[FRIAM] Fwd: Re: Wimsical silly question re: coffee making
Steven A Smith
sasmyth at swcp.com
Thu Sep 21 13:34:45 EDT 2017
Mr. Coffee Gil -
I usually make my coffee with folded filter paper in a beaker, pouring
through water just at the boiling point. I'm not terribly picky about
my coffee but I do enjoy the details of such a ritual and try to stay
close to some optimum. I think the common brand is "Chemex" (speaking
of Glen's utility of beakers vs Popper's 3 worlds".
I find the two biggest variables beyond the choice of bean/roast is the
grind and the temperature of the water.
Being sometimes impatient, I am tempted to pour my water before it is at
full temperature, or at least to "wet the grounds" with hot water in
anticipation of the full event.
My subjective experience is that wetting the grounds (or starting with
water not quite up to boiling) yields less-good results. It could be a
subjective judgement I have about "doing it right". I seem to remember
that English Tea is presumed to be best made by letting the kettle
settle for a moment after it boils... that being too close too boiling
is somehow a bad thing? But you can't be sure it is "just below
boiling" until it hits that point first?
I also find that the grind matters. I recently recovered my coffee
grinder so am no longer dependent on the grinds I get from the grocery.
For my method a finer, almost espresso-fine grind is preferred.
I just recovered a French Press maker which is a good alternative to the
pour through, especially for just enough coffee for myself. I think it
is a 24 ounce vessel, so minus the grinds I probably get about 22 ounces
of coffee... two good solid mugs. More than that and I start
compulsively posting nonsense to Friam! This prefers a coarser ground
to avoid that fine powdered coffee residue in the bottom of the cup.
This summer I tried making "cold brew" which is pretty simple.. rather
than dropping the dirty sock filled with grounds into boiling water you
put it in cold water and let it sit for 12-18 hours. Despite my crude
ideations about making coffee with dirty socks, I actually use a fancy
carafe with a fine metal mesh filter for this... it is much more
civilized and doesn't require finding a sock without a hole. Since I
was *mostly* drinking iced coffee anyway, I decided to give it a
whirl... it is supposed to (according to my PaleoDaughter) be healthier
for you and according to (some) afficianados of coffee to be less
bitter. I liked it (esp for iced coffee), but also enjoy my coffee
"brew" ritual enough that I'm very glad to have the temperatures
dropping again so that I don't mind dumping a few extra BTUs into the
house. I'm very much looking forward to being able to have at least a
small fire in my wood cookstove in the morning, which allows my beaker
of coffee to sit and stay hot for much longer... right now my weekly
Junk-mail burn isn't quite enough to keep my coffee warm.
As for coffee sources, I have to admit to not really having good
discrimination there. I am *almost* as whimsical about that as about
wine... I don't quite buy it (just) for the label (or the name of the
source) but it *IS* a temptation. I've a good friend from the
highlands of Ethiopia so I often buy coffee from the region she came
from just out of some weird loyalty. After a long visit to Hawaii I
found myself often enjoying Kona coffee. I prefer a darker roast in
general. Oh yeh, and it almost exclusively involves some kind of
Colonial Exploitation and a fat Carbon Footprint to haul it halfway
around the world to me. If I continue on my social-conscious arc, I may
be reduced to dunking burned toast in a cup of hot water...
What do you add to your coffee? I've always been a "I prefer my coffee
dark and bitter like my women" kinda guy, but on a keto diet I'm
learning to use a variety of fats to modify it. The Keto/Paleo people
suggest full on heavy creme (pure fat, no lactose) but I find it too
weird (oily). The hardcore Paleos who also endorse cold-brew describe
"bulletproof" coffee with a dollop of butter, ghee, or coconut oil. As
much as I like butter, I don't like it much in coffee. I'm looking
forward to Pinon harvest because I grew up with the tradition of tossing
a dozen pinon nuts (shell and all) into the grinder with the beans.
The nuts' fat DOES cut the harsher overtones and add an interesting
aroma as well as a mild flavor. But you kinda have to like "oily
coffee" for any of these.
As for your "Fred Burns what was that?" style... I grew up on what most
people would call "Diner Coffee" and have to admit that I can drink a
half-dozen cups of that a truck stop with a traditional "Trucker's
Breakfast" and be very happy. Especially if the waitress (always named
Flo) flirts with me a lot. But it is not hardly the same as what I
prefer to make in my beaker at home.
'nuff for now
- Steve
On 9/21/17 10:44 AM, Gillian Densmore wrote:
> So I repeated Nicks experiment on the Densmore Coffe Effect (the one
> where some silly imp has some not the: run around the block or get
> inspired to do fun things.)
>
> I think Nich and steve are both right on this one. ^_^
>
> Hmm so does adding water discourage sprites and dwarfs from creating a
> quatum tunnel to socks where the coffe goes?
> Or is it as Merdle and you suspect adding water to coffe grounds gets
> water into the dry beans and also help the machine work? ^_^
>
> As a follow up question: Being the good Norse+Iriish person I am I
> prefer blends of Arabica+Esspresso+Robusto. Rubusto is weirdly hard to
> find but doesn't taste like Freds Burnt What was that.?
> Adding water to the grounds somehow gives Trader Joes Smooth Morning
> blend a nice smooth flavor. Any guesses to Why? I joke their's some
> Quantom effect going on. :P
>
> Might it have to do with steam (in the basket?) and or the basket
> having a extra cup or so somehow rounds out the flavors?
>
> On Wed, Sep 20, 2017 at 1:52 PM, Nick Thompson
> <nickthompson at earthlink.net <mailto:nickthompson at earthlink.net>> wrote:
>
> Ok, so, I did the experiment.
>
> In a ten cup coffee maker I took a cup of water and pre soaked the
> grounds, taking off what dribbled through and pouring it back
> through until I had saturated the grounds. The the grounds
> required a little short of a cup to saturate. Then I put ten cups
> of water in the coffeemaker and let it rip. I got ten cups of
> coffee out of it. The Densmore effect is due to the grounds. Qed.
>
> N
>
> Nicholas S. Thompson
>
> Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
>
> Clark University
>
> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
> <http://home.earthlink.net/%7Enickthompson/naturaldesigns/>
>
> *From:*Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com
> <mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com>] *On Behalf Of *Gillian Densmore
> *Sent:* Tuesday, September 19, 2017 10:22 PM
> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
> <friam at redfish.com <mailto:friam at redfish.com>>
> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Wimsical silly question re: coffee making
>
> Hmmmm... well fortunatly Iike fun colorful socks... now if they
> show up full coffee been...
>
> On Tue, Sep 19, 2017 at 7:57 PM, Steven A Smith <sasmyth at swcp.com
> <mailto:sasmyth at swcp.com>> wrote:
>
> Ooops... the "reply-to" on the list reflector seems not to be
> the list by default, so this just went to Merle the first time!
>
> Gil -
>
> I don't use an automated coffee maker often, but when I do
> (e.g. motel or visiting a friend) I forget that the
> filling system is measured in 8 oz cups but my
> expectations are closer to a 12 ounce mugfull, so 4 cups
> of water in yields something closer to 2.5 mugs out and of
> course if I"m on the west coast, the mugs are 16 ouncers
> which REALLY aggravates the situation!
>
> - Steve
>
> PS. a more whimsical answer is that you can probably expect
> to find the extra coffee in your laundry from time to time and
> some mismatched socks in your coffeemaker somewhere down the line!
>
> On 9/19/17 3:50 PM, Merle Lefkoff wrote:
>
> Gillian, all of the initial water is boiled, so some of
> the steam escapes from the coffeemaker, and some of the
> rest is in the wet grounds in the filter basket. There
> may well be something else happening, but this accounts
> for some of it.
>
> On Tue, Sep 19, 2017 at 9:55 AM, Gillian Densmore
> <gil.densmore at gmail.com <mailto:gil.densmore at gmail.com>>
> wrote:
>
> What on earth happens to some of the coffe when I make
> it drop style? I prepare 6-8 cups so as if someone
> stops by they can have a bit as well.
>
> But then it only gives a bit over 4-5 cups.
>
> Does some invisible dwarf drink a bit of it before it
> gets to the Kareff(sp)? oO
>
> I am genuinly perplexed by this.^_^
>
>
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> --
>
> Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D.
> President, Center for Emergent Diplomacy
> emergentdiplomacy.org <http://emergentdiplomacy.org>
>
> Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
>
> Visiting Professor in Integrative Peacebuilding
>
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>
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>
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> mobile: (303) 859-5609 <tel:%28303%29%20859-5609>
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>
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