Coffee, grind your own?

[DeaconKC]

Well, my old Cuisinart with auto grind died on me this weekend. Trying to get used to a new little grinder and a nice Mr Coffee, my wife surprised me with.

 

[bjornborg11]

A french press is absolutely necessary. The reason why it tastes that much better is because the coffee comes in direct contact with the liquid, is not filtered, and maintains lots of the natural oils. Grind your own coffee and put it in a press and you will never taste better coffee!

 

[MrZootSuit]

I had always wanted to try grinding my own coffee, but wanted a manually operated one. So for Christmas I got a cast iron coffee grinder mechanism as I am a bit of a woodworker and built the box for it. Quite pleased with the results! Coffee tastes much better than the pre-ground, and I find that I want to drink more as well but try to keep my consumption down to one pot a day.

 

[skyvue]

A french press is absolutely necessary. The reason why it tastes that much better is because the coffee comes in direct contact with the liquid, is not filtered, and maintains lots of the natural oils. Grind your own coffee and put it in a press and you will never taste better coffee!

Grounds comes into direct contact with water every time you make coffee. Otherwise, you wouldn't have coffee.

My wife (my source for all things coffee, since she's a pro) says that French press is probably the best method for those aren't expert at making coffee (which is most folks, including me), but great coffee can certainly be made many other ways. There are so many variables -- size and consistency of grind, water temperature, extraction time, etc.

MrZoot, I don't know if that grinder apparatus is a one-of-a-kind antique or not, but the wife says she could help you sell a few of those units, if you have access to more of the grinders and are interested in making more units with boxes. That's the kind of thing that some of her colleagues in the industry would covet.

 

[DeaconKC]

bjorn, welcome to the Lounge! Mr Zoot, that is a beautiful piece of wood work!

 

[MrZootSuit]

Thank you for the kind words! The mechanism is not at all an antique, it's a brand new casting available at one of my favorite supply houses http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32867&cat=1,250,43298 for anyone interested in building their own. I will say that it is not the best casting in the world, and on mine the grinder at the bottom was a bit off center - but that hasn't been a problem and haven't detected any metal bits in the grinds yet. I also did not put a draw front on as I wanted to use it more than I wanted to build it to the plans that came with it, and I milled the draw out of a solid block with a radius on all corners so no grounds accumulate in corners. The description claims that it's easy to change the coarseness of the grind but do not say how, as far as I can tell it's done by turning the two nuts above the crank and works well for french press or drip machines.

I might be interested in doing some commission work, as I am a currently unemployed college graduate looking for a job in firearms examination - no one wants to take the time to train us :-/

 

[skyvue]

Cool. Come up with an idea of what you'd want to charge, and I'll pass the word on to her.

 

[ButteMT61]

There are lots of ways to make great coffee and espresso drinks. No one way is "best".
It all depends in what you like and how much time, effort and money you have. It also takes practice and of course, great beans.

 

[Tomasso]

my wife (my source for all things coffee, since she's a pro) says french press is probably the best method for those aren't expert at making coffee (which is most folks, including me

qft

 

[skyvue]

MrZoot, Meister (my wife) blogs about coffee for Serious Eats, and she said the best thing might be for her to blog about your grinder and then she can mention how you can be contacted by those interested in purchasing one from you. I can't PM you-- you haven't enough posts yet -- but you can email me at skyvue @ yahoo.com and we can see what we can get set up.

 

[Flicka]

I'm never going to grind all of my own coffee but I kinda would like to do it now and then. I'm contemplating getting an old-fashioned grinder (they look nice too) and I'm currently debating whether or not to bid on one on EBay here in Sweden (here, if anyone is interested http://www.tradera.com/stor-kaffekvarn-med-lada-teak--auktion_341384_147584556).

What do you say? Yes or no? Good idea or bad idea?

 

[DeaconKC]

Flicka, I use the ground stuff when I don't want to wake my wife, but otherwise I have gotten used to taking the 15 seconds it takes to have the fresh ground stuff. It really is worth the effort to me.

 

[Black Dahlia]

I grind my own coffee every day! I like it as fresh as possible. ;0 I fancy a cup right now!
X
BD

 

[Black Dahlia]

My love of coffee and this thread inspired a blog post by me, which includes a great recipe for an orange mocha.

Now, I seriously need more coffee!
X
BD

 

[DeaconKC]

Dahlia, that was a very nice read! Thanks

 

[Black Dahlia]

Dahlia, that was a very nice read! Thanks

Glad you liked it Deacon. I was going to go more into the history of coffee and such, but decided to stick to what I know...that I love coffee!
X
BD

 

[ShadedDude]

Absolutely! Every morning, by hand. Then I French Press. The is no reason to get out of bed otherwise.

Have not started roasting my own beans yet, but maybe this year I will.

 

[juggles]

Flicka, I use the ground stuff when I don't want to wake my wife, but otherwise I have gotten used to taking the 15 seconds it takes to have the fresh ground stuff. It really is worth the effort to me.

Agreed. Grinding the beans is just part of the process of making the coffee for me and it has been for 20 years. The time spent is negligible. Burr grinders are much better although they can be pricey.

 

[ButteMT61]

Coffee! Just made a pot of with local beans. Nice, dark "French" roast. Good morning folks!

 

[Flicka]

Since I get up at 5 am my neighbours wouldn't thank me if I decided to start grinding coffee, I think. All the same, I've bought myself an old-fashioned Peugeot grinder (for less than nothing).