Coffee Newb

Hey everyone,
So I've been a tea drinker ever since I was 8, but now I think I want to give coffee a try. However, if I'm doing this, I plan on doing it right. So, can anyone give me some suggestions and tips on some hardware I should pick(brand names are welcomed), as well as some nice coffee to go along with it? Any and all suggestions are more than welcomed!! Thanks guys.

Jeremy

Questions:

Do you live in or close to a major city?

What's your budget?

If you are in a large urban area you probably have access to at least one good coffee shop. These are signs to look for: 1. They sell beans that they've roasted themselves and have dates on them of when they were roasted. 2. They offer coffee brewed filtered, in a press or in a vacuum pot. 3. They actually apply a good amount of force with the tamp when they are preparing a shot of espresso and the espresso they serve has a good amount of deep reddish brown (not pale tan) crema on top.

If you have access to a good shop like this then your introduction to coffee will be easier. You could then find out what kinds of coffees you like best (Indonesian, African, Central/South American, etc) and how you like it prepared before you even go out and get hardware.

I live in Washington DC and I have a medium to large size budget. Can spend up to about $300 to get this things started as I have been pinching my pennies for a couple of months now and I just realized I actually have a nice bank going.

Pick one of the following:

I just want to throw in the grounds and have coffee 5 minutes later?

I don't mind grinding my own coffee and bi-monthly either going out to get more beans or having them shipped to me?

I have lots of time on my hands and am ADD about coffee - I wouldn't mind spending 30 minutes a week roasting coffee.

My recommendations to you would be based on your answer.

If you just want a good cup of coffee I would say to start out you will need a decent grinder which is about $150 though you could spend much more and I would get a technivorm electric brewer which as I recall is about $200. Later you can get a home roaster which will pay for itself in a couple years tops. Of course if your into espresso and all that, thats another story.

For just starting out I suggest that one does so inexpensively. If you are going to start with whole bean coffee (recommended!) then a blade grinder will do the trick. Add a single cup Melitta filter and you're good to go! You'll spend perhaps $30 that way and still get very good cups of coffee, depending on the bean.

If you can score an Aerobie Aeropress, even better. One of those is about $30 with shipping. I think of them as a pressurized drip filter.

A cheap way to experience a variety of beans to buy cups at the local coffee shop. They often have a rotating "cup of the day" selection at a discounted price. You'll be able to quickly try several varieties without needing to stock up on them. Saves having unwanted beans laying around.

The most important rules to good coffee are

1. Start with fresh roasted good quality beans
2. Use a good burr grinder that generates low heat and produces consistent output. (Blade grinders cannot produce a consistent size, generate too much heat, and will alter the flavor of the brew. ) Here is an example of a very basic burr grinder that would be fine for drip:

http://www.starbucksstore.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=638661

3. Use clean filtered neutral ph water
4. Filter well

A $300 price bracket is more than enough to build a top quality brew system. However, that price range is a bit low to get into espresso. Personally, I would spend $100 on a grinder, $120 on a Krups drip coffee maker, $20 in a britta pitcher for filtered water, and the rest in beans and tools.

I hope that helps.

I think spending $150 on a Baratza Maestro Plus burr grinder would be a wise investment. After that, you could spend $5 on a filter basket holder and you are done for a good drip setup to start out with. Being a tea drinker, you obviously have something to make water hot already

Then you could go with a french press for another $25-30 but I would try one before buying - some people really don't care for the sediment in the cup.

After that you could give roasting a try if the idea of that appeals to you. That costs about $30 in equipment to start out and $5/lb for beans.

Thebigspendur said:

Of course if your into espresso and all that, thats another story.

Click to expand...

A good espresso machine and grinder combo will start at around a thousand bucks and go up from there steeply. This sounds absurd until you have that first great shot.

Blue Moon said:

Pick one of the following:

I just want to throw in the grounds and have coffee 5 minutes later?

I don't mind grinding my own coffee and bi-monthly either going out to get more beans or having them shipped to me?

I have lots of time on my hands and am ADD about coffee - I wouldn't mind spending 30 minutes a week roasting coffee.

My recommendations to you would be based on your answer.

Click to expand...

I am waiting for the answer just to see the recommendations to it. And I dont even drink coffee.

Have you had coffe before? Can you say what kinds you like? You might just want to wait on buying hardware, until you know for sure you like coffee enough to spend some cash on it.

Blue Moon said:

Pick one of the following:

I just want to throw in the grounds and have coffee 5 minutes later?

I don't mind grinding my own coffee and bi-monthly either going out to get more beans or having them shipped to me?

I have lots of time on my hands and am ADD about coffee - I wouldn't mind spending 30 minutes a week roasting coffee.

My recommendations to you would be based on your answer.

Click to expand...

Hey everyone.

Sorry about taking so long to get back, but I got about three hours of sleep in the past three days, so needless to say things have been a little hectic. Still, no excuse for making people who are trying to help me wait.

I think for right now, I'm more of the second option. I grew up with people grinding their own coffee, so that's normal for me. As for ordering beans to be shipped to me, I think that would be my most common solution. That being said, I feel like after a couple of months of that, I would begin to move into the third. Hope this answer helps with any possible recommendations.

Also, thank you to everyone who has posted so far. You guys have been so incredibly helpful in pointing me into the right direction with how to get started. I love the feedback and can't wait to read more. I'm in your debt! Again, thank you!

Alright, so I ended up buying a Simpson Chubby that was on sale here, so I guess I'm gonna have to wait a little bit before I can start really getting into the purchases.(Damn you, BAD!) Anyway, looking forward to these recommendations.

As a coffee "snob" w/ 55+ years of consumption, and the son of one, too I would make just a few recommendations to the newb coffee drinker. I agree with all the priors regarding water, etc. For actual brewing of a non-espresso beverage, you can't beat the crisp, clean, sediment-free vacuum/siphon method. These brewers were the standard until "Mr. Coffee" and all the other "drip" clones came along. They are fortunately still widely available. Sweet Maria's [ http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.brewers.vacuum.shtml ] has 5-cup and 8-cup Yama siphons as does Northwest Glass [http://www.northwestglass.com/ ]. Read the section on siphon brewing at the Maria's website. Siphon brewing takes only 2-3 minutes longer than drip, and the water is at the perfect temperature to extract the coffee flavor essentials and not the bitters. The method is also tolerant of sub-optimal grinding, so if you want to go economical on a grinder for awhile, no problem.

Another fine method for brewing is the Chemex filter method. It's also tolerant of sub-optimal grind, and also produces a very clean brew. You can get these direct from Chemex in MA on-line or at Sweet Maria's.

If you want to get into espresso beverages, that's a whole different bag o' beans. A lot of folks are very opinionated about the newer automated or semi-automated all-in-one units. I have a single head Nuova Simonelli "Mac Digit" unit and a Cunill professional burr grinder (both purchased abroad, but available stateside), and they have functioned flawlessly for 12+ years. They are the same units at the coffee bars all over Italy, except with a single brew head instead of 3-4.

Coffee tastes are very personal, so you should enjoy experimenting to find what suits your taste. But, if I can give one "bean" of info it's the fact that true Italian roasts for genuine Italian espresso beverages are NOT what you find at Starbuck's, for example, and I'm not bashing them here. The black, shiny oily beans are not consumed anywhere in Italy, save perhaps for the mezzogiorno regions of Sicily and Sardegna. The true Italian roast is closest to what we call a full city roast--beans on the dark side w/ no oil or just tiny occasional droplets. The darkest true Italian roast is on the order of what is called a Viennese roast. On the Agtron color scale, the roasted beans are in the range of 33-43 Agtron color units [ http://www.coffeecuppers.com/RoastStages.htm ]. Italians favor Brazilian origin beans for their espresso, but you can roast many different varietal beans and bean blends to an espresso level and brew a mighty fine cup. You can find a good discourse on this at Sweet Maria's, too [ http://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee.southamr.brasil.html ]. IMHO, the key to good espresso is in the degree of roast--- too light, and the brew is insipid with no foam (crema), too dark, and it's bitter. The reason Starbuck's "gets away" with using a French+ roast for espresso drinks is that most of their drinks contain 1-2 shots and a whole heap of milk-based diluent. It's when you drink straight espresso, or an espresso macchiato that you hone in one the essence of the bean.

Hope that helps...

MOTHER OF GOD, THANK YOU!!!

Wow, that was one helluva informative post. Thank you so much. That last post really helped a lot in getting me started and learning more about coffee itself. Also, can't wait to hear about the recommendations mentioned above. Again, thank you all very much.

Thx for the comments Rem. If you have any other questions, PM me and if it's a road I've been down before, I'll be happy to share the knowledge.

Buy a decent burr grinder (Any Baratza would do) and buy an Aeropress for $30. After that all you need are fresh beans and you'll be set.

Enjoy!

I've recently started to get into coffee, so I'll share what I've done so far. I personally wanted to try everything, but $ is pretty limited, so I'm trying to go as inexpensive as possible.

Coffee Maker: I have a small french press (1 cup) that I have used for tea for years. I have been trying coffee made in that and have been impressed so far. I also have asked for an Aeropress for Christmas. I'll compare the two side by side. If I find I like the french press better I'll spring for a bigger press. If I like the cleaner aeropress coffee better, then I'll probably get a vacuum brewer (which I understand will be pretty comparable in taste and feel but produce a lot more brew).

Grinder: I was using a cheap blade grinder, but I recently picked up a zassenhaus manual burr grinder 2nd hand on the bay. It is well made, sturdy, and the grind is much, much more even than the blade gave me. As far as I could tell from reading here and elsewhere it'll grind as well as the $200 and $300 machines, but you provide the motor and save a lot of cash by doing so. Seemed like the most economical approach, and the grinding only takes a minute or two anyway.

Espresso: I really wanted an espresso maker, but I could not drop $500+ just to get into it. So, I decided to get a cheaper model. This is what I got. It certainly isn't as nice as the super fancy machines, but it produces a very nice espresso and froths milk fine too. I'm sure eventually I will upgrade, but for now I'm happy with this. Remember that you will need a few accessories in addition to the machine: cups, a tamper, and a frothing pitcher and thermometer.

Beans: I hit a local coffee shop that roasts their own beans. It's one of those coffee shops that when you walk in actually smells like coffee. They have an extensive selection, aren't far from me, and the cost is comparable to the "premium" coffees at the grocery store. I may eventually order some beans online and compare the local stuff to, say, ristretto's offerings.

Hope this helps.

Hi all. I don't usually venture in the Cafe''' threads, but...

I'm considering upgrading my coffee maker to a Krups. They now have a 'mini' at about 100 dollars. Any reviews or recommendations on this maker?

Thanks in advance.