Coffee.

[Triple Zero]

ok, now i might be a bit prejudiced, or got a one-sided view, but i get the distinct impression from several sources that you americans seem to be unable to make a decent cup of coffee.

for one it's because you seem to buy green tea flavoured frappucino's at starbucks to wake up at work, while people over here bring their homebrewn thermos bottles or have access to a proper drip-machine at work (boss knows that the price of 5lbs ground coffee a week is worth it to fuel that team of 5 computerprogrammers).

unless you have a Senseo at work, in which people tend to bring their homebrewn thermos again.

the other reason is this, a couple of months ago, my flatmate got a new job in software testing and had to go on a short training course to Ohio. they told him, if you like coffee, bring your own packet (1lbs) of Douwe Egberts coffee (that's the no.1 dutch brand), cause they don't have proper coffee in the States.
so, when he got back i asked him if it worked. "no", he said, "cause they didn't have proper dripping machines on the campus where we stayed".

so, anyway, here is how you prepare excellent koffie without a dripping machine!



a few remarks that i couldn't fit in the image:
- the one-cup filter cone costs you less than $2.50
- optimal coffee infusion temperature is somewhere between 90-95 degrees Celsius (185-203F), which pretty much means you pour it straight boiling from the waterboiler onto the coffee, as those first 5 degrees of temperature are lost very quickly. i think in a dripping machine the water doesn't hit the coffee at more than 80 degrees.
- 4 scoops like that is for kickass strong coffee. i think it's the temperature that really makes the difference, because coffee that strong usually turns out a bit "sour"(ish) or bitter when i make it in a regular dripping machine.
- you should rinse the filtercone right after usage or else it'll turn very brown very fast

[Cain]

[Diseris]

Dude, the spoon doesn't even stand up in the middle of the cup, how can you drink that water?

[Triple Zero]

Dude, the spoon doesn't even stand up in the middle of the cup, how can you drink that water?

because turkish coffee is made with a different process and a different type of coffee. it's slightly more chocolate-flavoured, i always get the impression, and it contains a lot less caffeine. but since the slurry remains at the bottom of the cup, it does allow the spoon to stay upright (in theory).

if you want the above coffee stronger, you can simply add more ground coffee. although it gets you diminishing returns, because there's only so much aroma/caffeine the boiling water can absorb in one go. you might be able to put the filtercone on a new cup, reheat the first cup of coffee to 100 degrees using a microwave and pour it through the filter again.

although personally, i drink coffee mostly because i enjoy its rich flavour and not for the caffeine shot, so that's what the above procedure is optimized for (the only thing that can be improved is to use fresh burned and ground coffee beans, but i'm just a poor student).

if you wanna create something with a huge amount of caffeine, there's other methods (though i think the above filter/microwave option would work fine, i just came up with it, maybe i'll try it some day when i really need it).

and Cain, where did you get that image? it looks like something i made ages ago (also since the filename is "koffie", dutch for coffee).

[Cain]

It is the one you made ages ago.  Discordian Drug Wars thread, IIRC.

[Cainad (dec.)]

FUCK YOU.


I'm off all stimulants.

[hunter s.durden]

I like my coffee at about 40 degrees.

Fuck hot.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

There are lots of people in the States who make great coffee, and loads of excellent micro-roasters. As far as I can tell, in most regions they are utterly drowned out by the heathen masses who think that shit in a can is "coffee". In the NW you stand a fighting chance of finding decent coffee, and tons of people bring single-cup drip cones or little french presses to work. We have a decent roaster down the street from us (next to the microbrewpub, of course).

[East Coast Hustle]

FACT: the PNW doesn't have better coffee, just more pretentious coffee drinkers.

ECH,
knows that Dunkin Donuts coffee is every bit as good as Torrefazione or Millstone

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It has more people who like good coffee, so good coffee is easier to find. A side effect of that is that it has more pretentious coffee drinkers. I'll have to take your word for Dunkin' Donuts, I haven't even seen one since I was a kid.

[Triple Zero]

I like my coffee at about 40 degrees.

um the point is that the ground coffee infuses better at a high temperature. then you wait until it cools down enough to drink (which should be no more than a couple of minutes, depending on you mug).

but if you want your coffee to start out at 40 degrees, you're welcome to mix instant coffee with lukewarm tap water. see if i care

also, i just want to point out, i do drink coffee at bars or cafes once in a while (it's a good place to see people you don't immediately want to invite over), and i agree with ECH, as long as it doesn't taste like instant or Senseo coffee (i hardly ever encounter this and no, i shall never return), the quality differences between your average cappuchino are not that big.
that's in fact the biggest dissapointment with these specific "coffee places" (like Coffee United, or the Douwe Egberts Cafe), that their coffee isn't a whole lot (perhaps marginally) better than what you get at a cafe or pub with a decent coffee machine.

and still, it just doesn't beat what i brew at home

and, Nigel: as i said, i understand i probably got a one-sided view of things undoubtedly there are people in the US that know how to make proper coffee, and some of them will even use freshly-roasted ground beans, unlike me, who buys the cheapest brand of pre-ground coffee.

[hunter s.durden]

Ok snob.

I make it hot, and let it cool.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

somehow theres a way to roast your own beans using an old popcorn popper.

i like the cone filter/ mug method.
i also like french presses.

we have a lot of spanish coffees here, which are pretty good.

a friend of mine brought me some coffee from germany when she was stationed there and i loved it so much. siiiiiiiiiigh. i miss germany.

starbucks= garbage (imo)
dunkin donuts=not so great either.

[Triple Zero]

Ok snob.

I make it hot, and let it cool.

that's what i said, right?

[Cain]

I get other people to buy me expensive flavoured coffee and then make it the normal way.  It works out well.  Everyone knows what to get me for Christmas, birthdays etc and I get good quality coffee.