Coffee Maker Recommendations

[GoingMyWay]

I have found that most coffee scoops that come with pots are measuring relatively the same amount (haven't bothered to see what that amount is).

The scoop that came with the Moccamaster is for "2 cups". We have found that for most coffee and our tastes when making a small pot we use 2 scoops (4 cups) of ground coffee and fill with filtered cold water to 7 cups (between the 6 and 8 lines on the machine).

This method makes about 3 1/2 actual cups of coffee to a strength that we like using most medium roast coffee (drinking it black). It also works well for darker roast coffee if you use some type of creamer and/or sweetener.

For a full pot we use 4 scoops, and fill the machine just shy of overflowing.

Really?  I was going off the amount of scoops in the Moccamaster manual.  For 4 cups of water I was using 3 scoops and for a full 10 cups I was using 7 scoops.  The 7 scoops of grounds was just about full.  Maybe your scoop is bigger than mine?  My scoop is equivalent to 2 TBSP.

One thing to keep in mind: the finer you grind the coffee the more surface area is created. Finer grounds and a finer filter is needed. Surface area, temperature and time determine how much of the contents you'll extract.

In case you want to taste something interesting: take a french press, fill with normal amount of ground coffee and cold water, put on a lid and store in the fridge for 10h, then press. Cold extraction, some like it, some don't.

I think I tried a cold brewed coffee at Starbucks before - seemed like regular iced coffee to me.  Nothing really that special, but it seems like cold brew is all the rage lately.

This morning I made 4 cups of coffee and used 25 grams of whole beans ground on 19.  I meant to change it to 20 but only remembered when the grinding was just about done.  Today's cup tastes much better!  I don't taste the acid or bitterness so I'm going to try to drink it black.

 

[southrider]

Mine came with the Technivorm. 2 tbsp sounds right from memory. I bet we have the same scoop.

We used to drink French Roast (pretty dark) with cream and/or sweetener. When we switched to black we had to cut way back on the amount of coffee to be able to drink it.

When we could no longer get 8 O'Clock French Roast we switched to Community Med Roast (several similar flavors) and just stayed with those proportions.

 

[GoingMyWay]

Oh yeah we most likely have the same scoop then.

My Blue Bottle Beta Blend came in the mail yesterday.  That's fast delivery considering it's coming all the way from Oakland, CA and I ordered last Thursday.

I followed [member=3078]Dane[/member] ratio of 60 grams of Blue Bottle Beans ground on setting 19 and 8 cups on the Moccamaster.  I'm able to drink this coffee straight black as is, but I'm not crazy about the taste.  I think it tastes too "citrusy."  I think I prefer the Dark Sumatra with a 25 grams to 4 cups ratio, at least in terms of drinking it black.  I should try adding some half and half to the Blue Bottle Beta Blend.  That might be good and probably won't require that much half and half.

I was surprised how much lighter in color the Blue Bottle Beta Blend beans were compared to the Dark Sumatra.  The Blue Bottle Beans also seem a lot drier than the Dark Sumatra.

 

[zapdafish]

I ended up with the Clever Coffee Dripper. An immersion based system. Ordered a sampler from Black Rifle Coffee and it should be delivered some time today.

Can't wait.

 

[GoingMyWay]

I had forgotten about Black Rifle Coffee.  Not too long ago I was seeing a lot of press about them.  Please let me know what you think of their coffee.

 

[GoingMyWay]

I just came across this cool Moccamaster Factory Tour video on YouTube:

It was interesting to see how it was made and assembled.

 

[zapdafish]

Made a mug of the Just Black yesterday and followed directions of 2TBSP per 6 oz and it had me bouncing off the walls and was way to strong. I halved the amount that I ground today and it's pretty awesome stuff.

I went from communal office pot of seattles best to this and it's the first time I actually like coffee as is without sugar/cream.

I had forgotten about Black Rifle Coffee.  Not too long ago I was seeing a lot of press about them.  Please let me know what you think of their coffee.

 

[GoingMyWay]

Cool.  Thanks for following up. Good to know it's strong stuff but you can drink it black.

I ordered a bag of Bella Finca from Henry's House of Coffee yesterday. I'm looking forward to trying that.

 

[zapdafish]

I gotta say I really like manually grinding. about 50 revs is a TBSP so I am dialing in to exactly how I like it by changing how many revs each day so grind only what I need for a wonderful cup

 

[GoingMyWay]

Good deal.  Sounds like you're getting a little mini arm workout in the process too.

My Bella Finca came from Henry's House of the Coffee on Friday.  I eagerly tried it out on Saturday morning and it was just ok.  Nothing earth shattering.  I think I might like the Dark Sumatra more. 

Last night I started steeping a cold brew with the Bella Finca - 4 cups of water to 1 cup of whole beans ground on setting 20.  This morning I strained the coffee and made my wife and myself a Cold Brew Latte.  It was pretty good.  Then I made myself a cup of cold brew with just ice and a little bit of sugar.  I think I liked the black cold brew with sugar more than the Cold Brew Latte.

 

[GoingMyWay]

I finally got around to buying a bag of the Veranda Blend of Blonde roast from Starbucks.  Unfortunately I immediately didn't like how fruity or florally the taste was.

I just got my latest delivery from Henry's House of Coffee (Parker wants some coffee too).

[attachimg=1]

I'm trying out my first cup of Conquistador coffee now.  It's good - as the bag says, more cocoa-y than chocolatey like the Bella Finca.  I have to change my opinion of what I said before.  I think Bella Finca is my favorite.  I had previously said that I thought I liked the Dark Sumatra better, but actually the Bella Finca is better than the Dark Sumatra.

I think the ranking is:

[list type=decimal]
[*]Bella Finca
[*]Conquistador
[*]Dark Sumatra
[/list]

I also bought their "Hello Darkness" sampler pack so I can try out of a few more of their dark roast varieties.

[attachimg=2]

 

[jpmeunier]

I have been buying my coffee from West Coast Roasting. I drink almost exclusively espresso and I have not found beans that I can approach the taste and depth of flavor I get with their beans. They are a tiny company in California, but they ship beans the morning after they are roasted, I always have them 2 days after roast. Oddly enough found out about them (by meeting the owner) on a car forum....sometimes the internet is a wonderful place....sometimes.

 

[sancho57]

We had a simular problem with our Keurig Wednesday. It wouldnt give us a full cup either. We bought a new filter for it and it solved the problem. But we had a lot of grounds in the coffee. i called Keurig and told them what the problem was, they told me to clean the needle with a paper clip which i did, still had a little bit of the grounds in the coffee. So Keurig rep said the will send us a new cup assy free of charge including free shipping.
I figure we had this machine for about 5 years and they still supported us. Wow thats a great company. I remember when i was deployed in Iraq (I did 5 tours 3 in Iraq, 2 in Afg) We would write Keurig a email and they would send us a free machine for us to use with a large supply of coffee.
Great company with great company values.

 

[Koamolly]

Heads up... Amazon has The Technivorm carafe model on sale for less than $250.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...8a7ce61b785c285b0INT&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

[GoingMyWay]

That is a good price!  I'll have to tell my coworker.  I was telling him about the Moccamaster, but he thought the regular price was too expensive.  This is still probably too expensive.

 

[butzla]

No Taster's Choice drinkers here?  I love it with 3 scoops of Cremora.

 

[semenza]

No Taster's Choice drinkers here?  I love it with 3 scoops of Cremora.

Have you ever had your Tasters Choice secretly replaced with Folgers crystals?  [big grin]

Seth

 

[Mario Turcot]

We had a simular problem with our Keurig Wednesday. It wouldnt give us a full cup either. We bought a new filter for it and it solved the problem. But we had a lot of grounds in the coffee. i called Keurig and told them what the problem was, they told me to clean the needle with a paper clip which i did, still had a little bit of the grounds in the coffee. So Keurig rep said the will send us a new cup assy free of charge including free shipping.
I figure we had this machine for about 5 years and they still supported us. Wow thats a great company. I remember when i was deployed in Iraq (I did 5 tours 3 in Iraq, 2 in Afg) We would write Keurig a email and they would send us a free machine for us to use with a large supply of coffee.
Great company with great company values.

I concur with you, Keurig is a great company when it comes to customer care. I bought a Keurig 2.0 when they came out and the machine worked for two months. Stop working after, placed a call and they sent a brand new machine. When I asked what to do with the non working one, they said keep it for the parts if you like

I'm a big fan of espresso and latté so I went all out with a Breville Barista Express. I am fortunate enough to have two roasters within 10 minutes from my place. I can get beans that have been roasted the same day  [eek]

Have it for a few months and love it. It took only a few tries to set it at my taste and now I am experimenting the art of latté  [big grin]

 

[Gregor]

I concur with you, Keurig is a great company when it comes to customer care. I bought a Keurig 2.0 when they came out and the machine worked for two months. Stop working after, placed a call and they sent a brand new machine. When I asked what to do with the non working one, they said keep it for the parts if you like

Which I read as an indication of these machines having a quite high markup...

 

[Mario Turcot]

I concur with you, Keurig is a great company when it comes to customer care. I bought a Keurig 2.0 when they came out and the machine worked for two months. Stop working after, placed a call and they sent a brand new machine. When I asked what to do with the non working one, they said keep it for the parts if you like

Which I read as an indication of these machines having a quite high markup...

When they released them you couldn't use the old K-cups w/o hacking the machine. I believe the reading/sensor they implemented was at fault and since they released a new version of the same machine. We use a newer machine at work, physically identical but with more options from the touch screen. With the latest model you can use any K-cup.