Espresso Coffee Grinder
Espresso Coffee Grinder questions and answers
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Q: How do I make espresso coffee that is strong but not too strong?
I was blessed with a coffee grinder & dark roast coffee beans. I LOVE strong coffee so I have been making it espresso but sometimes, it comes out so strong, it tastes too bitter to me. I like my coffee strong but not that bitter. Any suggestions on how to dilute the bitterness? I make 10 cups. How many coffee scoops might I try? I've been doing 2 1/2.
A: try different coffee. you forgot to mention
Q: I have a coffee grinder with 9 grind size settings. what setting should i use for drip,plung and espresso?
The machine is made for commercial use and made in Italy. any help would be great
A: It's pretty much trial and error. Even two grinders of the same model will probably grind differently at the same setting. 9 settings are not that many... Shouldn't take you too long figure out which settings work best for you.
For drip... Just put the adjuster near the middle of the scale and grind a little coffee... See if it looks finer or coarser than store-bought coffee... adjust until it looks right... After that, you could eventually try a pot made 1 setting up or down from there to see if it's any more to your liking.
For espresso... I'd try maybe one setting up from the finest to start. If the espresso flows too quickly... has poor flavor and crema... Try finer. If the doser clogs... go a little coarser. Making a few test shots to find that perfect grind out of 3 settings or so shouldn't be too difficult. You're going to want to use dark espresso roasted beans for espresso of course.
For press coffee... Try near the top of the scale. Grind should be small pebble sized. Too fine... The press will clog and be hard to push down... many grinds in coffee. Too coarse... Bland coffee with no "bright" flavors.
Guess what you just made me want?... LOL
PS... Have you tried buying green coffee beans and roasting them yourself yet? OMG!!! You haven't lived if you haven't!!!
The hot air corn popper method works great for me. I cool the coffee beans as soon as they come out in a stainless steel colander with the cool setting on a blow dryer. I usually roast them just until the second crack starts for drip with most varieties of coffee. I find slightly dark is good in air roasted coffee because the process is so quick the centers of the beans are probably not heated to where they would be using a slower roasting method.
http://www.sweetmarias.com/airpopmethod.html
Sweet Maria's sells some excellent green beans.
Q: Can you use plain coffee grounds with an espresso machine, specifically the Hamilton Beach 40729?
I've heard it doesn't work or it just leaves a different flavor than regular espresso. Which is true?
If you can't, how much (generally) do whole coffee beans cost? how much would a very cheap grinder be? Or how much would it cost to buy pre-ground espresso coffee?
A: You can use it, but it won't come out quite the same... the main thing that's going to affect the quality of the espresso is the fact that the regular coffee grounds are alot more coarse than normal espresso grounds. This gives the grounds less surface area and will, as such, affect the flavour... if you have a grinder at home, you could always throw the regular coffee grounds into the grinder and grind them a bit finer... might give the espresso more flavour... but judging by the second part of your question, you don't have one. A cheap, but decent grinder will run you about $40, if you go too cheap, then the consistency of the grinds will suffer which will affect your espresso. A bag of whole beans is cheap and most places will grind them for you perfectly at no additional charge. I'm not positive about your machine, but many can also accept espresso "pods", kind of like a tea bag but filled with espresso grounds... this can save you some time and effort and the resulting espresso is usually quite good.
Good luck!
Q: Anyone know of any affordable "start up" espresso packages?
I am thinking of opening a much needed cafe/lounge in my small town and want it to be as simple as possible. Would be great if I could just buy an "all in one" deal with the espresso machine, tools, grinder, coffee pots/pumps etc.
A: Do you have a business plan written out yet?
Q: Is anyone familiar with LA PAVONI espresso machine?
I am planning to sell espresso coffees at my deli shop and I just bought a la pavoni espresso machine and grinder, it is used, bought it off ebay ad it looks good, it's not installed yet, my question is if anyone out there who has had experience with this brand please let me know how well these performs and also is it easy enough for me to install it or qwould it be wiser to have someone else install it. It is 2 group espresso machine PUB 2, also is there a particular water softerner that works best for this or could I use just whatever is available. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
A: Yea it works great!
Q: What kind of coffee do you brew at home?
*Why? Just curious what others are drinking AT HOME
*Also, if you brew your espresso, what kind do you use and what level do you set your grinder on for coffee vs espresso (course & fine) I have a bunn grinder with 10 levels of courseness and I just can't seem to get it right...
A: I like Jamaican Blue or Foglifter (from Millstone).
If you have a flat bottom filter you would grind at the 6 or 7 level.
7 or 8 for a cone shaped filter
and 9 or 10 for expresso
Q: How do I cold brew / steep coffee?
I'd like to cold brew a coffee concentrate (not syrup, something like espresso but cold) to reduce the amount of acidity in the coffee. I am brewing up a Porter and would like to add coffee to it for flavor and I've read that cold brewing and/or steeping produces the smoothest coffee flavor w/o the increase in caffeine and acidity. Caffiene is not a big deal to me but the acidity is.
Can this be done w/o purchasing any additional hardware? I have whole beans and a plain coffee grinder (no settings). I also have a french press and a regular drip coffee maker.
I would like to know what amounts to use and how fine I should grind my coffee beans before doing this thanks!
A: here's some links...you do need some special stuff, but it's cheap. it is less acidic than other coffee and would likely add the flavor you're looking for to that porter. you can try different ratios of water to coffee...3:1, 2:1, or 1:1.
Q: Received soft bricks of ground coffee, stale??
I don't own a coffee grinder, so I order my espresso ground already. It normally comes in very hard(freeze dried??) bricks. When I received via UPS the coffee bricks the other day, one of the four bags was really soft. I was told that would not make the espresso stale; sometimes that happens in shipping/handling. Also told only way it would be stale, would be if coffee was leaking out of bag. Is this true? I was under the impression the coffee brick staying really rock hard is what kept it from becoming stale. (I do know coffee can begin the "stale" process immediately after being ground, but it is still much, much tastier than store bought coffee/espresso). Thanks in advance.
A: Your coffee brick bag is soft because it is no longer sealed air tight. The length of time it's been soft effects freshness. Coffee needs to be sealed so it won't go stale or absorb odors.