ERE Coffee Maker? French Press?

[teresajs]

My husband loves his coffee. He went through a couple less expensive glass French presses due to breakage, over the years, before investing in a stainless steel French press. It was fairly expensive ($80) but is sturdy enough that we expect it to last the rest of our lives, so should pay off nicely over time.

[TopHatFox]

I suppose the most frugal way to drink coffee is to not drink it at all! Or at least the cheapest way depending on how much net value coffee adds to your life. I try not to drink coffee in high enough quantities for my body to build a tolerance for caffeine--I believe I read somewhere that one cup a day is sufficient for mild tolerance, though more than one daily coffee cup builds tolerance faster.

I've also read that coffee brewing methods which allow the coffee beans to steep in water for a prolonged period, like cowboy, french press, or cold press brewing methods, are less healthful for you than brewing methods which steep the coffee beans with water for a short while, like the drip brewing method.

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Personally, and I apologize since this is slightly off-topic, I drink Yerba Mate whenever I absolutely need something to keep my mind alert (my parents love and drink this stuff daily, a seemingly commonly held behavior in Argentina and many other Mate loving South American Countries):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage)

Just like coffee, all you need to make it is boiled water and the crop, but Yerba Mate'is sipped with a "Bombilla", a usually stainless steel straw which separates the Mate' infused water from the herb. It's a pretty handy straw, and I don't see why it couldn't be used to separate coffee infused water from coffee grounds, which might be useful in many of the brewing methods described in this forum thread.

[theanimal]

Zalo- You may have already done the research, but I thought I'd let you know that there are a few studies that link prolonged consumption of mate with cancer (specifically cancer of the mouth, esophagus and lungs among others). I know a lot of people love it, but just something to note.

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/17/5/1262.full
http://www.livestrong.com/article/45994 ... ea-cancer/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19695149

[Devil's Advocate]

I suppose the most frugal way to drink coffee is to not drink it at all!

+1 to that comment. Seriously.

A personal example, if I may :

This was some years back, when I was still working. We’d work crazy long hours, and drinking lots of coffee was de rigueur. Four cups, often more, used to be par course for me. Two would be the absolute minimum, on any given day.

Then I came down with an irritating throat infection. Bang in the middle of an important project, with the deadline looming close. Took myself home, but stayed fully connected to both teams involved with the project almost round the clock for a couple days. Found my coffee consumption cross acceptable limits—both to keep me going, and to soothe my throat. So then what I did is switch to hot water in my coffee cup. Just hot water, nothing else. Now I could go on drinking as much of this pretend-coffee as I wanted to, as many cups as would help me get through. (Safe at least for these few days : I understand drinking too much of even plain hot water, over a long period, does things to your stomach lining or intestines or something.) And I realized, after a while, that this was working just as well. Coffee is a great drink, but I realized that, speaking for myself, some 75% (or maybe even more) of its appeal is purely psychological.

And right then I gave up drinking coffee.

Not that I’m a coffee-teetotaler, of course, and occasionally I do treat myself to it. Very occasionally, less than even once a week on average, I’m guessing. It’s no longer a daily fix.

Given that the stuff has zero nutritional value, I’m glad I’m no longer hooked to it.

That would be the best ERE option, in my opinion : giving up the thing altogether. (Always provided that not drinking it does not take away from your quality of living—not otherwise.)

[workathome]

I might have to try a stainless steel french press someday. We've broken two of the glass ones

[tylerrr]

I suppose the most frugal way to drink coffee is to not drink it at all!

+1 to that comment. Seriously.

A personal example, if I may :

This was some years back, when I was still working. We’d work crazy long hours, and drinking lots of coffee was de rigueur. Four cups, often more, used to be par course for me. Two would be the absolute minimum, on any given day.

Then I came down with an irritating throat infection. Bang in the middle of an important project, with the deadline looming close. Took myself home, but stayed fully connected to both teams involved with the project almost round the clock for a couple days. Found my coffee consumption cross acceptable limits—both to keep me going, and to soothe my throat. So then what I did is switch to hot water in my coffee cup. Just hot water, nothing else. Now I could go on drinking as much of this pretend-coffee as I wanted to, as many cups as would help me get through. (Safe at least for these few days : I understand drinking too much of even plain hot water, over a long period, does things to your stomach lining or intestines or something.) And I realized, after a while, that this was working just as well. Coffee is a great drink, but I realized that, speaking for myself, some 75% (or maybe even more) of its appeal is purely psychological.

And right then I gave up drinking coffee.

Not that I’m a coffee-teetotaler, of course, and occasionally I do treat myself to it. Very occasionally, less than even once a week on average, I’m guessing. It’s no longer a daily fix.

Given that the stuff has zero nutritional value, I’m glad I’m no longer hooked to it.

That would be the best ERE option, in my opinion : giving up the thing altogether. (Always provided that not drinking it does not take away from your quality of living—not otherwise.)

yep, i've actually quit coffee for 2 weeks now.....Huge addiction for me....Was really hard to stop because I love the taste too. I feel better in many ways. I sleep better too.

[brighteye]

I drink one coffee in the morning, because I want to have something hot to which I can add heavy cream (for me, drinking coffee is really all about the heavy cream). I am no coffee expert whatsoever.
I have a french press in my office, but since I only drink one cup, I started using the Vietnamese style coffe maker I had at home. Something like this http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... dcoffee-20
Less time/effort to clean and it doesn't break.

[workathome]

Things just got real We picked up a Chemex today. The local roaster/coffee shop uses them and I believe, after a few samples, it's the best coffee I've ever had. Cost $40, but a free $10 bag of Coffee and $8 box of filters means the brewer itself is only $22 and in line with a French Press. The catch is you're locked into a system of filters that cost .08/each. I'm really opposed to anything plastic coming in touch with hot liquids though.

So sort of came full circle from the percolator earlier, because after a few years of steady use it died this morning (electric plug in model).

[workathome]

So, even with the Chemex and filters I was still getting not-quite-right coffee. Usually way-too-bitter tasting. We finally got a conical grinder and it made all the difference. The shitty little spice grinder we were using was doing a major disservice, and probably why my French Press coffee always tasted like crap.

I think the grinder may be more important than the brew method.

[jacob]

Hmm... usually bitterness comes from using water that's too hot. The grind would affect how fast the water flows through when brewing drip coffee. I don't see how it would affect French pressed coffee.. But hey, if it works, it works.

[JohnnyH]

My Hario grinder had the spring get wedged where it shouldn't be and I haven't fixed it yet... I've been using one of those $10 countertop electric ones. That's the only variable and the the lousy grinder has made the coffee significantly worse. Variable grinds from very fine to 1/3 of a bean. I think too fine leads to a sort of over-saturation and more bitter coffee. And grainy. If you're using a french press consistent size grains (larger than filter screen) is very important.

[workathome]

My problem was the same as JohnnyH. The blade grinder was very inconsistent. The "grind setting" is basically fake on it, just timing how long to chop for and producing a random assortment of sizes, not actually grinding the beans to a consistent size.

[WillS]

Frieling double-wall stainless. I get that 'consumer product buzz' every time I use it, even though I've used it every day for over 3 years. Does that make it an anti-consumer product buzz? Unlike some of the other models, this one is 100% stainless. Every last part. It should many generations. I just love that it doesn't involve plastic, paper, or other nonsense. I experimented with grinders and decided the best solution was to grind at the store. I also use a double-wall mug. And another for the oatmeal. Water from an electric kettle. So simple. The very minimum in cooking energy, and product waste. No ugly plastic crap. Yeah, I'm rather OCD about this stuff.

I also swear by the Forlife tea infuser, for use with loose-leaf tea. Very sturdy and practical. Loose-leaf tea is the only way to go. For an extremely frugal dose of caffeine, you could just buy powdered caffeine. It costs about $0.01 per coffee cup equivalent on Amazon. Don't buy it if you don't think you have enough self control to have 1000 cups worth of it sitting on the shelf and not abuse it. If you do buy it, you'll want to have some way to measure out the right amount.

[WillS]

The double wall mug for oatmeal was my solution to the burnt oatmeal pan. Never again. It also uses dramatically less energy.
Sorry, O/T, but I couldn't resist. This stuff all goes together.

[vexed87]

My french press aged quickly to the point where the filter no longer creates a good seal around the glass beaker and some of the grounds escape. So far I haven't found better way of making coffee though.

I do use an electronic peculator for larger batches of coffee when entertaining and also have an espresso maker, but find I use that less and less now. Time to sell up I think!

[DSKla]

For the chemex users, there is a rather expensive metal filter available that supposedly alows more of the oils through, for a better flavor. I guess if you use it long enough, it will save you money on filters.

http://www.amazon.com/Able-Brewing-Coff ... B00E58P6WU

[steveo73]

I just use a proper home espresso machine. We've had it for years as well.

[Peanut]

I got DH an Alessi french press six years ago. All ss and glass, and if you break the glass holder you can order a replacement. Expensive, but works great.

[jennypenny]

I use this French Press. I love it, and it's only $20 today (3/24). http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FMJ ... NGYJUMDSAC

[JamesR]

https://medium.com/backchannel/first-al ... e94ccc538e

Aerobie has been around a couple years now. Time to get with the times folks.