What, and what not to get a coffee lover for Christmas!

Tis the season for spending loads of money on treats and exotic gadgets and shiny things… for people you love, of course. If one of those people happens to be a coffee fanatic, then this list might just be for you.

This is not actually my Christmas wish list – they are genuine recommendations based on things I already own or have tried. I’m not trying to plug Amazon at all, but all the links are to there for ease of reading!

So, without further ado, here are my top 5 coffee must-haves:

Death Wish Coffee

This stuff is INCREDIBLY strong in caffeine, (deliberately so) but it actually tastes really good too. It takes dedication to roast beans well enough that you can still get the subtlety of flavour without the overpowering bitterness of so much caffeine. This company also started the ‘Death Before Decaf’ campaign which I wholeheartedly endorse.

Almost steampunk vacuum powered coffee syphon.

It looks completely over-the-top, but it’s shiny and brass and makes really smooth coffee, AND you get to spend 7 minutes of your day lighting an actual flame and watching water evaporate and condense again as coffee *while feeling like a mad scientist*. This isn’t actually the most convoluted way of making coffee that I’ve come across, but it’s a great start for the serious geek.

Pour over coffee – now in pretty colours!

I’ve made a big thing about my love for pour over coffee on this blog already, and this is the perfect starter set. The built-in filter is reusable so you aren’t constantly buying paper filters, and the server pot means you can be friendly and make more than one cup at a time. Plus, there’s a purple one! What could be better?

Everything you need to know about coffee, and more

Former World Barista Champion James Hoffmann wrote a book last year, and I like it a lot as it covers everything from coffee origins and how it is grown around the world, to brew methods and barista techniques but links it all together to show what varieties suit which brew method and how to get the best out of the beans.
Bonus:

Don’t like hardback books, or want a cheaper alternative? Try mine! 😛

Caffeine Molecule necklace

A little stocking filler. Isn’t it pretty? (OK so I don’t own this one. This is a subtle hint. HUSBAND!)

And if you have money to burn:

The Trifecta Bunn alternative brew machine

As soon as you see the price, you will understand why I don’t own this and am never likely to. However, it is this year’s hot gadget in the coffee world, and my instagram is full of it. It appears to combine an inverted aeropress with a pour over system, only its electronic. Very snazzy I’m sure, but if you like impossible gadgets, the vacuum syphon still wins in my book!

What NOT to buy:
A Keurig

There’s even a red Christmassy one now!! Darling husband went dumpster diving recently and I am ashamed to say there is now a fixed Keurig monstrosity in my kitchen. Not only are they overpriced (over $100 for what is essentially a very fast kettle, plus the pods work out to around 70 cents a cup on top of that) – the pods are incredibly wasteful: non-biodegradable, non-recyclable and now DRM programmed so you can’t even use non-branded alternatives. And, in my experience, the pods only come with stale, tasteless coffee in them, and if you do hack it and use your own coffee, it scorches it and ruins it anyway.  I ranted about Keurig here. Ours was thrown out by our neighbour because it broke. Turns out, you can fix them by turning it upside down and smacking it hard on the bottom. I’m sure there’s a metaphor in that somewhere.

Kopi Luwak

This is the Civet coffee, with beans collected from the poo of wild animals. At least, that’s the best you can hope for. This gimmicky coffee got so popular that producers have started caging the civets and force feeding them coffee beans. Of course, not all companies do this, but you can’t ever be sure of it’s origins. Even if you get the ‘wild’ stuff, it comes with a hefty price tag. The coffee itself is very mild, smooth and a little sweet. It’s good but not so good it justifies that price tag, and never the cruelty!

There you go folks!  Have a very merry Christmas and may visions of coffee beans dance in your head!

 

 

In love with the Pour Over

Time for an actual COFFEE post!

I started playing around with pour over coffee when we were setting up my Wheelie Good Coffee cart – it is simple, it makes one cup at a time, and it’s about the freshest way to make a great coffee outside without much in the way of equipment. It proved extremely popular on the market, and so we introduced the pour over stand to Dr. Coffee’s Cafe as well. As far as we know, we are currently the only cafe in Regina to offer this brew style!

Pour Over coffee on the Wheelie Good Coffee cart.

Pour over in our funky mugs at Dr. Coffee’s Cafe

But what is all the fuss about, really? This is not new technology. Several customers have commented that they/their Mums/Nans used to make coffee like this, usually with Melitta drippers. I found very similar pour over stands in Costa Rica, where that is the “traditional” brew method. Someone else told me it was an Indian custom. The appeal comes from its simplicity: If you have a kettle and some sort of filter, you can make it. Nowadays I use Hario drippers and paper filters, and we even have a very fancy goose neck kettle to ensure a slow, even pour, but in principle, you can use any boiling water receptacle and any filter – even a sock! (for the record, the Costa Rican one below isn’t actually a sock, it’s a tube of cheese cloth fabric!). These filters are a lot finer and more robust than the equivalent in a French press/cafetiere, and so you end up with a very smooth, clean cup with no sludge at the bottom.

Costa Rican pour over stand and grinder.

I like to use distinctive, single origin coffees in the pour over, because the brew method can highlight subtleties in the coffee that other methods tend to hide. it is also particularly good for lighter roasts. My favourites are Indian Monsooned Malabar, or fruity Nicaraguan roasts. Due to the longer brewing time, pour over coffee does tend to come out much stronger than standard drip coffee or even French press, so very dark roasts or espresso blends tend to be ‘over kill!’

How to brew with a Pour Over or Chemex

The Pour Over Brewer is quick, simple, cheap and effective – perfect for home use. They are usually ceramic drippers that look like a little cup with holes in the bottom, with a saucer attached. This sits on top of your mug, and you pour the coffee straight through it. A Chemex (pronounced “Kemex”) is a glass pot with a neck allowing you to pour hot water through coffee in a filter paper held in the neck. Chemex pots are usually handblown glass and are very attractive, artistic objects, but the principle is the same.

Chemex and Pour Over brewers make very smooth, mild coffee, in between a percolator and a French Press. Besides the brewer itself, you will also need the correct size filter papers (usually conical or wedge-shaped ones, rather than round ones – Chemex even make their own) – and a kettle. You can buy specialist goose-neck kettles that are designed for pour over coffee – the long, thin neck gives you excellent control over how you pour it.

First, boil the kettle. The water needs to be just off the boil so it doesn’t scorch the coffee.

Grind up your coffee to a medium-fine level – coarser than for an Aeropress but finer than for normal drip. You need around a heaped tablespoon per 12oz cup (the Chemex holds about 6 cups, so you would need 6-7tbsp to fill it.)

Put the filter paper in the dripper, and dampen the paper with a splash of hot water (this allows coffee to pass through the paper more easily). Spoon in the coffee grounds, and make a small dent in the mound of coffee. If using a Chemex, stand it on a heat proof mat. It is not hot enough to damage your tabletop if you don’t, but marble or granite surfaces can cool the pot too quickly you end up with cold coffee! Pour over drippers either have their own stand, or can sit on top of your mug.

Gently pour the boiled water into the centre of the coffee grounds in a circular motion, very slowly, little and often. The trick is to get the water on to the coffee without spreading it up the sides of the filter paper, so the coffee shouldn’t float. The water then drips through the paper into either the glass dome of the Chemex, or straight into your mug if you’re using a standard Pour Over brewer.

The coffee should “bloom” – as in, the mound of grounds should swell up and bubble nicely into a thick “slurry”when water is poured on it. If the coffee isn’t fresh, you will get less of a bloom effect. Let it dribble through over the space of about 3 minutes, and voila! The smoothest, freshest coffee you can produce!

Our fancy goose neck kettle and glass Hario dripper.