So, it’s been a few weeks since the last “Tastes Good” coffee update. I’ve spent that time getting to know my Technivorm coffeemaker and Baratza grinder better. It’s safe to say that the combined experience has “Mission Accomplished” written all over it… in the good, pre-2003 sense of the phrase, if you take my meaning.
I’ve developed a much deeper appreciation for the wide number of variables at play in making decent “tastes good” coffee. I’m still not sure if I’m “doing it right”, but I’m generally very happy with the outcomes, and that pretty much counts for everything.
It’s amazing how much difference the grind can make. The Baratza Maestro Plus grinder has 40 different grind settings, and I swear to god, all other things being equal, you can taste the difference from one setting to the next. I definitely didn’t expect that.
Another example: You have to adjust the grind depending on whether you’re using a paper filter or a permanent (gold) filter. The paper filter traps more of the solids, so you can go a little bit finer than you can with the permanent filter, whose more broadly-spaced mesh requires a coarser grind to deliver the same/similar flavor.
Another variable, which the Technivorm allows you complete control over, is how long you “steep” the coffee in the filterholder. Now, most coffee makers give you little to no control over this, but of course the Technivorm’s filterholder has a 3-way valve, with settings for “closed” (doesn’t allow water to pass through the filter), to halfway, to full open.
The recommended brewing technique is to allow the coffee to steep in the filterholder, with the valve closed, for approximately one minute. You then open the valve to the halfway position and allow the carafe to fill per normal. This results in an overall steep time of roughly four minutes… which turns out to be just about perfect.
Of course, this “hands-on” approach to making coffee means that you don’t get to just hit a button and come back in five minutes to pour a cup. That’s OK with me, because the end result is totally worth it – but it’s an adjustment, and if you forget about your coffee while the filterholder valve is in the closed position, it can easily overflow and make a mess. I haven’t done that yet, but odds are it’s just a matter of time.
Another variable is the ratio of coffee to water. This variable interacts with the fineness of grind – a finer grind equates to the taste effect of using more coffee in your coffee:water ratio, and vice versa. In my case, I go with a fine grind and a lot of coffee, so the end result is almost ridiculously strong… but man, is it ever tasty. That said, I’m probably overdoing it and would like to taste the coffee “as the grower/roaster/etc intended”, so I’m going to have to keep fiddling.
Who would’ve thought that coffee could be so complex? In sum, though, I’m having a lot of fun and drinking a lot of great coffee. And it’s such a huge improvement over where I was just a few weeks ago that I am still in disbelief. And still go to bed every night looking forward to that first cup the next morning… 🙂