I have been in search for almost a year now for a way to make coffee that tastes like my daily $2 Starbucks black (decaf) coffee. I have really not been able to find anything that comes even close after many machines and process modifications, until now! I am well known as a coffee freak and went down the espresso path for a good many years (and many dollars) only to discover that what I really like is a nice big cup of coffee. I already run a bit in the red and figured out that I could drink more coffee by drinking decaf and the added benefit that I also get to sleep at night.
I know many true coffee connoisseurs look down up on the char bucks brand but I do like it and consider myself a coffee connoisseur. I like my coffee black and I enjoy the burnt goodness that *$'s beans provide.
The problem is that no matter what I have done I have not been able to duplicate that lovely nectar produced by those all too cheery elves at the local coffee crack store. First I bought a Batista Aroma Solo and found that while very convenient produced a very weak cup of coffee that never tasted even close. I then decided that my problem must be with my grinder so I purchased a Rancilio Rocky (considered to be the best home use burr grinder out there by those in the know). My results with the Aroma Solo and the Rocky were not really much better. I then decided that I needed to spend $300 on an SCAA certified Technivorm but then changed my mind after deciding there must be a better way.
Next I purchased a Melitta 10 Cup Manual Coffeemaker. I figured this way I can control all of the variables and have an entry price under $20. I have been using this method now for a few months and while it can be a bit time consuming it makes an OK cup of coffee but is still no where near the taste of the commercially brewed cups I get on my breaks. After a few months I decided that the issue was that the coffee was brewing through the cone far too fast. My new solution was to restrict the flow by reducing the size of the hole in the bottom of the Melitta cone. This was accomplished with a lighter and a butter knife. This has improved my coffee again significantly. So my basic process with the Melitta is grind at a setting of 20 on the Rocky 2Tbs per cup of coffee + an extra scoop or two if it is a large batch to make the math come out right of 2Tbs/6oz. I am all the while boiling water in my tea kettle with a digital thermometer shoved in spout and I pull the kettle when the thermometer reads 199 deg. F. This typically gives me a minute or two at 200 deg. F. I pour the grounds in then add about two cups of water to soak the grounds and let them settle then I fill it up to the brim. This results in a mild cup of coffee that is OK. I figured I had exhausted my options until I had an idea.I forgot to mention that during this process I had switched to french press which I have always loved and is an awesome low cost alternative. The problem with the French press is that some people somewhere have done some studies that said drinking large volumes of french press coffee is not really good for you because there is a significant amount of coffee oils that make their way into your body and raise your cholesterol. While I didn't spend a great deal of time researching this I was able to find enough people making this claim that I decided this was not my best option for daily coffee.
Alas the best of two worlds and coffee that truly tastes like the good stuff with none or at least less "killer oil". Here is the new recipe that I am currently using for brewing coffee at work one cup at a time. I use the filtered water that comes out of our commercial Bunn brewers and the water temp is very stable near 200.
1. Grind
At work I am using a blade grinder and seem to have good success with it. Although I am going to switch over to my extra Starbucks burr grinder because the dust seems to clog the pores in step 4. which slows down the process. I grind about 5 Tbsp of fresh coffee in the burr and shake it up and down while grinding. I have found that just holding the burr grinder on the counter seems to create a great deal of dust along with a significant number of large particles. I grind to a medium fine consistency. Somewhere between the example given at left. It takes about 10-15 seconds to get to this consistency.2. Mixing
My next step is to pour the grinds into a large plastic container, I use one of those weight lifter shake mixers and pour in 16 ounces of water near or at 200 deg. F. Next I stir the slurry with a chopstick or swizzle stick which creates a nice head. This is the head or crema you would see on top of a good cup of espresso and it is created by oils, proteins and sugars in the coffee.
Next I set my stop watch for about 3.5 minutes and let it sit. At this point I basically have a french press cup of coffee that now needs to be filtered.
3. Pre-Heat
Because you have some thermal loss going on with this process it is important to reduce your temperature loss as much as possible so you still end up with a hot cup of coffee. One way to minimize the loss is to preheat your target coffee mug once or twice with hot water. I use a double wall stainless mug so preheating is very effective. Once pre-heated and ready to filter empty the water and place your filter on top of your drinking vessel (more on that below).
4. Filter
At work I use a Melitta Ready Set Joe ($2.99) coffee filter cone which takes #2 cone filters and sits on top of your coffee cup. It is very similar to the Melitta 10 cup I have at home but just the right size for one cup at a time. My work Melitta filter cone suffered the same issues as it's full size counter part at home so I apply similar process on a smaller scale at work multiple times daily.Once your coffee is finished steeping all you have to do now is pour the slurry into the Melitta cone filter. Also note I have done this with an actual french press where you actually press the grounds first so you don't get all of the grounds in the filter it seems to work fine eliminating this step and greatly shortens the cleanup time. With the small cone you have to make a few pours so you don't overflow the filter. Also again because I am using a blade grinder I am getting a large quantity of dust which makes it hard to get all of the coffee through the filter at the end due to the dust clogging the filter but if you are willing to wait it will eventually all drip through. I am going to try this with the burr grinder and see if my brew times improve.
6. Cleanup
Dump the coffee filter in the trash rinse the plastic cup and the filter and you are done.
7. Drink
You should now have a perfect of coffee and if you don't you now have the ability to control ALL of the variables using this process.
Coffee Brewing Variables:
- water temperature
- coffee/water ratio
- coffee grind
- brew time
While it sounds like this process takes a great deal of time it really only takes about five minutes and is worlds apart from the acrid stuff that is poured out of the air pots all over the world by the slaves of corporate America. Life is short, take a few minutes a day and enjoy a great cup of coffee. All the supplies used in this process can be purchased with the money saved from about 7 cups of Starbucks and can be stored neatly in your cubes desk drawer.
