Caffeinated Experiments

First, let it be written, that I, could not help my brother with a Calculus problem.
I feel so out of practice. Ashamed. Inadequate. *Sniffle

That last one wasn't true.

I do feel bad, though.

Wednesday brought the end of all of the relatives at my house. Don't get me wrong, family is nice, but they need to stay in small doses to be good. I.e. 40 of them running around for a week is not good; 2 running around for a week is great. I'd like my cousin who I hadn't seen in 10 years or so to come back in the summer and be my fishing buddy.
But even with that, my life does not return to normal. I've been running around for work and now starts the traveling. First a day out of office, then three days out of state. It's sort of ridiculous that to attend a day and a half seminar, I have to be gone three days.
Let another adventure begin!

Being the coffee snob that I am, or at least the addict, I have decided that when I finally move out, I want some sort of coffee bar in my kitchen. There are one hundred ways to brew coffee, and I want them all. Or a lot of them. On that list of methods is a home espresso machine. I will someday have one, and not just a push button one, a manual pull the shot-steam the milk one. (Just above the espresso machine on that list is barista training - offered at the local Kaladi Brothers company)
Since it is impractical to use more than one method to brew coffee in a rushed morning, I've decided to find the "best" way to brew given time, effort, and, most importantly, flavor.
I tested three this weekend.

On the left, a Bialetti Moka Express; on the right, a Chemex. Unseen is the french press.
I used Kau Coffee from Hawaii for the french press and the chemex in equal amounts and volume of water. They were both brewed for the time that it took to pour the water into the chemex. However long that is.
The results: the french press makes strong coffee. That is black. And kind of bitter. The chemex had a lot more flavor. Only slightly less strong.
Both are better than the brewer we normally use.

This is where it departs from being scientific with control:
I used the Moka Express the next day, and I had ran out of Kau.
This one was much more fun.
A moka express is like a percolator, that makes espresso, and upside down. In other words, it starts with water in the bottom, and ends with water in the top by forcing the steam through the grounds in the middle and condensing it in a neck before pouring into the reservoir.
Trial 1:
I may have ground it too fine and packed it too hard. The very little water that made it through the grounds was black. Very black. With the consistency of lava. The pressure relief valve was going off the whole time. Oops
Trial 2:
After it had cooled down such that I felt safe opening it without it spraying boiling liquid every where...
I ground the coffee less fine, didn't tamp it as much. Viola! I had something between espresso and a very strong cup of coffee. Wasn't too bad. Wasn't exactly a shot, though.
Given these three, depending on how groggy in the morning I am, a moka or chemex should be the normal way to go.
Next up: the V60 pour-over and whatever else I find will make coffee. Except by sock. I have no desire to use a sock as a filter.