Perfect Coffee at Home by Haft & Suarez - Book review

This was written by a couple of retired U.S. Marines who decided they wanted to learn to make good coffee. And write a book. It turns out to be a wonderful exploration into what electronic publishing can be, and a very good example of how to write about preparing food in general. And it has inspired me to try three forms of preparing coffee other than the kitchen coffee maker that is the workhorse of our household.

First the content. The meat of the book are discussions of various ways of preparing coffee: french press, pour over, Moka pot, Technivorm, cold brew, and Aeropress. For each of these, there is a light-hearted narrative on how they learned the method, and several ways of demonstrating it. A detailed set of instructions with pictures, a video, a discussion on how to scale up or down the recipe, and a short form of the recipe (like you would get on a recipe card). Around these are discussions on various aspects of coffee making, light roast vs. dark roast, grinding the beans, the golden ratio of beans to water, water temperature, all with a discussion on how the different choices interact with each other, the method of preparing coffee, and the taste. And a historical quote and jazz to go with it.

Around the discussions of preparation of coffee are two sets of stories. First is the entire culture around drinking coffee, including the market for coffee and the culture of coffee enthusiasts and connoisseurs (and they discuss the difference!) Second is their story. The nice part about this is that their backgrounds are entirely unpretentious, and their essential story is that they only got good because they were willing to be awful. Because the end goal is to enjoy drinking coffee. And that means trying and experimenting to what you want. Their goal in this book is to provide methods, but also teach you where you can change things, and what the effects will be.

Since we had our son, my wife and I have stagnated in tasting food in general. And I have gone from switching between the french press and kitchen coffee maker to using the coffee maker exclusively. In the week since I started reading this, I've decided to pay much more attention to making coffee. And even pulling up old notes on timing my french press, making cold brew coffee, and even the Moka Pot that I have but don't use. And I've enjoyed my coffee, and even the little changes from brew to brew to make it better. My wife has also enjoyed the results, even passing up on the milk she usually adds because the coffee maker tends to make things burnt. Now, the coffee maker is not going to be retired, it has advantages in ease of setup and cleanup, but every now and then I will be wanting to taste my coffee and I'll pull out other things.

I think the purpose of a good book about food is not a set of recipes or pretty pictures or passing on knowledge(although these are nice). I think the goal is to inspire you to enhance your enjoyment of eating and drinking. And this book does it in a way that uses the multi-media opportunities of the electronic book format to transmit this in many ways to engage the reader/listener. Oorah!

Note:  This book is currently only available through the Apple iBookstore due to the fact it is the only format the currently allows for the embedding of multiple forms of media.  The book  website is http://www.perfectcoffeeathome.com/.

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Beaver Falls Coffee & Tea: Kenya AA "Eagaads" Estate

Beaver Falls Coffee & Tea Blog
3219 4th Ave
Beaver Falls, PA 15010

We got a bag of the BFC&T Kenya AA "Eagaads" Estate - medium-dark roast this time.  Actually, since the last time I wrote about this roaster we did get a couple bags of coffee from other sources (meaning other coffee shops).  And one thing we've decided, we apparently have the taste buds that can appreciate the difference between a a good roaster and your standard coffee-shop coffee. 

[Digression]:  I regards Starbucks like I do lots of other things I use, the bottom end of good quality.  This tends to be a sweet spot on the quality/price curve.  A very good place to be until I decide that is a part of my life I want real good quality, and then it is a starting point.  No, the beans we got were not from Starbucks, but they were in the general neighborhood as far as quality is concerned. [/Digression]

We've brewed this a few times.  Mostly drip (we've been busy).  This morning I used the French press at 6 min.  Very happy with it.  It was richer in flavor then the beans we have gotten from other sources (presumably dark roasted, although it was not specified), and we like the medium-dark roast better then the BFC&T medium-light roast (enough subtleties for us, and the press time we need to get the flavor we like for medium-light is at the point when more bitterness comes out of the bean.)

Next, we are waiting for BFC&T to get their Guatamalan again.

Beaver Falls Coffee and Tea: Guatamalan Huehuetenango

Beaver Falls Coffee & Tea Blog

Beaver Falls Coffee & Tea is a coffee shop nearby Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA. It was started by a couple of alumni who just didn't quite leave, basically the stereotypical college coffee shop. But last year they have started the next step, roasting the beans. We occasionally get beans from them, and this time we got some Guatemalan Huehuetenango (which were Direct Trade).

Why is this something of note? It turns out, like most food, coffee is time sensitive. The green beans are shipped from there origins, but all the steps after that effect the taste, starting from when they are roasted. It matters how long from roasting they are brewed, it also matters how long between grinding and brewing,and of course, how long they are exposed to direct heat (i.e. either take the coffee off the brewer and pour it in a thermos within 1/2 hour or dump it.)

So a year ago, Beaver Falls Coffee and Tea started roasting. The other roaster in the Pittsburgh area is La Prima, but they have no outlets in the North Hills (I know, I've asked their marketing director and after much discussion among the staff, came up blanks.) So we made a point of using them, even asking them for different style of roasts to try the range of roasts (light to dark).

We got the Guatemalan this week. It is a medium-light roast. Based on prior experience, we French-pressed it at 7 minutes (for most coffees, we French Press for 5 minutes). At this point, it was still a little light, but we were at the point where the bitterness in the bean was coming out, so I think we have the brew time just right. But the beans were probably too lightly roasted for my tastes.

The dark roasts are probably easier to quality control and these have gone well (which is why if you get coffee at places that ship their roasted beans from somewhere else, you should get dark roasts). The medium and lighter roasts have more nuances, but our experiences with Beaver Falls Coffee & Tea is that they are inconsistent, and their mediums and lights are often too light (not as much taste)

UPDATE: Batch 2 was this afternoon. This time I ground the beans to medium grind (rather then coarse like I usually do for French Press) and had a bit more beans in there. Better. I get more of the taste. Again, at 7 min, I can taste just a hint of the bitterness that tells me that I better not let the beans brew any longer. Of course, now I have to use a second filter to filter out the grounds, but this mostly works. But we'll probably make a point to get medium-dark roasted in the future.

The Clover at 21st Street Coffee

I've been wanting to try coffee made on The Clover ever since I first heard of this. Of course, there is only one in Pittsburgh, 21st Street Coffee in the Strip. Which I don't go to all that often. So a few weeks ago, my wife and I made the decision, we will go to 21st Street Coffee sometime. And today was sometime.

What is the big deal? Well, the Clover fixes the quantity of beans, the water temperature, and the time steeped for a single cup serving of coffee. That means the coffee is fresh (ground just before being added to the Clover) and the barista and coffee place can experiment with those three settings to get the best coffee given the bean and the roast.

S, C (who we conned into coming) and I had three cups of coffee: Kenya, Costa Rica, and Honduras (all roasted at Chicago's very own Intelligencia). My Kenya was a bit mild for my taste. We liked the Costa Rica. Honduras was not bad. But at the end of the day, we bought a bag of the Costa Rica.

The benefit of the Clover? The taste that is there comes through more then normal and the coffee is smooth, more than drip or the french press, or even vacuum press. S and I were tasting the coffees like they were wines. Now, I'm not going to pay wine prices for this, but it is quite good.

Cold Brew Coffee: Attempt # 1

My fiancee was complaining about coffee withdrawal. And one thing we share is a love for good coffee. But doctor's orders. But I half remember that there is a way to make less acidic coffee. And a bit of research revealed cold brew coffee.

The basic premise is the acids and oils are extracted from the coffee bean by the hot water in the brewing process. But cold water will still extract the coffee flavor, without the acids and oils. It just takes a little longer. Like hours instead of minutes. Now, you could buy the Toddy system (created by a guy named Tod) that does this. But that just seems silly. So I figured I'd use my french press for this. Because that is what a french press does, allow ground coffee to soak in water. And I could sacrifice use of my french press for a day. After all, it is going for a good cause.

1. Grind coffee on coarse (i.e. French Press style) for 6 cups worth. I was using Agate Pass Blend from Grounds for Change (a medium-roast bean)
2. Add 1/3 of the ground coffee to the French Press. Add water and ensure that the ground coffee is soaking (i.e. not clumping). Wait 5 minutes
3. Repeat (2). Wait 5 minutes and repeat again with the remainder of the coffee and fill the French Press beaker. If needed, mix gently to ensure the coffee is soaking.
4. Cover press and set aside at room temperature. Time 8:38 AM.
5. Time 10:30 PM. Use French press to separate out the grounds. Pour coffee concentrate into Lexan bottle. Yields 700 ml of concentrate. Refridgerate (for storage. If this was morning, I would have a cup and store the remainder.)



The next morning I made myself two test cups of coffee. The first cup was done at 1 part coffee to 2 parts water (that had been brought to a boil.)



It was ok. Like normal drip coffee (which I find to be weak).

So next I tried again, at 1 part coffee to 1 part water.



Well, this did taste ok. But a bit cold. Next time I should heat up the coffee concentrate first, to make it warmer.

Trial #2


So, after delivering batch #1, try again. This time I set the grinder on a setting halfway between what I use for drip and what I use for French Press.

Brew from 6:00 PM to 7:15 AM. Since it is a finer grind, pour the concentrate through a filter to strain out the silt. This time I filled the French Press up a bit higher so it yielded 800 ml of concentrate.

Prepare at 1 to 1, first microwaving the concentrate before adding the hot water.

It is a decent cup of coffee. Very smooth. Not as flavorful as I would like, but that is probably because of the oils and acids not being in the coffee.

Supposedly, cold brewing coffee yields 1/3 the acidity of drip coffee and people whose stomachs are affected by drip coffee can take this. Hopefully the customer is happy.

Packages

This morning was marked by two of us in my office getting packages (there are four in the office, with one of them out for R&R.) And both of us got two bags of coffee. Mine was Intelligencia (a coffee shop in Chicago) His was Dunkin Donuts. We have decent supplies for a while.

Observation: How to tell who is the newlywed junior officer? The one whose wife sends care packages at an interval shorter then the time it takes for the package to get here. The home-made cookies are a confirmation that said officer is a newlywed. (lesson of the day: a slice of bread added to baked goods absorbes moisture from the goodies)

Woke up today to the sound of pipes peeling. Each command had their own observance, bagpipes, missing man formation from the Blackhawks, etc. We had a flag raising in the morning. One of the senior officers here had a flag from home in honor of his brother, who died in action. We're not the snappiest unit here, being a mishmash. But all the same, we'll honor him.

There are a number of tributes on the web today. I rather like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Take a look. Henry V, we happy few, we band of brothers.

Band of brothers: Immortal words to honor the warriors