Coffee ☕️

A good tasting coffee makes all the difference.

Espresso

Update (Nov, 2023)

I now drink espresso, as long black. https://x.com/sridca/status/1727085521946443918

Review of this 5x cheaper espresso machine: Bellezza Bellona

I really like it, and it makes as consistent espresso as Linea Micra.

- Got a bottomless portafilter (indisputable IMO)
- Hot water comes from water boiler
- Rapid heat up with steam boiler off. ~3 mins or probably… https://t.co/rFVryiUTT0 pic.twitter.com/E1i5QDhQ4C
— Sridhar Ratnakumar (@sridca) November 21, 2023

Non-espresso

Essential equipment

Invest in these:

Aeropress
Scale (0.1g precision)
Brew kettle with precision thermometer
- I use Fellow Stagg
A good burr grinder
- ~~I use Niche Zero home; and Comandante when travelling~~
- I have the fantastic J Ultra grinder both for home espresso and travel purposes.

Dialling

When coffee tastes bad, change one or more of these factors. It may take several attempts to get it right.

Grind size
- Get a good burr grinder! ¹
Water temperature
- higher for light roasts; lower for dark roasts
- even a +/- 5f adjustment can make a difference
Coffee to water ratio
- I generally do not vary this, and keep it fixed at 10:100g.
Change to a new coffee matching your preferred flavour in the flavour wheel ²

Generally speaking, you mainly want to vary grind size and/or water temperature.

Brew methods

How I typically make coffee:

Inverted Aeropress recipe

Invert the Aeropress
Add 15g of coffee
Water temp at 165f-190f (depending on beans)
Start timer; pour about 50g; and stir until ~30 seconds
Pour rest, total 150g.
Brew until about 2 minutes
Gently but consistently press for ~30seconds

If you use fresh coffee with your preferred flavour profile, and select the right grind size and water temperature for those beans - expect this method to consistently produce a great cup of rich coffee that is equivalent in strength to what the Québécois call café allongé.

Kalita Wave 155 recipe

Questionable success

This recipe has usually not been very successful – probably because I tend to use espresso blends?

10g of coffee
185-194f water temp (depends on beans)
35g pour, wait 35 secs.
Pour rest, total 135g. Wait till water comes through.

Beans

I tend to buy my coffee beans online from iDrinkCoffee. Compared to local Quebec cafes, they tend to be fresher and of consistent quality.

Learnings / experimentation

Eating (creamy) butter in between cups helps ‘reset’ taste receptor.
- But eating a meal is ideal.
One day, I want to try roasting coffee myself

Footnotes

If getting a manual hand grinder, note the the way of grinding may matter.

I enjoy flavours towards chocolate/sugar side of the spectrum, which tends to come from medium to dark roasted coffee from certain regions (like Brazil Santos).