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I’ll be up-front. I don’t know how to make good coffee. My coffeemaker always produces moldy-tasting coffee, and while instant coffee isn’t too bad, real coffee has a certain taste that instant never achieves. (In my experience, at least.) I like my coffee very strong, which has been the main reason that lots of these have not panned out. I’ll reluctantly drink coffee with a funny taste (as long as it’s not a dangerous funny taste, for example I was mostly fine with dish soap once) but weak coffee is not for me. I also don’t want an expensive or high tech solution, so basically my tools are: Pre-ground coffee A small teapot (clear) with filter for tea leaves (enough to get large particles but not coffee dust) A microwave Other general kitchen utensils but nothing fancy The ingenuity of the hive mind So I submit to the greatest minds of BYOB R+D, how do I make coffee without a coffeemaker? I am a college student so I want to figure out how to make myself a good cup of coffee without any specialized equipment (injectors, presses, arc welders, etc.) |
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Jan 20, 2017 21:59
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 07:06 |
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A. Buy yourself an electric kettle. Costco sells them for $20. They're great for getting water boiling quickly. However, coffee shouldn't be brewed at 212 F, but around 195. So I'll usually wait for the kettle to finish doing its business (about 3 minutes), then let it sit for a bit to cool down, and then brew. B. Buy yourself a French press. French presses are simple, and cheap. You can get a good quality one for about $20. Now, I know that in most cases $40 can be steep for a student, but if you really want good coffee this is the way to go. The french press is incredibly simple. Just put some coffee grounds (I put about two heaping table spoons) in the bottom, fill that sucker up with your water, stir, and let it brew for about 3 minutes. Obviously, the longer you brew, the stronger it will be. The whole process of making French press coffee takes about 8-10 minutes. The main downside to the French press is cleanup, and that it is an active coffee making process rather than a passive one like an automatic coffee maker like a Mr. Coffee would be. In terms of simplicity and cost, as well as brew quality and control, the French press is the way to go. I've been making French press coffee for about 10 years now and it's never done me wrong. The other option would be a stovetop espresso maker like Bialetti makes, which produces amazing espresso via a simple steam pressure method. Cleanup is a bit easier, but it requires a stovetop. I suppose you could get one of those portable stovetops, but cost would be an issue there unless your dorm had a stove.
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Jan 20, 2017 22:11
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assemblyrequired posted:I’ll be up-front. I don’t know how to make good coffee. My coffeemaker always produces moldy-tasting coffee, and while instant coffee isn’t too bad, real coffee has a certain taste that instant never achieves. (In my experience, at least.) In some places in eastern europe they just dump the grounds and water in a cup and drink it and (most of) the grounds stay at the bottom of the cup \/  \/E: buff goat man posted:
Or buy an aeropress, similar price but a whole lot easier to clean up and IMO makes a better tasting coffee |
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Jan 20, 2017 22:12
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A LOVELY LAD posted:Or buy an aeropress, similar price but a whole lot easier to clean up and IMO makes a better tasting coffee To be fair, I've never tried one so I couldn't suggest it. Also, sorry OP, I didn't see the "no presses" part. It is indeed true that you can put COARSE GROUND coffee in a cup and just drink that.
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Jan 20, 2017 22:19
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Thanks for the tips, I'll keep them in mind. I do still live at home, so I have access to a stovetop, I'm just trying to spend very little money. I didn't realize how inexpensive presses are, I'll consider it. Thoughts on making it pioneer style? (Boiled in a pot) Pouring hot water over grounds feels like it is really weak, but I may just not be adding enough grounds. |
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Jan 20, 2017 22:21
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assemblyrequired posted:Thanks for the tips, I'll keep them in mind. I've not tried the pour-over method. If you're looking for STRONG, and because you have access to a stovetop, I would definitely go for the stovetop espresso maker route. Coffee is intensely strong (of course, it's espresso), and cleanup is easier than the French press. https://www.amazon.com/Original-Bialetti-Stovetop-Espresso-Patented/dp/B0000CFSS5 If you have Amazon Prime, or your parents do or whatever, this is cheaper than buying the Electric Kettle and French Press. I switched to this kind of coffee maker for a while when I still lived at my parent's place because they had a gas stovetop which was quicker than the French press. In my experience, the Bialetti works with either a gas stovetop or electric, but the electric takes a little bit longer.
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Jan 20, 2017 22:34
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You could try cold brew, I use a fancy fermentation crock, but you can use any food safe container, add a ton of coffee and water and wait 12-24 hrs, beware its stronger than it tastes, I got heart flutters from drinking too much too fast. |
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Jan 20, 2017 22:54
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Actually I may do that, wow. (Editor's Note: the stovetop espresso maker) I just made some coffee by pouring it over and waiting, the result wasn't too bad. It just feels like it cools off very quick (makes sense, the glass isn't very thick) I've been trying different methods for a while, this is a step pretty far up the staircase for me. Once I get back to a computer I'll post a list of all my hilarious (for people who aren't me) fails |
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Jan 20, 2017 22:58
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Quaint Quail Quilt posted:You could try cold brew, I use a fancy fermentation crock, but you can use any food safe container, add a ton of coffee and water and wait 12-24 hrs, beware its stronger than it tastes, I got heart flutters from drinking too much too fast. This is an interesting thought. Do you heat it up afterwards? I've never experienced cold brew. With regards to its strength, I'm actually more interested in the strong taste than anything else. It could be decaf if it felt like it was gonna punch me in the face for all I truly care |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:01
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put the fresh grounds in your lip like a chaw. strong, and no equipment required.
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Jan 20, 2017 23:03
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City of Glompton posted:put the fresh grounds in your lip like a chaw. strong, and no equipment required. get some fiber glass in there, baby, you got yourself a stew goin'
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Jan 20, 2017 23:03
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City of Glompton posted:put the fresh grounds in your lip like a chaw. strong, and no equipment required. This is a cool idea. What's the timeframe of potency? My drive to class is usually 30-60 minutes so I want something I can enjoy while I'm hitting every red light for six miles |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:08
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Plenty of good ideas here. Let me suggest the pour over method. Cheap, and frankly one of the best ways along with French press to make coffee. Buy a plastic one cup pour over funnel. Melitta makes one for like $4, no joke. Buy some #2 filters to go with it. A few bucks for a box of 50. Boil water in kettle, or in any vessel with a spout, I've even done it in a pyrex measuring cup thing in the microwave Put grounds in filter in funnel perched on mug. Pour the water into the grounds until water level is almost at top of funnel. Let it drain. Repeat until your mug is full. (If you want to get fancy, make your first pour just a splash to let the grounds "bloom," only really relevant if you're grinding fresh tho) Seriously i am kind of a gourmet about coffee (though like you i will not poo poo bad coffee, only weak coffee), I roast my own coffee from single source beans and grind it fresh for every cup, and nonetheless i make my coffee every morning using a literally $4 plastic pour over thingy and a grungy old tea kettle and i have no regrets On the other side of the fancy spectrum my old housemate used exactly the same method every morning but with regular pre ground coffee from the grocery store and was similarly always satisfied alnilam fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Jan 20, 2017 |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:19
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The pour over thingy is about the size of a mug and very light so don't worry about it taking up space |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:23
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That sounds like my kind of method. I'll try it tomorrow (I've had enough caffeine for today) and let you know how it went. Any tricks or just "prepare, pour, and enjoy the ride" |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:25
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Well for one you need the cone thingy and the filters obv The other consideration is quantity of grounds. You can use more or less grounds to make it stronger or weaker. As a starting point try like 3 tbsp ish. Adjust as desired. Eventually you'll learn to eyeball it. |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:29
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Cool, thank you. I'll actually spend money on filters, and not use a napkin + strainer (I was doing tests to see how low cost I could get, and didn't consider the fact that boiling a napkin in coffee makes the coffee taste like napkin) |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:33
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Yeah i mean the $4 cone will last you basically forever and each filter comes out to a few cents so it's quite a cheap method Another tip is don't stir the grounds around, let them do what they want in the water. If they stick to the sides, let them, and then (if you're pouring more water) pour into the center rather than explicitly trying to pour down the sides to unstick the grounds. And guess what even if you ignore that advice it'll still probably be fine! There are probably a million youtubr videos showing you "proper pouring technique" and most of them will make it seem way more complicated than it has to be, so if you want maybe watch a few but take them with a grain of salt Good luck! |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:39
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The biggest way to improve your coffee is to not buy pre-ground coffee. Getting fresh whole beans, and grinding themselves, with immeasurably improve your coffee. It's expensive but this grinder is amazing: https://www.amazon.com/Breville-BCG800XL-Smart-Grinder/dp/B0043EWFAM That's the one I have at work. We go through a TON of coffee, and it's a total champ. Whatever you do get, I recommend a burr grinder and not a little blade mill grinder. If you can brew your coffee just seconds after grinding you get the best product imo. You lose a lot of flavor as it rapidly dries out in exposure to the air; you can smell in the air where you've ground how it's losing potency fast. Pre-ground coffee even in the freezer loses a lot of the punch of ground coffee. I personally love the french press, I have a big old one and I'll grind a bunch of coffee and make a huge amount of delicious french press coffee and put it in a big thermos to sip on all day. |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:43
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Fresh ground is great but the op said no major money so i don't think they're gonna buy a >$100 grinder That being said if you do decide to jump into grinding, get the Porlex Mini hand grinder. At $35ish it's the cheapest adjustable burr grinder you can get and it's perfect for one cup at a time. If you want to use it to make a larger batch e.g. french press, get the porlex regular/non-mini one, bigger capacity and only like $10 more. |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:46
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alnilam posted:Another tip is don't stir the grounds around, let them do what they want in the water. If they stick to the sides, let them, and then (if you're pouring more water) pour into the center rather than explicitly trying to pour down the sides to unstick the grounds. This is also helpful, I've been stirring a lot. Thanks! (Will post progress tomorrow) joke_explainer posted:The biggest way to improve your coffee is to not buy pre-ground coffee. Getting fresh whole beans, and grinding themselves, with immeasurably improve your coffee. It's expensive but this grinder is amazing: This is more of a long-term goal for me, given the cost. Thank you though, I may end up asking for something like that as a Christmas / birthday present next year (I will remember) Plus my family already drinks coffee (and therefore buys grounds) so grounds are basically free. (I do still chip in, but I'm gonna use the stuff we have) I just don't prefer the taste from our coffee maker (moldy? Maybe it's in my head) |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:53
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this is the kind of question where you're gonna get a variety of views. they may not conflict necessarily, but you may end up scratching your head about which what and why. for what I'd call a good cup of coffee, you need: (1) good (not necessarily super-fancy) coffee beans roasted correctly and (preferably) within the past few weeks. this may surprise you, but a dark roast does not necessarily make a cup stronger/more flavorful. the strength of the coffee depends much more on the quantity of grounds you use (among other things). I really, really suggest using a medium roast, not a dark roast or french roast or whatever, you will actually taste the coffee and not the deep roasting, which can make many beans bitter and/or burnt. if you decide you really prefer the dark roast taste, well a lot of people agree with you--I used to be that way--but I've come to realize that lighter roasts are so much better. (2) the right grind. yes, you'll be better off with a home grinder, even the electric whirly kind, because coffee goes stale quicker when it's ground up. you say you want to start with preground coffee, that's okay; ideally you're getting it ground from whole bean at the store when you buy it, and using it up pretty quickly. you want the grind to suit the method you're going to use to make the coffee. an espresso grind is way too fine to use in a filter coffee maker or french press. french press coffee is usually fairly coarse, probably coarser than you'd use for filter coffee. if in doubt go with a middle/filter coffee grind. cost of a coffee grinder: $10-20 for an electric blade (whirly) or manual burr mill unit. geeks would probably tell you to get the latter but it's work, and you may not notice the difference. personally I use an electric burr mill, but whirly grinder coffee is really just fine (except for espresso, it's not fine for that). (3) the right ratio of coffee grounds to water. if you skimp on the grounds your coffee will be too weak, full stop. if you make it too strong, you can always dilute the coffee with hot water to get it to the strength you like. I would always err on the side of more grounds rather than less, it may be more than you're used to using. (4) contact with water at the right temperature for the right amount of time. temperature and time are both pretty important, and when people go back and forth about types of coffee makers they're really measuring whether the device lets the coffee grounds steep properly. this makes a huge difference. no one device is foolproof but several are good bets. french presses can make great coffee. it's easy to control the water temperature you put into it (unlike an automatic drip brewer) and the amount of time you let it steep. they're a bit of a pain to clean, but it's really not a big deal. generally a good investment. pourover filters are pretty cheap and they have the advantage of being able to use a paper cone filter, so they don't have the sludge that forms at the bottom of any cup of french press coffee. ideally you want a cone filter where the water goes through relatively slowly. and that's kind of a downside: you have to be pouring the water in at just the right rate, and you can't exactly measure the steeping time. the larger the quantity of coffee you're making, the more of a hassle it is. my preferred compromise for making 1-2 cups at a time: the "clever coffee dripper". it's like a cross between a french press and a pourover filter. you put a paper filter and the grounds into a cone and pour hot water into it. there's a stopper in the bottom, so you can let the coffee steep for exactly as long as you like. when it's ready, you put the dripper onto your mug or whatever, and the stopper automatically lets the coffee drain into your mug. cleanup is much easier than with a french press, and you don't get any sludge. but: it doesn't make large quantities of coffee at one time. aeropress is good, I've heard. stovetop espresso makers can be hit-or-miss--they're nothing like "real" espresso makers and I've been disappointed with the quality of the brew, but they have plenty of fans. chemex is a brand of pourover device that uses special filters, they've been popular with some folks for a long time. other types of coffee makers are good too, although maybe a bit fancy for your needs and probably too expensive. I'd go with french press, pourover cone, or clever coffee dripper. do not boil your coffee. that will make bad coffee. you can heat your water in a microwave. you can heat it in a stovetop kettle. you can heat it in an electric kettle. heat it any way you want, just make sure it's at the right temperature when it comes to brew time. you want it in the range 195-205f, on the warmer side is better, I usually just go with 200 because it's easy to remember. boiling water (212) is too hot, but it's okay to start with boiling water and let it cool to the right temperature. a thermometer is quite handy for this (you want a digital instant-read type, should be less than $10 for decent quality). electric kettles are hard to beat for convenience, and some of them are temperature-controlled so you don't even have to use the thermometer. but you don't want to spend too much money, I get it, so try boiling the water and letting it cool off for a minute-ish (less cooling off time for smaller amounts of water). how exactly to brew in your device of choice? so, so many people have written instructions on this. I often turn to sweet maria's guides for advice: http://legacy.sweetmarias.com/grind.brew.php cold brew is sort of unique, different from the stuff discussed above, but can be very good. try it out if you're so inclined, it doesn't require much equipment. e: alnilam's advice is good, a cheapo pourover is definitely cheaper than the clever coffee dripper (which will run you around $20) but I love the convenience of the clever coffee dripper.
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Jan 20, 2017 23:58
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I also got two pounds of ground coffee free today (blood donation center was handing out dunkin donuts coupons) which is a big incentive to use that Edit: wow that's a lot of good advice, thanks. I hadn't even considered erring on the side of too strong and then adjusting with hot water (that's obvious but it didn't even occur to me, wow) so thanks for that assemblyrequired fucked around with this message at 00:03 on Jan 21, 2017 |
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Jan 20, 2017 23:59
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Hot tip: boil water, then wait 2-4 minutes for ideal temperature, if you don't want to bother with a thermometer Sure the exact timing depends on the quantity of water, the vessel it's in, and the room temp, but 2-4 minutes is "close enough" If you forget to wait and you use boiling water it's fine it will still be better than moldy tasting coffee from your machine. Just something to shoot for. e: oh wait manifisto already said this advice, nm |
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Jan 21, 2017 02:38
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I used one of these for a long time instead of dealing with a french press: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I68NCS/ You need a coffee grinder too of course. It lets a little bit of sludge in but I didn't mind. Oh and it only makes one cup so have a big cup. |
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Jan 21, 2017 05:37
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If you have access to a stove top, I like using a moka pot, makes a small cup (though there are bigger models), but it let's you get in that sock in the mouf strength coffee tip 
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Jan 21, 2017 05:39
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hi op i use the melitta pourover filter that was $4 that was previously mentioned, and it works 100% better than nearly anything i've tried with less mess and less work, and very little storage. if you're confident in being able to pour a steady stream, don't bother with a kettle, but for safety's sake and convenience i nearly always suggest a cheap stovetop kettle if you don't want to spend bucks. walmart, target, and amazon have decent stainless kettles for $5-10 usually. godspeed, coffee kid.
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Jan 21, 2017 05:57
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Thank you to everybody who put a lot of effort into helping me, it means a lot. I tried the funnel method and it worked really well! I'm going to do that for a while, then work up to a stovetop espresso maker. THIS HAS BEEN REALLY HELPFUL, I really appreciate it. |
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Jan 21, 2017 20:27
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Jan 21, 2017 23:30
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Jan 22, 2017 00:41
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Jan 22, 2017 02:10
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Jan 22, 2017 03:12
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Jan 22, 2017 06:19
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Jan 22, 2017 06:23
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Jan 22, 2017 06:33
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 07:06 |
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Another byob success story
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Jan 22, 2017 07:04
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