# Good Evening, basic pointers needed please!



## Andrusik (Jan 19, 2019)

Good evening all.

Been reading this forum for the last week or so, very interesting stuff.

So, I'm actually entering all this from drinking supermarket pre ground coffee in a cafetiere, so anything will be a pretty big upgrade from this.

As I'm planning to emigrate relatively soon it's not the right time to spend lots on machines and equipment so just want to keep things very simple to make a more pleasant cup. I've just bought a cheap electric burr grinder (KG79 - a humble one I know but I've read it's ok for coarse grinds) and just ordered some whole beans from Rave. We like milk in our coffee such as flat whites so I'm wondering what I can do with these tools to improve it, a few thoughts:

1. I've read not to put boiling water in the cafetiere - is it worth investing in a thermometer or will waiting a couple of minutes after boil suffice?

2. I'm not sure on the right amount of beans I should be putting in the grinder per cup, will a scoop suffice for this or do I need scales?

3. Is there a simple way to get some decent frothy milk for flat white/latte - I've seen those sub £10 hand held ones on Amazon.

For when I'm just making a cup for myself I'm considering buying an Aeropress - I've read this can make great Espresso like coffee for such a cheap and simple device?

Anything else I should be considering in this basic set up?

Appreciate this is probably boring compared to discussing expensive Espresso machines but I'm hoping it will be a good step up for us so any tips are warmly appreciated!

A


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## HowardSmith (Jan 21, 2018)

Chris Baca has a good french press video. YouTube it.

If you buy a second french press you can use that to 'froth milk'... again YouTube that.

A set of scales are worthwhile, especially considering how cheap & useful they are


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

1. When the water clicks off boil, pour it into the French press, the French press & the coffee will all rob heat from the water, they won't be much, if anything, above 90c. It won't catch fire, trust me 

2. If you use a scoop, what will you do, scoop beans into the grinder (wildly inaccurate) or scoop grounds out of the grinder's bin (meaning grinding more than you can use). Really, get some scales, loads of 2-3kg scales on Amazon that will take a cafetiere & read to 0.1g, which is fine for small cafetiere brews, for large brews 1g reading (regular kitchen scales) won't be a deal breaker. Your grinder is well up to the job of grinding for this method and will output pretty much the same weight of grinds vs weight of beans you put in it (with a bit of tapping & shaking to get the last bits out of the bin). Start with 5.5g of coffee per 100mL of water if a glass press, if an insulated steel press try 6g of coffee per 100mL of water. If you are making 1L or larger press brews, you can weigh the cold water into the empty kettle & pour quickly, getting all the water in pronto.

When steeping, don't press the mesh down onto the floating grinds, don't let it slip down & touch them either - a lot of the silt in your cup gets past the mesh at the very start of the brew if you are not careful. I just start the brew with the cafetiere lid only & assemble the plunger assembly when I want to decant, unless I have a nice, tight fitting mesh.


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## Andrusik (Jan 19, 2019)

Thanks for coming back to me.

Interesting videos on the french press - really does show everyone has their own technique.

Yes, scales make sense, all just be guesswork otherwise. I think these should do the trick:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Criacr-Weighing-Stainless-Ingredients-Batteries/dp/B01DGLFVS0

Mearurements/ratio guidance very useful, I'm clearly putting in nowhere near enough when I've been doing pre ground.

I think I'll play around with these beans and french press for the next month or so and then look into trying another option too. A friend can't rate his Aeropress highly enough, so that seems top of the list, and curious about V60 and Chemex. I think my grinder would suit any of those methods?

A


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

Those scales should be fine. I have an Amir branded set but when I click through past orders amazon takes me to those so it may just be a rebrand.

If you're looking at v60, Pact are running their 'welcome' offer of a free one again.

Laissez les bons temps rouler


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## Andrusik (Jan 19, 2019)

Ta for checking the scales.

Ah that's a great call on the free V60! I did look into Pact but was a lot pricier than getting 1KG from the likes of Rave and CC, but well worth it for a bag of coffee and V60 kit for under £7. Cheers.

A


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## Teejay (Dec 4, 2017)

The French press foam milk works really well, take the glass out and microwave, check with thermometer.

I've just bought a set of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HIYT-Digital-Function-Batteries-Included/dp/B07D4MVPQB/ref=sr_1_2?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1548164420&sr=8-2&keywords=hiyt+scales

Quite impressed so far.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Andrusik said:


> and curious about V60 and Chemex. I think my grinder would suit any of those methods?
> 
> A


I use the grinder for occasional 1 mug Melitta brews, should work fine for V60.


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## Andrusik (Jan 19, 2019)

So the scales turned up and they were actually badged as Amir! No weights to test them with but they are very consistent in their readings.

Had my first go today at preparing a fresh coffee and whilst the beans smelled amazing before and after grind the coffee itself wasn't quite there in my mind, seemed a bit bitter. I weighed out 28.8g of coffee for 480ml of water.

Any ideas why I maybe found it so bitter? Perhaps my palette just isn't used to it but things in mind to change tomorrow are:

- Grinding the beans to more medium-coarse rather than coarse setting

- Giving the kettle water more time to cool down

- I think the steeping may have drifted closer to 5 mins so being more accurate with that

The amount of coffee seems like so much for two cups but most guides online suggest around 0.06g per ml of water. There was a huge amount of coffee to clean from the press afterwards too, perhaps a less coarse grind will help it absorb better.

The other consideration is the rest time may be a factor - the Rave beans have rested six days (they advise five days for filter brewed coffee) but perhaps they'd benefit from a few more days.

A


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Don't grind coarse, grind medium for a longer steep (40min), or grind fine for a short steep (10min). Sounds like you went too quick, too coarse.

Main causes for bitter French press are: under-extraction, swilling the pot around when pouring & kicking up silt, putting bitter coffee in the pot in the first place.

Before you decant into the cups (using a smooth, single pour motion, dividing between cups bit by bit), sink anything that is floating on the surface then let it settle, then pour off the first 50-70ml & discard. Now pour your cups & leave a little liquid over the bed.

Is your pot a 500ml pot, trying to make 500ml in a litre pot will make it easier to kick up silt.

You can brew French press as soon as the beans drop through your letterbox.

A bit odd you are brewing 480ml, funny number, how did you arrive at that (just out of interest)?


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## Andrusik (Jan 19, 2019)

I would prefer a shorter steep time if I'm honest, as it's a long time to wait if I just want a coffee! I'll play around more tomorrow.

Pot is 1 litre. My cups are 250ml so it just leaves a bit of space on top for milk.

A


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Andrusik said:


> I would prefer a shorter steep time if I'm honest, as it's a long time to wait if I just want a coffee! I'll play around more tomorrow.
> 
> Pot is 1 litre. My cups are 250ml so it just leaves a bit of space on top for milk.
> 
> A


Shorter steep means a finer grind.

You don't want to drink the very top of the pot, it's full of silt. You don't want to drink the very last part as this is also silty, the best cups will be those where you have an excess of brew to leave in the pot.

The bed will absorb 2.8x the weight of the coffee, you want to leave some excess. So try 33g coffee, 600g of water - you'll lose 100g to the grounds, plus some excess, plus 50g you take off the top = 400g of coffee, plus a splash of milk.

I understand the time issue, but the making doesn't take any longer, just the time in between making & drinking. The coffee will be too hot to drink for more than 20min anyway. Start the pot & do something else in the meantime.


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## malkyvich (Jan 25, 2019)

James Hoffmann has a good youtube guide for cafetiere. I would also recommend trying a bialetti moka pot or a Hario V60. They also produce great results.

I generally use 60-70 grams per litre of water. So roughly 15 grams per 250ml and just adjust to your taste.

Frothy milk - bodum do a jug frother, its fragile glass but mine has been fine for over a year and you can get some nice milk.


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