Im curious to know what everyone's Favorite brew method would be? Lets say for this conversation we leave out Espresso. Lets stick with other methods. Drip, French Press, Vacuum, Balance Brew, Turkish, Perculator, boiling coffee with egg yokes, whatever. Just curious what different types of brew methods us professionals are using out there. Follow up question, if you have a shop, do you use that method in your shop? As I bring this discussion up I am brewing myself a cup of Tanzanian Peaberry, Bring about 10oz of fresh cool water to about 180
degrees in a cast iron tea pot & pour the water through 2tbsp finely ground coffee in a paper filter straight into a hot heavy mug. Unadulterated & pure. I normally only brew myself coffee 1 cup at a time but if I was brewing more than 1 cup, then I prefer the Vacuum Brewer (I have a Bodum Santos for that) or the Balance Brewer (same basic principal of the Vacuum Brewer but looks cool!)

You also can never go wrong with a good French Press. But for the most part I make my daily cup 1 drip at at time whether it be hand poured or an electric "drip drip". How about you? How do you prefer to wet your daily grind? Happy Brewing,
Mitch
Bella Caffe

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Brady, I wonder if perhaps your problem may be putting too little water in the lower chamber vs. the capacity of the vac-pot. Seems like if proportion of water vs. available space is too low it would cause pressure to build up faster and send water up before it has reached the correct temperature because air heats up faster than water. Just a thought...
I'm glad I didn't have to make a video of a vac-pot session just to prove my earlier statement.

Thanks, Brady. That is certainly well below the 202F range.

Brady said:
Not to be contentious... but I was just able to send all the water in my 8-cup Yama north and keep it there without the lower chamber water ever going above 190 F (87 C). Only a couple of very tiny bubbles. Upper chamber water temp never topped 165 F (74 C). Darn near sea level here too.

This is why my first few vac-pot batches never came out very good... I was connecting the two chambers too soon and getting warmish water up north too quickly.

BTW... if you want to check the lower chamber water temp, do a run without the filter in place and stuff the thermometer stem down the tube. You can estimate temp pretty accurately by watching the size and bubbles, then apply your learnings to a real batch.
I like brewing my coffee one cup at time with this single cup cone set-up which, I feel, gives me better controll during the brew process. Typically I'll brew my cup on the strong side and cut it with water as needed to achieve a really satisfying cup. Also I have a standard 16oz pyrex measuring cup that I use in the microwave to get the right amount of water, fresh off the boil quickly. Quick, simple and good results... just the way I like it!

Jonathan Aldrich said:
Brady, I wonder if perhaps your problem may be putting too little water in the lower chamber vs. the capacity of the vac-pot. Seems like if proportion of water vs. available space is too low it would cause pressure to build up faster and send water up before it has reached the correct temperature because air heats up faster than water. Just a thought...

Thanks, but this was an experiment to see how cool water could be and still be "sent northward"... in order to show what range of temperatures could be used to brew. So I intentionally did everything I could to keep the water cooler.

To get best control of temperature, I think its standard to leave the upper chamber detached until the water reaches the temperature you are looking for... then do your best to maintain that temp until the infusion in complete. This negates any impact of airspace. Good thinking though.
It changes depending on my mood, but usually pour over is always a winner.
I like to leave the upper chamber on to keep it heated. Yes, I'm a total sucker for everything being hot..

Brady said:
Jonathan Aldrich said:
Brady, I wonder if perhaps your problem may be putting too little water in the lower chamber vs. the capacity of the vac-pot. Seems like if proportion of water vs. available space is too low it would cause pressure to build up faster and send water up before it has reached the correct temperature because air heats up faster than water. Just a thought...

Thanks, but this was an experiment to see how cool water could be and still be "sent northward"... in order to show what range of temperatures could be used to brew. So I intentionally did everything I could to keep the water cooler.

To get best control of temperature, I think its standard to leave the upper chamber detached until the water reaches the temperature you are looking for... then do your best to maintain that temp until the infusion in complete. This negates any impact of airspace. Good thinking though.
Brady, Chris, everyone in on the vac-pot talk: I'm really, really interested in where this is going, but maybe we should move this to a different thread? I'll start one over in the vac pot brewers group. I'll post the link when it's up...

-bry
I suspect that in doing so the discussion will probably die. But go for it. We'll give it a shot. :shrug:

Bryan Wray said:
Brady, Chris, everyone in on the vac-pot talk: I'm really, really interested in where this is going, but maybe we should move this to a different thread? I'll start one over in the vac pot brewers group. I'll post the link when it's up...

-bry
Jason Haeger said:
I suspect that in doing so the discussion will probably die. But go for it. We'll give it a shot. :shrug:

Bryan Wray said:
Brady, Chris, everyone in on the vac-pot talk: I'm really, really interested in where this is going, but maybe we should move this to a different thread? I'll start one over in the vac pot brewers group. I'll post the link when it's up...

-bry

Oh I know it will... But here's to hoping!

Here's the new thread.

-bry
Thanks Fraser!

Fraser Jamieson said:
Well, I shouldn't say this without checking first, myself; but, I'd suggest looking Bodum's web site for some info.

Back, for a second, to the first post's question: My favourite coffee is from the French Press. Years back, I always made it in an ibrik, after first crushing my coffee in a marble mortis and pestle. It was from that that I developed a taste for coffee grounds.

So...now that I'm using a Bodum, I'm grinding my coffee much finer than they suggest. I enjoy the texture of it. Just my personal opinion.

At work, though, we serve only drip and espresso. Drip I can't stand, at least, not often, and never in our shop. Our espresso I enjoy, but only when I make it or when it's made by one of my co-workers. I'm the only one who owns a tamper...so you can only imagine how bad it is most of the time.

Anyway, Duane, Bodums all come with a spoon and the suggestion of two scoops per American cup or 3 small Euro/Espresso cups. Whatever, I use much much more than that so that the piston can't make it all the way down. Most wouldn't like it that way; Bodum's suggestion makes universally acceptible coffee. As for temp: I use water at about 93 C and have good results with that. Again, check with Bodum.

Good luck on your i-project. Sounds like a great idea.

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