So I’ve been trying to find a more precise description of the taste of regular old coffee (8 O’clock – to be exact). “It tastes like coffee” just doesn’t seem right. Part of my philosophy about training our palates to appreciate good coffee is that it just takes practice and the proper vocabulary.
I used my French press with 8 O’ clock beans this morning; added a little milk; poured it into my coffee mug; got on the bus and went to work. As I read my book – I typically borrow 3-5 books a month from the local library, in the back of my mind I kept asking myself, “So is it nutty” Chocolaty? Earthy?” Then reality hit. “It’s just plain old bitter!”
The poorer the quality of the coffee, the harder it is to get past the bitterness of the caffeine. The bitterness on the tongue just overpowers any subtle aromas the coffee may offer – or not offer.
Let’s give 8 O’ clock Coffee a break – it really is not that bitter – not like Maxwell House or Nescafe, but neither are there any subtle aromas that can overcome the bitter caffeine. At least the caffeine kicked in by the time my bus ride ended.
My coworker, John, asked me this morning, “Did you have coffee this morning?”
I replied, “Yeah, but I’m drippin’ 8 O’ Clock.”
It must have been in the way that I said it. But John took it as a statement of utter desperation. Not only did I use 8 O’ Clock beans, but I didn’t even use my French press or vacuum pot – I brought out my drip maker! Where is my coffee ethics? Where is the snobbery?
I may have felt that way, but I didn’t mean it that way.
Last night I bought a 12 oz. bag of 8 O’ Clock coffee from Giant Eagle. $5.25 on sale. It didn’t hit me until today, but that’s $7 a lb. Green Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from La Prima is $6.50 a lb. Sometimes when the pocketbook gets thin, it’s easy to feel guilty indulging in good coffee. But good coffee (granted I have to roast it myself – but that’s half the fun anyway) is cheaper than cheap Giant Eagle coffee that’s even on sale!
No more will my conscience cheat me from a good cup of coffee in the morning!
So what do I do with my 12 oz bag of 8 O’ Clock? Well I want to explore how to best go about learning how to best describe what I taste in coffee. So here is my ambitious endeavor: can I describe the taste of 8 O’Clock coffee? Is it possible to be more descriptive than saying, “It tastes like coffee”?
Whenever I’m in experimental mode with my coffee explorations, I seem to have a lot to say on this blog. Whenever I tinker with doing things that could possibly turn my interest into a business, I’m find that I am at a lost for words.
So what am I tinkering with? I’m putting together a number of instructional PowerPoint slide shows that give very easy to follow directions to make coffee in a French press and in a vacuum pot. I regularly use both of these brewing methods. I’ve found what works best for me. Now whether or not to sell these things on their own or with actual French presses or vacuum pots on eBay is what I’m debating about.
The other thing I’ve been tinkering with is the halogen heater that I last posted. Trying to make one that is cheap, with easily replaceable bulbs, and safe so no one gets electrocuted in the process of using it, has been a challenge. I was thinking that it would nice to have something portable that restaurants could bring to your table after a nice dinner. But then again, how often am I able to go out to have a nice dinner, especially with four kids?
Hardcore coffee aficionados are able to distinguish the subtle taste differences in coffee made from a French press, an Aeropress, a Chemex, or a vacuum/siphon pot. I don’t quite consider myself to be in that league yet. I do taste some differences (although I’ve never had a cup made by Aeropress) but not enough to recommend fellow novices.
But the honest truth about vacuum/siphon pots is that it puts on a great show. If you want a dramatic improvement of taste over a drip coffee maker, make some coffee in a French press. It is the cheapest and the easiest. If you want to be able to feel like you’ve become an overnight coffee expert, make coffee in a vacuum/siphon pot.
Does it drive you crazy to think that you might be the same a year from now as you are today? It drives me crazy. If the stories I have to tell tomorrow are the same as the ones I tell today, then there’s been no change – just living in the status quo. Well I don’t think it has to be so. Education can change us. Certain experiences can change us. If we are driven by something within us – change should come.
Let’s get back to coffee. I began this little journey about five months ago. All I wanted was a better morning cup of coffee. Nothing overly ambitious. Then as I traveled down this path, I stumbled on some wonderful discoveries and even had an epiphany! My morning cup of coffee has definitely improved.
I now have stories: 1) eye-opening flavors by using a French press, 2) filling my house and my brother-in-law’s house with smoke, while attempting to roast coffee in the oven, 3) finally roasting coffee with a popcorn popper from Target, 4) realizing that bad tasting coffee from the supermarket may just be rancid.
Am I done yet? No way! I’m sure there is much more to discover out there. I have purposely decided to wait a little while before embarking into the universe of espresso.
I don’t have an unlimited budget. I can’t afford $600 coffee grinders or $2000 espresso machines. But I don’t think it really matters. A really good cup of coffee doesn’t demand ultra high prices. Maybe a perfect cup of coffee requires a pretty penny. But I’m still not sure that my palate can appreciate the perfect cup.
After drinking freshly roasted coffee for about a month, I tried two store-bought coffees: 1) Dunkin’ Donuts and 2) Marketplace Coffee from Giant Eagle.
The Dunkin’ Donuts coffee was on sale for about $5.50 for a 12 oz. bag. After making a mugful in my French press, I took it on the bus on my way to work. I found my stomach was upset. Since it was on sale, I chocked it up to old beans, hence the sale.
This past weekend I got the La Prima’s Coffee Roaster too late on Sunday afternoon to replenish my green bean supply. So I went to Giant Eagle to get some coffee, especially since my father-in-law was coming to work on my basement. I decided that for the price at approximately $6.50 a 1b. I filled up a bag with whole Sumatra beans. It looked dark roasted, with the oils shining on the surface of the beans. I made a pot with my Cuisinart Grind ‘n Brew. It wasn’t bad. The next morning I made a mugful with my French press with the same beans. I took that on the bus on my way to work. Just like the Dunkin Donuts, my stomach was upset.
Hmm. What’s up with these store-bought coffees? In the past I’ve always attributed the upset stomach to the caffeine content. But during the month I drank my fresh roasted coffee, I never had this problem. Actually, I really looked forward to my bus rides with my mug in hand. I found the best cup of coffee was made with beans half from Kenya and the other half from Brazil. The Brazilian beans give the coffee a very sweet taste that becomes more and more chocolaty and nutty as the cup cools. The Kenyan beans makes the cup bright in flavor – tantalizes the taste buds – when first sipping the brew. As the coffee worked its way down to the gut, there was a warm comfortable feeling, especially on cold mornings in the teens and twenties.
So what do I think? I think the upset stomach is from the oils in the roasted coffee beans going rancid. I’m a chemist working in a lab analyzing proteins being studied by biologists and medical doctors. Just by being exposed to air proteins readily oxidize and hydrolyze – both being chemical processes that take place when things decompose.
I’ve heard that the rule of thumb for roasted coffee beans is that they are good for two weeks. Anything longer than that – they are going bad. So how long do beans sit on the shelves or coffee bins at Giant Eagle? It’s hard to believe it would be less than two weeks.
Are all coffees sold at supermarkets rancid or at least starting to go rancid?
Let me break it down. There are only three things to deal with when making the best cup of coffee: 1) the beans, 2) the water, 3) the brewing method.
THE BEANS: Buy beans of good quality. Buy beans roasted to your liking. Only use freshly roasted beans. For the perfectionists, fresh roasted coffee only lasts for 2 weeks, then they’re stale. Don’t store them in the freezer or refrigerator – it only makes them taste bad. For the very taste, grind the beans within seconds of adding the hot water to them.
THE WATER: Make sure the water tastes good. I just use a Brita filter. Then make sure the water is hot enough. Most home drip coffee makers, if not all, do not get the water temperature hot enough. So how hot is hot enough? 190-200F. To get this temperature without a thermometer, heat up the water in a kettle until boiling. Then wait for about 45 seconds. Now it’s hot enough.
THE BREWING METHOD: If you got the beans and the water right, then the brewing method becomes a matter of preference. I immediately noticed the difference between drip and French press. I also like Vacuum or Syphon pots. This past weekend I didn’t have any of my coffee makers – so I used the drip basket with the filter paper, placed it over the coffee pot, ground the beans and poured it into the basket, poured hot water into the basket and let it drip. Since the water was hot enough and the beans were fresh, the coffee tasted quite good.
One of the most memorable scenes in cinematic history is Tony Montoya is finally hooked on cocaine in Scarface. In an earlier post, I mentioned that the best business model for converting coffee drinkers into drinkers of quality specialty coffee is the drug dealers’ model – give away free coffee, after a week they’ll be hooked.
Well last week I found myself in Tony Montoya’s place. I was out of coffee. I threw away my 8 O’Clock coffee. I was out of good specialty coffee – not even Starbucks. I did have a little bit of my friend’s Maxwell House coffee – which I mentioned in an earlier post, he said to throw away. We I poured the Maxwell House in to my french press. I then had to warm up half a cup of milk to put into my travel mug, before pouring in the Maxwell House from the french press. I thought it would be bearable. Ugh! My stomach could not take it – even with all that milk!
I recently heard that my brother-in-law is as ruined as me.
I’ve been at my brother-in-law’s for the the past five days. He normally drinks at least one whole pot of coffee, if not more, throughout the whole day.
Since we’ve been here, I’ve been making coffee in either my French press or the Vacuum pot. We tried the El Salvador coffee. He felt the taste ended too quickly. So we’ve been drinking Starbuck’s Sumatra.
This morning, while rushing to get the kids ready for church, my brother-in-law made a pot of Maxwell House lite. Oh man! Did that taste bad!
The same thing happened to me with my 8 O’ Clock beans.
So I’ve been wondering how to start up an online coffee business. Aha! What better way than the drug dealer method. Give away one or two pounds of good coffee until they can’t go back to bad tasting coffee.
This morning I went back to Old Faithful, cheap, Giant Eagle-bought 8 O’ Clock. Oh man! It was bad! It’s raw bitterness (not the same bitterness as Maxwell House though) bit me in my recently specialty coffee initiated taste buds. Ouch!
I guess that means for me that there is no turning back. Can’t stay on the same side of the bridge. Gotta cross over to the other side.
Here is the good thing about the other side of the bridge – where specialty coffee reigns: the world of coffee is broad and diverse. In whatever way I want my palate tickled, tantalized, or traumatized, there is probably a bean out there to satisfy me.
With me 1/4 cup of beans and my 4 cup French press, steep time of 4 minutes, I am ready to embark on my journey. I can now travel the coffee globe – visiting Africa, Central and South America, even Asia and a few Pacific Islands. Once I have travelled, I can then become a travel guide to other fellow coffee drinkers.
So I’ve been trying to find a more precise description of the taste of regular old coffee (8 O’clock – to be exact). “It tastes like coffee” just doesn’t seem right. Part of my philosophy about training our palates to appreciate good coffee is that it just takes practice and the proper vocabulary.
