revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Noggin wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 12:49 pm I have another question, well probably two!! (Weird learning about coffee after all my life drinking tea!!)


I make my coffee in a Mokka thingy on the hob. This particular one I bought at Lidl cos it's quite big (around 4 x espresso size - it's a bit annoying as sometimes it seems to spit coffee all over the place, but there's enough left to get a mug from!!) so I make a relatively weak coffee but a mug sized one (maybe one espresso of coffee but with 3 or 4 espressos worth of coffee!)


But, if I leave it on the side whilst I do stuff, and it gets cool (not quite cold), it is really bitter

It is nice hot - its the coffee from the cafe in the valley that I like as a latte from their machine, but at home I drink it black with one sugar (have found a friend in the uk to post me some Waveney Coffee, so need to get on and order it!!)


Soooo - does coffee go bitter as it cools? Or am I doing something to it??

Also, is it the grind? I couldn't justify an electric grinder as recommended, got to be careful as probably won't work till December so spending 50€ just to grind coffee is a bit much right now!! So I bought a hand one similar to this -



It's quite a chunky grind as opposed to the coffee I bought in the supermarket which is like powder. Is that wrong? Have I wasted money on the hand ground one?

I only grind enough for two or three cups at a time - the oldest it will be on that basis is three days/72 hours ish from being ground. It's stored in an airtight glass jar thingy

TBF, I don't think the coffee is going bad because it still tastes nice hot

So do I just have to drink it faster??


Thank you from a 'still' novice coffee drinker

Rockburner wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 12:56 pm
I'd say 'drink it faster'

I've recently changed the way I drink and only drink 'espresso' amounts (I use a Le Creuset espresso mug), but often it's either 'normal' coffee, or only half filled with coffee from the mokka, and then topped up with hot water (ie similar to an 'a longue' you can get from most french cafes). I literally just made myself one before sitting down to write this, so the coffee in the mokka was 'cold' (made a few hours ago), and it's 'slightly' more bitter than it was this morning, but not by much. (it's one of the Waveney Valley african ones which I find quite bitter anyway).


As an aside - I ordered a kilo of the Monsoon Malabar AA from Waveney Valley only last night, it's my favourite of the single source coffees they do - we tend to find the African and South American varieties a bit over bitter.

Cup Notes
Milk Chocolate / Almond / Yellow Plum / Caramel

inewham wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 3:34 pm

Noggin wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 12:49 pm I make my coffee in a Mokka thingy on the hob...
But, if I leave it on the side whilst I do stuff, and it gets cool (not quite cold), it is really bitter

Overheating the coffee can make it bitter so with a Mokka, fill it with *boiling* water and take it off the heat immediately it finishes siphoning (I think its called strombolic?, the bit where its bubbling up) that way the coffee is heated for the absolute minimum time and tastes better.
PS Wear some oven gloves while you screw it back together full of boiling water, the last thing you need is another trip to A&E

With a Mokka you can get a fair bit of solids in the coffee which can effectively over extract while it sits in your cup so it may still get bitter if you leave it

inewham wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 3:34 pm I have a hand grinder for travelling. If you look inside where the burrs are, on mine there is a 3 pointed wing nut you can adjust the grind with
If yours has similar try tightening it a bit if you want a finer grind. For espresso I grind finer that filter coffee

Noggin wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:52 pm

I use hot water but not quite boiling. Will try that Wednesday (out early tomorrow!). Definitely need to get some oven gloves, the tea towel isn't a great 'wrap around' when twisting something!!!

slowsider wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 7:32 pm

Noggin wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:52 pm

I use hot water but not quite boiling. Will try that Wednesday (out early tomorrow!). Definitely need to get some oven gloves, the tea towel isn't a great 'wrap around' when twisting something!!!

You only have to wrap the base, the top bit isn't hot

inewham wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 10:59 pm

slowsider wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 7:50 pmAeropress ftw

One of the joys of coffee is the many ways to make it:
When I'm traveling or in the office a hand grinder and an Aeropress makes great coffee
I've got a Silvia at home but I also have a little Mokka pot just because it's fun and a different flavour

Skub wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:01 pm All is good with the Wrat then,I take it.

Horse wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:03 pm

Skub wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:01 pm All is good with the Wrat then,I take it.

But, sadly, he doesn't want to talk to us here