[pct-l] Instant coffee tastes awful??

[metam01 at earthlink.net (Monty Tam)]

OK  Here's a true coffee addict!  No one else would think like this.

"IS THERE A CHEMIST" or Sink the grounds at high altitude??:

In order to sink the grounds, the relative density of grounds to water must
incresase to the point that the lighter grounds reach a higher density than
the density of the heavier water.  Although principles remain constant,
results will vary as the altitude vairable increases or decreases.  

Findings and recommendations:

Stir in the grounds the night before.  Makes very, very smooth coffee.

or

Stir in the grounds before heating. Heat tightly covered. Boil, stir,
replace the lid. Let sit tightly covered (hopefully this creates a slight
vacuum).  The more it cools the more they sink.  Reheat when appropriate.

Next question?  Has anybody found a dehydrated single malt unblended yet?

Warner Springs Monty


> [Original Message]
> From: Jeffrey Zimmerman <jeffreyn@sonic.net>
> To: PCT-L <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Date: 11/22/2004 7:59:06 AM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Instant coffee tastes awful??
>
> On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 07:17:56 -0800, Chris Willett 
> <CWillett@pierce.ctc.edu> wrote:
>
> > Cowboy coffee.  Put grounds and water in pot, bring gently to boil,
shut 
> > off.  Let cool slightly, sprinkle the top with a little cold water 
> > (helps the grounds settle), pour into cup. ...
>
> I consider instant coffee just a "maintenance dose" for trail time.  
> Tolerable,
> but still a good way to start the morning.  I've gone through caffeine 
> withdrawal
> before and never want to do that again.  ;-0
>
> At lower elevations I can get cowboy coffee to work superbly.  Impresses
my
> companions, impresses me, even impresses the dog.  Killer coffee.  But
once
> I'm above, say, 7,000 feet, I can't get the grounds to settle.  I've 
> Googled
> this problem without success.  I'm not sure why the cold water works, I'm 
> not
> sure why the other remedies (tapping the pot, adding eggshells) are 
> supposed
> to work, so I'm really at a loss here in my experimental method.
>
> I do have a couple of hypotheses ("hypothesi"?), though.  One, I suspect 
> that
> some sort of surface tension effect keeps the grounds afloat, and that the
> temperature shift caused by the cold water breaks that and lets the
grounds
> sink.  If that's the case, then adding some booze would help because
> it lowers the surface tension.  Now, THERE's an experiment that needs 
> trying,
> but so far I've been unwilling to dedicate any of my 15-year old single 
> malt
> scotch to that project.  If only I'd remember to take Kahlúa along!
> Too, it may be I just haven't added enough cold water at altitude if this
> theory is correct.  May be I have to add so much it'll cool the coffee, 
> then
> I have to re-heat, obviously decanting first, but what a ceremony THAT'd 
> be!
>
> The other hypothesis is that somehow the boiling process traps some type 
> of vapor
> (steam? air?) on the grounds' irregular surface, and that the vibration
of 
> the
> tap on the pot, the change in the temperature from the cold water, or
some 
> process
>  from the albumin remaining on the egg shells breaks the hold of the
grounds
> on the vapor.  Lossing vapor, and hence bouyancy, the grounds sink.  I 
> kinda like
> this theory because it may explain the altitude effect.  The marginally 
> tolerable
> solution is to filter with the venerable bandana, but then you REALLY want
> the coffee boiling *8^)
>
> Shorter trips, those usually done at lower elevation, allow the luxury of 
> real
> grounds.  Longer trips mean weight is usually more a factor, and are
often 
> at
> altitude, so now that I take instant the issue hasn't arisen.
>
> IS THERE A CHEMIST IN THE HOUSE?
>
> -- 
> Jeffrey Neil Zimmerman
> Sonoma County, The Left Coast
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