Coffee for idiots.

Yes its a real stupid question but for someone who has drunk a few dozen cups of instant/nespresso (that automatic capsule espresso machine) a day before the hand is over the yard arm then to move to using the real grounds in a moka pot all this stuff is kinda daunting when you're just looking for a cup of coffee.

So im asking everyone here the following questions.

1. What's the best way to make you're coffee a peculator,moka pot,lever action machine or one of those huge coffee makers i see in neros every day.

2. Whats a good strong coffee that i can drink by the bucket load without milk or sugar but isnt too bitter because atm Lavazza gold is good but its lacking something.

3. (just a general question to satisfy a friend) Is it true the Cuban embargo also forbids Cuban coffee in America because i swear i saw some last time i was across the pond.

Thanks for you're help guys...and gals (always hopeful) now i feel like another Manhattan.

[CoreyD]

By know means am I an expert but I like to dabble in coffee.
1. I have 4 ways I make my coffee.
A. chemex- Supposedly helps you get that perfect unbitter cup spends less time saturating beans.
B. Percolator<When Camping>- I also hum the song sometime.
C. Bunn- Great since there's always boiled water in the reservoir so a pot takes really low time and pours out quick so has less time to pick up the crap of the bean
D- I also have a cheapo espresso/cappuccino machine I sometimes play with.But its cup by cup
And I like them all. To me it all depends of quality of beans ,grind and sometimes if pallets good water.

2. Strong coffee can be very vague of a question. whats strong to me may be weak to you. Strong as in dark roast or as in taste or caffeine. With that being said. I have rarely found a green bean that I roasted that I didn't like in some kind of a roast or mix. My flavors vary sometimes and I like to mix it up. I'm a good sucker for Indonesian or PNG and Africans. Them are good dark coffees to me and even the light roasts have a decent body. Now I also enjoy some central and south American beans as well. some as medium to keep the complexity and some as dark to bring out other profiles.
I read a lot of reviews and tried lots of coffees.
3. Yes True Cuban picked ,shipped coffee I believe is still a part of the embargo. However some places capture the profile with a mix that they call Cuban. I have also read somewhere that Cuban coffee sometimes has other countries mixes in it but I have yet to try some that came directly from Cuba to know the difference between the Arabic.

[oooo35980]

I just use a french press, 4 minutes then press and pour. Change the amount of coffee depending on how strong you want it, and I generally use whatever good quality whole bean medium roast I pick up at the exchange. Grind it coarse with a burr grinder. I use filtered water. Makes a very smooth and strong cup of coffee.

It's the best way IMO without seriously delving into home roasting and buying various coffee makers. I just need a cup of coffee not a new hobby. Of course YMMV.

[Mr B]

I concur:

Bodum French Press. $20 at Target

I roast my own beans, so thats what I use.
Filtered Water. Best cups of coffee I have ever had.

[ApexAZ]

I use moka pot at home and aeropress at work. Both taste wonderful. The press is less work and I'm considering getting a second one for home and travel.

[galaga]

Already got a lot of good answers.

On my sliding scale of cost vs effort vs price vs time. Go to a department store and get a blade grinder (Dan ain't listening is he?), $20 and a Bodum and/or a mokapot. For your coffee, go to the store and get a bag of unground beans from a company whose coffee you like, or get a bag of roasted beans from a single country, Guatemalan or Columbian or whatever. Go to the coffee forum on CA and look around for the techniques that the people have put up. Keep reading and exploring there.

A good mokapot thread is this one

A good press thread is this one

If you find you are going to want a morning cup every day, get yourself a automatic brewer and keep shopping for your favorite beans.

ps. good water is your friend.

[secretsquirrel]

[quote=CoreyD;1615150]
B. Percolator<When Camping>- I also hum the song sometime."


I lamo. now its stuck in my head.