Entry for the WTF? File

[av8rmike]

This morning I walked around the corner to the side street where my car was parked. I saw something under the windshield wiper and thought it was a ticket, but it turned out to be a folded piece of paper. On it was written, in green ink:
2 11
Though, I can't tell if there's supposed to be a space in between the '2' and the first '1', or if the whole thing is widely spaced. A few weeks ago, I found the same thing scrawled into the dirt on the driver's side, just behind the door. I know my car was parked on the same street, maybe or maybe not the exact same place. Is someone trying to send me a message? A warning? Will I become the victim of an armed robbery soon?

In other news, yesterday just kept getting better and better. "Lost" was really good, and then Dayna came over bearing gifts! I'd been talking about getting a French press coffeepot, and she had bought me the Bodum Chambord 8-cup model. Besides not having any properly ground coffee, I also don't know how much water to put in per serving or if it's too big for my needs (I thought I only wanted the 3-cup model). Bodum's websites are no help.

Comments

[gingy.livejournal.com]

Try about 5 rounded teaspoons to each cup of water. That's what I found when looking - although, I seem to remember using 2 tablespoons per cup long, long ago. That might be a bit strong.
http://www.ineedcoffee.com/02/03/press/

[geobabe1.livejournal.com]

You use the same amount per serving as with a regular coffeepot, which I believe is 6 oz per cup--well, actually, you may want to put in a little extra water, since some of it will remain behind with the grounds. I guess you'll just have to learn to eyeball the right amount, since there don't appear to be any markings on the side--if you've got a coffee machine, you can use that pot to measure the right amount of water the first time to see what level it'll be at.

If you haven't had French press coffee before, be aware that it is really strong. It's good stuff.

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

This is what bugs me about coffee-making. Everyone has their own formula for "proper" brewing, yet none of them match, nor are they even helpful units. For example, AB in "True Brew" said to use 2 Tbsp per 6 oz. of water, while Maxwell House recommends only one (http://www.maxwellhouse.com/maxwellhouse/page?siteid=maxwellhouse-prd&locale=usen1&PagecRef=375). How many ounces do those auto-drip makers hold, anyway? I seem to remember a good SDMB thread on this very subject, but I don't feel like searching now.

[dantheman70.livejournal.com]

211 is armed robbery, yo!

[gingy.livejournal.com]

The carafe, or the filter-basket?

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

A quick browse through the manuals at mrcoffee.com tells me that the Mr. Coffee corporation believes a coffee "cup" is 5 ounces, not six or eight. Thus, a 10-cup caraffe is actually only 50 ounces, and requires 8.333... two-tablespoon scoops of grounds.

You Canadians must be so much happier with your fancy metric system.

[gingy.livejournal.com]

I'm sure those who are younger than me are. They started teaching the metric system in schools the year that I was in grade One. That means that I drive kph, buy litres of gas and milk, but weigh in pounds, measure in cups, and my height is in feet and inches.

[opalcat.livejournal.com]

2/11 is my birthday

[violaman.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the French press world. I love my 8-cup press and use it every day, even though my co-workers would tell you that I don't need the extra caffeine.

I use the scoop that came with the press and put in four scoops of grounds and about 12 oz of water to make two standard US coffee mugs of coffee. That fills the press pot about halfway. I get the hot water from the Filterfresh coffee machine down the hall, so it's two presses of the hot water button (6 oz per button press) to get enough for two mugs of coffee. It took me a few tries to get the formula right, but now it's great coffee every time. I've never tried filling the press to capacity, because the coffee would get cold by the time I got to the bottom of the pot. And I don't need THAT much coffee in my system at one time.

I leave the scoop at work, so when I grind the beans at home I measure them out with a tablespoon. I grind four or five heaping tablespoons of beans for each half-pot of coffee I plan to make. I'd rather have too much grounds available than run out and have to recalculate the amount of water required. Don't grind the coffee as fine as you would for a drip coffeemaker, because you're already going to get some fine grounds in your coffee, and you don't want to make it worse. You can buy filters to pour the coffee through to remove the fine grounds, but whether you do that depends on how much of a coffee snob you want to be.

I think any coffee will work, but I've had good results with darker roasts, like French and Italian roasts. I already preferred those flavors, and early on in my pressing exploits I found a web site that recommended dark roasts for coffee presses.

One last tip (probably from the same web site): don't wash the pot and the press apparatus with soap. The soap leaves a film behind that can affect the taste of your coffee. I rinse everything with hot water and wipe out the pot with a paper towel.

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

So it is...

Then why are you getting someone to leave reminds on my car?

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

The manual from Bodum says one scoop/one heaping tbsp. per 4 oz. of water, which is somewhat less than what you've been using. Also, there's an electic kettle at my office, but no fancy-ass 6oz. shot machine, so I'll be doing a lot of eyeballing. I think Mom will end up being the guinea pig when she stays here this weekend.

And thanks for the tips, especially the techbargains.com one. I seem to have missed a big sale at Dell yesterday, unfortunately, but I haven't done any researching.

[opalcat.livejournal.com]

I figure if I'm annoying enough, you'll send me a very expensive present to make it go away?

[lehaha3586.livejournal.com]

I'm completely lost when it comes to making coffee, but you have a car?! Let's hang out!! hahaha
that's so bizarre about the number, maybe some bums on the street are getting bored?

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

but you have a car?! Let's hang out!!

Ah, I see how this works now. Next you'll be wanting rides to places and help moving! =P

When's your next concert? Mine's tomorrow night.

[lehaha3586.livejournal.com]

Welll...now that you offered...
hahaha dont worry I'm totally kidding, I have a couple friends with cars if I'm desperate for a ride somewhere
My next concert is thursday March 24th (kind of weird program, but you're welcome to come!), I'd totally see your concert tomorrow but it'll be my birthday so I'm going out to dinner and stuff :)