Thursday, January 10, 2013

Hello, Mr. Coffee!

A friend in Colorado told me she was sending me some coffee beans she'd roasted, and I realized I had no grinder.  Coffee grinders can range from the simplest Mr. Coffee- barely more complicated than an electric pencil sharpener- to electronic gizmos that cost hundreds of dollars.  I wanted my coffee, but I wasn't willing to put an enormous investment into it, so I figured the simplest Mr. Coffee was the way I was going to go.
At Target, the Mr. Coffee I had in mind was about $16, but for another $6, there was what appeared to be a much better machine.  I figured $22 wasn't too big an investment, and picked it up.

Grinder and box.

The Mr. Coffee in question is selectable for amount (4-12 cups) and fine, medium, or course grind.  The grinder separates into three components, base, bowl, and top.


Those three black vertical pieces are called the Chamber Maid, and are used to loosen any grinds left in the bowl after you've spooned or poured out the ground coffee.

I measured out three tablespoons of beans, set the grind to medium and pressed start.  After about 10 seconds, the grinding stopped.

After grind.
The ground coffee looked pretty good, and smelled incredible.  About 2 1/2 tablespoons fit into my Bialetti without packing.
In the Bialetti.
After about four minutes, my espresso was brewed, and I mixed it with warm milk.
Mmmm...

I noticed that there did seem to be a few over-fine grounds in the cofee, but with a machine this simple and inexpensive, I think I did pretty well.


      

7 comments:

Old NFO said...

Not too shabby for the price!

Roberta X said...

Excellent!

I've been using that model grinder for some years. Tam pointed your post out and asked, "What's a bialetti?"

I have one,* so I got it out and made a couple cups of espresso by way of demonstration.

(* French Press, Vacuumatic, Bialetti, Chemex -- I seem to have amassed a lot of ways to make coffee.)

Home on the Range said...

Good to know. The french press is used often around here.

J.R.Shirley said...

Bobby- mm, coffee...

Brigid, french press is delicious. Bialetti just seems to be the best combination of flavor, speed, and convenience.

Rova said...

Everyone starts somewhere, when it comes to coffee grinders. Whirly-blades may end up leading you to a real burr mill eventually. . ..

The choices can be simplified by glancing over addicts reviews: http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders?SeeAll=1

J.R.Shirley said...

Rova, thanks for the link.

Rova said...

Welcome to the dark side! Coffee Geek is a place to start, if you want to learn about roasting your own coffee - and from there, it's a visit to Sweet Maria's for a primer on regional varietals and nomenclature; then its off to CCM Coffee for reasonable prices on generic varietals - with just a wok and a camp stove and a whisk separating you from inexpensive, outstanding fresh coffee.

It takes about an hour or so to end up with just under two pounds roasted. Cost? Between $11 - $12.

There are more expensive directions to take, certainly, but to get a cup of the good stuff at least indulge a little, just once, and try Hair Bender from http://stumptowncoffee.com/

A pot of that was my inspiration, years ago.


HallowE09