Cold Cup of Coffee

I've become one of them. I bought my first coffee machine last Tuesday, it's one of those slow cold drip ones (which I mentioned in my third post for the year: http://annatheannoying.blogspot.com.au/2017/01/caffeine-hit.html). I didn't post about it for so long because it takes a while to make a brew, and I kept being lazy. Well, I've made one at home now, and MrFodder has made one, and I also made one at work for the baking crew. One of the reported benefits of using a slow drip is that the coffee is less bitter, as the water doesn't get hot enough to extract the bitter parts of the coffee, and the slow drip process also means that you get only the good stuff.

The very first one I made, MrFodder had only ground up 30g of coffee, and I added 700ml of water, so the ratio of water to coffee was all wrong (it recommends 60g : 700ml). Plus, I also left it at home while we were in the office, and it was pretty hot that day, so the coffee was above regular room temp, when it's supposed to be made with ice water. Needless to say, when we were finally able to try it, it was pretty horrid. Even though it was incredibly diluted, it was still way too bitter for me. MrFodder made another brew with the right ratio, but I wanted to wait to try with MrBrioche's sweeter beans, as I'm not as much of a fan of the strong coffee taste as MrFodder is. MrFodder did say that the brew made with the right ratio was much better.

I took the drip into the office, and started a brew at around 6:30. We had the tart comp, blah blah blah, and after lunch, the three of us met up again to give it a taste. There really wasn't enough coffee in the bottom by that time, but I'm not really a coffee drinker, so I opted only to have about a teaspoon of coffee. It was much stronger than the first (diluted) batch, but not nearly as bitter. After watering it down with about 1/4 cup of water, I was actually able to drink it. MrBrioche and Michael both seemed perfectly content drinking it straight. I've left it in the fridge at work for the past couple of days, and it has finally finished dripping, so I'll bring it home tomorrow.

Definitely, definitely, definitely keep the water cold though! Much better.

The reason why I bought it is because I had $168 in the broken build jar when I left my old team, and a lot of them were unhappy that the coffee machine at work was taken away. I thought that this could be a replacement. I'd start a brew before I left for the day, and it'd be ready in the morning. The coffee is already cold, so keeping it in the fridge over the weekend isn't really a big deal. The only issue is scaling and restocking the coffee grinds (as I won't be breaking anymore builds in my old team (hopefully)).

I also wanted to see if it was possible for me to enjoy coffee. MrBrioche made me one with his sweeter beans and an Aeropress, and while it was still pretty bitter, it was definitely drinkable, and I enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed any other coffee. And I do like the smell of coffee. I pretty much don't like the idea of being chemically dependant on something.

I'm still not a fan of coffee, and I think because I'm not used to it, I crash pretty hard, so I'm unlikely to have my morning coffee. But the people at work seem to like it. I'm undecided if I should leave it at the office or not, as MrFodder likes it, and all the big coffee drinkers seem to have their own preferred method of making (hot) coffee.