Coffee and Book Reviews

(from here)

Espresso: Concentrated, pressure-extracted coffee, usually served in a small, one or two-shot size

Cappuccino: Equal parts espresso, steamed milk, and milk foam

Caffelatte: Steamed milk with one or two shots of espresso

Drip coffee: Hot water poured over ground coffee placed in a fliter. In this method, gravity does the work of extracting the coffee.

French press: Coursely ground coffee soaked in hot water, and then filtered by pressing down on a screened plunger.

Turkish coffee: Finely ground coffee simmered in water directly over the stove and then poured into a cup for drinking without filtering.

Answers to frequently asked coffee questions.

Q: Is it possible to ruin outstanding beans during brewing?

A: Absolutely yes. Even the best coffee can turn turbid if you use too much. Back off on the amount you're using and try again. You'll dial it in. The second most common American coffee disaster is letting the coffee sit on a hot plate (heavan forbid) for longer than ten or fifteen minutes. The heat causes water to evaporate and begins to cook the oils in the coffee. End result: Not coffee. Sludge. The same problem occurs when using a french press if you let the coffee sit too long, though the cause in this case is over-extraction of the coffee beans and not the hot-plate heat-lamp effect.

Q: What do I do if my coffee is too weak?

A: Don't try to save it. Give that cup (or pot) as a gift to the drain in your kitchen—or, better yet, your garden outside, if you have one—and start over again. This time increase the amount of freshly ground coffee you used by about two teaspoons and brew again. Increment from there until you reach perfection.

Q: What's an eco-friendly use for coffee grounds after I've made coffee?

A: A very eco-friendly solution is using the grounds for compost. If you live in a house with a patch of dirt you can compost your coffee grounds using the method described on Cheapcooking.com (pour grounds and leftover coffee out under your roses and then turn the soil over weekly). Or, for urban home dwellers, this would involve composting in a planting area on your terrace or taking your compost periodically to a community garden. Of all the things to try composting with, coffee grounds are probably the best-smelling and least intimidating, and if you think of how often you make coffee, isn't this a great way to make a land-fill reducing difference with each cup?

Q: Does coffee have any nutritional value?

A: Surprisingly, yes, it does. Recent studies have concluded that the average cup of coffee contains over a gram of soluble fiber. Not excited by that? Well, soluble dietary fiber keeps you regular and helps block cholesterol absorption in the intenstines. Other ways to get this same dose of goodness are eating beans, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. But it's probably a good idea if you eat these too (in addition to drinking coffee).

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Eco Update: We were rightly scolded for not mentioning you can use coffee grounds as compost in the first edition of this faq. Thank you for catching it!

Q: Do we drink coffee when we write this?

A: You bet we do!