Just over a year ago, several SM listers held the first Great Can-Am Brewer Throwdown and it seems time to do it again. This year it seems right to expand the participation
Here's how it works - Go through the cupboard and choose as many brewers as you'd like to compare. Roast enough of the same coffee to brew in each of them to compare the brewers fairly.
Date for comparison Feb 27.
My plan will be to invite a couple friend and sample smal amounts of coffee from the following brewers"
Clever Coffee Dripper
Yama vac pot with Cory rod filter
Technivorm
Chemex
French press
AeroPress
I'll adjust the grind per brewer and sample away with tasting notes then post my results.
I'll run this on the Sweet Maria's list page as well as the SM forum.
Who's in?
Fade to black coffee
John Despres
Fresh Roast 8, Gene Cafe, JYTT 1k, Mazzer Mini, Technivorm, various size presses and much more.
I ended up hosting my brewing throwdown today (instead of Sunday as originally planned). I hope that this is the correct place to post my results.
Coffee Brewed: EL SALVADOR SHG PULP NATURAL SAN EMILIO - kindly provided by Bill Welch
Roast: City. 9 minute roast, reaching first crack at 7:03 minutes.
Roast Method: WB Poppery I.
Brewing methods used: Moka Pot, Auto Drip with Paper filter, French Press
All brewers were the same size: 16 fluid oz capacity and were brewed with the same coffee to water ratio. All cups of coffee were brewed & poured simultaneously. Coffee was first tasted when piping hot...then tasted multiple times as coffee cooled down.
Beverage brewed: coffee with heated milk & a dash of sugar.
Tasters: me-Mary, my sister Sarah, my dog Dixie (special taster and mooch)
Results:
Overall it was a tie between the French press & the moka pot as far as preference. The French press had a little more strength & body but the Moka pot was a little smoother. They were equal but just slightly different. The auto drip failed miserably. It literally was almost unquaffable.
The French Press:
Me - Nice strength & deep body. Nuts and some smokey wood., caramel sweetness similar to an espresso shot.
Sarah - Has the most kick & strength without bitterness. Good body, excellent flavors.
Dixie - where's my doggie treat?
Moka pot:
Me - nice body & strength though slightly less than French press. More nut flavors & smoother than French press. Less smokiness than French Press. No caramel/espresso sweetness like French press.
Sarah - Excellent flavor, not quite as strong as French press - but maybe due to coffee to milk ratio? Has a good robust flavor.
Dixie - Forget the coffee...where's the FOOD????
Auto Drip:
Me - Really weak-half the strength of the other two methods despite same coffee to water ratio. Can barely taste the coffee. Can barely taste nut flavors of coffee. Paper undertone. Flat. Like weak tea. I did not finish my cup.
Sarah - Off all the methods tried this was the most disappointing: it was weak. Also tasted flat in comparison to other two methods. It was so bad that I could not finish it.
Dixie - Hello???? Some one FEED me already.
Note: We did a second round of brewing with the auto drip since it did so badly. This time I doubled the amount of coffee to water.
Me - Still really weak and watery. Still tastes like weak tea...just a little stronger than previous cup.
Sarah - Weak, can't really taste the coffee.
Dixie - Still waiting for some service pleeeez....
John - hanks for organizing this throwdown. It forced me to get outside of my box-so to speak. It literally caused me to "re-discover" my French press.
I got the French press years ago to use as a poor man's milk frother...until I found a vintage stove top milk steamer. It has literally sat unused in my pantry for years. After today's throwdown, I am inspired to use it whenever I want a change from my moka pot. I am also going to start experimenting to see if certain beans do better in either the French press or the moka pot..
Bill - Thanks for the El Salvador....it was a fantastic coffee to use for this throw down...as well as just being a wonderful cup of coffee!!!
Everyone else - I look forward to reading your Throwdown results.
for me it's the 200 foot of fence I just lost; old fence but still must "fix it" to keep out the cows!! well maybe I will simply lat the cows eat the weeds sure save me time in the long
Been away a bit -- just read the last 3 pages of the Datalogger thread. wow. You all amaze me -- this forum is the most productive and creative crowdsourcing I've seen... at just 1,234 strong. :T
