Coffee catchup

MUG: Promotional diner mug for Neiman-Marcus' 90th Anniversary celebration. A solid drinker with no faults other than fading decoration.

COFFEE: Colombian Supremo, organic estate-grown. Sourced from Barrett's.

NOTES: After a long season of tinkering, I have my new brewing apparatus tuned to my liking. Coffee is such a delicate beverage. Slight variations produce dramatic differences. New brewer and new grinder required some new thinking. The adjustments have been made (less coffee, oddly).





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Location:Das Soemmergarten

The Restoration

MUG: Waechstersbach original, caramel colored, Western Germany.

COFFEE: An estate-grown Colombian Supremo, roasted by Barrett's Micro Roasters in Austin (see good things can come out of that town).

NOTES: For entertainment (and radical taste bud recalibration), I tried two pounds of coffee from a highly regarded local beanery. In return for my adventure, I got stylishly over-roasted coffees, one of which was a blend I allowed myself to get talked into. I suspended my simple rule that almost all coffee blends are an economic compromise (a bit of the good with much more of the not so good) as a way of maximizing profit. As a result, the Rule has been reinforced.

There is much joy in Mudville today. The King is restored.

It can only be attributable to human error.

MUG: Waechtersbach caramel-colored mug. Not shown.

COFFEE: Kerbey Lane House Blend beans from Third Coast Coffee Roasters in Austin.

NOTES: On a whim (and because I had discovered I could purchase green coffee beans from them), I bought a Google Offers coupon for two pounds of coffee from Third Coast Coffee Roasters. When I dropped by to select/pick-up my coffee, I allowed myself to be talked into a pound of their Kerbey Lane House Blend coffee. It was an error of judgement (they also tried to sell me on a Peruvian coffee that had been dried with cherries). The taste is overwhelmingly stale, with burnt overtones.

I also purchased two pounds of Colombian beans (one each of roasted and green). I hope my error has not been componded.

Mr. Gold and Mr. Mudd

MUG: Bodum™ double-walled glass mug. Eleven ounce capacity. Light weight, but thick feeling. As a temperature-insulator, it's an effective design. As a daily drinker, it's not really totally satisfying due to the tactile experience.

COFFEE: Ethiopian Yirgacheffe organic Fair-Trade coffee, medium-light roasted by Barrett's. A five pound recalibration of taste is underway. Some consider this bean the "gold standard" for drip coffee.

NOTES: My coffee world is in disarray at the moment. Recent changes in brewing/grinding equipment has resulted in this being rather different than the long established norms. The grinder settings with the new Krups burr mill are different (but the grind more uniform than the deceased Cusinart burr grinder achieved). The new Melitta coffee maker (made by Hamilton Beach-Proctor Silex) brews coffee much stronger than the old Hamilton Beach electric maker (Melitta cone style). Eight scoops of beans for eight cups of coffee (48 ounces) has become seven scoops to make ten cups (sixty ounces). But now the coffee is cloudy. The cloudiness increases as the coffee sits. More dinking around with the method is called for.

I have long wanted a set of these Bodum mugs, but never wanted to pay the price. My wife purchased two re-packaged Bodum mugs for use by her 89 year-old mother (who lives with us). Mrs. Baker loves her coffee, especially the coffee I make. "Hot, black and strong" is her daily request. Recently, however, she has begun to let her coffee get cold because she would forget there was any in her cup after it dropped below the 2/3rds full level. This see-through mug is meant to rectify that situation, both visually and thermally. So far, it has been an effective countermeasure.

As for this post's title... see here.

Big Red

MUG: Waechtersbach latte mug co-branded Crate & Barrel. Great mug of the type. Thick, easy handle, smooth lip, prodigious capacity, and that fantastic cracked red clearcoat glaze.

COFFEE: Nicaraguan Dark Roast. Four shots espresso. Steamed milk and froth, with a dash of cocoa-chili powder on top... proving that I put hot pepper on everything. First espresso grind with the new Krups burr mill. It passed the test.

NOTES: A cold front blew in last night dropping temperatures 30 degrees.

Special Report: the Krups of the matter.

DEVICE: A Krups burr coffee mill has replaced the Cuisinart coffee grinder that broke last week. It is of German design, and is vaugely reminiscent of something from Fritz Lang's film Metropolis.

I did perform 'plastic surgery' on the Cuisinart using super-glue, and while that allowed it to grind coffee beans for the preceding week, it only allowed for a medium grind (the rotating sleeve seized as a result of glue creep). Plastic surgery often reduces range of motion and expression, i.e., Joan Rivers.

FUNCTION: Too early to tell, as I have yet to figure out the nuances of this device (what settings produce what results). I can report that it is quieter under load than the burr grinder it replaced, but that it is also lighter weight. Grind capacity appears roughly equal, although storage capacity is halved (which is a good thing, as a coffee grinder should not do double duty as a coffee bean canister). The first batch was mistakenly ground too coarse, but the flavor result was satisfactory.

NOTES: One of the reasons I chose the Krups (beyond my love-of-things-German) is my past experience with a Krups drip coffee maker, a cleverly-designed device that I passed on due to my dislike of its stainless steel lined carafe (before I discovered that oxy-clean powder solves the problem of keeping said carafes perfectly clean).

The German kitchen appliance firm Krups is often confused with the German armament firm Krupps. They are not related. Krups competes with Braun, while Krupps competes with Browning.

Special Report: What's new is old.

POT: Melitta™ 10-cup coffee maker.

COFFEE: Colombian Supremo sourced from the usual.

NOTES: As I mentioned below, there have been some major coffee-making changes here at Das Sommergarten. Our faithful Melitta-filter system Hamilton Beach™ coffee maker went away. It didn't die, but an identical unit we had given to one our daughters did die (internal water/electrical damage to the control IC), and so we gave her ours... and got a new maker for ourselves.

The new maker is a Melitta-branded maker with a couple of unique features. It's hot (I measured the brew-temp at 200F), and it has a variable brew-strength control that mimics the proper way to brew coffee with a Melitta filter system. By using the 'Robust' setting, the basket of grounds are soaked in water just below boiling point, and then the water-flow stops. Melitta used to say this was to allow the flavor to "burst," and I'd say that's accurate. After the initial wetting drains, the maker starts up again. This combination of properly hot water and seeping makes a better cup of coffee than most coffee makers are capable of.

The downside to this maker is the carafe. The old Hamilton Beach maker used a glass-vacuum lined thermal carafe (like an old-style Thermos™ vacuum bottle). The new one, like almost everyone I have seen on the market, uses a stainless-steel vacuum carafe. While far more rugged, the stainless steel carafes do not retain heat as well, and the carafe tends to retain old coffee oils and is much more difficult to keep clean. Brushed steel has far for surface irregularities that can trap coffee oils than does smooth glass.

FINAL NOTE: I should mention that Melitta is still a closely-held company from Germany who distributes their filters and drip manual coffee makers in the USA themselves, but their electric coffee makers are manufactured and distributed here by... Hamilton Beach.

Special Report: Death becomes burr.

DEATH: Our cheap and messy (but perfectly functional) Cuisinart conical burr coffee bean grinder died this morning, after a mere 2,500 uses (approximate count, based upon entering service in late 2006 and grinding coffee approximately 1.1 times a day). The internal body/skeleton/core, which both houses the grinders and funnels the beans, broke into two parts.  Upper and lower pieces.

RENEWAL: I can make it work (as I did this morning) by pressing down on the lid forcefully, while touching my nose and ear simultaneously. I have looked into using super-glue to reattached the pieces, but I believe that would be a futile exercise in thumbly repair.

Tomorrow's remedy will be to either use my old blade grinder (if I can find it), or to use the Bodum blade grinder I have in reserve for either gifting, or just such an emergency.

Blade grinders are perfectly acceptable for drip coffee (as I usually make), a bit trickier for French Press coffee (which I make on rare occasion), and unsuitable for espresso (which I make about once a week when it's not summertime). I need a new burr grinder, and I know which one I want, one that balances design, function, and price. I'm not going to spend $300 for a grinder (or $200, or $150, but maybe $120).

COINCIDENCE: Interestingly, this coincides with the departure of our faithful Hamilton Beach coffee maker. It didn't break, but our daughter's identical machine did (a gift from us), so off it went to keep them jacked up. The new coffee maker we purchased (of interesting hybrid lineage) has now been in use for a week. A review of said maker was forthcoming when this calamity struck.