Need Coffee Advice

[bearly]

don't forget, buy the right coffee. find out what she likes (in general). if you think that makes you look like a noob, buy jamaican blue mtn, grind it your self (little mouli or braun---10 bucks or so at a discounter). get a good small maker like everyone is telling you. get a nice big mug or 2 (the 2-hand type). get some half and half, some cream, and some non-fat. read a little about coffee enjoyment on google. need to get this down anyways......................b

[Golden_Rhino]

No need to get fancy, it's only coffee.

[By-Tor]

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and dont use the french press because i usually get a little sediment for each cup.

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Amen....getting coffe grounds in my coffee is a big turn-off. Plus it is a LOT easier to clean a Mr Coffee drip machine. French presses are for chicks/gay guys who think they are cool... Do NOT, buy a French Press, your woman may start to question your masculinity.... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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French press coffee is for people who like the taste of coffee. Also, it's hilarious to claim it's for gay men when you're the one who doesn't like a couple of grounds in your coffee. Masculinity irony.

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I think the coffee a french press makes taste like crap.

I've been drinking coffee to my taste for 28 years.

Are you saying I do not actually know what I like?

[kutuz_off]

I think it's a bad idea to make gifts from the area in which you are a total noob and the giftee is somewhat of a connosieur (although that seems to be an overstatement). Why don't you ask her to teach you about coffee instead, she'll like it more.

If you want to go fancy, buy an ibrik (AKA jezve), and make her coffee turkish style. She probably has never tried it before, so she won't have a frame of reference to judge upon.

Turkish style coffee is made like this - dump 4 teaspoons of finely ground coffee along with 2-3 teaspoons of sugar into ibrik, pour water, brew over medium or low heat, stir to get some broth. Pour broth into the cup, return coffee to fire, increase heat, let it get close to boiling, take off fire, wait for it to cool down a little, return to fire. Let it reach almost boiling point 3 times, on the 3rd time leave it a little longer (but you don't want it really boiling even then), then take it off and pour into same cup. Make sure to leave the residue in the ibrik, you don't want it in your cup. This coffee will be stronger than what she may be accustomed to.

Ibrik looks like this, although you may have trouble finding one unless you live in a large metropolis:

[DrNo888]

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The whole posting cute pictures with no expanations annoys me. Thanks for the advice, now what the hell is it?

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Sorry. It's a coffe drip commonly used in Vietnamese restaurants/cafes. Put some grinds in, tighten the "lid", put over a cup, poor boiling water in, and wait for 5 mins.
Perfect for single servings. They are only a few $ each.

[Aloysius]

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I think it's a bad idea to make gifts from the area in which you are a total noob and the giftee is somewhat of a connosieur (although that seems to be an overstatement). Why don't you ask her to teach you about coffee instead, she'll like it more.

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True - but it's also good for OP to be proactive, learn a thing or 2 about coffee (it's not hard), and have something ready to go when she arrives. French Press FTW (think OP said he was getting one anyway).

-Al

[Matt Flynn]

Just make it camp style.

Fancy way: Boil water in a small pot. Take one paper towel. Fold into quarters. Pull one corner out to make a triangular filter. Place into top of travel-style coffee mug. Put grounds in filter. Pour water slowly.

Manly way: boil the coffee grounds for 5 min. Pour through paper towel to get the chunks out.

The fun part is burning the hell out of your hand trying to keep the filter from plunging into the cup, then burning the hell out of your mouth drinking the boiling coffee. Camping rules.

[offTopic]

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True - but it's also good for OP to be proactive, learn a thing or 2 about coffee (it's not hard), and have something ready to go when she arrives. French Press FTW (think OP said he was getting one anyway).


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I don't like starting new threads for related discussion, so I'll ask this here: What's the best way to clean the screen out? I've been using a small dishwashing brush, and while it works, it's a pain.

OP:

Apply even pressure and push slowly, straight down. Otherwise, there might be a small coffee geyser, which, at 180 degrees or so, is not good times.

[boscoboy]

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get a nice big mug or 2 (the 2-hand type)

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not sure if you need a 2 handed mug but this is still solid advice - it would be a shame to overlook having a mug to put the coffee in

[ethan]

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True - but it's also good for OP to be proactive, learn a thing or 2 about coffee (it's not hard), and have something ready to go when she arrives. French Press FTW (think OP said he was getting one anyway).


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I don't like starting new threads for related discussion, so I'll ask this here: What's the best way to clean the screen out? I've been using a small dishwashing brush, and while it works, it's a pain.

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After a quick rinse (just to get the used grounds out of the pitcher and off the filter) I've been filling it with hot water, putting the filter back on and pumping it up and down quickly a few times. You could do this with lightly soapy water, but I've found it's not necessary. Total cleaning time's probably 1-2 mins.

Running the press through the dishwasher from time to time probably isn't a bad idea either.

edit - as long as I'm giving coffee advice I should recommend ordering from Paradise Roasters. Their French Roast and Espresso Classico are my standard choices, but I've been impressed with everything I've ordered from them.