Coffee and the grinding thereof

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bbqncigars
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Post by bbqncigars »

I use a modded West Bend Poppery under the stove hood to keep me in beans. I've got an MCI grinder sitting next to my PID'ed Isomac Zaffiro to give me that espresso fix. Homie don't play milk drinks. I usually keep around some post-roast blend of half Yemen and half Brazilian for my morning double ristrettos.



Wayne
"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." A. Brilliant
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HLSheppard
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Post by HLSheppard »

I wish I had a "real" vent hood!!

Mine does a fantastic job of re-circulating the air through the kitchen...

Last year I tried the I-Roast and have been really pleased. The problem with the bigger batch size is (you guessed it): more smoke.
Howard L. Sheppard
howardsheppard(at)sbcglobal.net

"I wish I were less awkward around strangers. I never know what to say when someone asks me who I am and what in the world I'm doing in their house." -- Andy Ihnatko
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nteeman
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Post by nteeman »

I drink coffee black. No sugar, no cream, no anything but brewed coffee. I find drinking coffee this way limits the coffee I can drink. The coffee machine coffee at work tastes like liquid tar to me. Most coffee stand coffee also tastes terrible to me. For this reason I like to brew my own. While I have looked into roasting my own, so far I haven't gone that far. I have found several very good coffee roasters on the WWW that provide me with excellent coffee. I enjoy the darker roasts. Kenya AA, Sumatra Mandheling, Mocha Java blend have been favorites of mine. Of course I grind the coffe myself--at home in a Delongi coffee mill, at work in one of those spinning blade grinders. Both work fine. Lately I have been drinking Italian Espresso. I don't brew it in an espresso maker though. At home I brew in a Swiss Gold one-cup gold filter. At work in a drip electric. Maybe someday I'll get an espresso machine or at least one of those stovetop espresso pots.

I get my coffee from Porto Rico Importing here in NYC. I haven't any stake in this company, just a happy customer.

Cheers!
-Neal (DE user since 1998)
I shave therefore I am

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HLSheppard
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Post by HLSheppard »

No problem, Todd -

Just don't get me started on Pipes and Tobacco, guitars, etc...

Yours truly,

Satan :twisted:
Howard L. Sheppard
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"I wish I were less awkward around strangers. I never know what to say when someone asks me who I am and what in the world I'm doing in their house." -- Andy Ihnatko
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Maynard
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Post by Maynard »

Has any of you "experts" tried the Allegro coffee roasted in store that they sell at Whole Foods? That's what I've been buying, but I didn't really make my own coffee before, so I don't have much to compare it to. I like the fact that you know exactly the date when it was roasted, which you never really do when you buy packaged coffee. It certainly tastes a lot better than the stuff you get at most coffee shops...

Maynard
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HLSheppard
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Post by HLSheppard »

Hi Maynard -

I hesitate to answer this as I don't want to be known as some snobbey "expert." Geek is a more appropriate term. Shavegeek. Coffeegeek. 8)

Anyhow - the only Whole Foods "near" me is quite a ways away, so I've never tried it. However, both of the places that I recommended earlier in the thread put roast dates on their beans.

In fact, if I'm going to order it - I'll only order coffee from roasters who do this. Just makes sense if you're going to go to all the trouble of being an "expert..." LOL
Howard L. Sheppard
howardsheppard(at)sbcglobal.net

"I wish I were less awkward around strangers. I never know what to say when someone asks me who I am and what in the world I'm doing in their house." -- Andy Ihnatko
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nteeman
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Post by nteeman »

Maynard wrote:Has any of you "experts" tried the Allegro coffee roasted in store that they sell at Whole Foods? That's what I've been buying, but I didn't really make my own coffee before, so I don't have much to compare it to. I like the fact that you know exactly the date when it was roasted, which you never really do when you buy packaged coffee. It certainly tastes a lot better than the stuff you get at most coffee shops...

Maynard
There is a Whole Foods near me and we shop there regularly. I've tried the Allegro coffee there and, for me, it will do in a pinch but is not my first choice for freshness.(It is not roasted in the store). I have emailed them in the past and it seems that the freshest they have in this store is 13 days after roasting. The place I usually order from will get me at most 3 days after roasting. Usually just 1 or 2 days. I assume that the WF store by you roasts in the store, you shold be the best judge of the quality. There is a Fairway store I have shopped in that has their own coffee roaster and I found his sales rap more impressive than the coffee he sold me. Still, it was very fresh.

:)
-Neal (DE user since 1998)
I shave therefore I am

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rtaylor61
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Howard, I found your website...

Post by rtaylor61 »

HLSheppard wrote:Hi Maynard -

I hesitate to answer this as I don't want to be known as some snobbey "expert." Geek is a more appropriate term. Shavegeek. Coffeegeek. 8)
Anyhow - the only Whole Foods "near" me is quite a ways away, so I've never tried it. However, both of the places that I recommended earlier in the thread put roast dates on their beans.

In fact, if I'm going to order it - I'll only order coffee from roasters who do this. Just makes sense if you're going to go to all the trouble of being an "expert..." LOL
Howard,

Is this one of your darker secrets???

http://www.coffeegeek.com/

Randy
"I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them." J. B. Books
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HLSheppard
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Post by HLSheppard »

No secret at all... I wear it as a badge of honor! :lol:

When I first really "got into" coffee. That was one of my favorite hangouts (it's like SMF for coffee - really). I don't check in much anymore - but occasionally.

A gentleman from Canada named Mark Prince started the site. But before Coffeegeek, there was Coffeekid.com (which I think is still there).

It's a wealth of information - let me tell ya! Also, Coffeegeek has a great forum as well (not that I know, or anything) :oops:
Howard L. Sheppard
howardsheppard(at)sbcglobal.net

"I wish I were less awkward around strangers. I never know what to say when someone asks me who I am and what in the world I'm doing in their house." -- Andy Ihnatko
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designwise1
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Roasting my own...

Post by designwise1 »

Coffee and tea have been hobbies (or passions) of mine for several years now but I have just recently become interested in roasting my own. How fresh do I need it...?!?! Another OCD outbreak.
Anyway, I thought I'd do a search on my favorite forum and sure enough. Shaving, fountain pens and now coffee - all in one place.
I'm starting with 10# Guatemala (Antigua) and a pound of something from Brazil (came with the roaster).
So does anyone know if there is a place where people trade beans?

-Gerald
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Post by Dick Danger »

Once you start roasting your own you'll find it hard to go back. I've found that almost all of the commercial roasters over roast.
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HLSheppard
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Re: Roasting my own...

Post by HLSheppard »

designwise1 wrote:Coffee and tea have been hobbies (or passions) of mine for several years now but I have just recently become interested in roasting my own. How fresh do I need it...?!?! Another OCD outbreak.
Anyway, I thought I'd do a search on my favorite forum and sure enough. Shaving, fountain pens and now coffee - all in one place.
I'm starting with 10# Guatemala (Antigua) and a pound of something from Brazil (came with the roaster).
So does anyone know if there is a place where people trade beans?

-Gerald
Hi Gerald -

I don't know of any place where people trade... Hey... I've got some stuff! :lol:

Sounds like a new forum??!! You did check out www.sweetmarias.com didn't you?? Lot's of good information there. Esp. how to roast a given type of bean for best flavor, etc.
Howard L. Sheppard
howardsheppard(at)sbcglobal.net

"I wish I were less awkward around strangers. I never know what to say when someone asks me who I am and what in the world I'm doing in their house." -- Andy Ihnatko
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designwise1
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Post by designwise1 »

Hey, Howard.
I have stumbled across Sweet Maria's several times but I've really been poring over those reviews and instructions the last couple of days. They have a couple of Kenyas and a Yemen I'm dying to try. The cool thing is that I can buy the beans green and not worry about them going stale while I'm practicing on cheaper beans.
I'm going to love this!
Gerald Martin
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Sam
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Re: Roasting my own...

Post by Sam »

designwise1 wrote:Coffee and tea have been hobbies (or passions) of mine for several years now but I have just recently become interested in roasting my own. How fresh do I need it...?!?! Another OCD outbreak.
Anyway, I thought I'd do a search on my favorite forum and sure enough. Shaving, fountain pens and now coffee - all in one place.
I'm starting with 10# Guatemala (Antigua) and a pound of something from Brazil (came with the roaster).
So does anyone know if there is a place where people trade beans?

-Gerald
a lb of something from brazil? i heard they used puppies and sewn some balloons to their intestines. oh wait, that was something totally different. sorry

yup, i guess a man is defined by his addictions. anybody got a couple i can borrow that are fun and i can afford> id love to be addicted to porsches, but heck, i cant even afford the key chain, lol

im not much of a coffee drinker, but i have friends who love the nuances. i have not had much over a hazelnut latte at starbucks. at least i dont add sugar to that. im a diet coke with limes guy

sam
Last edited by Sam on Mon Feb 13, 2006 7:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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designwise1
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Post by designwise1 »

Sam, Diet Coke with Lime is my favorite softdrink. Fresca is my second favorite.
Gerald Martin
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Sam
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Post by Sam »

dude, i am so addicted that i have taken to getting the bottles or cans of diet coke with lime and getting fresh limes, cutting them up and sticking them in plastic baggies to squeeze into my drinks, lol

sam
bbqncigars
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Post by bbqncigars »

Hmmph! If I've got any addiction, it's coffee. I'm posting this from the hotel du jour, looking up at my 'road coffee' kit on the table: A Zassenhaus grinder, Uganda Bugisu beans I roasted five days ago, a cone filter holder that sits on my Thermos, an electric Hotpot to heat the water, and said Thermos and filters. I'm confident that my kit produces coffee better than 99% of the places I've found on the road.


Wayne, toddling off to bed
"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." A. Brilliant
Agetwoubding
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Re:

Post by Agetwoubding »

nteeman wrote:I drink coffee black. No sugar, no cream, no anything but brewed coffee. I find drinking coffee this way limits the coffee I can drink. The coffee machine coffee at work tastes like liquid tar to me. Most coffee stand coffee also tastes terrible to me. For this reason I like to brew my own. While I have looked into roasting my own, so far I haven't gone that far. I have found several very good coffee roasters on the WWW that provide me with excellent coffee. I enjoy the darker roasts. Kenya AA, Sumatra Mandheling, Mocha Java blend have been favorites of mine. Of course I grind the coffe myself--at home in a Delongi coffee mill, at work in one of those spinning blade grinders. Both work fine. Lately I have been drinking Italian Espresso. I don't brew it in an espresso maker though. At home I brew in a Swiss Gold one-cup gold filter. At work in a drip electric. Maybe someday I'll get an espresso machine or at least one of those stovetop espresso pots.

I get my coffee from Porto Rico Importing here in NYC. I haven't any stake in this company, just a happy customer.

Cheers!


Fellow customer of Porto RIco here. Loved the taste. =D>
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maskaggs
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Re: Coffee and the grinding thereof

Post by maskaggs »

We have a few local roasters that I patronize when the wallet lets me. If I need to be a bit more thrifty, I'll hit up the bulk whole bean bins at Fresh Thyme. Or, if life is doling out more bills due than usual, it's something like Cafe Bustelo. Method-wise, I throw something freshly ground into the drip maker most days; if I want to treat myself, I hand grind in a Hario Skerton and brew a pour over.
Regards,
Mike
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fallingwickets
Clive the Thumb
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Re: Coffee and the grinding thereof

Post by fallingwickets »

Ive been thinking about buying a grinder....normally i have starbux do the job (im a huge italian roast fan) but after wandering around the www, Im starting to get the idea that a major part of a good cup of coffee is grinding the bean right before use

clive
de gustibus non est disputandum
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