A Coffee Making Comparison

 
Comparing Coffee made as Pour Over, French Press, and in a keurig.

Just for fun today - my daughter and I did a coffee comparison. I made coffee in the keurig, in a french press, and with the pour over cup. It was a blind test for my daughter, but I did know which was which.

A week earlier, we had been discussing k-cups.  The cost, the amount of plastic waste, etc.

Meg ordered a case of "earth friendly"  k-cups - the kind with no plastic, just a fabric type bottom.  They each came individually wrapped in their own bag, which was both amusing, and very sad.  

https://amzn.to/3L9ZnAn

This pour over coffee maker is not the same one I have, but it's about half the price of mine and nearly identical in appearance.

On a whim, she ordered these Pour Over coffee devices - calling it an "earth day present".

The first time I made it, I remembered how much I really love a good cup of coffee - and realized just how pitiful the keurig coffee is.  I did a very quick google search, and I still really know nothing about coffee, but something about the amount of time it takes for the hot water to soak over the grounds makes a big difference.  Allows more oil from the beans into the coffee? Something like that.  I might eventually read a book about it.

But since Meg was at the house for a day, just for fun,  I prepped three cups of coffee, one in the Keurig, one in a travel mug french press, and one pour over.

Travel Mug French Press https://amzn.to/3LvfmdN

I really love the convenience of this french press - it keeps the coffee warmer than my regular one.  But I'm still very annoyed that it's not the pretty blue color shown in the amazon ad - it's a very bright blue.  A little thing, but still annoying.

I used the same bag of coffee - from a stand at our local farmers market.  It's East Africa Coffee Company, from Mifflinburg Pa .  My favorite is their Ugandan Bugiso, which according to the bag has "notes of dark chocolate and cream."

Keurig, Pour Over, French Press

Then I poured each cup of coffee into a ceramic travel mug, so the test was a "blind test" for Meg, although out of necessity, I knew which was which.  They all looked pretty similar once poured into glass cups - although originally there was more of a film/foam on top of the pour over and keurig versions.  After tasting them, you would expect the keurig coffee too look lighter - it was so anemic in taste, compared to the other two.

All three were different. The keurig, which I've been perfectly happy with for years, was just "sad coffee". LOL! Obviously "taste tester" is not my full time job, so this my descriptions are.. well, they are what they are.

When compared to the other two, it really was just sad. It's been terribly convenient, but the difference was so jarring that I'm not certain I'll even keep one here. I may buy a "regular" coffee pot for our family dinners. We do also have a nespresso machine, which I didn't use in this comparison, because I couldn't use my own beans in it, but I know it makes a better cup of coffee than the keurig.

I don't know how to describe the french press. My instinct is to say stronger, but that's not quite right. Deeper? Richer? I lean towards this being my favorite - but I loved the pour over coffee too.

The pour over coffee my daughtered called "layered" and I called creamier. Again, it's hard to describe, but I was really surprised to find so much difference between the drip and the french press. I find that I am making the french press coffee every morning, and the pour over for my evening coffee.

https://amzn.to/3AyDtSD

Eventually I'd like to try an aeropress.  I have friends who rave over these.  It's similar to a french press, and great for camping - the one shown here makes the coffee right in a travel mug.  But for now, I have enough coffee gadgets to keep me busy.  :-)

==========================