randikash Senior Member Joined: 5 Dec 2005 Posts: 4 Location: Minnesota Northwoods Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Mon Dec 12, 2005, 11:45am Subject: Re: How to Use a Pour Over Brewer
Coffeeblack, good points! It is good to discuss our clean-up, as it is part of our ritual (maybe the annoying part?). I read on Amazon someone saying that they dont' think Senseo is the best coffee, but they spent $70 on it because it was easy to clean up! (By the way, I have no opinion on Senseo.)
As described above, I generally mix my ground with water, stir, cover, let sit 4-5 min, then filter, usually through gold filter. To clean up, I add more water, swish, then dump out through strainer. Put strainer in plastic bag, snap against trash can, throw away.
We are on a septic tank so can't put food down sink. Also, my husband objects to coffee grounds making a mess in the trash can, thus the plastic bag. (I also put his tea leaves in there).
All goes in dishwasher.
I wish someone (knowlegeable) would address the cleaning of the coffee sock. I found this in an old book: Coffee by Charles & Violet Schafer; 1976: "To make coffee, he (the coffee farmer) uses a flannel cloth, folds it like a sock, puts in a tablespoon of coffee and pours boiling water down through the sock... The Costa Ricans do not boil the sock to freshen it. That might spoil its flavor. They simply rinse it in cold water and hang it on the wall." (p. 38)
Aenan Senior Member Joined: 23 Dec 2005 Posts: 19 Location: DFW area, TX (for now) Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Giaggia Coffee, stove top Grinder: hand grinder Drip: Mr. Coffee, Vietnamese...
Posted Fri Dec 23, 2005, 11:47pm Subject: Re: How to Use a Pour Over Brewer
Hi all this is my first contribution! Hurray! : )
I have seen the "colador de tela" as a kid and it's so neat to see it sort of alluded to now! I know this as "the sock" (translated) and will refer to it as "the sock" in this response (it's an endearing (and pejorative) term my sister and I would say when we asked for cuban coffee and got "the sock" instead of the "cafetera" (or the stove top Bialetti coffee maker).
That's a really good question concerning the cleaning process. If you are allergy prone (as I am) you have to be careful and make sure it's fairly cleaned. If it is not dried properly, it, like most cloth, can be susceptible to mold. The problem with dishwashing soap or other soap material is that most commercial soaps tend to leave an ever so slight residue that eventually builds up over time. You can avoid this a few ways. After you dump out the grounds, you can try:
Cleaning "the sock" with a mild/basic glycerin soap: to rinse, you put the mouth of the sock at the spiget, run warm water, and while the water is running, you take your other hand (the one not holding "the sock" at the faucet's mouth), grab the top of the sock, and while holding "the sock" in place, run your closed hand (that is surrounding "the sock" in a down ward motion. It's really easy to see and hard to describe what I mean : ). The effect is like an agitation and a thorough flushing of any of the soap through the cloth.
Clean with water and vinegar: The advantage of using vinegar and water is 1) that you don't risk the residue of soaps. 2) It also seems gentler on the cloth material. Lastly, 3) it will more likely neutralize flavors (or essence) that gets colelcted into the cloth's fibers. The downside is that A) it takes longer to get most of the oils out, if they all come out at all, B) you have to soak it and with metal part, "the sock" may become prone to rust, and C) it just doesn't feel like you cleaned it, unlike using good ole fashioned soap.
My personal recommendation (since I am allergy prone and tend to be anal about cleaning is : )
A good combination of the above !: If you're short on time, you can simply dump the grinds and quickly rinse out. you can also soak it in water. Or, if you are prone to clean on the spot, you can clean with a soap and maybe once a week or once a month soak the sock in a water/vingar (minimum 50% vinegar by volume) for a few hours, and rinse it really well.
Lastly, you could always
Just boil the thing : ): This can be done after all of the above, especially after soaking it in the water/vinegar solution, or after you clean with soap. The boiling really isn't necessary unless it just hasn't been cleaned in a while. Be careful with boilind it too much though because this will obviously shorten the lifespan of the cloth. They are pretty sturdy, but that said, the more you dry out the fibers, the more likely they will absorb some of the oils of the coffee that you may want to capture on their way down to the cup.
: ) I'm sure this is more than you cared to know, but really, it boils down to (no pun intended)
*Washing it decently, but not over doing it. *Once in a while, if you wish, neutralize the sock with water/vinegar solution as a good "flushing" for cleanliness.
Hope this helps!
Alex
Oh, one last thing. You can also take another approach which is only clean it with water. The theory is, like seasoning a wok, that the cloth gins the character of what coffee you prepare in it. This is a great theory if you use pretty much use the same type of coffee, roast, etc. However, if you want to control for flavor, then you would want "the sock" contributing as little flavor as possible. Some people like what "the sock" contributes; like most things with coffee, it's a matter of taste (again, no pun intended).
I just came back from Kona and I found that UCC (Ueshima Coffee Company) Hawaii sells the Hario brewer. So my wife and I bought one and an extra two cloth filters. I didn't realize the brewer came with the filter since everything was written in Japanese on the box. But if anyone is interested in the brewer or filters you may consider contacting UCC and see if they will sell & ship you one. They had more in their store.
NARS Senior Member Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Utah Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Jan 15, 2006, 2:30pm Subject: Re: How to Use a Pour Over Brewer
I'm in the process of upgrading. While I'm waiting for my Solis Maestro Plus (the best I could afford to replace my cheap DeLonghi grinder) I got some freshly roasted whole-bean Kenya and started grinding it fresh (used to use frozen pre-ground coffee) with my cheap old Delonghi burr grinder and my 4-cup Braun automatic drip. This produced the nicest cup I'd ever gotten from my automatic.
I decided to try a Melitta manual brew to see if I could do even better. I'd used this setup in college with canned Bustelo coffee with great success. I used water just off the boil, stirred the slurry, all that stuff. Despite the fresh coffee and meticulously following all the instructions in the how-to article I produced one of the sourest weakest cups I've ever drunk. I rebrewed with more grounds and got a stronger and sourer cup. I tried it with the Swissgold filter and got the same results (and resorted to my auto in despair). Then with the same grind as I use for the automatic drip, then a slightly finer grind, then a slightly coarser grind. No go.
It seems that the filter is letting the coffee through awfully fast, like 1 1/2 minutes for two cups. Could that be why I got such awful coffee? I'd hoped to get better results with the manual. Is my grind too coarse? Too fine? Suggestions?
coffeeisgod Senior Member Joined: 5 Feb 2006 Posts: 1 Location: portland, or Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2006, 7:31pm Subject: Re: How to Use a Pour Over Brewer
I am having the similiar problems as the last person. The wierd thing is, i have always used the same method and it was great, now its not working, and i can't figure out what changed. I put 2 coffee scoops of ground coffee into a small melitta drip, and pour the boiled water (2 cups) slowly over the grounds. I have always used a cheap Bosch grinder and ground for 11 seconds. The coffee is the same. It used to make a strong, rich cup, and it took a few minutes for the water to run through. Then it started taking about 4 minutes for water to go through. The water was just sitting in the filter, and only clear looking water ran through. Now coffee is tasteless and bitter. So, I bought a new Krups grinder, still a $30 one, but with sharper larger blades. Nothing. Then I tried new beans. One thing I noticed is that there are chunks of bean in my ground coffee, and so I played with the time, grinding in increments of 7 seconds, first two times, then three. Nothing is helping. I still have chunks of unground bean, and sour weak coffee. If I keep grinding I will destroy the coffee. Why is this happening to me? I'm a good person.
coffeeblack Senior Member Joined: 8 Dec 2005 Posts: 5 Location: GrantsPass, OR Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Braun Drip: paper / cone
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2006, 9:39pm Subject: Re: How to Use a Pour Over Brewer
Hey Good Person, First, I'd say Hold That Grinder Down, brah, Hold 'em Grindey Fine - - I think something in the 20 second range... I can't be sure what my actual time is, because one small part of my compulsive-obssessive quirk makes me count as i grind. Since I do this counting at various speeds, depending on the morning, the music palying, etc., anywhere from "18" to "28" 'counts.' Like I say, probably 20+ seconds. And I'd guess it'd be better to keep the whizz going steady as it sets up a "wave" motion of the grindey, making for a better more uniform result. If you're getting chunky pieces you need more whizzing. But notice I use a paper filter: unbleached paper; made for a flat bottom "Basket" filterholder - - "MrCoffee" type, but I use it in a Cone type (Melitta #4) with that inch anda half long "V" bottom that usually comes with that stupid Glued-Edge type filter. I do not wish Glue in my Brew, ThankYou... so I just stuff in this supposedly 8-12 cup coffeemaker filter down in there, add the whizzin's from 4 full tablespoons beans, and into preheated cups I switch the draining holder back and forth between 2 cups to get the stronger/weaker output balanced, and get almost two cups o Strong coffee. Mmmm. Anyway I don't know if you Need to keep your whizz in a "Groundsier" state rather than the "Powderier" like I go for, but if your fliter handles it, go finer. As far as the weaker part, you don't know how old your beans are when you get them. I've sometimes found a distinct dropoff in quality towards the end of the 2 pound bags of beans I buy. Flavor just seems to disappear, even though they have those cute little "air-squeezout" thangies on the bag. I wish someone would come up with a container that would keep the beans stored in a nitrous oxide atmosphere. Don't know that it would keep the beans fresh, but hey you can always just do a little deep breathing and get sidetracked into Strangeland.... OK OK, only kidding there!! Back on point: To hazard a guess, I'd say you aren't drinking enough coffee!! Try using more per cup, and try drinking more so you use it faster. Hope this helps!!
Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006, 12:09pm Subject: Re: How to Use a Pour Over Brewer
dsharp88 Said:
Great article, Mark, but let's not forget the Chemex brewer. It's not only a great pour-over manual drip with its own excellent paper filters, but is also the most aesthically pleasing of all coffee makers (with the possible exception of the more cumbersome balance brewers).
When I was a kid of ten (some 45 years ago) the most common coffee brewing system was the percolator, either electric (fancy) or a big cast aluminum model that sat on top of the stove. Maxwell House actually built a very successful ad campaign around the sound and rhythm of the coffee bouncing off the clear glass knob in the center of the contraption's lid. Years later, when Edith Hamilton (a.k.a. The Wicked Witch of the West) became the proprietor of Cora's General Store in Maxwell House ads, we saw first hand what a lifetime of drinking that concoction could do to one's physical appearence. About that time my father (a chemical engineer for Pfizer) brought home a brand new Chemex coffee maker. It looked like a piece of pyrex laboratory equipment. Utilizing large (around 10" diameter) round filters, it was an adventure in hands-on coffee making. The directions advised heating the water to boiling, then taking it off the burner for a couple of minutes to let it cool to a few degrees below boiling: this would prevent extraction of "bitter oils" from the coffee. Chemex also recommended a process they referred to as "blasting" the coffee grounds: pouring just enough hot water over the grounds to get them saturated, but not so much that coffee began flowing into the lower part of the carafe. The reasoning was that the blasting process opened up the pores in the coffee, allowing better extraction of that great coffee flavor. Well, the coffee was so much better than that produced by the percolator that my parents actually had dessert and coffee parties- my mom would bake cakes, pies, etc and invite the neighbors over, and my dad-ever the mad scientist-would brew the coffee in front of everyones' eyes. I can still remember the ooohs and aaahs as the guests marveled over the best coffee they had ever tasted. If they had brewed something other than Maxwell House, no telling what would have happened. Maybe they would have eclipsed Starbucks and opened their own chain of coffee shoppes, and I would be writing this from my yacht on the French Riviera. Naaaah.
"Coffee is not, after all, a matter of national security or life and death. It is MUCH more important than that."
coffeeblack Senior Member Joined: 8 Dec 2005 Posts: 5 Location: GrantsPass, OR Expertise: I love coffee
Grinder: Braun Drip: paper / cone
Posted Tue Feb 7, 2006, 12:44pm Subject: Re: How to Use a Pour Over Brewer
Good Hints, D88, Here's a link to some more complete info, which just happens to come from Chemex, but is definitely applicable to Any of us users of filters - - this is info which I'd recommend reading fer sure: http://www.sweetmarias.com/brewing.inst.chemex.html - - - the "thirty seconds off the stove after reaching boiling" - - (or if you're fanatic, consider a thermometer, hey?) and "keeping the grounds wet so they stay up to optimum temp" seem to be very good recommendations. Again, thanks to D88 for the inspiration that led me to find that site, very complete info there. I do disagree with their pushing the Chemex filters, however - - they are unnecessarily heavy, IMHO, and I Much prefer the UNBLEACHED paper ones that I get for about $1.29 / 200 filters.
NARS Senior Member Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Utah Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Feb 12, 2006, 2:34pm Subject: Re: How to Use a Pour Over Brewer
Update on the Melitta front:
First, my Saeco Maestro Plus grinder arrived. I know it's at the low end of decent coffee mills but I immediately noticed a difference in any kind of coffee I made. Then, with the grinder I ordered a box of Melitta FlavorPore filters, just regular #2's. They're crimped, not glued. The box had instructions which said to fold down the crimped side and bottom. This made the filter fit better in the filter holder, which I think slowed the brewing a bit. The coffee tasted much, much better.
The local roasting company won't tell me their roast dates; I may track down the owner and ask him how to find out. For now I bought a pound of shishi Ibis coffee from a local shop. My favorite blend had a 2 week old roast date, but still tasted better than the old beans I'd bought from the roasting company. I just bought more with a roast date only 1 week old. Once I get a chance to call Ibis I'll see if they can ship some directly after roasting. This'll mean getting a few pounds at once to make the shipping worthwhile. I guess it won't ruin my life to throw the second pound in the freezer for a week.
I'm a happy girl now. There still might be an expresso machine in my future, especially if I have a weak moment when my tax refund arrives. In the meantime this is working just great.
cavecrawler Senior Member Joined: 8 Oct 2006 Posts: 1 Location: Surprise AZ Expertise: Just starting
Drip: Delonghi
Posted Mon Oct 9, 2006, 6:35pm Subject: Re: How to Use a Pour Over Brewer
Thank you so much. I have to say that this coffee is better than my drip maker. I just wish that I could make it at work. There I am considered the coffee snob. This is because I like to grind the beans befor I go in and I use bottled water. I would like to know how I could grind the beans and keep them fresh. I am not aloud to bring in a coffee grinder. I work in a prison and am limited to what I can bring in. I was also wondering if you have done a revew of lexan cups, I am not aloud to have ceramic, glass or metal. I was also thinking what if I grind individual pots and used a vacume sealer to keep them fresh.
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