the most eco and last coffee maker - cowgirl coffee

Greek style for me, every morning.

Into a small pot I put 1 teaspoon of sugar, 4 heaped teaspoons of finely ground coffee, 1 cup of cold water, heat it up but remove from the heat before it boils. Boiling removes the crema http://coffeegeek.com/opinions/barista/10-14-2006 If it boils I get told off and due to the size of the pot I usually have a clean up job to do.

You have to let it settle before you drink it but as you don't add milk it needs time to cool anyway.

Other than getting grit in your mouth if you try and swig it and the fact you have to watch it or it boils over I have no problems with it.

I usually don't take sugar in drinks and I never drank black coffee before so i was surprised to find out I liked the Greek style.

The pot is a little specialised, it holds about two cups, has a pouring lip and a wide base but small opening. No moving parts and it can take a lot of abuse.

Hi,

I just wanted to post what appears to be a mostly indestructible french press. It appears to be all stainless steel except for the black plastic coolness enhancements.

Kelly

I drink coffee black with no sugar.

I put the grounds in my mug and pour in the boiling water. The grounds float to the top...
After a few minutes, I stir it briskly and the grounds all sink to the bottom. Every one of them.

Now, I have discovered, at the expense of others, that this doesn't work at all when there is milk present.

I bought the extra-fine tea infuser Paul recommended. I love the idea, and tossed out my old plastic wreck of an appliance. The coffee tastes great, but I find a sludge of fine grounds at the bottom of my cup! It's fine if I just leave the last 1/5 of the coffee, but I'd rather finish it off. I'm thinking maybe its my grounds? I buy pre-ground, maybe I should start grinding my own for a courser grind?

Travis Toner wrote:The coffee tastes great, but I find a sludge of fine grounds at the bottom of my cup!

We get the same sludge when using the French press, I think it might just be that that there are always a bit of fine particles that only a paper filter could keep out of the finished product. I currently use a fabric filter (I think it is hemp) most mornings. I will have to pay attention next time to see if there is a sludge in there as well.

Tom Haile wrote:For making coffee. I put medium ground coffee in a big mason jar filled with water and put it in the frig for a day. Then I strain out a cup. Cold brew coffee eliminates the need for a heat source.

Has anyone tried sun brewed coffee?

This is called "Cold Water Process" or "Brazilian Extract" coffee. We've used it for over 20 years. It eliminates the acid and oils that are normally boiled out of the grounds when using hot water. Just store the extract in the fridge and when you want a fresh cup of coffee, use about 1/4 cup of extract and add your hot water. So smooth. I have a really hard time drinking anything else. You can purchase a kit to make and store the coffee from several different companies but, that really isn't needed once you know how to do it. http://toddycafe.com/ is a good place to learn about the system. Enjoy!

I've been half tempted to buy a keurig because I am tired of throwing out extra coffee and tea.

I wonder if one was to look at the whole lifecycle of those machines if it would not be more energy efficient to actually just throw out a bit of coffee once in a while.

It is so very funny to see this. The other day I broke our coffee pot and did this very thing. We have since replaced our broken pot, I however continue to make coffee that way. I grind my beans each cup, with this tea strainer thing, I tend to add more and make it so very flavorful. It will last, doubles as a tea thing and is very simple material.

Adrien Lapointe wrote:I wonder if one was to look at the whole lifecycle of those machines if it would not be more energy efficient to actually just throw out a bit of coffee once in a while.

The other issue for me is time. I am so short on time these days. I am constantly multi-tasking.

Around here they use something similar to the Brazilians/CostaRicans. Its a piece of cloth on a hoop. You put the coffee grounds in, pour the water over top into your whatever container and then let sit for a while. The cloth gets boiled every now and again - mostly when someone forgot to rinse it out and set it to dry. The thing lasts ages and is super economical to begin with - as expected from a culture that has a food-smushing rock in every kitchen. (Like a meat tenderizer and masher in one, just pick up a good shaped rock)

A few months ago my land-lady came up to me with the electricity bill in hand and gave me what-for. High on her list of complaints was the American style coffee machine, followed by the toaster-oven. "You people need to understand electricity isn't for cooking- it's too expensive for that. I bet you turn that coffee machine on every day"

Nick Kitchener wrote:I put the grounds in my mug and pour in the boiling water. The grounds float to the top...
After a few minutes, I stir it briskly and the grounds all sink to the bottom. Every one of them.

Yeah, best way!
Some one uses cinnamon?
Supposed to help against coffee acidity...
Cardamom might do the same...

Nick Kitchener wrote:I drink coffee black with no sugar.

Milk + coffee is supposed to be a liver toxic! (only the mix)
What happened to some people I know, from high reaction to headaches, tend to prove this is true.

I drink little, but tried recently to put my coffee in a just "emptied" coconut oil jar, and the taste was great!
And made the most of this precious oil!
+ no cup to clean
+ jar already cleaned from all fat...

We have also long gotten rid of those all too breakable Bodum french presses, not just for the glass replacement, but also for the amount of plastic that actually touches the hot coffee. Instead we use our universal stainless steel pot, measure water in our glass cups, pour water into said pot and bring the artesian water to a rolling boil. Add 2 tablespoons (makes two cups) to the rippling water and stir. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Strain with a fine stainless steel tea strainer and enjoy! Everything is rinse-able without soap and everybody and mind is happy :)

Keurigs are terribly ineffiecent. Large amount of waste for one cup. When i see a kuerig in someone's house, it tells me most if what i need to know about them.

I sm afraid i am a junkey. Coffee is my one vice, other then spending too much time reading about permaculture. I hsve tried every method of brewing, and have went back to an old school percolator. I throw it on and boil, then set off. It works anywhere and its good coffee.

My two cents.

My mother used to make me a pot of coffee in a pot on the stove. Just simmer a few mins and strain, experiment with your grounds to get the strength you like.

I always felt that pour-through brewing was wasteful of something that had traveled many miles to get to me. I like old percolators, but the cold extraction looks even better.

Up to now I find a simple little traditional stove-top espresso maker makes the most delicious (and strongest) coffee out of less grounds than any other method I've used. But it's a pain to clean tomorrow morning before you've had your first cup... That cold brew sounds interesting, but then again most of the time I don't have a fridge...

I think room temp is ok. It's really hot water that you want to avoid for the cold process.

Awesome, I LOVE LOVE LOVE those tea strainers!

Travis, plants LOVE coffee.... use the bottom for your plants, fil the rest with water, and then give a random lucky plant a drink, they will thank you for it! Mine do.

Here are some interesting coffee ideas from a wacky nutritionist (although very knowledgeable)
http://oneradionetwork.com/atoms-blog-articles/lets-go-get-a-cup-of-coffee-or-cobalamin-tonic/

After having a bunch of different coffee making options over the years I now have a Bravilor Mondo, bought second-hand off eBay. You know the kind of machine that has a glass jug on a hotplate under a filter holder, and another jug on another hotplate on top. I rarely use the second jug, mind, the idea of that is if you need serious throughput of coffee you move the jug to the top plate and start brewing the next jug right away...

Aside from having to fins a supplier for the filters (they're standard catering item, so not hard) this is way the best machine for doing coffee I've ever had. Never actually tried the cold method, mind, that could be better still, although, you have to heat it, so I guess there's a possibility of over-heating?

I think the cold method is a concentrate - you merely add hot water to it.

I don't see how a coffee maker with a hot plate qualifies as "eco."

Chaya Foedus wrote:Paul,

Hmmm, I feel a challenge...your system uses what you have around the household, to be sure. You can't really beat that. But is it good coffee? And before someone runs out to get the things they might need, might they consider http://pantryparatus.com/kitchen-tools/kitchen-hardware/percolator.html? Paul--I DARE you--if you so choose to accept my challenge. I'll send you a percolator free for your review.

--Chaya
Pantry Paratus

Is it stainless steel?

Is the little thing at the top glass or plastic?

Much time has passed and we've done this system a lot.

First, we refer to coffee that has the grounds still in it as "cowboy coffee" and once you filter it, we call it "cowgirl coffee".

I find that just before pouring it is wise to give it all a stir. This makes it so that fewer grounds end up in the filter.

To those that have asked about flavor: I think the flavor is the same as french press. I can't tell the difference.

Tom: how do you heat your coffee?

We use this system as well since our French press broke and I also find the taste to be the same.

If your perculator has a plastic top you can replace it with https://www.lehmans.com/p-32-glass-percolator-tops.aspx

I've replaced a few in the past. As for the tea infuser method I have one, the flavor is good, I just use a course grind. So i don't get to much sludge.

Having used the cold process coffee a lot underway (2-3 gal batches twice a week) its great hot or cold but if not kept in a fridge or inside an a/c duct it got about 3 days before mold sets in. That stuff kept the engines live and the lights on.

I posted previously about my preference for what I call the "tea method". Like Paul, I allow the grounds to sit in hot water, then pour through a filter. The flavor is good and this method creates only 2 things to wash--the Pyrex cup you soak the grounds it and the cone thingy that holds a paper filter. I'm looking for a cloth filter with wire stand to replace paper filters, although whether this will affect the flavor is to be determined.

I recently took my stainless steel percolator out of the coffee maker museum on my top-of-the-cabinets shelf. After making three or four batches I found the flavor was not what I was used to, and not very much to my liking, and there were more things to wash. It's back in the museum.

In the past I have tried the cold-brew method, and, again, the flavor did not appeal to me. It certainly has the advantage of less clean-up.

Re. comments about "just rinsing" the gear, I think this is a bad idea. What creates the flavor of coffee is its essential oils, oils that, over time, can spoil, whether you keep your dry grounds too long or whether you allow oils to accumulate on your gear. For me, washing is essential after each use.

So here's an idea-why put it in the fridge? If you left the quart jar on the counter, wouldn't you get some light fermentation, better digestion, and possibly some probiotics? You would probably get more flavor. You could still use Paul's last coffee maker or the other metal strainer, and you would be using less energy.
I think I'm going to try it.
John S
PDX OR

Here is the absolute simplest way to make coffee. I have been doing it for 12 years, having brought it home among other uncouth habits from my time in wilderness work.

(1) Bring grounds to a boil in water.
(2) Let boil for 5-10 seconds, stirring to keep the grounds off the sides.
(3) Take off heat.
(4) Let cool for 5-10 minutes.
(5) Pour carefully and pretty much all the grounds will stay on the bottom.

Believe it or not, this makes a fantastic cup, and I frequently receive exclamations of surprise from guests when they find out how I make it. A couple finer points: It should be ground coarse enough that it doesn't create sediment, but otherwise needn't be too coarse. And I mix mine with cream. Yes, this is cowboy coffee. Funny enough, I recently became a cowboy. Strong stuff, I tell you.

I think someone needs to compile this thread into a book called "100 Ways to Make Coffee That Are Each the Best Way"

I use a Chemex HERE with the Kone filter HERE.

Glass and steel.

Pour over quality finished coffee. Better coffee that most percolators or other drip systems. Not as good as with the paper filters, but if you want a reusable filter then the steel filter is good. In my opinion better than any other eco system out there for taste of coffee. Plus it looks cool.

If you are a coffee snob this is one of the most eco ways to go. Even the high end coffee shops like Verve are using these systems.

The Chemex:


The Kone filter:


You can get these on Amazon and Peets sells them in their stores. Peets sells the paper and steel filters.

I am very glad to read this thread because I thought I broke French Press glasses because I am extraordinarily awkward.

I am relieved to find I am ordinarily awkward.

Now I use an expresso maker and grind my beans by hand. I spent time in San Francisco with coffee snobs who said power grinders created too much heat (dumb, I know, because the coffee gets hot eventually anyway). Somehow that crazy expression in my twenties reared its ugly head in my 60's, and I can't stop hand-griding. My son has no patience, and bought a power grinder when he was here.

This is all very interesting, how individual persons can get their individual coffee culture going. My dad once lived in a trailer park where people would invite each other over for some of "my" coffee. They each had their own way to do it.

(raises hand)

I'm a hand grinder, too! I got into it from reading that the spinning blade type coffee grinders are only good for a fine grind. If you want a coarser grind, the blade gets you "boulder and dust."

We're on our second hand coffee grinder from Lehmans. We got the good german one the second time, hopefully it will last forever. We brew in a stainless steel french press pot that has a replaceable filter piece.

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for being 'European' in this matter, but generally we (Europeans) make coffee in a stronger (uses less water) manner... and then add milk to taste (if at all!). So in order to make really nice, strong coffee, we tend to use the good old fashioned percolator type method, but with a higher pressure.

Europe has changed its attitude to coffee in recent years, with quality being more sought after than quantity (and therefore price is less important) - Yep Starbucks has helped, but people now understand what real coffee can taste like, so I'd like to add to this thread and enquire whether an Italian Style coffee 'Stovetop Coffee Percolators' are acceptable to the ideals of a less plastic, durable and therefore eco-friendly coffee addict community?

Here is what I mean.... (photo attached)

It can be easily used on top of a RMH or wood stove, as easily used on a conventional cooker and, although I have never tried, could be made to work on an open fire. The seal between the 2 halves is a rubber gasket that is again, not a polymer but a natural product and these things last for years.

And make GREAT coffee

So why try to re-invent the wheel when there is an old-fashioned, does-not-need-electricity way already out there?

Hi All,

I can understand the European perspective of coffee...as it evolved from its origins Africa (Ethiopia?) and its further refinements by the Sufi spreading through the Middle East, into Europe, and then to America. Here it merged with the Native "Chicory" and other "dark drinks" or "bitter drinks" (hot and cold.) I myself, did not start drinking "coffee" until my Master Sergeant in the Marines wife brought in a large stoneware flask of it...

She offered me a mug, I declined, "No thank you, I don't really care for coffee..." My Master Sergeant just looked at me with a wry smile, when his wife said, "THIS is not your nasty American "burnt stuff," this is "real coffee" roasted by my family for over 500 years (note: her family has lived, as a family unit, in the same house making cheese, breads, and roasted coffee (not in that order) since 1347.) They roast the coffee with Filbert Nuts (hazel nuts), cocoa, (et al things she only smiled about.) I have drank coffee ever since...but I can be a real "snob." I had learned to make several of our Native "bitter drinks," and combining that with what she taught me has given me an appreciation for this gift from the earth that I did not have as a younger man.

I like Pauls simplicity, and we have made ours many time with hot stone, wood, and our specially thrown stoneware coffee makers...I think I will have to post a thread on that someday...

Regards,

j

So with all this "technology" you'd think we can come up with the "least technically involved" approach to making a cup of coffee.
Recently, I bought a "tea ball" which is a very fine strainer in the shape of a ball. It comes apart in two halves and I put a tbs. of coffee in it and plunk that into the hot water. Voila! coffee. The longer it sits there, the stronger the coffee gets. I grind the coffee fairly coarse so I dont' get a lot of mud at the bottom of the cup.
QED

Just an FYI. When I was in Vietnam adopting my youngest child in 2001, I was introduced to Vietnamese coffee. The idea is similar to cowgirl coffee. They make a stainless steel individual cup coffee filter that is available through Amazon for from $3 and on up with most around $5 to $6. They do not break and last as long as anyother stainless steel device. No extraneous filters. You do not have to use sweetened condensed milk, it is a Vietnamese thing (very good, but not a necessity)



vietnamese coffee filters

Yum! Love Vietnamese coffee (or Thai iced coffee, which is similar). Really more of a dessert, but so good. . .

I think various stainless steel filters really are the way to go.

I have done the cold brew coffee as well and supposedly it has 65% less acid...but you do miss some extraction and flavors that can only be provided by heat...I like doing both and change it up once in a while.

Diego chemex pour overs are awesome. My coffee buddy has one and swears by it....if I want THEE best cup of coffee in my opinion a good pour over is hard to beat and its a nice ritual gently pouring the water..nursing the grounds ..my freind used to go on and on about this awesome coffee shop in California called intelegencia...think that's the name.

On Paul's best coffee maker- I bought one. I like the idea, but it is so tiny. I don't think I can put enough coffee in it, which leads me to think about .....

3Frieling Medium Infuser with Lid, 3-inch Stainless Steel
4 x 5 x 4 inches ; 1.9 ounces also on Amazon but apparently much bigger. Does anyone know about this one? Reviews were quite mixed;, or............


Diego et al- is the Kone filter all metal below the ring? The Kone one is really expensive. I am using a melita version right now which is good but has plastic as part of it. I want to get away from plastic, but if it's just the top ring it should be ok, but I in addition.........

I am going to try both the Matt Smaus instant boil method, and the warm fusion in a jar method, and use Paul's best coffee maker to filter it out after preparation...

and see where I am at that point.

We are quite a bunch of blue collar scientists, aren't we?

John S
PDX OR