[RGK]

Originally Posted by feluda86

I am not sure of the machine, but, coffee is brewed in "ratio of coffee to water". Below are the general starting guidelines:
1. If you are following filter drip method: 30g of coffee for 500g of water is a good place to start. You can adjust amount based on this ratio.

GTO's mug seems to carry ~350ml.

My experience with the coffee maker is, it gives a diluted coffee, so one needs to add some percentage of chicory for better density.

We prepare roughly 12 to 14 times of brewed coffee (2 times per day) using 500gm of Plantation A coffee powder (~40 gms per serving) & ~300 ml of hot water each time using stainless steel filter. It is mixed with milk to get 6 - 7 cups of a typical south Indian coffee.

I assume 1gm is equal to 1 ml.

[sunnysideup_]

Originally Posted by RGK

I recommend you go to any coffee bean grinding shop (eg: Vimala Coffee near Hotel Sangeetha RA Puram or Sundaram Coffee Natesan st - Usman Road, T Nagar) and get the combination that suits you. Plantation A with 5% of Chicory (your choice) will give you the typical south Indian taste.

...

When I travelled to the USA (where you get a lot of coffee types), I was searching for the right combination and found this recipe works in Starbucks - "Double Latte (hot) with Double Shot". This will give you the exact taste of the south Indian coffee, have tried umpteen times and succeeded .

Thank you! Will look into both of them the next time, but I think Sundaram Coffee would be easier for me to access.

We have a very very similar coffee order, or at least our specifications are the same. I usually order a Flat White Extra Hot with a Double Shot, and that for me is the closest I've come to my coffee preferences. I'll try the Double Latte next time. Do try the Flat White! Cheers!

[kraft.wagen]

Originally Posted by GTO

Guys, total noob question. How much coffee powder to put in the machine for 1 serving? I don't want to underdo or overdo it.

This is not an easy answer

The ratio differs depending on the brew method, brew strength, beans, grind size, water temp and brew time.

I usually do cupping when I get a bag of new beans or discuss with the roaster on the ratios (and brew method I will be using). But I am a nerd on this topic and enjoying the whole process of grinding and playing with ratios.

In general, I would say if you have a medium fine grind use 1:16 or 1:15 ratio of ground coffee to water. I prefer med or light roast and this ratio works for pour overs. In a machine the brew time is longer so I would suggest play around a bit from 1:12(strong coffee) to 1:18(lighter) ratio and find your Golden ratio.

In you case for e.g. Try 3 heaped spoons with 350 ml water.

[GTO]

Thanks all!

After trying 4 different coffees, my favourite remains the Vienna Roast by Blue Tokai, with the Perch coffee at 2nd place.

Question: Which good decaf coffee is available in India? Thank you.

[digitalnirvana]

Originally Posted by raksrules

Dumb question but is Chicory the reason many "Instant Coffee" we get in market are like half price of Nescafe as they have 30%-40% chicory? Honestly, I had never heard about chicory before and Nescafe was a defacto coffee for anyone in our house as no one was a coffee drinker and Nescafe coffee in fridge was there just in case someone wanted to have coffee or some guest came and we offered that.

I will try Nescafe Classic and see if somehow helps. I have lived in US and in office environment, the smell of the brewing coffee was so intoxicating but I never liked the taste (with cream powder and sugar as they didn't have actual milk).

Grofers in house coffee, Continental, Bru, Nescafe classic are all without chicory. Go ahead with any of them. I have drank these extensively as black coffee. However it is not an easy switch to go from milk coffee to black coffee. And you might not like the taste initially.

You will see on the packet or description of the product online if there is a certain chicory % mixed in. Chicory gives an earthier flavour and unless it is filtered, it might leave a powdery feeling in the drink.

[warrioraks]

I recently developed taste for black coffee, mostly in the last 12 months. I do not have a fraction of experience compared to the connoisseurs on this thread. Mostly bought Nescafé’s and Bru.


My favourite till a few days back was Nescafé gold but was served with Illy coffee on a flight last week. Was just blown away.

Seems it sells at almost double the price of Nescafé gold on Amazon, but would recommend if you want to splurge.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by GTO

Which good decaf coffee is available in India? Thank you.

Did you tried the house blend of Starbucks?

They should also have decaf.

[RJK]

Originally Posted by RJK

I'm loving this thread
Based on everyone's choice, I'm going to order Blue Tokai's Vienna Roast once I'm done with my KC's Kelagur Estate honey

Got my Vienna roast yesterday. Tastes good with milk but little to bitter for me when drank black.

Otoh went to Subko in Bandra yesterday and man, the cappuccino was so delicious as was the croissant! I think it’s one of the best croissants in Bombay and that includes the 5* star hotels, as per my wife who’s a croissant connoisseur

[JReacher13]

Picked this up in a super market. The coffee is in a paste form and 1 spoon of it gives a rich creamy coffee. I'll rate it 7.5/10. Though it's convenient than making a perfect coffee from scratch, effort is still needed to use and wash the spoons, and not to contaminate the bottle. Seems the product manager's KRA is to launch the product ASAP than being customer centric. The approach on size and design of bottle is very poor. One would need extra long spoons as the usage goes on.

[GTO]

A total coffee noob, but here to make a recommendation.

An extremely delicious coffee from the iconic Cafe Madras, Matunga. Just 150 bucks for 200 grams. This, Vienna Roast (Blue Tokai), Perch Bandra's coffee and an awesome Coorg coffee that BHPian Omkar got for me are my favourites. I didn't like Blue Tokai's South Indian coffee at all though (no aroma, no taste).

[Shreyas_H]

Originally Posted by GTO

A total coffee noob, but here to make a recommendation.

An extremely delicious coffee from the iconic Cafe Madras, Matunga. Just 150 bucks for 200 grams. This, Vienna Roast (Blue Tokai), Perch Bandra's coffee and an awesome Coorg coffee that BHPian Omkar got for me are my favourites. I didn't like Blue Tokai's South Indian coffee at all though (no aroma, no taste).

Oh I love this one! Madras Cafe is where I got hooked onto filter coffee in the first place.


Any reviews from anyone on Subko coffee roasters? Planning to visit their Byculla outlet after hearing some rave reviews from friends.

[RJK]

Originally Posted by Shreyas_H

Any reviews from anyone on Subko coffee roasters? Planning to visit their Byculla outlet after hearing some rave reviews from friends.

Have been to Subko Bandra outlet couple times and must say the coffee is pretty good. I’m not a fan of the location or the place itself-too tiny for my liking but I suppose that’s how Bandra outlets are. Same case with KC roasters in Bandra, chium village outlet.

I had the house blend cappuccino at Subko and liked it very much. They don’t seem to have a dark roast, medium dark roasts are as far as they go. Worth a try nonetheless; 100 times better than paying similar money for a very average coffee at Starbucks

[RJK]

Update/Observation on the Vienna Roast from Blue Tokai:

So I’ve had this coffee for a week now and had it in multiple ways (Americano, Americano with milk, Cappuccino) mild taste, extra mild taste, standard taste, which is basically the amount of coffee being ground in my coffee maker. I’m also experimenting with the grind size in my machine to a lot more coarser grind now.

However, so far I’ve noticed that until now, in all the above options, I can feel my heart beat increasing substantially and my eyes get dry. I’m unable to finish a cup (which isn’t very big to begin with). It makes me very very uncomfortable, probably the caffeine content is extremely high in this roast. I can easily drink a couple of cups in a day but with this Vienna roast it’s tough to finish even one. As a last resort, I’m going to grind this beans in a regular mixer/grinder and put them in a standard drip coffee maker, hoping the caffeine is much lesser than that of an espresso based drink.

Either way, no more Vienna Roast for me.

Cheers

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by RJK

Update/Observation on the Vienna Roast from Blue Tokai:

However, so far I’ve noticed that until now, in all the above options, I can feel my heart beat increasing substantially and my eyes get dry. I’m unable to finish a cup (which isn’t very big to begin with). It makes me very very uncomfortable, probably the caffeine content is extremely high in this roast.

From the description above, its sounding like my kind of coffee.

I like a really strong caffeine hit.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by RJK

As a last resort, I’m going to grind this beans in a regular mixer/grinder and put them in a standard drip coffee maker, hoping the caffeine is much lesser than that of an espresso based drink.

Either way, no more Vienna Roast for me.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Axe77

From the description above, its sounding like my kind of coffee.

I like a really strong caffeine hit.

The strength of the coffee is its roast. Though Vienna is a dark roast, I never felt its strength. But French roast gets you there. Its even more stronger. In fact I would say the strongest espresso you can make is from a French roast.

I have stuck to this combo for years now. Never fails and works like a charm. I tried many of them but invariably I fall back to this time and tested one.