barrett

Well, it's not that easy, because you're also losing heat through steam, the ceramic being heated (even if it's preheated, which it should be) We count on losing 10 degrees.

16:1 to 17:1, water:coffee. This is for the final product, so if you're doing concentrated, a little math will be necessary. Works out to roughly 60g/L

I've graphed nothing. Being as the ratio of coffee to water is constant, I don't see the value in it: it's going to be a straight line. We just work on how hot we need to start to get the desired result (200ish/93ish.)

Questions of temperature have come up here a few times, and I'd like to address those. If you're doing a press, pour over or similar, take a fresh brewed kettle and go for it. Even after preheating everything, there is substantial heat loss, that will get you down to that 200F/93C mark. Remember too that the coffee isn't preheated, so no matter how much you preheat, you've got coffee that's going to suck heat out of the water. If you're doing a pour over, and pulse-pouring, little bits at a time, awesome. That's good technique. Much better than dumping all the water in and developing a 'high and dry' problem. When you're doing this though, the water will cool a lot, so it's best to pop it back on the heat. We use an induction heater to keep it right hot. Remember most pour overs don't have a lid, so you're losing a lot of heat through the top of the thing. If you're in a testing mood and want to replicate, we did all our testing with a Fluke thermometer, and a bead thermometer in the coffee slurry.

Step 1. A digital scale, accurate to 1g. For measuring your coffee, and your water. Use a 1:16 to 1:17 ratio. Step 2. A grinder. The cheapest burr grinder will give you vastly superior results than blades. The purpose here is to get a uniform particle size, so that you get a nice even extraction. Same reason you cut potatoes into similar sized pieces before you throw them in the pot. Electricity is awesome. Hand grinding sucks - unless you're traveling, then hand grinding is better than traipsing around the city trying to find something non-digusting to drink. Step 3. A brewing device. French Press: cheap, cheerful, a PITA to clean, and the cup, while having a lot of body, is not clean - there's a lot of silt in there. I find that unappealing. Aeropress: they're alright. I've got some Aus friends that use one of these with a mini-porlex hand grinder for traveling. The grinder fits right in the aeropress. Despite the inventors assertions, it doesn't make espresso, but it makes a decent cup. Pourover: they're usually over extracted, due to poor technique. Pourovers with valves in the bottom (I use Brewt) - like the above, but with a valve, so you can use a coarser grind, still get body, but have it drain in all day, and not horribly over-extract. Drip: for the few times I actually make coffee at home, the Technivorm is pretty nice. They go for around $300 here. Pop it on, and it's quick. I get a little bit of over-extraction, but that's probably due to the cheapy grinder I've got there.

We use tampers that are way too tight to the basket to do this. We fill, distribute, and tamp twice, straight down. No whacking. Distribution is huge - because you always end up with a mound, then tamp it, and the lower density around the edge of the coffee puck is apt to channel. Channelling = over extraction. One spout pouring more than the other isn't necessarily uneven extraction either, because all of that liquid is coming out of one hole. It could be not level, or have a little burr of metal or a coffee ground sitting in the spouts which is either holding back or directing flow to one or the other spout. If you get your hands on a bottomless, you can diagnose distribution problems much better, because it shoots a tiny stream of coffee all over you/the counter/the machine whenever there's channeling.

You'll probably find more information if you search for barley tea.

Good call. The technivorm is about the best coffee you'll get at home without dropping serious cash.

I went last week, and it was good. Very small menu, which I like, and I think is more doable in a small room. I could never get behind the last concept - but I do like the daily menu, and I think it's where he's best. It is indeed a kitchen of one right now. Little disappointed that there was no Neil Wyles cameo that evening.

I won a Technivorm and it's pretty awesome: convenience of a drip brewer, but actually good coffee coming out of it. The gradations on the water reservoir are very convenient. It's my least effort-requiring brewer at home, and now, my most used.

Cleaning the plastic bits with a little warm water and a wipe is a nice touch. Not all parts are dishwasher safe - some melt, and especially on commercial grinders can be very expensive. Clean your hopper with just a little warm water, maybe some soap, and towel, it'll keep that oily residue off. That residue eventually becomes quite permanent, and it smells like nasty, stale coffee. And if you're in a cafe, and the grinder hoppers are caked black with coffee oil, try the juice.

mixed results. for the best, consistent results, go with fresh crop.

George Howell, of Terroir Coffee, is doing some interesting work in vacuum-packing and then freezing green beans. He believes that this maintains freshness of the green beans. I believe the jury may still be out as to if anyone else is using this method and believes it offers advantages in green bean storage. ← Yes, he has been doing it for a number of years, we've only been doing it for 3 years or so, I think.

All grinders produce heat - you're taking beans and shaving them (with burrs) or pulverizing them (with blades) - where heat becomes an issue is for commercial operations who have their grinders running near constant throughout the day. The first step to quality is grinding fresh. Fresh = now. The second step is a quality grinder that you can actually control particle size with. Blades smash the coffee repeatedly, so within your sample, you have everything from sizeable chunks to powder - with burrs, the coffee is pushed out after it's ground, so it's only ground once, and there is a much tighter control over the size of particles. Why does particle size matter? Because we want an even extraction. To coarse will end up with a weak brew, and too fine results in bitter, overextracted coffee. Technically, they *can* last a long time, but you will get diminishing returns. As they sit, the moisture levels will change - plus any number of unknowns that have previously been ignored by roasters. Slowly, more and more roasters are getting on the idea of seasonality, and trying to minimize the time green is spending on the shelf.

Tim Castle is incredibly knowledgeable, and one of a few palates that I consider exceptional. (This one is on my 'to read' list) The Espresso Quest by Instaurator has some incredible photography, as well as history. I've also heard this one is great, but good luck finding a copy. (Andrea Illy: Chemistry of Quality)