if it makes you feel better, i have technically been a coffee professional.
e: and i ahem am not the most intuitive at mathing. if i can do it...!
toddy = a proprietary commercial cold brewing process/system, used as slang for all cold brew (like Kleenex, a proprietary eponym)
walk-in = a large, walk-in fridge or freezer, good for screaming in rage without alerting customers
The walk-in freezer at Maccas was good for releasing pent-up anger. The thing is super-duper sound proof due to all the insulation, so I could just walk in there and scream about shitty customers all I liked.
I like doing iced coffee using pour over with some ice replacing roughly 1/3 of the water you'd normally use. Comes out pretty smooth and not as good as cold brew, but pretty close and its much faster in a pinch.
i miss my nice regulars. not enough to go back, but there were some real sweethearts.
anyway, coffee. my body has betrayed me (welcome to your 30s/life!), so i have pretty much switched to decaf, and lactose-free milks. i feel like the goddamn most dilettante when one of my orders gets called, but the rare excellent decaf espresso and perfectly-steamed cortado is a thing of beauty. i just want to import German coffee culture so i can have all the baller perfect-proportion, commonly-available decaf lactose-frei milchkaffee forever.
i tried to order a cortado from a Starbucks while traveling, and the girl apparently kept ringing me for a con panna. no! just... a single shot, with an equal amount of steamed milk. charge it however, that's fine. the second time (i was sleepier than i initially thought), i managed to catch the barista and say no whipped cream, and she gave me such a look. i drank my tepid shot and got back on the road.
Am I going to waste my time if I try to just use a simple grinder and put some regular grinds in it, grind them up a bit finer, and use them in a moka pot?
cold brew is super easy once you've got the materials.
5 lbs of a coarse grind, 16 quarts water to yield about 3 gallons concentrate after 24 hours. paper filter inside a silk bag minimizes sludge.
...you don't have a walk-in?
(hue hue hue)
{HEY LOOK, if i'm gonna be stuck with years of food-service minutiae cluttering my brain forever, i'm gonna make stupid jokes}
i should try making some decaf toddy in my French press...!
anyway, a slightly less ass-kicking ratio is 1:1, so you could do 1/4lb to 4 cups and still get a concentrate that will store well for about two weeks.
and steamed toddy tastes better than iced espresso, so if you only have resources for one...
I missed the key word "concentrate" when I read through that and was flabbergasted at how low the extraction was. I'm glad the coffee I was drinking kicked in when I was halfway done the math
Mornings for work and when I just want a quick cup, I will grind up some beans (I have a great place nearby that gets freshly roasted beans every sunday) and use my auto drip
Midday coffee, its french press or moka pot. If I am really dragging ass, I'll forgo fancy beans and toss some cafe bustelo into the moka pot.
@Tox asked me about this so I figured I might as well make a post to the thread proper.
How to make cuban coffee properly.
A critical element is the foam layer that goes on top of the coffee. When making it with a moka pot you need something to bring that foam layer to the top.
What you do is, take the first bit of coffee that is coming out of the moka pot and pour it over the sugar. You then whisk the mixture into a foam, then introduce the coffee to the mix, and stir until the foam comes to the top.
This video, despite being horrific in its use of white sugar instead of demerara sugar, is a good example.
Erin The RedThe Name's Erin! Woman, Podcaster, Dungeon Master, IT nerd, Parent, Trans. AMABaton Rouge, LARegistered Userregular
My cold brew is complete!
I used preground stuff from the store so it was fine than I'd like but still damn tasty! Tiny splash of milk and I'm all set.
I recommend it for anyone on the fence about giving it a go
I really need to grab some decaf the next time I got to the store. Sometimes I want a cup of coffee in the evening but I do not want all of that caffeine.
yay got my moka pot today! Won't get to actually use it until Tuesday probably, unless I just make a pot tomorrow for the hey of it.
I did notice it's very loud unscrewing the two parts. Guessing that's just the whole metal on metal thing. Probably need to find some sort of lubricant.
Also re: frothing milk apparently the best way to do it is just get a container with sealing lid, fill it up about 1/3-1/2 with milk, and shake the absolute fuck out of it (it's well documented that fucks prevent frothing, so make sure all the fucks have been shaken out). I dunno I usually prefer that sort of super low tech solution unless a milk frother is just legit that much better, but I feel like a hand whisk probably does a good enough job as well as long as you beat it enough.
Also also I experimented with brown sugar last night. Ours is old and lumpy as hell, so I tossed some bread in the container and hopefully it'll be better tomorrow.
i haven't tried it (at all, whoops), but i imagine these smoothie shaker bottle things would work pretty well, too?
i see 'em free (with purchase?) at the grocery store a lot..
i haven't tried it (at all, whoops), but i imagine these smoothie shaker bottle things would work pretty well, too?
i see 'em free (with purchase?) at the grocery store a lot..
That's exactly what I was thinking about picking up. They've got pretty cheap ones on Amazon
Personally I prefer to do it in the fridge. Never tried it at room temp but it doesn't seem necessary (and might be preferable to do in the fridge to avoid pulling out some of the bitter bean oils).
It is good. Filtering it was tricky. Pouring out of a mason jar is sometimes inaccurate. Just used my drip machine basket and carafe to filter it since the only metal sieve thing they had at the store was kitchen aid brand and marked for 34 dollars.
Maybe a little bitter actaually. but I used a little closer to 1 cup of beans than 3 fourths cup besides the whole room temp thing. But a bit of milk and a drop of simple syrup makes a nice cool beverage.
I filtered it around 8:30 this morning basically exactly 12 hours so that isn't it.
+1
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Erin The RedThe Name's Erin! Woman, Podcaster, Dungeon Master, IT nerd, Parent, Trans. AMABaton Rouge, LARegistered Userregular
I found out you can roast coffee beans in a hot air popcorn popper.
So I bought one. And 5 lbs of unroasted coffee beans.
Roasted my first batch tonight. Will try it tomorrow morning. But I am excited and hopeful!
Also used the popper to make popcorn.
Put some vegetable oil in a spray bottle and spritzed the popcorn after it was done so my flavor powder would stick.
This time I used preheated water so as not to cook the grounds and then ran it under cold water right as it finished brewing to stop it from getting too bitter.
Still added a tiny drip of simple syrup to mine sad to say though.
I found out you can roast coffee beans in a hot air popcorn popper.
So I bought one. And 5 lbs of unroasted coffee beans.
Roasted my first batch tonight. Will try it tomorrow morning. But I am excited and hopeful!
Also used the popper to make popcorn.
Put some vegetable oil in a spray bottle and spritzed the popcorn after it was done so my flavor powder would stick.
A+ foodxperiment night
I just roast mine in the oven. It takes a bit of experimentation to get it right. Report back with results!
Posts
The walk-in freezer at Maccas was good for releasing pent-up anger. The thing is super-duper sound proof due to all the insulation, so I could just walk in there and scream about shitty customers all I liked.
anyway, coffee. my body has betrayed me (welcome to your 30s/life!), so i have pretty much switched to decaf, and lactose-free milks. i feel like the goddamn most dilettante when one of my orders gets called, but the rare excellent decaf espresso and perfectly-steamed cortado is a thing of beauty. i just want to import German coffee culture so i can have all the baller perfect-proportion, commonly-available decaf lactose-frei milchkaffee forever.
i tried to order a cortado from a Starbucks while traveling, and the girl apparently kept ringing me for a con panna. no! just... a single shot, with an equal amount of steamed milk. charge it however, that's fine. the second time (i was sleepier than i initially thought), i managed to catch the barista and say no whipped cream, and she gave me such a look. i drank my tepid shot and got back on the road.
Do I need to get something like Cafe Bustelo?
e: I use one of these, for reference
I missed the key word "concentrate" when I read through that and was flabbergasted at how low the extraction was. I'm glad the coffee I was drinking kicked in when I was halfway done the math
they just feel nice to use and have
Steam // Secret Satan
The instructions inside were kind of vague
What's a good grind of coffee to get for it?
Will already ground and bagged coffee that I can get in the grocery work for it?
Or does it need to be ground differently?
Damn fine cup of coffee right here
Steam ID XBL: JohnnyChopsocky PSN:Stud_Beefpile WiiU:JohnnyChopsocky
Midday coffee, its french press or moka pot. If I am really dragging ass, I'll forgo fancy beans and toss some cafe bustelo into the moka pot.
I should really add a chemex to my collection.
I had on with cinimon in and and it smelled so good.
How to make cuban coffee properly.
A critical element is the foam layer that goes on top of the coffee. When making it with a moka pot you need something to bring that foam layer to the top.
What you do is, take the first bit of coffee that is coming out of the moka pot and pour it over the sugar. You then whisk the mixture into a foam, then introduce the coffee to the mix, and stir until the foam comes to the top.
This video, despite being horrific in its use of white sugar instead of demerara sugar, is a good example.
I used preground stuff from the store so it was fine than I'd like but still damn tasty! Tiny splash of milk and I'm all set.
I recommend it for anyone on the fence about giving it a go
I gotta get since equipment I guess huh.
I only have one pitcher and the closest thing to a strainer I have is big hole plastic pasta colenders.
Can pour through coffee filters and styrofoam cups! I know from experience haha
Also still thinking of getting a moka pot and something to froth milk.
I did notice it's very loud unscrewing the two parts. Guessing that's just the whole metal on metal thing. Probably need to find some sort of lubricant.
Also re: frothing milk apparently the best way to do it is just get a container with sealing lid, fill it up about 1/3-1/2 with milk, and shake the absolute fuck out of it (it's well documented that fucks prevent frothing, so make sure all the fucks have been shaken out). I dunno I usually prefer that sort of super low tech solution unless a milk frother is just legit that much better, but I feel like a hand whisk probably does a good enough job as well as long as you beat it enough.
Also also I experimented with brown sugar last night. Ours is old and lumpy as hell, so I tossed some bread in the container and hopefully it'll be better tomorrow.
I am excite!
i see 'em free (with purchase?) at the grocery store a lot..
That's exactly what I was thinking about picking up. They've got pretty cheap ones on Amazon
It's really big, but I got the 24oz/12 cup one, so yeah. Luckily it fits on the burner.
Should I steep it at room temp or in the fridge?
Also got a moka pot and tried it out, just did 1 third coffee 1 third warmed up milk and like three big spoons of milk foam.
It's pretty good, though I'm used to taking coffee with sugar and didn't add any so it's a good deal stronger of a flavor than I'm used too.
Personally I prefer to do it in the fridge. Never tried it at room temp but it doesn't seem necessary (and might be preferable to do in the fridge to avoid pulling out some of the bitter bean oils).
I guess I'm commit ed to room temp for 12 hours at this point.
Next time I'll try the fridge and compare.
Also I need beans now, guess I'm going to the local roaster tomorrow.
How'd it turn out?
Maybe a little bitter actaually. but I used a little closer to 1 cup of beans than 3 fourths cup besides the whole room temp thing. But a bit of milk and a drop of simple syrup makes a nice cool beverage.
1 - use a slightly courser grind
2 - use half as much water (or twice as much coffee)
3 - let is sit for ~12 hours
The last one was because much over 12 hours and you apparently start pulling in the bitterness from the beans. Maybe that's what happened?
So I bought one. And 5 lbs of unroasted coffee beans.
Roasted my first batch tonight. Will try it tomorrow morning. But I am excited and hopeful!
Also used the popper to make popcorn.
Put some vegetable oil in a spray bottle and spritzed the popcorn after it was done so my flavor powder would stick.
A+ foodxperiment night
Especially with some warm frothed milk!
This time I used preheated water so as not to cook the grounds and then ran it under cold water right as it finished brewing to stop it from getting too bitter.
Still added a tiny drip of simple syrup to mine sad to say though.
if you have a whisk you could just beat the ever loving hell out of it.
Or use a blender but cleaning milk from a blender can be hard.
I just roast mine in the oven. It takes a bit of experimentation to get it right. Report back with results!
Hope it works well for me the only local rosters in town take like 30 minutes of driving to get to and then you have to somehow park.