Took the plunge

U

UnkaMikey

Joined Jul 2005
425 Posts | 0+
Austin, Texas
This past week, after the madness of Christmas, I shopped around a bit in town and finally purchased a burr grinder and a Fringe* Press coffee maker. I also ordered a roaster online (nothing was available in town, that I could find), along with a selection of green beans to play with.

Bought some pre-roasted beans to entertain myself til the roaster arrives, and I'm having fun with the process, not to mention not sleeping much. So far, I've invested about $300 in all this, but it's worth it, I think. Even just playing around with pre-roasted beans the flavor you get out of the process is excellent. Can't wait to get the roaster (should be here by the end of this week), so I can smell up the house and exponentially expand the possibilities of coffee.

Naturally, I blame all of you for this dismal turn of events. Apologies will be accepted, reluctantly, but will not suffice in full. No, I demand that you all send me a pound each of unroasted beans to make up for your part in my new addiction. It's only fair.

I will most likely become a pain, asking questions and making characteristically brilliant observations regarding the nature of coffee and its place in the universe. And I fully expect to plow my way through thousands of dollars saving money on coffee. Thanks. Thanks a lot.

*Just can't bring myself to say "French".
 
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Good for you. Welcome to yet ANOTHER way to spend money on yourself and get some good taste and satisfaction out of it. :wink: :mrgreen:

Oh, and I'm not sure how you'll feel about it, but I always say Freedom Press. :sm_angel:
 
I am afraid to get into coffee grinding. I know what happened when I started smoking cigars and pipes. 800 inventoried cigars, 5 humidors + walk-in, 44 pipes and 10 different blends later...... My wife would kill me if I got into anything esle. But good for you!!!
 
Capt said:
My wife would kill me if I got into anything esle.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean - but maybe sooner or later I'll lure her over to the dark-roast side...DOH - bad pun - sorry
 
:cryinlaugh: :cryinlaugh: :cryinlaugh: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :cryinlaugh: :cryinlaugh: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I love "bad" puns.
 
Annoying question number one

I mentioned earlier that I'd most likely be asking annoying (possibly even stupid) questions. Here's the first one:

How much real difference does water selection make? Let's face it, if you use tap water, and heat it to roughly 200° F, it's going to pretty much kill anything distasteful. And, most bottled water is about half a micron from tap water, and costs far too much for what it is. Has anyone determined beyond reasonable doubt that one or another type/source of water is superior to any other?

Stay tuned, I'm sure I'll think of more dumb questions.

Oh, and Capt., your wife is gonna outlive you anyway, so you may as well go out smiling. Get into grinding, man!
 
Good question, Unk. Put it this way, if you know you're using bad water, or perhaps bad tasting water is the best way to put it, sure, burning the heck out of the water will kill anything potentially harmful, but will bad tasting water with dead microbes really make a better pot of coffee than good tasting, clear, fresh water that also has dead microbes in it? You know what? I don't even want to know what making coffee with bad water would taste like.

Before I moved up here, I lived in NYC all my life, except for those 16 months in Gulfport, MS when I was a little kid. For a long time, even into the 80's, NYC was famous for its high quality of tap water. Then, along came Perrier. Then along came a bunch of other bottled waters. Then, interestingly enough, by the late 80's, NYC tap water suddenly began to taste like pure poison, the worst, most disgusting stuff, residue-on-your-tongue leaving crap you can ever imagine. I haven't taken a taste of UNFILTERED NYC tap water since the late 80's and if I have anything to say about it, never will again. Why speculate and wonder? Just use good water to begin with.

Sure, there might not be anything in there left to kill you, but who wants to start their coffee with water that tastes like turpentine mixed with dog poop, and think just because they're boiling it that the coffee will come out okay. Since that period of time, right up until I got started on "real," rather than supermarket coffee, I have never failed to use filtered water, either from a filter directly attached to the tap, or from a Brita pitcher.
 
I suppose I'm a bit fortunate in that Austin's tap water is pretty decent. Lived in Houston for a long time, and the water there always reminded me of garlic. And I'm certain it wasn't garlic that made it taste that way.

Guess I can keep making coffee with "cooked" tap water and remain fairly happy, although a Brita sounds like a good idea. Thanks, Bloof, it would have taken me a bit to think of it.
 
Or maybe one of those filters that goes directly on the faucet itself. I think one brand is called Pur. Basically, I feel the more crap we can take out of our water, even though it may have been made potable by our local facilities already, then the better the result. I use filtered water for everything, pasta, coffee, rice, tea, etc. Hey, what etc., there ISN'T anything else. :D
 
Re: Annoying question number one

UnkaMikey said:
Oh, and Capt., your wife is gonna outlive you anyway, so you may as well go out smiling. Get into grinding, man!
Click to expand...

Let me correct myself, I DO grind (with a burr grinder), I don't roast. That is what I meant to say. I want to get into roasting. You are right, with smoking cigars and eating smoke at work, my wife will surely out live me. And she is 5 years older!!
 
Roaster showed up today at work (I have a very reasonable boss), and I'll start cookin' beans tonight. I'm going to enjoy this, I do believe. The machine is from Zach & Dani's, and they threw in three pounds of beans for me to play with.

I may never sleep again.
 
Roaster works great, and is mesmerizing to watch in action. So far I've been through a few sessions, and am still trying to determine the best amount of time to wait after roasting before I start grinding. I've read opinions ranging from "right away" to "5 to 7 hours" for best results. Needless to say, there's quite a bit of playing around to do.

I am enjoying it, and the house smells great to boot.
 
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