confessions of a lazy coffee lover

i love coffee, but i'm lazy. a while ago, i traded in my braun coffee maker for a french press, but that's about as far as i'm willing to go in terms of investments (i also happen to have been given a coffee grinder, which i use, and an espresso machine, which lies dormant in my cabinet). i've even been know to commit the high sin of making a full pot of coffee, having a cup or two, and putting the remainder in the fridge for future imbibing enjoyment. perhaps surprisingly, the coffee i've been making is not bad, but i suspect that i can produce better.

i know that, at least in my experience, its impossible to make or get a cup of joe in the states approaching the divine creations i've had in france and italy, but i'd like to make the best with my limited resources, preferably the french press, and my lazy instincts. for what it's worth, and to further complicate things, i'm not willing to buy fresh beans on a regular basis. it might be that given my conditions, it'll be impossible to make great coffee, and i can live with that. but, any hints as to improving my product would be most appreciated.

Nothing wrong with putting it in the fridge.You can enjoy Thai iced coffe or make redeye gravy.Coffee frosting on chocolate brownies.

In my experience, the greatest improvement one can make in their coffee is buying whole beans and grinding them right before you brew. This isn't surprising, of course. If you're not willing to buy a small amount of beans on a regular basis, then buy a larger quantity of beans on an irregular basis. Sealed bags or cans should last for a few months in a cool, dry place.

I tend to stay away from grocery store whole bean bins because I never know how much attention is paid to turnover ... just how long have those beans been sitting in there?

Lately I've been buying my goods at Casteel Coffee in Evanston. Their store is full of everything that is coffee, great beans, and generally the folks behind the counter are helpful.

http://casteelcoffee.com/

Tying into the threads on best bakeries and blondies - a bakery near casteel.

http://www.tagscakes.com

foo d, a French press is a great way to go. All the advice above is spot on, too. I would add the suggestion to filter your water or use a mineral water you like and you'll prefer the coffee you get to anything made with POW (plain old water). Dink with the grind and steep time, find a bean you like, and you're off to the races.

BTW, the thread on espresso has lots of good recommendations for where to get a cup that inches closer to Italy. If you're in town, Fabio at Pizza Metro on Division makes the best espresso I've had in the city. Letizia's further west on Damen is OK, but uneven, depending on who makes it.

We have a french press and we have a drip machine (well we just bought a new one, the old one had some problems...). In a lot of ways, the french press seems easy--boil water, stir, wait, enjoy, but there is another much trickier step. Clean-up. It adds a lot more to the french press experience.

You have two issues. First, you have the grounds. If you are comfortable with tossing them down the disposal (an option I vacilate on), then it is not that hard to deal with the grounds. If you do not want to toss down the drain, it is much more of a hassle. Second, you have to deal with cleaning the filter/plunger. More hassle.

It makes a great cup of coffee, with lots of body. It also makes a mess.

Rob

Another lazy coffee lover's confession: like all of you, I dutifully ground my coffee beans before brewing, until a few years ago when we remodelled our kitchen and put away, for the duration, all non-essential items. Thus the coffee grinder was packed away and we relied on pre-ground coffee (also from Casteel). After a few mornings we realized that we couldn't notice any difference between the already-ground and the freshly-ground. Maybe we don't have sophisticated enough coffee palates, or maybe the coffee from Casteel is really good, already ground or whole bean. Or maybe we were just too lazy to go back to grinding our own.

Not that I am advocating this practice...but whenever I travel I always bring my french press--and clean up is not an issue--the grounds get flushed.

The grounds are good fertilizer if that makes a difference in terms of disposal.

Even if you don't buy coffee frequently, grinding right before using (no more than 10 minutes) really does make a difference.

A couple quick points in addition to that above:

1. Water temperature. 180-200 seems to get a better extraction than 212 so I let the water sit for a bit after boiling. As with tea, I tend to think some coffee works better on the 200 side and some better at the 180 side. Try both with a batch of beans and decide for your tastes.

2. I also think that warming the carafe makes a difference. After the water boils I pour a few ounzes in the carafe, put in the plunger, and swirl. Once the water still in the kettle has cooled, I dump the water from the carafe and begin the actual brewing process. I do this with cups when making espresso and with my teapot too, so it may just be habitual.

3. "Pre Soak." That may be a deceptive term. After the carafe is warmed and the water has cooled a bit, I dump in the grounds, measure out my water into a pyrex container, pour about four ounces over the grounds, and swirl or stir them. If you put your ear over the carafe, you will hear the grounds fizz a bit ... or blossoming/blooming as I prefer to think of it. When the grounds have fully bloomed, add the rest of the water. I put the top on to keep in heat and have it ready to plunge.

4. Use enough grounds. 2 heaping tablespoons for 6 oz of water is a decent baseline. I think most coffee scoops are approximately 2 tablespoons so one heaping coffe scoop is the equivalent.

5. Don't brew too long. 3 - 5 minutes. 3 doesn't seem very long but it might be the case that after 3 you're only extracting nasty flavors, bitterness and astringency.

6. Plunge carefully. Hold the top and push the plunger down slowly and evenly. If the plunger goes down unevenly grounds can come around the upturned side. This doesn't really ruin the flavor, but it puts grit in the cup.

7. Don't let the remaining coffee sit on the grounds. If you pour two cups and you have more in the pot, pour it into another container or it will continue to extract and nastify.

None of these really add burden, their just refinements of process. Maybe I'm missing something but, why can't this coffee compare to that found in Europe? Are you talking about straight brewed coffee or something else? The quality of the milk, the espresso, etc?

rien

outstanding advice from all. as for disposing of grinds, i just dump them in the garbage bag in my garbage can. after a couple of past nasty but ammonia-resolved leaks from other items into the can, the grinds provide olfactory relief.

As a cheapskate in addition to being lazy, I have found something approaching coffee nirvana by buying green (unroasted) coffee beans and then roasting a couple days worth at a time in my trusty $2 thrift-shop hot-air popcorn popper. The tradeoff is the maybe 20 minutes of roasting/cooling time per 4 oz. batch (~3.3 oz. after roasting) for freshest (after a desired 1-2 day rest after roasting) and very economical brew versus shopping for and attempting to optimally store roasted beans.

The good news is that green coffee has a much longer shelf life than roasted, but the bad news is that the beans are harder to come by. I give highest marks to Sweet Maria