Coffee

Did you know that coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world, with over 2.25 billion cups consumed daily? Coffee has always been a key part of my daily routine, offering the perfect balance of flavour and energy. Over the years, we’ve seen how rising prices have affected coffee’s availability and quality. However, a couple of years ago, after the pandemic, I realised that quality is more important than quantity. A good cup of coffee is worth the time and effort invested in making it.
This made me decide to upgrade from a fully automatic machine to a more refined setup - a sleek filter machine paired with a quality grinder. From choosing the right beans to getting the perfect grind size, I’ve picked up the tools that let me enjoy the best coffee experience. Whether it’s the smell of freshly ground beans or the first sip of a perfectly brewed cup, coffee is more than just a drink to me - it’s a daily ritual that gets my day off to a great start.
Grinding coffee
For grinding coffee when I am at work, I use a Timemore Chestnut C3s PRO. I wanted to buy a Commandante C40 was always a bit too expensive for me. Other people love their Commandante’s were I am quite happy with my C3s Pro.
It was not my first manual grinder. Before that I bought a Hario Skerton Plus almost 10 year ago. That one still exists but I am barely using it today.
The Timemore Chestnut C3s Pro is a bit heavy as it is made out of metal all over, but holds very good in the hand and the handle is foldable, which make the Chestnut quite compact. You can grind from very fine espresso up to very coarse pour over grind if you want.
When I am at home, I use a bigger grinder. A G-iota Pro DF83 which grinds your coffe in almost not time. Before that we have been using the Sage Smart Grinder Pro. But the smart grinder was not so smart despite giving good grinding result, it was not so fast and was not giving consistently good result which we why we bought the DF83 after about 18 months into working with a portafilter machine.
The DF83 is huge, heavy, and makes a lot of noise but only for a short time. This grinder is fantastic. Easy setup of grinding size through the large wheel on top. It is also very maintenance friendly as you can open the top but just turning the grinding-size wheel until it comes of. Using a brush or some compressed air makes cleaning this grinder an easy task once a month.
Steaming Milk
When it comes to steaming milk, or frothing your milk, you can use a lot of tools. At work I have a small electric milk frother that I sometimes use. It makes good milk foam and heats the milk up to 60 deree celcius, but it is a bit cumbersome to clean.
The nice thing with this milk frother is that you can also use it to just heat up milk or make good hot chocolate drink as you have two different rotating insertes. One for the milk rothing air bubbly thing and the other for just keep the liquid spinning around while it is getting heated.
At home I use the milk steaming lance from the porta filter machine. Filling the milkjug till the little mark and holding it at an slightl 30 degree angel sticking the lance into the milk on the 4 o’clock mark, gives a nice hot steamed milk with nice sticky foam.
Making coffee with Sage Dual Boiler
We bought the Sage Dual Boiler after a long vacation where we were lucky to have access to barista coffee all the time. This changed our coffee consumption for ever and we could not handle te coffee from our fully-automatic machine anymore. We first tried different beans, then bought beans from a local roastery which tased a lot better but not as close to what we have today.
So after a lot of research and lots of videos we decided to buy the Sage Dual Boiler. The main reasons for the dual boiler and no integrated grinder was that it would be faster to make more mixed coffees and less cleaning. I always hated to disassemle the automatic one and clean the interious as fully automated tend to clog up and get really messy inside. With a portal filter machine you have nothing of that as the machine basically only heats up water and pushes it at a certain amount of pressure through the coffee puck.
Making coffee with the Aeropress
Even though having a fancy coffee machine at home, I prefer not to support the use of waste-producing Nespresso machines at work. That’s why I bought an Aeropress, invented by Alan Adler, and since then, I’ve become a super fan of this easy-to-use coffee-making tool.
I purchased the original opaque set, which included a funnel, dosing scoop, stirrer, micro-filters, and a micro-filter holder. Unfortunately, they don’t sell this exact set anymore, but for many people, the big funnel and some of the accessories might not have been very useful anyway.
When brewing with the Aeropress, I prefer the inverted method.
Step 1: Grind some coffee
I use 14 grams of coffee and 180g to 200g of boiling water. I grind the coffee at 12 clicks on the Timemore C3s Pro grinder for a fine grind — not as fine as espresso, but finer than a typical pour-over grind. If you’re using a different grinder, your settings might vary. You’ll want to find the sweet spot between a filter grind and an espresso grind in terms of coarseness, which may require some trial and error.
Step 2: Boil your water and prepare the Aeropress
Heat water until it boils. Meanwhile, prepare the Aeropress by placing the plunger into the chamber up to the number 4 mark and turning it upside down. Add the ground coffee into the chamber.
Place the lid with a micro-filter onto your favorite cup. Using a cup that holds the cap nicely is helpful when you rinse the filter with boiling water. If possible, place the Aeropress on a scale and have a timer at hand — some scales come with a built-in timer.
Step 3: Add hot water
Once the water boils, pour a small amount over the paper filter to rinse it and help it stick to the cap. Then add about 40g to 50g of water to the Aeropress to pre-infuse the coffee grounds. Stir gently, and after about 30 seconds, add the remaining water. Aim to add the rest of the water over the next 20 to 30 seconds — no need to rush, but don’t take too long either.
Let the coffee steep for about 1 minute after adding all the water. When you reach the 2-minute mark, stir again and secure the lid on top. Wait another 30 seconds.
Step 4: Flip and press
Empty your cup before placing it upside down onto your Aeropress. With the cup in place, carefully flip the entire setup. Be sure to hold the Aeropress and plunger securely to prevent the plunger from slipping out.
Begin pressing the plunger. It should take about 20 to 30 seconds to press all the way down. Once done, remove the Aeropress, take off the lid, and press out the coffee puck into a waste bin. Rinse the cap and Aeropress, and let them dry on the counter.
Your coffee is now ready to be served and enjoyed!
Coffee beans
Roaster | Name | Origin | Altitude | Flavours | Info | Date | Rating |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Roastfactory | Capricornio | Paraná and São Paulo | ? m | Dark chocolate; Caramel; Honey processed | Order | 08-2022 | 5/5 |
Roastfactory | Meko (now Adiela) | Columbia | ? m | Honey; Caramel | Order | 08-2022 | 3/5 |
Roastfactory | Toliman | Guatemala | ? m | Orange Zest; Hazelnut | Order | 08-2022 | 4/5 |
Roastfactory | Tocto | - | ? m | Berry; Citrus | Part of a Testbox | 11-2023 | 3/5 |
Lot61 | Zimzala | Brazil; Columbia | 1800m | Stonefruit; Maple cream | Order | - | 4/5 |
Lot61 | Fivr | Brazil | 1100-1200m | Chocolate; Hazelnut; Fudge | Order | - | 4/5 |
Single Estate | Brazil Campo Alegre | Brazil - Sul de Minas | Creamy; Dark chocolate | Order | 10-2024 | 5/5 | |
Single Estate | Guatemala Puerta Verde | Guatemala - Antigua | ? m | Milk chocolate; Hazelnut; Orange Zest | Order | 10-2024 | 4/5 |
Single Estate | Guatemala Santa Clara | Guatemala - Antigua | Hazelnut; Caramel; Sultanas | Order | 10-2024 | 3/5 |