I love coffee made from my AeroPress, though don’t like having to use paper filters (though they’re great for the compost pile) and having to remember to take them when camping is a pain. Well, there’s a nice reusable alternative now, this stainless steel filter from Coava (also available on Amazon, but then, what isn’t these days). Pretty cool. They also make a nice cone-style filter for pour-over brewing if you’re into that.
Reusable AeroPress Filter
DIY coffee roaster
I gotta admire the persistence exhibited by the developer of the UglyRoast coffee roaster, a home-grown coffee roasting contraption. The project ended with the purchase of an off the shelf coffee roaster, but the website is still a good read for those of you interested in building your own. You can check it out at the UglyRoast homepage.
Bodum Bistro Pour-Over Coffee Machine
The new Bodum pour over coffee machine is quite remarkable. I say that because, well, I don’t get it. $250 for what appears to be an enhanced drip coffee maker? Sure, it looks cool. Nice design. Nice materials. But $250 for a drip maker? I don’t quite get it. Maybe I need to try to get a demo unit to try out. There’s a trend now in coffee shops of manually brewing coffee via this pour-over method, and this machine seems to be mostly just a way to profit from that trend…I’m just not convinced it can replicate the real pour-over experience.
(via Dexigner)
Coffee music
So, how many songs can you think of that are about coffee? I’d be surprised if you can name more than ten. Well, here’s a nice compilation of FORTY songs about coffee! Enjoy, and see how many you recognize!
Espresso Vodka
Well, here’s an interesting recipe for you vodka drinkers out there, courtesy of WikiHow. Espresso Vodka! Ingredients:
225ml, 8 fl oz freshly brewed espresso
450g, 1 lb sugar, caster or superfine is best
500ml, 18 fl oz vodka, quality brand
1 teaspoon vanilla essence/extract or vanilla vodka; or a whole vanilla pod
Dissolve the sugar in the espresso in a pan over medium heat, set aside to cool. Once cool, add the vodka and vanilla, mix, pour into a glass jar, and set in a dark place for at least two days (the longer it sits, the more it infuses).
Coffee grinder for camping or travel
Fresh ground coffee is tough to come by when camping. How to grind it, though? There are hand crank grinders available, but these are large and not well suited to camping. Well, the people at Mountainize.com came up with a very clever solution. They found pepper for sale at Trader Joes in a container that included its own built in grinder! As it turns out, it works great at grinding coffee to the nice, coarse degree you’d want for brewing with a french press. Read more here.
