Quality coffee in a Tea bag!! Making coffee on a boat never been so good

[Iliade]

We use a s/s cafetiere when I remember to recover it from the house, or the cheapo glass one that currently resides aboard, filter coffee just not being as good. The issue is the removal of the grounds afterwards; The galley drain is only half inch, and a fairly tortuous half inch at that, so I perpetually worry about blocking it. Consequently the grounds go over the side. Or rather over the side, the cockpit side, cockpit sole, companionway, cabin sole and often the crew.

Also I refuse to waste fresh water on the first couple of rinses, so that too ends up all over the place during it's journey from over the side to in the cafetiere.

Consequently, I am considering setting up a seawater tap at the galley and perhaps plumbing the sink in copper with proper radiused bends. The question this raises is whether we drink too much coffee aboard and have perhaps become a little fixated...

The trouble with glass cafetieres is that when some ham-fisted fool breaks them, not only do you have to clean up the mess for the next fifteen years, but you have to resort to 'polish style' coffee, whereby the grounds go straight into the mug. Great coffee, but a real pain picking the bits out from your teeth.

 

[nigelmercier]

... The issue is the removal of the grounds afterwards; The galley drain is only half inch, and a fairly tortuous half inch at that, so I perpetually worry about blocking it.

My late FIL was a plumber. He maintained that putting coffee grounds down a sink helped keep the pipes clean. Either that, or kept him in work

 

[Mavis]

I am not really into real coffee and prefer instant coffee - Sad I know, these are really convenient on a boat http://www.drinkmaster.co.uk/brands/nescafe/nescafe-gold-blend-coffee-white-with-sugar-drinkpac.html and most people enjoy the taste

 

[ianabc]

There is a thread on this

at

sailinganarchy

It covers stove top coffee machines for on board use, some photos

covers the usual suspects, including the inexpensive stainless steel Bellman and clones etc

Worth a look perhaps

We use an Italian designed Belman made inTaiwan and shipped from Milan ! (ebay)

We also have an Italian cappaccino maker that has a valve so that wheen water and milk are added in the two compartments, makes a very good cappuccino automatically.

We also use a very well designed stove top compact, it's a Mucca from Italy that needs no intervention with hand operated valves as it's automatic....quite an inovation for a stove top unit. Ebay too.

 

[mjcoon]

I am not really into real coffee and prefer instant coffee - Sad I know, these are really convenient on a boat http://www.drinkmaster.co.uk/brands/nescafe/nescafe-gold-blend-coffee-white-with-sugar-drinkpac.html and most people enjoy the taste

That reminds me of when I was a student and arrived at new digs. The landlady offered me a cup of tea but I said I only drank coffee. She said she didn't have any coffee but would I like weak tea instead. I've always thought that was an example of feminine logic...

Mike.

 

[bpellis]

Boat coffee

The issue is the removal of the grounds afterwards; The galley drain is only half inch, and a fairly tortuous half inch at that, so I perpetually worry about blocking it. Consequently the grounds go over the side. Or rather over the side, the cockpit side, cockpit sole, companionway, cabin sole and often the crew.

Just bought an Aeropress for this reason - the grounds end up as a solid 'puck' that can go straight in the bin. The few that stick to the plunger can easily go down a boat sink.

Makes decent coffee - perhaps not quite as good as a a cafetiere (at least for lighter blends of coffee). It's a bit small thought - a couple of mugs at best per go.

 

[Crabber24]

I am fascinated that there is no mention of the old-fashioned perculator; works well for us.

 

[MrB]

Get an Aerobie AeroPress. Brilliant bit of kit. :encouragement:

 

[snooks]

+1

For a quick cup of coffe at home or on the boat I use an aeropress. It really is the easiest, cleanest and quickest way of making decent coffee.

I grind enough coffee for the trip at home, but have an emergency bag of ground on board.

I also have a stove top on board, but it's fallen out of favour to the aeropress.

 

[aluijten]

I admit I'm a bit of a coffee fetishist as I can't stand bad coffee and I'm a sucker for a proper Italian espresso.

We've been using the handpresso for some years now. By far it produces the best coffee (espresso) of anything not using electricity and with a small footprint. The catch we found is that after a season or so the thing started leaking and I had one actually explode in my hands (no real damage other then a broken handpresso luckily). We have worn out 3 of these devices (each doing about 250 servings).

The handpresso is also a bit of a pain if you want to prepare coffee for 4 people. I've also tried their electric version. It works quite nice but it's slow and you cannot make more then one coffee at a time because of the 12Volt plug heating up alarmingly.

So for this year I've installed this thing

http://www.caffeespressoitalia.org/en/espresso-12/

I've been using it for a short while now and the results are encouraging. It takes a bit of getting used to but the coffee (espresso) is very good.

 

[Greenheart]

I must resolve not to read any more coffee threads...I really like my simple high-quality filter-coffee and I can't understand the pursuit of mechanised alleged improvements.

 

[Bandit]

+1 for Lyons Italian Gourmet for boat and office.

 

[mjcoon]

I must resolve not to read any more coffee threads...I really like my simple high-quality filter-coffee and I can't understand the pursuit of mechanised alleged improvements.

Like years ago, when yachts didn't have a fridge, so to make up for lack of ice in (on-board) G&T I tried taking a cassette recording of ice tinkling in a glass... Maybe what is required is a MP3 of the hissing and spurting of the high-tech coffee engines?

Mike.

 

[Greenheart]

:biggrin-new:

On that basis, I ought to record all the sounds from a day of sailing, then sell the boat and just sit at home with the recording playing on a loop through my headphones.

I can edit-out all the cussing. Or keep it in, for a reality-check when I think about buying another boat.

 

[Sandgrounder]

Get an Aerobie AeroPress. Brilliant bit of kit. :encouragement:

Why on earth would I want to do that? I have used an italian stove top espresso pot for about 30 years and it does exactly what the aerobie does without me having to pump it. Boiling the water in a confined container generates the pressure to drive the steam through the coffee grounds and then to condense in the top half of the pot. It's what the Italians have been doing for over a hundred years

 

[sailorman]

Why on earth would I want to do that? I have used an italian stove top espresso pot for about 30 years and it does exactly what the aerobie does without me having to pump it. Boiling the water in a confined container generates the pressure to drive the steam through the coffee grounds and then to condense in the top half of the pot. It's what the Italians have been doing for over a hundred years

OK a dumbo question.
how come steam is ok but not boiling water over coffee

 

[MrB]

Why on earth would I want to do that? I have used an italian stove top espresso pot for about 30 years and it does exactly what the aerobie does without me having to pump it. Boiling the water in a confined container generates the pressure to drive the steam through the coffee grounds and then to condense in the top half of the pot. It's what the Italians have been doing for over a hundred years

You shouldn't use boiling water making coffee, it ruins it. 87 degrees i believe.

 

[Captn D]

I agree to all that who promote the Aeropress, which I use always at home with freshly ground coffee. However as a grinder is difficult when at sea, I have found these http://store.starbucks.co.uk/starbu...mc=Sbuxcom-_-OurCoffees-_-Italian-_-Evergreen are an acceptable substitute given the conditions! Good flavour and very instant with no mess!

 

[mjcoon]

:biggrin-new:

On that basis, I ought to record all the sounds from a day of sailing, then sell the boat and just sit at home with the recording playing on a loop through my headphones.

I can edit-out all the cussing. Or keep it in, for a reality-check when I think about buying another boat.

Ah, you must be a cruiser, not a racer. Otherwise, I've read, you would have to make it realistic by standing under a cold shower and tearing up tenners. (Or maybe ponies, these days?)

Mike.

 

[Sandgrounder]

OK a dumbo question.
how come steam is ok but not boiling water over coffee

I don't know but I suspect that for espresso bitterness is not considered a great problem.

AS for Mr B and his Aero whatsit I would suggest that if he wants espresso he should look to the Italians who came up with the idea; it's what they have done for a very long time/ Espresso came from Venice when it was an independent city state and coffee was a very expensive product. It was a way of demonstrating wealth and prestige by creating a brew which used the maximum amount of coffee to make the smallest volume of the desired drink.