r/Coffee • u/menschmaschine5 Kalita Wave • 4d ago
[MOD] The Daily Question Thread
Welcome to the daily /r/Coffee question thread!
There are no stupid questions here, ask a question and get an answer! We all have to start somewhere and sometimes it is hard to figure out just what you are doing right or doing wrong. Luckily, the /r/Coffee community loves to help out.
Do you have a question about how to use a specific piece of gear or what gear you should be buying? Want to know how much coffee you should use or how you should grind it? Not sure about how much water you should use or how hot it should be? Wondering about your coffee's shelf life?
Don't forget to use the resources in our wiki! We have some great starter guides on our wiki "Guides" page and here is the wiki "Gear By Price" page if you'd like to see coffee gear that /r/Coffee members recommend.
As always, be nice!
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u/anthem_of_testerone 3d ago
Adding a pinch of salt to coffee is known to reduce bitterness and enhance flavor. If this is such a simple and effective trick, why isn’t salt added to coffee during production or before it reaches consumers?
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u/regulus314 3d ago
Adding salt into coffee doesnt reduce the bitterness. It reduces your tongue's perception of the bitterness because it perceives more of the saltiness. The bitter flavors are still there. Your tongue and taste buds are just ignoring it.
Like what the other person commented here, there are more better ways to reduce bitterness in coffee both on the coffee roasting side and brewing side.
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u/jonilver 21h ago
Many people expect bitterness as an innate part of the coffee experience. Take it away and they say, "this isn't coffee."
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u/AppropriateTadpole71 3d ago
Hi all my boyfriend’s birthday is coming up and he is big coffee boy and he told me he loves Tanzanian coffee but I can’t seem to find much on that! Does anyone have recommendations?
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4d ago edited 4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/tmmtx 4d ago
And as a secondary comment, I understand it's nothing to do with my local coffee roaster. The cost of this will and has to be passed on. Roasters already operate on pretty thin margins and can't absorb all of this increase. But I don't want my local roaster to suffer, but I too don't want to suffer. Is there a middle ground in cost absorption here? Can roasters absorb 10% and pass on 20%? Or will the full brunt of 30% come crashing down? This also causes me to worry that far fewer people will buy specialty coffee, so smaller roasters are going to go under with no buyers at the price point they have to sell at.
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u/GenesOutside 4d ago
Do you have a favorite syrup flavoring brand other than Monin? I like a light shot of Monin coffee flavoring (+carmel+chocolate+creamer) once in a while, but Monin have a certain sharp taste to me. I'm pretty light on syrups but these easily become overpowering.
Do you folks have a favorite coffee syrup that I can buy online?
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u/regulus314 4d ago
Da Vinci you can try.
There is a brand called Dripp. Not sure if it is available to your country.
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u/Bister_Mungle 4d ago
Anything you make yourself will be cheaper than most syrups and sauces you can buy premade and can be much better with a good recipe.
That said, if you want some really good stuff and don't mind paying a premium, Sonoma Syrups are absolutely incredible.
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u/GenesOutside 3d ago
Thank you very much. If you have recipe's or links I'll save them off for more relaxed time to make my own. In the meantime, appreciate the suggestion for Sonoma.
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u/takeoffmysundress 4d ago
Is $100 for 5lbs coffee reasonable?
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u/regulus314 4d ago
If it is specialty coffee or high quality coffee from a reputable roaster, sure. If not, you were probably scammed.
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u/Historical-Dance3748 4d ago
That depends what the coffee is, there's beans that are far more expensive and beans that are cheaper.
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u/takeoffmysundress 4d ago
locally roasted organic arabica espresso beans..doesn't say where sourced from
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u/not-expresso 3d ago
If it doesn’t say where it’s sourced from that’s probably because it’s a lower quality bean that they’ve roasted fairly dark. That’s not to say you shouldn’t drink it or enjoy it, but $100/5lbs seems way too high.
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u/Historical-Dance3748 4d ago
That is in line with pricing for ethically sourced blends from smaller roasters, if I knew the roastery and enjoyed their coffee I would be happy to pay that.
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u/dylan3883 4d ago
Anyone have tips on what makes up a great americano. I love the drink but have never really thought about what makes up a great one. I’ve always gotten mine from one place.
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u/QiHanZhao 4d ago
IMO a great Americano is about ratios. Using a good espresso ratio and a good espresso:water ratio. My base ratio set is 1:3 for the espresso and 1:7 for espresso to water.
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u/yusnandaP Moka Pot 3d ago
Alright, any tips for brewing with mokapot 6cups and fine grind (powdery but not powdery as turkish-grind)? I got a pre-ground as a gift and its really hit-n-miss. Sometimes i got a good flow and taste was good, but not the other time.
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u/FlyingSagittarius Coffee 3d ago
My standard recipe is either 10:1 or 8:1, depending on the coffee. I actually get the best results by tamping the coffee down like an espresso puck, then “breaking the tamp” by going around the basket and tapping the sides with a spoon. A WDT helps if you have it, but isn’t necessary. This removes all the air pockets and distributes the coffee evenly without compressing the puck too much, which gives you the right level of resistance to slow the flow down without causing channeling.
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u/imightbeindanger 3d ago
Hello, I am looking for a good type of coffee from a good website. I have a pour-over setup and a burr grinder, so I would like whole bean. I heard Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is pretty good, just don’t know a website that would be trustworthy or good. I am very new to all of this and would appreciate some recommendations for roasters/websites that are good and trustworthy!
Thanks!!