19th January 2012, 13:20
| #271 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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22nd January 2012, 11:11
| #272 |
| Senior - BHPian  | Re: A YetiguideŽ to Coffee Thought of sharing with you all a couple of coffee shots I took! Hope you guys have a great sunday morning with a hot brew of your choice instant or filter    |
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13th May 2012, 19:58
| #273 |
| BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Melbourne
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25th June 2012, 16:54
| #274 |
| Newbie Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore
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| Re: A YetiguideŽ to Coffee The short of it is there are no decent coffee machines available in India. You'll need to get one off the internet and pay duties for the same. I also would advice you to build up your setup over time, as getting a good espresso from home can be an expensive option. There are 4 parts to getting a good shot of espresso. 1. the coffee beans 2. the grind 3. the machine 4. the human element (you) THE COFFEE The best coffee in India currently is Mysore Gold, an Arabica bean grown in the South of India. It's nowhere near the best coffee available in the world, but it isn't too bad. In fact it even has some international following. It's available at Kalmane Coffee in Bangalore (not sure where it's available elsewhere in India). You can buy some decent coffee online, try and get some Ethiopian medium/dark roast for espresso to start with. This is the part of the world that coffee originated in, so might as well start at the beginning (some historians claim it started in Yemen). There are 4 kinds of roasts. Light, Medium, Medium/Dark (or City roast) and Dark roast. Espresso is mostly made of the Medium and City roasts. The Light roast is more acidic and mostly preferred by serious coffee drinkers who prefer their coffee more acidic and can actually make out differences in where the coffee came from, by drinking a cup! And most likely their preferred method of making coffee with be the 'pour over' method rather than an espresso. Chicory is an Indian additive to coffee, its a root that has no taste and contributes mostly to aroma, and since India traditionally made coffee out lower quality Robusta beans (the stuff that most freeze dried instant coffee is made of with added flavouring) chicory was needed to fool the taste buds into thinking we were drinking a better concoction than it was. Skip chicory in your coffee. THE GRIND The first step to getting good espresso is getting a good grinder to grind your beans. An average espresso machine will give you better output if your grind is right. As soon as you grind your coffee, the essential oils in the coffee start to evaporate and the coffee loses body. All this happens within minutes of grinding your coffee. So if you want great coffee, you'll have to grind your own unfortunately. There are two kinds of grinders available, the cheap blade grinder (which is like a masala grinder) and a more expensive burr grinder. The blade grinder chops up your beans into irregular sizes and there is no way to control the consistency of the grind (a very important step in getting repeat good cups of coffee). The conical burr grinder has two serrated plates in the shape of a funnel, and grinds the coffee between them. You can control the quality of the grind by controlling the separation between the two blades. And can get the same grind every single time. Good burr grinders are made by companies like Baratza and Gaggia and cost about 10-15K Rs. I would advice you to get a decent grinder first! Why? Well, mostly because of physics. The water in the espresso machine finds the path of least resistance through the coffee grind. If the grind is inconsistent, the water will not be able to extract the maximum flavour/chemicals from your coffee. So you will never (NEVER!) get the full flavour that your coffee is capable of. The closest analogy I can think of, would be buying a cheap lens and using it on an expensive camera. THE MACHINE The good news is, there are LOTS of options. The bad news is there are lots of options of bad machines out there. Most entry level espresso machines are rubbish. An easy way to determine whether an espresso machine is any good, is to check the kind of portafilter they use. (Portafilter is the steel/brass cup that holds the coffee grind in the espresso machine). Most (if not all) entry level espresso machines have pressurized portafilters, which means that the portafilter does not reply on the "human element" (the next step) to achieve the right pressure on the grind for the extraction. You'll understand this better when I explain the human element in making espresso. The 'good' espresso machines start from the next range of machines, which are called commercial machines. These machines usually have two boilers, one for espresso and another for the frother (a separate nozzle that foams your milk to make cappucinos etc). There is too much to talk about when it comes to buying espresso machines, some good brands are Gaggia, LaPavoni, Vibiemme, etc. The starting price for a crossover home/commercial machine starts at about 600$ and can go up to well... anything really. A good place to be in, is in the 1200$ range that can get you come really nice machines like the Vibiemme Domobar Junior or a Rocket. If you're just getting into coffee, I would advice that you NOT get an espresso machine to begin with. Buy a moka pot instead. A moka pot is a stove top espresso machine that doesn't really make espressos, but puts out a great strong cup of coffee. Bialetti made the first moka pots and they are available for 20-30$ online. THE HUMAN ELEMENT This is you. The guy pulling the shot, and probably the most important factor in getting a good cup of coffee. You do two important things, you decide on the level of the grind and then you apply 40 pounds of pressure to the coffee grind in the portafilter. Actually you end up doing a lot more than that, because you make a series of decisions till the shot falls in the cup. Which beans to buy, what level to roast the beans to, what is the exact grind that works for your machine, which machine, etc etc. This is how Italians have traditionally looked at espresso, after all it was their invention. I hope this is of remote interest to someone, or I've just spent the last half an hour typing a really boring post! |
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25th June 2012, 17:25
| #275 | |
| BANNED Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Kolhapur
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| Re: A YetiguideŽ to Coffee Quote:
Some people say that a small amount of chicory improves the taste of drip coffee. There is an episode of the TV Serial 'Becker', where after adding chicory, the coffee shop suddenly is brimming with customers. | |
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26th June 2012, 01:16
| #276 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: mumbai
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26th June 2012, 01:59
| #277 | ||
| Newbie Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangalore
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| Re: A YetiguideŽ to Coffee Quote:
If the coffee they served you was 30ml in a small cup, it was an espresso. If it was overly bitter, it wasn't a very good espresso. Italians invented the espresso, and then started adding milk and foam to it. Different quantities of milk and foam resulted in various forms of coffee we recognize today, like cappuccino, macchiato, latte, etc. The base for everything is the bitter 30ml of coffee that you drank at the cafe. Here's an infographic that explains it rather well - http://royalbeancoffeehouse.com/blog...ks-diagham.png Cheers! Quote:
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27th June 2012, 01:49
| #278 |
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28th June 2012, 10:48
| #279 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Pune, Bangalore
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| Re: A YetiguideŽ to Coffee Hello, I just stumbled upon this thread during an idle day at work yesterday. Been a coffee drinker for the most part of my life, after the days of Bournvita were outgrown. Went through the whole thread, and I still say the good-ole SS filter (thambi filter, as some say) is the best, absolutely unbeatable coffeemaking champion! Save the thousands of hard-earned rupees, spend 250 bucks, get a thambi filter and forget about the steam, froth, mochalattefrappiatto business! Some folks still wonder where and how to go about this. In Pune (where I am right now), coffee filters are available at regular places that sell SS kitchen utensils. If you still have no luck, have a Bangalorean friend courier you one. Beans are available at Kumardhara (near Anand Park in Aundh) and at FC Road (in the small alley right opposite GoodLuck). They're owned by the same person, very friendly and knows his coffees! I personally do as Sam Kapasi says, get about a kilo of it (Peaberry for me) and grind at home as and when needed. I once happened to run low on Cothas, and added a fresh batch of Peaberry to it, and have stuck with that 80-20 combo of P+C ever since! This probably sounds like a rant, and maybe it is as we South Indians love filter coffee as we do our mothers!!! I know you'll understand  Cheers, Rahul |
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30th August 2012, 12:16
| #280 |
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30th August 2012, 13:48
| #281 |
| BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Bangalore
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31st August 2012, 08:31
| #282 |
| BHPian Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: hyderabad
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| Re: A YetiguideŽ to Coffee ive spent a lot of time trying to find a good place to know more about coffee and i find one of teh most informative threads in a car enthusiasts forum  i hate chennai..with a wild passion.. . . . . . . . . before the chennai-ites start oiling their machetes let me tell you the reason. i was a happy go lucky hyderabadi guy enjoying my half cups of chai slurped in a rather crude fashion from a saucer. forget communism/socialism having tea in grubby white cups in roadside chai places "irani cafes" is the great equaliser. even if you smoke a 555 beedi or a beemer's tires cutting of chai was the LCM(least common multiple) for all of hyderabadi humanity. then i went to chennai and for the first time i had this frothy, earthen colored manna and like a movie hero who beats 100 henchmen only to get stabbed by the far weaker looking villain/turncoat, my eyes opened wide with the light of realisation that until that point nothing in my life mattered. bloody chennai.. it wasnt just a one off experience. every where i went , hotels, tiffin centers, people houses it was the same story amazing filter coffee. its like breathing to them something natural and many a times aunties would assume i was being too polite, modest when i would praise the coffee mind you all by this time i was in love with chennai, despite the sultry hot weather, auto driving crooks who made bin laden seem reasonable, buses and trains where being a man has nothing to deter groping hands. then suddenly i became a coffee snob. family started commenting that nothing is good for this guy, i would have a sip of coffee at relatives houses and wrinkle my nose in dissatisfaction. i then spent the better part of a couple years trying to find a coffee that made me happy. bought french presses, multiple steel drip filters and even had a friend get me a expresso machine from the usa. but still not hitting the right spot.. resigned to the fact that i have changed and now have become a snob. then accidentally i discovered a moka coffee maker.(google please) initially got the stove top version and it was wonderful but it necessitated that i have be there or else the burnt coffee made cleaning it hell..luckily found an electric version of the same and now am very happy. the decotion is as rich as filter coffee and uses any powder. and the best part is the smell. the whole house fills with a rich nearly tangible smell of coffee that wards away evils, and bring harmonious joys and smiles to my mornings. regards Harsha P:S - one trick for filter coffee is don't use boiling water in the drip filter. get it down to 85=90 degrees by adding about 10ml of cold water to the boiling water. trust me it makes the decotion much much thicker but takes a longer time to percolate. PPS:slightly exaggerated for effect |
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31st August 2012, 11:57
| #283 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Re: A YetiguideŽ to Coffee Quote:
 Ask me mate! A madrasi by birth, and born in the "kaapi" part of the town and having lived there for 17years, I can understand your feelings for the "kaapi". Still remember the words of my grandparents, the only kid they have ever seen in their life who used to drink kaapi even as a feeding kid. Yes, believe it or not, my love for those roasted bean drink started at the age of 0.6 years(6months). I used to throw away the feeding bottle, if they give me white milk or try to cheat me with boost or any other chocolate drink to match the colour of the kaapi.  No cheating with me!!Ahh! I am still in love with the addictive drink. I surely do miss it here in Europe, but then thanks to @Yeti/Sam - he showed me the eternity! CCD in Salzburg.(Salzburg is just a stone's throw from my location.). Then I felt, "I am Backkkkk"! | |
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8th September 2012, 19:29
| #284 |
| BANNED Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Kolhapur
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8th September 2012, 19:44
| #285 |
| BANNED Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bangalore
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