What does a coffee cherry taste like? Do they keep long enough to ship? Can they be ordered from somewhere? Can they be dried/preserved/candied?

Can the flavor be used ... perhaps in a coffee beverage?

In the washed and semi-washing processing, the fruit is completely removed and discarded (and presumably not recoverable). In the dry processing, the fruit is allowed to ferment before removal, which presumably contributes much of the fruit and wine notes in dry-processed coffees like Sanani from Yemen and some single-origin Ethiopian coffees (eg. Starbucks Ethiopia Shirkina). If the fruit can do this ..., there must be more potential there, right?

Lots of questions! Starting from the top...

Taste? Coffee cherries are mild in flavour and slightly sweet. The flavour is somewhat reminiscent of other red fruits, like a mild mix of fruits like raspberry, red mulberry, currant, cranberry, cherry, raisin. I've only had them dried, so they have a little bit of a "dried fruit" taste (e.g., as raisins are to grapes). To me, they also have a little bit of a mild taste of tobacco leaf. When steeped in water to make a drink called cascara (see this question/answers). The beverage tastes to me a bit like rooibos (red bush tisane). Some coffee shops sell the beverage.

Shipping? I've only seen dried coffee cherries for sale. Perhaps "fresh" coffee fruits are available in the coffee belt, but the seeds (i.e., coffee beans) are so valuable that I think the whole fruit doesn't make it very far outside of production regions.

Availability? Various specialty retailers sell the dried fruit pulp and skins (some call them the "husks") -- here's one example from Verve. Searching for coffee berries, cherries, husks, or for beverages like cascara or qishr may reveal more outlets.

Other preservation? Coffee skins/pulp dry well. Rehydrating is possible but underwhelming. I have tried to make a kind of marmalade out of them; see this seminal question, and also a follow-up question of mine at Seasoned Advice. I'm sorry to report that I have not had much success yet. The dried cherries are tough, so not pleasant to eat outright.

Good ideas! I really like the stuff, and am always happy to find others, and would be happy to hear more ideas about how to eat and drink coffee cherries.

EDIT: For completeness, here's a picture of dried coffee cherry pulp/skins that I use to make cascara.


Moka pot - adding nutty flavor to coffee I used a spice/coffee grinder to grind coffee beans for the Moka pot since nothing else was available and the flax seed residue from previous grind left a nutty flavor per chance. I liked the taste and I am now blending beans & seeds together. Does anybody else do the same?? Any advice? Any other ideas how to add a nutty flavor to Moka Pot? Does it add any nutritional value, at all? Thanks!

Turkish coffee is often blended with cardamom.


Are high-end cone grinders adjustable? I switched from a modestly priced blade grinder to a moderately priced cone grinder because the results were inconsistent  (some very fine powder and some only fragmented beans mixed with usable grounds).

Will I have more consistency and control if I switch to a high-end cone grinder? I'm thinking about a refurbished restaurant grade grinder, not an industrial grade machine as one might find at a Starbucks or boutique roaster.

Yes, high end grinders are generally adjustable. Some even have macro and micro adjustments. For example the Baratza Vario grinder

Hand grinders are also adjustable, and provide a good grind. See the Hario range

The larger commercial grinders are sometimes aimed more at bulk output than at a precise and consistent grind. They grind the coffee very quickly, which may not be the quality you are looking for. Some people prefer grinders that operate at a lower speed so that the temperature of the burrs stays low, reducing the chance of the grind getting over roasted

Here's a list of mid to high end grinders. You will notice that they all have adjustments.


Is this moka pot safe? I didn't use it for more than half an year. When I took it out, I saw the inside of the pot is oxidation or rust, is it safe to use it? How can I clean it?

This looks like oxidation, try cleaning it with hot water (NO soap). After most of it has gone, fill up with hot water again and add a few spoons of bicarbonate. Stir and let it sit for a day or 2. After that, rinse and inspect. If the oxidation has gone too deep, the pot will need sanding and polishing, which will weaken the pot. In that case it would be better to ditch it and get a new one.


What is the difference between a long (luongo) and a short (ristretto) shot of espresso? What is the difference between a long (luongo) and a short (ristretto) shot of espresso?

Is there a difference in grind, extraction time, amount of coffee used, temperature, volume of water?

If so, what are the differences?

A long (luongo) and a short (ristretto) shot have two key differences.

The amount of coffee used virtually stays the same although it can increase slightly with a ristretto shot, as the grind is finer.

The key similarity between these two shots and a normal shot is that the extraction time stays the same. The grind is altered to achieve this - coarser for a long shot and finer for a ristretto shot.  This, ideally, alters the volume of water which can pass through the coffee.

For a long shot, the volume should be twice that of a standard espresso shot and for a ristretto shot, the volume should be half that of a standard espresso shot.

The temperature of the water remains the same.


What water temperature and pour speed are best for pour-over method? I had a recent discussion with a friend of mine, which is the right method to brew the coffee for pour-over.

I read that it's best to pour in hot (but not boiling) water into the filter and moisten the coffee powder. After that I should pour in the water until it is round about 1 cm over the coffee powder. After that I should let it flow out and fill the water up until it's reached the 1 cm mark over the powder.

His method is a bit different. He just pours the hot (even if it's still boiling) water into the filter. He briefly moistens the coffee and then lets the rest of the water pour into the filter until his water can is empty. He only pauses from pouring if it reaches the top of the filter.

I said that his method isn't good, as the water will flow faster through the filter and the coffee won't be as aromatic as it would be with my method.

The brewing process I'm using is using the hand-filter with the Hario V60.

Which method is better? Does it matter how fast to pour the water in? Does it matter if the water is just hot or still boiling?

You're highlighting two differences between the two methods:

temperature of the water, and
rate of pouring the water (equivalently, how "full of water" is the cone).

Short story: Use water just off the boil (about 96°C / 205°F). I prefer your "slower" pour method over your friend's... read on for why.

Longer story:
Keeping all other factors identical, here's my take on each. I aggregate information from my own experience and from several other sites (including Blue Bottle and Stumptown and Serious Eats and Coffee Geek).

Temperature. Most agree that water for pour-over should be just off the boil, but exact temperature is both difficult to measure and to maintain. Exact recommendations differ, but most (including the 4 above) are approximately in the range of 93-97°C / 200-207°F. At this temperature, you extract the best balance of the "right stuff" from the beans. Much hotter or colder than this and it will have an "off" taste, such as more bitter. For example, try brewing coffee at 80°C / 175°F and see how it tastes compared to coffee brewed with 96°C / 205°F water.

With my technique and equipment, anyway, it would be essentially impossible for me to measure or maintain a temperature this accurately. Removed from the heat, the kettle itself will immediately start to cool; the water will cool between the pour spout and when it hits the grounds in the cone; the water will cool more when sitting on the grounds. For this reason, I take water from a boiling kettle and begin to pour at my leisure. It might be a few degrees too hot at first, but it will probably finish a few degrees too cool.

Rate of pouring the water. This seems to have more debate, e.g., on the 4 sites I listed above. Some pour only enough water at a time to have water just covering the grounds (like you and Blue Bottle), and some pour all the way up to the top of the cone (like your friend and Stumptown) -- however, a disadvantage of this all-at-once method is that some of the coffee will get pinned to the side of the cone for the final "drainage" and will not spend as much time in contact with the water; therefore some of your friend's coffee grounds will be underextracted. I do something of a hybrid: pour at such a rate as to keep the output at a steady rate. The dripping rate will decrease as the filter gets somewhat clogged with grounds, so I keep very slowly raising the water level in the cone (just exceeding the rate of output); I find this produces the best result. Other ideas are to stir (as Coffee Geek suggests) or pour in batches (as Serious Eats suggests).

All that said, other factors (e.g., the quality and freshness of beans) are overwhelmingly more significant than the manner of pouring.

You may also want to consider rinsing your filter, and see more about wetting the grounds for coffee bloom.


What's the volume of Brikka 2 cup water chamber? I received a used 2 cup Brikka without the measuring cup.
Anyone knows what is the volume of this measuring cup?

MT San' answer is not correct. He gives a link for Moka Express measurement. Brikka is different. 2 cup version should be filled with 60-70 ml of water in the bottom chamber.

Check the upper chamber, if you have new version of Brikke (Brikka Elite) there should be a measuremnt mark like on this photo (look for "H20" mark): http://101coffeemachines.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/bialetti-brikka-valve.jpg


Is there a way to drip-brew coffee with lower acidity? How do I brew a good cup of coffee with lower acidity? I want to continue drinking coffee, but the acidity is getting to me. Is their any way to brew coffee so that it isn't so acidic?

There are at least three ways to reduce acidity.

One way is to roast the beans more, to a dark level. I think that is the main way if you want to stick with your beans. This is inline with MT San's comment and related answer.

A second way is to play with the speed of dripping. The idea is to find a speed of water flowing through the coffee ground that gives better results (depending on your goal---here lower acidity). A slower water flow will keep the ground longer, so extract or destruct more compounds---thus a different flavour. In my limited experiments here, faster flow brings more acidity. But I am not confident on the generality of this result.

An alternative, when you are fine with changing beans, is to get a variety or a blend that results in lower acidity. This is not as efficient as a dark roast, but you can get more flavours and variations. Roasting artisans should be able to offer good candidates.

There may be other ways, but I have no other experience.

Later...

Thanks to @Chris_in_AK, I have recalled another alternative: Cold-brew. The question refers to "drip-brew", so cold-brew is border-line, but it is technically a drip, with cold water, so here it is.

Cold brew allows to extract very different flavour profiles. The slow, soft process takes ages (8 to 12 hours), for often surprising results. And warming up the result leads to yet again different flavours.

In my experience, drinks are less acid with coffee brew. I do not use a wide range of beans, so please keep in mind that this claim may depend on the species. Also, the roast level leads to different results---exactly as a hot-water drip does.

Cold brew emphasizes "green" or "herbal" notes, though. It is, I believe, worth a try as acidity is different, but it is yet different from "usual coffee drinks". Well, production is hard too.


What do all the symbols on my coffee lid mean? I bought a coffee from Caffè Nero in the UK. It came with this lid:

What do all the letters mean? I'm assuming DECAF could be marked to distinguish a decaf in a large order, but why is it there twice? What about the other letters? What about 19 near the air hole? Why does it say NO LID??

I am pretty sure it says NO TL316 LID.  That's the item/stock number for that particular size lid (based on a Google search, also available in black!). There are basically two sets of initials for the same thing Decaf, (C)ream, (S)ugar, (C-S) Cream and Sugar, and then one set has the B for Black.  Presumably these could be grease penciled or highlighted on a large order.

I honestly have no idea on the 19.  It may be some sort of internal tracking mechanism for manufacturing, because other examples from a Google image search have different numbers there.


Is reheating coffee in the microwave a bad idea? Sometimes I get distracted, and realise I've got a cold cup of coffee on my desk. Will reheating it in the microwave do bad things to it? I've heard people say it will alter the flavour, and some people even say that the effect of the microwave on the coffee will produce medically harmful chemicals. Is this true? Should I just chuck it and make a fresh brew?

Although coffee generally becomes staler with time, heating coffee up in the microwave does not produce any harmful chemicals - as long as the container you are microwaving it in is microwave-safe.

The microwaves emitted inside the microwave are a relatively safe form of radiation that cause the water molecules in the coffee to move faster, thus creating heat. This is relatively harmless.

As far as taste goes, you may consider just making a new coffee, as this will always taste better, in my opinion!


Should I rinse paper coffee filters before use? I have never bothered to rinse my paper coffee filters before use, but some strongly recommend this. I did some experiments, outlined below, to test this. I don't find rinsing makes any difference, but there might be benefit that I don't understand.

My questions, in sum:

What's the best way to rinse a paper filter? Inside, outside, both? Soak? Hot or cold water?
How does it help?
Bonus: What is being rinsed off? Are loose bits of paper really coming off the filter?

Of the many articles about this, most of them simply point to this Serious Eats article (e.g., lifehacker and the kitchn don't have much more content; others are chat/discussions without concrete conclusions or references). That article says rinsing removes "dusty stuff" from the filter (that suggests that there's off-tastes from the paper dust), and rinsing also helps reduce clogging of filter pores (presumably also from the "dusty stuff").

The quality of the paper filter certainly matters; comments and responses to this question support that. I buy the cheapest brown filters available, so I think it's unlikely that my filters "don't need rinsing" or so, but perhaps they're so cheap as to "not benefit from rinsing." This article suggests some filter taste-tests, so I did them and more.

My experiments:

I poured water through rinsed and non-rinsed filters and tasted the water that went through the filter. Both taste faintly of paper, but I see no difference;
I have brewed simultaneous batches with rinsed and non-rinsed; I taste exactly no difference;
I have even gone so far as to chew on rinsed and non-rinsed paper filters to see if I could tell a difference. (Edit: to be clear, I chewed on these filters only to see if I taste a difference between rinsed and non-rinsed paper filters, not to somehow "condition" the filter before brewing use)

My conclusions:

Paper filters taste terrible -- mine anyway -- rinsed or not. I may have to revisit this question on brown versus white filters, buy better paper filters, or use a cloth-filtered Nel pot.
I wasted a lot of filters doing these tests.

In fact, after using a pre-rinsed filter I got a "structural failure" -- the bottom of the filter broke -- when brewing pour-over with a heavily rinsed filter. I'll probably have to eat some better-quality or white paper filters to make this fair.

In sum, my only conclusion is that quickly rinsing the inside and outside of the filter is the only way for this to have any benefit. I'm discounting any other benefit of pre-rinsing, such as rinsing with hot water would warm ceramic cone filter-holder or pot/mug.

Do you have maker with a removable filter basket? (Like the photo I attached below.) If so, then you might try what I've done:

removing the basket
placing the filter
then running water through it

The support of the basket protects against failures. And while you won't be able to rinse the reverse side easily, you will be able to get enough water into it to saturate through the paper. (Those flakes you mention will be trapped between the reverse of the filter and the basket.)

Hot versus Cold? I'd use warm. Some things you're removing may be more soluble at higher temperatures. I wouldn't go to the trouble of heating pre-filtered water. there is something to be said for water temperature affecting the filtering qualities of the paper by expanding the fibers, and in turn spaces between fibers. But without testing we'll have to assume it's a minor. If you only have cold filtered water, I suggest you use that.

Why not hot water? First, a quick rinse of hot water isn't going to neutralize significantly more micro organisms that cold. You need boiling or much higher for a length of time to do that. Second, hot water will make the filter more prone to breaking.

  I have brewed simultaneous batches with rinsed and non-rinsed; I taste exactly no difference

This leads me to think that soaking is worth a try. If it works for rice to remove excess starch, it might work similarly with paper

A slightly different angle on this:

Try to find the filters that don't need rinsing. When I filter I'm doing so to reduce the cholesterol raising impact of coffee. I prefer the taste of unfiltered coffee, but the evidence convinces me that filtered coffee is better for my cholesterol.

The study linked below, amongst others, shows that paper filters remove much of the cholesterol-raising compounds, as much as "80% of the lipid-solublue substance that was present..." Pre-wetting the paper --pre-loading the fibers with water, really-- seem as though it would reduce this absorbent property, although I can't back that up.

The hypercholesterolaemic factor in boiled coffee is retained by a paper filter


Adding creamer after boiling water vs before Hello all I started making instant coffee for the last few months. Due to a combination of laziness and lack of a proper coffee maker. I find that I actually enjoy instant a lot. Normally the process is 2 teaspoons of coffee, add boiling water and then creamer. My question is does the taste amplify if I add creamer before adding the boiling water thus transforming the coffee molecules in a different order?

Thanks!

I wouldn't say it would amplify it, and you may very well not be able to tell much of a difference. Unless the milk or cream is hot, your coffee won't brew very well (or at least not as fast) on just the milk alone. So by the time you add your hot water, it still shouldn't have dissolved the instant coffee enough to make much of a difference.
If you wanted to experiment, I would try adding some hot cream or milk to the instant coffee first and stirring it up a bit. Still probably wouldn't make much of a difference other than it tasting more like a latte.


Why the small hole on coffee packaging? Why not? I've seen alot of coffee bean packaging which have a hole on the front of them:
e.g.

While others do not:
e.g

(Note that there is no hole present on the above packaging)
My Question:
What is the advantage of having a hole on one's coffee packaging v.s. not having one?

The existence of the de-gassing vent was answered here:

What is the clear plastic sticker on New England Coffee bags for?

If the manufacturer does not feel that the coffee (usually whole beans) will need C02 venting, there will be ho holes or vents. That will be the case if the coffee is packaged a week or so after roasting.

more:  https://www.coffeecrossroads.com/coffee-101/how-to-store-coffee-to-keep-it-fresh

some boutique coffee packages have an aroma vent - for you to squeeze the bag and smell the coffee.


Does Caffeine Affect Our Memory? There is a claim that drinking coffee right after learning something helps you remember what you learned up to 24 hours later. Is it true? If it is, then how it effects the memory?

There was an episode of myth busters they were testing is it better to stay wired or tired and the outcome was you cognitive skills improve when you are wired on caffeine.

Now I don’t know about memory but I am sure all the answers you are going to receive will be highly subjective...but the above mentioned episode is the closest thing to a scientific answer we will ever get IMO.


Does breaching a stovetop milk steamer's double wall destroy it? I have a stovetop milk steamer & espresso maker whose handle fell off. The spot weld failed after a few years of use.

Using a TIG welder, I welded the handle's thread back to the lid.

Unfortunately, during the welding process I breached the double wall of the lid; a hole formed through which you could see the inside of the double wall. I filled in the hole and continued the weld as you can see from the photograph above.

My question is this: can I put this steamer back into service or is it a writeoff?

To know the answer to that question I think I need to know what the nature of that void was before I breached the wall of the container?

Was it a vacuum?
Was it filled with a special gas?
Was it just plain old air?

If it was anything other than plain old air it's now filled with plain old air and a little bit of argon. All I really want to know is that it's not going to explode if I put it back into service.

The double wall on this steamer is not there for insulation. That idea doesn't add up. An exterior wall will heat up before an interior wall if heated on a stovetop and would inhibit transfer of heat to the interior container...

I can think of two possible reasons for the double wall, but I must say, that double wall is an unnecessary added expense on the unit no matter the reason it was included...

1) In a double wall design, the exterior wall will cool down faster than a single wall would, since the exterior wall does not maintain contact with hot water. This means you can safely reuse the steamer sooner. This is kind of silly, though, since you can easily cool a single walled steamer by briefly running it under cold water.

2) A double walled steamer is more structurally durable than a single walled steamer. These units are sometimes built to withstand very significant internal pressure. The double wall could be part of such a design. This is kind of silly itself because steam pressure higher than a single walled unit could support is dangerous...

The exterior wall in any case likely does not play any part in containing steam. To be sure, I'd need to see the inside of the lid. It depends whether the seal is placed on the outside threads or the inner vessel and whether a gasket is used or not.


Espresso consistency Amateur just getting started with a Breville - not happy with the results but I know I have lots to learn so I'll start with an aspect I am curious of - consistency. The Breville guide says the consistency of the shot flowing down should be of honey. First thing I say with my experience is no way, no how - mine flows through the filter like standard liquid. Things I know I need to ensure:

a better grind - I am not using a burr grinder (yet)
getting the grind right - not too powdery
water temp - not sure what to do about this - the machine has control of that

But let's start with the consistency - should it really be like honey? If so, I'm no where near that and how can I be?

This is what I'm talking about - how the heck is it so thick; and the color...

It's not really about consistency but more about getting the right extraction time for the coffee/water ratio.

The rule of thumb is to get a shot in approximately 25 seconds, with a 1:2 ratio of coffee/water. So you'd have 16g of coffee in your portafilter, to get a 32g expresso shot.

That's the baseline. When you achieve that, you can start experimenting with different ratios and times.

How are you grinding your beans? If you don't have a grinder you only have the dosage to play with, and it's gonna be really difficult to get to that baseline.


What coffees are the least acidic? I don't like coffees with an acidic/sour taste. However, when buying coffee, the only "rating" one gets is often how "strong" the coffee is, and that does not help me. Is there something else I can go on? Say, place of origin, or certain varieties that aren't acidic in taste?

Lets answer this question with some data! My company uses machine learning, data science, and sensory science to build flavor profiling and quality control tools for the craft beverage industry.

I will use a lot of graphs, because a picture is worth a thousand words but a graph can communicate a concept, to dispel a lot of the myths about acidity in coffee.

TL;DR: Roast level is the Primary determinant of sour and acidity in coffee, where lighter roast has more natural acid compounds left unbroken from maillard reaction and strecker degradation (non-enzymatic browning).  This is closely followed by Altitude, green processing, and finally age of the coffee.

Differences by Region

Based on 10,000+ reviews, their seems to be little indication that you can determine the sourness or acidity of a coffee simply by where its grown!

Now, this lack of effect would disappear if we controlled for the altitude the coffee was grown at. Why? Because higher altitude plants are under more stress, forcing them to be more efficient - less leafs, less fruit, but each leaf has a higher respiratory rate, and each fruit is more potent!

Green Processing

This graph shows the difference in distribution of Sour & Acidity of washed coffee vs natural processed coffee. There is a very small difference in the skew and kurtosis, but it is statistically significant.

Washed Coffee brewed in a Chemex is on average more acidic than its natural washed counterpart. Why? This is most likely a cognitive, not chemical, effect. Because natural processed coffees ferment with bits of remnant fruit (the coffee cherry) they retain more sugars, some of which are preserved though the roasting process. The increase in fruity esters and sugar compounds masks the acidity - so even though there's about equal amounts, you taste it less in the natural processed coffees.

Age of the Coffee

If you really want to avoid any acidity in coffee, you could drink it stale! But I don't suggest it - stale coffee lacks the caffeine and interesting flavors that make coffee wonderful.

This plot shows the rate of acid degradation in coffee from its first day since roast. The red line marks the 14th day from roast, when the average coffee goes stale.

Level of Roast

This graph shows Sour and Acidity as a function of the level of roast; as roast increases, the average perception of acidity decreases (in coffee brewed in a chemex). The grey field shows the Standard Error within the fit.

You should note, why is the error so high at the highest level of roast? These are coffees considered "French" or "Italian" or even "Spanish" roasts - you should consider these coffees burnt. The fruity and interesting acids such as malic, phosphoric, and citric have been destroyed by prolonged heat exposure in the roaster, and these coffees contain acrylamide, a carcinogen, which is not only bad for you, but also tastes terrible.

  The levels of acrylamide, a known carcinogen, peak early in the
  roasting process (at about 120 sec).  While acrylamide is still
  detectable in fully roasted and burnt coffees, it most likely don’t
  contribute to the unpleasant, burnt flavor in over-roasted coffee.
  Multiple studies suggest that the main chemicals that cause bad
  flavors in burnt coffee are heterocyclic aromatic amines and
  polyaromatic hydrocarbons.  These increase with roasting temperature
  and time and many compounds that fall into these categories are known
  or suspected carcinogens.

Differences by Brewing Method

An extension to this question, reviewing the differences in the level of acidity by brewing method has been answered here: Could preparation method make coffee more acidic?


How can I identify which Keurig machines have Keurig 2.0 DRM? To be more specific, is there a particular label or marking on the package that will indicate if a given Keurig machine uses K-cup label DRM?  (Or is a better term Coffee Rights Management (CRM)?)

It appears specific models are under the Keurig 2.0 label.  The K250, K350, K450, K550 will be clearly marked Keurig 2.0, which use the label DRM.


Is coffee addiction a problem? If a person drink coffee for 3 to 4 times a day like a tea and certainly have a coffee addiction. One feels headache when deprived of their coffee for even a single day. Is this a problem to have addiction of coffee?

Coffee addiction is not generally a problem as it is not even an addiction such that people afraid most of the time.

Caffeine molecules increase and stay at high levels if a person is a regular drinker. During this phase, your body reacts that and adapts to handle more caffeine.

It's like diving deep and staying there for some time. Then, if you rapidly swim up to the surface you caught caisson disease.

Human body is very resilient to changing caffeine levels. It can adapt easily. But, it cannot adapt so fast. If someone is afraid of being addicted, they can slowly decrease the amount of coffee they consume per day.

For example, think of someone drinks 6 cups a day. If decrease rate is a cup per three days, after 15 days daily consumption will be a cup per day. Seems reasonable with no headaches.


Decaf coffee, how to make our own I saw this on a coffee site:

  As we all know, it is really hard to get a good decaf specialty
  coffee. The decaf process removes oils and flavors as well as the
  caffeine, leaving a blah cup behind. It's a little known trick that
  you can "decaf" your coffee using a french press. Pour just enough hot
  water to cover the grounds. Let sit briefly. Press the grounds and
  pour off the water. As caffeine is highly soluble in water, this first
  extraction should pull off most of it. Then add more water to the pot,
  and extract as usual. Voila! A ‘decaffeinated’ coffee.

Is there any validity to this?  Are you just tossing out good coffee or does this actually work?  Many thanks.

In short: Very probably, you will lose the very best part of your coffee.

Caffeine is highly soluble, yes. But, also the other lipids and aromatics, too. So, you cannot obtain the benefits of specialty coffee if you ruin that first brew. The main taste we gain from coffee grounds are received from the soluble aromatic oils in the coffee. You don't want to loose them by pouring.

Normally, decaffeination process is made when the beans are green. That's why the aromatics are kept inside the beans when the beans are over-hydrated and then dried (in the Swiss process, which is the common way recently) a few times in a cycle to near completely remove the caffeine.

You can check the decaffeination process in the following question:

How is decaffeinated coffee made?

And also watch a nice explanatory animation here.

Still, if you wonder how to use the grounds for a second time, please see this discussion:

Brewing with the same coffee grounds twice?


Brewing 900 Cups of Coffee (In 24 Hours)? I'm helping organize a big 24-hour event and as a big coffee drinker, I got put in charge of the coffee. We are expecting 300 people to each drink 3 cups of coffee over the whole event so up to 900 cups of coffee in 24 hours!! Since this is outside the realm of what I normally do at home with a french press so I thought I better check that I'm not making any horrible mistakes.

One of our big concerns is that this event will likely have quite a few somewhat-discerning coffee drinkers. We also need to be able to brew coffee in the middle of the night when any local coffee shop has closed.

Years ago, I remember helping out with a percolator at a big event and that seems like the best approach this time. I've seen it done more recently and after some research it seems like the common approach. I also found a local rental location that will rent us a few for our event that each have a capacity of 100 cups.

Is there a better approach? If a percolator is the right approach, what beans/grounds will produce the best flavor? How many lbs/kgs of coffee will likely be needed?

Your problem depends more on the shape of the data than the raw quantities. 900 cups in 24 hours is one cup every 40 seconds or so, which isn't so bad, however I doubt that's the distribution of actual orders!

I'm going to assume all of your 300 guests want to have a cup of coffee during a one-hour period. This works out as 5 coffees a minute, or one every 12 seconds.

I'm ignoring factors of manpower, cost etc., and focussing on coffee preparation only :-)

You can get 12-cup french press pots very easily, and probably larger ones. Assuming each one takes ~6 minutes to cycle (prepare, brew for 4 mins, serve, rinse), meaning you can serve 2 people a minute with one pot. 3 pots would allow you to serve 6 people a minute (amortised) and serve 300 people in an hour. A few more pots would make it very comfortable. Assuming you're grinding the coffee fresh, you'll get a far superior brew from this than perk coffee that's been sitting there for 20 minutes.

So serving people fast enough shouldn't be too hard, but boiling water fast enough might be, and for that you just need an urn, with which you can keep a large enough supply of boiling water to just fill up and go.


How should I order an espresso to get a less sour shot? I often find that standard espresso shots at many high-end coffeeshops to be more sour than I prefer. I tend to order straight espresso, or Americanos with only a little water, or maybe a macchiatto, so there's not much fat to cut the tartness. What should I say to get a less acidic shot?

Here's a few thoughts based on what causes sourness/acidity in coffee and ways to temper it.

Order an espresso lungo. Sourness (acidity) is characteristic of the "stuff" that is extracted relatively early in the brewing process. In other brewing methods that take longer to perform (e.g., coffee press, drip, or pour-over) this can be balanced by the more bitter notes that take somewhat longer to fully extract. For this reason, you might get a result that is more appealing to you by ordering an espresso that takes longer to pull, i.e., espresso lungo. Not everyone behind every coffee counter will be immediately familiar with this, but at good cafes with good machines an espresso lungo should be no problem.

Try a darker roast. Darker roast coffees tend to be less acidic than lighter roasts, at the expense of losing more of the varietal/regional notes. Many cafes have really only one bean/roast that they use for every espresso (often because of the practical considerations of having several grinder hoppers full of beans), but if you have an option, try a darker-roasted bean.

Try beans from a different region. To my taste, Indonesian coffees tend to have less pronounced acidic notes than African or American coffees. Again, if multiple coffees are available for espresso, pick a coffee that you like (or find less sour) for any other preparation.

Pick beans further off of the roast. This is really only for completeness, but beans that were very freshly/recently roasted (i.e., less than a few days) can have accentuated acidity because some undesirable volatiles haven't yet had a chance to leach out. This is more toward what @daniel noted; this is the kind of thing you shouldn't need to be concerned about at a cafe -- they should!

A cafe affiliated with a local roaster (or any specialty cafe) should be able to tell you lots of things about the coffee when asked, such as region, varietal, roast level, and roast date. Here's a Serious Eats article about "problems" and related solutions that touch on some of the things I talked about above. Here's another link from Coffee Cuppers about regional and roast considerations in general.


Milk texturing issues on commercial machine! I just spent the day making coffees for a work function. They hired an expobar commercial coffee machine and I failed to get one nice jug of milk all day, no matter what I tried it was always frothy with visible bubbles. I remember when I did my barista course I was doing great with milk texturing on various machines then was put on a machine which was doing something very similar to today. For anyone that uses these machines for a living, is there something that can cause this? Pressure too high perhaps? Or operator error? Although I doubt the last, I tried literally everything. I did notice it had a very small wand so I had trouble submerging it very far, but far enough that I was introducing air.

As far as I can see you are already experienced. Still, I can give a basic recipe that may help.

You should introduce hot air of course for bubbles and also to heat the milk up.  Make circles with the wand inside the milk. Around 70 degrees Celsius is known to be good for heating milk for bubbles.
Then, you should stay on the surface. The wand should make some angle with the normal, so occasionally wand is in the thin surface of milk and air. There you can hear some hissing and whistling sound. Hearing the "paper tearing" sounds on the surface is important and told that they introduce micro bubbles.

Then, you can quickly (to not overheat) repeat these two to push the micro bubbles formed on the surface to the bottom of the jug and form new micro bubbles on the surface.

Do not forget to knock the jug to a massive wooden surface to push the liquid milk to the bottom and place the foam to the top of the jug after you finish.


Where can I buy ground coffee in Beijing? I recently moved to Beijing and now realized coffee is not so popular here as it is in America. There is a Walmart supermarket near to where I live but guess it, there is no ground coffee there.

Where can I buy ground coffee in Beijing?

Use online buying like jd.com, taobao.com.
Some coffee house will sell ground coffee.


Does espresso cost more to make than drip coffee? In US coffee shops, espresso costs more than drip coffee (say, $3 for espresso vs. $2.50 for drip coffee where I live). Is that because espresso is seen (in the US) as fancy? Or does it actually cost more to brew?

The primary factor is that it takes considerably more effort and skill to make an espresso than drip coffee.

A good espresso requires a far more expensive piece of machinery which requires greater upkeep and the barista needs to pay far more attention to what he is doing. The barista needs to pack the coffee correctly; pay attention to the water pressure and the resulting crema.

Outside of grinding the coffee and putting in the correct amount of water a drip coffee does not require much work or attention.

So, if you're providing espresso for your customers you need a far more expensive grinder, an expensive and finicky machine (the espresso maker) an employee who has had to undergo far more extensive training and said employee needs to be paying attention to what he is doing for each and every cup of espresso he is making.

All this adds to increased cost. Plus customers are willing to wait, and pay a few cents more for an espresso done right. As opposed to paying less and having an espresso in name only.


how to make French Press coffee the right way? I'll start by saying I'm pretty much a newbie to making coffee, and in the French press brewing which is why I joined this forum to learn. After reading a number of posts/info and watching videos on Youtube,
I've tried a few techniques but I still think I haven't quite grasped it.
My main issue is once I have let my French press settle for 4 mins, the ground coffee on the bottom looks exactly the same as when I first put it in about 2 heaped tablespoons. I know it isn't instant coffee but I also read in a post at limiting the amount left at the bottom. This is where I'm getting confused. How much ground coffee should be left after letting it sit?
My french press is a Bodum 12 oz.

Thanks in advance.

Is it possible that you read a few posts on the Internet the wrong way?

The grounds will not disappear, if anything they will appear "more", volume-wise because they swell in the hot water.
There are two points about "grounds on the bottom":

In the bottom of your cup, indicating a too fine grind of the beans or a hole in the filter mesh. Some very fine "dust" is ok, though. This is french press, not filtered coffee.
Coffee sitting on the grounds after pushing the plunger for too long can negatively influence the taste of the last cup, making it excessively bitter, for example. So drink / pour the coffee shortly after you finished brewing. The time threshold depends on your beans and personal taste.


Brikka either too bubbly crema or doesn't work so I'm still new to brewing with Brikka and I found my results are quite inconsistent. So, I try to follow each steps and the how to make coffee part on the product manual. Cold water, fill the funnel with ground coffee, etc. But what I've found is basically:

If I don't tamp (just a tiny bit, not hard at all, to level the coffee and remove empty spaces between), usually it doesn't work. It brews, let out a bit of coffee, but there's no the usual brikka sound and usually steam comes out from the valve. Being too paranoid, I usually turn it off and redo (I'm too scared it will explode or something), make a new cup.
But if I tamp a bit, more often the crema that comes out are too 'bubbly'.

I don't really understand why, can anyone enlighten me? Thanks a lot!

The Brikka has a safety valve  integrated in the base which should prevent blowing up. However, the coffee will likely be burnt if the steam comes out of the side for a long time. You can try using a lond spoon/knife to lift the weight manually to not waste the coffee.
Generally I would advise against tamping the coffee at all. The amount of pressure it needs to lift the weight and the point where the safety valve opens isn't too far apart. If you tamp, the water needs to exert pressure against the coffee and the weight which is often too much or takes too long.
The key is to find the correct grind size. Start with too coarse, fill the basket, remove excess from top and don't tamp. The coffee should extract quickly with a sigle "swoosh" but taste and crema will be on the light side.
Now start reducing the grind size until you hear a bit of a strain in the "swoosh" and it will take a bit longer. This is the point you are aiming for. Since the Brikka does preinfusion, the swelling grounds will provide enough resistance to get the oils out and thus the crema. If the safety valve opens, it was too fine.
The most important measure of coffee is taste, so I'd suggest try to get the taste right before worrying about how the crema looks which is very dependent on the beans, their age, the roast. (dark roasts with lots of robusta if you want crema) Keep in mind that not all roasts are equally suited for the brikka and that due to the lower pressure you won't get the same kind of crema a portafilter machine will make.


Running an empty grinder To always have fresh coffee I put in the grinder only the amount I want to drink at that moment.
Then I just grind until no more coffee comes out - but that causes the grinder to run empty for a few seconds every time.

Can it cause harm to the grinder?

I have the Rancilio Rocky (without doser)

No it's not a problem. Producers know that people at home often single dose their coffee, so I assume they consider that when producing a grinder (in fact most coffee shops that do pour over grind single doses as well). Maybe in some manuals it's written that you shouldn't let it run empty on very fine settings, but that's more to avoid warranty claims than because it would actually hurt your grinder and I assume they are referring to letting it run for minutes on end, which you probably shouldn't do. And why would you? The burrs in any case shouldn't touch each other at all, even on fine settings (or only at the flat part of the burrs, but certainly not the blades). I have yet to seen a grinder that was getting damaged due to the few seconds of running empty after your dose went through.


Cold Brew Coffee at home? How to create a cold brew coffee filter at home, I've seen so many "brewers" but all were not affordable by me nor deliverable in my location please help me?

This question is not a duplicate of Choosing filter for making cold brew am asking on how to build a cold brew itself?

One method is to use submerge your grounded beans in water for 24 hours and use a traditional cone filter.  Place the filter in a pour over cylinder if you have one and that will remove the grounds while leaving you the sweet, sweet cold brew nectar.  If you don't have  cylinder, you can definitely use a filter in your desired cup, just be careful with how you place it.


What Are The Merits of Different Green Coffee Processing Methods? I've noticed that there's a distinct lack of Q&A's on green coffee processing methods. As this is one of the earliest steps on the journey from seed to cup, I was curious:

What are the merits of different green coffee processing methods? (i.e., impact on characteristics of coffee, labor, time, etc.)

In other words: Why does Farmer A prefer to use the dry process method while Farmer B favors the wet process?

Processing Methods:

Dry Process
Wet Process
Semi-Dry Process/Pulped Natural

Dry Process | This is the oldest method of modern processing.  It requires very little equipment.  It is basically a manual process of letting the coffee cherries raisin up, then peeling them.  It is a labor intensive process.  Dry processing tends to produce body heavy, smooth coffees with complex notes.  Dry processing is used extensively in Brazil and accounts for the distinct different flavor profiles from other South American coffees.  Dry processing is not practical in humid, wet, or temperate areas, as dry heat is necessary to dry the fruit in a short enough amount of time and to assure that mold or fungus does not set in.
Wet Process | This method start with running the cherries through machinery to remove the skin and outer layers of the fruit.  The beans with remaining inner layers of fruit are soaked in water and allowed to ferment.  Additional processing is done  to remove the final inner layers surrounding the bean.  The result is left to dry (usually with additional machine assistance).  Wet processing requires a comparatively large investment in equipment, access to enough water for the process and creates waste water that must also be dealt with.  The process does allow for multiple areas to sort beans (floating during fermentation, in channel after fruit strip, etc) that potentially allow for a more uniform product.  Wet processed coffees tend to be missing the overt fruit notes of a dry process, but this is debatable and can vary based on fermentation methods (additional additives are sometimes used in the fermenting process).
Semi-Dry / Pulped Natural / Wet Hulled / Semi-Washed | This process is similar to the wet process except the fermentation step is skipped and specialized machines are used to strip the final layers from around the bean.  This method can produce beans with the best of both processing methods, but the machines used to strip the inner layers away are also prone to damaging beans.  This is a faster method of processing but again requires machine investment and resource use.

There are many other factors influencing coffee processing that should be kept in mind.  Individual farmers may not have a choice of processing method.  In many places the processing centers for coffee are quite separate from farms and only one processing center may be available.  Local conditions will also largely dictate what methods are appropriate or available.  There are also a myriad of variations on these methods that may produce different results and weather can play a factor as well (think about an area hit by a monsoon while large batches are trying to dry).  At some level, all farmers are trying to get paid for what they produce.  That being the case, most will prefer some combination of whatever local processing method is available and/or cheapest and produces the highest pricing for their product.


How to increase your caffeine sensitivity? I have been drinking coffee for a long time and over the last few years I've noticed that my sensitivity to caffeine has dropped significantly. Nowadays, it basically has no effect whatsoever - I can drink double espressos and go to sleep right away and I also don't feel anything after drinking multiples of those. According to this http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-sensitivity I guess that I've become hyposensitive to it (probably due to the abuse of all the coffee machines at my workplace)

It wasn't always like this - I even used to use it as a preworkout while I was studying (in large quantities, but still). My question is whether someone has had the same problem and managed to increase their sensitivity. If so, how and how long did it take? There are some tricks using grapefruit juice with coffee because of narangin which improves caffeine absorption or using fat (bulletproof coffee) for the same reason https://www.bulletproofexec.com/the-4-secrets-of-getting-wired-on-caffeine/ (I haven't tried these yet). The usual suggestion is to stop using it for a while, but after a month of doing so nothing changed. How do you get the kick back? I'm in the last year of my PhD and I need it...

Over the years I developed a caffeine addiction that reached fairly severe levels.  For background, the addiction ramped into high gear the summer after my freshman year of college (summer of '99) when I was consuming somewhere between 60 and 100 ounces of coffee per day.  I tried to quit cold-turkey once, and spent two weeks mostly bouncing a rubber ball off the wall of my dorm room before I decided the addiction itself wasn't even that bad.

Eventually I needed to do something about it, and I went with the only logical method: I slowly backed down my consumption, from about five to seven cups per day at the time to a hard limit of two.  I also forced myself to stop consuming any coffee after about 11:00am.

I did all this over a six-week period.  That kept the headaches away, and decreased my dependence on the drug.  However, I had to maintain at that level for several more months -- probably about six or so -- for my sensitivity to caffeine to go back up.  Now, when I drink a cup in the morning, it has the desired effect: it perks me up and prepares me for my day.  It's no longer a crutch, it's simply a pick-me-up I enjoy.

In summary: back down your caffeine intake, whatever the delivery method you prefer, by 10 to 20 percent each week until you reach a more manageable level, then hold at that level for several months.  That will increase your sensitivity.


What happens if you fail to clean a steam wand after frothing milk? Our lovely La Marzocco Linea at Stack HQ is a workhorse. Lots of people making lots of drinks, many of which require the frothing of milk. We are regularly reminded to clean the steam wand to prevent damage to the machine.

But what happens to the machine if you fail to thoroughly clean the steam wand?

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.


What is a "dry process" coffee? I have seen some varieties of unroasted coffee beans listed as a dry process.  What exactly is this referring to?

With the dry process, the fruit is left intact for an initial fermentation stage. Then the beans are hulled, washed, dried again, sorted and graded (as with other processes).

It's more expensive than other processing methods because of the real-estate and time and labor invested in the initial fermentation. But it seems to get more fruit into the bean. Dry-processed coffees tend to have very complex fruit and wine notes that are not found (or rarely found) in washed and semi-washed process coffees.


What is the history and significance of the "Anthora" coffee cup? Five years ago, my cousin brought back a souvenir porcelain "Anthora" coffee cup which is apparently a cultural icon of New York City. What is its history and significance; and is it still widely used in NYC today?

According to Wikipedia,

  The Anthora is a paper coffee cup design that has become iconic of New York City daily life. Its name is a play on the word amphora.

  The cup was originally designed by Leslie Buck of the Sherri Cup Co. in 1963, to appeal to Greek-owned coffee shops in New York City, and was later much copied by other companies. The original Anthora depicts an image of an Ancient Greek amphora, a Greek key design on the top and bottom rim, and the words "WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU" in an angular typeface resembling ancient Greek, for example with an E resembling a capital sigma ("Σ", a letter pronounced like English "s"). The blue and white colors were inspired by the flag of Greece. The cup subsequently became the metropolitan area's definitive coffee-to-go cup.

  Sales of the cup reached 500 million in 1994 (when it was by far the most popular design for the company's cups), but had fallen to about 200 million cups annually by 2005.

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthora

I also found this article about its history and cultural significance posted on May 16, 2017 By Devin Gannon  at  www.6sqft.com:

https://www.6sqft.com/the-history-behind-the-iconic-nyc-anthora-coffee-cups/

Notable extracts:

  In a city full of symbolism, from bright yellow taxis to black-and-white cookies, New Yorkers also find comfort and nostalgia in a certain cardboard coffee cup. Known as the Anthora, the blue-and-white drinking vessel first became an icon of New York City in 1963 when Leslie Buck, a Czech-American immigrant, designed the first ever to-go coffee cup to appeal to Greek-owned coffee shops and diners (...) The height of sales was in 1994 when Sherri sold over 500 million cups.

  After the Solo Cup Company bought Sherri in 2005, about 200 million cups per year were sold. A year later, with sales at a standstill, Solo Cup decided to halt its large-scale distribution. The company kept the design alive by selling its licenses to souvenir shops and restaurants. For example, MoMA’s gift store sells a ceramic version designed by Graham Hill in 2003, and many online stores like Amazon and UncommonGoods sell similar products. And it’s been seen in multiple movies and television shows set in New York; actors held the famous Anthora in hit shows like the Sopranos, NYPD Blue, Mad Men, and Law & Order.

  The cup made an official comeback to the city in 2015, after the Dart Container company received many requests to bring it back to New York.

The triumphant return of the Anthora cup to New York was announced in this article dated 12/17/2015 at https://www.dartcontainer.com/news/news-archives/news-stories/2015/12/the-comeback-cup-an-iconic-product-returns-to-the-new-york-city-market/:

  The Comeback Cup: An iconic product returns to the New York City market

  The original is back! The Anthora cup – once dubbed perhaps the most successful cup in history by The New York Times – returned in July as a regular stock item in the New York City market (...) “We had some competitors in the market who were selling knock-offs of the print and our sales people asked us to bring this cup back” (...) The cup and its retro look is expected to appeal to coffee-shop veterans who are familiar with its history as well as young customers who may be seeing it for the first time (...) Coffee sellers and drinkers don’t have to settle for pretenders anymore. The true Anthora – called iconic, ubiquitous and symbolic in its heyday – is ready to take its place as the comeback cup.

The replica ceramic cup is also mentioned and pictured in this blog post: https://blog.retroplanet.com/nyc-greek-ceramic-coffee-mug/ [Last updated: Feb 01, 2010]

  The cups not only caught on quickly, but have become so symbolic of New York City life that they have been recreated in a ceramic version. Now a 10-ounce reusable cup is available that looks exactly like the original paper version.

(source: retroplanet.com)

Yes, this is the pattern of the ceramic cup my cousin brought back as a souvenir from New York a few years ago.


Can I just put the coffee on top of the water in a French Press? Related: Does the bloom matter in French Press?
The "proper" method, as I understand it:
(assuming proper grounds and tools)

Add coffee to empty press basin
Add 1-2 inches of boiling/hot water to initiate bloom for 30 seconds
Pour remainder of water to fill press basin (proportionate to amount of coffee used)
Set lid/plunger on top to preserve heat and wait for 4 minutes
Slowly plunger coffee, pour, and enjoy.

Because of my workplace configuration, this is somewhat inconvenient. It's easier and faster to pour the water first, and then put the coffee on top, making it instead look something like this:

Fill press basin with boiling/hot water
Scoop the appropriate amount of coffee on top
Set plunger on top, slightly pushing down the grounds, to preserve heat and wait for 4 minutes
Slowly plunger coffee, pour, and enjoy.

I have not noticed any appreciable difference in taste.
Does the coffee -> water -> water method really matter compared to my water -> coffee method
Note: I am using preground coffee (grinding at work is a mild inconvenience, and a potential HR concern ;] ).

Confession:
Many rules about making coffee are writen by perfectionists (or snobs or self-declared experts...) that are always on the hunt for the elusive perfect cup of coffee. So the general advice for making a certain type of coffee has to be taken with a grain of salt - which some people actually like to put in their coffee, btw.

To be honest, if you are using pre-ground beans anyway1, which is a compromise based on convenience already, and if you like your coffee, I see no reason why you should not continue your current process. I personally might give the grounds a quick stir, just to make sure they are all wet and there are no dry lumps, before putting the lid on. If you are unhappy with what your method produces, I would suggest giving the “official” order a try or start tweaking the various parameters.

1 There are affordable and good hand-cranked grinders available, just saying.


is it true that some coffee types contain elephants dung? As you can see in this post of the Telegraph

  In the lush hills of northern Thailand, a herd of 20 elephants is
  excreting some of the world's most expensive coffee. Trumpeted as
  earthy in flavour and smooth on the palate, the exotic new brew is
  made from beans eaten by Thai elephants and plucked a day later from
  their dung. A gut reaction inside the elephant creates what its
  founder calls the coffee's unique taste.

Is this in fact real?

This is actually called black ivory coffee.

Cambodia is not actually where you get this coffee originally. The company that creates this coffee is actually based in Thailand and uses coffee beans and elephants in Thailand to make this weird sounding coffee. As said by Wikipedia:

  Black Ivory Coffee is a brand of coffee produced by the Black Ivory Coffee Company Ltd in northern Thailand from Arabica coffee beans consumed by elephants and collected from their waste

A simple Google search brings up a lot of results on black ivory coffee where your Telegraph article comes up as the first result. Thus, this does exist and is not a hoax.


Choosing grind size should be considered for older coffee beans? I have heard that if you have some 2-week to 1 month old coffee beans (since roast date), you should grind the beans finer as time passes. This is for the pour over method. Is this necessarily true and why? And of course, there could be possible secondary factors/combinations based on equipment used and type of coffee.

The reason this is suggested is because beans essentially lose flavor over time. They go stale and their oils go rancid. Grinding finer exposes more surface area of the bean to the brew and helps you eke out a bit more flavor when the bean is old and stale.

However, doing this for pour over can backfire as pour over is highly sensitive to grind. Too fine and your pour over won't drain; the filter will clog.

Try it first with your normal grind, and if that's no good, dial it one or two clicks finer. Much past that and you're in no go territory for the brew method most likely.


How to determine level of scale build up I would like to find out if my machine already has enough scale-buildup for a descaling session.

It's a 2 group, heat exchange copper boiler. About 10,000 shots through the machine. I use filtered water from a water supplier.

Lastly, do you have any references of descaling procedures for machines like this?

If you cannot see the inside of your machine (alternatively, the hardness of the water source, together with the exact temperature and volume of the water as well as time it stays in the boiler) you can only guess whether you need it or not.

I have o domestic type machine at home and I descale it after every 100 or 200 shots.

I'm pretty sure that your industrial boiler also needs descaling in these days. Even if you use filtered water, it is better to be sure.


Is it Okay to Reuse One-time Coffee Filter Cups for Coffee Pods? I have a bag of 10 Rombouts filter coffee cups and I wonder if these can be reused:

I wanted to reuse them but have concern from health perspective as well as practicality of this. Since coffee in a used filter cup has been used, I would remove it and place coffee pod in its place.

Thanks

If you can remove the coffee grounds/filter and replace just those, then yes it will be safe from a health perspective.  The plastic in the filter "cone" should be food safe, though durability may be an eventual concern.  The plastic cup base can definitely be reused, as is intended.

As far as the practicality concerns go, it may be more of a pain than it's worth.  The coffee containing part of the filter funnel is going to be pretty well attached, in order to keep it from slipping into the cup below and steeping (like tea) vs. simply having the water run through it.  You could probably remove the coffee filter and perch a coffee pod in it's place, but it would not be sealed to the plastic cone, and hot water may run around it without actually percolating through the coffee grounds in the pod.


Is there a difference between a manual and an automatic grinder? Is there any notifiable difference between coffee beans grinder by an automatic grinder or a manual grinder like a hand-crank?

I see many people to swear on their manual grinder (me too) but I'm curious if there may be some difference. In many coffee shops there is an automatic grinder which puts a kilogram of coffee through in a few seconds.

I have the temperature in mind. Maybe this change the taste of the coffee?

The most important differences I think, are time and temperature.

I really don't know much technical details about grinders, but as @luser-droog said, friction will create heat and it will affect the coffee (so, motor grinders can be affected by this if doesn't manage heat dissipation well)

And of course, in all cases, time matters; so, time might be a crucial factor for someone.


What variety of coffee berries are good for jam? Some people make jam out of coffee fruits, and I would like to try that out. It seems difficult, as it requires getting actual fruits, and as fresh as possible---probably even harder out of the Green Belt.

What variety of coffee should I order?

A bit of background: The jam idea comes from reading a story around the 2014 barista selection to represent the U.S. One contender partnered with a Venezuelan coffee farmer, whose mother was making traditional jam with coffee. That's how I got into searching more.

After much chatter about this question, I must admit that I've become a little obsessed with this concept. Maybe a lot obsessed...

Concept.  I see three other possible ways of making a jam/conserve/preserve/marmalade/jelly/... out of coffee fruit (i.e., coffee berries / coffee cherries) or coffee cherry husks (by "husks" I mean basically the fruit with seeds removed -- everything except the beans), in decreasing order of actual coffee fruit content:

Use the whole fruit (possibly with seeds and all), so as to make a conserve;
Make something like a jam or marmalade, using the shredded, dried, rehydrated husks;
Infuse the husks as cascara, discard the spent husks, then make a jelly out of the resulting brew (tisane).

Exclusions. Note that I am not including coffee jelly, which is made of (conventional, roasted) brewed coffee, as noted previously; also not including making a jam out of roasted or un-roasted coffee beans themselves. Both of those are interesting concepts, but discounted here to be left as separate topics.

Progress! I searched a bunch for a source of any coffee cherries or dried husks. Amazon didn't even seem to sell any (must have been my error!?). I asked around at a few local coffee shops, with little progress. I found a few pages, like this one and one from a NYT blog that gave a glimmer of hope that husks (at least) could be found. Both of those articles point to Counter Culture Coffee as selling these, but they're not in stock. An immensely helpful person from CCC pointed me to Verve Coffee Roasters, who sell coffee cherry husks for cascara. So as to get my lot before the rush on coffee cherry husks that would undoubtedly come from this post, I ordered some. Since I'm having trouble being patient and waiting for the stuff to arrive, I started...

Seeking Seasoned Advice! With all due credit to OP @EricPlaton, I posted a question over at Seasoned Advice about the concept of making jam or preserves out of coffee cherry husks or whole coffee cherries. I wrote a comment about this above, but I still hope OP doesn't mind!

More to come, and any comments or suggestions are kindly welcomed.


If I'm in a rush, can I simply use raw ground coffee like instant coffee? I've been thinking about this for a while, and was wondering if it was safe.

Nowadays, we're sometimes ina big rush and there's not enough time.  Can I simply drop a spoonful of my favorite cheap coffee, i.e Maxwell, in a cup of water (should be boiled ) ; and then get started with my day?

I realize they make instant coffee, but which is  slightly more pricy. Also, I feel that instant coffee has a somewhat artificial taste.

I am wondering about the safety aspect of this, though. Is there any potential harm to ingesting some raw coffee grounds?

It boils down to taste - some people even chew whole beans.

Safety-wise there are no concerns1 and the method you propose is not unheard of, it goes by the term "Cowboy coffee" and others. Some preparation methods even quickly boil the grounds and water (Turkish coffee), other sources warn against pouring boiling water over your grounds and suggest letting the water cool a few degrees first.

It is up to you to decide whether you like the grainy residue you might taste if you don't let the grounds settle enough before drinking.

So, go ahead and do a taste test. You can always pour your coffee through a sieve or use the leftovers for drip coffee.

1 There is some discussion whether the slightly higher content of coffee oils compared to filtered matters healthwise, but that's a very vague subject, IMHO. Other brewing methods bring more oils as well.


How to make cold brew concentrate? I enjoy the smooth taste produced by my Mizodashi cold brew jug, but prefer hot coffee.  Although I can dilute the cold brew with hot water, it gives me a pretty weak coffee (although great tasting).

So, the basic question is how can I create a concentrate with the smooth taste of cold brew that I can take into work and make my own coffee?

Like @Shiri said in comments above (and hopes that I'm not answer-sniping), most recipes for cold-brew are concentrates. Within reason, try brewing with a smaller amount of water! Compare guides like Kicking Horse, Stumptown, Blue Bottle.

In my experience (except for the problems that I've had with filtering) brewing a lower volume of water generates very similar results when diluted. Said the other way, brewing with a higher ratio of coffee :: water, then diluting, is my preferred way of brewing, storing, and consuming.

That said, do store in a neutral vessel that is easy to clean (my preference is a wide-mouth glass jar). Stored in the fridge, it will last several days (maybe a week) and still taste okay. In a plastic jug (or so) it might 1- start to obtain bad tastes from the container, and 2- infect the jug with stale coffee taste over time. Coffee oils (etc.) can be hard to remove especially when cold.

Some additional information is in related questions are about ratios and concentration and a concentration table in this answer.


Can you practice latte art with UHT milk? I want to practise my latte art skills.

However, using fresh milk is quite expensive so my solution was to use long-life (UHT) milk, which is quite a bit cheaper than using fresh milk.

Will using UHT milk somehow affect this negatively?

Do you know of any other cost-effective ways of practising latte art?

Back then when i got my first espresso machine i was recommended a method using a pinch of dishwashing soap in a pitcher with water. This way i was able to practice and enhance my frothing skills.

Be sure to find the correct dose of soap and be aware that soap residue can stick to the steamwand, so remember to clean it by purging the same way as you would froth milk.

I find this method much more suitable than wasting a lot milk if you intend to do it a couple of times a day for practicing.


What exactly is the difference between coffee and coffee extract? One company lists its product ingredients as, "coffee (filtered water, coffee extract), natural flavor (with natural coffee flavor)." The extract's "97% Arabica by volume" and "starts with coffee beans"?

Moreover, why would coffee need "natural coffee flavor?"

How does "coffee extract's" caffeine content differ from "coffee's"?

Could someone break this down for a neophyte? Thanks,

As clear an answer as likely there is:

Extraction is everything that the water takes from the coffee.

So a cup of coffee is coffee extract. A shot of espresso is coffee extract.

As far as natural coffee flavor, it's just marketing geek talk, maybe trying to distance themselves from products like the following:

  It is hardest for people to understand how we can use coffee flavor without having any coffee in the product. The components of coffee flavor can be extracted from a number of natural ingredients that include coffee, chicory and even, believe it not, garlic! It’s hard to imagine that coffee and garlic share the same flavor component, but they do. The expertise of flavor chemists allows them to derive flavors by isolating them from other compounds that don’t contribute to flavor.
  Thus it is possible to produce coffee flavor without caffeine.

So maybe your coffee product is emphasizing that it is made from actual coffee. It's like saying "meat (with natural meat flavor)


What is the best laptop to buy to run latest version of Cropster? I’m about to purchase a new laptop for my roasting business and I would like to purchase the one on which Cropster runs best.

Here is the answer from Cropster FAQ, accessed May 2018:

Operating System
    •   Windows Vista or later
    •   Mac OS
    •   Linux
Minimum Requirements
    •   Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 (K8) 2.6 GHz
    •   RAM: 2GB
    •   HDD: 100MB
    •   USB standard-A port or a compatible adapter
    •   Display: 1366 x 768 resolution
    •   Java 6 Release 45
Recommended Requirements
    •   CPU: Intel Core i3 or AMD Athlon II (K10) 2.8 GHz
    •   RAM: 4GB
    •   HDD: 500MB
    •   USB standard-A port or a compatible adapter
    •   Display: 1920 x 1080 resolution
    •   Latest release of Java from java.com
Software Requirements:
    •   Please note that some users experience issues running the Roasting Intelligence while using a mismatched version of Java for their operating system (32 or 64 bit), while using certain versions of Java 7, or while multiple versions of Java are installed
A stable internet connection is required for the RI to download profiles, green lots, machines, workers, authenticate usernames, and upload roasts to our servers. You'll need to download and run the RI while connected to the internet at least once; afterwards, you can roast without an internet connection, but will need to connect to update your inventory or reference curves and to receive updates.

The RI will not run on a Chromebook.


How to maintain the flow rate of Hario Woodneck cloth filters as they age? The Hario Woodneck brewer uses cloth filters that are not meant to last forever but I am looking to increase their usable age. As weeks pass, the flow rate of water through the filter noticeably slows down. In a brand new filter it seems almost constant from full to empty, but after a month or so the last bit takes ages to drain. What should I be doing to keep them 'alive' longer?

I am using the ones in the image if it matters. These are inserted to the hoop provided with the Woodneck.

Before first use I soak the filter in boiling water for a few minutes as instructed. After each use I rinse it with hot water. Between uses I store the filter in a ziplock bag in the freezer.

Try putting a glob of coconut oil on the filter and then sprinkle a little baking soda and salt on too. Scrub with a stiff plastic toothbrush/nailbrush followed by a warm vinegar/lemon juice dosing, a final brushing, then a hot water rinse. This works well for ceramic mug coffee stains too :-)


What are the differences between Jacobs Krönung and Jacobs Cronat Gold? Jacobs got two major brands:

         vs.

As far as I can tell, they are both instant freeze dry coffee going through the same process.

However, Cronat Gold is  (at least in my country) 30%-50% cheaper than  Krönung. The taste is also very similar, the Cronat Gold maybe bit more delicate or having less caffeine.

What are the differences between the two, and why such a gap in the price?

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/


Capsule coffee machine for home for one person: is it worth it to go for an expensive one? I'm choosing capsule coffee machine for home. There is a lot of options with different prices. I would like to know if it's worth it to go for a more expensive one ? Will coffee taste better ?
What else should I pay attention to ?
I'll have one-two coffee per day and don't mind if the machine is loud or slow.

If saving money is a priority, you can get a single-serving capsule coffee machine for about $20. This will do fine for a cup or two a day. You have to add water to the machine before brewing each cup, which may be a bit repetitive for more than a few cups a day. It does, however ensure you put fresh water in there for each brew as opposed to letting the water sit in the reservoir going stale.

If you like larger servings, make sure your machine supports more than just the usual 12 ounces per brew; many machines offer 12 ounces as the "large" serving.

If you want your brew made for you automatically at a specified time (waking up to a fresh cup of coffee is certainly a plus in the morning), your expenses will start going up for machines with clocks and timers.

If refilling the single-serving water reservoir becomes a chore due to increased coffee consumption, get a model that has a larger reservoir, so the only thing you have to attend to is the capsule. The machine will tell you when it needs the water tank refilled.

Some machines add more bells and whistles such as a milk frother; if those extra features and accessories appeal to you, you are looking at spending in the three digit price range.

I recommend getting a machine that can make both capsule-based and ground coffee. This will provide more flavor options as not every coffee is sold in capsule form.

As far as quality is concerned, the aforementioned cheap single-cup machines tend to be made from cheap plastic parts and they may start malfunctioning sooner. The lid mechanisms are the first ones to go (moving parts usually are), and if you have a dual-purpose machine, the cheap plastic filter may start to deteriorate.

Do not neglect to change the water filter in the reservoir at the manufacturer recommended intervals.
To answer the other part of your question, with the same amount of water and the same capsule, you will be hard pressed to notice any differences in taste when going up in price.


What can I do to improve this cold-brew method? The cold-brewed coffee we made was weak and tasteless. I spent an hour with the roaster to get the grind right but here are the steps and process:

Purchased coffee, and requested that they be ground to "drip grind" coarseness
4 to 1 by volume (measuring cup) room temperature water to coffee grounds
Stirred in the jar then refrigerated for 24 hours
Poured it manually through a paper filter

Result: as I was pouring the coffee through the water filter, I could tell that the coffee looked kind of translucent. The taste was weak and bland. There was no complexity, and while it was not bitter, it was very bland.

So here is the paradox that perplexes me.  I'm pretty sure that the grind is still too fine, but then on the other hand the coffee seems to be in on the weak side.  The brew process is somewhat simple, but "immersion" is a standard acceptable cold brew process.

What do you think we did wrong? Let's assume that the beans were of decent quality.

The problem is probably temperature of the water when steeping. For a better, more full-bodied result, steep at room temperature. Seattle Coffee Gear, for example, did a test of cold-brewing in the refrigerator and at room temperature, and reported that the room-temperature-steeped cold-brew was tastier, stronger, and more full-bodied. See also this question for more.

In sum, don't refrigerate it until it's done brewing. Your fridge slows the extraction process down.


How best to reduce tannins in black coffee? I've traditionally had coffee with milk, no sugar. However I've recently switched to a diet that involves either reducing milk intake or switching to a milk substitute.

I've been trying to make the switch to black coffee, but I'm finding the tannins (metallic/coppery taste down the sides of my tongue) a little too much to bear. I use a coffee pod machine mostly, but I've also found this problem with espresso black coffee.

I do notice the 'tannic' taste more when the coffee has cooled, but I'm wondering if there are certain types of coffee bean, roast styles, or even serving styles that I could adopt to reduce it without introducing milk back in?

Edit: A few notes.

I've had the same problem with almond milk.
Introducing sugar is a no-go.

Tannic acid grows exponentially for a while during roasting, then starts to decrease.

So, I can advise either you can add some  (aged) green beans or dark roast beans to your coffee to find the best balance for yourself before grinding. This may decrease the overall acidity and tannin level of your cup.


How to make a very DENSE mocha? I know have to add milk and chocolate into the coffee, but it tastes different from bought from shop.
I am using whole milk, not steamed, circa 1/5th of the total volume.
My coffee is Caffe Verona dark roast.

Posting comment on original question as an answer to benefit the Google creepy crawly bot.
Mochas are latte-based drinks. They use steamed and frothed milk, not just plain milk. Steamed and frothed milk are both produced by mixing air and heat with milk (typically by injecting steam, by heating and agitating, or by a combination of these) to make it creamier. You can make frothed milk without special tools by agitating milk aggressively while heating it on the stove. Use a hand mixer or immersion blender. If you like the effect, you can buy dedicated frother devices for about $30-40 online.


How can I clean my these spots on my aluminium moka pot? I left my aluminium moka pot unused for a year and it turn out to be so rusty. I think it was too damp at my outer kitchen. Is there a way to revive it?
Advance thank you for the answer

That looks very much like aluminum oxide, caused by exposure of aluminum to oxygen in the air. Don't worry. However unsightly it looks, it's not dangerous. You should be able to remove it with white vinegar or a solution of vinegar in water. Wet a soft cloth or soft-bristled brush with it and gently scrub.


Is there a difference between cold brewing in the fridge vs room temp? I use a Toddy and wanted to know if there is a difference and what in cold brewing and placing it in the fridge for 20-24 Hours versus the counter at room temp (65-70 deg)?

Well if you put it into a fridge, all you are doing is slowing down the process. Cold brew is one of the hardest things to mess up if you ask me, so I would just brew it room temperature. If you extend a brew process in time - than you generally have a larger interval of time where the coffee will still taste great, but since it's already hours long I really wouldn't worry about it. All the shops i've ever worked at brew room temperature. Hope this helps!


Can coffee pods be brewed in cup? I have a plenty of coffee pods but our coffee machine is currently broken.

Can I simply drop the coffee pod into the cup and deluge it with hot water, such as tee bags, or how many people are preparing the ground coffee?

Or because of the structure of those coffee pods they can be brewed only under pressure?

The way I understand your explanation this should, in essence, make a turkish brew. In other words, it can be done, no problem.

The thing to consider would be your personal preference; not everyone likes to have their grounds swimming in their coffee, so as mentioned in the comments, pouring the insides into a drip filter might be an option to consider. If you do however decide for a turkish brew, remember to let it sit for a while so all the grounds settle at the bottom, and don't drink the last part (where the grounds will be)*.

*Or do, if you really want to. Almost no one does this as it tastes horrible, but my grandma actually used to eat the grounds at the bottom with some sugar, so I guess exceptions exist...


What is the reason that Aeropress coffee is more digestible? For some years I could not drink coffee because it caused me instant digestive problems. I tried various kinds of preparation and beans but often it only took some minutes until the bodily reactions started.

Then someone suggested to use the aeropress and now I can drink coffee again.

Can someone tell me a reason?

What I tried earlier: caffeine free coffee, espresso, old style filtered coffee, old style filters with adding cooking water by hand, modern automated coffee makers. Freshly ground, non freshly ground, mokka, adding powdered directly into the cup and surely some others I don't remember.

Now with the aeropress I used different kinds of beans and different mills, different filters (metal and paper) and never had any problems.

How I use the aeropress: I add two spoons of coffee, put a little hot water on it. After a couple of seconds I fill up to full, wait until some water is through, then gently squeeze.

I don't have any problems with caffeine.

The digestive problems you've experienced may be due to the acidity of the coffee. Now lighter roasted coffee will definitely be more acidic so the roast level of the bean can be at play. Not only that, but underextraction can cause high levels of acidity also.

The only discernible difference I can garner from what you've told me is that in the Aeropress there is a slight form of full immersion brewing. This will better encourage all parts of the coffee to be well extracted and so reduce the acidity of the resulting cup.

If you're curious as to what the real cause is, buy two different batches of beans, one medium-dark roast and one light roast. Then perform Aeropress, French press, pourover, espresso and possibly drip extractions with both beans and note down your gastric reaction to each cup. If there is almost no significant difference between any of them to how it makes you feel i.e. it seems to occur at random, you might just be hyper-sensitive to small changes in acidity caused by the differences in the imperfections of each extraction.

Good luck.


French press vs simple filter, is French press equipment really necessary? French press coffee is basically when you pour almost boiling water onto ground beans and then filter them (by pressing the filter handle).

So I wonder why use that contraption at all?
Simply pour the hot water over the beans and then pour them in a glass over a filter.

Is there something I am missing that makes that contraption necessary?

The simple answer is, no. You don't really need the exact French-press equipment to prepare a drinkable cup of French-press coffee.

However, the equipment is very likely to ease your preparation. Otherwise, you should take care about

timing
amount of water (and maybe setting the coffee/water ratio)
filter-size
act of filtering quickly and properly

all by yourself to have a decent cup. If you aren't experimenting or looking for adventure I advise you to pay 5 bucks for the equipment.


What is the difference between a Blend and Single Origin coffee? I wanted to know the difference between blend and origin coffee.

Many of us continuously discuss origins on this site. I searched through the site, interestingly cannot find a short, precise definition.

Sometimes, variety is confused with single origin. So,  I would like to start with this.

Taxonomically, Coffea genus has several species and we consume three of them as the coffee drink. These three species have several varieties. They may be thought as varieties of dog from a biological perspective. Same species, several properties.

For coffee though, the variety is not the only criteria that affects the quality of a bean. Cultivation, climate, soil, irrigation, harvesting, drying and peeling the fruit from the bean,  drying the bean are all affect the bean quality. So, if you have a specific variety and also you can guarantee the region and the aforementioned process is stable for a batch of beans, you call them single origin beans.

Blends are "blends" of several single origin coffee beans to produce the flavor characteristics of more than one single origin coffee. For a recent related post on blends please check this:

What are the basics of creating an espresso blend?


Dragon curve floating on freshly brewed coffee As a PhD student in mathematics, I like my coffee - quite a lot. But I'm also poor (because, duh, I'm a PhD student), so my funds available for coffee are pretty limited. In order to still be able to have a decent cup of coffee, I decided to invest in a nice hand grinder and an Aeropress - figuring it would pay for itself.

So, here I am, hand grinding coffee beans, a local barista recommended, brewing what I consider to be surprisingly decent coffee and still - something is wrong.

My coffee - for some reason - has a dragon curve floating on its surface!

Unfortunately - being in my office - I am not able to take a picture of it. But it comes really close to an actual dragon curve, posted below for reference.

A dragon infested office clearly isn't suitable to work on ones thesis and hence I sit here, wondering about dragon curves and what might cause one to show up in my coffee cup instead...

Technical details: I'm using a fine - but thin - paper filter in my Aeropress and some blent of mostly Arabica coffee for my beans of a medium grind size. It seems most likely to me that the dragon curve I observe is made of lipids - especially since Arabica (according to a quick internet search) seems to contain a decent amount (~15%). That, however, doesn't explain its fractal appearance. I've seen lipids floating on coffee many times before, but as far as I can remember, they just formed boring puddles or were entirely absent (maybe due to using a thicker filter).

I welcome any attempt, preferably backed by published research, to explain this distracting phenomenon as well as pictures of similar curves formed by lipids on liquid surfaces (preferably coffee).

It's probably not a dragon curve, but the fractal projection of the Brownian motion of coffee lipids on the surface of your tasty beverage.

Brownian motion is best explained by statistical physics. Small atoms or molecules collide each other continuously in very high speeds in the liquids even if they seem serene. However, as the total effect (average) of these collisions are quite stable, we see a still surface.

The small particles, which are very light in mass, can be affected by these collisions. So, they may move with respect to these collisions. So, you can observe these collisions as Brownian motions if you put some very light powder or lipid on top of the surface of a liquid. Very probably, this is what you have experienced.

Here you can find a very comprehensive list of fractal sketches, including the ones related to Brownian motion. Do any of them look similar?


How to make mild instant coffee? I've recently become a fan of "Nescafe Food Service bend" Instant coffee (as pictured below). I've had a number of other brands of instant coffee and have been wondering how do they create such a mild blend of instant coffee.  It clearly isn't freeze dried but is agglomerated, this usually gives the coffee more of a bitter taste, but here it is rather smooth.

How do you make mild agglomerated coffee?

Making instant coffee is the same process as making a cup of coffee from grinding your own beans - at least the first part of it before the drying.

How is instant coffee made

So if I want a mild cup of coffee, I use less coffee grind. There are other variables that can be played with along with the amount of grind: extraction time, extraction temperature, bean roast level.

You can probably make your cup of instant less mild by adding an extra spoon or so of instant. Simulating (?) more coffee grind.


Do the size and shape of a cezve matter? When brewing Turkish coffee in a cezve, it's generally recommended to fill with water up to the neck of the pot. Is it alright to use a bigger cezve (say, a double one) for making less coffee (e.g., a single demitasse)?

My guess is that the problem, if any, would relate to the fact that the water surface should be up in the cezve's narrow neck. A related question, therefore, is: does the narrowing-to-the-top shape of the cezve effect the brewing, and in particular, crema formation?

In short: Using a cezve of the correct size works better. The situation is similar to using appropriate equipment size in other coffee preparation methods (other examples at the bottom).  That said, you can probably brew a passable cup of Turkish (or other names) coffee when your cezve isn't full to the neck (or, using a cezve that's "too large").

However, there are reasons for the shape and size of a cezve (as you suggest in your question), and it really does help in practice:

The narrower neck of the cezve keeps the foam form. I haven't found any good references for an explanation; more discussion below.
It's easier to see what's happening. Using a bigger pot, it would be more difficult to see when the boiling/foaming is happening. Some stir it down during brewing, some don't; either way, timing is important!

There are a bunch of brewing guides that suggest reasons; this one  suggests stirring down several times, and says the size is due to "physics" without explanation; here's another. This one from CoffeeGeek suggests that the shape (narrowing toward the top) helps to prevent the foam from burning to the side of the pot (becoming bitter); this makes sense especially when using a small pot on a gas stove, when the heat will try to hug the sides of the pot. And this one doesn't say to stir. All of them suggest, but none that I could find explicitly state the reason why the foam forms better.  In a pinch, I have tried to make Turkish coffee in a regular handled pan; it simply doesn't work as well. Something magical happens in the neck of a cezve to help that delicious foam to form; the best I can figure is that it's fragile, and the narrower neck somehow helps concentrate the bubbles, helps keep the foam together, and keeps it from collapsing.

Other examples of equipment size mattering when you're making coffee with other methods:

Moka pot. The size of the pot determines how much you brew at a time; can't really make more or less (though you could brew a few pots in a row). See also moka.
Espresso. Though you can make a single or double, and a long or short, you pretty much have to stop pulling at the right time.
Cone filter. For example, #2 and #4 and #6 coffee filters exist for a reason: it's hard to get a good pour of a 12-cup carafe of drip/filter coffee through a #2 filter; it's just too small.


Purpose of Hole in Moka Funnel I recently switched from a Bialetti Moka Express 3-cup stovetop espresso maker to a Cloer 5928 espresso maker. It has an integrated heating unit, just like an electric kettle, so making a coffee is now much more energy-efficient.

The coffee from the Bialetti was flawless (using a medium-fine grind of Starbucks espresso roast beans). Now I have a difficult time producing coffee that is not both overly thin (underextracted) and has an odd taste that I can't even describe (perhaps from overheating the ground coffee?).

The new espresso maker takes some time to heat up (365 Watts of electric power), and then the coffee is pressed through relatively quickly in short bursts.

Having a look at the funnel, it has a hole, unlike the funnel of the Bialetti. My questions are:

Can the hole in the funnel have anything to do with the underextracted coffee?
What could be the purpose of the hole anyway?

Just guessing here, but the hole could keep the water from going up until it reaches a certain temperature. The amount of pressure from the steam varies on the temperature of the water, and if there weren't enough pressure, the water would recycle. However, if the pressure were greater, the velocity of the water would prevent it from dripping out of the hole.

This could explain the bursts, since the pressure would rise and fall depending on the amount of water it pushed out. The more water that escapes, the more room there is left behind for pressure to fill.

Also, you mentioned a weird taste. Could it be metallic? If so, you could try letting the base sit in a strong coffee/water mixture for a couple days. The moka pot needs to be seasoned to prevent this taste, so I would recommend not washing it with soap - just rinse. My grandmother has never washed hers.


Should I flush the Nuova Simonelli Oscar II before pulling a shot? I just got my first espresso machine, a Nuova Simonelli Oscar II.
When watching other people use the machine (on YouTube), I see some flushing the machine for about 2 seconds before every shot. Some don't.
What is the point of this operation?

Flushing helps clear any residue that might be left inside the machine or grinds stuck to the group screen before pulling your next shot. It also helps bring the group head up to temp before you lock the portafilter, so your first bit of hot water doesn't get cold as soon as it hits your puck.


Triple venti meaning at Starbucks At Starbucks I asked for venti with an extra shot. The barista called it a triple venti. What does the triple mean? I thought and a Google search confirmed that a venti comes with 3 espresso shots, so what does the triple refer to?

Refers to those shots of espresso. You have 2 in there by default. (The iced Venti drinks typically get 3, because the cup is a little larger (24 oz.))


Why am I not addicted to coffee? I have been drinking coffee for the last 5 years at least once a day, often twice and I have no addiction feeling yet?

I need to be addicted to coffee and experience the feeling?

Caffeine is only mildly addictive and only shows minor physical dependence. It does not threaten physical, social or economic health the way truly addictive drugs will.
"Withdrawal" or skipping your morning cup might give you a mild headache.
Here is a link to a brief description of caffeine addiction.

http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/caffeine-myths-and-facts


Why some coffee pods are under pressure? I am quite sure that air prejudices the quality of the coffee. So why some coffee pods are under pressure? Shouldn't they be in vacuum?

Inert gases are known to be chemically stable; they don't react with materials around. Based on that fact Ernesto Illy, the son of the founder of the famous coffee roasting company, invented the method of filling a can of roasted coffee beans with pressurized inert gases. Many years they held the patent for this method and still pressurized roasted coffee cans are the fingerprint for that company. This method is known to protect the roasted beans for a longer period; however it's not magical. So, the beans will stale eventually.