I’m drinking coffee outside my flat for the first time in over 2 months.
Because I have to use the bathroom and my flat has no running water.
Based on this, I’ve learned that my coffee at home is so much better than any other place in Prague. Pretty low bar but still.
Recently got a v60 and virtuoso grinder to get back in to coffee. Got some good beans from happy mug but I think I screwed up by dumping them all in the hopper. After about two days all the fruity flavor was gone.
I go through a 12oz bag in about a week. Should I be ok keeping beans in the bag and only adding enough beans for a day or two to the hopper at a time or do I need to do anything with freezing?
Also, anyone drinking blue bottle? I used to love their blends and single origins a few years ago, but the couple times I’ve tried them recently have been very disappointing. Have they dropped way off in quality?
Are you the same blackize that used to post in sttf about a decade ago?
You’d think that given the large Vietnamese community here that Vietnamese coffee accessories would be easier to find.
Had to order the filter and proper beans online. Gonna get condensed milk today and hopefully have a report in a few days on my setup/quality.
In the meantime, I’m waiting for one to brew now at a nearby restaurant.
ETA: The one I’m drinking now tastes like a bitter dark chocolate. Just enough sweetness from the condensed milk to smooth off the bitterness of robusta beans.
Yep! That’s me. I’m also blackize5 in the old forums since I got locked out of the original a number of years ago
Cool, glad to have you here. I was jbrochu on the old forum and hung around mostly in sttf for a long time. You used to crack me up with your exploits when you were a youngster back then.
We have a few sttf regulars here. Suzzer, me, ChrisV, micro, and I’m likely missing others.
Nice! Good to see you again!
You can just keep the beans in the bag and grind enough when you make coffee. Store the bag in a dark, cool, and dry place. Some people buy containers suitable for coffee. Of the ones I own, I recommend the Airscape by Planetary Design which can be found for bargain prices if you shop around a bit.
You wouldn’t want to freeze coffee you’re dipping into frequently because it will probably pick up moisture and result in freezer burn. What I typically do is buy a few pounds of various coffees at a time and freeze the unopened bags I’m not using. It seems to work extremely well and you can get the free shipping and sometimes volume discounts.
Anyone ever just thrown out some coffee? I just got this latest blue bottle blend and I really don’t want to drink it for another week when I could easily get something better.
But it feels like such a waste to do.
if I have coffee I don’t particularly love (assuming it’s not rancid, just not to my liking), I will usually use it for something like after-dinner coffee (e.g. load it up with milk) or espresso tonics where I can’t really taste the subtleties.
Made my first vietnamese coffee today. I learned why they use a clear glass the hard way. A large espresso cup wasn’t enough.
It has a very unique and distinct taste. It has an element of sweetness from the condensed milk but the robusta beans provide a dark chocolate taste and aroma with a long-lasting aftertaste.
Gonna be hard to go back to regular coffee now.
I went with a tablespoon of condensed milk and 3 tablespoons of ground coffee. If you don’t use 100% robusta beans, you’re doing it wrong.
Do you have the phin filter?
Yes
I see Vietnamese more as a coffee-based sugary drink than actual coffee. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I used to enjoy chai and green tea lattes but those things are loaded with sugar. Probably completely unpalatable to me now since I’ve essentially cut all extra sugar out of my diet. I’d like to try a Viet with one of the (very rare) quality single-origin robustas paired with steamed milk, maybe a dash of cane sugar to taste.
I think some people tend to overdo the condensed milk because of how bitter robusta beans are. I think it’s because most Americans are used to drinking coffee-flavored water rather than actual coffee.
Hard to find single origin robusta. Hell, I had a hard time finding robusta coffee in any form. It took some digging around to find robusta coffee that wasn’t part of a blend. But even though it was 100% robusta, it wasn’t single origin.
ETA: I mean it was all from Vietnam but not necessarily from the same farm.
Yeah I guess finding anything decent in .cz could be challenging. Wtf do they drink there for the morning boost?
They drink coffee. They just don’t treat it the way I do. There’s one cafe within walking distance that’s quality. It’s where I get my beans for more conventional coffee. The rest in the area are pretty meh.
There’s a large Vietnamese community here which is what exposed me to Vietnamese cuisine and their coffee. That’s why I finally got around to making my own.
I’m in the mood for a banh mi now.
Turned out that I used teaspoons instead of tablespoons. Since there’s now less room for liquid and more ground coffee in the filter, the coffee that drips through will be stronger. However, I also used more condensed milk going from teaspoons to tablespoons.
Have to dial it in over the next few days. Gotta say listening to lounge music while watching
my coffee percolate through the filter is very relaxing.
UPDATE: Definitely came out stronger. First time it was sweet enough that it almost felt like a dessert. Now you can taste the coffee more.
Why do you need to use robusta beans? I don’t really know much about them other than largely being considered inferior to arabica.
Because then it isn’t Vietnamese coffee 
Vietnam is the second largest grower of coffee in the world. Only Brazil grows more coffee. Ninety-five percent of their output is robusta beans
Robusta beans are grown in Vietnam for practical reasons. The yield is higher and the extra caffeine makes it toxic to insects. This makes it easier for farmers to grow and maintain.
As for the taste, there’s a reason why almost nobody drinks it black. For me when the amount of milk is just right, I’d take it over a coffee with arabica beans. However, you have to be precise with the milk. A tiny bit too much and it’s like having coffee for desert. Too little and it’s too bitter. If you’re drinking coffee for the caffeine buzz, robusta beans contain double the caffeine of arabica beans.
Honestly, I just like watching it filter direclty into the cup in front of me while listening to jazz vocalists. I don’t know why watching it drip into the glass so appealing to me. It just is.
I might use arabica just to experiment some day. However, the lack of bitterness might make the coffee too sweet when mixed with condensed milk.