Which books do you recommend to read for people who are interested in coffee? I would like to ask people's advice on books or nice pieces of articles (of quality comparable to a book) to read.

I am aware that the literature is so wide and it may be classified into coffee cultivation, history, brewing, etc. I don't search for a comprehensive list of all books.

I would like people to pinpoint joyful books on coffee. More explicitly, I try to compile Coffee SE user reviewed and recommended list of books with a possibility of forming a community wiki page in the future. So please classify and explain the content of the book and why you recommend that specific book neatly in your answer.

I also agree that "The World Atlas of Coffee" by James Hoffman is a good book.
It covers a lot of things including the history of coffee, growing and production as well as roasting and brewing. A big section of the book is indeed an atlas, showing various countries and where the coffees are grown. Nice maps and plenty of good photo's too.

If you are already very knowledgeable about coffee and have read many other books on the subject , you probably won't get too much extra out of this but it's certainly more than a quick introduction. I think it would be of great interest for somebody who has become interested in coffee and wants to find out more about the whole process from shrub to cup.

Added another one:
"Coffee - A Celebration of Diversity" by Fulvio Eccardi and Vincenzo Sandali. This was originally published in Italian in 2000 and the English translation became available in 2002, so it's not the most up to date book and I'm not sure whether it's still available but  it is definitely worth grabbing if you can get hold of it. It has beautiful photographs (including some lovely satellite views of coffee growing areas) but is also rich in information. In many ways it overlaps with The World Atlas of Coffee above although it focuses more on the cultivation and production and doesn't have as much on the roasting and brewing. But it's worth getting for the pictures alone.


After how many days we should pluck coffee beans from its tree? After how many days we should pluck coffee beans from its tree for coffee production?

According to two sources I have read [1, 2], it takes around 5 years for a coffee tree to reach maturity and it will then yield approximately one pound of beans per year. In further depth, fresh coffee beans should germinate within 2-3 months while old ones can take up to 6.


Are there any recipes for coffee+whisky? I suppose that this probably is not very favourite for either of the groups (whisky lovers and coffee lovers).

But I am interested in some curious drinks (or even a food) with both coffee and whisky (likely based more on coffee than whisky), because I like them both.

Irish Coffe is a very famous one.

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 jigger Irish whiskey (1 1/2 ounces or 3 tablespoons)
Heavy cream, slightly whipped

Read more at: Original Irish Coffee from Food Network.


Reusable Nespresso pixie capsules Has anyone had experience with reusable Nespresso pixie capsules (similar concept to the Keurig capsules that you can fill/refill with ground coffee)?

If so, Is the flavor and crema similar? Does the grind matter? Any other tips?

I used empty capsules to fill my own coffee and brew it using a Nespresso machine. I would say the result largely depends on the coffee you use, but not the capsules itself. It takes several tries until you get the right amount of coffee into one capsule (I had to stuff one brand of coffee quite tight to get a crema at all), and the amount differs very much from coffee to coffee. Of course, the grind matters a lot, but you can compensate with the amount of coffee.

The only problem I had with the capsules is that sometimes they got stuck when discharging, but you can usually fiddle them out using a fork or so.


Bad smelling coffee beans I recently purchased a bag of medium roasted coffee beans that is from a popular coffee chain to try to start grinding my own coffee. However, I've found that these beans smell a lot like dirt or even manure with some sort of nauseating nutty smell. This is very different from the same brand's ground coffee which has the usually good smelling coffee.

This is a new bag, so I've decided not to purchase that brand again however I didn't think coffee could smell this way.

What is the smell of this "dirty" scent of the coffee coming from? Is it from the roasting process? Would I get this if I were to roast my own beans?

Beans can smell like dirt, especially if they are beans that are known for having an earthy flavor profile. What you want to avoid are rancid smelling beans that can get that way due to the oils being over-oxidized over time. Alway check the roasted-on date and don't drink coffee that is several months old. If the bag has an expiration date instead of a roasted-on date, that means they don't want you know how long ago it was roasted. Don't buy those.


What types of coffee make you stay awake? I want to know that types of coffee that make me stay awake because I usually work at night.

The short answer is pretty obvious. Any coffee, as long as it's not decaffeinated, keeps you awake. While that is true, it is also true that some coffees have more caffein than others, some preparation methods contain more caffein than others and the ability of any coffee to keep you awake has obviously also limitations. If you are close to passing out from fatigue, than coffee also won't help that much anymore. I'm gonna break it all down quickly.

Coffee type

There are two commercially important types of coffee beans. Arabica and Robusta. Arabica plants produce higher quality coffee with better and more complex flavors. However in terms of caffein content Robusta coffee is much higher with roughly twice the caffein in the brewed cup.

Coffee preparation

Generally speaking you could divide coffee preparation into two different groups. Espresso and everything else. Everything else has many sub groups that I'm not gonna get into too much now. The common understanding is that espresso is "stronger" with which is meant that it has more caffein than other coffee drinks. That is true when you measure per ml. However due to the small servings of espresso the caffein content of one shot of espresso is lower than that of a typical cup of filter coffee. An espresso shot contains roughly 53mg of caffein while a cup of drip coffee has more than twice to three times as much (115mg to 175mg) due to the bigger serving size. Turkish coffee has even higher contents.

Recommendation

So based on this information I would recommend you to slowly drink several cups of brewed or filtered Arabica coffee during your night shifts. That should keep you caffeinated and awake more effectively than espresso plus you get to drink delicious coffee all night long. The maximum caffein content you would get with a turkish style preparation, in my opinion the best trade off between caffein and flavor would be drip coffee though. It's lighter in taste so you can drink more as well. I would recommend Arabica for the better taste and possible health benefits as compared to Robusta. You don't have to be afraid of negative health effects. Coffee is largely redeemed and is today even considered a healthy beverage with possible positive effects on cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, some forms of cancer, degenerative diseases of the nervous system such as Alzheimers and many more.


Can drinking coffee at least once a day increase anxiety? Does coffee increase anxiety? What research has been done on this subject?

There's a lot of studies/articles, but when it comes down to it it's just like any other "drug": it affects each person differently. I drink almost a pot a day, and have since I was around 17/18, and have no worsened conditions if I don't consume coffee. Some months I go with only a cup a day, and others its ~3-4 cups - and nothing changes drastically. As with anything else, especially "drugs", moderation is key.

This is, of course, anecdotal, so...

Brewing Trouble: Coffee-induced anxiety (WebMD)


Portafilter difficult to turn I have a saeco espresso machine. When I place the porta filter into the machine, it is very difficult to turn. Any suggestions

As your question is very open I will try to answer two common roots of your problem.

1) Too much coffee. Per cup of espresso it should be 7g of ground beans.

2) No "tamping". You probably did not compress the powder in the porta filter (called tamping). This is what it looks like:

So maybe you compressed it when you tried to place it in the machine.


How much "coffee" is there in my cup? Kind of a strange question...

Suppose you brew your coffee to your liking, a v60 filter or an espresso. The ingredients are water and coffee grounds. But how much 'coffee' is there actually in the end cup? That is, if you would be able to extract the water from the cup; what percentage of the original cup of coffee would be left?

Has anyone ever read anything about this?

What I'm trying to get at is; the strength of a cup of coffee. Everyone uses the saying a strong cup of coffee when they quite often refer to the roasting. This could also be a reference to how diluted coffee is; e.g. an americano. But what percentage of that americano would then be 'real coffee'.

This is discussed in many different contexts many times, I assume. So, I can say not a very strange question in essence.

I advise you to check a previous answer first. It includes a very nice chart and the ideal point for quality brewing of coffee. Also, it shows the extraction ratios, a hint of TDS (total dissolved solids) etc. I copy its link just below:

What's the recommended coffee to water ratio for cold brew?

As you see, if you can manage to brew an ideal coffee, you can extract only around 20% of the valuable "essence" from the core of the beans. That's the reason why some of the members of Coffee SE tries to re-brew the used grounds for a second time (I assume), as you can follow below:

Brewing with the coffee grounds twice?

Then, of course, some other members discuss the TDS part to find the golden brewing point at the first chart. The easiest way to follow that point repeatedly is done by a refractometer. It is a device that can measure opaqueness. So, by measuring the opaqueness of your brew, you may reason on the amount of dissolved coffee "essence" in the water; therefore you may estimate the strength of your cup.

Options for measuring TDS - Suggested refractometers
Are there any Alternatives to using a Refractometer to determine extraction

I hope these previous answers and the path I've directed you helps you.


Of all the countrys on the planet, which one has the highest number per capita and/or the largest population of coffee lovers ?? There are many coffee lovers all over the world and coffee is becoming in fashion and an addiction. So, which country has the highest number per capita and/or the largest population of any on earth?

China maybe? My second option is India. As "coffee lover" is a blurry definition, I assume you wanted to ask household consumption of coffee per country.

If you check this website, you'll see the Northwestern Europe consumes the most coffee per person. The first country is Finland with 9.6 kg. Interestingly, contradictory to my beliefs, Italy is 18th with 3.4 kg. Also, Turkey is not included in the study.

If you check the total consumption of countries, the first two countries are USA and Brazil with a very close consumption of 971 and 969 tonnes.


For how long coffee may stay in thermoses; meeting ECBC/SCAE/SCAA requirements, what does it mean? We got in the office some kind of coffee-machine, I think it's Moccamaster CD Thermo, and it has 2 thermoses, to keep a coffee warm/fresh for certain period of time.

Thermoses are good and easy to use. I think they do great job in terms of electricity economy... But does it really good for a coffee quality? According to the specs, they say, it's keeping temperatures between 80°-85° and meeting the requirements of the ECBC/SCAE/SCAA, what does it really mean? It may be there are facts, which I haven't found, rather than too broad explanations, or opinion based thing.

I understand, that caffeine is not burning at temperature coffee is left at, and it does not evaporate. But for how long it's acceptable to keep coffee in thermoses, without loosing the taste/smell and quality of coffee?

ECBC , SCAE and SCAA are organizations that are specialized in Coffee. They organize many events like contests. Sometimes these contests are held for people sometimes for equipment. They also produce many reports on Coffee; from taste of a cup to cultivation politics. So, these organizations also have a certification procedure for coffee brewing machines.

From the question, I understand that you want to keep the brewed filtered coffee in the carafe for a while and you are asking for the maximum allowed time for that.

The answer is; the machine will try to keep the coffee intact as long as it can; however, at that temperature the water will eventually vaporize and the rest of your coffee will turn into a bitter, dark, burnt coffee.

Simply, your coffee will eventually die as living beings and your high-quality gadget may just slow this, but cannot stop.

Solution: Just taste it. Fresh filtered coffee always tastes better. According to my experience, first half hour is the tasty period.

(1) European Coffee Brewing Center (kaffe.no)

(2) Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (scae.com)

(3) Specialty Coffee Association of America (scaa.org)


How is decaffeinated coffee made? Okay but seriously, how is decaffeinated coffee made? How does this process affect the flavour? (I'm assuming it does because decaffeinated coffee seems to be the source of much derision...)

Basics
Decaffeination (decaf) is the removal of caffeine from coffee beans, cocoa,  and other caffeine-containing materials. While soft drinks which do not use caffeine as an ingredient are sometimes described as "decaffeinated", they are better termed "uncaffeinated" because decaffeinated implies that there was caffeine present at one point in time. Decaffeinated drinks contain typically 1–2% of the original caffeine content or sometimes as much as 20%.
In the case of coffee, various methods can be used. The process is usually performed on unroasted (green) beans, and starts with steaming of the beans. They are then rinsed with a solvent that extracts the caffeine while leaving other constituents largely unaffected. The process is repeated from 8 to 12 times until the caffeine content meets the required standard (97% of caffeine removed according to the international standard, or 99.9% caffeine-free by mass as per the EU standard). Coffee contains over 400 components important to the taste and aroma of the drink, so it is difficult to remove the caffeine without affecting other components.
Want to know even more?
Advanced
Well, then, let's talk about the two most common types of decaffeination:
Swiss Water process
The use of water as the solvent to decaffeinate coffee was originally pioneered in Switzerland in 1933 and developed as a commercially viable method of decaffeination by Coffex S.A. in 1980.
This method is different in that it does not directly or indirectly add chemicals to extract the caffeine. Rather, it relies entirely on two concepts - solubility and osmosis - to decaffeinate coffee beans. The process begins by immersing a batch of green coffee beans in very hot water in order to dissolve and extract the caffeine. The water is then drawn off and passed through an activated charcoal filter. The porosity of this filter is sized to only capture larger caffeine molecules, while allowing smaller oil and flavor molecules to pass through it. However, this extraction process will also extract desirable oils and other solids from the beans, resulting in beans with no caffeine and no flavor in one tank, and caffeine-free but with flavor water in another tank. The Swiss Water process method attempts to overcome this difficulty by first discarding the flavorless caffeine-free beans, and then reusing the flavor rich water to remove the caffeine from a fresh batch of coffee beans. Water saturated in this way is referred to as green coffee extract or GCE. It is created using a separate batch of green coffee beans, which are immersed in water and then discarded. In a pre-loading tank water, cane sugar and formic acid are mixed and heated and used to preload carbon filter columns. The GCE is then filtered over the columns to extract caffeine from it. A fresh batch of green coffee beans is then immersed in the GCE to remove caffeine but retain other components. The other components can be retained because the water is already saturated with flavor ingredients, therefore, the flavors in this fresh bath cannot dissolve - only caffeine moves from the coffee beans to the water. This results in decaffeination without a massive loss of flavor. The process of filtering the GCE to remove caffeine and immersing the beans is repeated until the beans are 99.9% caffeine free by mass, meeting the required standard. This process takes 8 to 10 hours.
CO2 process
it is technically known as supercritical fluid extraction. This method is the most recent method developed by Kurt Zosel, a scientist of the Max Plank Institute, and uses liquid CO2 in place of chemical solvents.
The supercritical CO2 acts selectively on the caffeine, releasing the alkaloid and nothing else. Water soaked coffee beans are placed in an extraction vessel. The extractor is then sealed and liquid CO2 is forced into the coffee at pressures of 1,000 pounds per square inch to extract the caffeine. The CO2 acts as the solvent to dissolve and draw the caffeine from the coffee beans, leaving the larger-molecule flavor components behind. The caffeine laden CO2 is then transferred to another container called the absorption chamber where the pressure is released and the CO2 returns to its gaseous state and evaporates, leaving the caffeine behind. The caffeine is removed from the CO2 using charcoal filters and the caffeine free CO2 is pumped back into a pressurized container for reuse on another batch of beans. This process has the advantage that it avoids the use of potentially harmful substances. Because of its cost, this process is primarily used to decaffeinate large quantities of commercial-grade, less-exotic coffee found in grocery stores.
There are like 3 more common processes but I believe 2 is enough, even for coffee enthusiasts like us.
Sourced from https://en.wikipedia.org
This is not my opinion although I don't have decaf, but just something I picked up on the net:


Is soap/water enough to get safely clean coffee mold from my mug? Typical lazy guy problem - I didn't clean my cup after using it and haven't used the cup in about 3 weeks. It's been sitting on a shelf in my office. I noticed today it had some little mold bumps at the bottom (must've just been a thin film of coffee left over).

I took it down to our kitchen at work and scrubbed it with soap and water and a sponge. Is it safe to drink out of it?

I read around and many say it's safe, many say unsafe. There were many suggestions to just bleach the cup. That seems like bit much to me.

Is soap and water strong enough? I washed 3 times.

I would feel confident drinking out of a ceramic mug after a good scrubbing with soap and water.  Smooth (glazed) ceramic surfaces are more easily cleaned than rough ones, so perhaps the rough ones deserves extra effort.

If there is a concern about sanitizing the mug, putting water in the mug and leaving it in the microwave on high until the water boils should kill any mold.  According to this 2012 Penn State Extension bulletin on important temperatures for food safety:

  Processing foods in a boiling water bath will kill most bacteria, molds and yeasts.


Can you make Peanut butter flavoured coffee? Has anyone had any luck making peanut butter flavoured coffee?  If so, what process did you use?

Peanut butter coffee

Inspired by your question I did some experimentation. Peanut butter itself did not work well for me, I could not get it to mix well. I happened to have a powdered penut butter, this worked much better.

I added it like it was powdered cream and sure enough it tasted like peanut butter coffee! The perfect ratio for me seemed to be 2 tbsp per 6 oz cup. It was much better with a little sugar, even though I typically don't add sugar to my coffee. It tasted good, smells great, was more filling then a normal cup of coffee. But the taste was not great, so i won't be drinking it again unless I find a way to improve the taste. The bottom of the cup was very bad because it did not mix fully. So i would recommend blending for anyone who wishes to recreate the coffee treat.

Coffee Peanut Butter

While disapointed with PB coffee. Coffee flavor peanut butter is awesome. Specifically Chocolate Coffee Peanut Butter. As its probable inventor it shall now be called Mocha-PB!  Same ingredients as above except use a chocolate flavored powdered Peanut Butter and change the ratios. Use the instructions on the back of the powdered peanut butter but use hot coffee instead of water. Tastes great on a salty cracker or toast.


Why is tamping necessary for espresso machines but not mokas? Why is tamping necessary for espresso machines but not mokas?
Kingston's How to Make Coffee: The Science Behind the Bean, on how to use a moka, says:

Fill the funnel with enough finely ground coffee so that it forms a rounded dome. Tap the funnel on the counter to even out the grounds.
Without tamping or compressing, make sure that the rubber gasket is in place and then screw the top half of the macchinetta onto the pot.

Espresso machines rely on pressure to extract coffee solutes over a very short (~25 seconds) extraction time. Tamping is a critical aspect to achieving this. By tamping ideally, you eliminate channels by which water might pass through the grounds. Elimination of those channels is important for two reasons. First, channels mean that water only touches some of the grounds but not most, meaning you get very little coffee extracted. Second, tamping evenly forces water to travel through the entire bed of grounds; this is a critically important aspect to how the machine builds pressure. If channeling is present, water will simply drip through the grounds. You will not get 9-12 bars of pressure (or anywhere near that).
Moka pots are different because they build pressure below. Water is heated in the bottom chamber where it rises to dampen the bottom layer of grounds in the basket above. Because the moka pot doesn't use a pump, it requires steam to build up to create pressure. The pot is designed with a certain volume of space between the water reservoir and the grounds basket to facilitate this. If you tamp, you create resistance that the steam pressure might not be able to penetrate--at least not without causing an explosion of grounds and forcing a lot grounds up into the top chamber and making your brew sludgy.
If a moka pot filtered the coffee, something else bad could happen if you tamp. If there were a filter above the grounds, the aforementioned upward explosion of grounds caused by excessive pressure buildup would push grounds up into the filter, clogging the filter. This could cause the filter to get clogged. Best case, a steam outlet valve lets out the excess pressure and your brew is just ruined. Worst case, the steam outlet valve could get clogged and your pot could explode. Basically, even with completely effective safety features and special filtering features, tamping a moka pot would make it impossible to achieve a consistent brew because the amount of clogging of the filter would cause pressure during brewing to vary unpredictably. This isn't a problem with espresso because with espresso, a pump pushes the water through and because the machine itself controls the temperature of the water.


How does water level affect steam? The water heated in a metal boiler is kept mid-way, to create enough space for steam. The steam is used to heat milk and froth it. My question is, how does the level of water -- higher, lower, middle vertically inside the boiler -- affect the quality of steam?

Boiler water level has a significant effect on steam capacity and temperature stability. It may also impact steam quality.

There are three steam characteristics to look at: the amount of steam available, steam power, which is pressure but it's easier to visualize this as velocity and quality. High quality steam should be dry and saturated, not wet. Within the safe (design) operating range of water level for your boiler, a lower water level means that there is more headspace or space for the steam. This means that you will have a larger supply of steam, higher quality (drier) steam and better temperature stability because it's easier to heat a volume of steam than the same physical volume of water.

A higher water level will reduce the effective amount of steam available and tend to create wet steam as more water gets entrained into the steam. Conversely if your machine sees heavy use for espresso but not steam, you may benefit from a somewhat higher water level which favours water temperature stability.

The intended water level serves several masters as a espresso machine requires water and steam and of course safety, cost, stability and steam quality in an usable balance. On a single boiler machine you can't really increase the boiler pressure to increase steam power because it would make the machine run too hot for quality espresso extraction. In general, it is desirable to operate single boiler machines on the lower end of the safe water level range for better steaming ability.

However if you have a consumer machine with an inadequately small boiler you may find that lower water levels produce an apparently anemic steam jet. The proper fix for this would be a larger, more capable boiler but pragmatically a higher water level will then produce a more usable steam flow because the entrained water in wet steam has more inertia or force at the expense of less steam capacity and lower quality steam. Or to put it another way in a machine that has too small of a boiler you may need to keep the water level higher to get enough steam power but it will also degrade the steam quality and will make texturing milk more challenging.


Is this kettle (Moka pot) intended for re-brewing coffee? I have this kettle that looks something like this

It has quite a lot of space for coffee and not so much for water (I am filling them up both to max).

Is it intended for coffee to be re-brewed (water changed) or I should change beans every time?

The photo you have posted is a standard moka pot (See Wikipedia entry here) by a well-known brand, actually the inventor of the moka pot.

You should fill it up to the safety line. You should see it when you fill it. That line is generally curved inside. Filling it more than this line may cause high pressure due to evaporation of water and it may cause harm.

This equipment is not intended to re-brew coffee, but to brew coffee that tastes similar to espresso on the stove. (8 grams of coffee per 30 ml of water is the common accepted ratio.)

If you are interested in re-brewing used coffee grounds, you may also check this related question: Brewing with the coffee grounds twice?


Is it okay to compost used grounds? Given that coffee evolved caffeine as a way of poisoning predators, are (caffeinated) used grounds suitable for composting? Apparently caffeine deters some bacteria and funghi which could affect the way it breaks down into compost?

As an avid composter I can say that I have always used lots of coffee grounds and my compost has always done well with it. There are a few reasons why it is beneficial:

used grounds are fairly pH neutral. If your compost is too acidic they even help a little by absorbing extra acid. Unused grounds however would add to acidity.
coffee grounds are considered "green material" in compost lingo which is usually what compost piles need more of, as opposed to brown material that is fairly abundant in average land plots (maybe not for apartment composters).
coffee grounds attract worms, so even if some bacteria are harmed the worms are compost rock-stars and they make up for it

A good rule of thumb with composting is everything in moderation, so there is such thing as too much used coffee in the pile. When I empty my indoor compost bin into the outside bin coffee is generally 10-25% of that green material. If it is more than 50% you probably need to reduce the amount to compost or find more green material sources.


Leak in base of Moka pot I have a modern Bialetti stovetop moka pot. It's been used in an induction hob.

It has developed a leak on the side of the base

How does that happen?

Can it be repaired?

Unfortunately I can give you only a half-answer.

A) No, I can’t explain what caused the hole. It looks somewhat corroded and I wonder where the discoloration comes from - maybe worth checking the cause of that and the composition of your water?

B) I discourage repairing the hole in general. For two reasons:

You’re operating the pot under pressure. Any repairs have to hold up to that and not just “hold the water in”.
Soldering and food safety are a tricky pair. You have to ensure that nothing can leach into the water that shouldn’t be there.

In short, you will need either experience beyond some household tinkering (which I kind of suspect you don’t have, because then you’d probably have patched it up already instead of asking here) or have to pay a professional - which considering the price of a new pot probably isn’t economical. (If this pot has a special emotional meaning, other considerations come into play, of course.)

But whatever you do, I encourage you to do some more digging into probable causes before you end up with another hole in the new pot.


Differences in Espresso Machines Steam Wands Why do some home espresso machines have a steam wand with a sleeve over it and a tiny hole in the side of the sleeve?

Why does a home espresso machine (even a 15 bar pressure one) often not produce the same silky micro frothing milk as a professional machine?

I was going to put this in a comment because I believe I am relying on conjecture a bit too much but I ran out of space.

Everything I have read online indicates the air holes are various ways to idiot-proof the steam wand and make it more consumer friendly.  On my old Delonghi EC 155, it had 2 air holes that were used to help incorporate air into the milk.  A common modification of this machine was to replace the entire steamwand with a wand from a higher end machine that lacked all the air holes / plastic contraptions.

A big hindrance to microfoam is the air holes mentioned, or simply, a poorly designed wand tip.  There are videos online of people producing high quality micro foam on the Delonghi EC 155 with a modified wand.


How long can I store ground coffee in the fridge? I ground some coffee beans this morning, but I'm not a major coffee drinker, how fast can I expect its flavour to degrade, and at what point would it become completely undrinkable?

Coffee should never be stored in the fridge!

In the same way that baking soda absorbs smells, coffee will absorb smells and flavors in your refrigerator. These compounds can be extracted when you brew your coffee and will contribute to undesired flavors.

Proper storage of coffee is to put your beans into an airtight container, and store around 25C out of sunlight (EX: your cabinet).


Alternatives to Aeropress? New aspiring coffee nerd here.

I'm looking to do a hand grinder + french press setup. Mostly for home use, but small enough for travel would be a wonderful bonus. Low budget (under $100 total)

I've narrowed my grinder options to the Hario Skerton or Porlex Mini.

For the press, I was thinking the $30 Aeropress kit. However, I figured I might as well ask this stackexchange for other options you would recommend, if any? I like to explore alternatives before purchasing.

I apologize if this has already been asked, I did a few searches for "aeropress alternatives" and did not find anything.

Cheers,

Jason

The Aeropress is the best choice for travel. I would get the Porlex Mini with it as it will fit inside the Aeropress.

I think the Hario V60 is also a great choice for starting out, but this is a bit more bulky and not as good for travel.

Note that although the Aeropress is durable, it can break if pressure is applied in the wrong direction. I had the plastic crack once after putting it in my checked bag. You might want to get a case for it or at least put it in your carry-on bag.


What is the basic differences between espresso, cappuccino, and latte? I'm just getting into the coffee world, and I'm assaulted with words such as latte, espresso, etc. What are the basic differences between coffee preparations like espresso, cappuccino, and latte? Is the difference a matter of coffee-to-milk ratio or are there other aspects involved such as bitterness, acidity, caffeine amount, and serving size?

I'm going to assume that you've had an espresso. It's a small-cup of coffee extracted under very high pressure. It's delicious by itself and some like to add sugar.

So, what is a latte?
Take a shot of espresso and add steamed milk

What is a cappuccino?
Take a shot of espresso and add steam milk.

So, what's the difference between a latte and a cappuccino? Are they the same thing?

No. (Unless you're in a really bad diner in which case you shouldn't be ordering lattes there.)

There are several differences between a latte and a cappuccino.

One is the ratio of milk to espresso. A cappuccino is 1-1 milk to espresso and the latte is 2-1 milk to espresso.

Another difference is that the milk is treated differently. In a latte the milk is heated as opposed to being frothed. In a cappuccino the milk is frothed (converted into a microfoam) to about double it's original volume. (If you've ever heated or foamed milk you'll have noticed how the milk changes state as it's being heated.)

Finally the way the milk and espresso are combined is different. In a latte the heated milk and espresso are poured together into a serving cup. Whatever microfoam might have been created while heating the milk is then poured over the top. In a cappuccino the frothed microfoam is poured over the espresso.

It gets more involved than this but I'll let others answer those questions.


Are there any well known coffee experts who have given any kopi luwak a positive review? I have read quite a few reviews of kopi luwak, the legendary "civet poo coffee" from Southeast Asia.

From what I've found all the reputable coffee experts say it's pretty much a scam and the coffee tastes horrible.

There are also travellers who give it OK reviews but you can tell they're not experts and could just as well be giving it an OK review because they've been told it's the best / most expensive coffee in the world.

But hype or not there are surely varying quality kopi luwaks from sources of varying local reputation, and there are surely many fake kopi luwaks.

But have there been any reviews by trusted coffee experts who made sure they were getting a "good" luwak or who compared many and gave at least one of them a good review?

I like my coffee, have tried a lot of different varieties and roast my own, but I won't claim to be a coffee expert.

I have had the opportunity to taste several (about 6) variations of kopi luwak from various sources in Indonesia and Bali. The quality differences in these are as big as with any other type of coffee.

The factors that affect kopi luwak quality are the same as those that affect any other coffee. Namely, the quality of the coffee bean being grown, the processing of the beans, the roast and the storage conditions. Preparation is also important.

The samples of kopi luwak I tried ranged from OK to horrid, but none of them would have been in the "excellent" category. All kopi luwak would perform very badly on the $/kg test - there's just no way that those coffees are so good that they can justify the cost based purely on flavour.

So, to answer your question, this probably lines up with your research. Kopi luwak is special because of the story behind it, not because it is a fantastic beverage.


EK43 settings for shop grinding I was wondering if anyone has a list of EK43 grind settings for different brew methods that they use for pre grinding coffee bags for customers.

I know that pre grinding can be complicated for all sorts of reasons (different brew methods/preferences etc.) but figure customers who are ok with pre ground are also ok with not getting perfect extractions.

If no one has already done the hard work, I'll post what I end up with after playing around with different settings for different brew methods.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help.

Matt

Note All information below is entirely based on my adjustment to make 11 be a french press / cupping grind thus normalizing the rest of the settings.  How I came up with the adjustment was because at the time I had my home grinder configured for french press and was using it daily, and I simply did a comparison of grind levels until the adjustment appeared to be the same size.  Given a normalized 11 setting, everything else should match up.

When I first purchased my EK43, I felt that it did not allow coarse enough grinding to get to French press level grinds.  I pulled the tap screws on the grind adjustment knob and and loosened the burrs equivalent of 2 grind units (effectively making grind level 3 originally a 1).  This adjusted the grinder such that an 11 was a French press grind.

Once this is configured, and presuming you are using the 'new' EK43 burrs, I use the following settings:

11 - French Press and cupping samples

7.5-8 - Drip brew and Keurig depending on desired strength.  This setting will also work with Bunn brewers IF the user uses the proper amount of grounds, which almost no one does.. For 110oz airpots we were using 175g grounds at a 7.5.

4.5 - For those stubborn people who use half as many grounds as they are supposed to on Bunn brewers..  I've got a few companies like this, and have to grind fine, otherwise the coffee comes out underextracted.  I wish I could just tell them to double the amount of coffee they put in the machine but.. oh well.

This setup is basically useless for espresso grinding.  It works halfway decent if you are using a pressurized portafilter (like an EC155 or something) If someone asked for an espresso level grind on this setup, I would give them a 1 and it would be quite fine, but probably wouldn't be clumping at all. No one discerning enough to know the differences in espresso grinds is going to ask for it pre-ground anyways so I just ignore this bit.

All of these settings are with basically brand new burrs.. of course as they wear, I will have to adjust accordingly.


Does Nespresso contain sugar? I've been told that Nespresso capsules contains sugar, but the site Caffeineinformer.com says it doesn't. Are there any official sources that declares no sugar in Nespresso capsules?

Coffee is a pure and natural product, consisting only of water and
  roasted coffee bean extract. Unsweetened black coffee is naturally low
  in calories ( <1 kcal). No additives are present in our capsules.
  Adding milk to the coffee can bring additional nutritional benefits to
  the coffee. Milk is a good source of various essential nutrients.
  Nevertheless, milk, cream and sugar provide calories which might
  become significant if regularly consumed.

Reference: https://www.nespresso.com/us/en/grands-crus-coffee-range (FAQ; see bottom of the page)


Aeropress metal filters, are they worth it? I was wondering (other than the long term saving of not having to buy paper filters), what are the advantages of using a metal filter such as this?

In the copy is states:

  Fuller body cup of coffee

But is this something the average Joe would notice or is it marketing spiel?

My main thought would be you would get less of a papery taste, but after rinsing the filter, I can;t say that I've ever noticed the taste of paper from a filter (maybe if I had did an A/B test between the 2 I would?).

Would like to hear any thoughts from people that have one?

I have used both the paper filters and the "Able" brand metal AeroPress disk that you linked. They are a bit different, and I use both the metal disk and paper filter based on my mood. To my taste, the metal disk does produce a "fuller" bodied cup (because more "stuff" comes through the filter -- oils and macro-particles or whatever). I believe that "an average user" (by my definition) would be able to tell the difference in a side-by-side test, and probably enough to determine preference.

That said, I prefer the paper for a few reasons.

First, the simple convenience is better for me. After brewing, I plunge the filter and spent grounds directly into my compost container. After a quick rinse of the unit, it's clean enough for me.

As for my (personal) taste and preferences, I think the paper produces a better quality and more enjoyable cup. Since the perforations are larger, there is more grit in the output when using the metal disk, so you end up with a (small amount) of "sludge" in the bottom of your cup, and it will turn bitter more quickly because of longer contact with the grounds after brewing.

As an aside, I also prefer it for the marginal (and debatable) "health" reasons. Paper filters remove some compounds (such as cafestol) that have purported cholesterol-affecting properties. For more of "my opinion" on that, see this question about general comparison between paper and re-usable filters and my answer about the topic in general.


How do I use this Indian coffee maker? A friend gave me an Indian coffee maker, which looks like this:

It did not come with instructions - how do I use it?

I found a youtube video for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLwO2ylP6T4

And a post explaining the process: http://www.padhuskitchen.com/2012/05/south-indian-filter-coffee-how-to-make.html

So from the above site:

Put 3 tbsp of coffee powder in the upper container, fix it on top of the lower container and tap the container gently, so that the powder will settle evenly.
Bring water to rolling boil and pour it over the coffee powder. Close it with a lid and leave it undisturbed for 10-15 minutes.
The coffee decoction will get collected in the lower container (See picture 3).
Boil milk and simmer for a few minutes stirring continuously. Pour needed decoction in a cup and add milk and sugar to taste. If you want it strong, add more decoction, if you prefer mild coffee, add less decoction. Serve hot and frothy in tumbler and davara. Enjoy the aroma and the taste of South Indian filter coffee.


What's the science behind precision baskets? There are a number of aftermarket filter baskets available that are praised on different forums, including this site (from Shiri's answer):

  VST baskets are replacement baskets for your portafilter with filter holes positioned and sized to aid uniform extractions. Would recommend getting one.

What's the reasoning behind these aftermarket baskets? I get that they pay more attention to the size and positioning of the holes, but I'm wondering why that matters so much.

perfectdailygrind.com writes:

  Prior to this, most baskets had serious design flaws. Hole sizes varied wildly – some were big enough to allow particles to pass through into the espresso, while others so small that they were easily blocked, all in the same basket.

I'm wondering to what extent that quote is still relevant meaning there's still a basis for aftermarket baskets. Studies or simple tests objectively comparing the operation of stock and precision baskets are appreciated.

Answers could include citing ideal margins on hole sizes, thus establishing really when a hole is too big or too small for proper extraction.

So, it's kind of complicated. To understand why the hole area is important, we need to consider how an espresso is made and what it takes to taste good.

When does coffee taste good?

Making coffee is the processes of extracting water solvable compounds from the coffee grounds. Some taste good, some don't. The trick is to extract the right amount of each. You can control this by how much and how long the water touches the coffee grounds. Too much water and bitter, nasty compounds are extracted. Too short and only sour and volatile compounds end up in the water. You want the right balance for that delicious espresso you have come to love.

Setting up the ideal coffee puck

Espresso is about extracting coffee flavors from the small coffee particles. We want to extract each particle exactly as much. To do so, you carefully grind the particles to a certain size. The reason why people buy expensive burr grinders is to make the particle size distribution as narrow as possible (so all coffee grounds have the same size, so water touches the same surface area). You tamp the coffee in the filter basket as level as possible. Ideally, all particles are the same size and the density of coffee is homogeneous in the whole coffee puck (achieved by proper distribution and tamping level). Then water is pressed trough the puck at 9 bars of pressure. Ignoring the filter basket, the flow rate trough the puck will be the same everywhere.

It's about flow rate

The water will take the path of least resistance (lowest density, largest holes). So if you've carefully set up your puck to have a perfect particle distribution and homogeneous density but the holes in your filterbasket vary in size, more water will flow trough the larger holes. More water passes trough that path and the coffee above, therefore extracting those parts of the coffee puck more. This is an uneven extraction and deviates from the ideal where every particle is extracted exactly as much.

To get a homogeneous water resistance, we try to give the holes the same surface area. This ensures that if you have the perfect puck, water will flow evenly throughout.

When I bought my Strada basket, it came with a histogram showing the hole size distribution, which I think is pretty cool. You can see how narrow that Gaussian is, and it was a noticable improvement from the filter baskets that came with the machine.


Is all Ethiopian coffee considered Specialty Grade 1? If so, where can I buy some in Canada? I was recently introduced to Ethiopian coffee, specifically, a flavour called Honey washed Dawi and Sidamo. They had wonderful aromas and tasted a little bit fruity as well. I did some research and learned that Ethiopian coffee grows at a higher elevation than other coffees, which is why it tastes the way it does. Then, I learned about Specialty Grade 1 coffee that is usually from Ethiopia. Where can I get Grade 1 coffee in Canada?
I found https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en, https://buycoffeecanada and https://etcoffee.com/ Has anyone purchased from these vendors before? Thanks

Ethiopian coffee is all over the place. “Specialty” is a coffee that scores over 80 in the SCA scoring system. As such, it is not referred to as a “Grade”.


How important is tamping coffee for an espresso machine I observe that coffee servers (I refuse to use the term barista) will apply pressure to the coffee grounds using a variety of methods and pressure. This seems to vary wildly and I'd like to know how important is this? Is there some general rule of thumb when it comes to recommended pressure?

My thoughts were that the fineness mattered the most for espresso machines and that reasonable enough pressure when tamping is enough but what do expert's use and believe.

Tamping is one of three key controls you have over the espresso brewing process; The others are dose (the amount of coffee used) and grind coarseness.  Together, they allow the coffee machine operator to produce a puck of the correct density and consistency through which the pressurized water can be pushed through.

While techniques vary, the "rule of thumb" is to apply roughly thirty pounds of force evenly across the puck; however, the key is consistency.  Keep your variables the consistent and you'll be able to dial in the best end-product.

I've been able to pull great shots using anything from just the weight of the tamper itself to my full weight pushed onto a puck, keeping all of the other factors where they needed to be to create the correct puck density.

See this video below for more detail: What is the Right Way to Tamp?


What is the idea behind serving espresso with a lemon peel? I've seen espresso served with a lemon peel next to it, just wanted to know if there was a specific reason for this.  Theories I have:

Its flavor, specifically the oil that can be squeezed out, complements the flavor of espresso, although if this is the case I'd like to know why.  It would seem counter intuitive to me that you would want to add more acid to an acidic beverage, but I guess milk is slightly acidic too.
Its flavor covers up imperfections in bad coffee and/or poorly prepared espresso.
It is simply a garnish to make the presentation more appealing to the eye.

Maybe one more more of these contributes to serving espresso with a lemon peel?  Maybe something else?

This article states that it is possible it started in WW II when cafe's used lemons to clean their espresso cups due to the fact that water was scarce in Italy. And the "tradition" stuck and expanded.


What benefits does a Moccamaster offer compared to a generic coffee maker? I am currently using a moka pot and a Hario hand grinder to make my morning brew. I try to buy freshly roasted ground beans but sometimes I still end up buying some bags from the supermarket. I drink about 2-3 cups of coffee a day at most, my partner drinks probably 5-6 but some of that is instant coffee. I truly hate the flavour of instant coffee but using the moka pot multiple times a day is hassle so I end up drinking some instant during the day.
I was thinking of upgrading to a coffee machine and an electric burr grinder. I'd like to buy something like a Moccamaster which could brew a few cups of coffee at a time, which we could drink throughout the day. I was just wondering if anyone who has ever used it would recommend it for a non-expert coffee drinker or should I just stick to a manual pot? Is the difference noticeable between a Moccamaster and a generic cheap coffee maker and does it truly last longer?

A Moccamaster is like any other electric drip brewer. It takes water and ground coffee and it brews a pot of coffee.

Is the difference noticeable between a Moccamaster and a generic cheap coffee maker and does it truly last longer?

From what I've read online, the Moccamaster is a decent brewer. As far as electric brewers go, I think that mostly refers to consistency. All the machine does is adding hot water to the grounds, so consistency means:

The water is added to the grounds at the same temperature regardless of the temperature of the cold water you're adding in the reservoir.

The water is dispersed somewhat equally over the coffee in the filter.

Based on the good reviews (and no personal experience) I'm sure that it will do the job as good as any other generic brewer. As for build quality, I think it's a decent design (premium materials even compared to the mostly plastic machines in lower price segments) that won't disappoint.
Looking at current retail prices though (about €200 in Europe or $300+ in the US), I can't help but mention that it's a steep price for adding hot water to grounds consistently.
Are there other machines which do a comparable job at a lower price? Definitely. The easiest way to find such a machine at a lower price is to look at a price comparison website for your own locale that includes customer reviews. Simply look for for drip brewers between $/€40-120 and sort them by rating. Then, to make sure that there are no hidden flaws (poor build quality, inconsistent brewing) you search for reviews of the candidate machine(s) online.
The reason I mention looking in your own locale is that some machines are priced reasonably well in one locale, but they're more expensive in another. I think the Moccamaster is a good example of that.
As an aside, I've seen some genuine recommendations for Moccamasters as well though in a slightly different context. The Moccamaster has been around since the sixties and it's produced by a Dutch company. As such, there are a lot of used machines out there and I've seen people recommend those used machines on Dutch coffee sites. Obviously, you wouldn't pay full retail price for a used machine.
At around $/€100, I think a used but good quality Moccamaster could be an alternative to a new brewer at that same price. For that price, you get a slightly sturdier build quality (copper coil for heating the water and a metal body). At the retail price, you are paying for the brand an the nostalgic factor as well.


Which knock box do you use and why? I've been using a repurposed plastic box next to my espresso machine as my go-to knock box, but recently wrote a guide on knock boxes. I'm curious if you can recommend any particular knock box? They all seem universally the same and universally expensive.

Osaka, Shock-Absorbent Espresso Knock Box 4.7 Inch Barista Style Knockbox.

about $20 anywhere online


Is it safe to give decaf coffee to a child? I heard from a friend that there's a new trend happening. People are bringing their kids to Starbucks and buying them a so-called "baby-cino", i.e. decaf coffee with lots of cream and sugar.

Is this really an occurence? Is there any evidence about the effects of coffee (even decaf) on children?

Is there possibly any health-risks one should look into, before giving coffee to a child?

You may find similar discussion mostly on the health tag. The most relevant question was previously closed on Coffee SE site as it was opinion-based.

What's the minimum recommended age for drinking a coffee?

Let me add my opinion here: my 2.5 years old niece drinks regular (not decaf) Turkish coffee together with us during her daily routine. Caffeine's effects are similar in adults or in children. And they are more or less the same. However, children have smaller and more sensitive bodies. So, we let her drink really small amounts. She becomes happy to be a part of the family. I can say, everybody in our family grown up like that for generations, none of us experienced caffeine-related problems. (Still, we are not MDs and we are a very limited sample set. This is a coffee board, not a medical opinion body.)

The other related questions may arise, but relevant to adults:

Does coffee cause dehydration?
Does coffee cause gastrointestinal problems?
How many cups of coffee is it safe to consume per day?
What are the side effects of drinking too much coffee?
Can drinking coffee at least once a day increase anxiety?
Coffee on daily basis
Does coffee consumption cause continuous chest pain?

As children are more sensitive, every little effect must be considered seriously. Still, I believe, if observed carefully, it should be safe to drink a bit coffee for a child.


Aluminium moka pot put through dishwasher and then polished - would it alter taste? Common perceptions on Aluminium moka pots:

They need to be kept dry as to prevent aluminium oxidation.
Some people reckon you should just rinse the pot and not clean it completely, in order to minimize aluminium taste.

Ran into a situation where the cleaner put a Brikka through a dishwasher and then polished it.

My questions

Would it affect the taste?
Would it lessen chances of aluminium oxidation?
Would it affect the metallic taste?
Any other thoughts on this?

As you suggest and note in your question, and it deserves repeating:

Aluminum of any kind is generally not recommended for the dishwasher: it is likely to corrode / oxidize like your pot did.
Keeping your moka pot clean and dry will also help reduce the formation of pocking and oxidation.

That said, while unsightly, it should not be harmful to use after going through the dishwasher. You should thoroughly wash by hand no matter if you polish or not; you should remove any leftover polish, aluminum oxide, dish detergent, or any other residue (also suggested by Ecnerwal in a comment on the question). Polishing is possible with acids or metal polishes, but will probably not provide more than temporary, cosmetic benefit. That is my experience when trying to "restore" accidentally-dishwashered aluminum: I washed it thoroughly, and I continue to use it in its tarnished state.

I couldn't find a really good reference about these recommendations; here's a discussion on Chowhound with some reasonable information; many more by searching "dishwasher aluminum" or similar. Some suggest strong chemicals and abrasive scouring pads; I personally wouldn't use these for fear of further damaging the pot.

My personal pick is to use a stainless steel moka pot, affording a little more margin for error on cleaning. That said, aluminum models heat quickly and certainly do look classic and classy.


How can I use any pod in a Keurig 2.0? I have a Keurig 2.0 machine, that won't accept anything but authorised coffee pods. I've read that this 'feature' can be bypassed. How do I go about using my own coffee pods with this machine?

The Keurig 2.0 machine is looking for an element (perhaps magnetic?) that is embedded in the authorized pods. The site KeurigHack.com contains a video that shows a simple technique for bypassing this feature.

Basically you need one lid from an authorized pod that you can place on top of your pods so that the Keurig 2.0 accepts these pods. The video goes on to show that it's fairly easy to make this a permanent change just by applying some tape to your authorized lid so that it sticks to the roof of the pod enclosure. The following screenshots were taken from the video. Enjoy!

Step 1: Get an authorized lid.

Step 2: Place lid over any other pod.


Espresso machine fish tank smell I just purchased a used Expobar Office Pulser it came with a very strong smell fish tank or algae smell. What does that mean and how do I get rid of the smell? The water passes through the machine with no trouble and is clear when it comes out.

You've got colonies (of bacteria, and perhaps algae.)

I'd be looking for something a bit stronger than vinegar or citric acid in the sanitizing line, though either of those might be a good place to start, just to clear out any calcium deposits that other things might be using as a growth substrate (attaching to.)

Depending on your preferences, and/or any information you can find about what is recommended for your machine, this might be bleach and water, or one of several choices from the (beer) brewing products such as PBW (powdered brewery wash), Star-san, or Idophor. Star-san (at least) will also attack calcium deposits (it's mostly phosphoric acid.)

Rinse well, many times, when done.


Recommended time to finish a cup of coffee for the best caffeine surge? Is there such thing as a recommended time lapse in which to finish drinking a cup of coffee, in which you get the best kick out of the caffeine?

Physiologically, as soon as substances enter the body, they are being processed, entering your system and subsequently removed from it. By that logic, you will experience the greatest net effect of the caffeine content of your cup of coffee by finishing it in the shortest amount of time possible. This is assuming that your definition of 'best kick' is indeed attempting to feel the most potent effects of the caffeine available in your cup.


Weight loss between harvest and pre roasting My questionn being as to how much weight loss is there between coffee beans been harvested and when it is dry enough to roast.If no answer, someone might how much volume loss there is.
Thanks,
Martin

Dry enough = 12% moisture content
Weight loss by roasting = 12-18% of green bean weight
Volume loss = opposite; coffee beans puff up after roasting


Can I leave the basket in the portafilter after pulling the shots? Because it is quite hard to take the basket out of the portafilter, I tend to leave it there. But this means I can't clean the space between them. Is that OK?

The space between them is very hot to be cleaned right after preparing the espresso, actually. It is better to wait for a while and then remove the portafilter to clean if you are not planning to prepare a second one right after. See image below from a manual.

The space in between can be cleaned after given number of use. E.g. after every 50 use.

Normally, I tend to use decalcifying agents after per 100-150 use. Then, I also remove the parts and clean thoroughly. Otherwise, I just wipe the space in between with a wet cloth.


Chemically, what's happening to coffee after it's brewed? So I've prepared my coffee in the morning, and transferred it to a thermos flask, where it will only cool down negligibly over the course of the day.

Is anything happening to the coffee in the flask? Will the taste of the coffee change over the course of the day, or will a cup poured at 5pm taste essentially the same as one poured first thing in the morning?

If I had a perfect flask that lost no heat, how long would my coffee stay tasting as fresh as possible?

The biggest chemical change that is going to occur is going to be oxidation.

Oxidation

Chemically, oxidation is defined as the following from this source.

  Oxidation is any reaction in which one or more electrons
  are moved from one chemical to another, producing two different
  compounds.

Specifically related to coffee, oxidation is further elaborated upon as:

  In coffee, the most common process is that an oxygen molecule donates
  two electrons to a compound, forming a new (differently perceived)
  compound and bonding with hydrogen to form water.

Oxidation of coffee occurs when oxygen molecules (present in the air in your flask and also dissolved in the water used to brew the coffee) come into contact with different compounds in the coffee. Even if you had no air whatsoever in the flask, this process would still happen due to the dissolved oxygen in the water used to make the coffee.

The process of oxidation occurs much more readily at higher heats, hence the reason why cold brewed coffee does not go stale as quickly.

When the oxygen combines with the hydrogen, water is created. That hydrogen ion, when it was free, was adding to the acidity of the coffee. Once it is no longer free and connected to the oxygen, in the form of water, the pH of the coffee will rise slightly, making the coffee more bitter. This is can be perceived as 'staleness'.

The compounds which are oxidized are the acids, aromatics, and oils.  All of these give your coffee it's great taste.

Loss of heat

As the coffee cools, the molecules will vibrate more slowly. This leads to a drop in temperature and will occur in any container, no matter how good it is. Since you have described a situation with minimal heat loss, this process is negligible.

In Conclusion

The oxidation causes the coffee to become stale. This is a bean roasters worst nightmare. For the brewed coffee, it dismantles aromatics, acids, and oils - all key contributors to the coffee's flavor. It also raises the pH to make it more bitter and adds water to the mix.

So no, it won't taste the same at 5 pm as it would poured first thing in the morning. The taste of the coffee will change over the course of the day.

Answering your final question about duration of freshness:

How long will your coffee stay fresh in a perfect flask? That is a matter of opinion. Every coffee shop has a different standard for how long they let their brewed coffee sit. It can be 15 minutes to an hour.

As soon as you roast a bean, it begins to stale. As soon as you grind coffee, it begins to stale. As soon as you brew coffee, it begins to stale. It's hard to qualify what you will consider to be 'fresh'. A purist will tell you that unless you consume the coffee immediately, your coffee will be stale.

As I said, it is a matter of opinion, and if you have the perfect flask, I would say you could wait about an hour before your coffee becomes stale. That's just me though. The sooner you drink it the better.

What You Can Do

Ensure there is little to no air left in your flask. You might also look into cold brewing.

If you want to read more about these chemical processes as they apply to coffee throughout the preparation process (roasting, grinding, brewing), then you can check out this resource.

Black Bear Coffee


How V60 and Aeropress affect flavor I've heard that the V60 is better for light roasts and the Aeropress is better for Medium to Dark roasts, but could someone describe how these two brewing devices affect the flavor of coffee brewed for the different roasts (and which, in turn, would be preferable)?

That sounds like the generalization that drip or pour over brewing is better for light roasts and stronger brewing methods are better for darker roasts.

I'll counter that by saying that I often use my Aeropress for lighter roasts and my Clever Dripper for dark roasts and those cups come out just fine.

The Aeropress makes a sort of quasi-espresso cup that isn't true espresso, but is much stronger than just strong coffee.  I've found that it is unsuitable or less than satisfactory for beans that aren't recommended for espresso brewing.  While the Aeropress allows less control over "brew" strength.  The V60 should be more flexible.  Varying the grind and pour speed should allow a level of control not present with an Aeropress.


Should I press the coffee tight? This is about dripping coffee maker. I used to just dump grounded coffee on top of the filter, but recently I started pressing the grounded coffee tight. My thought was that, this way, it would be harder for the water to drip through, and potentially stay contact with the grounded coffee for a longer period, hoping the coffee would be stronger this way.

Does anyone else do this? Does this make sense? Is there any reference of some sort of experiment proves either?

What you're talking about is commonly referred to as "tamping". This is generally only used in making espresso, and is not recommended for any other brew method that I know of.

You are correct in assuming that the tamping will increase brew times and therefore the coffee will be in contact with the water for longer. This of course produces a stronger coffee.

However, this is not the "correct" way to increase the strength of coffee. The generally accepted way of doing this is changing the brew ratio. The brew ratio is the ratio of grounds to water, typically denoted in grams. The ratios range greatly depending on type of brewing. Tamping the coffee will also affect the flavour of the coffee, because one part of water will extract from one part of grounds longer, producing an undesirable taste.

If you want stronger coffee, simply add more grounds to your filter basket. This way your water is not in contact with the grounds for too long, but rather extracts from more grounds. The flavour will be noticeably better through this method.

Hope this helps!


Can I have this type of coffee? I would like to know if people normally have the type of coffee I do. I take coffee from a vending machine that has a variety of options (latte, cappuccino, espresso) of which I choose espresso. This vends 60ml of espresso (people local to me call it 60ml of decoction). This looks dark brown in color. I usually have this as such but would sometimes add 200ml of hot water to this. I never add sugar or milk to this as I hate the sweetness it adds to my coffee. What is the name of the beverage that I'm having ? Is it recommended to have 60ml of espresso (without water, milk or sugar) twice a day ? Will this have large amounts of caffeine and is it going to have an adverse effect on my health ?

I never find anyone having this type of coffee, people local to me, usually add milk to their coffee. I feel weird, and everyone suggest this might be bad for health. Am I the only one around having this type of coffee everyday ?

The beverage you make by diluting vending machine "espresso" with hot water is called "poor imitation of Americano". It is hard to say how much caffeine it contains because it's not clear what this particular vending machine is filled with. It would also be wrong to speculate on its health effects without this knowledge and without knowing whether in general coffee is good for you. Unfortunately, there're many people around who drink such poor substitute of a good espresso made by a professional barista with a real espresso machine from good and fresh roasted beans.


How can I clean a rusted moka pot? I got a moka pot about 1 year ago, I used only 2 times. After the first time I used it I cleaned it with soap and let it air dry. I noticed then some oxidation (rust) inside the pot, I tried to soak it in hot water and vinegar but it didn't work. So, is it safe to use it (although I smell the metal from the pot)? How can I get rid of the rust? And what is the best way to clean a moka pot?

Based on your photo your pot appears to be made from aluminum based on the white corrosion.  This will make cleaning it a bit harder overall but no worries!  A great product that will take care of this issue for aluminum or stainless (many other materails as well) is Bar Keepers Friend.

From Wikipedia's article on Bar Keeper's Friend:

  Unlike more abrasive cleaning powders such as Comet and Ajax, Bar Keepers Friend uses oxalic acid as its primary active ingredient. A similar abrasive cleaning product, Zud Heavy Duty Cleanser, also contains oxalic acid. Prolonged use and extended skin contact may cause irritation, peeling and contact dermatitis, which is avoided by wearing gloves. The product can also be an eye irritant.

I just used BKF to clean my stainless percolator pot and it did a great job it looks new!  I had baked on brown residue and it took it off in less then a minute.  Now my pot looks almost new.

For your specific pot I would get a good scrub brush and some BKF and give it a few minutes scrub and it will look new again!  I think BKF may be one of the most underrated tools for us coffee junkies.  It gets everything so clean, it even has taken those impossible stains out of the bottom of some of my well used coffee cups.

To prevent corrosion issues in the future the best course of action is to clean it and dry it completely after each use and not let coffee or water sit in it for prolonged time.


Vaccum container and dispenser? Is there a vacuum container that can dispense coffee without letting air in so I don't have to vacuum it everytime I need to make coffee?

P.S., English is not my first language. Feel free to rephrase the question and correct grammar/spelling mistakes.

I do not believe such a product exists at a consumer level for dispensing coffee.

Hypothetically, you would need a vacuum-sealed container that also incorporates some sort of outlet corridor where the coffee could enter, which would then need to be sealed from the inside before dispensing the coffee. It would be like an "air lock" in a miniature coffee spacecraft.

But if this is simply a labor-saving effort, there are touchless, automatic vacuum-sealed containers that re-establish the vacuum every time you close it (search https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=automatic+vacuum+container).

But on a broader note, if you find reestablishing the vacuum each time a bit more trouble than you would like, you might consider removing a few-days supply at a time, and just storing what you need in a regular air-tight container for your short-term daily use. Vacuum-sealing is optimal for longer-term storage, but I don't think you will find a perceptible loss of quality over a few days if you keep enough for your immediate needs in a regular air-tight container.


Of the various methods of decaffeinating coffee, which is the safest? There are various methods of decaffeinating coffee beans:

Swiss Water method1
Co2 Process1
Roselius Proccess2
Direct Method3
Indirect Method4
Triglyceride process5

Of these various methods, are any of them (potentially) harmful to humans? Be it short-term or long-term? Which is the safest?

Swiss Water process is the best because it's the most natural and has the best percentage of decaffeination. However, none of the processes are dangerous, I repeat, none. Unless you consume the decaffeinating solvents somehow, that's a different case. -.-

Sourced from my previous answer at How is decaffeinated coffee made?


Low wattage K-cup type office machine In my office setting we are limited to 800 watts power draw.  We have a team of 10 people that use the k-cup machine and had to switch to a k130 which is awful for multiple users.  Are there any other k-cup brewers out there made for low wattage with a large water tank?  Is it possible to alter a 1400 watt keurig to draw less power (heat slower)?

Well, I don't know anaything about keurig, but as the Question stands for a Week I give it a try.

From my expierience with electronics, there are 3 ways how a low power mod could be done, depending on the details.

the first is to mod the power supply to the boiler (e.g. put an inductor in searies) and hope the machines software can cope with this.

second: If you do have to modify the software(and are able to, Replacing the controller  and reimplement the software may be required) you could implement a pwm regulation of the heating(your power line got to survive short overloads of ~0.1s)

third: The boiler has a to small heat capacity for a full cup and needs to draw full power during the pouring of coffe (my machine does this when it has to make a large cup). You have to change the boiler (bigger one might be to big for the case,) and then continue with one of the steps.

Note: If this can't be done in the fashion of “the nerd in the next cubicle does it for free coffe and no one ever is to talk about the mod” but you have to employ an external firm and need to match safety regulations you are almost definately cheaper off by upgrading the power supply to the office.


Are light coloured spots on beans mold? What are the light colored spots on the bean? Is this normal or is it mold?

The light colored spots just look like
chaff to me. It is common for there to be skin that stays connected to that middle fold of the bean.


When to add alcohol for Irish coffee When making an Irish coffee, is there a difference when you add the alcohol, before or after the cream?

The reason I think it would make a difference is because the heat would make lots of the alcohol evaporate. So by adding it after the cream you actually get more alcohol in your coffee (and more alcohol soluble flavors).

An Irish coffee is traditionally a strong sweetened (with muscovada or demerara sugar or syrup) coffee with a doubleshot of Whisky (I guess around 40-50ml for a glass of coffee of 150ml) and a layer of aerated cream on top of it.

The coffee

I don't know what was used traditionally, I assume some kind of turkish coffee (or "Cowboy coffee"), where the grounds steep in water just of the boil for a few minutes or percolater coffee. Today I would probably use french press coffee or AeroPress with a metal disk instead of paper filter. You should keep in mind, that the coffee-sugar-whisky mix has to be higher in density than the slightly whipped cream. A pour over is likely too delicate (in taste and density). You also don't want coffee that's too strong (like espresso) because it would cover up most of the Whisky taste. Irish whisky tends to be lighter than Scotch or Bourbon. Add brown sugar to taste, but keep in mind that it is used to increase the density of the coffee-whisky mix as well, so one tablespoon should be added (for a glass of coffee as defined before).

Whiskey

Well it's called Irish coffee, so I would use Irish whisky. However I'm sure it's worth experimenting with different whiskys, trying to fit them to the flavor profile of the coffee. If you have a very nutty, chocolaty Brazilian coffee, maybe a smoky, spicy Bourbon fits better. I don't know much about whisky though. I'd just try different things. If you are afraid of too much alcohol evaporating, you could just wait until the coffee is cooled down to below 79°C. You can't drink it before that anyways, it would be too hot. After brewing, add sugar to cool it down, then I would wait until it's somewhere around 75°C, add the whisky, which will cool it down even further. Guessing to just below 70°C. Add cream and drink.

Cream

As said before, the cream should float on top without mixing with the coffee. Thus it has to be added after, which is usually done over the back of a spoon. It should be whipped lightly, but not too much either. You want it to be of a creamy, slightly aerated consistency. You drink the coffee through the cream.

Here is a link to a recipe similar to what I wrote, although theirs has some twists like nutmeg in it.


Can I reduce harmful terpenes? There are reports that terpenes in coffee made without a paper filter raise cholesterol and risk of atherosclerosis / heart disease. (See Coffee and Cholesterol and Warning: Going to the Coffee Shop Can Raise Your Cholesterol Level.)

I like paper-filtered coffee, but I like french-pressed a lot better. I'm also starting to like moka-pot coffee. Now I'm concerned that those preferences may be increasing my risk of heart disease.

One thing I can control is the darkness and freshness of the roast I use. After watching the TED Talk, what you didn't know about coffee, I've started freshly-roasting my own coffee, which allows me to control a couple of variables that may affect terpenes. In contrast, people who buy coffee from a store may not have as much control as I do over these variables.

What I would like to know is whether the roast level or the age of roasted coffee affects the level of terpenes. Can I reduce terpene levels by roasting lighter or darker? Can I reduce terpene levels by waiting longer before using my roasted coffee or using it sooner?

Terpenes are the lipids (oils) that give the main flavor to your cup. Therefore, you don't want to reduce them normally. However, if you really want to reduce them, best choice is, as stated thick filtered drip machines. (One can be seen in this post: Coffee in Breaking Bad )

Another brewing methodology that may be used is Turkish coffee. As coffee is heated from room temperature to near boiling points, you have (somehow) control over which lipids will evaporate during the process. You may modify the triple heating cycle of the Turkish coffee brewing to a single heating near or a bit over boiling point. (See this answer: Triple heating of the Turkish coffee )


Where can I buy dried coffee cherries in the USA? I am looking for dried coffee cherries on behalf of my brother. He probably wants to encourage a market for them in order to reduce food waste. I'd support that too. Where can you find dried coffee cherries for purchase? I'd be ok buying them in any quantity, including bulk.

Nossa Familia Coffee, a company based out of Portland OR, sells Cascara (i.e. Dried Coffee Husks) from Guatemala.

Hope this is helpful


Does caffeinating my hair follicles help prevent hair loss? In the UK there is a product being very heavily marketed at the moment: Caffeine Shampoo.
From their copy:

This Caffeine Shampoo contains caffeine that can help to stimulate hair growth directly at the roots. A daily wash with Alpecin C1 shampoo immediately provides the hair roots with the activating ingredient.
Alpecin Caffeine penetrates even though the shampoo is rinsed out. In just a short time (120 sec.), caffeine travels along the hair shaft directly into the hair follicles. If the shampoo is left on for longer, the caffeine will also penetrate into the scalp.

I'm assuming it would be a little cheaper to rinse my hair with instant coffee in the shower rather than buy this product, but if I did, would it have any effect?

I'm aware of one in vitro study (though there might be others) of that demonstrate that caffeine is effective at certain types of hair loss -- in a "test tube", anyway. That is, this study from 2007 (another link from publisher, a colloquial summary of the study) took biopsy samples of follicles from men with AGA ("male pattern baldness") and treated them caffeine (and hormones), finding that caffeine was "a promising candidate for hair growth stimulation" and "may have important clinical impact". Another note is that this is ex vivo -- which I take to mean topical in this sense -- drinking a bunch of coffee is unlikely to help (the summary article suggests that the dose necessary of orally-consumed coffee to get the same effect is ~6 grams -- many dozens of cups of coffee, and perhaps fatal dose). If you don't happen to subscribe to the International Journal of Dermatology you can obtain the PDF of this article for perhaps a small fee.

I don't know if this has been demonstrated in any clinical trials. I can't find any longitudinal studies of longer-term effectiveness, nor can I find any evidence of actual clinical trials. There are a few more links in the caffeine-related clauses at the management of hair loss Wikipedia article.

Also, as an aside, you might get a little "caffeine buzz" from it! There are some bar soaps, like this one, that make the (largely unverified) claim that some of the caffeine is absorbed through your skin. Win-win?

"To keep this on-topic..." As for using instant coffee or some other source of caffeine (e.g., pills) to be applied topically to your scalp, I can't find anything about that either. Concentrations cited in the study are "0.001% and 0.005%." Coffee beans themselves have about 1-4% caffeine before roasting, so it's reasonable to expect that you could get to the concentration used in the study with a paste of instant coffee, but I don't know about the "bioavailability" of caffeine from topical application of instant coffee. Robusta beans are generally on the higher end of caffeine content and might be cheaper. Also, green beans will have a higher caffeine content than roasted, but I might be taking this a bit too far...

Standard disclaimer -- this isn't medical advice, I'm not a doctor, seek actual legitimate advice if you have health concerns.


Is coffee a solution or an emulsion? According this article about the chemical composition of coffee, 12% of the dry weight of green unroasted coffee beens are chlorogenic acids. It does not mention if these acids fully dissolve in water when brewing coffee.

Furthermore they are mentioning "over 1000 aroma compounds". Do they dissolve?

All together, is a cup of coffee a solution or an emulsion? If it is a solution, is there such thing as a maximum saturation level for a cup of coffee?

A cup of coffee is definitely a solution, in the sense that it is composed of dissolved solutes. The solvation occurs once water is introduced. While, there is always a limit to how much of a substance can be solvated in a given amount of solvent, with coffee you're likely to not reach the point of creating a super-saturated solution in normal conditions. If you were to take a pot of brewed coffee, and boil it, removing the solvent (water) you will likely reach a point as to where the solution is supersaturated, followed by precipitation of a crude extract.

Now is coffee an emulsion? I have heard that typical brewed coffee contains oils from the bean (likely oils that can be seen on darker roasts). If this is the case, then we could say that coffee is both a solution and an emulsion!

EDIT: I know this is an older question but I want to clarify some definitions:
Under IUPAC definition of an emulsion:

  Note 4: An emulsion is termed an oil/water (o/w) emulsion if the
  dispersed phase is an organic material and the continuous phase is
  water or an aqueous solution and is termed water/oil (w/o) if the dispersed
  phase is water or an aqueous solution and the continuous phase is an
  organic liquid (an "oil").

So, when I say coffee is a solution, I'm referring to dissolved solids in the aqueous phase (an aqueous solution). When I say it's an emulsion, I'm referring to the "oils" of the coffee dispersed in the aqueous solution. By the above definition, coffee would qualify as an o/w emulsion composed with an aqueous solution.


Does French press coffee taste like instant coffee? Maybe it’s a dumb question, but I made French press coffee for first time using kicking horse smart ass beans, and the taste was very much like instant coffee.
It didn’t have the metallic taste you can get from instant coffee and was smoother and not bitter.
Also, the effect of the coffee was wonderful, I really felt picked up without any jittery feeling and very alert and focused.
I usually drink Tim Hortons, and I don’t get the same effect.
But, I really like the Tim Hortons flavour better.  The French press coffee was very one note.
Maybe is the beans?  Should I try a lighter blend?  I’ll get through the ones I have now, maybe it will grow on me.

Use better coffee or adjust your recipe.
With a french press you can pretty much get the characteristics of every coffee out if you brew it properly.
If your coffee was bitter, tasted off or tasted like instant coffee, it was not the french press's fault (unless it was very dirty).
You can either try adjusting your brew recipe if you're convinced your coffee is good or you can try to find some locally roasted coffee. Search for "specialty coffee" or roasteries near you.


Is there a "caffeine metabolism curve", understood by general public? I've long been interested in how long caffeine stays in my body and what are the effects at different concentrations and times. For example, a popular site erowid has metabolism curves for most illegal drugs, along with side effects. However, it's caffeine entry is mostly anecdotal experiences.

Here's an example of what cannabis metabolic curve looks like:

Is there a similar metabolic curve with onset, total duration, peak, plateau for caffeine? Does the kind of coffee consumed affect the curve?

Most medications approved by the FDA and used in a medical setting have such statistics.  Caffeine is no exception.  Most drug databases have listed pharmacokinetics for caffeine.  Onset is listed as 15 to 45 minutes with peak concentrations as 30 minutes in adults.  Half life for caffeine varies based on a number of factors.  For adults it is listed as 4 to 5 hours, however, studies suggest it is generally less for smokers.  It is much much longer for infants (52 to 96 hours) but generally by nine months of age, those numbers have dropped to similar levels seen in adults.


How should I clean a stainless coffee carafe? At the office, we have a coffee maker with a stainless steel vacuum carafe similar to this one. It has accumulated coffee residue in it from 5+ years of hard service, whilst receiving in return what I shall politely call "inadequate cleansing."

It's a double-wall vacuum container. There is no heating element, so I'm not exactly sure what causes this buildup in the first place. The manufacturer user manual suggests to clean using dish soap / mild detergent, or the top rack of a dishwasher; I've tried both, neither worked. I have also tried scrubbing with non-abrasive brush, sponge, and dish detergents; improved, still lots of residue. I soaked in two batches of near-boiling water and bicarb (baking soda) for about an hour. The first rinse looked almost like brewed coffee; this was shocking. After all that, the situation was improved but there's still lots of residue.

There are myriad suggestions for removing coffee stains from stainless steel, like this set of eight (8) from Wikihow. It suggests exposing the inside to various household chemicals: vinegar, baking soda / bicarb, bleach (!?), salt, ice cubes, etc. This other article suggests using a dishwasher detergent tablet but it uses anonymous tablets. It does give a nod to using dishwasher detergent powder (as I did with this other device), but I'd prefer to know what is the actual cleansing chemical at work.

So before I either abandon this (decidedly serviceable) carafe for a new one, or begin indexing my pantry for candidate chemicals: How should I clean this stainless carafe? Surely someone must have had and solved this problem.

In addition: I'd also like to ensure that I don't make this worse in the process; e.g., scratching or etching the inside of the carafe. Are these carafes predisposed to buildup? What's causing it? Besides regular cleaning, is there anything else that will keep this thing cleaner for a longer period of time?

Tannin is a chemical contained in coffee and this is what normally stains your coffee making / drinking equipment.

When using an espresso machine it is advised to 'backflush' your machine with cleaning powder which cleans away a build up of 'tannin' from inside the machine. I expect a similar thing has happened to your carafe. With an espresso machine you're advised to do it weekly with heavy use - so I can imagine an "inadequate cleansed" carafe would probably be heavily tannin stained.

You can purchase tannin cleaning powder from any coffee supplier, such as Happy Donkey.

Even though it is designed for Espresso Machines - it is perfectly safe to dissolve the powder in water and use it to clean other tannin stained equipment.


Can regular drip coffee grounds be used for pour over coffee and achieve good results? Can you use regular drip coffee for pour over, and if you do will the coffee taste OK?

Yes, it'll be fine.

Drip brewing and pour-over coffee are essentially the same process:  Pour hot water over ground coffee to extract flavor compounds, then let the infused hot water solution drip through a filter into a serving vessel.  As far as the final product is concerned, it doesn't especially matter if this happens in a machine that dispenses the hot water automatically (drip brewing), or if you pour the water yourself by hand.

The only reason coffee grounds might be suitable for one but not the other would be if you use different filters for drip brewing and pourovers.  For instance, if you have a drip coffee machine that takes paper filters, but a standalone metal mesh filter that you use for pourovers, you would want to use slightly coarser coffee grounds for the latter.  Even in this case, though, the worst possible outcome would be that your coffee might be a little cloudy or gritty, just like if your grounds were slightly too fine (because that's exactly what's happened).


How long should I steep in French press before decanting? I have a 12-cup (51 oz.) Bodum French press. Generally how long am I supposed to wait for the freshly pressed grounds to steep before I decant?

I follow the steps in the Stumptown Roasters guide, which actually features a Bodum French Press. The answer is 4 minutes, but it includes a mixing step after the 1 minute mark. From the site:

"...pour hot water (30 seconds off the boil or about 205 degrees F) into the French press, saturating all of your grounds, and pouring to the halfway mark. Start your timer for 4 minutes.
After 1 minute, stir the “bloom” (or top layer) and pour the rest of the water evenly to the top and affix the press pot lid.
After the 4 minute timer goes off, plunge and serve.


What is a café allongé, and how is it pronounced? My question is actually in reference to a JavaScript book by Reg Braithwaite titled "JavaScript Allongé". Obviously JavaScript has almost nothing to do with coffee, but the author maintained a coffee barista metaphor throughout the book and stated that allongé is some coffee variant. So for the uninitiated coffee drinkers out there among his readers, can you explain what an allongé is, what makes it unique, and how to actually pronounce it?

The author does offer a brief description quoted from Caffe Molinari linked here, but as a coffee newbie much of what is being described escapes me. Here is the quoted text from Braithwaite's preface:

  “Café Allongé, also called Espresso Lungo, is a drink midway between
  an Espresso and Americano in strength. There are two different ways to
  make it. The first, and the one I prefer, is to add a small amount of
  hot water to a double or quadruple Espresso Ristretto. Like adding a
  splash of water to whiskey, the small dilution releases more of the
  complex flavours in the mouth.

  “The second way is to pull an extra long double shot of Espresso. This
  achieves approximately the same ratio of oils to water as the dilution
  method, but also releases a different mix of flavours due to the
  longer extraction. Some complain that the long pull is more bitter and
  detracts from the best character of the coffee, others feel it
  releases even more complexity.

  “The important thing is that neither method of preparation should use
  so much water as to result in a sickly, pale ghost of Espresso.
  Moderation in all things.”

Café allongé is the French for Italian cafe lungo, or in English, long espresso.

There may be previous related answers on this:

I run my espresso machine until my whole cup is full. What's my coffee called?
What are the standard espresso parameters (dose, mass/volume, time, etc.)?
And, of course a wiki page.

I don't know how to write in the pronounciation alphabet, but it is pronounced something similar to "a-lawn-jee".

Normally, it is prepared in a bit longer time than normal espresso. So, the second explanation given in the book is the standard way.

The first one is more sophisticated and uncommon with many side flavors in it. People who are into coffee mostly prefer pure coffee. However, as the author likes it that way, probably he uses such a metaphor in his book.

(As computer scientists know, JavaScript is dynamically typed which may cause many undesirable side effects according to the type theory. I assume, the second recipe is more suitable to be used as a metaphor for a programming language that has type system. Haskell maybe?)


Why would anyone want to hand grind their coffee? I often buy pre-roasted beans so that they last longer in storage. This means I have to grind the beans.

I have a cheap spice grinder that does a great job at preparing the beans into ground coffee. It is easy to use, takes 5-15 seconds to process half a dozen cups worth of beans, and I have  good control over how fine a powder to make the beans into. I'm pretty sure this is a similar story for almost everyone with an electric grinder.

I saw a friend using a hand grinder. It took far longer and from what I saw there was no discernable difference between hand ground coffee and machine ground coffee in terms of texture  (if anything the texture was less consistent when hand ground).

Given this, why on earth would anyone want to hand grind?

Hand grinders will work without electricity.

You can generally get a conical hand grinder cheaper than you can get an electric one.

They also create less noise than a electric grinder.

Hand grinders will generally produce less heat than an electric (may affect bean flavor).

Many grinders are lighter and smaller than electric ones. They are portable and can easily be packed for use when traveling.

As to the consistency, a conical grinder (electric or manual) will generally create a more consistent grind than a electric blade "grinder".  Electric blade grinders tend to produce dust and boulders.  I know because I use one at work daily and I can see the inconsistency in the grind, but it doesn't bother me that much.  At home, my burr grinder creates a much more consistent grind.


What equipment do I need to make espresso at home? Excuse the rookie question, but I am a newbie to coffee. (I blame my nationality; I grew up with tea. ;) )

What equipment, exactly, do I need to get from coffee beans to a cup of espresso that I can drink?

Easiest thing is a bean to cup machine like any of these, these will grind a pre-measured amount of beans, heat water and pump through into your cup and dispense the used grounds into a grounds bin internally.

Going the other way you need a minimum of some form of grinder (preferably burr type) which can be manual or electric.

A 'normal' espresso machine like these which may or may not have a milk frother.

You can opt for a digital scale machine to weigh your beans, possibly mineral water if you hate descaling your machine.

The scales are for measuring an accurate amount of beans, I do this because I have a manual grinder. The water is cheap still mineral water because I live in the south of England and the water is so incredibly hard that it has tattoos.

Also you need cups to drink the final product.


Why do we wait four minutes before pressing down the French press? It is said to wait sometime before pressing down the French press, what exactly is the driving idea behind waiting before pressing down the piston?

The process of brewing coffee is chemically speaking an extraction - flavor compounds, caffeine etc. migrate into the hot water (compare to steeping tea). The speed of that process is determined by various factors, temperature and surface/contact area amongst them.
For French press, you use a comparatively coarse grind which translates to less surface area than pour over (finer grind) or espresso (really fine). So you have to give the water-coffee mix more time for a good extraction. The customary time, which on average should give the desired results, is four minutes, but you are of course free to experiment with other timings, especially if you are also playing around with grind size.


Frother got burn in base and won’t heat properly The Frother as pictured got a milk (I think) burn at bottom. It doesn’t work(warm) well. The light start blinking and we have to run it again to get acceptable/preferred temperature. We tried washing it away but it won’t go.

Is there a way to fix the milk frother?

As far as I see from the photo, the Teflon coating has been swelled. If this is the case, it is an indicator that your frother have over-heated and stay in that state for a very long time.

I assume, the heater coil switched on and off to keep the temperature stable for long. Finally, the coil burnt out itself. I don't think you can do much. Even if you change the coil, the swelled Teflon is not very healthy. I wouldn't use it anymore.

Also, I think you're lucky that this did not cause any serious damage.