Coffee

[SeanRW]

Best way to get a great cuppa ? drive to your local Tim Horton's and get a double double. But that only works if you're a Canadian (or live in NYC).

At home/boat/camping I use the french press. Buy the beans (sadly) pre-ground at a local market here in Toronto so I can sample different kinds.
The french press I use is an el-cheapo lexan one for several cups or a stainless insulated press/mug thing I bought at Starbucks for about $20. Both are great with the latter being really handy as I'm the only regular coffee drinker around.

For those Canadians out there looking to replicate the Tim's DD coffee, closest I've come is to use carnation canned milk & lots of sugar. Passable but the best is still the original Tim's.

SRW

[Keldee]

Agree whole heartedly with french press but you do have to make an effort to find a hand grinder,it is the only way for a good fresh taste. If you are handy with wood you can buy the grinding part from Lee Valley and make the casing with the little drawer yourself.Nice little project for the winter!

[hellosailor]

"closest I've come is to use carnation canned milk & lots of sugar. "
Candy bars. UGH!

[rikhall]

Originally Posted by mazzy

Anyone have an opinion on the portable espresso makers such as the Handpresso Wild or the Preva? Thinking of adding one to the galley.

Mike

Mike

Here is what we often use to make a cappuccino in the morning:

Here are the fixings (the $10 battery operated frother Battery Operated Hand Held Milk Frother is not on the table - sorry)



And here are the results (neither the fruit nor the OJ came from the espresso machine - sorry)



Rik

[mazzy]

Pretty good kit, Rik!

[casioqv]

A quick easy way to make "ok" coffee on a boat:

-Well insulated thermos full of boiling water
-Folgers Coffee Singles (real coffee grounds in tea bags)
-Individual cream packets that don't need refrigeration

This works great for day trips! The coffee isn't as good as a coffee press (what I use at home), but it's a lot easier, takes less time/space, and everything tastes good when you're sailing!

If you buy empty tea bags, you can grind your own beans at home and fill the tea bags, just before you leave with good quality coffee- it will be better and cheaper than the Folgers.

This works for multiple day trips also, if you can boil water onboard.

[damies]

Here they are known as coffee plungers. Yes they make good coffee, we have broken 3 glass and 2 lexan ones over the years, the lexan / plastic ones become brittle and discoloured over time (Australian sun doesn't help).

We found a completely Stainless steel one as a special one off line at Aldi, we bought 2 (one for home and one for the boat) and when mum saw it she bought one for me for the boat too, so I have 3 (one put away for when one of them eventually wears out).

Mum also found a bigger version that was insulated at Ikea I think that was also completely SS. So keep an eye out when shopping and if you find a SS version of a french press, buy it, they do seem to last longer.

Dave.

[seafrontiersman]

I was down to Miami this weekend for a Jimmy Buffett concert and I tried Cuban coffee for the first time; I am now looking for a 12-step program to kick my addiction! Its just delicious and it should be easy to make on a stovetop in the galley of even the smallest boat.

[bljones]

A cup of nescafe instant sipped from a cheap plastic mug in the cockpit watching the sunrise always tastes better than a cup of Fivebucks anywhere else.

[Keldee]

Wow! You really are hard on your coffee press.We are stll on the same one after more than 10 years and 2 years of that was full time aboard from Canada to the Keys and back then to the Bahamas and back with a couple of knock downs at anchor and a hurricaine.