Tea Time

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by IdoraKeeper

The coffee grounds issue is vexing. When I re built my grey water system I included a check valve to prevent pump cycling...even a minor contamination from Coffee grounds defeats the check valve.....so zero grounds in the sink is mandetory. Even so, I cannot convert to tea, oh the horror's! No, I will struggle with the grounds and absorb the cost of paper towels, rags and cleaning supplies. Java!

Awhile ago ForSailbyOwner mentioned buying coffee filters, preloading them a bunch at a time with favorite ground coffee, then stapling them shut, and using like those coffee packs one sees in motels. This works well and solves the grounds issue.

I have this on the back burner at the moment cuz when I tried it over a week or so, I put the pack in the thermos, poured in the hotwater, and promptly forgot about it. The first cup was OK, the remainder not so much. Decanting it to remove the pack, then recanting to keep heated is too much trouble for my whiney hiney. I've got bigger fish to fry. More correctly, I have smaller fish to steam, grill, saute ... anything but fry. The horrors!

I suppose I could also staple a long string on the packs to retrieve like a tea bag. Or maybe weld an extra log handle on a tea infuser. See, the real issue is one needs to be smarter than coffee grounds. I concede the point.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

I use a little SS basket with supporting handles and brew most tea for 2:30 minutes. A timer is really useful if you are anything like me and get distracted and forget all about the time .

It is so simple to use - when done I just pop the strainer in the sink to drain and then later throw the leaves in the rubbish or overboard. If you are lazy or conserving water, the strainer doesn't even need to be rinsed. A light tap before the next use easily gets rid of any loose leaves once they are bone dry. It is not much harder than reaching for a tea bag and the quality of the tea is dramatically better, even when using the same brand for each .

Oh [bowing], I am thanking you AGAIN fair Lassie. [attempting Indian accent] I am loving the sound of this!

[sailorboy1]

I've seen and bought coffee bags in the past, they are just like tea bags.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I've seen and bought coffee bags in the past, they are just like tea bags.

Exactly, but with very little variety, very high cost per serving, and very extremely limited availability. Other than those deal killers, they are just like tea bags, as you note.

[astara]

A couple of years ago while traveling
up the coast if Maine, I moored off
Dear Island and went ashore. I found
a nice place that served tea and scones
that featured the best tea I've ever had.
The brand? It's called -The Meaning of Tea - you can find them online. Try the
Golden Monkey and you'll never go back to the usual cheaper ones.

[Blue Crab]

Excellent! Golden Monkey good ... Salty Monkey ... Not so much.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by astara

A couple of years ago while traveling
up the coast if Maine, I moored off
Dear Island and went ashore. I found
a nice place that served tea and scones
that featured the best tea I've ever had.
The brand? It's called -The Meaning of Tea - you can find them online. Try the
Golden Monkey and you'll never go back to the usual cheaper ones.

Checked the meaning of tea web site. Their Golden Monkey (it's a type of tea available from other suppliers as well) is over $100.00/lb. For that price it should brew itself and appear magically at my bedside just as I wake up.

Might be nice occasionally but for daily drinking that would take too big a bite out of my budget.

[Leo Ticheli]

I drink tea on occasion, but there is really no substitute for good coffee and no other decent way to start the day or stand a watch.
I home roast green beans and use a French Press on land, but on the water the Aeropress rules. It's easy to use, even easier to clean, very inexpensive, and makes the best coffee I've ever tasted. The only drawback is that it is limited in volume of coffee, just enough for a couple of cups for two; about ideal for a sailboat.
Buy it here: Aeropress | Sweet Maria's Coffee

I might add that the health benefits of coffee are well documented and considerable.

Fair winds,

Leo

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I've seen and bought coffee bags in the past, they are just like tea bags.

All the ones I've seen are actually mostly instant coffee with enough grounds to fool you.
I read the label, I thought it was too good to be true

[Downtime]

I use a Chemex 8-cup pourover at work with a Hario Skerton hand grinder at work. All you need is hot water and the paper filter.

I also like the AeroPress for individual cups of coffee. Its like a french press without the mess.

[Leo Ticheli]

Another vote for the Hario grinder. Get the smaller one; it's a perfect fit for the Aeropress.

Hario Slim Mill - Manual - Grinders

Fair winds,

Leo

[goboatingnow]

For that price it should brew itself and appear magically at my bedside just as I wake up.

I think that requires a Ukrainian mail order service, which ultimately works out very very pricey when in sues for divorce.


Dave

[BWB75]

Originally Posted by Downtime

I use a Chemex 8-cup pourover at work with a Hario Skerton hand grinder at work. All you need is hot water and the paper filter.

I also like the AeroPress for individual cups of coffee. Its like a french press without the mess.

Here is a good answer. The Chemex is basically a beaker with a coffee-filter shaped entry. You heat the water and pour it over the grounds. The company will try to convince you that you must use their special expensice filters, but it isn't true. You easily can make super clean, super smooth coffee with regular brown paper filters. Then just lift out the filter and drop it in the trash (or use it around your boat to spread nice coffee smell).

Also, James Bond, in the novels, used a Chemex. If it's good enough for James Bond...

Another solution to boat coffee is a stovetop espresso maker like this: Amazon.com: Bialetti 6800 Moka Express 6-Cup Stovetop Espresso Maker: Kitchen & Dining.

The coffee grounds are trapped in a filter cup that needs some rinsing, but it's not nearly has tough to clean as a French press. When we found out our charter boat didn't have a coffee maker aboard (morning of day one, still at the Marina) we immediately went out and bought one of these (and left it aboard for future charterers). It works wonderfully on a gas range, requires no electricity, and fills the cabin with a delightful coffee aroma. It kept everyone in luxurious coffee bliss for the duration.

Can't say I fully trust people who don't drink coffee...

[weavis]

I roast my own coffee.

Here is a device I use for making filter coffee. No mess. Just lob the dry filter and coffee over the side. Biodegradable.This is a two day old Colombian bean which we imported to try for the roastery... I made this just for the video. I prefer coffee after 3 days... and if kept well, great espresso can be made up to 15 days. A mature bean can produce the most amazing taste.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5Bm92Get-Y

[Blue Crab]

Holy Sweet Maria's Muffins! If this ain't a mutinous motley crew of coffeephiliacs! The thread is about tea fer crissakes!

Well, I feel better now.

After spending a small fortune (I don't have a large fortune) on sundry fancy schmancy nancyass candyassed teas, I have come to the reconclusion that I don't really like tea. I've always known that but hope springs eternal.

Careful readers will know that what I am striving for is an Erica Jong style zipless cup o brew: zero prep, brewing hassle, and cleanup with rich, deeply satisfying taste ... a LARGE cuppa sooooooooooooo good, ya need a smoke as you bask in the afterglow.

I jest! I don't smoke and afterglow is for chicks. Mighty manly men like us ready move on, find strange, hump hump, move on, find strange ....

Last week in my life of quiet desperation [How does Charlotte K know?] I went looking for the bottom half of my coffee press to recapture some real taste in my morning routine. Couldn't find it. Probably thrown out with the bathwater and empty and half full beer cans one foggy morning. So I bought some instant coffee. What crap. So I am still looking, forever like Diogenes, not Diogenes Prendergast either, the real Diogenes.

Reading the above reviews of the AeroPress, the glass [!!!!!!!] carafe (add breakin' to that shaken), and so forth I want to remind one and all that one needs to make coffee underway as well as when safely snuggled in a slip. I realize that the salty term underway may be new to some CF readers, but Mr. Google is yer friend. I prefer Mrs Google; that's jes how I roll.

Nothin' tastes better than pressed coffee so I'll replace my press. I have also solved the grounds mess issue with a rerouting of my galley sink drain from straight down to an easily-pluggedup seacock and thruhull to a way larger outthesideabovethewaterline thruhull. With Y valve. Easy Peasy. Leftover bids of salad, coffee grounds, even mostly organic waste ... no problem anymore. And no law "enforcer" inspecting for a lock. Rinse and repeat. Extreme situations may require an exercise of the nautical manoever of "tacking" unless one has a bunchahull which I don't.