Troubleshooting Moka coffee grind size vs sediments I recently received as a gift a pack of pre-ground coffee that was supposed to be incredible, but I just can't get it to work. I'm still getting used to my Moka pot, so its normal that I don't get a new coffee right in the first try, but this one is proving a challenge. No matter what I do, it ends up over-extracted (quite bitter).
My first suspicion is the grind, it doesn't look consistently sized:

I'm not certain, but I think this grind is the main culprit of a lot of coffee sediment going through:

I'm somewhat used to seeing a bit of sediment in my Moka coffee, but this is an outlier and I'm betting it is related to the bitterness. After trying different flame sizes (i.e. temperatures) and different amounts of water and seeing no change, I'm wondering if there's something else I should do, or some specific temperature/water level/method I should try - like interrupting the extraction midway with cold water as I've seen some people recommend.
Also, the extraction process is sputtering quite a bit, the coffee goes out on high pressure from the start. Maybe despite most of the coffee being quite coarse, it's still clogging the filter with the smaller particles? I'm definitely not tampering, don't even fill all the way through (like 90% filled).
Is my analysis correct and the grind is the biggest problem, or is there something else I should experiment with my Moka pot that may work? Should I reserve this coffee for some other method like pouring over, or just give up?

A Moka grind is a tad coarser than espresso grind and ideally finer than standard pour over. If it’s too fine, you’ll see the excessive sediments or - worst case - even clogging up.
The size of the largest particles in your first picture are French press or even cold-brew worthy: I can see the curved, smooth outside of the beans. If you also get sediments, it means you have a very inhomogeneous grind, I would suspect a blade grinder instead of a burr grinder was used.
See that section of your first photo, with the extremes circled:

Considering the difference in particle size, you will always get over extracted and under extracted coffee j the same cup, independent of brewing method.
Your last picture shows a rather watery, thin coffee over the sediments, I would expect coffee from a Moka to be more opaque and possibly darker.
As a fix, you could try sifting the coffee to separate the various sizes a bit, but frankly, I never was particularly successful with that. Apart from that, I’d first try the batch in a pour-over setup and if that doesn’t work (e.g. clogging up the filter), move up to French press.


Can making iced coffee (with cola) on my Coffee Press harm the Press? I love iced coffee, and usually make it. If you don't know what it is, it is basically adding cola to a brewed coffee. When I brew coffee in my coffee press, there is usually enough space to add cola.

I'm not going to add the cola before it is brewed, but after it is brewed, in order to easily serve it.

Can this damage the container or the press part? (The glass and metal parts)

Interesting, I have never heard of this brewing method before!

What kind of press do you own...an Aeropress/French Press? Can you post a link to the model? I wouldn't think this would hurt the press. However, it is best that you clean it more over than you would with just normal coffee - Cola tends to have a lot of added sugar/high-fructose corn syrup that could dirty the glass/plastic and quite possibly attract bugs like ants.

Soda also contains different acids like Citric and Phosphoric. As we've seen on the popular show Mythbusters (and the internet alike) the acids can be used to polish chrome and remove rust.
As long as you don't have a cheap metallic press, I wouldn't worry too much about soda affecting the integrity of the metal (especially since most metal presses are made from Stainless steel).


How should I store whole bean coffee? I just got a pound of microroasted, local coffee and am curious what the optimal way to store it is (what temperature, humidity, etc)

In a cool, dark, dry, place and whenever possible vacuum sealed.

The oils in roasted coffee degrade as they are exposed to air (oxidization) as well as heat. As with just about any foodstuff moisture accelerates the spoiling process as well. You should store your coffee in completely sealed, insulated, opaque containers. If you have the ability, vacuum pump the air out of the container for ultimate shelf-stability. Even without vacuum storage you can preserve beans for a long time by placing them inside a ziplock bag or coffee bag with a 1-way air seal and pushing as much air out as possible and then following the above method of airtight, dark and cool storage. Following these guidelines should help to ensure the freshness and flavor of the beans for as long as possible.


Should I press the coffee into my espresso machine? The other day, I was watching an interview with an award-winning barista about how he prepared the award-winning cup of coffee.

When he was putting the coffee into the coffee basket, he was also using some kind of stamp, saying that the best pressure to apply is 22.5 kilograms when pressing onto the coffee.

Well, I was not doing anything like that until then. When I tried (because the award-winning barista is doing it), my espresso machine could not handle the amount of coffee I did put in there and instead of a coffee stream was producing coffee drips.

Now, to the question - my home espresso machine (Kenwood Kmix) should handle 16 bars of pressure, but is far away from professional device.

Should one apply pressure when filling coffee to espresso machine?

And if yes, how much?

The process of compressing the coffee powder in a portafilter of an espresso machine before pulling the shot is called tamping. There is a lot of information available on the web explaining how it is done correctly, such as, e.g., here.

Tamping is an important part of making a good espresso shot, so yes, you should press the coffee in the portafilter.

The reason for compressing the coffee powder is to allow the pump to build up the pressure needed for brewing espresso correctly. If you don't tamp it, there is typically not enough resistance and the water rushes through the portafilter too quickly, resulting in underextraction of the coffee powder (and hence, suboptimal taste). Furthermore, a good tamp prevents channelling, where the water does not flow well-distributed through the coffee powder.

If the coffee drips too slowly when you tamp, a couple of things can be tried:

Tamp with less force. The correct pressure depends on the coffee powder, the diameter of the portafilter, etc. - so 22.5 kgs may simply not be right for your combination of machine and powder.
Grind your coffee less fine - this will lower the resistance.
Change your beans. In my experience, lighter roasts cause more resistance.

Options two and three are only listed for the sake of completeness - normally the tamper force is adapted to the other variables, and not the other way around. A good espresso making tutorial should give you a starting point on how to find the correct tamping force and grind coarseness level for your combination of beans and machine. Also, if you own an espresso machine and never heard of tamping, you may want to read one anyway.


Paper Filters for Basket I'm looking for a flat bottom paper filter that fits a basket about 3" on the bottom and 2.5" high. #2 cone filters work, but are really not ideal. The basket belongs to a Cuisinart coffee maker.

There are "basket-shaped" filters, which I think is what you're looking for. In my area, they're just as common as "Melitta-style" cone-shaped filters; you should be able to find them at most markets / grocery-stores. They come in various sizes; you're probably looking for one of the smaller ("junior size") variety.

From this previous answer, here's a picture of what you're looking for, I think: a basket-style filter:

You can also find them online -- one example of the "junior size" basket filter, which is what I think you want based on what you said about the size of the machine/filters. There are 3 main sizes (and probably more): "junior size" (for ~2-6 cup machines -- as linked above), the most common normal/medium size (for 8-12 cup machines), and the large/extra-large size (for large/commercial 20+ cup machines).

They tend to be inexpensive and come in large packs... I hope you drink a lot of coffee ;-)


Lavazza A Modo Mio espresso drips out very slowly I have a Lavazza A Modo Mio.

Recently, the espresso extract has been dripping out really slowly and it takes about 10-15 minutes to fill half a cup. I tried to clean the machine like the manual says (operate without a capsule - just on water), although this is something I do on a weekly basis, just to maintain my machine.

I have had this machine since April 2012. Could it be that it is too old?

It sounds like your machine needs to be descaled.

I pulled this from the documentation on their website.

  Your machine will need descaling on a regular basis (approximately every 3 months) to
  ensure it is working efficiently and to prevent any major technical faults developing. This is a simple process and will have immediate results.

The good news is if you can get water through it you can get it going again. The descaled works by desolving the calcium deposits in the machine and letting the water flow freely again.


What differentiates a $100 coffee machine from a $1000 coffee machine? There is a huge amount of price variance for coffee machines. Just a quick look in any shop will reveal two espresso machines, made by the same manufacturer, one in the $100 range, and another in the $1000 range. For the purposes of simply making espresso from ground coffee, what is the difference between them?

More expensive coffee machines typically have better "plumbing", including some and even all of the following:

2 boilers / HX to allow for frothing and brewing at the same time
Preinfusion
Copper boilers vs. cheaper aluminium versions (guarantees better temperature stability)
Larger boilers, allowing for more shots to be drawn/ milk to be frothed
Wider portafilters (which in some peoples' opinion gives better flavour)
3-way valves to allow back-built pressure to evacuate
a real steam wand, no gimmicky plastic ones that promise the world and don't deliver
the ability to be plumbed (connected to your water drain so you don't have to manually clear out the water tray.)
The option of vibration vs. rotary pumps (which are quieter, although I think they are more likely to break if there is no water)
Customisability of technical factors (pressure, temperature) which gives more control for our crazy data-obsessed coffee needs :)

Now this doesn't mean you can't get good coffee on a cheaper machine. You're just going to have to put more effort in it and get more variable results. Which is more than fair for most people.

As for the price difference, most of these features will raise the price by themselves and a lot of the more expensive machines are hand-made as well.

Last point they are also very pretty and a status symbol, not to the extent of let's say a very expensive watch but it does sort of feel that way sometimes.


Cold Espresso with moka pot I bought a moka pot few moths ago and I've enjoyed brewing "espresso" with it. I wonder if it would be possible to make cool my espresso so I can drink it the next day. It would be handy if I could just brew espresso and take it the next morning and drink it at school so that I don't need to do the brewing in hurry before school.

I've seen some tutorials or guides, but they don't seem to utilize moka pot. Instead they brew the coffee just by throwing coffee to water and put it to freezer for 12 or 24h.

I've tried simply putting a shot of espresso to freezer and it tasted horrible the next day. I sealed the shot glass with plastic wrap...

So my question is if there is a way to make cold espresso that would taste good after cooling it down.

Thanks in advance!

The moka pot is by design unsuitable for a cold brew. In a moka pot, the water in the lower compartment is brought to a boil and the resulting steam pushes the hot water through the grounds in the middle basket into the upper part of the pot. So no steam, no pressure, no "espresso".

A cold brew works by playing with another factor of the main parameters of chemical coffee extraction (concentration/surface area, temperature, duration), namely the significantly extended extraction time. But changing the parameters will also alter the ratio of the compounds in your final brew, also known as flavour profile. Cold extractions are famous for their lighter, more floral nuances - which in an espresso roast will be overpowered by the darker roast, hence lighter roasts are typically preferred for cold brews. Also, the grind for espresso/moka is a lot finer than for cold brew.

The conclusion:

If you want to try cold brew, find a suitable roast, grind it accordingly and follow a "recipe", at least in the beginning, until  you gain some experience. You can also search this site for Q/As tagged "cold-brew".
If the moka taste in a cold version is what you are after, you could simply prepare a serving, store it in a suitable container (think mini jam jar or similar) until the next morning. Decide whether the flavour, which will change somewhat overnight, is to your liking. And our taste buds react differently to hot or cold food.- But apparently you ran that experiment already.
If both versions are not really "your thing", you can save at least a bit of time by preparing the moka pot before you go to bed. Then, see if you can alter your morning routine so that you are using the n minutes it takes for the moka to sputter for some other task.


How can I better work coffee into my morning routine I am a pretty lazy person and sometimes it takes me awhile to get around to making coffee. I have a french press and I grind my own coffee so it takes a little longer. What are some simple ways I can speed up my coffee making process or better work it into my morning routine without sacrificing quality?

I had a similar problem and I ended with aeropress. To speed up the process I use pre-grinded coffee which I store in the fridge. Once you press the coffee, the cleanup is very fast.


Does a decaffeinated coffee have zero or little caffeine in it? Does any average kind of decaffeinated coffee have zero or very little caffeine in it?

We have yet to invent a process that removes 100% of the caffeine. When drinking decaf, the important question to consider is how likely you are to feel the effects of the trace amounts of caffeine that are left. That brings us, as most things do, back to the beans.

Arabica has (on average) only half of the caffeine that Robusta contains. Now let's say you have a bag of Robusta where 80% of the beans have 1 - 2% of their original amounts, and 20% of the beans have 15% of their original amounts. Drop by drop, a shot of Robusta is much more likely to keep you awake or elicit other natural responses to caffeine than an identically-sized shot of Arabica.

But let's take that into context and not pick on Robusta so much - the single shot we mentioned might only contain 20mg of caffeine in total, meaning you wouldn't notice the effects any more than you would notice effects from the Arabica. The point is, you could, so if you want to avoid caffeine, go with the milder bean and faster extraction.

Just goes to show, when you're talking about the characteristics of any coffee, the bean is pretty paramount - it can change the answer to any question completely in many cases.


I run my espresso machine until my whole cup is full. What's my coffee called? I have a cheap espresso machine. I grind dark roast beans separately, fill a "double" filter with it, run the espresso machine and won't turn it off until my ~250ml cup is completely filled. I drink it right away, brewed coffee style, without adding anything.

It's not Americano (it's got crema all over it), too much water to be espresso, and to my understanding, Long Black is espresso added to water.

Is this simply, regular brewed coffee with crema?

I'd say that it's a caffè crema which is generally made the way you make your coffee and is about 240 ml. It's about 3 times more water than a normale.


What constituant in coffee has a laxative effect? My question is as simple as it sounds. I want to know which constituent in coffee makes me poop, chemical or physical (particle).

I'm sure everyone has experienced it. You drink a (couple) cup(s) of coffee and a few minutes later you'll find yourself rushing to the toilet.
I personally don't drink a lot of coffee. I drink one cup a day (only from We. to Fr.) and occasionally a cup on Weekends.

What ingredient causes this laxative effect?

Is it the caffeine?

If so, why doesn't energy drinks have a similar effect?

Is it something out of the coffee bean itself?
Do only special types of coffee (bean) have this laxative effect?

I tried googling a bit, but haven't found a meaningful answer. Seems like scientists can't agree which ingredient causes it or whether it's even scientifically proven that coffee has a laxative effect.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV...

I would guess that it is a combination of a few factors.

Coffee contains caffeine which is a stimulant and most stimulants have some degree of laxative effect.

If nothing else stimulants will raise your metabolism, so even if it isn't immediate you'll be heading to the bathroom sooner than you would without them.
It also looks like caffeine causes stimulation of the bowels specifically.

  coffee can also cause looser stools because increased peristalsis
  leaves less time for the colon to perform one of its key
  functions–reabsorbing water from fecal matter to produce well-formed
  stools. Be aware, however, that other common accompaniments to coffee
  can be culprits in this matter. Dairy products, excess sugar, even
  “sugarless” sweeteners like sorbitol (a well-known substance used as a
  laxative) can cause diarrhea. - Source

Coffee is mostly water

Just drinking a couple full glasses of water on an empty stomach can lead to a softer stool.

The psychological effect

I don't know if there have been any real studies on this, but I strongly suspect that there is some Classical Conditioning going on. Much like Pavlov's dogs who were conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell, if your usual morning routine is to have a cup of coffee and then head to the restroom, over time you end up conditioning your self to do this regardless of whether or not the coffee is really "making you poop".


Why does instant coffee foam when stirring it? I have seen that when preparing coffee without milk (just water and coffee), instant coffee (at least Nespresso) foams when stirring it just a bit. However, regular coffee grounds do not.
Does someone know the reason for this?

I have noticed the same thing. I believe it occurs because minute gas particles in the instant coffee, trapped during the production process, are suddenly released. This gas (air or something inert) rises to the top and bubbles or foams. It dissipates immediately, unlike crema.

I don't think it's caused by any physical chemistry stuff, like heat from dissolution or any actual reaction, though I do notice it more with very hot water.


Can I use filters other than the original Hario filters on my Hario V60? Is it possible to use other brands of coffee filters?

Yes. Well, if the shape matches. I have never found alternatives for paper filters (patent restriction?), but there are clothes and stainless steel versions available.


How to get an even drip without Mr. Coffee filtration disks I’ve been trying to figure out why our coffee has been very weak despite double the amount of grounds used compared to the old coffee maker we had. We received a new coffee maker at Christmas. Both the old and new coffee makers are Mr. coffee brand. The new coffee maker however lasted a couple of months before it started producing really weak coffee. I think I figured out today that the problem is that the filtration disk needs to be replaced every month. The disk we have is the one that came with the coffee maker at Christmas a few months ago. When I look at the grounds, there are primarily two depressions where it looks like most of the water is dripping and those depressions line up with bulges in the filter above, so I think that a disk replacement should produce a more even drip. However, I am not interested in buying disks to replace every month. We already have filtered water in our house. So I’ve been wondering if there is a filtration disk replacement that can be a permanent solution to producing an even drip. Perhaps a metal or plastic piece with holes in it similar to what I see on our old coffee maker where the drips came from.

I tried searching for such a product, but could not find one. Does anyone have another solution for this issue? Any tricks?

If you do not care about filtering the water, you may cut round pieces from any paper filter and place them on top of the coffee pile in the basket before each brew. This should help to distribute hot water on the coffee pile.

Keep in mind, that this may be more expensive than using the regular filter as the cut pieces of water filter could be used once.


When the espresso begins to pour it takes about 3-5 secound to reach the right presure, what can I do? Hello I have some problems when trying to get a perfect shot of espresso

The problem:
So when the espresso begins to pour, the pressure is not high enought, and the color is dark. It takes about 3-5 seconds to reach the right presure and the right color.

So what can I do to get the right pressure when the espresso begins to pour out?

The equitment I'm using is:

Machine: Sage Barista express

Grinder: Mahlkönig Vario grinder (Right now the grind size i'm using is 3.d)

The beans roasting date: 19/06.

I'm using about 16g of grind coffee.

I'm Tamping at about 15kg

The extraction time is about 22.4 secound from I press the 'double shot' button.

What I have tried:

If I try to use a finer grind the pressure will just get way to high, but still use about 3-5 secound to reach espresso range.

If I try to use a coarser grind the pressure will never reach the espresso range.

This is completely normal, this is the pre-infusion phase.

Pre-infusion is used to wet the grounds before starting ideal espresso extraction. Wetting with hot water helps the grounds to release initial CO2, therefore enables more and even extraction surface. It somewhat resembles blooming in pour-over manual filtering.

As a result, you should feel lucky that you have this feature on your machine. By the way, I take a look and found this explanation on Sage's website:

  Pre Infusion Function:
  Gradually increases water pressure to gently expand grinds for an even extraction.

And a final note to enhance your cup of espresso...

As I can  see, you end up in 22.4 - 5 = 17.4 seconds, which is pretty fast. The common practice is 1 ml in 1 second; therefore you should fill a 30 ml espresso in 30 seconds (with double spouts a doppio will take the same amount of time 60 ml in 30 seconds.) I recommend you try to fix timing first to see if you can get better results.


Does aeropress coffee change flavour after several hours? Every morning I make coffee with aeropress, fresh bean grounded with automatic burr grinder. When it is working day I would put it into a warm bottle and drink in office. I would arrive at office and drink the coffee around two hours. When it is holiday I would drink it immediately at home. Somehow I think the coffee taste not as good when I drink it in office. The coffee would have less acidity and a little more bitterness. I use a zojirushi warm bottle.

All coffee changes taste over time - it is full of relatively fragile organic compounds that will change over time.

Even in a vacuum flask (without exposure to light), the coffee will keep chemically reacting with itself. There is also oxygen in the bottle which will aid the breakdown of various of the compounds.

There really is no way to perfectly preserve the taste of fresh coffee unfortunately!


Drip Coffee Maker. Slow and then extremely fast Let me preface by saying I clean my machine every day. I only use filtered water.
Machine: Morphy Richards Fresco (Standard drip-coffee)
I use coffee grounds (medium roast). I don't know the grind. I buy the grounds from a local coffee shop.
When I make four cups (max capacity). basically filling the grind in the metal filer to "4-cups" mark (max).
, 3/4 of the way: The coffee pours at a reasonable rate till it becomes extremely slow. Only drops are coming out. Then finally like a pressure cooker, the coffee pours out a rapid rate. It has a sort-of burned smell to it. The coffee still tastes good.
The same does not happen when I fill the filter for 3 cups.
I find the 3-cup brew slightly less bitter, it has greater natural sweetness.
I can not tell why.
UPDATE: I found that this was much more prominent in my coffee which had chicory.

Not sure if you'll be able to get a definitive answer on this one, but to me it sounds like filter/coffee choking, and then somehow un-choking. This is something I've experienced with pour-over brews. I've used my Fellow Stagg [X] Dripper before, and at 15g of coffee it's perfect, however at 24g the weight of the coffee is too great and it presses the filter and coffee directly against the holes on the bottom of the dripper.

Throughout the process I'll give the coffee a few stirs with a stir-stick, and it will immediately start flowing faster. It makes sense that you'd get a sweeter more balanced cup when the coffee doesn't choke. To me it also makes sense that you have a greater chance of it choking with more beans. Not sure how it could un-choke by itself, one theory is that once enough water pressure is present it creates a low-resistance channel where water flows through very quickly (and this water doesn't extract much coffee, rather would mostly dilute in this case).


What are the traits of a well made Cappuccino? How can you check if a Cappuccino coffee was prepared correctly? What specific traits will a properly prepared Cappuccino display that poorly made Cappuccino's will not?

I've heard that when you it stands still upside down (with perfectly steamed milk and froth is insanely heavenly), then it's perfect. Is that true?

My take on this is to focus on the mechanics and preparation, which I think is an important part (though perhaps not all) of a cappuccino being properly made.

Fundamentally, a cappuccino consists of espresso and steamed milk (see distinction from a latte). The World Barista Championship specifies the proper construction in their beverage definitions (.PDF) in §2.2.2. It consists of a single-shot of espresso (25 mL / ~0.8 fl. oz.), textured (steamed) milk, and at least 1 cm of foam (other places suggest 2 cm). Total volume is 150-180 mL / 5-6 fl. oz.  To the extent that you subscribe to the WBC being a benchmark, the components, volume, and amount of foam define physical properties of a properly made cappuccino. It also states that the components should be in "harmonious balance."

The WBC states that aspects of the service are also crucial, such as

visual appearance, such as that the beverage should fill the cup;
served with accoutrements, such as "spoon, napkin and unflavoured water";
logistical aspects of drinking, such as temperature and holding the cup.

Beyond that, there's a lot of variability that might lean closer to personal preference. Some other topics mentioned at WBC and Wikipedia include being "wet" (referring to the foam, versus "dry"), and "traditional" (solid central circle of white foam, versus having latte art).

Other recipes for cappuccino at home vary greatly:

Folgers suggests to use equal parts of coffee (French press or drip), steamed milk, and foam. You'll get a rather different outcome from using coffee instead of espresso.
illy suggests quantities for a more traditional preparation, using espresso and steamed/foamed milk.


What happens to Colombian beans that do not make Supremo or Extra? I'm learning about Colombian coffee and its national grading standards of Supremo (highest) and Extra (second highest). Does anyone know what percentage of all beans produced falls into those two categories? What happens to the beans that don't make one of those two grades?

They get sold for less money as "standard export" grade coffee.  Because of NFC's marketing campaign, ANY sort of Colombian coffee ends up with higher brand recollection than most other coffee.  There is a slightly slanted view of the matter here.  The writers are coffee aficionados who prize distinctive origin flavors in their coffee, which is rarely present in NFC graded coffee since they are more often than not mixed batches of beans from different growers.  That isn't to say that the NFC's work doesn't ensure high standards for Colombian exports, but it isn't favorable to some sectors of the coffee market who prize distinct coffee from a single origin.


How to make coffee concentrate I searched around a bit and found a few recipes for coffee concentrates, but most of them read more like high test cold brew recipes.

Where I work we have a few "coffee"  (note the quotation marks) machines that use the stuff. The "coffee" from these machines is really awful and I was wondering if there are alternative methods for making it.

My first thought was to take drip coffee and cook it down and reduce it into a concentrate, has anyone tried this?

Am I way off track? Is there a better way?

Just make cold brew! It's called "cold brew", but you can still make good hot coffee out of it.

Cold brew is essentially hyperconcentrated, but slow-brewed, coffee. It's very popular in the United States in the summer, because it's very easy to make excellent iced coffee with a cold brew concentrate. (Just add water and ice.) But you can also make a cup of hot coffee out of cold brew concentrate: just add hot water instead of cold water and ice.

Here's a recipe, but I'll summarize it.

You need:

~12 oz coarsely ground coffee
~6 cups water

Pour water over coffee in a large bowl or pitcher and stir. Cover with a tea towel and let sit on the counter (or fridge) for 24 hours. You can vary the coffee:water ratio and brewing time depending on your preferences. Strain thoroughly. Reserve the delicious liquid and discard the grounds. The concentrate will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.

To make a cup of hot coffee, add about 2 parts hot water to 1 part cold brew (depending on your taste). Add the hot water slowly until it's tasty to you. Dilute with a similar amount of cold water for iced coffee - then add ice. Add milk, sugar, and other fixings as desired. (If you're drinking it iced, you'll want to use simple syrup to sweeten, since plain sugar won't dissolve well in cold liquid.)

Bon appetit!


How long will cold brew keep? After making a big batch of cold brew, I'd like to be able to keep it around for an extended period of time-- one month, let's say. Assuming I keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator, how long will my batch of cold brew remain fresh, flavorful and bacteria-free?

From anecdotal experience freshness and flavor begins to fade within ~7 days with regular storage methods. Many people brewing cold brew online state between 5 days and 2 weeks is okay to keep cold brew for. In my opinion you will have coffee that you won't want to drink long before you run into harmful bacteria as long as you are keeping things sanitary.

How you store the coffee will determine how long it keeps.
To improve storage look into bottling it in individual bottles with little headspace, or even kegging the coffee. Exposing coffee to oxygen will negatively impact flavor and expose coffee to more bacteria. Creating a concentrate of the coffee may help to prevent bacteria from forming. Splitting batches up into multiple sterile containers and keeping them sealed may also help it to last longer.

Getting your coffee to last you a full month is almost definitely going to be much more of a hassle than brewing coffee more frequently. The taste will always be better from fresher coffee and cold brewing coffee is one of the simplest methods. Unless you absolutely can't make coffee more frequently I would recommend making smaller batches you can consume quickly.


Yemenite tea-like coffee? I was in Yemen a few years ago, and when ordering "Yemenite Coffee" there, one would get a cup with a liquid which tasted like coffee, but from the intensity, color and strength was more like tea.

I was told the coffee was made from the peelings of the coffee beans (because all the beans are determined for export).

Is it true that they brew their coffee with the peelings of roasted coffee beans? How exactly is this kind of coffee made? Does it have a special name? Are there similar kinds of drinks?

It sounds like you had coffee cherry tea, also called cascara, and regionally other names; in Yemen it seems to be called qishr according to Wikipedia.

It's (to me) delicious, but rather different than roasted, brewed coffee beans. It has a lovely red hue, similar to rooibos but lighter.

It's made by infusing the dried coffee cherries or just the husks (as you described in the question). It is steeped like an herbal tea, in hot water just off the boil. This article says that it can be brewed using cold-brew techniques also. I've only had it cold/iced or lukewarm, but it is probably lovely hot also.


Is it possible to overdose on coffee? I'm asking this question because I overheard someone talking about needing at least two cups of coffee in the morning to "function properly".

Also, they said this while drinking ANOTHER cup of coffee and then went on to have ANOTHER refill ~10-20 minutes later, and all of this was 3-4 hours after they woke up.

Now, I'm no genius, but surely this can't be healthy.

I have several questions regarding the matter:

Can you die from a "coffee overdose"?
What kind of health problems could you get from drinking too much coffee?
How is it possible for someone to need coffee to function, is it like how an addict needs drugs?
If someone who's "addicted" to coffee stops drinking it, would that person suffer from withdrawal symptoms?

Also, for the sake of curiousity, are there any recorded cases of a "coffee overdose"? I've looked around but can't find any.

Thanks.

Caffeine overdoses and even fatalities linked to caffeine overdoses have been reported and a quick google scholar search will show that it is still an active field of research and new cases are being found.
A good overview of caffeine overdose can be found on healthline. Some outakes:

Caffeine overdose may occur if you ingest more than [...] 400mg.
12 oz. black coffee has 260mg of caffeine

Early symptoms:

dizziness
diarrhea
increased thirst
insomnia
headache
fever
irritability

Severe symptoms:

trouble breathing
vomiting
hallucinations
confusion
chest pain
irregular or fast heartbeat
uncontrollable muscle movements
convulsions

Prevention is kinda obvious, but I will quote it for completeness:

To prevent a caffeine overdose, avoid consuming excessive amounts of
caffeine. In most cases, you shouldn’t have more than 400 mg of
caffeine per day and even less if you’re particularly sensitive to
caffeine.

The short answer to your last two questions is that one can be addicted to or dependent on caffeine. In a 2012 study investigating caffeine dependence they found that a staggering 96% of subjects had withdrawal symptoms when taken off caffeine and thus had a physical dependence. The article goes into a lot more detail for each of your questions and has a few more good references. So if you want to investigate further that I would suggest that as a good jumping of point.


What coarseness of grind works best for cold brew? I recently received a new device for making cold brew coffee. It put out a really good cold brew. The filter is made out of a fine nylon mesh.

How coarsely (or finely) should the coffee be ground for best cold-brew extraction?

Two guides do have specific (though differing!) recommendations on coarseness of grind for cold brew.

Blue Bottle recommends a grind a bit finer than paper-filtered drip coffee (they compare it to the same grind as for AeroPress); they're using an immersion setup with a wool filter.
Kicking Horse recommends a medium-coarse grind, nearly like that of French press; they are using a similar setup but claim that a finer grind extracts more bitter compounds.

Personally, I use the latter because I find the filtering goes more easily with a coarser grind; see also this question about making cold brew easier to filter.

This question also discusses the grind. See also related questions with the tag cold-brew.


Why do most coffee shops use such dark roast? I've noticed that most (non-specialty) places that sell coffee tend to have very dark roasts. This includes Starbucks, any Fast Food restaurant, most nicer restaurants, and hotel coffee.

I can't tolerate anything darker than Starbucks' "Blonde Roast". All their others I'd consider to be dark roast. When I buy coffee in the store and make it myself, it's never anywhere near as dark as what you get in shops. I usually get fresh beans from The Fresh Market or Caribou brand.

Is there any reason shops tend to make their coffee so dark? Or is my taste just skewed from most people's?

Roasting coffee dark may be used because it is easier to create a consistently flavored bean, with less monitoring and concern for flavor profiles. In the case of Starbucks they are shipping so much of their coffee to so many locations and creating so much coffee at once that it may be easier to create consistency. The darker you roast the less the flavor of the original bean matters, so it may also be used as a method to roast cheaper or lower quality beans.


Foam knife one on Breville dual boiler? Is there any method to install the foam knife one steam tip (such as this one) on the Breville BES920xl?

Unfortunately, from some quick research, it looks like the Breville Dual Boiler has a steam arm that possesses a female thread where the steam tip is inserted into the steam arm.

However the Foam Knife 1 Steam Tip you linked looks to also possess a female thread which means that it cannot be fitted on to the Breville Dual Boiler without modifying the steam arm in some way or replacing the steam arm for another compatible one that has male threading.


Espresso Machine: How Old is Too Old? I inherited a Krups Type 964 espresso machine from my parents. Actually, I found it under a pile of junk in their garage 5 to 6 years ago. It had been under that pile of junk for probably more than 10 years. I cleaned it off and ran white vinegar through it a few times and it has worked mostly fine ever since. It can't push water through coffee that is too finely ground and it has a leaking overflow spigot (which I fixed with some flexible tubing). I've never used the milk frother.

Besides that it has consistently made 1 to 2 double shots of espresso for me everyday for the last 5 to 6 years.

What I am wondering is - at point should I just get a new espresso machine? Is there a chance this old one will violently rupture/explode due to use and age? Am I better off just investing in a new one?

The easiest would be to service the machine. Think of it as bringing your car to the shop or going to a physician / dentist yourself, so a professional can check some things that might be indicative of problems and do some basic maintenance.

You can try to find a (video) guide for your specific model, try it yourself (with or without a guide) or have it done by some shop.

Generally, you'll want to look for obvious problems like small leaks, rust and mould. Other things you might be able to do is replacing the gaskets that seal of different tubes. For that, you'd need to know which ones you need exactly.


What temperature to froth/steam OAT milk to? {Rancilio Silvia} I have a v3 Rancilio Silvia with PID and just cant find anything solid online. Thanks. Currently set to 280 (Fahrenheit) but thats way tooooo high.

Looking to make lattes.

I believe the PID setting at 280 F is set to control the boiler temperature. For steaming there may be another setting, but it's probably unnecessary - as long as steam leaves the wand you can steam your oat milk.

I place my hand on the side of my metal jug to judge when I think my oat milk is steamed to perfection (I think I like it slightly cooler than most). I made myself an oat milk flat white just now and measured the final temperature at 58 C (136 F). I believe some may prefer it at up to 158 F, just like with cow's milk (there may even be some who prefer it slightly cooler).

Regarding the 280 F setting, I'd recommend setting it to 205 F, tasting an espresso shot and if it's bitter go a little lower toward 195 F. If you taste sourness you need the boiler temperature hotter or, perhaps, to grind the coffee finer.


Is it possible to roast coffee in an industrial glass kiln? Could you roast coffee in an industrial glass kiln and it be drinkable?

A strange question and purely hypothetical. This came about with a discussion with one of my friends who is a glass maker at university.

My first thoughts was that you could not control the temperature enough, however he did state that with glass making, the art is in how fast you can heat and cool down the kiln. So in effect, I don't think the temperature control would be an issue. I feel my issues are:

Rotating of the coffee
during the roasting (as it would not be in a drum). It's possible to "spin" glass in this
way.
Post roast cooling, would there be a way you could make a makeshift
cooling bed that would be somewhat effective.

Drinkable - I guess this depends on personal taste, so for the sake of this exercise I will state that drinkable as the quality of instant coffee. So something you would drink to be polite but not find any pleasure in.

If you can run the kiln at sufficiently low temperatures and have a solution for stirring the beans, yes you could roast coffee beans.

"Drinkable" on the other hand is a hard to quantify term.

Ideally, you would roast the raw beans slowy until 200 - 230 C over a time window of 15 - 25 minutes, depending on desired darkness and roast type.
This allows for a long and slow Maillard reaction and reduces the content of chlorogenic acid.
Your extremely hot kiln ("cold" glass techniques use temperatures over 800C!) woud be even harsher than industrial roasters with their "90 seconds at 400 C" method. No time for a good Maillard reaction and reduction of chlorogenic acid.

So while you probably can roast (= darken) the beans in a kiln if you are really quick, the results would lack the aromatic profile desired in good quality roasts and the probability of having just a "burnt and sour" brew is extremely high.


How to dismantle La Scala E61 group shower I have a hard time dismantling the group shower of a La Scala Butterfly. The main problem is, that there is —as I have seen so far on other machines— any visible screw nut on the bottom of the sieve. It is stuck, does not turn, even by force using a pipe wrench.

After thinking about this for days, reading every repair or rebuild history I could find in the internet, I realized that there is one more possibility. The sieve is mounted bottom facing and as it is an exposed part, facing a lot of shaking on the most outer edge (and as the La Scala engineers have shown some engineering details that already impressed me), it could be that the thread is milled counter clockwise. And yes, it is. Edit, which I forgot: It just stuck due to the massive amount of old coffee. There was no thread at all.

Dismantled sieve:


Can you prepare orzo coffee in a moka pot? I have a Bialetti Moka Express and would like to try orzo/barley coffee.

I know they sell an orzo express model, but was wondering if I can just use my moka pot

Yes.

With coffee moka, you have to fill the funnel with barley only for one half;
Otherwise, you can use the barley model, named as Orzo Express, they have the funnel shorter and you can fill entirely without problems.

Using a moka for coffee, and a different one for barley coffee, is a good practice, otherwise the taste of (ground) coffee will be highly altered.


Home Roasting with Fresh Roast SR500 I've just purchased a Fresh Roast SR500 home roaster. I have no experience roasting coffee so I'm looking for some basic principles to guide my efforts. After two batches so far, the first, done according to the directions, was horribly undrinkable, and the second, while drinkable still wasn't very good.  The flavor is a somewhat bitter aftertaste. The coffee is described as a wet processed fruity Java bean. I have so many questions I'm not really sure where to begin.

After watching several YouTube videos it seems like every one is different. A professional roasters site advised the roasting time should be between 10 and 15 minutes for all roast levels. But that still leaves the question of how much heat and how to adjust that during the roast.

Are there any straightforward principles for how to adjust the roast in respone to the taste I've gotten from my first attempts?  Or any guidance on differences in roasting light vs Full City which would be the darkest I would do?

I really don't want to reinvent the wheel here and waste a bunch of coffee beans in the process.

There is a goodish guide for your roaster here.

I'd also keep in mind that coffee has a cooling period after you "stop" roasting, where it will generally still roast to a darker level (or two). You need to try to finish your roast at a level or so lighter than what you are aiming for and let the coffee "cool" into your desired roast.

I might suggest that you roast at a lower level (lower heat) so that the beans move through the stages more slowly.  This will badly suck up your time, but will also allow you greater chance of stopping the roast at the roast level you are aiming for.

Keep in mind that many of the descriptions you read for green coffee are done by people with extremely refined palates.  No matter what coffee you roast, those fruit type descriptions are still hints and notes in the coffee, not it's overall flavor.  Additionally the quality of the green beans you are roasting will affect the final quality of your roast. It's impossible to make poor green beans great by perfectly roasting them.  You can, however, ruin high quality green beans with a poor roast.

When I started roasting, I was "lucky" enough to start with a cheap air popper.  The advantage of that is that with a popper it is very easy to hear the "cracks" associated with roasting.  My personal opinion is that the "cracks" are one of the few constants with beans that actually consistently indicate roast level. While there are other gauges out there (darkness and smell), they can vary with different varieties of beans.  Eventually I moved to a machine where I couldn't hear the cracking at all, but by then, I had learned enough of the other cues that it didn't matter as much.


What factors contribute to differences between coffee beans? I heard that there are different kinds of coffee beans, which have different specialties like aroma, taste, flavor. But I don't know what causes these differences.

What are the different types of coffee beans, and what are there characteristics? What other factors contribute to differences between one bean and another?

As has been mentioned, the species of coffee makes a difference. There are something like a hundred different species, with Robusta and Arabica being the most common commercially grown by far.  Liberica is another species that is grown in small quantities and has a very distinctive taste.

Within a single species such as Arabica, there can be a huge number of varietals. Some are naturally occuring (such as Bourbon and Typica). Maragogype ("elephant bean") is also a naturally occuring mutation from Brazil. Others have been bred by research institutes. For example SL-28 and SL-34 are common Kenyan varietals.

Another famous varietal is the "Gesha" (sometimes romantically but incorrectly called "Geisha"). This came to light when an estate in Pananma "La Esmarelda" noted something interesting when they were cupping their coffee. By separating their harvest, they finally identified a small section which was contributing to the overall cup. This coffee went on to dominate the Cup of Excellence competition and set a world record price at the time. It's since been planted on other farms which brings up the next point.....

As has been mentioned, things like altitude, soil and micro-climate affect the taste. So the Gesha (or any other) varietal from one farm won't taste exactly the same as Gesha from another farm.

The way of preparing the green beans - washed, dry-processed, or a number of other methods, all have their effect on the final flavour. So even the identical cultivar harvested from the same farm but prepared differently will produce different flavours. (The difference between dry and wet-processed is very signficant.) The actual care taken during preparation is also hugely important - I suspect that if one is starting out with a decent high grown bean, this is what really separates speciality coffee from the mass produced stuff. It takes a lot more care to prep the coffee carefully.

And I haven't even mentioned roasting and brewing....

I think this is what makes coffee so interesting - there is so much variety to try and enjoy.


Is one cup of coffee a day good? Is there any effect of drinking coffee daily?
Is coffee harmful for health?How can I make my coffee healthier? Are there any benefits of drinking coffee daily?

In Mayoclinics article, they say that healthy adults can have up to 4 cups of coffee a day. However, if you're experiencing side effects - such as: a migraine headache, insomnia, nervousness, irritability, restlessness, frequent urination or inability to control urination, stomach upset, fast heartbeat, muscle tremors) - to consider cutting back the amount of coffee you intake. This is true not just for those that have more than 4 cups of coffee a day, but for all who drink coffee. Some people are more susceptible to coffee's effects than others, so if you feel woozy or unsteady even after two, maybe it's a good idea to cut back. If coffee is affecting your sleep schedule, also cut back. If you use it to wake up in the morning or rely on it, perhaps going to bed sooner is a better option as sleep deprivation is one of the largest catalysts in becoming an unhealthy adult. This is not to say you should change yourself overnight, but change gradually if you decide to do so.

This said, here are some health benefits of coffee.

With this my own experience: I personally find myself drinking 4 cups of coffee a day. While they're not all standard cups, if I break it down I drink up to 32oz of coffee a day. I find that if I ever have coffee past 15:00 I have insomnia that night and I'm just too jittery to fall asleep.


How and when is flavoured coffee flavoured? When you buy whole flavoured coffee beans, how have they been flavoured, and when in the process does this happen?

For example, are the beans soaked, sprinkled; does it happen before or after roasting; etc.?

This site seems to suggest that the best time is just after the beans are roasted and still warm and "open", which makes some sense.  However, it does state that many flavorers cold flavor the beans and simply add more flavoring oils to make up for the reduced absorption.  I can't think of anyone that would flavor the beans before roasting.  Not only would the high heat of the roasting risk degrading the taste of the flavoring oils, it would also affect the roasting process and flavor the roasting equipment.

As for distribution, I believe most of the flavoring agents are fairly potent and the process is a sprinkling or pouring then mixing, and not a soaking.


What does strong, mild, very strong mean with respect to coffee? If you click on the coffee menu in this link: https://www.devans.in/index.php?route=common/home you will see strong, very strong, mild etc. options.

What do these options refer to in Coffee? Amount of caffeine? Amount of bitterness?

It usually refers to how long the coffe was roasted as roasting give certain taste in beans.

So it's taste indicator. Mild is very light, sometimes called washed-down (as some places try to pass medium strength as mild by diluting it with water). It should have almost no dry aftertaste (I think you mean that by bitterness). It would also be not so acidic.
Strong coffe is the one that people usually ad milk or sugar as it most dry, acidic, and toasted taste. Brew itself will also have oily/rainbow film on surface.

Light coffes (so mild or any that was toasted shorter than 10 minutes) have the largest amount of caffeine. But that also depend on beans type (Arabica, robusto and so on)


Capsule holder drawer stuck in Minù Caffè Latte machine The pod drawer in my Lavazza coffee machine (model: LM600) is jammed.

I tried to pull it really hard, I tried to pry it open. I even gave a few strikes in hopes whatever is keeping it shut will shift inside. All for nothing.

I dismantled it partially, took a peek inside and retreated - with all the water tubing, that would be a major operation.

Any suggestions how to fix it?

Descaling was the answer!

I mixed some vinegar with water in the tank (~1:1 ratio).
I turned the dial to the dispensing positing, allowed some descaling solution to go through the machine.
I turned the machine off and left it for a few minutes.
I repeated steps 2 and 3 a few times.

At some point during the process, I heard a click inside - the lock that holds the drawer during brewing came unstuck and I was now able to pull the drawer out.

More information: Minù Caffè Latte manual with step-by-step descaling instructions


Which is better for grinding coffee: Food processor or blender? Which is better for grinding coffee for use in a drip coffee maker: Food processor or blender?

Update: I noticed that my food processor makes evenly-sized course grounds, and my blender grinds smaller, but unevenly: fine, packed dust and medium-course grounds.

Conclusion from my experimentation: A blender is overall better.

I guess both food processors and blenders would act like big blade grinders. Blade grinders give particles of a wide range of sizes, from fine dust to chunks.  This gives uneven flavor extraction (if you can taste it), and requires the use of the finest filter.  If I had to choose, a small food processor might be superior, since the blades on blenders are pitched to stir more than to cut.

Lacking a burr grinder, which gives more consistent particle size and therefore predictable extraction, I'd repurpose an old pepper grinder!


How to judge time between cracks when roasting I just roasted beans at home for the first time and have a question about the expected timing between cracks.  I roasted 1 cup of beans in a Crate and Barrel stovetop popcorn popper on the side burner of my outdoor grill with the heat on high.

From what I had researched ahead of time, I was expecting to hear the series of first cracks, then pause of a couple of minutes, then faint cracks.  Instead though, the first cracks started around the three minute mark and continued for the next four minutes.  I can't tell if the second cracks ever started, since the sound never stopped from the first round.

The color and texture of the roasted beans is close to other store-bought beans, but they smell burnt.  I kept thinking I should take them off the heat but thought it might be too early and I hate weak coffee.

Should there be a space of time in between cracks?  Does this sound like I had the heat up too high?  I was stirring constantly, about one turn every 2-3 seconds.

Distinguishing between end of first crack and the start of second crack can be very tricky. A lot has to do with the variety of beans being roasted and your heat application.

What I think happened to you was that you lost control of your heat. At first crack your beans become exothermic (give off heat) and you didn't reduce your heat. What happened then is that you had too much heat at raced through the "development" time in your roast profile.
To correct this you should reduce your heat at the start of first crack and develop the flavor by how much/long  you let the beans go for before taking them off the heat.
This is a critical time for your roast because your are developing the flavor in your roast by time and roast level. How you apply heat changes from variety to variety and darkness.
Take the time to read up on roasting theory.

Here is a good basic guide: A basic roast profile guide for home coffee roasters.

Good luck


Where can I find a stand-alone coffee wand for home use? I'm looking for a stand alone steam wand like the Dualit Cino .
Do such machines exist nowadays?

Ps. The Dulit Cino doesn't seem to be available in the US and is a bit expensive for me.

If you want to save money, look to the technology of 60 years ago and seek out a stovetop steamer. Possibly easier to find at a thrift store than online, at least at a bargain.

Then again, you may well find a thrift-store "espresso" machine that you could dedicate to only using the steam wand on, even if you'd never dream of making coffee with it. May also depend on the thrift store, or the week (given that stock varies with what they get.)


What does moka pot cups mean? I bought a moka pot days ago and have been using it almost everyday, each time i fill it with ground coffee and enough water and i drink it all by myself.

Today i noticed that on its box its written 4 cups, what does it mean?
Does it mean its for 4 people and ive been drinking too much coffee each time?

And im rather new to coffee drinking, so how much coffee does one drinks each time?

You are correct, four cups means four servings - but a serving is an espresso cup, not a mug.

In the different coffee cultures around the world, there seems to be some correlation between cup size and strength of the brew, with the amount of coffee beans per serving very roughly the same per serving and varying amounts of water used.

If you are a new coffee drinker, I would suspect that four servings in one go would give you quite a “kick”, but individual caffeine tolerance varies. As for how much you should drink, that’s up to you, unless you have a medical condition where your healthcare provider tells you otherwise or you are a breastfeeding mother (“infant high on caffeine” is an experience you as parent will likely not want to repeat).


Bean to Cup cappuccino coffee is never hot enough I have had several fully automatic bean to cup machines (i.e. which include milk frothing), from expensive Jura machines to Delonghi and many others.  One issue I find with most machines (I sent several Jura's back for this reason) is that the cappuccino they make comes out lukewarm.  I pre-heat my cups with boiling water and yet it still feels a lot cooler than coffee made by a manual machine in a coffee shop.  Can anyone suggest a bean to cup machine that makes a reasonable hot cappuccino?
Many thanks.

Many of these fully automatic machines heat the milk by combining steam and milk. In my experience, those machines do not take into account the temperature of the milk, they simply mix steam and milk at a fixed ratio. Assuming the steam has a fairly constant temperature, the temperature of the heated milk will mostly depend on the temperature of the cold milk. Simply stated, cooler milk will produce cooler heated milk.
If you use milk straight from the fridge, it might be wise to heat it a bit yourself before passing it through the machine. Microwaving the milk you need to slightly below room temperature and then feeding it through the machine's frothing process should increase the temperature of the heated milk. By extension, the temperature of the final drink will be higher as well.
Be careful not to pre-heat the milk too much, then the machine could heat it so that you get unwanted chemical reactions (e.g. lactose reacting with proteins) or that the final product comes out steaming.


Does there exist a coffee which is not bitter? I love the smell of coffee. I enjoy eating coffee chocolate. However I am unable to drink straight coffee, because it is so unbearably bitter for me.

Obviously, no-one is compelled to drink coffee - and I'm perfectly fine without it. However so many people enjoy this drink so much, and it would be nice if I could experience the same pleasure. The fact that I like the flavour of coffee (as when eating a coffee-flavoured sweet) tells me that if only I could find a variety of the drink which did not include the bitterness, then I would enjoy it.

I have asked this question of several people over the years, who have suggested that I try latté, for example - however the fact that the coffee is diluted by a large amount of milk does not solve the problem. It means less flavour - and yes, less bitterness - but the bitterness is still there.

The other day I was recommended to try an Ethiopian coffee called Bukeela. I was told that this was especially weak, and that I might be able to take it. So.. I tried it. I added lots of sugar. However it was still too much for me. Yes, the coffee was weak - but that just meant that the flavour was weaker. The bitterness was still present, and still made me unable to drink it. The sugar did not help. It simply meant that I had two tastes in my mouth simultaneously: sweet: but still bitter.

Edit: the related question on this site regarding "sweet coffee" does not address my question. Sweetness isn't the same thing as non-bitterness. As stated here, even if I add lots of sugar, I just get 2 tastes simultaneously: sweet and bitter. The bitterness is still there. That other question doesn't mention bitterness at all.

It seems that my taste buds are especially sensitive to anything bitter. I can not drink beer, and I dislike certain vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts, because of their bitterness.

So the question for all you coffee experts is: does there exist a variety of coffee which retains the yummy flavour, but which has no trace of the unpalatable bitterness?

To answer this shortly, no there is no coffee that has no bitterness. Bitterness in coffee is determined by different factors on which I will elaborate a bit now.

First of all there are bitter substances naturally in coffee. The most obvious and widely known one would be caffein. However in truth only around 15% of the bitterness in coffee comes from caffein. There are hundreds of active substances in coffee, some of which are bitter. Most importantly are chlorogenic acids. They contribute most to the bitterness. So it is unlikely that you will ever find a coffee that has no trace of bitterness at all.

There are however some influenceable factors that contribute to bitterness. I want to address first the roasting process, bean type and origins and then preparation methods and some tweaks that might help.

 1. Roasting

As I've said before, key to how bitter coffee tastes are the kind of chemical compounds found in it. And the roasting process determines exactly this. When the beans are heated chlorogenic acids are broken down into first acid lactones and later in the roast process into phenylindanes. Chlorogenic acid itself is not bitter, but the compounds it breaks down into are and especially phenylindanes. As they appear later in the roasting, darker roasts tend to be more bitter than light roasts. So my advice here would be to try very light roasted beans. Here's another source that also refers to some of the other points I'm making.

2. Bean type and origin

There are two main types of Beans, Arabica and Robusta with Robusta containing both much more caffein as well as chlorogenic acids. Thus stay clear of Robusta or mixed coffees, since it will add extra bitterness to your cup. Also in my experience light roasted african coffees, e.g. ethiopean or kenyan coffees are the mildest coffees when it comes to bitterness, but do have more acidity than central or south american coffees.

3. Preparation methods

First of all, avoid espresso. Because of the pressure applied to the coffee much more bitter compounds are extracted. A general rule of thumb is that with higher extraction you will extract more bitter compounds, that quickly dominate the flavor of the coffee. The bitter compounds are usually extracted at later stages of the extraction process, thus the shorter your extraction the less bitterness. I would suggest you try pour overs, as extraction can be controlled very well and they are just by design made for a cup of coffee with a brighter, more acidic flavor. V60 or even better a Chemex are your best options. The thick Chemex paper will filter more of the bitter compounds and leave more of the acidic, fruity, floral flavors. There are plenty of instructions on youtube or also here in the forum. Avoid overextraction due to a too small grind size, too high water-grounds contact time and too hot water (around 94°C would be perfect, you can go a bit lower however). Additionally make sure you have a good grinder that produces a consistent particle size. If the variation is too big (the downward variation in this case) and if the grinder produces too many fines (very small coffee particles), they will be over extracted and add bitterness.

4. Possible tweaks

Adding a pinch of salt to your coffee reduces bitterness.
Use freshly roasted whole bean coffee from your local specialty coffee shop (you can recognize them because they usually offer a variety of pour over methods and have a generally kind of hipstery look) as preground packs of coffee tend to be over-roasted to mask the low quality.
Grind fresh, with a good grinder and even filter out the fines (just sift it through a fine mesh filter)
Lastly you could look for a specialty coffee shop that offers whole light roasted decaf beans. Although caffein only plays a secondary role, it still is bitter and removing it might help reduce bitterness.
Of course there are other factors such as the water for example. However the answers there are not as straightforward and the influence arguably less than the above mentioned ones.

I hope this can help you in your quest for finding a coffee that you like. I suggest you also go to some local roasters and talk to them. They might be able to help you, suggest coffees etc. and who knows, maybe you can even interest one of them in experimenting with roast profiles that minimize bitterness.


Recommendations for tasty decaf coffee? I am currently attempting to decrease my caffeine consumption and was therefore wondering whether anybody has experience with decaf coffee? Although I want to reduce the caffeine, I don't want to compromise on the taste. The decaf options that I have tried so far were disappointing, such that I was hoping somebody else had any specific brand recommendations?

When we werekeeping our caffeine consumption low, we used to brew a 50:50 mix of normal and decaf.  Both were at the good end of what the supermarket sells ground, and were a nominally similar roast.  The overall efect was like slightly less good normal.

You could probably progress to something like 25% normal in decaf, especially if the normal was a slightly richer flavour than the decaf.

You could of course step all of this up a level by buying beans to grind yourself or buying small quantities of freshly-ground.

We used Cafe Direct decaf for this.  I've since given up on that idea and have my last coffee of the day just after lunch, so this was a few years ago.


Which nespresso capsule has the most caffeine in it? I just got a Krups Nespresso capsules machine. I tried many capsules that come with the product as a demo.

Certainly, I liked almost all of the flavors. However, I need a capsule that has the highest level of caffeine in it. I tried Kaazar, like it very much, but I believe there are other capsules that deliver more caffeine.

Please help :)

So.. I've done a lot of research on caffeine levels or at least reading various books that skirt the topic.  Interestingly, the caffeine amount in a particular roast is slightly different than most peoples conceptions, including my own up until a few months ago.

First off, caffeine levels in dark vs light roasts are often said to be different.  From a chemical perspective caffeine is chemically stable to 455 degrees Fahrenheit (it's melting point).  Due to this, caffeine is not removed during the roasting process unless you are roasting to a Spanish roast, or burned beyond all recognition.  As such, the caffeine inherit in a particular lot of green coffee tends to stay the same amount per bean regardless of roast depth.

The twist..

Roasting will roughly double bean size, and burn off between 12 and 18% of the total weight of a bean.  Due to this, technically, a darker roast has more caffeine by weight than a lighter roast, which is opposite of what I hear a lot of people say.

Now.. on to your question.. If the pods are by weight, I suppose a dark roast will have marginally more caffeine.  Where you get a significant difference in caffeine amounts is when you start looking at different types of coffee.  Robusta coffees for instance tend to be low grown and have adapted to the environment by having higher concentrations of caffeine.  The reason is simply that caffeine is the coffee plants natural pesticide.  That being said, Robusta coffees also tend to be very bitter, hence why they are predominantly used in cheap coffee blends in place of arabica.  The bitterness is directly related to the elevated caffeine, as well as very high concentrations of CGA.

My recommendation is pick what tastes good, because honestly, you aren't going to get a significantly higher amount of caffeine per roast, or lot of beans.


How can I improve this latte? I have this Delonghi espresso machine. After much trial and error, I have got to the point where my I am able to make cappuccinos and lattes with a milk texture which is pleasing to taste.

In order to make the textured milk/microfoam appropriate for a latte, rather than a foamy cappuccino, I had to remove the metal sleeve on the steam wand as this was preventing me from directing the wand precisely enough to swirl it into a microfoam.

However, I have the following issues:

I still can't get a fine enough foam to produce latte art.
My espresso and its crema do not seem dark enough to produce the contrast in colours you find in good latte art from a cafe.
I cannot seem to get the coffee and the milk to as hot a temperature as you get in a cafe - even if I pre-heat my cup. Could this because many cafes serve their coffee too hot?

Is it possible that the machine itself is simply not good enough, or do I need to improve my technique?

Here is my latte:

And here is the sort of result I'd like to be able to achieve:

EDIT: Here is the type of milk pitcher I am using:

I own this machine and have since moved on from it for the exact reasons you stated.

It is possible to create microfoam that is good enough for making clearly defined latte art on the Delonghi Dedica but it requires practice (as would doing the same on any machine). You did the right thing by removing the metal sleeve but the main problem is that the steam power is relatively weak and so it makes it harder to create the vortex required to properly incorporate the aerated milk. Focus on trying to create a spinning vortex/whirlpool type effect in your milk as this is the most important step in ensuring you end up with silky milk.

Aerate the milk by keeping the tip of the steam wand near the surface of the milk. You should hear spitting noises. This will introduce air into the milk.
Once you have aerated enough, dip the tip of the steam wand below the surface and try to form a vortex/whirlpool.
Spin the milk as in step 2 until the milk is at the right temperature.

For good latte milk, you should not over-aerate. A good starting point is simply raising the height of the milk in your pitcher by about a centimetre. Once again, however, it will require practice and even then it may not be perfect due to the lack of steaming power this machine has.

The Delonghi Dedica also uses a pressurised portafilter basket which means that the crema you find in your cup is a result of artificial pressures produced inside the basket (similar to how Nespresso machines make their 'crema'). You can attempt to create darker crema by making the pressurised basket not the limiting factor of extraction by grinding finer (but not so fine as to choke the machine).

Temperature-wise, you want to ensure that your portafilter is heated by running empty shots through it as it will cool down the shot as it moves through the portafilter. The steam is also not as hot as commercial machines as they have dedicated boilers for the steaming rather than interchanging between functions within a few seconds like the Delonghi.

In conclusion, if you enjoy your coffee the way you make it, stick with the Delonghi Dedica but if you put a lot of value in the quality of the crema and being able to pour latte art then you might want to consider an upgrade or investing more time into practicing milk steaming.


What produces more crema? What produces more crema when extracting espresso, darker or lighter roast?
What produces more crema when extracting espresso, finer or coarser coffee grind ?
why am I getting a very thin layer of crema when pulling a SINGLE shot, although the extraction time is 20 sec, the pressure is correct as per the manufacturer of the espresso machine (Breville Barista) I have, and the coffee beans were roasted two weeks ago?! what is wrong?

The CO2 stuck within coffee grounds produce the crema. At least, it is the main substance that forms the crema along with other minor components.

This is a very classic problem -and thus a question.

If you consider roasting, darker roasts have more crema as they contain more CO2 as the product of Maillard reaction. Here is a proposed previous post to be read. You may also want to check this previous post as it may lead to more reading on other metrics you may consider.
Grind has some effect, but limited. You may see the factors that effect crema production in espresso in this proposed previous post to be read.
As you have mentioned, time has a crucial importance. I think this should be your main consideration and you should focus on fixing this first. Basically, fresh coffee has more crema, always. You can read a lot more in this previous post.


Convenient espresso shot container? My friend recently gifted me a Breville ESP8XL. I'm looking for a convenient sealed (portable) container to carry (up to 3) espresso shots to work for the post-lunch slump. I couldn't find anything on Amazon. Does anybody use something similar to this?

A very small thermos may be the answer. Quality made 50 ml (~2 oz.) thermos could be enough for a double shot. I have checked and found a few with a Google search.


Which produce more crema Arabica or Robusta? Which beans produce more crema Arabica or Robusta ?

Is it the same for Espresso and Turkish ?

Thanks

There are some really amazing Robustas that give body and crema to espresso shots. Kaapi Royale is probably the best Robusta you can get, here's a fact sheet.


Brew a less acidic coffee A recent visit to the dentist opened my eyes to a new aspect of tooth care I hadn't realized: apparently, the acidity of coffee can increase the growth of cavities if the teeth are not brushed directly after.  Unfortunately, brushing the teeth directly after my morning coffee isn't really an option.  Also, unequivocally, giving up my morning coffee isn't an option either.

That led me to wonder, is there any way of brewing a normal coffee in a way that would lead to a beverage with a higher pH, that still has the taste and caffeine of a normal coffee?

You can try switching to cold brew coffee which is reportedly 67% less acidic than regular brewed coffee.

Regarding the caffeine amount, Wikipedia notes:

  Although less caffeine is extracted with the cold brew method, a higher coffee-to-water ratio is often used, between 2 and 2 1/2 times. This may compensate for this difference in solubility, resulting in a brew with equal, if not more, caffeine (although this is unlikely)

Additionally, despite the name, cold brew coffee can be enjoyed hot as well. Cold brew is essentially a coffee concentrate if steeped long enough. You can cut your cold brew with boiling water and serve it hot (Source), so you don't need to necessarily change the way you enjoy your coffee (if you enjoy it hot).

Hope this is helpful!


How long will iced latte keep in the Fridge? If I make a batch of iced latte, that is to say I make a regular latte then pour it over ice, how long can I keep a batch fresh in the fridge? A day? A week? If the milk is the limiting factor, could I make a batch of espresso, chill that, and add milk as and when to get the same drink, or would it taste different if prepared this way?

When I worked in a coffee shop and we prepared a beverage similar to an iced latte, we always mixed the milk in with the chilled espresso. Keep in mind this was a beverage prepared ahead of time and not server to the client right away.

We NEVER added dairy to espresso and then chilled it for later.  It has been shown that 1 liter of milk can develop harmful bacteria after being in a room temperature space for as little as half an hour.

I would highly recommend that you do not prepare your iced lattes completely with milk and then chill them.

I recommend making the espresso, adding whatever sugar or flavor you want while it is still hot, chilling it in the fridge, and then adding milk to the espresso once it has been chilled or when you are looking to drink it. This will keep for a maximum of 48 hours.

As with all coffee, the fresher the better, but if you are indeed looking for a quick way to grab an iced latte, I would do so in the manner I described.


Does adding milk to coffee reduce its antioxidant properties I heard this a while back, the milk binds with the antioxidant molecules of the coffee and renders them useless. A quick Google seems to suggest that this isn't true but the study which concluded this was conducted by Nestle so was no doubt biased.

A follow up question would be, if you drink black coffee and have cereal for breakfast does that pretty much count as putting milk in your coffee too?

I found that generally, scientific studies do show a negative impact on phytochemicals like antioxidants, one such example stating:

  An immediate decrease in the total antioxidant activity (23%) and total phenolic content (14%) was observed after addition of strawberry preparations to yoghurt. The total anthocyanin content did not change immediately, but decreased 24% throughout the yoghurt shelf-life. The individual compounds, (+)-catechin (60%), (-)-epicatechin (60%), kaempferol (33%) and quercetin-3-rutinoside (29%) decreased after 24h in the yoghurt made with the strawberry preparation. During the remaining period of storage these compounds increased by 47%, 6%, 4% and 18%, respectively. Pelargonidin-3-glucoside decreased 49% after 28 d. Immediately after the addition of the strawberry preparation to yoghurt, β-lactoglobulin decreased to values lower than the limit of detection and α-lactalbumin by approximately 34%, and was reduced further slowly throughout yoghurt self-life. An immediate interaction between the carrageenan present in the strawberry preparation and β-LG was observed. The variations of both polyphenols and protein in the presence of carrageenan and the potential interactions were discussed

As noted above, some phytochecmicals are available to the consumer longer than others in the presence of dairy. To be fair to the American Institute of Nutrition study referred to in the Nestle press release, they do not indicate for how long the antioxidants are still available after the introduction of dairy they only notate that after consumption they found coffee phenolics in the plasma of their test subjects:

  Chlorogenic acids (CGA) are antioxidants found in coffee. They are becoming of interest for their health-promoting effects, but bioavailability in humans is not well understood. We hypothesized that adding whole milk or sugar and nondairy creamer to instant coffee might modulate the bioavailability of coffee phenolics. Nine healthy participants were asked to randomly drink, in a crossover design, instant coffee (Coffee); instant coffee and 10% whole milk (Milk); or instant coffee, sugar, and nondairy creamer already premixed (Sugar/NDC). All 3 treatments provided the same amount of total CGA (332 mg). Blood was collected for 12 h after ingestion and plasma samples treated using a liquid-liquid extraction method that included a full enzymatic cleavage to hydrolyze all CGA and conjugates into phenolic acid equivalents. Hence, we focused our liquid chromatography-Electrospray ionization-tandem MS detection and quantification on caffeic acid (CA), ferulic acid (FA), and isoferulic acid (iFA) equivalents. Compared with a regular black instant coffee, the addition of milk did not significantly alter the area under the curve (AUC), maximum plasma concentration (Cmax), or the time needed to reach Cmax (Tmax). The Cmax of CA and iFA were significantly lower and the Tmax of FA and iFA significantly longer for the Sugar/NDC group than for the Coffee group. However, the AUC did not significantly differ. As a conclusion, adding whole milk did not alter the overall bioavailability of coffee phenolic acids, whereas sugar and nondairy creamer affected the Tmax and Cmax but not the appearance of coffee phenolics in plasma.

Nestle press release found at www.nestle.com/media/newsandfeatures/good-news-milk-cream-coffee

Whichever line of research you choose to follow, it may not really impact your health over much anyway. The National Center for Complimentary and Integrated Health summarizes antioxidant research saying:

  Several decades of dietary research findings suggested that consuming greater amounts of antioxidant-rich foods might help to protect against diseases. Because of these results, there has been a lot of research on antioxidant supplements. Rigorous trials of antioxidant supplements in large numbers of people have not found that high doses of antioxidant supplements prevent disease.

The NIH walks you through a lot of the findings at https://nccih.nih.gov/health/antioxidants/introduction.htm.


What type of coffee maker is this? I got a stove top coffee maker, from my grandfather (not antique, he bought it recently). I am not sure what type it is. I claims to be a percolator, but functions more like a moka pot. They have given the nozzle to pour, in the top chamber. It heats water in bottom chamber, and the water passes through coffee powder, placed in between, and a brown liquid falls in the top, which is what I drink.
This is an Amazon.in link to that piece:
https://www.amazon.in/Pigeon-Xpresso-Stainless-Coffee-Perculator/dp/B072F17LRP/

This is a typical moka pot.
The confusion may stem from the fact that the principle of a moka pot is somewhat similar to a percolator, just without a back flow (sort of a “one way percolator”), and in some descriptions, including the German Wikipedia article on moka pots, the expression “percolator” is used.


Best Grinder for DeLonghi Dedica EC685 What is the best grinder to use with a DeLonghi Dedica EC685? I’m aware that the portafilter uses pressurized baskets, so tamping and grind size is not as critical as on more professional espresso machines. But as a consumer machine that allows you the flexibility of using your own coffee grounds, a decent grinder that executes a grind size this Dedica EC685 can use would be ideal.

What grinder (whether burr/blade) is a good grinder that allows the optimum grind size for the pressurized baskets on the Dedica EC685, as well as offering you enough range to grind coarser for pour overs, drips & french presses?

Would you recommend something like the KRUPS GVX2 (my current grinder) with only 16-18 grind settings? [incidentally this functions, and offers almost identical performance to the DeLonghi KG 79]

Or would your recommend a Baratza Encore or Virtuoso, with 40 grind settings? Or something even higher pro model grinder?

For users of this Dedica EC685, what grinders are you using and are happy with? (Brands, models & types, please)

If I were you I'd go with the baratza encore (or something similar). It will do just fine for a pressurised basket and it's great for filter too (if James Hoffman uses it for his filter it's good enough for you and me). Don't buy a blade grinder, I've made that mistake. You will taste a huge difference between the two, the blade grinder being bitter and yucky. It's all about particle distribution and a blade grinder does the worst possible job at that.

So, spend the money for a decent burr grinder and you won't only have better espresso; you can make delicious filter coffee too!


How hot should the water be for instant coffee? Sometimes I find myself in situations where instant coffee is the only thing available. How hot should the water be when I make it? I'm in Britain, so boil water with an electric kettle. Should I pour just off the boil, or let it wait a bit to cool down?

There's an answer to this question at Seasoned Advice: see What water temperature should be used for instant coffee?

A brief summary, taken from @PatrickSebastien's answer:

Use water at whatever temperature you like to drink your coffee at, or
Use water just below boiling, around 95-99 degrees Celsius (~205-210 F).

Other articles like this one from WikiHow also recommend using filtered water that is just off the boil.

See also that same SA answer, and this question, for a discussion and additional context about how instant coffee powder is produced.


Is it possible to Cold Brew using an Aeropress? Is it possible to cold brew using Aeropress?

My inclination says yes, in a similar fashion to cold brewing with a French press.  However, when I tried it, it became very hard to plunge.

Aside from working on my arm strength, what tricks or methods can be used to ease that process?

Don't brew in the Aeropress itself. Brew in a jar like in classic methods and use the Aeropress only for fast and easy straining, taking care not to stir up the grounds from the bottom of the jar as you're pouring. Most of the coffees you strain out this way should be an absolute breeze. Only the last one you make (assuming a bigger jar) should give you any plunging force trouble, and that's if you insist on getting every last drop out (I know I do).


Does using a french press effect the taste of coffee vs the manual method? My normal method is put coffee in cup. Put some hot water for 30 seconds. Put remaining hot water for 2 minutes.

Strain and drink.

Now if I buy a french press machine should I expect a change in taste of the resultant coffee?

In the case you are describing there won't be a big difference to French press, assuming that you are able to strain the coffee as well as you could with a french press. As long as you manage to strain it properly so that most of the coffee particles are gone the result would ceteris paribus be similar (which means same times, same pre infusion, same water and same temperatures, same grind size, etc.).

That is because the methods would be identical, they are both full immersion brewing techniques. In both cases you pour the water on the grounds, let it brew and strain in the end. There are many tips on how to improve your brews with these kind of methods on the coffee stackexchange.


Best way to store unroasted/raw coffee? I'm using green coffee and would like to know how to keep the beans to protect from getting bad (mold). I try to keep them safe and to be all time ready for roasting.

I have a few different varieties of green beans that I have stored in freezer style plastic bags for going on 1+ year now and there is no mold present.  I keep them stored at room temperate with as much air as possible removed from the bag.  I roast a few batches a year and always get the same results out of my beans regardless of how long they have been stored.


How to avoid channels when pouring espresso I've been having issues with my espresso pouring too fast, and I think I'm getting channels (uneven pour, sometimes one side gets blonde then watery pretty quickly). I'm paying a lot of attention to the tamping process, so I'm not sure if this is the problem. That's what I do:

make sure the grounds are distributed evenly
tamp evenly to maximum density

I read somewhere that the portafilter should be dry. However, I heat my portafilter in the grouphead, so when I take it out to prepare the coffee there's some condensation in the portafilter so it's not completely dry - any experience with this?

Thanks in advance!

If the espresso is pouring too fast it most likely means you need to grind finer, not tamp harder.

To avoid channels you first need to make sure your machine's pressure is not too high. 9 bars is the usual pressure, but there is evidence that 7 bars will reduce channeling. Many consumer machines come with 12-15 bars of pressure which is simply too high.

Then you need a proper grinder that will have a consistent grind and not produce clumps, otherwise your cake density will not be even.

Your distribution and tamping must be even. Tamping too hard is not necessary. Some people have good results only using a distributor/leveler and not tamping. Make sure your tamper/leveler matches your basket size exactly. Sometimes you need a +0.5mm or +0.3mm over the written size to actually match your basket.

Finally, make sure your shower and basket do not have obstructed holes. You should use Cafiza regularly to clean your group head, portafilter, etc.


Back to before the beans, My Caffeine Farm I am new when it comes to designer coffee, but I am very good with plants and can grow almost anything.

I would like to know if there is something I can do to the soil or plant to boost the caffeine value of my beans?

Thanks

The caffeine content of your coffee will depend on the variety, the method of extraction and the roast of your beans.

You can see on this paper about caffeine contents of turkish coffee on table 7, that unroasted coffee releases almost no caffeine, while dark roast gives the best release.

This article also has an interesting comparison on the caffeine content of different varieties.

I've talked to coffee producers who've told me that Geisha has 35% less caffeine than tipica, and there is a variety of Laurina that has only 25% of the caffeine found in tipica.
I haven't been able to find data on this, but I did find a little data that points to it being in the right neigboardhood.


Options for measuring TDS - Suggested refractometers I'm looking for some options for measuring TDS.

Everything seems to point back to the VST Refractometer, but at $700+ I'd like to try some other options first.

I founds a low cost TDS meter on Amazon, but it has proven to be highly inconsistent. Measuring the same brew multiple times provides multiple results that can vary greatly.

Thoughts on other options for TDS meters, or will it make the most sense to just pony up for the VST?

You're on the right track with using a refractometer to measure coffee, but most people don't need a unit that expensive. There are more affordable refractometers if you don't need the VST CoffeeTools software.

One example is the Atago PAL-1, which costs around $300. This is a digital refractometer. If you want something more affordable, you can get a manual brix refractometer which will start around $20.

There are many brands of digital refractometers other than Atago, a quick Google search came up with some around $100-200, so there should be something in your price range and quality that will work for you. Good luck!


Roughly how strong is one shot of espresso compared to a cup of drip coffee? Every morning, I have one 12 oz. cup of drip coffee, to the point where I have become dependent on it. When I’m traveling, it’s often hard to find someone who will make me a straight cup of coffee. I can usually find espresso on the go, but I’ve had bad experiences before where I order a drink with a single shot and end up with a headache later because I didn’t have my normal dose of caffeine.

I’d like to know roughly how much caffeine is in the average shot of espresso, compared to a cup of drip coffee, so that I can estimate how many shots I need to order in my next latte in order to consume an equivalent amount of caffeine. To make things simple, let’s assume that the same beans are being used to brew the espresso as I normally use to brew my drip coffee. Is there a good rule of thumb to use here?

Caffeine content can vary a lot between different brewing methods and coffee beans used.

according to How Much Caffeine is in a Cup of Coffee?:

  Brewed Coffee (8 oz / 237 mL): 95-200 mg of caffeine
  Espresso (1 oz / 30 mL): 47-75 mg of caffeine

That would mean your 12oz cup contains 143-300mg, and you'd need 2 to 6 espresso shots for the same amount, or 3.6 when comparing averages. (Which, personally, would make me feel rather trippy)


How should I distribute coffee from a small roaster? I am about to start a coffee roasting business somewhere in the States. For now the game plan is to sell online. What are the most feasible strategies to ship small batches (14 oz)? Is that a good idea to sell online to begin with?

If you're shipping 14 oz or less, USPS First Class Mail is an option which will save you quite a bit of money over USPS Flat Rate, and will definitely be less than UPS or FedEx small packages. If you do your shipping through ShipStation or negotiate your USPS rates, you can optionally get your First Class Mail bumped up to anything under 1 lb. which could help you out further.

That being said, I would think that it'd be your goal as a business owner and roaster to ship more than 14oz at a time - i.e. get your customers to order multiple packs of 12 or 14oz. That would bump you up into the 2-3 lb range which can no longer be sent via First Class Mail, but it could go out via Priority or Priority Flat Rate. More costly, but usually 1-3 day delivery time on Priority Mail which is nice.


How do you fit a double espresso into a demitasse? With lattes you can fit a double handle over the cup that you're making the coffee in. But a demitasse won't fit under a double handle. Do you make two single shots and pour the second one into the first? Do you fill a single handle twice?

Actually it turns out the demitasse fits under the double basket, but you have to hold it up closer at the start otherwise it spills over the sides a little (as in the picture below)

.


Effects of coffee consumption on testosterone production Does consumption of coffee affects hormone, precisely testosterone production in a noticeable way? And if so does it increases it or decreases it?

Also I'm not looking for any type of super scientific answer I just wanted to know to satisfy my own curiosity.

In short, caffeine may increase "Sex Hormone Binding Globulin" which results decreased levels of testosterone in both men and women.

However, I don't know how effective it is. Or if this decrease is serious and supported by many studies. I have encountered this study presents that caffeine's inverse effect on women testosterone level, which is somewhat related to osteoporosis as far as I can interpret.

Please note that people who answer questions here are not professionals in the designated areas.


Delongi Eletta Usage I've just purchased a Eletta Cappuccino ECAM 44.660.B and have a few questions if anyone owns one here?

Whats the best way to get a large mug/Americano out of it? I'm used to Chemex coffee and being able to have ~250ml of coffee easily! I tried a 'my coffee' preset to almost fill my mug but it tasted too weak?
Whats a long coffee? I tried it and it appears to be two shots and tasted very strong!
How do I get a single espresso shot?

Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own the machine, but I've checked its pictures on the Internet at a glance.

As far as I understand, the definition you've made is called Coffè Crema and discussed under this question along with Coffè Lungo. In some bean-to-cup machines you may set the details how each button prepares each kind of coffee. If this is not the case, I can see that the machine has capability of preparing two espresso at once. So, you may try to prepare a Doppio (double espresso) to make a stronger beverage. Here is a quick wiki link.
See the link in the previous item.
There should be a button for that on such machines. At least, I hope there is one.


Reduce power of popcorn popper for roasting coffee I've been roasting coffee for a couple of years now, and I've always used a popcorn popper.  I'm interested in taking things a bit more seriously and would like to be a bit more meticulous when it comes to roast level.  I find that my popcorn popper (1200 W) roasts coffee a little too quickly, to the point that it becomes difficult to get a precise and consistent roast level from time to time.  Does anyone know of anyway that I could reduce the power of the roaster?  If it roasted at a lightly slower pace I feel like I would have better control over the process.  I've heard people suggest plugging it in through an extension cord or a power strip, which will reduce the power going to the popper.  Is there a more principled or controlled way of doing this?  Some sort of device that goes in between the popcorn popper plug and the outlet that would let me adjust the power at a fine granularity would be ideal.  Does this sort of technology exist?  Perhaps a sort of light switch dimmer would work?

Rather than playing with electricity and wiring you could actually just move the roasting bed/area away from your heat source and accomplish close to the same thing.

I started roasting with a popper as well.  The hole in the popper was roughly 3 inches so I got a 3 to 4 inch duct adapter, a 4 inch flour sifter and mushed it all together, similar to this.  The result was that I moved the coffee away from the heat source.  The sifter also allows you to stir and get more even results.  I think I went from 4 to 5 minute roast time to 7 or 8 minutes with this method and the parts were very cheap.

I believe the forum post for that picture actually has additional mods close to what you may be looking for if you actually want to take your popper apart and try rewiring it.