Daily Coffee Tip::Filters

Coffee filters are one of those ubiquitous kitchen items that every single person in the world (who has a kitchen) can most likely identify. Cone shaped, traditional flat bottom, it doesn't matter; close your eye and I bet you'll picture one right away.

I was talking coffee with some folks recently and an old-timer said "I hate drinking drip coffee because I always taste the paper first." I thought this was a funny thing to say but it got me thinking... and then it got me experimenting, and now its gotten me writing.

Maybe this is a bit picky, but when you spend as much time drinking coffee as I do, picky is a necessity; that old-timer was right--I could taste the filter. I brewed the same coffee with several different methods, some with a standard white filter and some with no filter. White paper filters definitely have a flavor; its not necessarily a bad or offensive flavor, but its there. I realized that once I could pick out the flavor of the filter, it began to annoy the heck out of me.

What to do? It isn't always practical to use filterless brewing methods and my home coffee maker doesn't have one of those nifty metal filters; I'm sure some of you are in the same boat? This led to further experimentation and I found that that paper flavor wasn't as much paper as it was white paper. I find that the bleached white paper has a much more noticeable flavor that isn't nearly as prevalent with unbleached, natural fiber filters. So that is the coffee tip today, try your own experiment--use a filterless system as the control and then brew with bleached versus unbleached filters; taste the difference and let me know what you find!

Daily Coffee Tip::Mr. Coffee

I could write an entire series of coffee tips on the best coffee brewing method to give you a great, flavorful cup, but the truth is, most of us already have a coffee brewer of some type. More than likely the coffee brewer that is at your house cost you at least $30-40, some of you a whole lot more. Unless you're totally obsessed with coffee extraction and the gadgetry that produces it, you're probably not eager to upgrade (or downgrade) your equipment until there is a true need, i.e. breakage. With that in mind, I think it is more relevant to help you get the best cup of coffee out of the equipment you already have.

Today, lets talk about the Mr. Coffee. Now Mr. Coffee is obviously a brand of coffee maker but it is an easy way to describe the style; you've all seen it--plastic body, flip top lid, basket in the front, water hole in the back, glass pot and burner. Most folks either own one of these brewers or they did at one time whether made by Mr. Coffee or one of the other myriad coffee maker brands. This brewer does a fine job of brewing coffee--sure there are better methods out there but for a $30 piece of equipment that will last for years under steady use, it really can't be beat.

The problem with this brewer arises after the coffee is brewed; the burner. Just say the name: burner; that is exactly what it does--it burns coffee. I hate the idea of coffee sitting in a glass pot on a burner. Coffee is delicate, even after it is brewed, and it needs to be babied a bit to keep it fresh and delicious. When I brew coffee in the glass pot brewer I try to brew in small batches. First of all, those little brewers perform better at about a half a pot or less; they don't really have the capacity to consistently brew twelve cups of coffee as the manual would have you believe. I would much rather brew a second small pot of coffee than have half a pot sit on the eye, burning and getting stale waiting to ruin my cup. If brewing several smaller batches doesn't suit your routine, however, another great solution for keeping your coffee fresh, hot and delicious is probably sitting in your ice-cold car right now. Just about every coffee drinker in the country has at least one or two thermal travel mugs these days; I have a whole cabinet devoted to them. If you have the double-walled stainless steel type you're in great shape because this type of thermal container is designed to keep coffee hot for hours without subjecting it to any heat source. Pour your cup of coffee and then transfer the rest of the pot to your travel mug and close the lid; when you're ready to refill your cup your coffee will taste fresh and delicious, not burnt and stale.

Daily Coffee Tip::Travel

There was no Daily Coffee Tip yesterday because I was traveling; driving, in fact, for the larger part of the day. With a total of around ten hours of highway time logged this weekend, I had plenty of time to think about coffee on the road; a subject fresh in my mind as I threw loathing glances at the 32oz Diet Coke that sat in place of a delicious cup of fresh roasted coffee. Though my companion and I certainly tried, we couldn't find a decent cup that met our needs (close to the travel route and easily accessible), despite the fact that we traversed three states and several major metropolitan areas. My contemplation led me to this conclusion: If you insist on drinking great, fresh roasted coffee even when you're traveling, you will have to plan ahead and take matters into your own hands.

The first order of business is packing enough ground coffee to last your trip. If you follow my advice you're going to be doing a lot of press pot coffee so if you're used to brewing in a home coffee brewer you'll find you use a bit more ground coffee in the press.
I like to hit the road with a full cup of coffee in my travel mug; in this case use whatever is most convenient at home to fill up before you leave. If your trip is like mine and you'll be on the highway for five hours, you're probably going to want a refresher a few hours into the trip. Without a long, out of the way sojourn to find quality local coffee houses, your choices are basically Starbucks or convenience store--not good. This is where I advocate this little gem, the Bodum travel press. This press acts like your travel mug except it has a press pot stem built in. I preload mine with ground coffee before I leave the house so when I'm ready for a new cup of coffee I can pull over to a gas station and fill my press with hot water (for free) and in four minutes, I've got hot, fresh, french press coffee. I do recommend pouring your coffee into your other travel mug when you're done brewing, otherwise the coffee can over extract. If you need another cup you can repeat the process though this leads to some awkward public restroom press pot cleaning, but then, no price is too high for good coffee right?

Hopefully your ending destination has normal coffee brewing capabilities so you can mirror your pre-trip routine. If not I recommend another neat Bodum product, the Young Press. This press pot still uses the standard Bodum glass beaker but it has a durable protective shell unlike all the other models. This shell is perfect for traveling because it drastically reduces the risk of breakage. If you're stuck at a hotel with bad coffee and in-room brewers designed to only brew paper pods of sad stale coffee, just throw some fresh roasted coffee you brought from home into your Young Press, scurry downstairs to the "continental breakfast" and ask nicely to fill your pot with hot water. You might get a funny look or two but what you won't get is a let-down in your cup.

Daily Coffee Tip::Grind

A coffee-crazed Blanchard's fan just asked, "what grind setting do I need and why?"

Good question, lots of answers.

Grinding is very important and often gets overlooked; this begins with the fact that many of us end up buying pre-ground coffee. How do we know if that coffee was ground specifically for our brewing method? We don't. Most of the time, a coffee producer will grind the pre-packaged stuff at a medium, middle of the road setting, likely giving you a medium, middle of the road result--bor-ring!

The best case scenario is to buy your coffee in whole bean form at your favorite coffee house and ask them to grind at your preferred setting. If you buy your coffee at a place that doesn't offer that service you can always take it to a coffee shop and if you buy a cup of coffee and ask nicely, they'll probably grind your beans for you. Notice I didn't say grind at home; I know, I know, grinding at home makes you a coffee-pro and generally amazing--but for my unorthodox opinion on this subject, read this.

So how does grind matter and what grind should you get?

Simply, grind controls the speed at which water passes over coffee pieces; thus, grind controls extraction. The smaller the pieces, the slower water can pass through it--more water spends more time in contact with more coffee surface. Too high of a surface to water to time ratio gives you over extracted coffee (astringent, acidic, bitter, unpalatable); too low of the same ratio gives you under extracted coffee (weak, sharp, under-flavored, lacking in complexity and structure).

Here are some basic settings:

If you have a plain old flat bottomed filter brewer you need the generic "drip coffee" setting. Most American made grinders put this around a number 7 and generally label it "drip coffee". The grind should look like the consistency of coarse sand or grits (if you know what that looks like).

Cone shaped filters are more efficient at letting water pass over and through coffee grinds and the process must be slowed in this situation--I will note that cone filters tend to make a better extraction than flat filters because more water touches all of the coffee and the ratio mentioned above is closer to ideal. To slow down the cone extraction process you need a slightly finer grind; once again it will be labeled "cone filter" or around number 5.

French press and other manual, filterless brewing systems need a coarser grind, mainly because you want to reduce sludge in the brew pot but also because the coffee stays in contact with the water and you quickly run the risk of over extraction--coarser grind slows this process. This grind should look the consistency of rock salt that you would throw on your walk way.

Espresso machines and Bialetti pots require a fine grind because you are drawing an extraction from a very small amount of coffee in a short period of time, therefore you need to maximize the surface to water to time ratio. There is a difference between Turkish grind and fine espresso grind. Turkish grind is pure powder--about the consistency of cornstarch--and it will basically liquify giving you Turkish coffee (or what I call sludge). This is does NOT espresso make says I. Espresso grind has the consistency of fine corn meal and is still allowing a pass-through extraction. Ideally, if you dropped the cash to buy a real espresso machine, you sprung for a grinder as well and in that case, you just need to find a coffee pro to teach you how to adjust it. If you have a "toy" espresso machine, good luck and best wishes to you.

This may all seem a bit ridiculous, I know, its just ground coffee right? Wrong; but as the venerable Lavar Burton would say, "you don't have to take my word for it!" Get enough coffee to brew a batch in whatever you use and have it ground on the other end of the spectrum from what you need. Brew the coffee and then compare to the correct method. I guarantee you'll see a pretty drastic difference--from there it is, as always, all up to your tastes.

What's Your Problem?

What has you bummed out? Favorite team on a losing streak, low on cash, kids a pain in the ass, “things" changed after you got married? Well, my problem is getting a good cup of coffee in the morning from my home brewer. Of course I am using the freshest Blanchard’s Coffee and of course I am grinding as I brew – but why doesn’t it taste like our shops or Ellwood Thompson’s? Why Why Why – please tell me why? Morning after morning I struggle with this and morning after morning I wake up to a disappointing cup of coffee in comparison to what I know is out there.

Ever hear the saying “there are no problems only solutions”? Yea me too and I always wanted to tell the guy saying it to take a long walk of a very short pier. This is a problem though so what is the solution? Actually, what is the problem? After complaining and wallowing in self pity, I stumbled onto the answer in the most unlikely of places – The Coffee: a 30,000 Foot View presentation by David, Tom and Stephen held at Blanchard’s Coffee shop. Who would have thought to go there for info?

Here is the bottom line - the problem stems from your home brewer not heating the water to 200 degrees BEFORE it goes over the coffee grounds. Two hundred degrees is the magical temperature that pulls the most flavors from the grounds and gives you that perfect cup of coffee. Check your home machines water temperature, mine was 170 degrees. Please also note that 200 degree water brewed over bad coffee will give you really hot bad coffee. Freshly roasted Blanchard’s Coffee is a must.

There is the problem now what is the solution. Very easy – buy a machine that heats your water to 200 degrees. You have very limited choices and here they are: a Bunn Commercial Brewer or a MochaMaster home machine (http://www.technivorm.com/). Please be warned the girl on the MochaMaster web site is so hideous to look at you may want to shield your eyes or have a tissue close by – either works. I have opted for the Bunn Commercial brewer model CW15-TC. This will fit under most cabinets, looks great, uses 110v, and does not need a water hookup. Can’t wait to get it and if this does not work out then I will be attending the next class titled – You are a Loser Get a Life.

Post by Joe O.