Saturday, June 16, 2007
PERFECT CUPPA
i've done it. finally! i've found the perfect cup of coffee and it came out of that funky contraption you see above. it is called the AEROPRESS which was invented by Alan Adler (thank you Alan!).
fate put me in ownership of one of these (two actually) recently when i had been doing some coffee research online. not more than a week later, my french press at work falls broken to the point of it being useless. i recall this funky webpage with this WEIRD CONTRAPTION
, so i dig it back up and read further. i find out there is a coffee shop not far away which carries this device so i jump through a few hurdles and acquire a couple - one for work, one for the house. good call too because after many failed attempts at balancing the ingredients only to end up with a bitter brew, i have just now had the perfect cup of coffee, well...three actually. it was seriously THAT GOOD! i had to stop myself because i wasn't sure four cups in quick succession was a good idea.
so as i sit here watching the RAIN POUR DOWN, soaking further the last 2/5 of my firewood...i can take solace in the fact that at least i've got good coffee to keep me fired up (no pun intended). seriously, this is the smoothest, most balanced cup of coffee i've ever had and the most beautiful thing about it is there are NO (and i mean NONE) coffee grinds or grit or funk in the bottom of my coffee cup which was always a problem with the french press i used previously. that reminds me, anyone want a french press for free? it is all yours...
another wonderful aspect of this thing is that it uses air pressure to push and filter the coffee through a paper filter (which i discovered can be rinsed and reused multiple times). once i got the proper measurements, temperature for the water and dilution there was no stopping me.
i'm having a hard time explaining how incredibly smooth and tasty this is, especially if you use fresh ground beans which i just tried for the first time, so either take a risk and purchase your own AEROPRESS or just trust me on this one.
here are a few tips i found in a forum straight from Alan (the inventor). i went with the suggestion which is in bold type:
Here are some suggested Americano recipes.
Two level scoops of coffee, pressed with water to the top of the #2 oval, then diluted, will yield the following total brew after dilution:
12 ounces of brew which matches the Specialty Coffee Association of America recommended strength. (Brix=1.5)
Most AeroPress users like to take advantage of its low bitterness, by brewing stronger than the SCAA standard. Below are two suggestions.
9 ounces of brew about as rich as Peet’s brewed coffee. (Brix=2)
7 ounces of very rich brew. (Brix=2.5) This is the "Rich Americano" I've suggested on other boards. Diluting the output of the press about 1:1 will deliver this brew.
Best regards,
Alan
i've done it. finally! i've found the perfect cup of coffee and it came out of that funky contraption you see above. it is called the AEROPRESS which was invented by Alan Adler (thank you Alan!).
fate put me in ownership of one of these (two actually) recently when i had been doing some coffee research online. not more than a week later, my french press at work falls broken to the point of it being useless. i recall this funky webpage with this WEIRD CONTRAPTION
, so i dig it back up and read further. i find out there is a coffee shop not far away which carries this device so i jump through a few hurdles and acquire a couple - one for work, one for the house. good call too because after many failed attempts at balancing the ingredients only to end up with a bitter brew, i have just now had the perfect cup of coffee, well...three actually. it was seriously THAT GOOD! i had to stop myself because i wasn't sure four cups in quick succession was a good idea. so as i sit here watching the RAIN POUR DOWN, soaking further the last 2/5 of my firewood...i can take solace in the fact that at least i've got good coffee to keep me fired up (no pun intended). seriously, this is the smoothest, most balanced cup of coffee i've ever had and the most beautiful thing about it is there are NO (and i mean NONE) coffee grinds or grit or funk in the bottom of my coffee cup which was always a problem with the french press i used previously. that reminds me, anyone want a french press for free? it is all yours...
another wonderful aspect of this thing is that it uses air pressure to push and filter the coffee through a paper filter (which i discovered can be rinsed and reused multiple times). once i got the proper measurements, temperature for the water and dilution there was no stopping me.
i'm having a hard time explaining how incredibly smooth and tasty this is, especially if you use fresh ground beans which i just tried for the first time, so either take a risk and purchase your own AEROPRESS
or just trust me on this one. here are a few tips i found in a forum straight from Alan (the inventor). i went with the suggestion which is in bold type:
Here are some suggested Americano recipes.
Two level scoops of coffee, pressed with water to the top of the #2 oval, then diluted, will yield the following total brew after dilution:
12 ounces of brew which matches the Specialty Coffee Association of America recommended strength. (Brix=1.5)
Most AeroPress users like to take advantage of its low bitterness, by brewing stronger than the SCAA standard. Below are two suggestions.
9 ounces of brew about as rich as Peet’s brewed coffee. (Brix=2)
7 ounces of very rich brew. (Brix=2.5) This is the "Rich Americano" I've suggested on other boards. Diluting the output of the press about 1:1 will deliver this brew.
Best regards,
Alan