The stainless steel Moka Pots like pictured above are, in my opinion, a better choice than the aluminum ones. I know people who have been brewing their coffee exclusively from them for years. They also make a nice camp out tool. As you already know, they make a heavy-bodied cup of coffee, not true espresso, but not like drip coffee either...generally bolder and more substantial. Bitterness in coffee is often the result of over-extraction. This can be caused by: too little coffee, too fine of a grind, using boiling water (too hot) or too long of a brew time. Of course, it can be the coffee itself. The Trail's End contains a Colombian coffee roasted at a medium level, not normally associated with bitterness. However, each brewing method brings out different characteristics in a cup, so I can't say for certain why it came out too bitter. Sweet Marias is a great source for the home coffee roaster and brewing fanatic. Here is a link to some Moka Pot brewing tips: http://sweetmarias.com/brewinstr/brew.inst.mokapot.html I think the Face Plant that you also ordered will work well in this pot. In fact, I'm think I'm going to have to get a new Moka Pot myself...I only have an old aluminum one! I just returned from a brief bit of R & R, so I'll get that coffee out to you right away. Shep
Thanks Shep, To be fair,the Trails End tastes great in my drip maker. I was away last week and the only coffee left was that blend and my Moka Pot to bring along. I also think I ground it a bit to fine I'm leaving again for three weeks in september,I'll make sure I perfect it by then. Thanks Again,
Hi Shep, I'm gonna order again and was wondering what the blends are in Face Plant and Trail's End. Loved my Huehuetenago and Yergacheffe (sp?), but I'm ready to branch out. I need a butt-kicker for morning and something mellower for a late afternoon pick-me-up on an upcoming ride. You've got the good stuff Bucko
Hey Bucko, Because motorhead guys like motorhead names, I have taken the liberty to call certain coffees and blends by names that are more interesting to "motorheads!" So here goes my trade secrets! Trail's End is actually Colombia Don Telmo... a very popular coffee for me. It is roasted to a medium level and is a mild coffee. Face Plant is a blend of the same Colombia and Sumatra. The Sumatra is roasted darker, so this is a somewhat bolder blend, but still a very smooth brew. I am not much of a Sumatra fan myself and the sweet touch of the Colombia makes it much more enjoyable for me. The boldest thing I have is, obviously, Jo Momma. It is a French Roast Blend. The Vagabond Blend has changed due to changing coffee crops, etc, and is now actually Costa Rica La Amistad, a mild coffee. My local business, B-town, actually carries many more coffees (the website is rather behind!). I have a new coffee: Timor Maubesse. This coffee is bold, roasted slightly darker than Trail's End and is one of my personal favorites. It has a lot of character. It would be one of my "eye opener" choices. If you want it or any of the coffees from the B-town site, you can either offer them off of the B-town site and make a note that they are for ADV Rider, or order from the Motorhead site and write in that you actually want a different coffee than selected and write what that coffee is. Is that confusing enough? In other words, if you want the Timor, you can order Face Plant and write in the instructions to make it Timor and I'll take care of the rest. Thanks, Hey 2 Gordons, The goal of coffee grinding is, obviously, to expose the coffee to the water. Therefore, the finer you grind your coffee, the more exposure takes place. While there some room for debate, I tend to fall in the camp of grinding as fine as you can without stopping up your machine, or in the case of a Press, without making it too hard to plunge or leave an over abundance of sediment. Blade grinders (the inexpensive kind) do work fine for drip coffee but they are very imprecise. The longer you run them the finer the coffee gets (and hotter!), but it basically chops the coffee up and leaves a rather uneven grind. If you don't mind spending a few dollars more (say $40 or more), you can buy a burr grinder. They do a much better job and allow you more control on the fineness of the grind. On a more general level, Turkish coffee is normally ground the finest, like powder. Espresso is next, also ground quite fine and normally taking a fairly expensive grinder to do a decent job. For drip coffee, you would grind more course than for espresso. A cone filter machine can be ground somewhat finer than a flat basket machine. You could compare these grinds to say, coarse sand and maybe sugar or table salt. A Vacuum pot can be ground about the same as drip. If you are making coffee in a French Press, you normally go a little more course than drip. I hope that helps some. Shep
Shep, The Latin American Rally attendees definitely enjoyed the coffee. Thanks, again, for your generous donation and we hope you can make the rally next year. Ken
I tried to earlier today, I was coming to Bloomington and needed some coffee, so I went to the Sahara Mart and picked up the organic French Roast and some beer man they a have a massive collection, you have a lot of coffee there.
Sorry I missed you...I was out riding! I just got in from roasting up a few orders. Yes, Sahara has about 1,000 different beer choices and, I believe, more organic wine than anyone in the Midwest. They also have the largest selection of chocolate in Indiana...and they have this in two different stores! I have 17 bins of coffee in each of their stores. Not all of the same coffees either. I'll let you in on a little secret; Sahara Mart's "Starry Night" is the same thing as "Jo Momma," which is also the same thing as my "Quarry Hole!" Next time, let me know and I'll deliver it to your area. I have been meaning to scope the area out for business. Shep
