[carboy]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

I use jaggery as the sweetener; but I have noticed the taste doesn't come out as good as sugar (or honey).

What is the reason for using Jaggery?

[sidpunjabi]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

I use jaggery as the sweetener; but I have noticed the taste doesn't come out as good as sugar (or honey). Anyone who has done some trials / effort in this matter? My limited attempts on this have given me the idea that there are certain blends that go very well with jaggery but I haven't figured out one yet. .... Happy to hear suggestions on this matter!

I know a coffee aficionado who adds a drop (or 2) of vanilla essence when having coffee + milk + jaggery. Apparently, the vanilla essence gives it that extra punch that jaggery voids.

[hothatchaway]

We switch to coffee from tea during Winters here in Kolkata. This year we decided to use jaggery instead of sugar. Enjoyed adding date palm sap or jhola gur as it's known locally. This is a winter delicacy and usually retails for around Rs 150 for a 600 gm earthen container. Happy to have cut out refined sugar.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Happy to have cut out refined sugar.

The benefit is not really significant.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-f...r-white-stuff/


Much better is to use artificial sweeteners if you do want to cut out sugar.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by hserus

Buy a dark roast (french or vienna roast) for strength, buy medium or medium dark roasts for taste. That is the difference - rule of thumb - between black and light to dark brown coffee powder.

The below is a decently priced and good coffee to start with and you can pick your roast type as medium or dark.

Pick the grind to be south Indian filter, or if you like a finer and slightly less rough ground coffee powder then pick espresso grind.

https://sevenbeans.co/collections/co...12898632892469

Thanks for the tip again. Coffee is indeed wonderful and was a revelation

[ecenandu]

I Gifted myself a Nespresso machine.

[BenjiRoss]

Now that my Breville coffee machine is broken beyond repair I am trying other coffee making machines. I drink my coffee with milk and sugar - similar to a cappucino or latte.
I switched over to a French press and inspite of experimenting with grind size, water ratio and steeping time have got variable results which were nowhere close to the espresso machine coffee.
I'm thinking of trying a moka pot to see if it works better for me.
Is it worth a shot? Also can you recommend a decent moka pot for me. The Bialetti ones are too expensive. Pigeon has a stainless steel one for about 500 bucks. There are other ones available online. Any recommendations?

[carboy]

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

Now that my Breville coffee machine is broken beyond repair I am trying other coffee making machines. I drink my coffee with milk and sugar - similar to a cappucino or latte.
I switched over to a French press and inspite of experimenting with grind size, water ratio and steeping time have got variable results which were nowhere close to the espresso machine coffee.

I don't drink espresso or cappucino (only drip for me), but for cheap but decent espresso, the Aeropress is supposed to be very good.

[bimal_67]

Thank @Sam Kapasi for having started a wonderful thread which over time has been enriched by many on the tasty and aromatic subject of coffee brew. These well rounded discussions are what makes this forum and platform so unique and attractive.

On reading through all the previous posts, I thought I should pay a befitting tribute by bringing in to this thread the Arakku Valley coffee, one of the finest in the world. It is a GI tagged coffee, due to its fine taste and aroma. Unfortunately, not much publicity was there for this coffee in the domestic market and bulk of the produce used to be exported till a few years back.

Coffee Museum.
My introduction to this coffee variety happened by chance on a visit to Arakku Valley (near Visakhapatnam) a couple of years back. After a visit to the Tribal Museum, I chanced upon the Arakku Valley Coffee Museum located very near to the RTC bus stand Arakku. Link: https://g.co/kgs/zPXniq

A very enthusiastic owner Mr Gopal Rao welcomed us to the Museum and took time to explain the history of coffee cultivation, processing and conversion into various products with unique insights into each. Ended up purchasing pure Arabica from there and since then I have been hooked on to the brew. They also produce small batches of unique chocolates of different flavours, the most interesting ones having roasted coffee beans inside. They even have black pepper placed chocolates for the ones not having a sweet tooth.

Arakku Coffee
Arakku Coffee is grown around Arakku valley and mostly by tribal cooperative societies who adopt the best organic practices. Both Arabica and Robusta are available in Arakku, but as expected, pure Arabica rules in aroma with a tinge of sweetness. Custom roasts and blends are also available. Due to the lack of distributors (now AP tribal welfare dept. has started marketing), I have had to depend on some courier to deliver the same to Vizag. Or else, self was always willing for a drive for the pick up. Since moving to Delhi, the pickup involves a bit of coordination for the supply chain.

I am attaching some links which give information about the Arakku Coffee, the coffee museum etc.

https://www.thehindu.com/business/In...le26680168.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-st...le29110355.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-st...le29110355.ece

I would recommend all coffee afficianados of this esteemed forum not to miss any opportunity that might come their way to taste this brew. Maybe take this as a prompt for a long drive.

[kalpeshc]

While I am not a black coffee person, I do like foamy coffee with a bit of milk, similar to cappucino and even the typical filter coffee that one gets (somehow the good ones have that roasted coffee after taste) in some south indian joints.

I am a n00b when it comes to having good coffee at home but am exploring buying a good coffee machine at home, once we're out of this COVID situation. Does anyone have any recommendations on a good machine that one can get for home for making coffee with milk.

[arijitkanrar]

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

While I am not a black coffee person, I do like foamy coffee with a bit of milk, similar to cappucino and even the typical filter coffee that one gets (somehow the good ones have that roasted coffee after taste) in some south indian joints.

I am a n00b when it comes to having good coffee at home but am exploring buying a good coffee machine at home, once we're out of this COVID situation. Does anyone have any recommendations on a good machine that one can get for home for making coffee with milk.

Considering you don't want black coffee, you can get yourself a regular stainless steel coffee filter for making South-Indian style filter coffee. Very easy to use and the coffee is amazing when done right. If you need cappucino, you'll need to get an espresso machine because a good cappucino depends on a good espresso. I'm not sure which espresso machines on the market are good but there are plenty available.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by bimal_67

Due to the lack of distributors (now AP tribal welfare dept. has started marketing), I have had to depend on some courier to deliver the same to Vizag. Or else, self was always willing for a drive for the pick up. Since moving to Delhi, the pickup involves a bit of coordination for the supply chain.

Thank you for sharing this information. They seem to accept online orders for delivery across India, so not sure why you have to coordinate the supply chain. Am I missing something?

Also, I needed some advice, I'm planning on purchasing some coffee from them, and see that they have quite a choice. Would you recommend the signature or the Selection/Micro Climate/Grand Reserve?

Planning on getting the grind for the french press. Usually like my coffee black. Thanks in advance.

[bimal_67]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

Thank you for sharing this information. They seem to accept online orders for delivery across India, so not sure why you have to coordinate the supply chain. Am I missing something?

The supplier you seem to be referring to is https://www.arakucoffee.in/. I have not been sourcing from them.
The product range appears to be very much steeply priced compared to what I pay when I source it directly from Arakku, which is pretty obvious though. As mentioned in my post, I source it from Mr Gopal Rao, owner of the Arakku Coffee Museum. In addition, I have known that the Girijan Cooperative Society also have started retailing now. You may contact them also through https://www.tribalcoffee.in/. The prices are more reasonable there.

Also, I needed some advice, I'm planning on purchasing some coffee from them, and see that they have quite a choice. Would you recommend the signature or the Selection/Micro Climate/Grand Reserve?

As seen from the site which you are referring to (https://www.arakucoffee.in/), all these grades are mentioned as 100% Arabica. And as mentioned in their site https://www.arakucoffee.in/explore, the different grades appear to be from different locations / altitudes. Nothing further could be made out from the information given in the site and I have not dealt with them before. If you still want to go through them, recommend contacting them to check out about the differences. On the other hand, the tribal coffee site {https://www.tribalcoffee.in/shop/} displays it with easier to understand description

[LobsterB]

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

While I am not a black coffee person, I do like foamy coffee with a bit of milk, similar to cappucino and even the typical filter coffee that one gets (somehow the good ones have that roasted coffee after taste) in some south indian joints.

I am a n00b when it comes to having good coffee at home but am exploring buying a good coffee machine at home, once we're out of this COVID situation. Does anyone have any recommendations on a good machine that one can get for home for making coffee with milk.

If you are planning to go the Espresso Machine route, I would recommend going straight to a pump based machine than the steam based ones (without a pump). I have never been able to make coffee of consistent quality with the plain steam based units. One of the simple and reliable pump machine would be this DeLonghi.
Btw, had also tried South Indian Filter Coffee but hasn't been much successful in mastering it. Had better luck with a French Press. Blue Tokai also sells equipment and I guess they have a store/cafe at your city.

[hserus]

The thing is, the Araku Coffee is much clearer on what the process is for the beans - washed, honey etc. Not just altitude, the process to turn green beans into cofee beans from washing to roasting is something you'd need to check.

They haven't specifically mentioned what roasts and grinds though.

Originally Posted by bimal_67

The supplier you seem to be referring to is https://www.arakucoffee.in/. I have not been sourcing from them.
The product range appears to be very much steeply priced compared to what I pay when I source it directly from Arakku, which is pretty obvious though. As mentioned in my post, I source it from Mr Gopal Rao, owner of the Arakku Coffee Museum. In addition, I have known that the Girijan Cooperative Society also have started retailing now. You may contact them also through https://www.tribalcoffee.in/. The prices are more reasonable there.

As seen from the site which you are referring to (https://www.arakucoffee.in/), all these grades are mentioned as 100% Arabica. And as mentioned in their site https://www.arakucoffee.in/explore, the different grades appear to be from different locations / altitudes. Nothing further could be made out from the information given in the site and I have not dealt with them before. If you still want to go through them, recommend contacting them to check out about the differences. On the other hand, the tribal coffee site {https://www.tribalcoffee.in/shop/} displays it with easier to understand description