Will drinking coffee affect my physique?

The only thing I can think of that would cause weight loss with black coffee consumption is if you eat less due to the appetite suppressant that coffee can be.

But then again, drinking more of anything is an appetite suppressant. Even water. On the flip side, you can gain a lot of weight if you ingest high-calorie confections, such as any ice-blended coffee drink.

So, my notes really only apply to black coffee drinkers.

It is true that caffeine makes it easier for you to expend more energy. In the short run.

Your body will eventually adjust to your daily levels of caffeine. You'll have to drink more and more to get the same energy effects. Eventually, you'll have to drink coffee just to feel "normal."

I personally believe this also applies to any weight-loss potential.

The overall effects on weight loss are likely minimal, but will vary depending on how your coffee habit changes your eating habits.


What are the different varieties of coffee- understanding the nearest coffee shop menu?

There are many, many, many types. In order to give a good overview, some background knowledge is useful. What all types of coffee have in common is that all are produced from the pits of coffee cherries, the fruits borne by trees in the genus coffea (coffee beans are technically seeds of these trees, not beans). Coffee cherries are harvested from coffee trees, the pits are removed and processed, producing green coffee beans. These are then roasted, ground, and brewed.

Coffee can vary on any of the following factors:

Bean Variety - There are two major bean varieties of coffee: arabica and robusta. Arabica coffees are more ubiquitous and generally regarded as superior in quality to robusta coffees. If you are buying coffee from a coffee shop, ordering it at a restaurant, or brewing it at home, there is a very good chance you are drinking an arabica variety. Robusta is easier to grow and a less temperamental crop than arabica, contains quite a bit more caffeine, and generally is poorer quality than arabica. Robusta varieties are often used in instant coffee.

Processing Method - There are two major processing types for green coffee beans: washed and unwashed. Washed coffees remove the cherry before the bean is left to dry, while unwashed coffees have their beans removed from the cherries after drying. Unwashed coffees often come from Africa and Indonesia and have richer, earthier flavors, while washed coffees often come from Latin America, and are smoother and fruitier.

Geographic Origin - One of the most important factors, as coffee flavors vary greatly with geography, climate, and soil composition. For example, Ethopian coffees tend to be rich, full-bodied, and wine-like, Hawaiian coffees like Kona tend to be more acidic (flavor term, not pH), and Latin American coffees tend to be more medium bodied, fruity, and floral.
Roast - Roasting is a complex process that can produce varying degrees of flavor and caffeine content. Roasts levels can include light/half-city, medium/full-city, full (Viennese/Italian), and double (French), in order of increasing boldness. Contrary to popular opinion, lighter roasts tend to have more caffeine than darker roasts. A good illustration of the process can be found here: http://www.sweetmarias.com/roast...

Brewing method - Can include drip filter, french press, percolated, espresso, or other methods. Brewing method also makes a big difference, with coffee aficionados generally preferring french press and espresso.

The most expensive type of coffee is Kopi Luwak from Sumatra, Bali, Java, and Sulawesi. Kopi Luwak roughly translates to "civet coffee" in English, and is called such because the beans are harvested from the droppings of civets (a cat-like mammal from Indonesia). The beans are supposedly of superior quality because the civets choose only the ripest coffee beans to eat from coffee trees, and are processed in a unique way by the civets digestive tract. Kopi Luwak often sells for around $300/lb.

The following are the different types of coffee drinks that you may find in a cafe that prepares coffee using the espresso coffee making method:

Affogato- This is a term that literally means 'drowned'. It is the description of a shot of separately served espresso that is later poured over a the top of a scoop of vanilla ice cream or gelato. This beverage is usually served in a short drink glass and is a Italian desert favourite. Popular Affogatos include Vanilla Affogato, Mocha Affogato, and Peppermint Affogato.

Americano- Also known as "Lungo" or "Long Black" and made by diluting 1-2 shots of espresso with hot water in order to approximate the texture, flavor and body of an American-style drip coffee. Said to have been originally devised as a sort of insult to Americans who wanted their Italian espresso diluted.

Babycino- A cappuccino styled drink served in an up-market café typically for children. It consists of warm milk in a small cup and topped with milk froth and chocolate powder. No espresso coffee essence is added.
Breve: A term in Italian that means short and is used to describe an espresso coffee drink made with a half-and-half light cream or semi-skim milk instead of full fat milk

Caffe' Freddo- Chilled, sweetened espresso served in a tall glass, often on ice.

Caffe Latte or “Latte”- A ‘premium milk coffee experience’. Freshly steamed milk without foam served in a tall glass with a shot of espresso coffee.
Caffe Mocha: A combination of chocolate syrup and a shot of espresso, topped with steamed milk and a layer of micro-foam. Finished with a sprinkled of chocolate.

Cappuccino Chiaro- (AKA Wet or Light cappuccino): Cappuccino prepared with more milk than usual.

Cappuccino Scuro- (AKA Dry or Dark cappuccino) Cappuccino prepared with less milk than usual.

Cappuccino: “Cap”-  A ‘traditional morning heart starter’. Steamed foamed velvety milk poured over one shot (1) of coffee oil extract made from 12gm of freshly ground beans producing 38ml of essence. Finished by topping with foam and a sprinkle of chocolate powder. Served in a pre heated vitrified ceramic cup.

Con panna- Like the beverage "macchiato", but whipped cream is substituted for steamed milk.

Cortado- means "cut" in Spanish so the double shot espresso served in a demetesse glass supported with a metal handle is "cut" with an equal part of hot milk, making it in between the size and strength of a macchiato and a cappuccino. It is popular in Spain and Portugal, as well as throughout Latin America and Cuba, where it is drunk in the afternoon. Variations include more froth on top than a traditional cortado and occasionally with different names such as Piccolo or Gibraltar. Thanks to Ryan Cerbus for the entry.

Corretto- Espresso "corrected" with a touch of grappa, cognac, sambuca, or other spirit.

Doppio- Italian term for double. Double Espresso or twice the amount of coffee and twice the amount of water. Basically it describes two shots of espresso in one demitasse container.

Espresso con Panna- A variation of the macchiato by substituting a dollop of whipped cream for the milk froth. Basically a Starbucks invention. Means in Italian "espresso with cream”.

Espresso Lungo- American term where a shot is extracted longer for a bit of extra espresso. Tends to maximizes the caffeine but will mostly produce a more bitter cup.

Espresso Romano- Espresso served with a lemon peel on the side. Whilst not a typical accompaniment in Italy it is commonly served with the espresso beverage in America.

Flat White- “White Coffee” - ‘uncompromising taste’.Steamed microfroam milk poured through and under the espresso crème produced from one shot (1) of coffee extract made on 12gm of freshly ground coffee producing 38ml of essence. Served in a pre heated vitrified ceramic cup. A common espresso coffee order in Australia/New Zealand. Great for latte art!

Hammerhead- A coffee drink only served in the USA. It is an American term for a shot of espresso in a coffee cup that is topped up with drip-filtered coffee. As Kris Rosvold explains in the comments: In Oregon, the hammerhead is usually known as a red eye and uses 2 shots of espresso topped up in a 16oz travel mug with drip coffee. It's also sometimes called a "shot in the dark".

Irish Coffee- Coffee mixed with a dash of Irish whiskey and served with cream on top.

Latte Macchiato- Steamed milk served in a tall glass rather than a cup that is “stained” by a shot of espresso coffee.

Long Black- Often called the “American”. It is the ‘benchmark coffee without milk’. It is pure coffee made from one & one half shots of coffee extract made on 16gm of fresh ground beans producing 50ml of essence blended with steamed water. Served in a pre heated vitrified ceramic cup with the essence floated over the top of a cup filled with hot/boiling water. It is a standard espresso (Short Black) but lengthened by the addition of hot/boiling water.

Lungo- An espresso made by purposely allowing more water to flow through the ground coffee than usual. (sometimes called an Americano or ‘long’).

Macchiato- Meaning “stained” - Described as ‘strong, marked or stained’. A touch of steamed foamed milk added to a double shot of coffee extract made from 24gm of fresh ground beans producing 75ml of essence. Served in glass.

Mazagran- A French drink composed of cold coffee and seltzer water. First created by the French soldiers in 1840 in the town of Argelia. A variation includes iced coffee made with maraschino.

Quad- An espresso drink made with four shots of coffee.

Ristretto- (Ristretto in Italian means "restricted, shrunk or short”) It is the richest and most concentrated espresso drink where less water but the same amount of coffee is used to make the beverage and creates a less bitter espresso. The extraction time is shortened producing as little as 3 oz of liquid per serving. Pure and intense espresso served in a demitasse cup.
Short Black: A ‘pure intense Italian favourite with a biting crème head. Contains 75ml of pure double shot (2) coffee essence made from 24gm of fresh ground coffee beans. Traditionally served in glass and is referred to as Espresso by European customers.

Viennese Coffee- Brewed black coffee of any roast or origin topped and served with whipped cream.

If you reached this part then remember. The list doesn't stops here my fried...!!!

All the best.


Any heath benefits of having butter coffee?

Heath benefits of adding butter in your coffee are:
1) Vitamin K is found in butter,which helps in blood clotting and keeping the bones strong into old age.
2) Contains Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which helps in weight loss.Not only burning belly fat,also protects against cancer and encourages muscle growth.
3) Adding butter in your coffee can provide more sustained energy.
4) Found Omega 3 fatty acids, play a role in the prevention and treatment of arthritis, inflammation,and high blood pressure.


The Keurig 2.0 machine is looking for an element (perhaps magnetic?) that is embedded in the authorized pods. The site KeurigHack.com contains a video that shows a simple technique for bypassing this feature.

Basically you need one lid from an authorized pod that you can place on top of your pods so that the Keurig 2.0 accepts these pods. The video goes on to show that it's fairly easy to make this a permanent change just by applying some tape to your authorized lid so that it sticks to the roof of the pod enclosure. The following screenshots were taken from the video. Enjoy!

Step 1: Get an authorized lid.

Step 2: Place lid over any other pod.


How to avoid coffee grounds in my cup with a Bialetti?

The reason is that your coffee grounds are too fine. Your Percolator needs coarser grains for various reasons:

Allowing water trough it more easily – else the pressure needs to go too high and your coffee will taste burned as it is roasted a second time from the overheated filter basket [1].
Not allowing small small grounds to "whirl" up in the water and reach the top [2] and flow into your final coffee.

In addition to this and if above does not help, you can —if needed— still go with what @Ecnerwal suggested as a last ressort.

[1] You can avoid a good part of this by using very warm (non boiling) water, instead of cold water. This means the water will boil earlier and the grounds will not get exposed to too much heat over a longer period of time.

[2] Do not over–power your stove. When I cook my coffee, I turn the (electrical) stove to between level 7–8/12. Using a lower heat not only makes the coffee drinkable and removes a lot of the overly strong and often bitter taste, but also prevents smaller grounds to whirl up as the water has less energy, moves less and allows smaller grounds to sink back into the filter again.


My first thought would be stale coffee rather than commercial conspiracy but, assuming you live in North America, I don't blame you for that.  The time since roasting is important and, compounding on that, the time since grinding, thence finally how you brew it.

So your questions should be:

What did I do different in the way I brewed this time?
How long since this coffee was roasted?
How long since this coffee was ground?

Don't be afraid to ask the source when it was ground, and when it was roasted.  Time from roasting to now should be measured in days (not weeks), and time from grinding to now should be hours, minutes, or even seconds!

Even if the attendant cannot answer you it illustrates the fact that they don't know and you do care. Thence maybe one day you'll find a source where the attendant both knows and cares, so shop around.

Finally, there are different beans, different roasts, and different tastes. So, once all of the above is attended to, you may still, quite reasonably, conclude that the taste of that particular roasted bean is not for you. Again, exercise your options: go elsewhere, roast your own, etc.

Welcome to the endless search for something better.


Whats special about the Hario V60 filterpapers?

Short version: The Hario brand filters are thinner than other paper filters and seem to have more texture than other types of filters. I assume this has some, but perhaps slight, impact on the rate at which water passes through the filter and also what "stuff" passes through the filter, which impacts the resulting brew and its taste.

Longer version: The rest of this response is basically a comparison of the Hario filters to other types of filters. This isn't particularly authoritative nor scientific. I don't immediately find any good online resources on this; one video that I don't care to link or watch, and another article from Serious Eats on dripper styles but it doesn't compare the filters themselves as such. So, I'm going rogue.

The different cone (and filter) manufacturers each have their own shape, presumably to ensure product lock-in for consumables (in this case, primarily filters). Here are the three primary ones that I'm aware of:

Clockwise from upper left: off-brand Melitta-style #2, Hario brand V60 02, Chemex brand pre-folded bonded. All are "natural" brown (unbleached, etc.) varieties.

My basic summary, having looked at these three examples from my own stockpile (certainly, this is a small sample) in order from thickest to thinnest:

The Chemex filter is very thick; almost more like like a thin pressed cotton cloth or fabric. Almost completely opaque. The Chemex filter page states that they are "20-30% heavier" than other filters and removes finer sediment and "undesirable oils and fats".
The Melitta-style is in the middle, and is similar in nature to most other Melitta-style and basket-style filter paper. Thick enough to be mostly opaque, but noticeably thinner than Chemex. The Melitta brand filters have claimed "flavor enhancing perforations."
The Hario brand is the thinnest by a fair margin. It's almost translucent through most of the filter, with a somewhat leaf-vein-like pattern to it, presumably from paper fibre and production method. This brown ("natural") style seems to be called "Misarashi" for reasons I don't understand. There's little information on the Hario (.co.uk / .jp) pages about the nature of the filters.

Frankly, I don't notice a significant difference in coffee draining rate (throughput), but I suspect there is. I (personally) think there's a slight difference in taste and output of the brew, but perhaps I'm fooling myself into legitimizing more coffee gear.

As stated in this other question about Hario V60 filters off-brand filters do not seem common (in our regions).


I found this detailed article by an expert titled "how to make and drink Greek coffee" that seems to rather confirm your understanding of the matter:

  I remember when I was the Food and Beverage Director for Starbucks in Greece and we were launching the first store in Greece back in 2002, we had to serve Greek coffee in the store. Apparently there is a law in Greece that requires all coffee shops to serve Greek coffee (...) Α specific combination of beans is used to make this Greek blend, with specific bean varieties, roasted at specific temperatures and used in specific ratios.

Source: How to Make and Drink Greek Coffee

Author: Elena Paravantes

I would interpret her statement to mean that Greek law requires all coffee shops to serve Greek coffee, but in addition thay can make and serve any other type of coffee.


Different-tasting coffee in Vietnam/Cambodia

"Robusta coffee accounts for 97 per cent of Vietnam's total output" - Wikipedia

It's very likely you were drinking local pure robusta coffee.  Among other things, the increased caffeine content makes it more bitter.  But, robusta flavor is also generally considered inferior to arabica.


From what your question seems to be asking - I believe that grinding your coffee more coarse is all that needs to be done. Water will drain quicker through more coarsely ground coffee, and it seems like all the fine particles are eventually clogging the bottom of the cone.


What can cause water to come out of the portafilter sprouts?

To me, this sounds like channeling. When you brew espresso the machine pushes water through a puck of compressed coffee grounds. Ideally, the grounds are distributed equally throughout the puck so that the water passes through the puck evenly. In reality, there will always be small inconsistencies. These inconsistencies allow water to move through slightly faster, possibly moving some of the inconsistent grounds along the way. When too many grounds are moved so that there is an opening from the top to the bottom of the puck, you've got a channel.
The channel provides a path of low resistance through the puck, so a lot of the water will pass through there rather than through the compressed parts of the puck. This extra water flow through the channel will widen it even more.
Water passing through the channel comes into contact with only a small portion of the grounds in the puck. As such, the grounds around the channel are overextracted while the water coming out is lightly colored and overly bitter. It's lightly colored because it has less contact with the grounds. Nevertheless, it will be bitter because the grounds in the channel are already fully extracted.
To confirm that your puck has actually suffered from channeling, simply look at the top of the puck after brewing. If the channel is big enough, you will see some holes in the puck (while it's still in the portafilter).
If you have a naked portafilter (one where you can see the bottom of the filter basket) you will be able to see channeling during the brew process. An even extraction will be a gentle singular stream whereas channeling will look like thin high pressure streams. Because a video says more than a wall of text, I'd recommend watching this video by Whole Latte Love on YouTube. Even if you don't have a naked portafilter, it will be interesting to see how espresso exits the portafilter. Note that the shots in the video are all pretty good with some minor channeling. If the tamp is really bad (not shown in the video), I would expect there to be many more of those tiny jets which turn lighter in color fairly quickly.


What is the most expensive coffee in the world?

It is true, that Kopi Luwak is one of the most expensive coffee bean. The process to achieve specialised coffee is long and they are risks of failing is very high. Thus, it makes it more expensive. Read ref below to understand more. There are some beans that are produced in Penang,Malayasia are very expensive but they taste out world(honestly). When enquired about it they say because it is freshly farmed and brewed. I believe that because around that cafe, it was all coffee and other farms.

History of Kopi Luwak
Penang Coffee


Folks - please be aware that there are at least two different thicknesses (not talking diameter) for Moka pots. I know that Bialetti makes gaskets in at least 2 different thicknesses.  If your Moka pot design needs a thicker one and the replacement is the thinner one, the seal will never be what it needs to be and the flow of coffee will be affected. Hope this helps.


Does storing coffee in a freezer preserve freshness?

No. In fact it's likely to make your coffee taste bad, and gum up your grinder. You should store your coffee in an air-tight container, at or just below room temp (about 25 degrees Celsius).

Coffee can and will absorb all kinds of odors, and while your freezer probably doesn't smell like much, there are odors that will (at the minimum) dull the taste of the coffee. Additionally, when you take your coffee out to room temp, condensation kicks in which further degrades the beans and messes up your grind. Depending on your climate, the condensation can also invite mold. Yuck!

The only time you should be freezing or refrigerating coffee is when you're doing so because you've created a desert with some :) Otherwise, dark air-tight containers are the best way to go, just store them in your cabinet.

A good rule of thumb: Store anything you buy the way it was when you bought it, unless the label tells you to do something different once you open it.


There are several cafés which serve and roasters of specialty coffee in Zurich. These include:
Cafés

MAME The owners Emi Fukahori and Mathieu Theis have won several prizes in competitions, Emi won the Brewer's Cup in 2018. They roast their own coffee and sell it in both of their stores.
Miró They roast their coffee in their café and sell it there and online.
Just Coffee A small, take-away only café. They serve and sell coffee from roasters all over the world, including Tim Wendelboe. Bring your own cup!
Bean Bank They serve and sell coffee from roasters around the world and are located pretty centrally next to the main station. They are a little pricey though.
COFFEE They serve coffee from Stoll exclusively.

Friendly people work in all of those cafés and they are more than willing to help you find your ideal cup of coffee or answer any questions you might have.
Roasters

Mame
Miró
Stoll Really old roastery, they make classic italian roast espresso, organic coffee and specialty coffee.

Other than those, you can find more info on European Coffee Trip's website. If you want to order coffee online you also might want to check out vertical, Birchbach, Kaffeemacher and Henauer.


Will my tap water work for brewing espresso?

Provided that you descale your machine whenever needed, your machine should not take damage from using tap water.

Since your tap water is also safe to drink, this leaves taste as the only reason for concern. Dealing with this question is simple: just make a direct comparison between bottled-water espresso and tap water espresso. Check if you taste any noticeable differences. If this is not the case, the tap water should be fine. While there may be "guidelines for taste" as far as the tap water vs. bottled water question is concerned (e.g., softer water is typically better), what tastes good and what does not is a very complex question - so the tasting is the only way to be sure.

Note that you will need to descale your machine from time to time in both cases - so using bottled water to avoid descaling is probably not cost-effective (nor environmental friendly).


Water temperature for Aeropress: inverted vs tradional

This page on Angels' Cup has (see the middle of the page) a concise summary of the key variables and results in brewing coffee with a given method:

If it tastes sour: The problem is under extraction, so adjust brew time longer, or adjust water temp cooler, or adjust grind size finer.
If it tastes bitter: The problem is over extraction, so adjust brew time shorter, or adjust water temp hotter, or adjust grind size coarser.
Temperature affects the sour notes significantly more than the bitter notes.

  … you have to be willing to experiment. Don’t think of it as a waste of beans. Gulping coffee without paying attention to flavor is a waste, experimentation is the best possible use of good beans.

I've tried varying the grind size and water temperature in an AeroPress, and so far my results agree with this.

In particular, I've found that brewing medium roast beans with 175°F water (using a calibrated thermometer) produces coffee that's not sour, while higher temperature water often produces sour coffee (tasting a bit like vinegar). The company recommends 175°F except with light roast beans, in which case some people prefer 185°F water. See their FAQ about temperature.

I have not tried varying the brew time. The inverted method lets you increase the brew time but you can accomplish that without the mess by inserting the plunger, pulling back slightly to decrease the pressure below room pressure, then waiting.

You can see that the brewing variables are interdependent. That probably explains why people using the inverted method to brew longer would use hotter water to compensate for what would otherwise be over extraction. (I don't know why cooler water extracts more than hotter water.)

The ideal brew time, temperature, and grind size will vary with brew method. AeroPress immerses the grinds in water, thus it's relatively insensitive to grind size.


Coffee and in particular caffeine, has had a reputation of being bad for your health, possibly being associated with cardiovascular disease, stroke, and your heart health in general.  Current consensus is that there may actually be some health benefits from drinking coffee, and those that drink moderate amount of coffee (3-5 cups) have lower risk with these particular issues.

A couple of things to note, these results have been found to be associated with black coffee, not including the effects of sweeteners or dairy added to the drink.  These additions may have other effects stemming from the sugars they add to you beverage. Also, some evidence has been found linking coffee prepared in a method that does not use a paper filter (e.g. french press) with increased cholesterol levels.


Why does the filtrate sometimes well up in the upper cone when using the Chemex coffeemaker

Science! What follows is my bogus hypothesis, with pictures (annotated in the conventional style) and annotations to bolster my unsubstantiated claims.

Other (non-Chemex) cone-style (and basket-style) filters often have ridges down the inside of the cone. It seems that these ridges serve two purposes: to provide channels down which the coffee can flow, and to help "wick" the coffee away from the filter. This seems to help the coffee drain faster. This is probably due to properties of water like cohesion, adhesion, surface tension, and perhaps capillary action (legitimacy of these claims is left as an exercise to the reader).

Contrasting the two types of cones:

between a ceramic cone filter (white, left) and the Chemex cone (glass, right). I think the ridges prevent the "wells" from forming.  With a flat surface (like the Chemex), the filter somehow "seals" itself against the side of the cone, restricting the flow of coffee well enough to cause the pooling you describe. I assume this happens because the grounds get packed solidly at the bottom of the cone, and perhaps expand slightly. I don't have a better answer for "why" this seal happens. Lifting the filter (as you describe) breaks the "seal" and permits the coffee to drain.

Another way that I sometimes resolve the issue is to slide a bamboo skewer (or stir-stick, or chop-stick, etc.) between the filter and the Chemex cone (careful not to tear the filter!). This seems to work by providing a similar "ridge" that the other cone filters provide; it prevents the coffee-pockets from forming next to the skewer. I have also tried to fold little "pleats" in the filter, but it's annoying and doesn't work all that well.

I find that this "pooling" happens more often when I use a finer grind. I think a finer grind packs itself down more in the bottom of the cone and clogs up the filter more quickly. Both of these could believably cause the "sealing," but I don't have any other real evidence. It also drains more slowly in other drip brewing methods also. For these reasons I use a coarser grind when using the Chemex than when I'm brewing pour-over with the ridged cone filter. In fact, the Blue Bottle Chemex brewing guide suggests a much coarser grind than regular filter coffee, like that of French press. Maybe that's for the same reason.

The pour-spout on the Chemex helps with this a little by allowing steam/air to escape from the bottom chamber. A pre-wet filter can sometimes slide down into the pour-spout and nearly seal it, which will also make it more difficult for the coffee to drain, but it sounds like that's not what's happening in your particular case.


Which major coffee shop has the freshest coffee?

By Major, are you referring to exclusively things like Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, etc, etc?

If so, then I think I would have to go with Denny's actually. Yes, they will leave a pot on all day, but I've never been in a Denny's that wouldn't immediately pull it and start up a fresh one if you asked for it out of the gate.

In places like Starbucks, Coffee & Tea, etc, there seems to be trick words or a menu item that tells them to grind and brew fresh, but that's something that one has to learn.


What gives coffee its acidic (sour) taste?

That's correct: as your cup cools, perceived acidity increases. This is due to variation in the chemical species affected by temperature.

Coffee is like ice cream. Ice cream is least sweet when it's stone cold, and tart and heavy when it has melted. Similarly, coffee is sweetest (and best) while it's hot, and is bitter or acrid when it has cooled. Furthermore, the cooler temp has led to chemical degradation and thus the awful taste. However, you won't perceive its flavors when the coffee is too hot -- so let it cool a bit.

As for your question whether the on-contact brew temperature affects end-result sweetness-sourness: there are a lot of baristas and coffee R&D pros who do temperature-control brewing, especially for espresso, in order to modify the flavor of the coffee.

I believe that varying temperature affects coffee flavor in a gradient.

For cold brew (in case you're also curious about that), the cold temperature is a different environment entirely. Coffee is just as soluble, however less energetically kinetic, so more time is substituted for the lack of temperature. The end result is a brew product that functions naturally as a cold product -- nice, sweet, characteristic.


Great find! How fun. You do indeed have a vacuum coffee maker -- a.k.a. vac-pot, syphon, or siphon.

This style of vac-pot is intended to be used on a stove-top (specifically: having a flat bottom, and with a handle on the neck of the bottom part -- the "bulb") -- looks a lot like this current model from Bodum - c/o Amazon. There's a good primer on the history and types of vac-pot at WeCraveCoffee with some good pictures.

However, in general, glass pots are generally not recommended on flat glass-ceramic cooktops for a couple of reasons: they can scratch or otherwise damage each other, and the poor conductivity of glass makes glass-on-glass heating less efficient. More info on this from a question on Seasoned Advice, and recommendations from GE Appliances for their own stovetops. I did see some products such as this one that depicted glass vac-pots on glass-ceramic cooktops. If all of the glass is high quality, as should be expected for cookware intended to be used on a stove, it should be able to withstand the temperature changes induced by a cooktop. I (personally) would be comfortable using this vac-pot on a gas flame, but cautious/wary of using it on glass-ceramic cooktop. Glass cookware works well over gas flame, but I have less experience with glass cooktops... your "mileage" may vary.

For a more "DIY" adventure as you suggest, consider a mechanism to suspend the vac-pot over a flame heat source. Other styles of vac-pot (such as this Hario model - c/o Amazon) have a scaffolding that holds the bulb (bottom) and the hopper (top) so the whole apparatus can be suspended over a separate heat source, like an alcohol or butane stove. Check some vac-pot brewing guides that show this type of integrated round-bottom bulb and holder (e.g., from Blue Bottle, Stumptown, CoffeeGeek, and many others). Warning: this may remind you of Chemistry lab from School. ;-) And of course be careful with fire.

Separately, just for completeness...

It also looks like you're missing the filter piece. These are inexpensive (relative to the whole apparatus) and you'll want to purchase a new, compatible one anyway (see also another question on siphon filter replacement).

Another thing you'll want to check is that the rubber seal between the bottom and top parts is still in good shape, especially if this pot hasn't been used in a few decades. This is for reasons both practical (you need a tight seal for the vacuum to work well) and safety (you don't want the seal to come lose and spray boiling-hot water everywhere)!


Why of the-shelf-coffee packages are aluminum from the inside

I used to think this was just a marketing exercise (when it was applied to crisps/potato chips in American-Speak) but it's to do with it's excellent properties for keeping things fresh and sealing properties.

If we look at the Key features from this site:

Aluminium foil in packaging helps keep foodstuffs fresh for months without refrigeration.
With the outstanding barrier properties and contributions to the sealing process, aluminium foil guarantees the excellent material and filling performance of aseptic and retortable packaging for milk, juices and soups.
It prevents the contents from losing nutritional value, vitamins or aroma and gives total protection against light, moisture, oxygen, foreign matter contamination and damage.

This is why it's predominantly used in food packaging and not just for coffee packages, the foil is essentially a barrier to the outside environment to stop the beans from being exposed to oxygen and light, although some carbon dioxide gas will build up, there is a relief/degassing valve to allow this to escape


What Type of Coffee Is Used In a Coffee-Maker?

Ground coffee is just the roasted coffee beans ground up to a fine powder. In order to make the beverage coffee, you need to combine this with hot water to extract the flavour (there are many different ways to do this). Typically, there is a filter that makes sure that the water can pass through the ground coffee but none of the ground ends up in your drink.

Instant coffee is dried brewed coffee - they grind up the coffee beans, brew the coffee and then remove the water.

A coffee machine or coffee maker is used for brewing coffee from ground coffee, not instant coffee. Instant coffee powder just needs to be rehydrated, so adding hot water is enough. It will completely dissolve in the water, which the ground in a coffee maker will not.

The machine you bought seems to be an espresso machine (it puts the water with high pressure through the ground coffee). This requires a relatively fine ground. Preground espresso will probably work, or you can also buy a grinder and grind the beans yourself. It also seems to have a pressurized filter basket, which means it will be quite forgiving and therefore easy to use.


How does distilled water or water filtered by reverse osmosis affect the taste of coffee?

I've heard that the mineral content in water assists in the distribution of the particulate that's extracted when brewing coffee. While I've not used distilled water, I have used reverse osmosis water (I live in an area with very hard water). I tend to prefer using the reverse osmosis water to the tap water. I don't particularly care for the taste of distilled water on its own, which is why I have avoided using it in coffee.


What are the differences between Jacobs Krönung and Jacobs Cronat Gold?

Jacobs Cronat Gold is smoother and more mild than Jacobs Krönung Instant coffee.
Krönung is blended with coffee of various regions across the world, Cronat Gold is not. It's the closest to home-brewed coffee (i.e coffee from the European Highlands).
No idea about the cost difference though.

Sourced from http://www.enjoybettercoffee.com/


Keurig have publicly stated they are switching to using fully recyclable materials by 2020 (I have no idea why it will take them five years to implement something most companies have been doing for decades, but that's beside the point).  You can see more at their Web site.  You can also get Keurig-compatible (although not "approved") pods that do not have the outer plastic.  They are just an upper ring, a foil cover and a filter with grounds dangling loose.  While some of these make great coffee, I am told they go stle rather quickly if you don't have a tightly sealed container in which to store them.

Flavia/Alterra have their own recycling program.  I don't know about home-use situations, but at least for managed, corporate-use programs, their single-serve packets can be recycled using the packet-disposal boxes they provide.

I can't speak to other single-serve manufacturers.


I'm not very familiar with the Kaldi roaster. From what little I've read, most buyers are pretty happy with it. I built a home roaster about a year ago using equipment from RK Drums, which requires a dedicated gas grill. I'm really happy with the results I get from this setup. I noticed the Kaldi also requires the purchase of a gas burner but what size and form is it? I use a single thermocouple that mounts very close (~1/2") to the drum. I'm not sure how you plan to drop one right in the bean mass while the drum is rotating. Again I'm not very familiar with the Kaldi so maybe you've worked this out. Using forced air might help if you think the beans aren't getting even temp distribution. I don't use forced air. The thermal mass of the grill cavity along with the bean rotation seems to distribute the temperate quite evenly. Wherever you place the probe, as long as you can get a consistent and reliable reading you should be able to build your roast profiles accordingly. Good luck and I look forward to your updates with the results!


Pablo coffee was an Australian brand of instant coffee that was a household staple in the 60s and 70s and still advertised in the 80s.

After that, it seems to have disappeared from the market.


No tamping

Start tamping your coffee. Without tamping channels form a lot easier, making your shot pour a lot faster and making your coffee taste sour and bitter at the same time. If you still manage to get 11 bars of pressure somehow without tamping, I'd assume your coffee is ground way too fine anyways, making it even more likely to form channels since they offer less resistance than the puck itself.
The fact that the first shot flows slower than the second one probably boils (no pun intended) down to a colder brew head. If you're not doing this already try flushing your brew head and portafilter to get them hot (so hot you barely manage to hold it for a few seconds) before pulling a shot.


What are good ratios for cold brewing coffee?

According to Food52, the optimal cold brew coffee ratio is 3/4 cup
  coarsely ground coffee to every four cups of cold water

Psst… We've Figured Out the Perfect Cold Brew Coffee Ratio


Sourcing Liberica or Excelsa coffee in the UK

Noah, sadly not a direct answer, but may i recommend that you reach out to your favourite supplier? Otherwise, you may wish to chat with the folks at Union Roasted or Squaremile who do a lot of work with specific farms, and may have related alternatives for you too. (robusta?? how unique)

best
-m.c.


Your first question isn't clear exactly.  All drinkable coffee has been roasted first, as raw coffee beans are not edible. I've read that re-roasting beans isn't practical for some reason that I'm not clear on, but I agree with Peter Pei Guo's, comment about why you would want to re-roast coffee in the first place.

Immediately after roasting, coffee beans produce carbon dioxide gas as a result of the chemical changes happening inside the bean.  This gas takes some time to be released from the interior of the bean, anywhere from 3-5 days.

I've brewed my own home roasted coffee immediately after roasting to see if this is really true, and yes, it is.

Immediately after roasting the coffee has a really harsh, sour taste from the acidity that accompanies carbon dioxide gas (carbolic acid).  It also foamed (bloomed) really violently with the addition of hot water.  After resting the roasted coffee for about 5 days, the coffee from the same batch of beans tasted great.

One of the indicators of freshly roasted coffee beans is the bloom that they produce as some residual carbon dioxide gas is released with the addition of hot water.

As time passes and the beans begin to stale a bit, the bloom lessens, then disappears.  After properly resting freshly roasted coffee however, the small amount of residual carbon dioxide doesn't affect the taste.  Immediately after roasting however, the carbon dioxide levels are too high to allow good tasting coffee when brewed.


What am I doing wrong when I do my pour-over?

You need to use a coarser grind.  You have grounds that are just the right size to block the mesh. Too small and they'll just pass through, making your coffee gritty.  Medium-sized and they'll block the mesh.  Large (coarse) enough, and coffee can flow around them.  Not too large: you won't be able to extract enough from the beans with this brewing method using very coarse grounds.

How are you grinding now?  If you're using a blade grinder, you'll often get a large variety of grain sizes (from very fine to very coarse), which means those medium and fine grains will start to clog to holes, even if much of the grounds are coarse.  A burr grinder will give you more consistency.

Personally, I would recommend a plastic or ceramic pour-over brewer, which uses a paper filter.  This method is much more forgiving.  Paper filters won't get clogged with medium grains, and fine grains won't pass through.  I can easily brew 8-16 ounces with my "single-cup" pour-over brewer.

One last suggestion: Give your bloom more than 10 seconds!  60 seconds will give your grounds enough time to fully bloom and become ready for further brewing.

Good luck!


How to fix burr contact/alignment issues on an OE LIDO hand grinder on fine grinds?

For the LIDO grinders, burr drag, grinding, or touching is likely due to misalignment. Misalignment is more likely an assembly issue than a manufacturing issue since the burrs are machined. This means you can fix your Orphan Espresso LIDO on your own, with some handiwork and know-how.

When I received my Lido E, the burrs would contact each other at anything tighter than +3.5 on the adjustment ring. After careful realignment, I got down to -5 from "factory-zero" before any contact, fixing a misalignment of over eight notches! -5 is now my new "recalibrated zero".

My burrs are now much better centered than when it arrived, and I can get them extremely close together while keeping them fully free spinning.

Orphan Espresso's LIDO Maintenance Video is a detailed guide on how to disassemble, clean, and reassemble your LIDO. He only goes as far as to approximately realign the burrs.

In Orphan Espresso's LIDO Grider Burr Alignment Video, he focuses on burr alignment, going more in-depth. The video is very informative, but I believe alignment can be improved further with these additional steps:

To Perfectly Align LIDO 2, LIDO 3, or LIDO E Burrs

Do as he instructs in the the alignment video until 7:24

He will:

Tighten one adjustment screw while grinder is upside down
Turn the grinder right side up
Fully tighten all screws in opposing X-order

Instead, I suggest:

Keep grinder upside down
Lightly & evenly tighten all adjustment screws in opposing X-order
The hopper should be lightly secured, locking in the outer burr's alignment

Turn the LIDO right side up and loosen the adjustment ring until the burrs spin freely when the locking ring is locked.
Slowly tighten the adjustment ring (and re-lock) bit by bit, turning the handle a full circle and testing for burr contact.
When the first burr contact occurs, note the clock position of contact (e.g. 3 o'clock)
Slowly tighten an alignment screw at either the same or the opposing clock position (e.g. either 3 or 9 o'clock) until burr spins freely again.

It will take some experimentation to figure out which screw to tighten.
Sometimes, you may need to slightly loosen a screw to free the burr.

If all alignment screws are as snug as possible without introducing more burr contact, you're done. Otherwise, go back to step 4.

If done correctly, the burrs will be so well-centered that when tightening the adjustment ring until first burr contact, the burr contacts in two or more (or all) places at once. The point of first burr contact is your new "recalibrated zero".

What this is doing

The alignment video shows how to align the inner burr and outer burr before screwing in the alignment screws. The problem is that I found the burrs can still get misaligned during tightening of the alignment screws.

My procedure addresses those last 1-2 turns of the alignment screws, between "lightly" and "fully" tightened. Slowly tightening whilst rechecking alignment makes sure that everything stays aligned even as the screws are fully tightened.


According to the Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases, Coffee Arabica has one of the largest amount of theobromine in its seed (20 ppm). However, this amount is just a bit more than 1/2500 th of the amount what Cocoa includes (48 223 ppm). So... Coffee is not really considered a theobromine source, but Cocoa is.


How to weaken effects of caffeine after consumption

What you experienced was a caffeine overdose, however mild, and that's something that you shouldn't really try home remedies to correct. Had you gone to the emergency room, you probably could have expected to been given a laxative, activated charcoal, and possibly I.V. fluids. I doubt that they would have pumped your stomach over a single cup, but they might have if your heart was beating irregularly.

Absorption of most things you swallow generally depends on how much you've had to eat - so yes, eating something filling (e.g. bread soaked in water) would probably have alleviated some of the discomfort, especially if you had the coffee on an empty stomach. Staying hydrated (but not over-hydrated) would also have been important.

I wouldn't advise self-medicating in circumstances like this, all you can do is be very mindful of symptoms getting worse (particularly any sign of irregular heart activity) while you wait it out and (eventually) crash into bed.

But, bread / crackers / water - not going to hurt, and might make you feel a little better, or better sooner. While symptomatic, I wouldn't take anything over the counter or prescription unless you checked with a doctor (because of possible heart implications)

And really, if you feel at all beyond 'blaugh' - you should see a doctor quickly. People die from too much caffeine, and it's not pretty, so be careful.


Are there any disadvantages to shade grown coffee?

I suppose flavor won't be changed. Most coffee beans are grown just like that. They require shade or they will die of too much sunlight. Having too much water will sometimes drown the plant to death. Here is a website that lists three main disadvantages and some advantages to shade grown coffee.

Too much shade will cause fungal infections

If the plant is under too much shade, fungi-related infections will attack and feed on the plant. This will ruin your plant and destroy it. Yet having too much sunlight will burn the plant instead.

The real definition of shade-grown is not really rock-solid. Many places will have varying amounts of shade due to their altitudes.

You can't say that this type of shade gown plant is used in every country of different altitudes.. Some places require more shade (those with a high altitude) and others less shade (those with a low altitude). It depends on where you will plant your coffee plant.

The further south (or, north) a farm is located from the Equator, the less need there is for shade cover to protect coffee plants from the rays of the sun: the strength of the sun's rays in, for example, Brazil (where the sun is at an angle) is far less than the direct overhead rays from Central America. Thus, while shade cover may prove advantageous in Central America it might actually lead to a fall in yield of crops in Brazil.

This directly copied from the website, word for word. The amount of shade needed will also depends on the sunlight's strength. Nearer the equator, it is stronger so more shade is required. Farther from the equator, it is weaker so less shade is needed.

There are maybe more, but these are some basic and critical disadvantages to shad grown planting. I hope this helps you!


Which vitamins & minerals does coffee provide?

Here are some nutritional information for brewed coffee that list macro- and micro-nutrients such as those you list:

from CoffeeAndHealth
from Self
the Google search page includes nutrition information from USDA.

Looks like there are traces of various B vitamins, a fair amount of riboflavin (B2), and traces of minerals such as magnesium, phosphorous, and potassium.

All of this nutrition data will certainly depend on the origin, roast, preparation methods, and other factors, which affect what gets into the cup from the beans.  Unless you're eating the beans...


There are two ways to start with: plunging and dripping.

Plunging is to mix water with ground coffee, and let the mix sleep slowly.
Dripping is the same as classical hot-water dripping, except the speed is much slower.

The slowly / "much slower" part means about 8-12 hours, depending on the quantity of ground. For example, I use 400mL/14oz and 40g/1.5oz of ground on an 8 hour drip.

The beans should be quite finely ground, as cold water does not penetrate the ground as well as hot water.

@henryJ exposed plunging in detail. As for dripping, it is possible to use a standard filter stand and paper filter.

The hard part is to drip water slowly. There are cheap devices on the market. An alternative is to get one of those flasks used in chemistry class (a new one, never try with a used one---chemistry is scary). The cheapest way is probably to get an empty plastic bottle, put the cap on, use a needle to make a tiny hole in the cap, fix the bottle upside down above the ground to start dripping. The goal is for the water to pour drop by drop, at a rate of about 1 drop every couple seconds.


Understanding Coffee Bean names as they relate to roast

First things first; roasting and beans are two separate things as mentioned as a comment here:

What are the 4M's of espresso?

Probably, it is already noticed so the question have been tagged separately.

Roasting

I think Wikipedia has a very nice guideline for coffee roasting. Keep the following in mind as a principle.

(Summarizing) It is said there, as light roasts leave the origin characteristics of the bean where darker roast wipe it away, yet insert more caramelized flavors while decreasing acidity.

(What are origin characteristics? The answer is at the end.)

If you want to check the details what happens during roasting, you may check the Maillard reaction in one of the previous posts:

What are the flavor characteristics of under-roasted coffee?
Quantifying flavor differences between varieties?

Based on this principle you may answer your own question, such as this one:

What are the common Ethiopia Sidamo roast suggestions?

Bean-varieties

This chart below is a reference for me.

Are robusta and arabica the only bean varieties?

Every now and the I check this to follow the relations in between the common varieties of edible Coffea Genus. This is a taxonomic chart. However, you cannot learn how they taste by simply looking at it. You should know by heart. Or... Read from a source. There is a simple answer below, then a more complete guide, I believe.

What factors contribute to differences between coffee beans?
Single origin bean taste comparison infographic


Which Starbucks coffee have the least amount of caffeine?

Very probably any single-shot espresso beverage (tall Americano or latte?) prepared with decaffeinated beans or the regular decaffeinated filtered coffee is a good choice of you are looking for the coffee flavor but not very fond of caffeine.


How Much Should I Spend When Investing In An At-Home Espresso Machine?

It's important to note that you should be thinking of your entire espresso budget (i.e. Machine, Grinder, and Accessories) when trying to find the "right" price. If you were to buy a $1000 machine, you'd want to spend minimally $300 on an espresso grinder. If you're looking at spending a $1000 total and go with something that requires a little more technique, maybe the popular Rancilio Silvia / Rocky combination is right for you. Also, some say that the grinder is actually the most important component to consider when trying to make amazing coffee on a budget. It might be worth shorting yourself a bit on the machine to afford yourself a better grinder in the long run. I'd recommend the Baratza Vario as a starting point. It's pricier, but it does a fantastic job for both drip and espresso. Also, Baratza has amazing support/service and a history of quality. That can be worth quite a bit in the long run.


thread locker / sealant for espresso machine maintenance

You can use pretty much every kind of drinking water sealant that you would use in home installations. You DIY–/ Homework–market (I do not know the English word), normally has such stuff. Just make sure it meets three requirements:

For drinking water
Can be used with boiling, hot water
Does not harden over time

There is no number one choice. I personally used plastic–fermit (which is used for home hat water drainages) with success. I do not even need tools to lock down threads, all are just tightened by hand and it opens easily again.

Usually the manufacturers use something that I would recommend to avoid like the devil the water: PTFE/ Teflon. This locks things down forever. One winding too much and you will break your thread when trying to open it.

Edit: As grease, I can recommend to use silicone. The thing I used on my current machine is by fermit again. If it does not get in contact with water, I would recommend using copper paste (for e.g. by Liqui Moly), which can be used up to 1.4k°C. You will need the grease only for the steam wand and hot water outlet. If you are unsure what to buy, search for (German/ DE) Amaturenfett or Hahnfett, which is safe for hot potable water and is used for bathroom fittings and similar.


What preparation method yields the most caffeine?

The first thing you want to do is choose the right bean and the right roast.

Longer roasting removes some of the caffeine from the bean, so a lighter roast would be preferred. Additionally you should chose Robusta beans, since their inherent caffeine content is higher than that of arabica beans.

The next step is the grinding. The smaller you grind, the easier it is to extract "material" from the ground. This is due to the additional surface area you expose.

Then the last step is the extraction. The longer you expose the ground to water, the more substances you absorb. The extraction roughly has three steps:

Extraction of Acidity
Extraction of Sweetness
Extraction of Bitterness

Usually you try to stop extraction after the second step, to have the coffee taste nicely. By that point in time most of the caffeine is already extracted.

If you'd want to get all the caffeine out of a ground, you'd have to go through with extracting the bitterness, too. But for general purpose drinkable coffee it's definitely preferrable to stop after extracting the sweetness


How to brew 1-3 servings of coffee with as little waste as possible?

You can always try a mesh pour over like this one.

Also teapot like the one you described seems like it would work as well will coarser grinds (like the one needed for a french press) but like a french press leaving the grinds for too long will result in an overextracted bitter coffee. But keeping that in mind, it seems totally usable.

Hope this is helpful


Espresso machine stops working after making 2 cups

A machine turning itself off and working fine after a resting period sounds like a protective mechanism jumping in. If pulling multiple cups was fine in the past and now isn’t, it seems like some piece of the inner machinery gets too hot, and lime scale may or may not be the explanation. If you have a particular heavy buildup, it’s possible that one regular descaling cycle has been not strong enough to fully break down the deposits.

My first step would be to run the descaling at least once more and if possible extend the “soaking” time. That should also deal with particles floating in the system that were loosened in the first descaling and may now have wandered around and create a blockage. Rinse well afterwards, not only to get rid of the acidic cleaner, but also because of lime scale chips.

If that doesn’t help, it’s time to contact a repair service.


Starbucks is a huge company that wants to reduce the costs. Therefore, it is expected that they optimize for profit most of the time, not for the taste.

One cost-saving approach is to have lots of beans, roasting them all together right after the harvest --when the beans are easily available, then pack them and send to many other selling points --sometimes overseas.

As a result, it might be expected that shipping numerous of containers of packed beans overseas may take a while. However, we cannot just estimate this.

One note, checking the packaging date may help you do a closer estimation. I'm not aware of the legislation around the globe, but when I check a bag of beans in the nearby store, every time till now, the typed date is enough for me to throw the bag as far away as possible.


If a recipe calls for instant coffee, can just regular ground coffee be substituted?

Unlikely that you will run into any problems, although chemically they won't behave the same way. Instant coffee completely dissolves while the ground coffee will be in there as solid pieces that soak up some water and add taste. I assume the total amount of coffee used is just too little to affect the composition of the dough very much.

You could however also substitute some of the liquid in the recipe with brewed coffee. I think that's the way I would go with. That way you just have the desired taste without changing the composition and ratios of the recipe.


Does longer brewing time with hot water negatively effect flavor?

As discussed further in this question about bitterness, degree of extraction is one significant factor in bitterness in your cup. There are a couple of other links to coffee bitterness in that question also.

Keeping other major factors constant (e.g., same temperature of water, same beans), time and grind level are the easiest to modify to reduce bitterness. That is: shorter time and coarser grind will (generally) result in less bitter coffee. While you certainly can't expect to get a reasonable brew from barely chopped beans in 15 seconds, small changes in time and grind level can have a noticeable impact on outcomes, especially for immersion-style brewing methods like French press, Aeropress, pour-over, and to a lesser extent stovetop methods like percolator or moka.

Specifics vary by brewing method. For instance, some bitter-tasting compounds are filtered out by paper filters, so paper-filter pour-over will generally be less bitter than French press, for example. Also, your average paper filter will allow brewed coffee to filter more quickly with a coarser grind (finer grinds will more quickly clog the filter) so you might have to vary your pouring method to keep the total brewing time constant.

You might enjoy trying to vary one parameter at a time: trying coarser- or finer-grind coffee, then with a shorter or longer period of time, in both cases trying to vary only one parameter at a time.


Is there any specific orientation when using ESE pod?

They never mentioned about the orientation in their own site. Both sides should work. My experience also overlaps with that. However, as this is an open standard, some producer may produce an ESE in a bit different way.


Why does a coffee pad machine make such a smooth delicious coffee?

The appeal of espresso is the ability to extract, using high pressure, lots of oil within the coffee itself. That isn't easily achieved with any other type of machine.

So for low pressure you can have filtered (anything with paper in between you and the beans), unfiltered (without paper), poured (think drip filter) and full immersion (french press).

The senseo is using a paper filter, removing more oils from the coffee than without a filter and not allowing any "fines" very small coffee particles into the cup. It uses only moderate pressure and it is extracting rather fast.

So these are the variables that seem to create a smooth cup for you. I suggest looking up (or trying) what different extraction durations do to the taste, as well as what the grind size and filter will achieve, both things taht could fill pages ;-)


Aeropress: How to accent the caramel flavor and decrease the acidity of my beans (Burundi)?

You may try to minimize the citric acid extraction with respect to the Coffeeresearch.org's tables. In short, you may wish to use

coarser grind
shorter brewing time
cooler water

to stay away from citrus flavors.


What happens if you fail to clean a steam wand after frothing milk?

Word on the street is that:

The milk residue will get "baked on" by the heat of the steam wand, making it even more difficult to clean than if you'd just done it when the milk was still wet.
Any milk left on the tip of the wand will get sucked up into the machine's water reservoirs by changes in air pressure, where it will stay and become rancid and ruin everybody's drinks.

This is according to Joel's biweekly beratings on the topic. We might ask him to cite his sources.


To what extent have C. arabica beans been replaced by rust-resistant cultivars?

Even with the impact of below average crop yields from Coffee Rust, Arabica beans still make up at least 75% of the world's coffee crop. Although they are affected by the rust, Arabica plantations will tend to recover within a few years and go back to business as usual.

CLR resistant varieties aren't without problems. They are still vulnerable to other desease that can have an impact on crops.

USDA report on Coffee Rust impact to Arabica crops

2014 article on the Impact of Coffee Rust


How could I improve extraction and yield more coffee when brewing with a filter?

We need more information to give you good answers. The current question is rather vague and open-ended.

Is your end goal brewed coffee or concentrate? For yourself or as a commercial product? Is quality (taste) a primary consideration or are you concentrating on yield and/or caffeine and don't care much about taste? You should also describe your brew method in detail, tell us how you are grinding your coffee, how much coffee and water you use (brew ratio) and if you measure it, TDS (total dissolved solids).

You are almost certain to degrade quality if you press or "spin" your grounds to increase yield. If you proceed anyway, a centrifuge is more likely to both produce a better product and maximize yield. Pressing grounds will over-extract and create a bitter result.

You might want to consider brewing espresso, rather than coffee if yield is important. Better quality espresso machines will have quite dry pucks (grounds) and you have the advantage of a concentrated product, if that is a goal. Otherwise you can just add hot water to make an Americano or Long black which is an end product quite similar to brewed coffee but with the higher yield you desire.

Assuming that taste is important and it is to some degree for most people, then you have to consider the detrimental effect that pressing or centrifuging wet grounds will have on taste.


This video here seems to have a good tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTZNs2Mjxos

The steps seem to be as follow:

Make your latte as normal, heating/frothing the milk as you normally would - a microfoam.
Make a separate batch of frothed milk, and froth it a lot - you want a really stiff foam - a macrofoam.
Spoon the stiff foam carefully onto the top of your latte. If you've got it right, the dollops should just sit there and retain their shape. Keep spooning it on to build the shape you want. For your linked images, this is obviously quite a lot of dollops of various sizes.
Use a paintbrush to paint the darker areas onto the foam with espresso. It looks like your example has a variety of colours. This is probably done with food dye and/or chocolate.
Enjoy destroying your painstakingly produced work of art for the sake of your next caffeine fix!


Cezve doesn't leak with cold water in it, leaks after heating

If Cezve is made of copper, please get rid of it as soon as possible. Copper Oxide is quite poisonous. They are generally plated with tin after production. If you try to fix it, you may break this plating.


What is the industrial method for extracting caffeine to make decaf?

Caffeine is mostly extracted by utilizing very safe processes. Some of them, such as Swiss water, is not even really a chemical process.

Please see the following relevant discussions:

Of the various methods of decaffeinating coffee, which is the safest?
Which decaffeination process changes the flavor of the coffee the least?
How is decaffeinated coffee made?
How are caffeine pills made?

Also, you may want to see this answer to watch an animation of common Swiss water process:

Decaf coffee, how to make our own


Aluminium moka pot put through dishwasher and then polished - would it alter taste?

As you suggest and note in your question, and it deserves repeating:

Aluminum of any kind is generally not recommended for the dishwasher: it is likely to corrode / oxidize like your pot did.
Keeping your moka pot clean and dry will also help reduce the formation of pocking and oxidation.

That said, while unsightly, it should not be harmful to use after going through the dishwasher. You should thoroughly wash by hand no matter if you polish or not; you should remove any leftover polish, aluminum oxide, dish detergent, or any other residue (also suggested by Ecnerwal in a comment on the question). Polishing is possible with acids or metal polishes, but will probably not provide more than temporary, cosmetic benefit. That is my experience when trying to "restore" accidentally-dishwashered aluminum: I washed it thoroughly, and I continue to use it in its tarnished state.

I couldn't find a really good reference about these recommendations; here's a discussion on Chowhound with some reasonable information; many more by searching "dishwasher aluminum" or similar. Some suggest strong chemicals and abrasive scouring pads; I personally wouldn't use these for fear of further damaging the pot.

My personal pick is to use a stainless steel moka pot, affording a little more margin for error on cleaning. That said, aluminum models heat quickly and certainly do look classic and classy.


Yes, it makes a difference to the taste. As for what to pick - what you like.

My favorite is "Vermont Coffee" - ie, use maple syrup (or sugar, but syrup is more cost-effective, at least near a production area where the cost is not much shipping.)

Friends in the UK introduced me to Demerara, which is a not-quite fully refined sugar with a delicate carmel taste. Some of the "raw sugar" products sold in the USA approximate this, and some better than others.

At times I use USA brown sugar, which is basically white sugar sprayed with molasses, and not nearly as delicately flavored as a result.

Plain old white sugar is what it is, and if that's what you want, that's fine too.

I certainly have no difficulty distinguishing all of these from each other, in coffee - your taste buds/nose may vary.

Grain size affects only speed and ease of dissolving. Particularly in summer I tend to keep a bottle of 2 sugar:1 water simple syrup in the fridge for easily mixed, pre-dissolved sugar (not just for coffee.)


What are the basics of creating an espresso blend?

The basics of blending consists of finding the lost flavors of one specific single origin bean in another bean. Therefore perfecting both (or many) beans in the same cup.

As a result, a good blend mostly has many axes. For example, the timing is important. Palate has a base, mid flavors and finishing flavors. When you taste the cup you first taste the base, then the middle flavors. Finishing flavors remain for a while. A blend tries to balance this.

Also, the balance in between sweetness, bitterness could be managed with the selected single origin beans. Acidity or body could be set to desired levels. All of these could be crafted on all axes to perfection.

The espresso blend

As a result of the preparation technique, espresso is acidic and less bodily then its counterparts. As a result, when espresso blends are prepared, less acidic and more bodily origins are preferred.

Another observable difference in espresso blends is their roast. Darker roasts makes any origin less acidic and more bodily. So, many espresso blends are roasted a bit darker than normal to achieve a better flavor.


Least Expensive Way to Make Decent Espresso-based Milk Drinks?

If only after Latte, Bialetti Brikka will get you 9/10. Also the grinder will be a bit less demanding.
Add an induction milk frother (stainless cup) and you're set at a fraction of the cost and maintenance needs of a portafilter machine.


Recommended time to finish a cup of coffee for the best caffeine surge?

Physiologically, as soon as substances enter the body, they are being processed, entering your system and subsequently removed from it. By that logic, you will experience the greatest net effect of the caffeine content of your cup of coffee by finishing it in the shortest amount of time possible. This is assuming that your definition of 'best kick' is indeed attempting to feel the most potent effects of the caffeine available in your cup.


Is it safe to consume roasted rice as a substitute for coffee beans?

While I never heard of rice as coffee-substitute, people have used roasted malted barley, spelt, chicory or dandelion roots or even acorns (and other foods) to make a dark, aromatic brew that was used either separately or mixed with coffee, especially in times of scant resources.
I suppose the rice would not be burnt1 (because that would taste horrible), but roasted instead. Healthwise it is perfectly safe, like the other options mentioned above. Just note that rice has no caffeine, so you wouldn't get the "kick" you get from real coffee.

1  original post said "burnt", has now been changed to "roasted"


You'll probably be able to get away simply with ground cardamom/cardamon added to the grounds when you're "pre-infusing"/steeping the coffee grounds in the AeroPress. It's probably best to use very finely ground, freshly ground cardamom seeds. You may even wish to grind the cardamom seeds along with your coffee (i.e., in the grinder at the same time); you'll get similarly-fine grind. However, you might get a bit of cardamom flavour left over in the grinder; this may (not) be desirable.

As another option, you could also consider a sprinkle of the dry, ground spice into the cup after brewing.

In addition to cardamom or black cardamom, one might also consider cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, anise, or other "baking spices." Any of these could be used in a similar way. For example, I sometimes use freshly grated nutmeg in the grounds when brewing pour-over, and it gives a nice smell and a hint of flavour in the cup.

You might also consider using an extract or essential oil or some high-intensity flavouring like that. You'd probably want to add that to your cup after brewing.

I see a few problems that you might have to work around, specific to AeroPress, that you might run into with any of these spices. One problem you might encounter is the rather short infusion time commonly used in AeroPress; an option might be to try to steep the spice in the water as you're bringing it to the boil, but you risk burning the spice or otherwise contaminating the kettle (but might be worth a try to boil in a regular cooking pan). Another problem is that some spices have a rather strong hydrophobic tendency (specifically, cinnamon), so it might be necessary to stir the grounds more thoroughly than usual, to make sure the spices are infusing in the water. Also, these spices might leave behind some flavour in the AeroPress, so do consider washing thoroughly and soon after the brew. And you might get a hint of the spice next brew... so make sure it's something that you won't mind in the future!

EDIT: More thoughts based on a later question: There's a few other suggestions from recipes like this and this (somewhat arbitrary top search hits). The former suggests using a French press / cafetière (providing longer steeping time for the spice) and the latter recommends grinding the spice with the coffee beans.


Is the moka pot predisposed to producing burnt or bitter coffee?

This is nothing I've tried myself, but to add onto your theory of the heat required to brew the Moka-Pot, I believe we'll arrive at an answer. The problem is not likely the water temperature itself, it turns out it's realistically pretty difficult to get boiling water onto coffee when using some sort of brew method (as the metal absorbs enough heat to drop the water temp).

However the lengthy heat time on the mokapot will actually heat up the ground coffee itself during brew, and this can lead to poor tasting coffee. The best thing you can do, from my understanding is pre-heat the mokapot bottom and start with hot water before assembling and putting on the stove. Additionally, as soon as the coffee starts spurting, it's done and you can run under cool water to halt brewing as well.

I got most of this info from a mokapot video I saw a while back, thought it might help you as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpyBYuu-wJI.


Silver skin is the name generally used when it is still on the green beans.  This thin but tough layer is lightly colored (sometimes similarly to the paper product in your question) and mostly translucent.  It allows the green color of the bean underneath to be seen.  After roasting (when it begins to loosen and fall off) it is more properly called chaff.

Since the paper is likely made of chaff collected from the roasting process (easy to collect since nearly all roasters have a mechanism for separation) is actually an excellent reuse of chaff.  "Chaff paper" just doesn't have the same ring since generally chaff is thought to be a byproduct to be discarded.

The silver skin is the innermost layer of the coffee cherry surrounding the pit/seed (green coffee bean).  It is a tough substance to remove and different processing techniques remove varying amounts (dry process coffee removes the least and dry process coffee produces the most chaff when roasting).  Roasting the coffee both dries the silver skin and causes it to split as the coffee bean expands, so it comes off fairly easily during the roasting process given some agitation.


Why does water remain in the bottom chamber after brewing with a moka pot?

This is deliberate.

In a moka pot, the downward spout of the funnel does not reach all the way to the bottom of the pot. Brewing will stop once the level of water in the pot falls below the bottom of the funnel (if you carry on brewing after this point, you'll be making coffee with the superheated steam, which will be burnt and bitter).

I'm not sure why this is how it works, but I guess it's to prevent the pot from boiling dry, and retaining a thermal mass in the bottom pot to help it cool down again.

Original image from Wikipedia article on moka pot, thanks to user Alborzagros!


Can I use cocoa-dusted coffee in my moka pot?

If the cocoa powder is ground up cocoa bean withou added sugar/milk etc. I can't see any issue.

If it contains sugar, it will leave some residue in the machine wich I imagine might get hard to get out if it builds up.


Does caffeinating my hair follicles help prevent hair loss?

I'm aware of one in vitro study (though there might be others) of that demonstrate that caffeine is effective at certain types of hair loss -- in a "test tube", anyway. That is, this study from 2007 (another link from publisher, a colloquial summary of the study) took biopsy samples of follicles from men with AGA ("male pattern baldness") and treated them caffeine (and hormones), finding that caffeine was "a promising candidate for hair growth stimulation" and "may have important clinical impact". Another note is that this is ex vivo -- which I take to mean topical in this sense -- drinking a bunch of coffee is unlikely to help (the summary article suggests that the dose necessary of orally-consumed coffee to get the same effect is ~6 grams -- many dozens of cups of coffee, and perhaps fatal dose). If you don't happen to subscribe to the International Journal of Dermatology you can obtain the PDF of this article for perhaps a small fee.

I don't know if this has been demonstrated in any clinical trials. I can't find any longitudinal studies of longer-term effectiveness, nor can I find any evidence of actual clinical trials. There are a few more links in the caffeine-related clauses at the management of hair loss Wikipedia article.

Also, as an aside, you might get a little "caffeine buzz" from it! There are some bar soaps, like this one, that make the (largely unverified) claim that some of the caffeine is absorbed through your skin. Win-win?

"To keep this on-topic..." As for using instant coffee or some other source of caffeine (e.g., pills) to be applied topically to your scalp, I can't find anything about that either. Concentrations cited in the study are "0.001% and 0.005%." Coffee beans themselves have about 1-4% caffeine before roasting, so it's reasonable to expect that you could get to the concentration used in the study with a paste of instant coffee, but I don't know about the "bioavailability" of caffeine from topical application of instant coffee. Robusta beans are generally on the higher end of caffeine content and might be cheaper. Also, green beans will have a higher caffeine content than roasted, but I might be taking this a bit too far...

Standard disclaimer -- this isn't medical advice, I'm not a doctor, seek actual legitimate advice if you have health concerns.


Does the flavour of coffee beans improve after opening the bag?

That is almost the opposite of my experience, after opening a bag of beans, they have noticeable less flavour after a couple of days. Coffee beans are more resistant than ground coffee though, as that decays in a couple of hours. Obviously, if beans are exposed to air for long enough, their quality is decreasing.

However there is an effect that improve them at first, simply because some of the processes from the roasting takes time to finish, and may require several days in order to do so. They may even require exposure to air (oxygen) in order to oxidise some of the compounds causing the flavour. Keep in mind that even though some of the compounds improve, other does not. The most notable degradation in the first days is caused by the most volatile aroma compounds evaporating.

This graph shows the stalling of coffee as a function of time. Note that this is just a visualisation of the aroma compounds evaporating, not necessary a measure of quality. The remaining compounds are also changing, and some of them improves over time.


Why do most coffee shops use such dark roast?

Roasting coffee dark may be used because it is easier to create a consistently flavored bean, with less monitoring and concern for flavor profiles. In the case of Starbucks they are shipping so much of their coffee to so many locations and creating so much coffee at once that it may be easier to create consistency. The darker you roast the less the flavor of the original bean matters, so it may also be used as a method to roast cheaper or lower quality beans.


Is it safe to use paper towel as a filter when brewing?

Coffee filters are subject to food grade standards. They aren't just convenient shapes and stronger than paper towels, they have substantially less toxins i.e. bleach byproducts such dioxins (strong carcinogen). As well many paper towels have various purfumes, inks and other chemicals only GRAS (generally recognized as safe) for external use on your skin. Not as a filter medium for an ingested beverage.

And as for white being devoid of dyes and chemicals.. natural wood pulp which is what filters and paper towels are made of is a murky brownish grey colour at it's lightest. If it's white it's been bleached. And in most cases with a more potent bleaching agent if the intended use is for paper towels than filter media.

Sure you can use paper towels. Most brands won't burst suddenly and it won't kill you on the spot anymore than BPA in older water bottles or lead in drinking water. But is this where you want to save a few pennies - by using something that is going to bring unnecessary amounts of known carcinogens into your diet?

I'll stick to coffee filters myself. And unbleached (brown) ones at that.


Why is freshly roasted coffee better than pre-packaged coffee?

Coffe is a natural product, and has a shelf life. The changes made to store the product for a longer period, makes the coffee deteriorate.

Coffee is at its best one week after roasting, and the shelf live is maximum 3-4 weeks after roasting. If the bag of coffee has a ‘best before’ or ‘use-by date’ rather than a ‘roast date’ it’s because whoever packaged the coffee would rather you didn’t know when it was roasted.


Why are the spouts on some portafilters not aligned with the handle?

The spouts are aligned with the machine front and cup once the portafilter is installed for use in the machine. Note the handle on the portafilter body goes quite a distance over to the side, or it would interfere with handling the cup.


Why does the same coffee in my Hario V60 drip tastes better then in Bialetti stainless steel moka pot?

As they are two different methods of brewing, it is normal that they taste different.

One very clear difference is the temperature of the water. Moka pots practically use water/steam. This let's the extraction happen in a warmer environment than recommended. Additional bitter notes of the bean is also extracted. More importantly, you loose some aromatics as they evaporate quickly. However, as you don't use a fine filter, you and up with a more bodily cup.

V60 effectively filters out the body of the bean. Also, you brew in the recommended degree (around 95 degree Celcius). The result is a more finer, light, herbal-tea-like cup of coffee.

Note: I realized that you did not mention your grind size. Grounds must be grinded in different sizes for both methods. If you use the same size, it is also another reason for the difference in the taste. In case, check this discussion.


How long can I store roasted coffee beans?

I assume you are storing them for a later grinding (likely just before preparing your cups of coffee).

According to some sources 1,2,3, the main point is use it within a week. For more than that, it is preferable to freeze them, and in this condition, for no more than a month.

A brief summary:

For short term use (this week's coffee):

Do not refrigerate your daily supply of coffee (in order to avoid moisture).
Keep them in air-tight glass or ceramic containers, in a dark and cool place.
Keep only the amount of beans you know you will quickly use.

For long term use (no more than a month):

If you have a large amount of beans, wrap them in small (weekly) amounts inside air-tight bags, and freeze them. Once removed from freezer, do not return them.
If you are making coffee in an espresso machine, let them getting room temperature for one day.

1: "How to store coffee. National Coffee Association"
2: The Coffee Geek's Guide to Storing Beans
3: For better coffee, store your beans


How bad is it for people with nervous tension to have coffee?

Caffeine effects everyone differently, both physiologically and psychologically. If your doctor(s) say to avoid caffeine, I would heed their advice.

Getting off caffeine can be uncomfortable but totally possible - start to reduce the amount you have every day (e.g. switch from regular coffee to regular tea to decaf coffee to nothing), and you will minimize headaches. It will take time to readjust to normal (2-4 weeks for me, but again, everyone is different), but it will happen, and you will notice you feel less anxious and more calm and steady.


What is the science (if any) behind bulletproof coffee?

Another view on this:

Bulletproof coffee is often used with a low-carb diet, often referred to as the "keto diet", which has some similarities with Paleo, but is quite different. The diet requires you to cut out as many carbohydrates as possible out of your diet in order to get your body into a state of ketosis, where most of the energy in the body is produced by processing fat instead of carbohydrates.

When following the keto diet, you need to eat a lot of fat, minimum carbohydrates and a reasonable amount of protein. The goal is to get most of your calories from fat. Getting in all the fat that is required is often difficult, so in that context, bulletproof coffee is nothing more than a delivery method for fat. There's nothing special about it, it's just easier to drink a spoonful of butter melted in coffee than eating it on its own.

If you want to read up on keto further, the keto reddit has lots of resources on it: Keto In A Nutshell.


What factors should I change for a dark roast in an Aeropress?

Dark roasts from an Aeropress easily become too bitter.

I would recommend keeping the water temperature just below boiling. Flip your Aeropress upside down so that you can control the brew time. Add your beans and water, and then brew for 30-45 seconds.

With lighter roasts, I do the above but let them brew much longer. I've found you have to adjust the brew time for darker roasts.


How much volume of the shot should pre-infusion take up?

I was actually reading an article on this yesterday. There is no added volume during pre-infusion. All the pre-infusion step does is wet the espresso fully to prevent channeling.

The article I linked actually shows that less extraction happens during pre-infusion. So to answer your question, it does affect the shot, but not the volume.


What is the difference between the terms percolation and brewing in English?

Brewing is a part of every coffee preparation method: it's the time when the water (or steam) is in contact with the grounds. It is a generic term.

Percolation however, would only be used when making percolator coffee. You would not talk about percolation time when making espresso, for example. I would not use it as a generic term.


Baking soda. I use a standard dish sponge/scrubbie with baking soda and a little water and it comes completely out. I've actually tried it with just a damp paper towel and baking soda and it's almost as easy.

Baking soda has natural whitening properties and is a very gentle abrasive. I actually started using it elsewhere (sinks, counter tops, greasy pans) before discovering its use in coffee cups.

I've also tried baking soda + salt on counter tops and pans with great success. Salt has similar whitening properties (surprisingly to me) and is a stronger abrasive. Haven't tried it in coffee cups, but you might consider trying that if you need a little extra cleaning power. (Also: Aside from being cheap, baking soda / salt are food-grade and non-toxic!)


I kicked it by switching to caffeine pills so that I could carefully taper down. Before I started the process, though, I went to caffeineinformer to get a good estimate of my daily habit. I then used caffeine pills to replace the milligrams of caffeine I was having as coffee. From there, I began to cut the pills into quarters and slowly reduce my intake over the course of several months. Each Saturday I would step down by one quarter of a pill. Withdrawal was minimal and by Monday I was back able to work. It took discipline and patience.

One unintended, but huge benefit that I found by going this route is that I disassociated the buzz with the ritual and smell of coffee. It became clinical for me. Plus it was quite easy to control when I took my caffeine. I no longer had to make or find coffee to get my fix.


How much caffeine is in 1 teaspoon of ground Arabica coffee?

The caffeine content of Arabica beans is around 1,2% of its mass. A standard measure of a teaspoon is approximately 5ml. That means you get around 5g of ground coffee in one teaspoon, which totals around 0,06g or 60mg of caffeine.

However please consider that teaspoons and spoons are in general a terrible unit of measurement for various reasons. Normal teaspoons are not standardized. American measuring spoons are close to 5ml but not 5ml. And in general they measure volume and not mass, which makes it dependent on the density of whatever you are measuring. For ground coffee this can vary widely and depends on the bean origin, the roast level, grind size and probably other factors I'm forgetting right now.


Why did my instant coffee turn dark and hard?

The most sensible solution is to throw it out.

Instant coffee is hygroscopic, it will absorb moisture from the air if possible. I guess either someone was sloppy when scooping out the instant coffee and used a wet spoon or the container was not airtight (either bad packaging design or because a careless user didn’t close the pack properly). Now add high humidity to the mix and you will get the lump as seen in your post.

There are at least three reasons1 to discard this container.

A) It’s a pain to pry it out and to dissolve it, as you have already observed. Pouring hot water straight into the container may help, but then there’s:

B) The flavor is almost certainly not pleasant any more (see 1).

C) But the most important factor is food safety. If the granules got humid, there is a certain probability of bacterial and/or fungal growth and I would really recommend to discard the (ex-)coffee. I wrote more about food safety considerations in this post, explaining the FAT TOM principle of food safety.

————

1 There are some coffee snobs that would claim that instant coffee per se is disgusting enough to throw away, but we won’t go down that road here.


What's the basket/tamper size for Gaggia Classic?

Actually the most common and widely used basket/tamper size is the 58mm. It also seemed, from a quick Google, that the Gaggia Classic does indeed use a 58mm portafilter basket so you'll want to find a 58mm tamper for it.


How can I go about developing my ability to taste flavors in coffee?

There are several approaches that can aid in developing your palate.

Cupping

The preferred method of tasting coffee. This requires only a cupping bowl and spoon. Dose out coffee, pour in the hot water evenly, and at 4 minutes skim off the top to remove the crust while carefully not disturbing what has settled at the bottom. Wait about 12-14 minutes for the coffee to cool to a desirable drinking temperature, and slurp the coffee with the spoon.

Types of flavors

There's a variety of descriptions you can use to describe the coffee. Try describe everything. The mouth feel: is it full bodied or light? The acidity: Is it citric or stone fruit? The Smell: What are the aromatics?

Note keeping

Every time you taste coffee, keep notes of what flavors you taste. Basic notes of chocolate or smoke are fine, more nuanced flavors like cherry or plum may come out. Don't be afraid to write exactly what comes to mind. If the coffee tastes like captain crunch then write it!

Comparing coffee

Don't just taste your coffee by itself. Compare it to other roasts you've done. Compare it to coffees from other cafes as well. Note the differences.


My findings are that it's actually exactly the same.  Peaberry beans occur in almost all coffee in some percentage.  They aren't grown separate, they are the exact same coffee that's been sorted out of the processed beans so that the lot looks more homogeneous and sells better.  I've actually been lucky enough to at one time have peaberry, oversized and "regular" beans all from the same lot.  The coffees all tasted exactly the same to me.  I have a friend that claimed he tasted some difference in in the larger beans, owing perhaps to not having been roasted as thoroughly.

The beans I had were Sumatran Toba Batak, sold in sorted lots of 17+, peaberry and regular.  I am sure that almost any processing station you went to in the world could do such processing if they chose, although it's probably labor intensive and would add some cost to the beans.  If Tanzania is doing it regularly, they have probably found it's financially worth it.  On occasion when I look closely at the beans I am roasting, I'll usually find a few peaberries in the mix.


Left on the stovetop without water -- do I need a new moka pot?

We have an almost identical Q/A, just without a burnt gasket. In short, aluminum is very heat tolerant and unless you see some unexpected warping or other deformation (unlikely, I would assume), replacing the seal should be sufficient.


I, being a native Turkish and experienced Turkish coffee drinker for my life, quite conservative about this.

There will be some major problems on producing the genuine Turkish-style with a syphon.

The extraction process is made by heat, not by pressure in Turkish coffee. So, syphon is not what it is intended for.
Two (or even three) times is quite correct during preparation. But boiling is quite wrong. Never boil Turkish coffee.
A well-prepared Turkish coffee is layered. So, the grounded coffee subside at the bottom of the "fincan" (cup). Ideally, it never gets mixed in the drinkable layer of the coffee. (Those remaining grounded coffee is for the fortunetellers.) I assume, by moving coffee in between the chambers of syphon three times, you cannot settle the grounded coffee easily. So, it will fill into your mouth. This is undesirable.


You should reduce your coffee concentrate by placing it in a vacuum to lower the boiling point of the water down to room temperature. Lowering the pressure of water decreases its boiling point. This way you will boil off the water quickly without adding heat and risking any changes in flavor.

Otherwise you can put your coffee concentrate in an oven on a low heat setting poured into a glass or ceramic baking pan to maximize the surface area. Use the convection setting if you have it. The added heat shouldn't cause too much of a flavor change since the coffee beans have been removed at this point and won't continue to brew/extract harsh flavors.


Is it safe to say that same type of coffee used with an espresso machine is ideal for a moka pot?

First, let's clear the misconception. The posted photo in the question is a moka pot. This is a common misconception all around the globe and also discussed in Coffee SE a few times. Please see the following post to clear this out:

Does a percolator make "better" coffee?

A better answer, also including the differences in between an espresso and a moka (the cup made with a moka pot) is explained here:

What's the difference between a percolator and a moka pot?

Then, please check this answer regarding the crema and the pressure issues:

Generating crema with a moka pot?

Enormous Editing after farankoshan's change in the question is below.

If we decide to compare the moka pot (instead of a percolator) with espresso, then my answer is as follows. I keep the first version for history.

First, the grind size is very different. It is advised that ideal grind size for espresso is around 300 µ where for a moka pot it is around 800 µ.

It is also known that espresso brews are the most acidic cups and moka pots are produce generally bitter cups. A reference to espresso brews is below, unfortunately, this study does not include moka pots.

Could preparation method make coffee more acidic?

According to this knowledge, you may decide your beans and roast as you please.

For the roast, it is known that acidity reduces when roast degree increases. That's why many espresso brews are prepared with darker roasts. You may search for your taste.

For the bean origin (or the blend) you may again search for the specific acidity and bitterness. JayCo's previous study below is a good starting point again.

What coffees are the least acidic?


Bean to Cup cappuccino coffee is never hot enough

Many of these fully automatic machines heat the milk by combining steam and milk. In my experience, those machines do not take into account the temperature of the milk, they simply mix steam and milk at a fixed ratio. Assuming the steam has a fairly constant temperature, the temperature of the heated milk will mostly depend on the temperature of the cold milk. Simply stated, cooler milk will produce cooler heated milk.
If you use milk straight from the fridge, it might be wise to heat it a bit yourself before passing it through the machine. Microwaving the milk you need to slightly below room temperature and then feeding it through the machine's frothing process should increase the temperature of the heated milk. By extension, the temperature of the final drink will be higher as well.
Be careful not to pre-heat the milk too much, then the machine could heat it so that you get unwanted chemical reactions (e.g. lactose reacting with proteins) or that the final product comes out steaming.