coffee like they do when we go there (huge machine)
Suspect they won’t be loving the Nescafé original we drink usually
Any rec for beans that arrive quickly and are ideal for cafetière
Ok so I’ve bought the k plus from penance
Just need a Recco for beans that make reliable cavities coffee to a good hotel standard or better
Any suggestions?
The roaster, not necessarily the bean!
All three of these are reliably good.
Gone for a kilo of workhorse, sounds just up my street
Thanks for the tip
Following the usual AA tradition I presume my cafetière needs upgrading too?
My good friend Nathanael posted some interesting stuff this morning in response to a question about Hawiian Kona Coffee. Thought folks might also be interested:
It’s 100% marketing and branding.
Kona Coffee is great—but it’s not any better than a Guatemala or El Salvador of equivalent quality.
Case in point: for years, in the Specialty Coffee industry, there was something that everyone just referred to as “The Scandal.” For coffee folk of a certain age, you can simply reference “the scandal” and they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about.
The Scandal was when one guy, back in the 90s, acting as both exporter and importer, was buying up Costa Rica green, rebagging it as 100% Kona, and marking it up to the moon.
For years no one noticed because there was so little noticeable difference between the coffees, until a guy named Shawn Hamilton in Northern California was doing a side by side cupping and recognized the flavor profile of the Costa Rica, which he was already buying (as a Costa Rica).
That’s the story I tell when people want to buy Kona (or Blue Mountain from Jamaica). They cost what they cost not because of quality but because of scarcity/availability.
If you do buy Kona, never buy it in Hawaii. The best Kona is exported, like the best coffee is in every origin. Foreigners (in the case of Kona, it’s mostly Japanese investors) will always pay more for coffee than the locals where it’s grown will.
There’s a deep dive on it you can read here: Final Chapter Written In The Kona Kai Coffee Scandal – LBD Coffee Times
There’s also a nice little interview with Nathanael here, here’s an absolutely stand up guy, and despite judging coffee making at the highest of levels, is really big on making it accessible and non-gatekeeping for folks: Longtime Judge Nathanael May on the Future of Coffee Competitions
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I’ve had very good Kona, the best is excellent. It’s a bit like Jamaica Blue Mountain ( the real thing is also excellent ), in that there is lots of fake crap out there. I think that Kona Coffee is unusual for a speciality coffee in that it is grown at a relatively low altidude.
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The eagle has landed
Not managed to “beat” Nescafé alzera in my wife’s view yet though after 6 goes
Izpresso works great, grinding on 8.5 takes no time
30g coffee to 500ml water (off boil) makes a decent coffee like thing
Thermometer to check water temp seems sensible next step
Letting the beans rest for a few weeks (ground this week workhorse) should improve things
Any other thoughts on how to wow my harshest (not more faff) critic
Coffee is a bit like cooking in that you have to develop your pallet. Under extracted coffee rastes sour and has less/shorter ‘finish’. Ie, it doesn’t linger in the mouth long. Over extracted coffee will taste towards bitter and have a longer, progressively overwhelming aftertaste. Between both these extremes will be the sweet spot, and that will be just before you get to bitterness.
The key is to turn yourself into a machine, and do exactly the same thing every time, and only adjust the grind.
Not as essential as you might think. A minute or two off boil for light/medium roast should be fine.
100%
What’s unpleasant about what’s she’s tasting? Too sour? (grind finer), too harsh/bitter/fag ash-y? (grind coarser).
Are you doing French Press?
If so, I highly recommend watching the Hoffman French press video. Which involves…no pressing.
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Yep French press, will take a look
Mark, not got the same coffee kick as Nescafé
Not too bad was the comment (remember she is hard wired anti faff)
When you say ground fresh this week, im assuming you didnt grind the whole lot?
The beans need to off gas for a week or two whilst whole. Grinding only as and when you are going to use it straight away.
That’s what I thought, they were supplied as beans, roasted Monday this week. I grind 45g at a time to 750ml of water.
Do I store warm or freezer til they off gas?
Thinking one out of ten available points is being lost due to my beans not having rested long enough yet
I presume I store them in cupboard for now then freeze at 2/3 weeks old?
We are probably at 7 out of ten on the how good compared to the best hotel French press we have tried currently
Will try the Hoffman method next as not pressing seems like counter intuitive (and yet totally sensible) genius
Freezing isnt the best way, out of light in an air tight container is good. I have a Fellow vacuum one, but it’s totally not needed. Before that I just kept them in the bags in the cupboard sealed up.
Don’t freeze, just store in an air tight container in the dark.
The bag they came in is fine as it will have a valve.