Favorite Coffee? Prep Method?

[Jetexas]

I actually just ordered the 5-cup version of this 12 volt machine.
12 VOLT COFFEE MAKERS - JCWhitney

Basically, all it's got to do is boil water. Coffee should taste the same as in my pot at home.

[osirissail]

Many years ago I purchased the various brands of 12VDC coffee makers and eventually threw them all in the demsey dumpster. They either used too much power off the batteries or never got the water hot enough in less than a half hour. Not cost effective when compared to using your propane/butane stove top. I do have cheap 120VAC Mr Coffee for when I am on shore power or generator. All other times we use the gas stove top which is why that Bialetti is so interesting. And it is available in stainless steel to help reduce the metallic taste that sometimes works its way into the coffee when using aluminum or tin pots.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by FrankZ

How coarse of a grind are you using? Are you being patient and waiting the full 4 minutes?

Welllll........the grind is the normal stuff from home, Maxwell house.

I have waited 10-15 and agitated it also.

[FrankZ]

You might try a grind for the press. It is normally fairly coarse.

[Solitude]

Originally Posted by Jetexas

I actually just ordered the 5-cup version of this 12 volt machine.
12 VOLT COFFEE MAKERS - JCWhitney

Basically, all it's got to do is boil water. Coffee should taste the same as in my pot at home.

I like how the add promises a LOW 16 amp DRAW

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by FrankZ

You might try a grind for the press. It is normally fairly coarse.

I will look for that even though I don't understand the logic in my head. Seems finer would more readily "give it up". Dunno the science though.

Maybe that cooking guy on TV..........na, I really don't like TV much.......

[templequeen]

Coffeee is something you drink, something you enjoy or something you love.. For each of us and our addiction there is a different level of prepreration. I love coffee..Go onshore in latin america or any of the french colonies the coffee as the coffee is delicious and it is a social experience. Otherwise, if you have the time and the energy.. you can roast the beans from green in a popcorn maker. it smells great but consumes alot of energy. With roasted beans you take your best beans and grind them to make your coffee grinder and then process in either in a french press or in an espresso maker, both are best, both use water just off the boil. My partner is a complete coffeee hound and is planning on installing a comibnation grinder and espresso maker on board to give him fresh ground coffee on demand. I must say, it is delicious. We don't have to boil water saving propane, the espresso maker grinds the coffee and heats the water under pressure in seconds. Perfect and delicious.
Instant coffee isn't coffee, percolated is dreadful, french press is lovely but it isn't espresso.. you choose.

[DaveOnCudjoe]

I use a stainless steel, stovetop espresso pot. Makes up to 10 oz. at a time. Cafe Oquendo from the super market, black with sugar. Dave

[zeehag]

espresso makers of the electrical variety use waaay too much energy for those of us dependent upon being IN dependent!!!! the one cup filtration system makes excellent coffee-as do the stove top espresso makers--i grind my own beans very fine and go from there--adding chocolate and real cream....

[BIG JOE]

Hey it may not sound cool like a french press or old fashioned perk but I just bought a Kuerig coffe maker you know the one with the little one cup canisters, well thats perfect cuz you have a perfect hot cup every time and storing those little canisters is perfect on board.

[svnatasha]

1. Trader Joe's Bay Blend Coffee. Decent Coffee, decent price, nice, dark and strong. our first choice. However I like just about any coffee made in a french press so long at it is strong.

2. French Press is easy for more than one cup at a time. We use a double walled stainless model made by Thermos. They are pretty tough. 7 years old and still works great. it's been dropped on decks, docks, parking lots and and cabin soles. a few dents but it keeps on brewing.

3. At 3 am in rough sea, I'll welcome any coffee that is hot and will keep me alert. At least with instant you could skip the water and just eat it..... yummy!

[High Heels]

Originally Posted by Microship

AeroPress (One source: Aeropress Coffee Maker - lots of others out there) is wonderful.

I graduated magna cum latte...

Steve

I am with Steve here...I just discovered the aeropress when visiting a friend and have finally found my perfect for the boat and anywhere coffee maker.

What I like about it is that it does use a little filter (350 of them are comparable to one recycled daily newspaper) which I like...but it also presses the coffee like a french press. Because there is a filter you use fine ground instead of course ground.

The best part is because it is kind of like a large, glorified syringe, when you are finishing pressing it you then are able to just push the use grounds and filter out without touching the grounds and cleanly so they end up being disposed of entirely, no stray grounds to end up in the sink.

It takes only as long as it takes to heat water to 176 degrees, ten seconds to steep and stir, and then 4 sec. to plunge...wha la!

The coffee tastes smooth! You can leave it as it is - an espresso...or add water for americana....

I doubt I will ever own a conventional coffee pot, or french press again...

[High Heels]

And on the subject of which coffees...I really like the taste of organic coffees (i can normally tell a difference), they are earthier tasting to me...I like the Sumatras...a friend went on a five day cruise with us and brought Cafe Bustela, and I have to say, Yum!

[osirissail]

The AeroPress seems to be a "drip" coffee system with a French Press Plunger. That is assuming that "filter" in the bottom underneath the coffee grounds and water is porous and does not have some kind of "pressure valve" that would prevent the water from being released prior to "pressing". The description on their website does not address what would happen if you put the unit on top of your coffee cup, and never depressed the plunger. Would the liquid coffee "drip" from the filter into the cup?
- - Assuming you have to use a new filter each use, it would seem to be one notch more complicated than the ordinary French Press.

[High Heels]

Hi Osirissail,

It is a porous filter, very small. I do think the water would eventually just drip on it's own through the filter without the pressure...but it would take awhile I imagine and would leave the coffee extremely strong...don't think I have the patience to experiment with that delectable cup of coffee right under my nose ;0) ...The plunger (like a syringe plunger) does create a vaccum lock and forces the air through the filter (don't know if this contributes anything to the taste).

I find that it is less acidic than my french press...so that little filter does buffer some of the acid I think.

After you pour the amount of water that corresponds with the one - four cups of coffee you are making, you use the provided stir stick to stir for ten seconds before plunging into the cup. It makes an expresso, which you can than add water too for dilution if you wish.

I can tell you it creates a deep, complex while still smooth taste. The acidity is cut big time...probably because the grounds are not in contact with the water very long and only once.

I have tried just about every coffee pot known to man...drip, boden that would force boiling water up into the grounds and then would drop into the pot (reverse perc.), french press, and my last was the Keurig. None were as good as the aeropress IMHO.

I like that I can use any coffee I like, that it is freshly ground, no electric, easy cleanup, small, environmentally sound and on top of all of that the coffee tastes so good!