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Blackhorse

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OK...what I don’t want or need is a raft of self righteous yelling and screaming about how to brew REAL coffee. I roast my own beans and have half a dozen different brew rigs I can use from pour over to perc to moka pot, etc.

What I DO need are some experienced recommendations re what pod coffees you’ve tried and liked, especially bold, but not quite French Roast level blends. Italian is OK. No flavored blends please.

Anyone?

(I got my wife a Mueller Ultima pod brewer for her office cause she’s the only one there that drinks decaf. Now I need to stock it with good stuff.)

So far I have:

Green Mountain Dark Magic Decaf
Barista Prima Decaf Coffee, Italian Roast
Community Coffee Café Special Decaf
 
I usually get community or green mountain. I’m more of a medium roast man myself.

I really like perk coffee. Just the smell of it is amazing. I have been trying to find one of those Pyrex clear percolators. I’ve ran across a couple of them but they’re always missing tube in the center.
 
Thanks for the ideas guys.  I guess I’ll start with what I have and go from there.

Re the Pyrex percolator...

So...lots available...at about $100.  Wow.

There’s one like the pic below that runs between $10 to $25.  Just not a glass basket.


Medelco One All 8-Cup Capacity Stovetop Glass Percolator

 
My wife and I have to drink fuel, we refuse to drink just coffee. That is why we drink something called Da Bomb from Factory roasters. It has double the caffeine, tastes good and like I say of all coffee no matter the taste- it does the damn job.

My favorite way of doing it is the french press. The strongest way I do it is the pour and drip cone. But we went to a hotel on Miami Beach and had a Kuerig. It was just too easy. With my eye-hand coordination in the morning (and since I have to do the brewing since she only begins evolving after the first sip) we switched.

We have a two floor house. Beds on the second and kitchen on the first. Thus it got so bad that we converted her vanity room in the bedroom into an easy cafe. I don't even know how I once went down the stairs, made coffee and came back up again, with two giant mugs, and did not spill or die.

Here is the stuff we use, but Paul Newman makes a nice one (like everything they make)...

Da Bomb on Amazon
 
Blackhorse":vjw8cgsl said:
Thanks for the ideas guys.  I guess I’ll start with what I have and go from there.

Re the Pyrex percolator...

So...lots available...at about $100.  Wow.

There’s one like the pic below that runs between $10 to $25.  Just not a glass basket.


Medelco One All 8-Cup Capacity Stovetop Glass Percolator



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Yes sir, that’s why I haven’t pulled trigger one yet. My wife has a lot of old Pyrex and fire king mixing bowls, casserole dishes, pie plates and list goes on and on. So it would fit into her decor and probably wouldn’t notice it for awhile.

That’s a nice looking little percolator. I may have to pull the trigger on that on and try it out.
 
Percolators run the water through the coffee over and over again, correct? I thought they were notorious for making coffee bitter as they don't pull anymore flavor from the grind, but continue to pull the acids, making it more sour than it would be with one solid extraction from another method. How far off am I?
 
Zeno Marx":d3wh76jg said:
Percolators run the water through the coffee over and over again, correct?  I thought they were notorious for making coffee bitter as they don't pull anymore flavor from the grind, but continue to pull the acids, making it more sour than it would be with one solid extraction from another method.  How far off am I?
This is my understanding. But many years ago this was essentially the only way to brew coffee. And, the beans were pre-ground Robusta varieties which are naturally higher in bitterness than Arabica beans. Guess folks weren't that fussy or didn't know any different back then!


Cheers,

RR
 
I think a clear understanding of what acid is being “pulled out” as opposed to “flavor”, and what that flavor is made up of. Are they different things? And how much of a contact time difference is there between water passing through ground coffee in a percolator as opposed to just sitting there like in a French press? The evil son of brewing methods is the automatic drip machine (mr coffee) right? And that very likely has the shortest contact time of anything except an espresso machine or a pod thing. Heck if I know the chemistry or physics of the whole thing. I just have a whole bunch of questions too.


If you’ve never smelled percolating coffee you’re missing a treat, that’s for sure.
 
I know that cold brew tastes like the first day of the world, BUT apparently it has reduced caffeine content. I am sorry, I just can't have that when I am knuckle-walking at 6am. I brewed it a lot a few years ago, but needed way more coffee. Now I buy it at the store (French Market is my favorite) and throw it into one of my favorite coffee drinks- a shot in the dark.

My other is Macchiato. The place that made it perfect for me seems to have closed down.
 
What are the critical factors and what method produces the highest level of caffeine in your cup? Mostly it’s pretty logical. Here’s a short “article” that lays out some basics and maybe a few surprises. Who woulda thunk that the much beloved French Press produces among the lowest levels of caffeine. Interesting.


https://www.wellandgood.com/good-food/coffee-brewing-caffeine-connection/
 
I know that French press is the best tasting. In my humble, if it tastes good, the lower the caffeine. But if you let that sit on the counter, without pushing, you’re in for an active day.
 
Valdus":5yjea6xs said:
I know that French press is the best tasting. In my humble, if it tastes good, the lower the caffeine. But if you let that sit on the counter, without pushing, you’re in for an active day.

What tastes best is a very subjective and personal matter.
 
After a 1 - 3 cups of pod coffee daily for a while now I am clearly settling in to pods that I like and some that are highly regarded rubbish.

The best:
Community Coffee: New Orleans Blend & Evangeline Blend (what sets these two apart is that they have a true ‘bright’ profile...like you would expect a Kenya to be)
Second best:
Green Mountain: Black Magic (in Reg or decaf...about as far toward French as I want to go...where the flavor profile is from the level of roast instead of from the bean profile...more Italian than French roast...my wife’s favorite)
Highly rated but nasty: Barista Prima Coffeehouse Italian Roast (Folks talk this up online but to me it’s muddy and bitter...let those folks that like it buy it)

Re Community Coffee: This is out of NOLA, justly claiming a Louisiana heritage. Get it via Amazon or on the Community Coffee website. If you sign up on their website they will start sending you offer after offer...from 20% up to 30% off your entire order. These folks are a small company that gives a damn, and they do up some very acceptable java. Highly recommended.

Any other favorites out there?
 
OK...what I don’t want or need is a raft of self righteous yelling and screaming about how to brew REAL coffee. I roast my own beans and have half a dozen different brew rigs I can use from pour over to perc to moka pot, etc.

What I DO need are some experienced recommendations re what pod coffees you’ve tried and liked, especially bold, but not quite French Roast level blends. Italian is OK. No flavored blends please.

Anyone?

(I got my wife a Mueller Ultima pod brewer for her office cause she’s the only one there that drinks decaf. Now I need to stock it with good stuff.)

So far I have:

Green Mountain Dark Magic Decaf
Barista Prima Decaf Coffee, Italian Roast
Community Coffee Café Special Decaf
I suggest getting a couple of personal K-cups and use the grind of your choice just like putting any good tobacco in a cob. I've used the same pod for years with many different coffees.
 
I ordered a set of 4 “u-fill” k cups. They work perfectly and we go back and forth between them a my regular favorites. They’re especially helpful for decaf (my wife’s preference) as there are few good decaf k-cup decafs out there.
 
A couple of things I like about the personal k-cups: better price over the pre-filed ones and if you grind your own beans you know how fresh it is and you can fill the cup full. I've opened a few off the pre-filed ones to find them lacking. I pack mine as full as I can while still being able to close it 😋
 
You can fill a K cup too full as my better half found out. The machine would not push water through once the K cup got wet and swelled a bit. She complained to me about it and that was all I could find.
 
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