To clarify.

While this thread is about making coffee in general, I am interested in knowing a specific thing.

How to make the best cup of coffee possible.

This cup of coffee may have whole milk added, and one sugar. (because science has found this is the best way to enjoy coffee because leeds_manc says so).

The mug will be larger than tea-cup size, think Starbucks mugs.

I'm not talking about Nespresso cartons of froth. Neither am I talking about buying a ready-made coffee milkshake with chocolate sprinkles from Costa.

I want to know what beans to get. What method to brew the coffee. What tools are needed. Your personal preference.

I want to be like Walter White from Season 4 of Breaking Bad if possible, using test tubes and boiling flasks if necessary.

I will happily join in with bean comparisons/reviews should it get that nerdy.
(who am I kidding? It WILL get that nerdy)

go go go

making a good espresso will be pricey as you need a good quality machine.
At home we have a filter machine and good ground coffee from a local roaster. If you want to grind your own coffee get a good quality grinder.

Coffee:
Smells lovely; tastes like [LIFTED].

IMO. I've no idea how it manages that.
A mate of mine swears by freezing the beans to keep them fresh.

Exactly! I love the smell but no matter how I try it it just tastes burned. Like eating completely charred toast.

Confusingly, Guinness tastes just the same.

And you have hit on the reason for this thread. Because I just had a cup of burned just as you say.

However I HAVE previously had a genuinely beautiful cup of coffee. I was in Rio de Janeiro (this probably helped) and I ordered a fairly cheap cup of coffee from a small stand in the botanical gardens. It was lovely, a total revelation. I intend not to rest until I recreate this every time.

Most beans are over-roasted. This is according to my brother-in-law, who is so into his coffee that he has his own roaster and regularly has 8+ varieties of green beans available for roasting.

I like where this is going already.

Can you buy beans that have had a lesser roasting?

I think most espresso tastes burnt, except for the really good stuff, but that requires an expensive grinder, machine and lots of skill. I've had some very nice espresso (Maxwell who's shop was 5 doors round from where I used to live won this year's barista championships), but also lots of burnt meh. At home I like filter coffee, as you don't get the burnt flavours. For coffee musings to the point of extreme nerdiness, the aforementioned coffee place has a blog here. It's very fluffy but it gives a good idea of how some people view coffee.

If we accept that this:



Is the lowest form of 'coffee', then anything beyond it is in fact, the best cup of coffee.

And here comes Al to voice an opinion......

Bought myself one of those Espresso machines just before last erm.... 11 months ago and of course a grinder as it's the best way to get the coffee fresh (they reckon on 60 seconds before the grounds go stale). It's a dark art so it is - somewhere between science, art and alchemy so be prepared for much experimentation. The main problem is in quantity - about two fluid ounces from around 18 grams of grounds. However, the taste when you get it right can be amazing - you won't drink Starbucks or Costa again! I order beans (pre-roasted) and lay them down for about 5 days - in a dark, cool place - NEVER the fridge or freezer and reckon on two or three grinds before dialling in the correct fineness which varies the older the beans so it's a constant battle to get the correct quantity of liquid in a 25-30 second pour which is the optimum (apparently).

Then there's steaming the milk (if needed). Another dark art!

So, my technique is to grind, weigh grounds, insert into portafilter, tamp, connect to machine and switch on, time pour, weigh results then finally taste. At this point I usually pour the failed attempt into a big mug and steam some milk, repeat process until mug is full then drink and not sleep very well.

You did ask...

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c168/ ... /Espresso/

Al

You've clearly never had rig coffee then. The guys on the rig would kill for something as good as Nescafe.

You OCD lunatics have me wanting to try coffee again (I barely drink tea)

Get yourself one of these.

Also decent beans/ground coffee.

Got one. Not too good on an electric hob.