Coffee

i had it with the trung nguyen. didn't know about the condensed milk, obviously not an expert. thanks for the tip.

yeah I heard the condensed milk is the best part. dying to give it a go, sounds amazing

i think i'm going to try out the condensed milk thing tonight. give a full report.

Still searching for that best tasting/easiest to prepare/easiest to clean sweet spot.

I think a good old cone filter does pretty well on all three requirements.

French press with pre ground coffee is pretty easy.

french presses are kinda bullshit to clean though

or maybe i'm just easily annoyed

what differentiates vietnamese drip coffee from any other drip coffee besides condensed milk?

French press is a bit more cleanup than a cone filter. It gives a different flavor profile too, so it might depend on your preferences. If the only coffee you have available is coarse ground though, a cone filter is not going to produce a very good result, so you'd be better off with the french press.

i had it with the trung nguyen. didn't know about the condensed milk, obviously not an expert. thanks for the tip.

― Treeship, Wednesday, May 8, 2013 5:43 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

well if youre raving about the toffee-like taste that comes from the condensed milk

i recommend http://i.imgur.com/uZMp9W4.jpg

what differentiates vietnamese drip coffee from any other drip coffee besides condensed milk?

― huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Wednesday, May 8, 2013 5:52 PM (57 seconds ago) Bookmark

usually has robusta beans, cafe du monde version adds chicory

i was just talking/speculating with my coffee buddy at work whether there might actually be something worthwhile in the flavor of robusta beans and whether the "100% arabica" thing was legit or just a marketing ploy that had created a standard

need to investigate I guess

i just drank this black and i thought it tasted sort of toffeeish. i assume the condensed milk will make it sweeter, and i will look for that brand at the asian grocery store.

anyone ever have turkish coffee? that stuff is good. i can't go to the only local place that serves it though because i used to be an employee there and was fired (not for drinking too much turkish coffee).

but yeah, they leave the grounds in that and so it is like espresso but thicker, with a silty bottom. we used to tell everyone who ordered it not to swallow the grounds.

omg I love turkish coffee

my friend's roommate used to make it all the time. definitely a rookie lesson: don't drink all the way to the bottom or you get the mud bleeeeggggggghhhhhhhh

Turkish coffee is good when it's made well I guess? I would say out of maybe 10 places I've tried, it, two made it very well. The rest it was still an enjoyable enough after dinner thing though. It's often made too sweet imo.

yeah i had it without sugar once and it was better, tbh. i'm a coffee veteran though.

yeah it's gotta be made well, otherwise it's not v impressive

and DEF no sugar, that would ruin it

i was just talking/speculating with my coffee buddy at work whether there might actually be something worthwhile in the flavor of robusta beans and whether the "100% arabica" thing was legit or just a marketing ploy that had created a standard

― huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Wednesday, May 8, 2013 5:55 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

iirc higher caffeine content to robusta, therefore more bitter

we're all gonna be drinking robusta beans in like 20 years anyway, thanks global warming

i read a book about starbucks that implied that robusta beans have a duller taste, and "good" coffee is always comprised mostly of arabica beans. probably a dubious source.

incorrect, xp, caffiene itself is tasteless

the very first line of the wikipedia article says otherwise? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine

i know i'm addicted because i don't want to not be addicted

I live in a town with a big Armenian community and their version of Armenian Coffee (*never* call it turkish coffee!) is dynamite. Best side-effect of shopping locally in the late afternoon is that inevitably someone will ask if you want a coffee - and everyone is an expert at making it.

I remember hearing the "Arabica much better than Robusta" thing from Trader Joe's many years ago.

that sounds cool. in the town i live in, it's all about keurigs and nihilism.

xpost to elvis, sry

incorrect, xp, caffiene itself is tasteless

― huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Wednesday, May 8, 2013 6:03 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark

i'm curious to see your sources for this

has anyone here ever tried civet (kopi luwak)?

yes i have licked a civet's ass

ok apparently it is not tasteless, however I believe the bulk of the "bitter" flavor in coffee is not from the caffiene? I mean decaf is bitter too.

yeah, i am not interested in the kopi luwak.

my Filipino friend was trying to convince me of its value the other day

ok apparently it is not tasteless, however I believe the bulk of the "bitter" flavor in coffee is not from the caffiene? I mean decaf is bitter too.

― huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Wednesday, May 8, 2013 6:18 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

decaf is p weird it goes through all these weird processes i wouldnt trust it

i also would never ever admit to drinking decaf in fact i don't think i've had decaf before in my life

i've had some coffee from indonesia that was labelled "kopi luwak" and it was delicious, a rounded sweet taste like very dark chocolate, and i thought "this is terrible, now i am into civet torture coffee" but then it turned out that this stuff was just called "kopi luwak" and was probably artificially produced.

filipinos are great people but if you get food advice from one of them you should probably do the opposite

lol, I'll let her know. She said she had a connection to get me a really good price.

My French press takes like 10 seconds to clean. I just dump the coffee and rinse.

I went through a tremendous amount of angst in finding the right coffee press. OXO's press was overly gimmicky. Bodom ones wore out too quickly. Finally settled on the WMF "Kult" press. It's kinda designy and expensive, but it's sturdy - feels like it should be installed on a spy plane.

i only use a french press when we're camping, stainless steel REI job we got as a wedding present. it does good work, I always enjoy it when we have it.

Ordered a Bialetti Moka Express this morning. Still searching for that best tasting/easiest to prepare/easiest to clean sweet spot.

― What makes a man start threads? (WilliamC), Wednesday, May 8, 2013 4:11 PM (1 week ago)

May have found it.

I am an espresso drinker, and 100% Arabica is neither a scam nor "the best" -- if well roasted, it gives you a mild but still flavorful cup without much crema. BUT: "if well roasted" is ALWAYS the key here, and I think a lot of New School US roasters burn the shit out of their 100% Arabica trying to fake a pleasant bitterness and "thickness" that they would get in a much tastier form if they just added some good quality Robusta beans. I usually get a locally roasted or Italian (I am close enough to Italy that the stuff is still fresh when it gets here) blend with about 30% Robusta/70% Arabica, much less of a dark roast than you see at fancy US placers, and that shit is gooooood. I have a Breville Barista Express (in the German-speaking world it's under the Gastroback brand) which is the cheapest way in to the fancy grinder/real espresso machine world, and the thing is reliable like a 1966 Plymouth Valiant.

And yeah, if I can't get to a real espresso machine, a good grinder and a Bialetti is totally the way to go.

I got into an annoying conversation in Israel with a friend of H's who used to train Baristas. He was like "you don't really have good coffee in New York" -- based on his time living there over 15 years ago. I tried to explain to him what had happened since (leaving out the part that I think the better coffee places in New York are now considerably better than most Israeli espresso bars, which are largely good).

Anyway, I told him I made espresso at home and he started in with "you can't really make espresso at home as good as a cafe can." "H, do I make espresso as good as the cafes?" H: "Better" Israeli Dude: "Yes, but you see you have to grind fresh every day." Me: "I grind fresh every shot." Him: "Yes but you can't have the same kind of freshness a cafe can with its high turnover." Me: "I buy coffee that is stamped with a roast date and use it within a few weeks." Etc. It's a very Israeli trait to argue like this -- they insist they know their way around your own house better than you do.

And then I was like, "(sniff) By the way, your baby needs a diaper change." Him: "No, I don't think so (checks) oh, you're right."

BTW this was H's ex-boyfriend. PWNED

I feel like Bob Benson is the only person who understands me wrt coffee.

You shoulda just been all "yeah you're right I think it's just your coffee" after he said "I don't think so"

That person sounds infuriating.