<story><title>Things Worth Knowing About Coffee</title><url>http://theoatmeal.com/comics/coffee</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>stcredzero</author><text>The most important thing I know about coffee: most of what you buy in stores is &lt;i&gt;stale&lt;/i&gt;.  Even vacuum-sealed roasted whole beans are a compromise, expiration date notwithstanding.  Buy roasted whole beans at a place that roasts every week, and posts the roast date on the bin.  Never mind stuff being from Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Kona, &amp;#38;c.  It&apos;s most important to get the degree of roast you like, as recently as possible.&lt;p&gt;I go to the Allegro Roasters counter at Whole Foods each week and buy a medium roast from that day, or the day before.  I have a cheap grinder at home, and I just use cheap #2 cone filters in a cheap single-cup cone brewer.  I emphasize that those last 3 items are &lt;i&gt;cheap&lt;/i&gt;.  You don&apos;t need a fancy-schmancy grinder.  You get a &lt;i&gt;huge&lt;/i&gt; bang for the buck just by using beans roasted in the past 2 weeks.  The other thing: make sure your water is the right temperature.  (190 to 195 degrees seems to work for me.)  Just borrow a candy thermometer, always use the same amount of water, the same pot, and figure out how long to wait to let the water cool to the right temp.&lt;p&gt;I have wowed friends with my coffee.  Not rocket science.  It&apos;s just brewed at the right temp, and it&apos;s fresh!&lt;p&gt;Cheap cone brewer:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.com/B001S353EQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://amzn.com/B001S353EQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cone filters (hate the eco-guilt marketing, though):  &lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.com/B000U5ACLW&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://amzn.com/B000U5ACLW&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;My cheap grinder.  Has nice design features.  Still a mediocre grinder.  Doesn&apos;t matter so much.
&lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.com/B00006IUX5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://amzn.com/B00006IUX5&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Aeropress for cheap DIY &quot;Espresso&quot; 
&lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.com/B000GXZ2GS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://amzn.com/B000GXZ2GS&lt;/a&gt;
(Don&apos;t have one, but people seem to like it.)&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I grind for 20-25 seconds with my blade grinder.  Again, this works for me.  YMMV.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>pwk</author><text>The Aeropress is pretty good. It&apos;s cheap, easy to use, and surprisingly easy to clean. I used to use it to make mochas and faux-cappuccinos (pseudo-espresso from the Aeropress plus milk frothified using a whirly-agitator thing instead of steam) but these days I just make Americano-style coffee, which I like because it comes out rich and smooth. I&apos;m not really a coffee snob, though, so YMMV.</text></comment>
<story><title>Things Worth Knowing About Coffee</title><url>http://theoatmeal.com/comics/coffee</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>stcredzero</author><text>The most important thing I know about coffee: most of what you buy in stores is &lt;i&gt;stale&lt;/i&gt;.  Even vacuum-sealed roasted whole beans are a compromise, expiration date notwithstanding.  Buy roasted whole beans at a place that roasts every week, and posts the roast date on the bin.  Never mind stuff being from Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Kona, &amp;#38;c.  It&apos;s most important to get the degree of roast you like, as recently as possible.&lt;p&gt;I go to the Allegro Roasters counter at Whole Foods each week and buy a medium roast from that day, or the day before.  I have a cheap grinder at home, and I just use cheap #2 cone filters in a cheap single-cup cone brewer.  I emphasize that those last 3 items are &lt;i&gt;cheap&lt;/i&gt;.  You don&apos;t need a fancy-schmancy grinder.  You get a &lt;i&gt;huge&lt;/i&gt; bang for the buck just by using beans roasted in the past 2 weeks.  The other thing: make sure your water is the right temperature.  (190 to 195 degrees seems to work for me.)  Just borrow a candy thermometer, always use the same amount of water, the same pot, and figure out how long to wait to let the water cool to the right temp.&lt;p&gt;I have wowed friends with my coffee.  Not rocket science.  It&apos;s just brewed at the right temp, and it&apos;s fresh!&lt;p&gt;Cheap cone brewer:  &lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.com/B001S353EQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://amzn.com/B001S353EQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cone filters (hate the eco-guilt marketing, though):  &lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.com/B000U5ACLW&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://amzn.com/B000U5ACLW&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;My cheap grinder.  Has nice design features.  Still a mediocre grinder.  Doesn&apos;t matter so much.
&lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.com/B00006IUX5&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://amzn.com/B00006IUX5&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Aeropress for cheap DIY &quot;Espresso&quot; 
&lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.com/B000GXZ2GS&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://amzn.com/B000GXZ2GS&lt;/a&gt;
(Don&apos;t have one, but people seem to like it.)&lt;p&gt;EDIT: I grind for 20-25 seconds with my blade grinder.  Again, this works for me.  YMMV.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mseebach</author><text>100% agree on freshly roasted bean. I see people put week-old store-brand coffee beans in a $500 Kitchen Aid grinder and serve a cup of absolutely vile tasting coffee. Some people simply don&apos;t deserve nice things.&lt;p&gt;However, a Burr grinder is good investment, especially if you need the finer grinds. The cheapest one you can find will do fine, however.&lt;p&gt;The blade-grinder will beat randomly around all your beans for the entire grind-time. This will kick the crap out of the aromatic oils, and you lose some flavour. The Burr grinder &quot;crunches&quot; each bean once and never touches it again, leaving the oils alone.</text></comment>