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ronCYA
339
Oct 25, 2017
Does anyone have any questions about AeroPress? I just love talking about the little thing haha.
Did you know it was created by the guy who designed the Aerobie frisbee? Did you know he actually advises against the inverted brewing method? Did you know there is a filter in development for the AeroPress that lets you shoot coffee like a water gun? Did you know the Silver winner for the 2017 Australian AeroPress championships measures out an exact parts-per-million of magnesium for their water? Did you know the AeroPress is the knees of the bees?!
Dr.McCoy
345
Oct 25, 2017
ronCYAI'm actually amazed that it's taken so long for coffee nerds to tinker with their water. It seems obvious to me, but it's a very common thing to do for home brew beer. There are literally many styles you just cannot make correctly if you don't change your water chemistry. It's often why locally roasted coffee is better than a premium brand from elsewhere. You're not using Colorado water to brew your Colorado coffee if you're in Texas.
SidEvolution
25
Oct 25, 2017
Dr.McCoyI would say that those already into coffee do tinker with their coffee. It is more so the practicality of doing so that is difficult. I've seen (read) in competitions many will bring their own water so that their results match what they are expecting.
Coffee roasters test roasts with their local water, so unless you have imported water, it is fairly difficult to reproduce the *exact* flavor they are able to achieve. But there are companies that sell minerals that are intended to into water for coffee brewing. Third-wave waters or something along those lines.
Xangthos5
14
Oct 25, 2017
ronCYAI hadn't thought of water composition for coffee before although it makes sense. I also home brew beer and water composition is crucial!
Love my AeroPress!
Caffiend
16
Oct 25, 2017
ronCYAAre you talking about the Prismo? I have one ordered and can't wait for it to get here.
Soaker
17
Oct 25, 2017
ronCYAWhen I first got my Aeropress, I wasn't aware of the inverted method. I would just put the water and grinds in, assemble it, and let it sit over the mug in the upright position. Nothing much ever dripped out. I liked letting it steep for at least several minutes before pressing. Lo and behold someone came up with inverting it which I thought was brilliant as I didn't figure that out on my own! I think with very bold coffee like Starbucks (sorry) it could be better to press right away to limit the extraction. For most others, I definitely prefer steeping.
Dr.McCoy
345
Oct 25, 2017
SidEvolutionYeah, you're definitely not gonna get a 100% accurate result but, outside of a competition, you really don't need to. The competition solution of shipping water has existed for a while but it's honestly probably just as good to carry the dry minerals to put in distilled/RO water. Seems to me that it would drastically save on costs and resources to do this.
SidEvolution
25
Oct 25, 2017
Dr.McCoyI agree. Checkout https://thirdwavewater.com/ if you haven't already.
Dr.McCoy
345
Oct 25, 2017
SidEvolutionMan, see, this is why I can't get ahead in life. I've been doin this forever - never woulda thought to package it and sell it. That's genius.
ronCYA
339
Oct 25, 2017
Dr.McCoyI think especially for enthusiast single-brew, the niche factor has delayed how accessible measured water is. The last few 'advances' have been grind consistency and temperature. I reckon the enthusiast community/consumer grinders have consistency down pat these days, but temperature is still quite new. There is the Bonavita variable temp kettle, the Fellow Stagg EKG and kettles that only have 5°C increments.
In the same way that grind consistency was finally 'sorted', I don't think mineral-measured water will be widespread until temperature is widely accessible.
ronCYA
339
Oct 26, 2017
SidEvolutionYou're right— I have bought off-the-shelf distilled water as well as used filtered water before but actually measure out minerals is a whole other level of accessibility.
I read a story once about a guy who became a 'water sommelier'! He would taste waters of varying mineral composition like wine and was hoping to produce a 'signature water'!!
ronCYA
339
Oct 26, 2017
Xangthos5How do you achieve it with beer? I have achieved results aiming for consistency, but with no control over composition. Basically I'd either run the water through a filter, or get distilled water. The filtered water was kind of interesting but I wasn't a fan of AeroPress with distilled water.
Glad to meet another AP fan :D
ronCYA
339
Oct 26, 2017
CaffiendSure am! It's gonna be so fun right?!
I'm actually really eager to use it to make that 'swirly coffee in milk in a tall glass' effect haha. I make a (admittedly not great) 'cold brew' by putting beans + cold water into a high-powered Vitamix on max power, then plunging it through the AeroPress. I'm hoping the valve jet is going to create a neat look when the cold brew coffee is shot into a glass of milk.
ronCYA
339
Oct 26, 2017
SoakerHey nothing wrong with Starbucks— sometimes just a coffee's caffeine or sugar content is your top priority! I had a craving for 'a milkshake, but hot' the other week and a grande caramel latte with marshmallow and cream was just not something I could AeroPress :P
You must grind fairly fine if you weren't getting drips. Also sounds like you're a fan of the super-bold if you're doing minutes-long steeps!
ronCYA
339
Oct 26, 2017
Dr.McCoyHaha imagine having guests over and saying "Yeah just gotta measure out my minerals, mix my water, boil it, measure my beans, grind them, bloom it, steep it, flip it, then press it... for one coffee. You guys start chatting, I'll see you in 20 minutes!"
Agreed, competition only :P
ronCYA
339
Oct 26, 2017
SidEvolutionWow, you learn something new every day. When you mentioned it in your other comment I thought it was just the name of some grass roots movement!
Xangthos5
14
Oct 26, 2017
ronCYATypically it's changing the acidity. There are a few different tablets you can add to the water. I haven't tried it yet though. Haven't really had the need.
If coffee is anything like beer, though, the filtered/distilled water wouldn't be that good because you want some minerals in it. BUT if your tap water is not good to drink or has off flavors you don't want that either.
ronCYA
339
Oct 26, 2017
Xangthos5Yeah my tap water is fortunately quite all right so that's my go-to. The filter I use did not strip out everything, so it was still fun to see how it differed to normal tap water. Distilled wasn't great as you said. With both methods I couldn't control mineral composition but I succeeded in my experiments to get consistent composition.
It sounds like home-brew craft beer might be a good cooking community!
Caffiend
16
Oct 26, 2017
ronCYAI hadn't thought of the cold brew application. The visual with that sounds like a lot of fun!
Soaker
17
Oct 26, 2017
ronCYAI would love it if some of you did a long vs short steep and reported your results. My experience has been that while long steeps do change the flavor profile in my cup, I never get coffee that I would describe as over-extracted (overly bitter, astringent, unpleasant). That said, I had some Aged Sumatra recently that got very strong cedar notes on the long steep. Still tasty but way different from the short steep flavor profile.
May be another thread but about Starbucks but I visited their Reserve Roastery in Seattle earlier this year and is that ever a cool place! If you ever buy Starbucks Reserve beans, I can tell you that it all comes from a single machine/roaster that is from that location only. The roast profile is determined per the green bean lot, and the roast itself is computer controlled with a human at the helm. I heard they were building another reserve roastery in NYC but am pretty sure they would do the same there. No idea how they do the mass produced stuff!
steverhinehart
24
Oct 27, 2017
Dr.McCoyThe coffee nerds have been tinkering with water at least since the 60s. The National Coffee Association established water standards for the US back then.
Dr.McCoy
345
Oct 27, 2017
steverhinehartYeah but I don't necessarily mean a flat competition standard. I mean that I'm surprised Joe Coffee Nut hasn't decided to figure out the TDS and mineral content of water of the roaster they're buying from.
steverhinehart
24
Oct 28, 2017
Dr.McCoyIt's certainly more mainstream today - and heck, the Third Wave Water guys just showed up on Shark Tank recently - but I do think there's plenty of precedent for enthusiasts tinkering with brewing water. Often those conversations alluded to the fact that water balancing is crucial in beer, wine, and spirits. The old alt.coffee boards on Usenet had discussions of water tuning and a few documents that got shared around at the time. Jim Schulman's Insanely Long Water FAQ grew out of that, and that thing is at least a decade old now.
Granted, we didn't have a whole book on water chemistry and extraction then, we didn't have single-serve water treatment kits like TWW and Global Customized Water, and we didn't have anybody like Matt Perger telling his throngs of fans how to make a concentrate formula for coffee brewing water on the cheap. There's a lot more today that makes the whole thing far more approachable and appealing to the average person.
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