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How do you make your coffee at home?

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uhohs said:
You never unscrew the filter part and clean the screens to remove stuck coffee grounds? If you're fine with just rinsing, that's quick and easy.
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I do that every other day, along with scrubbing the oil off with a paper towel. That modicum of work is much preferable to the gunk that accumulates in machine brewing methods. If you can't see all the parts that come into contact with the water and coffee grounds, you don't know it's clean.

Drip coffee makers and Keurigs are gross if they aren't fastidiously cleaned, especially in a work environment. Issues like mold aside, it affects the taste.
 
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uhohs said:
You never unscrew the filter part and clean the screens to remove stuck coffee grounds? If you're fine with just rinsing, that's quick and easy.
Click to expand...
I only do a thorough clean every so often. Contrary to popular opinion, I prefer dirty coffee apparatus. The coffee never tastes as good after a douching until it gets a layer of stuff again. Not necessarily highly noticeable stuff(filthy pots are gross), but just a little bit.
 
lxskllr said:
I only do a thorough clean every so often. Contrary to popular opinion, I prefer dirty coffee apparatus. The coffee never tastes as good after a douching until it gets a layer of stuff again. Not necessarily highly noticeable stuff(filthy pots are gross), but just a little bit.
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Clean is good but, not antiseptic. I like using cream of tartar a lot. Oils are an important part of coffee and should not be allowed to cook longer than about 20 minutes.
 
Speaking of cleaning how important is it to clean a burr grinder? Did not figure it would get dirty but it does, some beans have a bit of an oil to them.

Also for a drip machine, is it fine to just run vinegar through it once in a while? One issue Keurigs have is because they are more enclosed they are harder to clean properly and can often start to grow mold.
 
Keurig here. I use it to make Decaf coffee and tea once in a while. Unlike my last cheap single-serve Keurig, i've learned to use only distilled water in it. It's never needed to be cleaned once since i've had this newer one (5 months). On my older one i just used tap water and it started to get calcium and other mineral buildup that was almost impossible to remove fully.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Speaking of cleaning how important is it to clean a burr grinder? Did not figure it would get dirty but it does, some beans have a bit of an oil to them.

Also for a drip machine, is it fine to just run vinegar through it once in a while? One issue Keurigs have is because they are more enclosed they are harder to clean properly and can often start to grow mold.
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I've had my handcranked grinder in one form or another for 25+ years, and I've never cleaned it. It's always had real coffee in it, no flavors. If I were inclined to use flavored coffee, I'd get it preground. I'd never put whole flavored beans in my grinder.
 
We have a semi-automatic espresso machine that I use to make a cappuccino for myself in the morning before I head off to work. It has a built in burr grinder and I load the hopper with locally roasted beans that I buy in small batches. I have to tamp the ground beans and I control the grind, the machine does the rest. Then I froth the milk with a frothing wand built into the machine and pour it into the espresso. It makes a very tasty cappuccino and it only takes a few minutes to make.
 
lxskllr said:
I've had my handcranked grinder in one form or another for 25+ years, and I've never cleaned it. It's always had real coffee in it, no flavors. If I were inclined to use flavored coffee, I'd get it preground. I'd never put whole flavored beans in my grinder.
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That's why you have more than one grinder.
 
MagnusTheBrewer said:
That's why you have more than one grinder.
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Yea, you could do that. I'm pretty dubious of the whole concept of flavored coffee though. I think a good coffee base, with a good flavor added after brewing would be the better way to go :shrugs: The only flavor I use on occasion in the winter is Irish cream, or sometimes cappuccino with cinnamon ground fresh on top of the frothed milk. Otherwise, it's black all the time.
 
lxskllr said:
Yea, you could do that. I'm pretty dubious of the whole concept of flavored coffee though. I think a good coffee base, with a good flavor added after brewing would be the better way to go :shrugs: The only flavor I use on occasion in the winter is Irish cream, or sometimes cappuccino with cinnamon ground fresh on top of the frothed milk. Otherwise, it's black all the time.
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Irish cream and brandy for me.
 
At home Maxwell House instant. Its down before I can taste it. At work we have some sort of industrial coffee apparatus I have no clue what brand. Oh and your standard folgers something or another.
 
uhohs said:
You never unscrew the filter part and clean the screens to remove stuck coffee grounds? If you're fine with just rinsing, that's quick and easy.
Click to expand...
Very occasionally, but that only takes a few seconds as well.

I've got ridiculously hard water here that seems to destroy anything more complicated than a kettle that boils water really quickly.
 
I have a Capresso Infinity burr grinder and lately I've been making French press every morning. I used to have a $20 Mr. Coffee for weekday mornings, but that recently broke (hence, the daily French press). I'll probably get a new drip coffee machine after I move, since it can speed my morning routine up a little.
 
seriously:

CCB-32oz-Black-1.png
 
WelshBloke said:
Coffee with cream, brandy and whiskey!

That sounds like my sort of coffee! Particularly if I can have the coffee, cream, brandy and whiskey in different glasses.
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Too many glasses to take with in the morning. A shot of Irish cream a shot of brandy and 10 ounces of coffee gets me off to a good start.
 
lxskllr said:
What's that, an $8 bottle? I'd drink a minimum of one a day, probably more. I pay less than that for two weeks of coffee.
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$8-$11. They say a serving is 4oz concentrate to make a 8oz cup (so that's supposedly 64oz of "normal") coffee, but it lasts me 2-3 days.
 
Ns1 said:
$8-$11. They say a serving is 4oz concentrate to make a 8oz cup (so that's supposedly 64oz of "normal") coffee, but it lasts me 2-3 days.
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Probably depends on expectations. That's on par with Starbucks or the coffee shop of your choice, and may taste better. I think coffee shop prices are extravagant for every day, especially in the quantities I drink.
 
I'm not a coffee snob. I just use drip and grind Kirkland Columbian whole bean. Never had a complaint with it.
 
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