If I'm staying in an Airbnb and want to be able to make something like an espresso, are these any good? I'm not really a fan of plunger coffee, which seems like the other travel-friendly non-instant alternative?
Or... buy an Aeropress instead?
Or... buy an Aeropress instead?
You need to adjust it for each new roast, even when the bean is from the same origin as the previous batch you used. Fluctuations will be smaller though.
Also be aware that some people do not enjoy some roast levels.
I for one used to think I loved dark French roasts in my early twenties. Now I am more for the lighter floral notes in my filters and the earthier nutty notes in my espresso. But nothing ever as dark as French roast.
Rules of thumb;
* buy fresh whole bean
* that are all from the same source
* not a robusta
* that has its roast date on the packaging
* store in airtight container away from sunlight
* do not freeze the beans
* and use it within 3-4 weeks of that date (earlier for espresso)
* enjoy the coffee you like and do not let anyone else tell you otherwise. But perhaps, experiment with your tastes.
I have the luxury to have a stepless grinder, and I can observe the difference when I have to adjust the grain size between beans that are freshly roasted, stored in fridge and stored at room temperature.
At fridge temperatures, beans stay wet and oily much longer.
But surprisingly many believe that freezing the beans make for a good cup for longer.
Which is not going to be the case when the bean has not thawed and is so brittle it gives an uneven grind (and thus uneven extraction).
Better, if possible, is to buy smaller amounts more frequently and use them all up before getting more.
It isn't like you get high quality whole bean in bulk anyway.
I've had some really high end coffees that I thought tasted like garbage. Then again I wasn't prepared for what they were going to taste like. For instance, when I tried light roasts for the first time, I thought they were absolute trash. I only drank dark roasts though and based my expectations on that. I've since warmed up to them and now prefer a medium roast for my daily drink.
Some people have different tastes. Some folks really like the burnt flavors of Starbucks and associate it with coffee, so everything else tastes terrible. That's especially true if you don't drink coffee black and require a certain flavor after adding heaps of cream and sugar. Other people are more sensitive to bitterness or acidity and need something to cater to their tastes.
Personally I just stick with Peet's beans because I find them to be cheap and convenient and not all that bad. I still occasionally get a bag of terrible coffee from them, but it's terrible in the sense that I just can't get a cup of coffee that I like after adjusting all the parameters(temp, time, dilution(yeah, I use an aeropress), etc).
Tastes are a subjective thing. I've had $400 Michelin dinners that tasted like shit, and $8 burritos that were some of the best things I've ever put in my mouth. People like to get all judgmental about it but really you just have to know yourself and go with it.
You're probably buying lighter roasts, which are in vogue but are more difficult to brew.
There's no reason to claim that the better stuff is not better, that's just pointless anti-elitism. As a kid, I certainly enjoyed a McDonalds burger over a rare tenderloin. The tenderloin obviously was better though.
And, ftr, I am tired of Starbucks coffees too. It's hard to find an in between.
Espresso is nothing more than hot water pushed through coffee grounds at 7-9+ PSI or pressure. There are several travel brewers, such as the Flair NEO, that aren't particularly expensive and will brew perfectly fine espresso.
The issue, though, is that the main determinant for espresso isn't how you make it, but the quality and grind of the coffee bean. Are you willing to purchase a burr grinder and take it with you on vacation? If yes, and if you want actual espresso, then this is the best route to go.
From experience, a Moka pot will give you something slightly (but only slightly) closer to espresso than a french press. However, I've consistently gotten much better results with a french press. As far as going with an Aeropress over a french press, the former should give a cleaner result, but my best guess not ever having used one is that the final result will take about the same, without some of the finer coffee grounds getting into the cup (which can mostly be prevented on a french press if you do it right).
I think there's a small typo there, 9 bar would be more regular for espresso.
I agree otherwise. I treat moka or aeropress coffee as its own thing; it's not espresso and that's OK.
I see a lot of people talk about "grind" as important.
Really it's just a way of varying pressure and to keep it roughly in that 9 bar zone.
The only magic in a good bur grinder is its consistency. You can look at what you're getting out and bump the pressure up or down slightly compared to your last shot.
So as the beans dry out with age, you can increase the extraction so you don't get a flat, sour shot with no crema. If you put in a new bag of beans you can make the grind courser so that pressure is reduced and you` don't over extract.
I love a morning espresso but I'm less keen on all the connoisseurship around it.
It's not just consistency. It's grind size distribution. The cost of a high end burr grinder is crazy and I don't understand what's going on but you can do simple comparative tests.
I have a 2 different burr sets for my grinder with different cutter geometries and the mechanical properties of the grinds and the puck are different. Never mind the taste. The way the water pours through the puck and what's happening inside the basket as you pull the shot is different. You can easily tell by the amount of channeling I get and the integrity of the puck after the shot.
The espresso also tastes different BTW.
I've also done blind taste testing with my grinder pitted against 3 other grinders. Having only tasted the coffee from 1 of these, I matched the coffee to the grinders only based on the theoretical properties of the burr sets.
Some Taiwanese folks crowdsourced a bunch of manual grinders in this forum thread to measure and compare grind size distribution [1].
It's usually my go-to thread whenever someone asks me for grinder recommendations, and care mostly about the end result.
[1] (link in Chinese) https://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=640&t=5747652
I'm a simple soul, if I can't measure it really easily I don't worry about it.
It's not like any two beans are the same and I'm tamping them by hand anyway.
Worrying about the shape of the blades in the grinder is like worrying about the type of power cable on your hifi amp. It's too much connoisseurship for me personally but more power to you if that's your bag.
Spread a small amount of ground coffee out on a piece of paper. Observe the varying sizes and shapes within the grounds. Better grinders produce more even grinds which produce more even extraction during brewing.
It’s an exceedingly simple concept. As an extreme example try and brew an espresso using a simple blade style ‘grinder’. It will be impossible. The refinement of a good grinder is simply optimizing along this axis.
You like what you like.
I'm just saying that your dismissal of the effects of your grinder are very wrong. And the differences are easy see and measure.
Yep, my mistake : )
It was early and I hadn't had my morning espresso(s) yet : )
I'd also add, you can get a ceramic bur grinder called the "Porlex mini hand grider" [0] which fits inside the Aeropress' cylinder.
It's a super compact way to travel with a press and a grinder!
[0] https://www.amazon.com/Porlex-Mini-Stainless-Coffee-Grinder/...
Otherwise spend a bit more money and get the 1Zpresso Q2. I think this is the cheapest grinder with 34mm stainless steel burrs you can get that fits inside the Aeropress plunger.
You'll thank yourself later for getting the stainless steel burrs.
Not that I want to pick a fight, but I'm sharing this more for other readers' reference.
I've had my Porlex for a little over 5 years now, use it around twice daily, and have had zero issues.
A quick Google search of ceramic vs steel burs also seems to indicate the ceramic offers better longevity.
Why else do you say Porlex is terrible, aside from being ceramic?
Its build quality is excellent. Well worth the price.
Stainless steel 34mm burrs also cut significantly faster and more consistently in a similarly sized grinder. This is the main reason you want stainless steel.
I wouldn't worry about longevity since we're talking about a decade or more for whatever type you chose. But yes, ceramic will last longer.
In fact if you don't want the grinder to fit in the plunger of an aeropress, you can get Taiwanese grinders with stainless steel burrs, well stabilised shafts, ball bearings, a milled Al body for less than the Porlex mini and only slightly more than a Rhinowares.
I have a theory that people who start with a Hario Skerton or its clones (all of which have ceramic burrs) tend to be turned off manual grinding because of how bad the grinding experience is.
Steel burrs supposedly cut better and faster.
Admittedly, I've tried my friend's Porlex Tall, and it wasn't unpleasant to use.
In my personal order of importance for good coffee:
1. Beans
2. Water Temp
3. Method
4. Grind
A distant 5 is process and by process I mean exact steps, timing etc. If you follow the world champion steps[0], even loosely, it will significantly up your coffee game. While you don't need a fancy grinder at all, I def covet the EK43.
Also much love for a V60 for travel as well.
I used to use aeropress but the rubber plunger degrades and builds up grime, I also find pourover more fun to use.
Having a source of hot water ready to go makes it even easier.
We use only those, in all sizes. And being really portable you can take them everywhere. Camping, vacation,... you name it. They only thing you struggle to get, even with the dedicated ones marketed as such, is the crema a barista machine will produce.
A moka pot will never be able to give coffee anywhere close to propper espresso.
That's not me being subjective. The moka can not create the pressure needed to extract the oils in the same way as a propper espresso machine. Not to mention that the water to oil ratio is way off compared to an espresso. And a fine enough grind level would simply fall through into the water tank.
A moka pot is one device on the coffee spectrum. It doesnt need to compete or be like any other equipment. It is it's own thing.
having said that the design is remarkably ugly. almost like some medical device - or maybe even like a bathmate? :D
Unfortunately, because the volume is small, I would have to use it multiple times, which was such a pain, I eventually stopped using it in favor of a V60 pourover.
However a moka pot generally doesn't make espresso as much as strong coffee. If you want something that makes espresso, check out the 9bar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcZMGx15QBU
Of course you'll want a good hand grinder for either, but especially espresso. You can't get anything close to espresso with pre-ground or a cheap grinder.
I've never had an aeropress so it's hard for me to compare quality etc., but when I've had coffee with friends who use them, the aeropress does seem bit more cumbersome and messy than the mokka pot.
But one thing where aeropress shines is cleaning. I'd use my moka pot more often, purely for consistency without effort, if it was as easy to clean as aeropress.
- Presses, like Picopresso, where you need to use your own muscles to create the espresso. If you got any pains in your hands or wrists there are a no go.
- Stovepots like Moka pots, but who create enough pressure, like 9Barista, expensive, needs to cool down between making shots
- Aeropress alikes, like Cafflano Kompresso, who are cheaper and lighter than the rest, but it depends on your control how the resulting espresso tastes.
Aeropress is for coffee. If coffee is good enough I recommend Espro P1 or P0, they filter is its money worth and they allow for making a mug of coffee on the go and keep it warm. I was able to make multiple on the go with just a small box of ground coffee and an insulation can with hot water. Personally I got a P1, and the lid can be hard to open, without also screwing open the middle part, but one gets used to it.
https://www.wacaco.com/pages/nanopresso
Produces a consistent cup of espresso with crema and all. You can also buy the "barista kit" to pull double shots.
I like the moka as well. But it's harder to master. It will play different on different stoves. The original is in aluminum, so won't work on induction. But when you get the nack it will make you steaming darkness.
I think there's less temperature control with a Moka pot, and I'd say cleanup is more effort than a simple aeropress puck.