Comments on: HOWTO attain radical hotel-room coffee independence

By: Lyzard

Lyzard — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:19:00 +0000

I have the Collapsible Cuissential SlickDrip for pour overs.
http://www.amazon.com/Cuissential-SlickDrip-Collapsible-Silicone-Dripper/dp/B0051HEFAS
It packs easily with a ziplock full of filters, ziplocks for pre-weighed portions of beans and the Porlex and you can make great camping coffee!

Got a digital food scale for exact bean ratios! ($15)
A pen-sized cooking thermometer makes sure I’m not above 94 degrees C/ 195 F ($8)

Have had the Porlex since last winter and I love it!
I hand grind with it daily for fresh ground coffee at work with an electric kettle.
Sometimes I’ll use a French Press.

Never made my own cold brew but now I’m gonna have to try it!
I asked for the aeropress for my birthday (which is next week)!!

Last year I got a Chemex and I use it on the weekends or for show & tell.

Gotta goto bed so I can wake up and DRINK MOAR COFFEE.

By: WF

WF — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:16:00 +0000

You could also try doing a cold coffee infusion in the Aeropress — just do it the inverted method (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXEyvyHUnkM) and let it sit out overnight. No need for extra bags!

If the paper filter is a bit much, there are metal ones.. (http://boingboing.net/2011/03/17/an-easy-clean-metal.html)

By: Jerril

Jerril — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:33:00 +0000

Chalk me up as another “Get a portable french press already”. But I also think that Aero is a bunch of marketing flim flam – gold stereo wire of the coffee world :)

By: Traci Parmer

Traci Parmer — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:48:00 +0000

Before I got my Toddy system I used a For Life tea strainer and a glass pitcher. I think a For Life Tea Strainer/Cup/Lid combo would be a perfect hotel cold brew system. Just put the filter in the cup, add grounds, add water and put the lid on. When you get up in the morning lift out the filter and your cold-brewed is ready to go. http://www.forlifedesign.com/shop/index.php

By: Kathryn Alexander

Kathryn Alexander — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:54:00 +0000

One of my friends has pretty nice travel mug for tea – two layers of glass with air in between, thus insulating it, and a filter at the top so you don’t drink the leaves. Seems to me that you could use that kind of cup and cut out most of the kit. I might try that.

Cold-brewed tea is pretty good too. Doesn’t take very long either, at least not if you use tea that has previously been hot-brewed.

By: Lia Amancio

Lia Amancio — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:23:00 +0000

That’s remarkable, but EEEW! this coffee looks like tea to me. Is it drinkable?

By: puufuu

puufuu — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:31:00 +0000

Do tell, how do you use cold coffee instead of soap or shampoo?

By: kenny Liu

kenny Liu — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:30:00 +0000

How about mini ghetto Yama tower, hehheh.

By: scottyboyswa2

scottyboyswa2 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:15:00 +0000

Nice! I work in the airline business and I usually have to wait to get a decent cup of joe when I either head to a nearby coffee place or one of the few billion SBX in airports…

By: mr_frakypants

mr_frakypants — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:30:00 +0000

Have to drag the Toddy out of the basement. It is indeed great stuff. I’ve gotten lazy.

By: ZincOrange

ZincOrange — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:22:00 +0000

This has been one of the most captivating, instantly understood scenarios and all round character-filled Boing Boing post I’ve read . The PJ’s were a nice touch to fill in between the lines. I went astro traveling down i 95 – glimpses of casinoesque carpets lining the corridors of Comfort Inn’s and the occasional Hampton. The powdered eggs, the gristle filled, tasteless round sausage paddies wedged between heated stale wonder-loaf … the pastel prints and yellow walls … and all I want is a decent cup of coffee. If it is what you say it is, I’ll take mine cold too.

By: Jeremy Anderson

Jeremy Anderson — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:16:00 +0000

Is there a place to purchase this Cold Brewed coffee in San Francisco?

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 02:36:00 +0000

Cold brew is made condensed, so you can just add a little hot water as needed. Which also means you can start drinking it right away.

By: Leif Erik Knutsen

Leif Erik Knutsen — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 02:31:00 +0000

As for filters: paper paint filters come to mind. Some of the paper could be cut off the top to make them more cup friendly. As for heating the water: there might be an induction cup heater on the market that would be safe but I am not sure . Will google. If not, it is a natural invention.

By: Neo Hindu

Neo Hindu — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 02:24:00 +0000

Can someone help me out here? I’m reading on-line on other forums and blogs that the cold press method leads to a LESS caffeinated product? So is it more or less with cold press? Has anyone actually tested it under laboratory conditions? Todd’s website claims less?

I’m really looking for MORE but with a better taste - that’s the golden goose, man!

No way I’m going to try this if it gives me less pep than standard bar pump espresso - what if you step it for even longer?

By: Alex Yule

Alex Yule — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:57:00 +0000

Any reason you throw out the bag every time? Can’t you just dump the grounds, rinse it, then reuse the next day?

By: Jacarutu!

Jacarutu! — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:48:00 +0000

I use a similar coffee setup when traveling, but it involves liquid nitrogen, a tanuki skin filter, an implosion orb I bought used from NASA, and it requires split-second timing to avoid killing everyone in a ten-block radius. Sometimes, when I feel really dangerous, I also leave my hotel room and go downstairs and order a cup of coffee…

By: lipitorkid

lipitorkid — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:41:00 +0000

I love the taste of cold black coffee, but I’m a bit worried to try something that makes it have more caffeine since I’ve grown sensitive to caffeine (I love cafe su da… Vietnamese coffee but if I don’t take it slow my heart goes on overdrive) so does this cold press method really increase the caffeine and if so by how much? I actually cold brew tea at work all the time. Have you ever noticed how cool some cold brew teas look as the tea color blends into the water?

By: R. Stevens

R. Stevens — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:27:00 +0000

Thank you for the inspiration to do some cold press!

By: Ben Kaminsky

Ben Kaminsky — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:30:00 +0000

You can also do the porlex mini/ aeropress combo for extra small travel style!

http://ritual.myshopify.com/products/traveling-brewers-kit

(Full disclosure, I work for ritual, but I dont care if you buy it from us or someone else, its a really good set up!)

By: joe k.

joe k. — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:31:00 +0000

Cold coffee? WTF.

Next someone will be talking about not using soap or shampoo.

By: Jefferson Wand

Jefferson Wand — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:27:00 +0000

I’m sure it tastes great, but the whole process looks a bit gross.

By: Crispinus211

Crispinus211 — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:40:00 +0000

Cory’s right about the superiority of cold-brewed: better distribution of essential oils and scrummy indeed. And the taste is very clean — not burned as sometimes happens.

I’ve been cold-brewing mine for about four months now, pouring a slurry of grounds and water (steeped overnight) from my Mr. Coffee pot into a big bottle with a filter-lined funnel. Add a little milk and sweetener, cork it, and stick it in the fridge, and I’m good to go for a few days.

I’ll be asking for a French press for the holidays to get at more of the oils (hand-tweezing the filter doesn’t quite do it), which means further refinement of my method.

@hyljelyhje: You can heat cold brewed, but since the ratio of grounds to water is often higher (I do 1/3 cup grounds to every 2 cups water), you’ll want to add more water before heating — maybe to total 3 cups water per 1/3 cup grounds.

By: el dueno

el dueno — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:10:00 +0000

Tea is a great substitute for coffee, and in fact often tastes better than hotel-room made coffee. “Take Tea and See.”

By: Jenny Reiswig

Jenny Reiswig — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:45:00 +0000

This is great! Now I can leave the little in-room Mr Coffee for making ramen.

By: Rockdaddie

Rockdaddie — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:45:00 +0000

Just checked – you’re right, it’s 220v only on the UK model, but I’d be surprised if the Alessi outlet in the States doesn’t do 110v.

By: Paul Renault

Paul Renault — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:32:00 +0000

While I can’t find the specs on the Alessi site, I suspect that the Alessi coffee maker is 220V. No good in the ‘States, or Canada.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:13:00 +0000

electric kettle actually.

By: hyljelyhje

hyljelyhje — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:07:00 +0000

I would really like to try cold brewing but also would like my coffee hot or at least warm. Can anyone recommend the best method of heating cold brewed coffee? Microwave oven? Hot water over concentrated cold brew? Or does heating somehow deteriorate the coffee?

By: samovar100

samovar100 — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:04:00 +0000

Instant with kitchen tap hot water, right? At least that’s how I used to do it in my 20′s :)