I must be doing something right with my coffee...

[elfs]

I must do something very right with the coffee I brew at home. I don't know what it is, but it sure works. I use just any old bean (right now, I'm trying the Starbuck's Tribute blend), but I use a half-height French Press (two cups of coffee per batch) and let them sit for four minutes before pouring. I always prepare more water than the press will hold, and I use the remaining water to warm my cup. I alway pour quickly after pressing, and it's great, smooth and never bitter.

This morning, I had an opportunity to have some of Starbuck's Pike Place Market Roast, as brewed by Starbucks, and you know, it was very bitter. Even a four ounce cup couldn't be saved with a teaspoon of sugar, and I never use more than that at home. That may explain why the salting doesn't do much for me: I don't make coffee that needs saving.

Man, my third post in a row about coffee.

Comments

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

I think the random Starbucks bitter is to do with whatever large-scale method of roasting they use being a bit uneven. Every once in a while, it's like their beans were roasted via blowtorch. It also seemed kind of random. It might hit a few times a week, then not for several weeks.

[srmalloy.livejournal.com]

It could also be randomly getting a cup of coffee from a coffee maker that's due to be cleaned out, and has old oil residue in it. I remember being disgusted when I was in the wardroom of the carrier my father was assigned to, and happened to see, through the door to the galley, that the cooks had one of the big coffee urns unstrapped from the bulkhead, and one of the mess techs was scraping several months' accumulation of congealed coffee oils off the inside of the urn with a spatula... Put me off Navy coffee for years.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_candide_/]

I think another problem with CharBucks coffee is that they're a business. Therefore, they are almost certainly skimping on the grounds when brewing, to stretch it out.

Using too little grounds — or the wrong coarseness/fineness coffee ground — you'll overextract. Overextraction will make coffee bitter.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

I prefer tea. I use loose leaf tea and this device that lets me pour tea into the cup but filters out the leaves. I also make the hot water with my electric kettle.

[lucky-otter.livejournal.com]

Most of the electric kettles I've tried make terrible tasting plasticky water. It's annoying how much the good ones - which have no plastic touching the water during heating - cost.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

My electric kettle is metal, not plasic. And it only cost me about $30.

[lucky-otter.livejournal.com]

Neat. I haven't found any metal ones around that price. Though, I've mostly been looking at variable temperature ones since I'd rather not have to use a cooling vessel when making green, white, oolong, etc. Maybe I should just resign myself to using a cooling vessel and a thermometer, though. My current stove kettle leaks steam something awful, which means I need to use a potholder to handle it, often.