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Is Espresso Really 'Good' Coffee?

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slydon:
Mega-ostentation aside, you're right,but if I spent $600-2000 on a true espresso machine, I'd either have to open a coffee place or shoot myself on principle.
My point was while the k cups are meh "cheap beer", you can actually use decent coffee in there and it won't royally screw it up like a $15 coffeepot or percolator.

So, just a question people, which would be less acidic, the aeropress or the french press?

Carl-E:
My thesis advsor kept a french press in his office, and raved about such cofee.  I tried it once.  Tasted disgusting, and was full of grounds.  The man may have been a mathematical genius, but if that's what fueled it, it wasn't worth it. 

Of course, he was probably doing it wrong. 

Tiogyr:

--- Quote from: slydon on 04 Jun 2011, 03:57 ---Mega-ostentation aside, you're right,but if I spent $600-2000 on a true espresso machine, I'd either have to open a coffee place or shoot myself on principle.
My point was while the k cups are meh "cheap beer", you can actually use decent coffee in there and it won't royally screw it up like a $15 coffeepot or percolator.

--- End quote ---

You can get a perfectly servicable cup of coffee out of a drip coffee maker, you just have to add some salt to the grounds before brewing to neutralize the acids that you get with that type of brewer (this turns nasty as hell coffee like Folgers into something that is actually drinkable).

Is it cold in here?:
I accept that it works, but I don't understand it chemically. Salt is neither acidic nor basic, so it can't neutralize acids.

FunkyTuba:
This has probably been talked about before on this forum, but here are my opinions about the different ways coffee can be made. Chime in if you like.

"Good coffee" is in the eye of the beholder. It depends on what your preferences are. I'd caution you to give each method a fair shot before dismissing it out of hand. Each one exists because someone somewhere thought it was a good idea that produces at least serviceable coffee.

Non-comprehensive list follows: if you know anything about one I missed, feel free to add it:
ApplicationGrindMethodResult if done properlyEspressoVery fine, almost sandlikeYou need as much surface area as possible because steam is in contact with the coffee for only about 20-30 seconds.Thick, syrupy, sour, intense shot-sized cup of coffee essence. I find it hard to pick up on the flavor notes that other people canFrench PressVery coarsenot quite boiling water in contact with the coffee for 3-4 minutes. It's kind of like steeping tearich, rounded, full-flavored, and yes, some sludge in the bottom of the cupDripSomewhere in the middleWater contacts the coffee once, extracts what it can, and drips out the bottom of the basketBrighter, harsher, somewhat bitter because the water gets a little too hot in most automatic coffeemakersUrn-style PercolatorWhateverThe water boils up and is splooshed over the coffee over and over again so it's going to get every last little bit of flavor, good or bad, out of the coffeeBitter, overextracted, tired-tasting, but it does have caffeinePods/Keurigs/etcwho knowsthe pod machines do what they want and give you what they wantif you like what they provide and can afford it go for it
I'm not sure what kind of stove-top percolator Tiogyr is referring to, but I'd love to hear more.

As to beans: the market tends to favor dark roasted coffee (French Roast) because there's a perception that strong-tasting coffee is stronger/cooler/better. Coffee providers can provide that by taking cheap beans and roasting them dark, baby, dark, resulting in homogeneous-tasting blah coffee.

If you roast on the lighter side, two things happen: 1) The flavor notes stick around and you can start to taste the varietal flavors in the beans themselves rather than dark char 2) Less caffeine is burned off so you get an actually-stronger cup of coffee

As has been mentioned earlier, adding a bit of salt to cheaper coffee being brewed less carefully can make it more drinkable... to my palate it smooths out the flavors a bit, but I'll defer to Tiogyr on the chemistry.

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