Coffee conundrum

Find deals on amazon
Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
What ever floats your boat. I grind more beans to water ratio to get stronger brew. Pour over CM blooms the grinds first. Used to French Press the CM makes good cup ,& thermal pot keeps it warm a while.

Cultures are diff. Don't care for sugary coffee but plenty people do and drink it every day
 
We are on our second DeLonghi automatic machine now, I think the model is called Magnfica. You can get espresso or coffee with two button presses:

1. power on
2. choose from 4 buttons (single or double espresso, single or double coffee)

That's it.

There are two output spouts very near one another, so you can output double shots / double coffees into either one cup or two cups. Convenient when you have visitors.

DeLonghi automatic machines stand out above the rest in the consumer market for two major reasons:

1. Ceramic grinder - nobody wants a coffee machine with a bean grinder that is able to wake up the neighbors.
2. Horizontal-loading water tank - can't put your machine under a kitchen cabinet if it has a vertical-loading water tank.
 
Can you foam art with the Delonghi? ;). Maybe a stupid question wonder if you can use almond milk in foam stage.
 
Mine only has a steam frother but DeLonghi also makes models with a milk tank and built-in frother.

The built-in frothers in all coffee machines are designed for the specific temperature reactivity of cow milk only. Putting almond or oat milk inside of heating / frothing systems that are temperature designed for cow milk WILL result in clogged up tubes, pumps, etc and a visit from the repairman.

That said, I don't like steam frothers or built-in frothers. The first one sucks and the second one is high-maintenance and fickle. We have a Jura automatic milk frother.

619hPuqmVXL._SY450_.jpg
 
slickmamba said:
I really need to get into roasting my own beans. $16 for 12oz of fancy espresso beans is killing my wallet
Click to expand...
You're doing it all wrong. Buy bulk and freeze in small 250g portions. I get some excellent beans from Klatch, Redbird or Caffe Lusso (if I'm feeling flush). Discounted price is around $60 shipped for 5lbs.
 
podzap said:
Holy smokes. I buy dark roasted "espresso" beans at my local supermarket for 6.99 EUR (7.81 USD) a kilo (3.55 USD a pound).[/QUOTE

I get pretty good deal on Kona beans
You posted that Jura did some reaserch. Ordered a hand held frother .
Says you can do soy & almond milk with it. In my older age can't handle muçh diary. Just heat milk to certain temp & froth it. We will see, took the cheap option.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah we have one of those little battery-powered whisk frothers. We take it with us when we go up north on vacation, along with the stovetop Bialetti espresso percolator.
 
Paraffin said:
Wouldn't New World Espresso be Cafézinho (Brazilian)? :)
Click to expand...

??? Hehe.... I dunno!??... Or parts of Oceania?

Paraffin said:
Years ago I worked for a while in Brazil, and you couldn't attend a business meeting without people bringing endless trays of that sugary thick stuff. People would get just wired on the combination caffiene and sugar high, all day long. :eek:
Click to expand...

Cafe Bombon can be fun - but this is a dessert class drink - like an affogato. I couldn't do it routinely.

Matus said:
I rarely drink a pure espresso. I am one of those ignorant central Europeans who, without a glimpse of a shame would order cappuccino at 3pm in south Italy :p . But when I do have an espresso I can not help but find most of them too sour (and sometimes bitter).
Click to expand...

:confused: Despite my previous (joking) zealousness, I am 100% with you. I am a fan of espresso based coffee - from (mostly) double shot flat whites to piccolo lattes. Occasionally macchiato... very rarely pure esspresso. Absolutely zero shame if milk is involved.

Corradobrit1 said:
I can't get the same enjoyment from espresso as I can from a milk based drink. Cappuccino (anytime of the day..... yep the horror) is my go to but at a pinch I'll do a macchiato. For that reason I like coffee blends that have a taste profile that can cut through the milk. It tends to be a mixture of arabica and robusta. Lots of chocolate, nut, dark fruit taste elements and a medium to dark roast.
Click to expand...

I think another 'coffee' is really just a veiled excuse for me to have more milk. I feel similar - a bean that can cut through the milk without being dominant is my preference.

Keith Sinclair said:
What ever floats your boat.
Click to expand...

Jokes aside.... basically this ^^^

... there is no wrong way (except if it is not espresso based :p)
 
slickmamba said:
I really need to get into roasting my own beans. $16 for 12oz of fancy espresso beans is killing my wallet
Click to expand...
Only $16... lol.

Ok seriously, it’s not that hard. I am convinced I can take $6-7/lbs green to the equivalent of $20/lbs roasted coffee in the time it take me to clean the kitchen after a meal. Multitasking means no wasted time. It takes about 20 minutes to roast a pound, about 45 min start to finish. I figure I save about $10 per pound.
 
Bensbites said:
Only $16... lol.

Ok seriously, it’s not that hard. I am convinced I can take $6-7/lbs green to the equivalent of $20/lbs roasted coffee in the time it take me to clean the kitchen after a meal. Multitasking means no wasted time. It takes about 20 minutes to roast a pound, about 45 min start to finish. I figure I save about $10 per pound.
Click to expand...

$16/12oz is like $21/lb :(. I was originally getting like $24/lb or almost $30/lb beans(bird rock roaster) since they were local, but it was nuts, so I got something a little cheaper. I mostly go to cafe virtuoso nowadays or get something small batch from whole foods/trader joes for like $10-12/lb.

I'll try roasting my own eventually but don't know if I can match the consistency of dedicated roasters. How do you do it?
 
slickmamba said:
$16/12oz is like $21/lb :(. I was originally getting like $24/lb or almost $30/lb beans(bird rock roaster) since they were local, but it was nuts, so I got something a little cheaper. I mostly go to cafe virtuoso nowadays or get something small batch from whole foods/trader joes for like $10-12/lb.

I'll try roasting my own eventually but don't know if I can match the consistency of dedicated roasters. How do you do it?
Click to expand...

I have a behmor 1600. They got for about $350 now and I would replace it in a heartbeat if needed. It is one of the only economical priced home roasters that can handle a pound at a time. Basically, once I found the area of coffee I like (central/South American coffees) I figured out I liked coffee labeled “sweet”. It was a fun journey.

Basically I set up the roaster and stop it once first crack finishes. Plenty consistent for me. PM me if you want me to send you a sample. There are cheaper and more expensive ways to do this but I get what I want out, so I am pretty happy. I have converted several friends. I have many more thoughts, but I want to make sure people are interested before I spew coffee experiences.
 
Bensbites said:
I have a behmor 1600. They got for about $350 now and I would replace it in a heartbeat if needed. It is one of the only economical priced home roasters that can handle a pound at a time. Basically, once I found the area of coffee I like (central/South American coffees) I figured out I liked coffee labeled “sweet”. It was a fun journey.

Basically I set up the roaster and stop it once first crack finishes. Plenty consistent for me. PM me if you want me to send you a sample. There are cheaper and more expensive ways to do this but I get what I want out, so I am pretty happy. I have converted several friends. I have many more thoughts, but I want to make sure people are interested before I spew coffee experiences.
Click to expand...

Wow that looks interesting. I'd be down to try some out. At first I hated this whole 'bright' third wave espresso thing, but I recently went and tried old school dark roast espresso, and now I prefer the bright stuff. Damnit. I also like 'sweet' and sweet fruit flavors.

I've seen some over the stove options, and some fancy automated $3000 options, haha. I saw that instant pot has a new fancy air fryer with a rotissery option, I wonder if it would take a drum.

edit: Apparently it comes with a drum, but the holes look a little big for greens. Dunno tho
 
Last edited:
podzap said:
Yeah we have one of those little battery-powered whisk frothers. We take it with us when we go up north on vacation, along with the stovetop Bialetti espresso percolator.
Click to expand...

Used a large hand held at work to mix pots of salad dressing. Also a small battery to blend all kinds of stuff for special dishes.

Love the smell of roasting coffee.
 
Bensbites said:
I have a behmor 1600. They got for about $350 now and I would replace it in a heartbeat if needed. It is one of the only economical priced home roasters that can handle a pound at a time. Basically, once I found the area of coffee I like (central/South American coffees) I figured out I liked coffee labeled “sweet”. It was a fun journey.

Basically I set up the roaster and stop it once first crack finishes. Plenty consistent for me. PM me if you want me to send you a sample. There are cheaper and more expensive ways to do this but I get what I want out, so I am pretty happy. I have converted several friends. I have many more thoughts, but I want to make sure people are interested before I spew coffee experiences.
Click to expand...
I do the same. Use Guatemalan but 12 oz at a time and hit the cool button once it hits the second crack.
Behmor has paid for itself many times over. I replaced the halogen heat lights a few years back. No regrets
 
This is all about budget and personal preference but here is what I use:
I grind beans (Baratza Vituoso) while the water is heating and use manual pour over (Chemex or Melitta). Clean up is simple - toss or compost filter and grounds and it makes a carafe of coffee with minimal effort. I also own and occasionally use an AeroPress, a Kalitta 185 (like AeroPress only makes one or two cups at a time), vacuum siphon, and a French Press. I think the AeroPress probably makes the best coffee but is too fiddly for volume AM production.
If I was going to buy an automatic machine I'd probably buy a Technivorm or maybe an OXO or Bonavita. The later two probably won't last as long as the Technivorm but are significantly cheaper (made in PRC unlike the Technivorm).
Per earlier posters the quality of the grinder matters almost as much as the making process. A very good grinder is essential for decent espresso and important for other methods, French Press especially. IMO the Virtuosos is inadequate for good espresso and you need to look at $700+ grinders.
I roast my own beans in a Behmor 1600. This represents a budgetary restraint, there certainly are better roasters but for much more money.
I'm not a fan of freezing roasted beans for storage.
 
When tried almond milk no success with hand mixer. Bought Silk Barista Soy Milk. Problem solved can get thick & thin foam. Has a little sugar in it, gellan gum to help the frothing.;)
 
I have been using Aeropress with metal reusable filter. Aeropress coffee turns out way better than Tassimo and somewhat better than french press (at least to me). It also depends on the coffee you drink. I've only been drinking Mushroom Coffee lately. For the morning ritual, this is the best coffee. I haven't seen such a good ingredients in a long time. It is completely organic and suitable even for vegans. I have been drinking this coffee for a month now and I noticed that I became more focused and less irritable. I think it's all thanks to the coffee))
 
roasting your own coffee is as much a rabbit hole as as Jknives as is making your own espresso, BUT it's rewarding when it works.

One downside to always having fresh roasted beans is that accepting coffee made with supermarket or wholesale coffee which usually is at least 3 months past its roast date is something I tend to avoid, so I often go without coffee on the go.

Whether it is economical depends on the amount your roast, what beans you source and if you factor in time invested and how you value your end product and what you compare it to. I started making my own espresso when I realized how much I was paying Nespresso for my monthly ration, that investment paid of real quick and it paved the way to a huge jump in quality.

I like to think I'm ahead of buying roasted coffee by roasting my own on a Huky 500 as we go through like 2-3 kilo's per month, yet the sky is the limit for some home barista's using 10k+ pro machines to drink 4 double espresso's a day.

Buying the taste 'overroasted cheap beans roasted 6 months ago' is always cheaper though, because big companies buy ultra cheap greens (not likely even close to fairtrade conditions for the farmers).
I probably could do that 'flavor' for like 8 euro per kilo using direct trade greens if I ever wanted to...any origin flavor is literally burnt out of those beans and for mostly that is done for a reason.
 
Last edited:
I pay a little more than €35 for a kilo from my favorite roaster, but I only drink one cup in the morning so a little goes a long way.
 
Would imagine smelling the beans roasting is a pleasure.

Tried the soy milk with a hand frother for a while. Now back to drinking black.

My Camano hand grinder has lasted 7 years grinding every day. It has steel conical gears. The newer model has ceramic gears and has gone up in price.
 
LiLimoon said:
I have been using Aeropress with metal reusable filter. Aeropress coffee turns out way better than Tassimo and somewhat better than french press (at least to me). It also depends on the coffee you drink. I've only been drinking Mushroom Coffee lately. For the morning ritual, this is the best coffee. I haven't seen such a good ingredients in a long time. It is completely organic and suitable even for vegans. I have been drinking this coffee for a month now and I noticed that I became more focused and less irritable. I think it's all thanks to the coffee))
Click to expand...
Are those mushrooms added to the coffee those that 'the elders' used to seek spiritual wisdom? THAT would clarify becoming less irritable ;-)
 
Keith Sinclair said:
Would imagine smelling the beans roasting is a pleasure.

Tried the soy milk with a hand frother for a while. Now back to drinking black.

My Camano hand grinder has lasted 7 years grinding every day. It has steel conical gears. The newer model has ceramic gears and has gone up in price.
Click to expand...


roasting smells great but you want to direct the fumes outside as they contain chlorogenic acid, and the amount of smoke makes it an outside the house job anyway.
 
I look at it as needed exercise for senior citizen . It is very effective. You can adjust grind with a nut on threaded screw. If you like very fine grind it is too much work more resistance & takes longer. Have found medium grind easier makes a good cup of Joe.

When I shop park on top deck or far side of parking lot. People in Hawall like to park as close to the store possible so don't have to walk. Used to do that it spot open, but would get chips in my paint from big SUV car doors. Came out one day had chipped paint on area right below hood. A SUV had backed into me & long gone.

Another I don't mind walking senior attitude.
 
Thanks! My wife complains about the noise of the grinder, so I'm usually hunkered down in the basement getting my coffee ground so that I don't wake her or the kids. Not exactly that "morning ritual" that some people talk about, but it's a lot better than getting a bag of pre-ground, burnt garbage from the grocery store.
 
Another thing like about the Camano is glass ball screw on jar. It is wide enough at base with the short grinder to rest on table top when you grind.

My better half likes to hear the grinding. She doesn't like to do it. If take too long to get started, she says aren't you going to make coffee. A polite way of saying hurry up I want my coffee.😁
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top