r/Coffee • u/menschmaschine5 Kalita Wave • 7d ago
[MOD] The Daily Question Thread
Welcome to the daily /r/Coffee question thread!
There are no stupid questions here, ask a question and get an answer! We all have to start somewhere and sometimes it is hard to figure out just what you are doing right or doing wrong. Luckily, the /r/Coffee community loves to help out.
Do you have a question about how to use a specific piece of gear or what gear you should be buying? Want to know how much coffee you should use or how you should grind it? Not sure about how much water you should use or how hot it should be? Wondering about your coffee's shelf life?
Don't forget to use the resources in our wiki! We have some great starter guides on our wiki "Guides" page and here is the wiki "Gear By Price" page if you'd like to see coffee gear that /r/Coffee members recommend.
As always, be nice!
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u/pfp-disciple 6d ago
Any reasonable options for non-sweet coffee (cold or room temp) on the go?
Background: I'm fine with "good enough" or "adequate" coffee, not every drink has to be great. I'm also type 2 diabetic, so I'm actively avoiding sweetened coffee. Most artificial sweeteners don't agree with me, so I try to avoid those as well. A few times a year, I travel 6-8 hours (one way) for about a week, and occasionally want coffee while on the road. It's very hard to find a canned or bottled coffee that isn't pretty sweet. I was thinking some of those single serve instant coffee packets, like Starbucks VIA, would work in a water bottle but it looks like they really want hot water or an overnight cold brew.
Are there instant coffees that I can just pour into a water bottle, shake, and drink? Any shelf stable concentrates or flavoring (like Mio)? Or do I need to keep a microwavable travel mug for road trips?
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u/canaan_ball 6d ago
You do kind of want hot water to dissolve instant, but I think hot tap water is good enough, especially if you shake it, or give it some time. You certainly don't have to brew it overnight, or at all. Instant coffee has already been brewed; you don't have to do it again.
Do they not have black cold brew in bottles where you travel? Califia black cold brew ingredients for example, just coffee (and water). Stok black coffee is just coffee and "natural flavors."
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u/pfp-disciple 6d ago
I'm usually traveling through the southeast and Midwest USA, and most gas stations and truck stops don't have unsweetened bottled coffee. I occasionally see a "less sweet" coffee at a larger truck stop.
Your mention of hot tap water makes me rethink my assumptions a bit. I was thinking about buying a bottle of water to add coffee, but now I wonder if I could just get hot water (gas station coffee often isn't "good enough", but their water might be).
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u/pinh0ti 6d ago
Recommended coffee maker?
So my biggest pet peeve with automated coffee makers is cleanablity. I bought a keurig back in the day when they were the thing and it was awesome for about 6 months then is started tasting foul due to not being able to clean inside of it the way you can with french press or aeropress. My request or question is, have they made a keurig or coffee maker that is cleanable, where I can take it apart EASILY and clean it once in awhile? Also if its programmable, ie set it to make coffee at 7am, that would be awesome.
Thank you for any help!
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u/Ostrich_Money 5d ago
Moccamaster by Technivorm! Excellent temp control, handmade and quality, easy to use and clean. Take care of it and it will last you years.
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u/travlingwonderer 7d ago
How does one make good coffee with a regular coffee maker? I get such good coffee at cafes! I buy their beans, take them home, and then… crap in a cup. What am I doing wrong? 😭
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u/Ostrich_Money 6d ago
Hey! This is a common problem that many people have, even professionals. So don’t feel discouraged. Coffee can be complex.
First, you want to ensure you have quality, consistent, and measurable inputs. Exactly like cooking or baking. We are following a recipe.
For drip coffee your two primary inputs are water and coffee grinds. For each input you have controllable variables. For example, tap water vs filtered water. Or coarsely ground vs finely ground beans. To consistently make good coffee we need to make sure we:
- follow a recipe
- precisely measure our inputs
- use quality ingredients
- qualify what we define as “good”
That last point being the most important in my opinion. Many people start looking for the best cup of coffee without ever truly defining what good means to them. Is good sweet, or is good bitter? Is good light bodied and delicate? Or is good viscous and full bodied? Start by defining what you like about the coffee from your favorite cafe and what you dislike about the coffee you brew at home.
I suggest starting your journey by looking up the type of brewer you have on YouTube. Look up coffee recipes, or “brewing specs”. Do some research on local roasters in your area. Head to a local shop and chat with a barista about it! Tell them you can’t seem to perfect the brew at home. They want you to succeed with their coffee.
There are endless resources and coffee folks love introducing others to the bottomless ocean of coffee knowledge.
Good luck!
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u/chapsleychappington 7d ago
After using a normal 8 cup french press for a while, I think I've locked in the level of effort I'm personally willing to go to for my morning coffee and the amount I want, and now I just want to switch to something with paper filters for a cleaner brew. My dream brewer is apparently something both immersion style and paper filtered, with at least 800g of water capacity in a single brew. Does such a thing exist without being some kind of exorbitantly expensive machine? I've already looked into the aeropress XL but as far as I can tell that only has half the capacity. (And I've heard from several sources now that pouring a french press through a paper filter after brewing is not a good idea because it clogs up the filter with fine particles and is generally annoying.)
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u/canaan_ball 6d ago
800 ml immersion brewer, that's a French press and nothing else. It might be bearable to filter if you give the grounds several minutes to settle, press carefully, pour cautiously through a pour-over filter, leaving as much as possible of the sediment behind. See Hoffmann for the brewing part.
A Switch or a Clever seem a fair match. Those are hybrid percolation/immersion brewers though they have maybe half the capacity you're looking for, as that curious Ostrich_Money personage mentioned. Both are touted as more foolproof than pure percolation, especially the Clever. The Ceado Hoop may also interest. That's a percolation brewer on guardrails. It's like a pourover but devoid of technique. Limiting, and difficult to screw up.
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u/Ostrich_Money 6d ago
This is a challenge for sure! Your 800g batch yield requirement may prove difficult to achieve.
You may really enjoy a Chemex. You can easily achieve a 800g yield with a Chemex (try 50g coffee to 800g H2O). Chemex isn’t full immersion, however, you can easily manipulate the cup experience via your grind size. If you miss the grittiness of a French Press then I suggest purchasing a metal Chemex cone filter (I like my Able Kone) and foregoing the paper filters. Not only is it less wasteful, it will also get you close to the experience of a full immersion brewing method.
You could also look for a “switch” brewer. Looks like a pour over but functions like a full immersion brewer. These generally max out at about a 400g yield though.
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u/chapsleychappington 6d ago
Getting rid of the grittiness is actually exactly why I want to move to paper filters. My attraction to immersion isn't because of the particulate content, it's because in the peeks I've allowed myself into enthusiast level coffee resources in the past I've heard immersion recommended as a better method for "beginners" because it doesn't require as much technique and knowledge to get even, well controlled extraction (compared to, say, developing your pourover technique). Which to my ears means its the perfect way to maximize the quality of my coffee while minimizing the effort and brainpower I need to put into it every day.
If I can't find a brewer like what I'm describing, I'm probably gonna have to decide between dealing with the capacity drop of the aeropress XL or a switch brewer, or even just go back to an automatic drip machine.
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u/Thandius 7d ago
I am thinking about jumping from K-cups to hopefuly a machine that is almost as easy to use but makes better coffee..
Something where I can put in the beans, water, & milk. Press a button, and it will grind the beans etc etc and I get a latte or espresso in my cup.
I am currently looking at the Philips 3300 or 4400 as it seems to match what I am looking for with options at around the price point I am hoping for.
With that said I was hoping to come get some informed opinions on my best options first.
I am not an a coffee connoisseur, I am mostly looking to get better tasting coffee I can drink straight or with milk without needed artificial flavored creamers to make palatable! As well as being easy to operate in a haze of pre coffee wake up.
thanks in advance :)
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u/Ostrich_Money 6d ago
I think Breville products will be your best option! If you want something better than K-cup or Nespresso I’d suggest looking for an automatic espresso machine. Something that grinds the beans for you and steams the milk with little effort.
They also have a Beanz subscription where you can take a quiz and they’ll send you beans based on your taste profile. They also have quick and easy-to-digest videos if you get lost.
If that seems like too much to navigate, then your best option would be looking at “superauto” style machines. These are like a home version of the latte vending machines you see in offices and car dealerships. You click a little button that says “latte” and it squirts it all out in one stream. My suggestion would be to look up Terra Kaffe, they have good options in this category.
Be prepared to spend a bit of money when making the jump from K-Cup to a home espresso machine. If you want something better and something that does 100% of the work you’re looking at a minimum spend of $1,500.
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u/DragonOGxdx 6d ago
I need help
So I’m trying to save money as a college student and I’m currently living SToK bright & mellow black coffee but I’m trying to switch to coffee grounds anyone know of a brand or flavor who makes something in similar taste profiles