I’m a weekend solo coffee drinker who just got given an Aeropress. Does anyone have any tips for optimum usage?
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Just look up inverted method recipes. It will give the most consistently delicious cup.
Also, don’t be afraid to deviate from the coffee community’s “rules”. It’s established 195-205F yields the best cup, however for certain beans, as well as dark roasts, the best cup might be all the way down at 180F.
Experiment. Every bean is different. Practice is the only way you’ll be able to dial in an standardized method and then tailor it easily to different beans.
Also, freshly ground is best if you have a grinder with high consistency. Otherwise I read online that taste tests preferred the taste of preground, consistently ground coffee than freshly ground, inconsistently ground coffee. Up to you.
Have fun, the hobbies of music and coffee pair very will IMO.
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Glad this thread steered back toward its namesake. All that talk of tea was distracting. Here’s to all my coffee-drinking elektronaut family! I’m generally not very picky about most things, and that extends to my coffee drinking. During the work week, I’m usually in a hurry, so it’s Keurig cheap stuff at the moment. I’m thinking about phasing that out, though, the amount of waste generated by those cups is alarming. I’ll either get a re-usable filter cup, or just get rid the thing altogether. On the weekends, I have more time and that’s when I break out the aeropress and manual conical burr grinder. ~$40 of equipment yields the best coffee that I’ve ever made. Once I dialed in the inverted method, there was no turning back. I’ve been entertaining the idea of trying Chemex or a Moka pot, but haven’t gotten around to that. One day soon maybe.
I don’t have a preference for beans / roast / etc. That’s partly due to not really caring much, and partly due to not having the time to dive into it. As long as it’s hot, has some flavor, and the right amount of caffeine, I’m good. I even commit what seems like the cardinal sin of adding a little sugar to my coffee. Sometimes some milk or heavy cream (if we have it). I don’t care what the “rules” are, that’s how I like it.
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Chemex when I’m at home. Black.
Iced Americanos when I’m out on the town. Splash of cream.
One or the other daily.
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I have a Rocket home espresso machine that makes killer lattes and shots for home office and a French Press for work since I cannot have a large noisy machine in the office. Plus brewing java at home gets the creative juices flowing and a year later, I am still learning and experimenting with my two Elektron boxes (OT+A4) that have kept away the G.A.S. monster and still far less expensive than buying a 20k modular Eurorack setup.
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Connect the aero’s MIDI output to the MIDI input of the cup. Set areo to output brew and cup to receive… 
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Sounds like we have same passion for good coffee as we do for synths like the mighty Elektrons! Now I just a cat 
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exactly this … synths, coffee, cats … something else we should add to the list?
Great relationships, where our partners still love us … 
… or because of all of this …
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Oh, I love good coffee. I will travel the city to get a quality espresso… V60 pour-over (or a chemex) is my preferred long coffee. Nottingham is spoiled for excellent coffee spots!
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I loooooved coffee, was a coffee nerd with all the accoutrements, and then like some switch flipped somewhere, suddenly it didn’t wake me up anymore and only had negative effects. Wandering scattered mind, nervousness, sleepiness, etc. I switched to tea and now I’m quite happy. It has none of the ups and downs of coffee, just a smooth, subtle ramp up and imperceptible comedown. I’m also learning how to nerd out about good looseleaf teas, etc.
If anyone’s curious about or looking for a transitional tea away from coffee, I recommend Russian black teas (sourced from Ceylon, I believe). Get them at a Euro deli/market. Strong, bold, flavorful.
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I recently discovered you can now get excellent decaffeinated coffee beans fresh from a few small roasters such as https://www.decadentdecaf.com in the UK.
I’ve no downs from coffee, working out usually keeps the energy consistent. Bag of decaf has been unopened in the pantry for months when I accidentally got it BOGO… Should probably toss it…
Been consistently going to a local roaster each week. I don’t want to go anywhere else, it’s too good.
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Time to buy more filters for my Kalita Wave (single cup) and considering switching to Chemex (yet again).
illy gourmet milano. of course freshly gringed just before brewing it! In a Delonghi espresso machine.
Drinking some right now! It’s working!
Experts don’ t recommend using the fruity tasting ( some call modern treated and roasted) coffees with a simple ( edit: small!) bialetti machine. But it tastes nice for me often. At the moment something from ruanda, but can be aethiopia, peru… The expensive ones they do recomend for bialetti ( chocolaty, nutty aroma etc) mostly I don‘t like.
Then rather a simple organic blend.
I can recommend a wilfa swart aroma grinder for bialetti, french press etc. Its not recommended/good enough for real espresso.
I drink 3-4 cups of espresso a day. Made in delonghi, ground with an IberItal grinder. I drink Blake Blend from Hasbean.
Also drink Earl Grey tea, often.
Also drink Jasmine Pearls from Teapigs.
I think caffienated beverages are the only way I can survive my job.
I picked up a Flair machine just before the plague started. Something about the limited availability of good espresso in the Bay Area. To this day, I don’t understand the obsession with drip when public restrooms are harder to find than honest politicians.
Combined with the surprisingly good Breville grinder, I’ve been very happy with the results. Even better, the grinder and lever machine have both payed for themselves already, and that doesn’t even consider (lack of) plague risk.
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