My name is Dave and I am a coffee addict.

best thing I ever bought. Over a grand but worth every cent. Perss the button and it grinds and brew your espresso right then & there.

I know very little about coffee. I've now quit cigarettes as well as all drugs and alcohol and I find myself now spending ~$10/day on latte's/ I drink 3 a day. I start with a large at 8am and go out two more times every day. Can anyone recommend something I can buy so I don't have to go out and spend so much money? This stuff is costing me more than smoking ever did. I don't have much room in my kitchen, and I like to drink latte's. Don't know how to do it.

PS I met Rob Halford today!

I'm like ray z with coffee. I'm not too picky.
Since my machine broke down, I use the metal filter with a paper insert. Add 2 heaping TBs of Starbucks*, and run 12-14 oz of microwaved water through. Takes about 3 minutes. Re-nuke for a minute, and voila. No fuss, no mess.


*Free Starbucks using food comps at my local Station casino.

Not quite cowboy coffee but not bad. Montana style let's call it. Back to the fundamental thing as Bonnie Raitt once put it.

-Zeno

Aerobie Aeropress (~$25)

Makes espresso strength coffee, so it's good for milk drinks(or americanos).

Then you need a milk frother (~$20? I only drink black coffee so not sure) to make lattes.

So, $45 initial investment plus cost of coffee and milk. Even at 3 coffees a day you prob won't use more than a pound of coffee/wk. It'll probably pay for itself in a week at the rate you're drinking lattes.

If someone else already posted information about vacuum coffee makers I apologize in advance.

Anyway, this Bodum Clear Santos Electric Vacuum Coffee Maker at $130 seems to be a decent compromise between expense, quality and how likely it would still be used six months after purchase.

Check the demenstration video in the link; looks cool.

~ Rick

that thing seems pretty cool, but damn 12-14 minutes is too long to wait for coffee

Eh, got [censored] reviews for durability at Amazon. I'd rather just use a french press if I needed to make bulk coffee (as opposed to single servings).

Current setup:



I switched to the stainless steel Bodum after breaking my 2nd glass french press (both were Bodums). I'm not a huge coffee guy by any means, but the flavor yielded from a french press is so far superior to any machine I've used, it's worth the extra time to boil water etc etc. (I'm also at 2 slightly heaping tablespoons, or one coffee scoop, to about 8 ounces water).



Thanks for the grinder reviews, Jeff. The Capresso seems to be a favorite for the cheaper burrs so I picked one up and am really liking it so far. Can't speak to its grind for espresso.



I'm currently drinking their Kenya Chema Auction Lot brew, really good, citrus top notes, deep flavor with noticeable chocolate hints.

-Al

Thanks. That's is out given my disdain for things that break.

It seems going to a French press means you need an even coarse grind and will need to commit to a burr grinder at $200 plus for a decent model. But if you often buy cups of coffee in a typical shop you can make up $200 or so fast.

In the meantime I might try something that uses fine grinds like the mokapot That way I can stick with my cheap blade grinder for the time being while trying something new.

~ Rick

any of yall tried the nespresso thingy? im very happy with mine, mainly since i would never imagine bringing myself to standing in fron of the machine for 10 minutes just to get a small shot of espresso.

Rick, how much coffee are you making at a time?

If you only drink a cup or so at a time, the Aeropress is great and it works fine with crappy grinds (i.e. blade grinder). It is a lot less hassle and cleanup than a moka pot in my experience.

I usually make a ten cup pot drinking about half that morning and warming it up a day later in the microwave (not good but I'm a little lazy). The evenings gf comes over I make a fresh pot and we go through it right away; she thinks it's the best coffee ever but I suspect she's buttering me up .

The Aeropress gets great reviews on Amazon (with about 67 reviews which means they are probably legit) and is only $26 bucks. I'd like to cut down on caffeine so this sounds like a good bet.

Not sure you posted links already but there are demos on YouTube which sold me.

~ Rick

PS I was going to ask if this is sold in stores but found this link with a sub-link to B&M stores at the bottom. After going through about 500 stores I found one a few miles away (hint to Aerobie - alphabetize!).

Edit to eliminate more unnecessary rambling by me.

I had one of these and it made good coffee, but they don't have the longest lifespan. The gaskets get a little worn and the thing doesn't work right after about a year.

French press coffee is much better, anyway. They're also super easy to use if you have one of those hot water spigot things in your kitchen. The grinders aren't really that hard to find - most grinders will work just fine.

I just had the perfect cup of coffee while reading this thead - beans from a local joint that wins tons of awards, made in the french press. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

More on the Aeropress. Over my morning coffee while playing five table SNGs on the other screen I've been researching coffee bean storage (post to come maybe later). While surfing I've run into two good threads regarding the Aeropress (one which may have been posted here already; I just can't find it).

CoffeeForums

CoffeeGeeks

The later link is 137 pages long and includes extensive input from the inventor.

One thing was sort of funny about these two forums. One of the primary sponsors on the main banner ads seems to be Ambien, a sleep aid.

~ Rick

Regarding freezing:

First, there is something close to Cliff notes at the end.

In you don't mind having your eyeballs destroyed the following are links to the great coffee bean storage debates on various coffee forums (but mostly on coffeegeeks.com):

Very good thread on coffeegeeks:
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/questions/56936

From Coffee Forums:
http://************/2j5x29
http://www.coffeeforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=4230&highlight=storage

More from coffeegeeks:
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/cof...estions/209728
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/cof...estions/271943
http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/esp...uestions/12124

A link from one of the threads:
http://www.sivetzcoffee.com/newslett...agingJan01.htm

A link to a vacuum storage device:
http://www.all4coffee.com/0vacuum.htm
The coffeegeeks seem to find these devices problematic.

For more go to http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums
I keyed on +storage +freezing

-----

Semi-Cliff Notes:

I played four five table SNGs while skimming the links below.

There seems to be a lot of debate regarding the best practical way to store beans and the freezing option was including in the discussions. Obviously it’s best to buy fresh and in small batches but that isn’t easy unless you live near a quality roaster.

There was some support for approaches similar to my method of taking the bag from the roaster (the kind with the valve) making the first batch fresh then sealing what’s left and use a few more layers of wrap (in my case freezer bags with as much air sucked out as possible). When I take it out of the freezer I take out what I need for one batch then immediately re-wrap while slowly grinding in bursts (to avoid heat) using a blade grinder. I don’t defrost the beans.

Vacuum containers seem to have problems with effectiveness and reliability but would appreciate links to a good one.

I was astounded to see debates on coffee to approach the passion of debates on poker!

~ Rick

Rick,

There is no debate if a cup of coffee only costs 9 cents!

-Zeno

re: Freshness

You can get freshly roasted coffee beans from Sweet Maria's:

http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.roasted.html

Another option is home roasting(Link to Sweet Maria's Guide). You ensure perfect freshness and control the character of the final cup.

I use the Poplite. It needs very simple modding:

1. Remove label and both ends from soup can.
2. Wrap soup can in heavy duty aluminum foil to increase height until it only clears the ceiling of popper by 1".
3. Secure foil with electrical tape.
4. Place soup can in roasting chamber.

This modification keeps the beans from flying out during the roasting process, but still allows the chaff to blow out.

have any of you addicts considered opening your own cafe?

I got this a few days ago and so far I think it's great.

- Easy and even fun to use.

- Makes very good coffee (I add the hot water to make Americano). I won't over drink since I can make the right amount for one morning.

- Easy to clean.

- Cheap ($30)

- To get it a local B&M store found a nearby place that roasts its own beans. Bought a 1/4 pound for $3

Thanks for the suggestion. If I'm still using it after a year I really owe you.

~ Rick

I bought my $30 Aeropress at Polly's Gourmet Coffee on 2nd St. in East Long Beach along with a small $3 batch of on-site roasted beans. The beans and Aeropress are great; I'd recommend Polly's knowing many poker players live in the area (ones who are obviously robusto).

Because Polly's is a bit out of the way for downscale/near busto me I'm looking for more stores that brew their own beans on-site near where I live or go. So far I can't find an online directory or the ones I have found don't include good information.

So...

...if there is a good online directory to coffee roasters with in store pickup please post a link.

...if you know of any good roasters near or in the northern part of Orange County, California or near the cities/town of Brea, Fullerton, Orange, Cerritos, Manhattan/Hermosa Beach, Seal Beach, etc. please let me know.

~ Rick

PS I tried the yellow pages, Google, etc and got nowhere.

All the coffee gadgets and such are nice, but i need to know how many cups a day are you people drinking and when does it become unhealthy. this thread has word addict in it so I'm sure its more then 1 cup. i recently moved up to 34 ounces of medium strength coffee in the morning with little cream and sugar per cup. just curious if the quanity is un healthy.

Just depends on which study you want to pay attention to. You can find people who will say "two cups is too much" and "no amount is bad for you."

Personally I drink 3-5 cups a day of very strong coffee, but I don't do this claiming it's healthy or not, only that I like it.

i used to drink a french press every morning (2 large cups). now i drink one every morning & afternoon.

i usually drink coffee because a) i love it, and b) i like to feel a bit 'high', like i had done a line or something; obviously coffee doesn't come close, but I have an abusive mind...

I always drink americano, I drink the stuff called 'columbian (or jamaican) dark roast', they grind the beans at the farmers market i go to; i usually buy about half a kilo of the dark roast, and about 1/4 of a kilo of irish cream or french vanilla coffee (these are good for a change now and then).

Probably drink this once a week, only negative side effects are a) i have become dependent on feeling good in the morning (eg i used to just wake up and be like 'sigh' for an hour, now i feel good as soon as coffee kicks in), and if i drink it at like 8 pm i can't sleep.