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Picture of PakRatJR
posted
This is one of those things that has been going through my head for many years now, trying to work out what the most important part would be for a perfect cup of coffee.

I have spent a good bit of time over those years researching and experimenting and whatnot and what I have found is there seems to be no real specific thing that most can agree on.

Some seem to say it's the grounds themselves. Whether it's the brand, type, roast or even the grind. Some say it's the water. Hard or soft, filtered, temperature. Some say it's the way it's brewed or the type of brewer that is used. Drip or press or other. Theres even some that will say it's a specific combination of all of these.

For me personally, with all the "experimenting" and whatnot that I have done over the years, the one thing I have come up with that I never seem to see mentioned anywhere is it's the cup that makes the most difference. While the rest of the stuff can be important, without the cup all you have is a big mess Big Grin

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PakRatJR,
 
Posts: 495 | Location: Sussex WI | Registered: April 04, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of konata88
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Glass, glazed ceramic, porcelain, clear plastic, metal, insulated???

I’m partial to white glazed ceramic with a cute pic or funny quip.




"Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it." L.Tolstoy
"A government is just a body of people, usually, notably, ungoverned." Shepherd Book
 
Posts: 13172 | Location: In the gilded cage | Registered: December 09, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Drill Here, Drill Now
Picture of tatortodd
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Silence is the secret to enjoying that first cup of the day. Talk to me after I've had my first cup.

As far as brewing, the secret is getting the water to the perfect temperature to extract the flavor of the coffee grinds and having the hot water dwell the correct amount of time in the grinds. When I bought my Dad the Technivorm Moccamaster as a gift, we did a blind taste test with his old Mr Coffee vs the Technivorm using the same ground coffee. Night and day difference because the Technivorm excels at the two keys.



Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
 
Posts: 23816 | Location: Northern Suburbs of Houston | Registered: November 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Optimistic Cynic
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When it comes to the cup, it must be the SigForum cup pictured in the "what the world thinks Americans eat for breakfast" meme. I won one of these in a karma early in my presence here and still use it for my cofeve almost every day.

Of the other candidates, I think the water matters most, not that I've found the perfect water (yet).

There are some truly abysmal roasts out there, and many good ones.
 
Posts: 6875 | Location: NoVA | Registered: July 22, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Told cops where to go for over 29 years…
Picture of 911Boss
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quote:
Originally posted by konata88:
Glass, glazed ceramic, porcelain, clear plastic, metal, insulated???

I’m partial to white glazed ceramic with a cute pic or funny quip.



For me, never from plastic, not just coffee but ever. Maybe in my head but it seems to make any beverage taste different to me.


Metal (SS) if I need it insulated. Ceramic/porcelain is the norm, don’t have any glass coffee cups but wouldn’t be opposed to glass.






What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand???


 
Posts: 11337 | Location: Western WA state for just a few more years... | Registered: February 17, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I brew the same amount of coffee each day with a cheap Cuisinart brewer. I always start with a ground coffee usually Starbucks or Peats, whichever I can find the cheapest. Yes I’m not a coffee snob or connoisseur, don't claim to be nor want to be.

However with that out of the way, most mornings I use a stainless steel insulated Yeti mug to use when driving and the rest of the time when home I use a ceramic mug. The later tastes so much better even I can tell the difference.
 
Posts: 822 | Location: Orange County, CA | Registered: December 21, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peripheral Visionary
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One of my pharmacy students from years ago got this one for me:





 
Posts: 11424 | Location: Texas | Registered: January 29, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of mike_jackmin
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Here's a good tip - make a batch of coffee in your usual way, but without the coffee - and see how the resulting cup of hot water tastes. If it's kinda gross, that's yer problem right there.

Fresh whole beans, stored right, ground right, fresh water at the right water temp, right timing, right separation, right strength and serving temp. Nothing to it.
 
Posts: 406 | Registered: March 16, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Casuistic Thinker and Daoist
Picture of 9mmepiphany
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Over the years, I've somehow formed the idea that the purest cup of coffee is sipped from a clear glass cup. I like the double sided insulated coffee cup my wife bought for my last birthday

Like a fine wine, you get to appreciate the color and the aroma before tasting it. It's the total experience when you've taken the time to make that first cup on a lazy day...I like to use a coffee press for those special days.

Then you step out on the back deck and sip it as you watch the sunrise and hear the waves break on the rocks below




No, Daoism isn't a religion



 
Posts: 14261 | Location: northern california | Registered: February 07, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His Royal Hiney
Picture of Rey HRH
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Change only one thing at a time. For example, I started out with 47 grams of coffee for 850 ml of water and moved up one gram at a time.

I also use zero TDS water filtered through 5 stage filters.

I've figured out 49 grams of coffee for 550 ml water or 49 grams for 850 ml.

2 1/2 rotations on the manual grinder from flush.

Water boils at 203 degrees where I'm at.

2 minutes for the coffee to bloom.
then 4 minutes for the coffee to brew.



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
 
Posts: 20180 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by 911Boss:
quote:
Originally posted by konata88:
Glass, glazed ceramic, porcelain, clear plastic, metal, insulated???

I’m partial to white glazed ceramic with a cute pic or funny quip.

For me cup makes a big difference, I prefer porcelain or ceramic.
Metal is the worst to me.

For me, never from plastic, not just coffee but ever. Maybe in my head but it seems to make any beverage taste different to me.


Metal (SS) if I need it insulated. Ceramic/porcelain is the norm, don’t have any glass coffee cups but wouldn’t be opposed to glass.
 
Posts: 1193 | Location: Upstate  | Registered: January 11, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I'm not a coffee drinker. I'd love to like it. It looks and smells wonderful.
Everytime I try it, yuk. Too bitter, especially the aftertaste. This is with sugar and creamer!

This topic I find intriquing. Recently read somewhere that a pinch of salt in a pot helpsxwith the taste.

I have this memory of my Dad 1977, in a diner somewhere down south-east US, letting me try his cup. It was in a Victor porcelain diner mug. The kind with a thinner mid-section. With two teaspoons of sugar, a bit of creamer making it look like chocolate brown instead of black. It actually tasted good then. Possibly New Orleans style coffee?
 
Posts: 1612 | Location: Lehigh County,PA-USA | Registered: February 20, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Certified All Positions
Picture of arcwelder
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I like my coffee black. Like my soul.

For me, the secret to a good cup of coffee, is:

1/1 Peets Brazilian medium, Major Dickason's Dark.

Black. Hot.

Not in plastic.

The secret to a good cup of coffee, is finding what yours is. It's honestly like a proper handgun.


Arc.
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"Like a bitter weed, I'm a bad seed"- Johnny Cash
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Rode hard, put away wet. RIP JHM
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Posts: 27123 | Location: On fire, off the shoulder of Orion | Registered: June 09, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Staring back
from the abyss
Picture of Gustofer
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quote:
Originally posted by PakRatJR:
...trying to work out what the most important part would be for a perfect cup of coffee.

A percolator on a campfire.


________________________________________________________
"Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.
 
Posts: 20823 | Location: Montana | Registered: November 01, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
PopeDaddy
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quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer:
quote:
Originally posted by PakRatJR:
...trying to work out what the most important part would be for a perfect cup of coffee.

A percolator on a campfire.


In Montana.

…Or the Tennessee Valley just outside the cabin over the river.


0:01
 
Posts: 4321 | Location: ALABAMA | Registered: January 05, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
His diet consists of black
coffee, and sarcasm.
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Posts: 28904 | Location: Johnson City, TN | Registered: April 28, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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My coffee noticeably improved years ago by doing one simple step; no tap water. I use a Brita filter and water pitcher, or bottled water as much as possible for hydration. Not quite the same as a fresh cup brewed in a percolator while camping on a frosty morning as the Sun rises, but...
 
Posts: 3456 | Location: Fairfax Co. VA | Registered: August 03, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Step by step walk the thousand mile road
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The secret to a good cup of coffee is:

Yes.

It could be hot, cold, or days old. Doesn’t matter.

It is the Elixir of Life.





Nice is overrated

"It's every freedom-loving individual's duty to lie to the government."
Airsoftguy, June 29, 2018
 
Posts: 32264 | Location: Loudoun County, Virginia | Registered: May 17, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of IntrepidTraveler
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quote:
Originally posted by Sig2340:
The secret to a good cup of coffee is:

Yes.

It could be hot, cold, or days old. Doesn’t matter.

It is the Elixir of Life.


I was on an earlier flight one day. The flight attendant asked what I wanted. I answered "Nectar of the Gods, please." She briefly had a confused look, then smiled and got me my coffee!




Thus the metric system did not really catch on in the States, unless you count the increasing popularity of the nine-millimeter bullet.
- Dave Barry

"Never go through life saying 'I should have'..." - quote from the 9/11 Boatlift Story (thanks, sdy for posting it)
 
Posts: 3363 | Location: Grapevine TX/ Augusta GA | Registered: July 15, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
This Space for Rent
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Just took the first sip out of my coffee from a plastic tumbler as I read this thread. The coffee was brewed using a Colman drip coffee maker over the stove in my camper. The first sip was bitter and chalky. Maybe some residual from yesterdays brew. The second sip, not as bitter but now you guys have me thinking I need to add some real coffee cups to my trailer.

Agree with tatertodd. Silence is the best part of the first cup of the day.

Just started raining and hearing the rain hit the camper shell is very soothing.




We will never know world peace, until three people can simultaneously look each other straight in the eye

Liberals are like pussycats and Twitter is Trump's laser pointer to keep them busy while he takes care of business - Rey HRH.
 
Posts: 5811 | Location: Colorado | Registered: April 20, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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