Point me toward homemade coffee nirvana!
July 1, 2014 2:09 PM   Subscribe

I love coffee. I've been known to geek out pretty hard over food and spirits. But I've never geeked out my coffee. I'm looking for the best way to make a better cup, hopefully without a ton of extra fuss.

Currently, I make my morning cup with a cheapo blade grinder and a Cuisinart drip maker. I know this isn't the favored method, but I'm not sure which of the many alternatives out there is Right For Me.

Obviously, better coffee starts with better beans. Assume that I'm using the best beans that are available. Aside from the beans, though, what about:
  • Burr grinders. How much will a burr grinder really improve my coffee? I'm looking at the Baratza Encore, which gets good reviews, and is quite affordable compared to others on the market. Still, $130 ain't cheap for a one-trick kitchen gadget.
  • Can I expect to realize the benefits of the burr grinder with my drip maker, or would I also need to invest in a new coffee maker before I can expect to taste a real difference? (I probably will make that investment; I'm just wondering.)
  • I keep hearing about pour-over, cold-brew, AeroPress, and Chemex. Other than the longer brewing time for cold-brew, are there any specific advantages or disadvantages to any of these? How would I choose between them? Are there (affordable) alternatives to my department-store drip maker that would be just as good as the more manual methods?
  • I tend to put a lot of milk in my coffee, because black coffee upsets my stomach. I hear that some of the above methods produce coffee with less acid content. Is that likely to help with the stomach thing?
  • If I want to wade gradually into these rich, flavorful, dark-brown waters, instead of buying all new stuff in one go, should I start with the grinder or the maker?
  • Relative to the grinder and the maker, how important is water? I use filtered water from my Brita, if I remembered to fill it, or tap water otherwise. I know, I know—real coffee snobs use artisanal spring water harvested by Tibetan monks in the Himalayas. I'm just saying, are we talking about a 1% improvement in flavor, or a 10% improvement, or what (assuming that I'm using great beans and good equipment/technique)?
posted by escape from the potato planet to Food & Drink (24 answers total) 34 users marked this as a favorite
 
The simplest way to make your coffee better is to do the pour over method. Plus it's a lot cheaper than a Burr grinder, so I'd definitely start there. Blue Bottle takes coffee very seriously; I'd follow their advice on the pour over methodology (though a little plastic dripper works just as well as their fancy ceramic one).
posted by leitmotif at 2:17 PM on July 1, 2014 [3 favorites]


I have an aeropress that I don't use. Send me your address if you want it. Any reimbursement could go to funding MeFi. I use a melitta dripper. My best coffee expenditure is on good coffee.
posted by theora55 at 2:36 PM on July 1, 2014 [5 favorites]


I really love my Hario hand burr grinder. I only grind enough for a couple of cups in my French press. In the time it takes for the water to boil in my electric kettle, I can throw out yesterday's grounds, rinse the French press, and grind beans.

I like the French press because it was inexpensive to buy, I don't have to mess with filters, and it's easy to use.
posted by BrashTech at 2:37 PM on July 1, 2014 [2 favorites]


I've been enjoying coffee heaven for the past few weeks, since I switched from brewing in an Aero-press to this Clever Coffee Dripper. The Aero makes a very fine cup of coffee, but the Clever does even better, and with less effort. For my taste, the most critical variable seems to be water temperature: 180-185 degrees makes coffee that's rich, strong and flavorful. If the water is hotter than that, the coffee tends to be bitter and foul, and it's more likely to make my stomach unhappy.

The Clever also works great for cold-brewing iced coffee.
posted by Corvid at 2:38 PM on July 1, 2014


I totally agree with French press (first) plus burr grinder (eventually). I think filtered water is fine, just make sure you're heating it to the correct temperature (not sure what that is).
posted by Night_owl at 2:39 PM on July 1, 2014


I use the slightly larger Hario burr grinder and an Aeropress. Pour-over also works well, but to be honest, the brew method doesn't seem to make nearly as much difference as the beans. I buy medium roast Ruta Maya beans, but your taste may vary.
posted by bradf at 2:41 PM on July 1, 2014


I'm looking for the best way to make a better cup, hopefully without a ton of extra fuss.

I've gone back and forth on this a lot in the last 20 years - what I've finally settled on:

1. Hario V60 pour over dripper - inexpensive, durable, and it delivers.

2. Cheap Cuisinart coffee grinder - yes, a burr grinder is somewhat better, but this produces grounds that are good enough for my purposes, and I've never gotten complaints (even from coffee obsessive friends who enjoy complaining about coffee.) Grind to the right consistency for pour over - roughly the size / look of table salt, not a fine powder - and you'll be good.

3. Melita filters, Zeke's coffee.

Coffee quality and water are both very important - probably the most important factors.

RE: water - nothing with a strong taste (e.g. well water). Use bottled water to avoid this if need be. Also, do not allow the water to boil before pouring it over - this removes oxygen and gives the coffee a flatter, less appealing taste.

Start to finish, a cup of coffee takes me about 10 minutes to make - mostly just waiting for the water to pass through the filter.

To me, pour-over coffee done correctly tastes richer and less harsh / acidic than machine drip. I suspect this is because more of the oil in the coffee survives the brewing process and balances out the acidity, but I don't know for certain.
posted by reedbird_hill at 2:44 PM on July 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


A burr grinder is the #1 way to improve your coffee, no matter what method you use to brew. I've been a coffee geek and home roaster for 13 years, and climbing the grinder ladder has brought bigger improvements to my cup than changing brew methods, getting better beans, or even upgrading to a "prosumer" espresso machine.

A good even grind is crucial because you want to extract the same amount of coffee from each bean particle. If some are giant and some are small, you'll get different compounds from each because the small ones expose more surface for the water to work on, and so extract faster. Think of cooking two steaks, one that's 1 pound and one that's 1/2 pound. The 1/2 pound one is done first, right? Same with your coffee grounds: the smaller ones are "done" first, so you want all the grinds to be the same size. If you keep your hot water in contact with your "done" grounds, you'll keep on extracting bitterness, so you want them all "done" at the same time.

The whole point of a burr grinder is to get all the grinds about the same size.

You don't have to spend over $100 to get an excellent burr grinder, but if you want to save money, you'll have to crank it yourself. I recently got a Hario Skerton, and I think it compares very favorably to my Macap m4. Sure, my arms are a lot more tired after grinding manually, but the Skerton is portable and I won't cry as much if it breaks.

I think for the money, you can't beat an Aeropress. I don't use mine every day, but when I do, I am always impressed at how easy it is to make a great cup. If you don't end up using it a lot, it makes a great travel brewer, since it's smallish, evenly shaped, simple to clean, and basically unbreakable.

Once you start down this road, you'll notice how awful the coffee is when you leave home :)

The #2 way to improve your coffee is to become a home roaster. Even if you're not ready to go that route, check out Sweet Maria's, they have lots of tutorials for brewing a great cup, and cheap ways to get into home roasting.
posted by sainttoad at 2:47 PM on July 1, 2014 [2 favorites]


I bought a Toddy Cold Brewer a few days ago. The resultant coffee-from-concentrate is noticeably smoother and a bit sweeter. If low-acid is important, you should give this a try.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:55 PM on July 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


I work at a fairly high end and well regarded coffee roaster and i freaking love coffee. The founders #1 recommendation beyond a really expensive home espresso machine/burr grinder combo... is a french press. He freaking loves french press.

The grind isn't even that important with a french press, comparatively. You can get excellent coffee with just a lazy grocery store grind. The trick is just to properly measure the water and coffee amounts, and pay attention to infusion time and not over/under infusing.

Can I expect to realize the benefits of the burr grinder with my drip maker

IMO it only matters if you're making espresso.

Burr grinders. How much will a burr grinder really improve my coffee?

I just walked over and asked our engineer, who was repairing one of the burr grinders. He seconded your research and said get the second level Baratza that's about $160, i think he means the virtuoso on sale. It does make a big difference, but see above.

I hear that some of the above methods produce coffee with less acid content. Is that likely to help with the stomach thing?

Cold brew will create coffee with almost no acidic content in that sense, it'll leave you alone. I know exactly what you're talking about(and sometimes reach for the more acidic methods when i'm erm, trying to clear things out in there anyways)

Properly made espresso will have a surprisingly low acid content. Scientifically, cold brew is the lowest acidic content objectively... but espresso can be very low.

If I want to wade gradually into these rich, flavorful, dark-brown waters, instead of buying all new stuff in one go, should I start with the grinder or the maker?

This is contentious. It's like asking what to buy first, a good turntable, a good amp, or good speakers. The coffee is obviously the record itself, but i'd say the grinder is the turntable and the amp/speakers are the espresso machine. A good source will get surprising results out of even mediocre amps and speakers, and a good amp/speaker combo can struggle with a crappy source. The same is true with the relationship between a grinder and a machine.

The same engineer guy recommended saeco/gaggia(which was my recommendation) sort of, and silvia. The silvias are relatively expensive for a home machine. It's the equivalent of deciding to get a decent hifi system and going straight out and buying a rega brio. He remembered them having brass tanks though, which have superior thermal properties. The saeco/gaggia(and gaggia is sort of the lexus to saecos toyota) are just good midrange home machines.

He said the #1 issue with most home machines is that they build to too high of a spike in pressure, and push the water through the puck too quickly. The saeco and gaggia cheat this by having an interlocking portafilter which allows the water to pre-infuse for a few seconds and prevents the water from actually flowing out of the bottom of the porta filter until it's "ready". In my experience, having owned two of those machines, they produce and impressive and consistent result even with imperfect grinds. A burr grinder+one of those would probably be a kick ass combination. Look up the saeco rio vapore, the newer similar looking saeco models, and the starbucks barista(which was a rebranded saeco, and can be had for a song). I'd avoid the newer cheaper saeco models that rely on a single switch. Look for the older ones with 3 heavy duty switches.

Another issue is milk. And properly steaming the milk. Give up on this with a small home machine. Use a french press/milk frother and just heat the milk on the stove or in a microwave parallel to your espresso prep. You'll get much better results, and much less water in your milk from halfassed steam wands. The saeco can produce solid steam... sort of... but not really for long enough unless you're VERY accurate on only steaming a little bit of milk, and have some experience/skill as a commercial barista to actually steam it properly when there's only a small amount in your carafe.

Sorry, i sort of rambled here. If i had to pick i'd get a saeco type machine first that can handle imperfect grinds with a fair amount of aplomb. If i could though, i'd get the machine and grinder at the same time.

Relative to the grinder and the maker, how important is water?

In my stereo analogy above, this would be minor stuff. Like power filtration, heavy gauge cables from amp to speaker, replacement tonearm wiring, heavy gauge shielded interlink cables for the sections before the amplification, etc. This DOES make a difference, but it's the last 5% or so. A good machine and grinder, and good coffee will get you 90% of where you want to go. You don't need an RO system or anything. All the shops, even the really high end ones in seattle just use a simple multi stage charcoal filter system. You can pick up a used one on craigslist and throw it under your sink from a restaurant/cafe going out of business and slap some filters in it if you want. Shouldn't be that expensive, plus your home water will now taste awesome. Avoid anything that ionizes the water in any way, it'll destroy plumbing inside your machine.

You'd be amazed at the results i've gotten simply through trial and error of grind on a piece of shit machine with no pump that just uses pressure to overcome a valve, and a graduated variation of grinds from a crappy bodega grinder and some properly steamed milk. Getting a baseline amount of remotely ok gear, some good coffee, and just having the wherewithal to make like 100 cups(and it doesn't even have to be in one day, duh) changing one variable slightly at a time will give you more insight and get you where you want to go faster than anything else probably.

You can hack this entire process by just using a halfway decent grind and a french press though, seriously. It's not espresso, and it's not going to get you a latte or whatever*. But work>tasty coffee wise my partner and all my friends who've tried my french press now that i have the ratios and da technique down were thoroughly impressed. It's just a lot less work. Espresso is fun though, but you quickly hit a wall. And the engineer here agreed that beyond the level of spending under $500 that i just mentioned means you're essentially jumping into commercial equipment if you want better results. Modding machines, and the entire area between like 500-$2000 is a total no mans land and really not worth it as far as results go. If you end up loving espresso and growing out of this, the only real avenue worth taking is getting an older marzocco or something cheap used, getting it turned up, and installing a pump and such under your counter.

...Which is where the french/aeropress people come in, and that route starts to sound a lot more reasonable.

-An extremely caffeinated former barista sitting in a coffee roasters warehouse

was that helpful? did that even make any sense? huh?

*Also i think caps are fucking stupid. anyone who orders a cappuccino is a rube. This is obviously my personal opinion, but i've always thought they were silly and totally resented the people who wanted a really dry cap when i was a barista... but that's neither here nor there.

posted by emptythought at 3:06 PM on July 1, 2014 [13 favorites]


Burr grinders. How much will a burr grinder really improve my coffee? I'm looking at the Baratza Encore, which gets good reviews, and is quite affordable compared to others on the market. Still, $130 ain't cheap for a one-trick kitchen gadget.

Loads. Uniform particle size = uniform extraction. This allows for more control in what you extract, and lets you pull out everything except for nasty bitter flavors. Scan your local craigslist for a used one; every part in Baratza machines can be replaced easily. They sometimes have refurbished ones on their website in the $100 range. This is worth it. Spend money here first.

Can I expect to realize the benefits of the burr grinder with my drip maker, or would I also need to invest in a new coffee maker before I can expect to taste a real difference? (I probably will make that investment; I'm just wondering.)

You will be able to taste it. But a manual system will give you more control. Make sure your brewer is getting the actual brew water up to the 195-205F mark. If your coffee brewer doesn't preheat the water to 195-205, you should pre-boil your water before loading up the machine. If you let the coffee sit on the little hotplate thing (if it has one) You should have your neighbor come over and slap the mug of coffee out of your hand; coffee shouldn't be reheated after brewing, it gets nasty fast. Toss it in a thermos or a carafe if you're not going to drink it right away.

I keep hearing about pour-over, cold-brew, AeroPress, and Chemex. Other than the longer brewing time for cold-brew, are there any specific advantages or disadvantages to any of these? How would I choose between them? Are there (affordable) alternatives to my department-store drip maker that would be just as good as the more manual methods?

Most of these brew methods differ slightly, and produce different results (not necessarily objectively better or worse). Advantages and disadvantages as follows:

Kalita Wave: Pros- Flat bottom gives an even bed for extraction, super forgivable and repeatable, filter is difficult to 'choke' Cons- Filter are a pain in the ass to pre-wet before brewing, the filters are a little on the expensive side, and overall you lack a little bit of brew control with this one (but the results are forgiving…so just a trade off.

Hario v60: Pros, inexpensive, nearly ubiquitous filter availability at this point. The filters impart very little flavor. Crazy amount of brew control. Cons- Repeatability is difficult, and it is very sensitive to technique. They're pretty easy to 'choke' the filters.

Chemex: Pros- Single unit design. Average to better in terms of repeatability. Thick filters that promote sweetness (some say). They're fucking gorgeous. Cons- filters can be a bit spendy. Overextraction is fairly common if you're not paying attention. They're a bit more fragile than other brewers. It's also very, very easy to 'choke' the chemex.

Aeropress: Pros- Super bombproof, plastic deisign makes a great travel or office brewer. There are a million different recipes and variables to play with. Cons- there are a million different recipes and variables to play with. Only makes 1-2 cups at a time.

There aren't really many great 'alternatives' to the name brand little buddies, except some of the Melitta brewers out there that can be found at grocery stores. If you go that route, get a ceramic one; they retain heat better than the little plastic jobbies.

Cold brew is a different bag alltogether. I don't enjoy it, but my wife loves it, so we brew a fair amount at home in the aforementioned Toddy brand maker. The filters are reusable, expensive, and produce really nice results. Way better than the cheesecloth method thats floating around out there.

I tend to put a lot of milk in my coffee, because black coffee upsets my stomach. I hear that some of the above methods produce coffee with less acid content. Is that likely to help with the stomach thing?

Cold brew doesn't really produce a measurably less acidic (in terms of chemistry) cup of coffee, but some people say it is easier on their stomach, YMMV. Try it and find out. Other 'hot brew' methods are going to act effectively the same for this.

If I want to wade gradually into these rich, flavorful, dark-brown waters, instead of buying all new stuff in one go, should I start with the grinder or the maker?

Grinder.

Relative to the grinder and the maker, how important is water? I use filtered water from my Brita, if I remembered to fill it, or tap water otherwise. I know, I know—real coffee snobs use artisanal spring water harvested by Tibetan monks in the Himalayas. I'm just saying, are we talking about a 1% improvement in flavor, or a 10% improvement, or what (assuming that I'm using great beans and good equipment/technique)?

Relative to the grinder and equipment? Home-filtered water is fine, and your municipal water might be fine as well, depending on where you live. If you live where water is notably taste-ful, home filtered will get you where you need to be. You don't need to get any crazier than that on water unless your water just tastes bad on its own.


I personally use a Chemex everyday for brewing my coffee, switching between the paper filters and the Able Brewing Kone because I really like the profile that the metal filter produces. At work (I'm a coffee roaster FWIW) we brew coffee with every brew method before it leaves the shop, and most of the folks around here either use a v60 or a Chemex when they're brewing for enjoyment.

There are a bunch of different 'recipes' out there for different brew methods. Brewmethods.com does a good job at overview, but there are some serious gaps there.
posted by furnace.heart at 3:10 PM on July 1, 2014 [4 favorites]


Mostly good advice here already, but, as another gadgeted-out home-roasting snob, I can't help but weigh in.

There's no good coffee without a decent grinder AND a good brewing method. Aeropresses are cheap, easy to clean, and make great coffee, so use one of them. The Baratza is the minimum electric grinder I would go for. If the price tag seems too high, you might try a Porlex manual grinder. It can be a hassle at first, but manual grinding easily becomes part of the coffee ritual. It's just as good. An Aeropress + a manual grinder is much cheaper than a Baratza.

The other major thing is water temperature. Boiling water is too hot, water from low-end electric coffee makers is too cold. It should be 195-200ish. Having a variable temperature kettle (the Bonavita Gooseneck is the most popular among coffee makers, since it's good for pour over) will make a big difference in the quality of your brew, but you can let your normal kettle cool down for a few minutes, too.

And, I guess, keep in mind that the best beans conveniently available to you may still be burnt. Most beans are. If that's the case, you can improve the quality of your coffee by improving your brewing methods, but you'll get a really different (and less various) flavor than what high-end coffee shops go for, if that's what you're in search of.
posted by vathek at 3:37 PM on July 1, 2014


Lots of good advice here, but I'm going to give you a different take: the most important thing to getting a good result is a repeatable process, so you can start adjusting just one thing at a time. That means: a burr grinder to be able to get the same grind consistently; a digital scale (for any of the pour over schemes) to get the proportion of coffee and water consistent; and a timer to get the brew time consistent. My daily kit now involves a Baratza encore grinder, a digital scale, a Clever Dripper, and a Bonavita electric kettle. Beans are ground on the spot and I try to buy in small enough quantities that they are not more than two weeks beyond the roast date, and I use filtered water. I've tried most of the other methods detailed above and the *all* make a great cup of coffee, each a little unique. But the main breakthrough for me was starting to weigh and time everything. Once I was able to make the exact same cup of coffee twice in a row, I was able to start experimenting with adjusting things to find just the right cup.
posted by BlueTongueLizard at 4:44 PM on July 1, 2014


I've experimented with different coffee beans, and different ways to prepare coffee -- and I've found, to my mild surprise, that what works best for me is cheap 8 O'Clock coffee beans, ground in a cheap Cuisinart grinder, then brewed in an old-fashioned electric percolator that I bought at the Salvation Army. Tastes wonderful to me, better than French press, better than anything I can get at a coffee shop.
posted by alex1965 at 4:55 PM on July 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


Okay, everyone may call me a rube about this because we definitely don't fuss nearly as much as most coffee aficionados do, but guests who drink coffee at our house uniformly rave about it. We buy, and grind, medium-to-dark roast coffee beans at the grocery store, then store it in the freezer. Even though we use a drip machine, the beans are ground as finely as possible which usually translates to "Turkish" grind on the grocery store grinders. Now, ssshh, here's our secret ingredient that mellows out the coffee and removes the bitterness: crushed cinnamon bark goes into the filter before the ground coffee. Heaven!
posted by DrGail at 4:59 PM on July 1, 2014 [3 favorites]


As you can probably tell from the answers you are getting there is really no definitive way to make a good cup of coffee. Everyone thinks there way is the best because that's how they like their coffee. If you are hesitant to invest money in equipment that might not make a coffee you like have you thought about borrowing some? Do you have a friend with a burr grinder, or one with an Aeropress? Go for a visit and ask them if you can try a cup of coffee, if they are coffee aficionados they will love nothing more than to make you a cup using their little ritual.

Because while I might think that the beans and water quality are what make a perfect coffee, someone else will think it's the temperature of the water or drip vs pour over. If you don't have friends as interested in better coffee as you are then I'd honestly suggest starting with changing the cheapest and easiest things to change first.

Buy your beans already burr ground to try out, maybe they won't be as great as super freshly ground but that would be a good place to start to see if a burr grinder would make a difference that you like to your coffee.
posted by wwax at 5:13 PM on July 1, 2014 [2 favorites]


Blade grinder is fine if you use a moka pot. Buy a steel pot (the aluminum ones, while cheaper, dent easily and the handles come off too readily) that's rated about 6 cups, because the "cups" are fictional and a 6-cup pot will make a moderate mugful of good coffee.

The pot does not need a constant suppy of paper filters or other products and it isn't extra fussy about grind. Every now and then you'll want to change the gasket – anywhere from 6 months to a year – but that's the only disposable.

Make sure you never leave a moka pot on the heat without water in it. Other than that it will serve you well indefinitely.
posted by zadcat at 8:49 PM on July 1, 2014


My current routine: aeropress - buy/grind coffee to very fine at the store - store in the freezer - heat water with a cheapo Black and Decker drip machine, which gives a constant 80C - preheat the coffee cup with the hot water - do the aeropress thing. A great cup of coffee. Sometimes I add a bit of raw cane sugar into the aeropress as well.
posted by carter at 9:38 PM on July 1, 2014


One thing to sort out for yourself is whether you prefer the taste of coffee made with some sort of paper filter (pourover, drip, aeropress) or without (french press, moka pot, espresso shots.) The paper filters filter out some of the oils. I've actually read that it's healthier to drink coffee that has had those oils filtered out, but I far prefer the taste of coffee that has them.

I love my 6-shot moka pot, but beware that it's a lot of caffeine you're consuming if you use the coffee it brews in the same way as you'd use brewed drip coffee. Moka pots make something more akin to shots of espresso than to drip coffee. I make a cup of coffee with those shots from my moka pot plus half and half and it's delicious, but I've switched to decaf beans.

Also, if you like cardamom, try putting some crushed cardamom pods in the top half of the moka pot (where the coffee comes out) to flavor the coffee a bit.
posted by needs more cowbell at 9:57 PM on July 1, 2014 [2 favorites]


Our French Press sits unused since we got an Aeropress. Add coffee, hot water, stir for 10 seconds and press. I make it strong to dilute with milk and more hot water. Amazing coffee. It does only make two cups at a time though.
posted by Tunierikson at 11:35 PM on July 1, 2014


Our burr grinder broke after 1year - do NOT use oily beans or it will jam.

I didn't notice a taste difference with it.

What kind of beans are you using? Lavazza qualita orro are my fave. Beans change the flavor so much.

And I'm a moka pot person thru and thru. Pour overs aren't rich enough for me, whereas the stove top method brings the oils out and just has so much more depth of flavor.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 5:26 AM on July 2, 2014


I like to cold-brew in my French press pot overnight (in the fridge). I wake up to a chilly, flavorful, and low-acid drink that is heaven in the summer, and which also heats up just fine.

That said, my Aeropress comes out when I want just one strong mug of java. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 6:17 AM on July 2, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'm going to focus on this part of your quest, because I think it will be hard to discern differences if you're covering the flavor of your coffee in milk:

I tend to put a lot of milk in my coffee, because black coffee upsets my stomach. I hear that some of the above methods produce coffee with less acid content. Is that likely to help with the stomach thing?

My experience, and what I've read, tell me that acidity and bitterness are two major complementary components of coffee—coffee beans start out fairly acidic, but the acidity converts to bitterness as the roast becomes darker. You may enjoy darker roasts better, such as an espresso or French roast.

Low acid coffees
posted by Wilbefort at 7:52 AM on July 2, 2014 [2 favorites]


Our burr grinder broke after 1year - do NOT use oily beans or it will jam.

They need to be cleaned periodically -- on our Bodum, it's disassemble it a bit, brush out any gunk, reassemble, run a couple of grinds of white rice through it to clean the accumulated oils off the burrs.

For me, the grinder made the biggest difference. Also, dialling in the method to where you like it best: for the Aeropress, how coarse/fine to grind, how much to grind.

(But conversely the whole Aeropress "recipe" fetishization gets kinda silly. I tried the inverted method: fidgety and spill-prone and seemed to make absolutely no difference to the result.)
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 2:06 PM on July 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


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