A good tasting coffee makes all the difference.
Moka pot
Get a 3-cup Bialetti or equivalent, which produces about ~60g of espresso that can be diluted to make a 100g drink. You can actually use pre-ground coffee without fret; notably, I’ve had good experience with Illy Intenso Dark Roast coffee.
You may have to tamp the grounds: https://x.com/sridca/status/1916970293912080880
Espresso
Review of this 5x cheaper espresso machine: Bellezza Bellona
— Sridhar Ratnakumar (@sridca) November 21, 2023
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
Aeropress
Essential equipment
Invest in these:
- Aeropress
- Scale (0.1g precision)
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Brew kettle with precision thermometer
- I use Fellow Stagg
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A good burr grinder
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I use Niche Zero home; and Comandante when travelling - I have the fantastic J Ultra grinder both for home espresso and travel purposes.
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Dialling
When coffee tastes bad, change one or more of these factors. It may take several attempts to get it right.
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Grind size
- Get a good burr grinder! 1
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Water temperature
- higher for light roasts; lower for dark roasts
- even a +/- 5f adjustment can make a difference
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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.
Aeropress 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
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
Good beans can be bought from:
- Online from iDrinkCoffee.
- Yirgacheffe from Caprice d’Alice
Learnings / experimentation
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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