Terrible tasting coffee!!!

[richedie]

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum.

I am having a problem making coffee at home. I have been using our french press for the last 6 months or so and have been very happy with the results. We also have an under sink Apex Water filtration system which has always given us great tasting and pure water. I tend to buy a lot of Jamaican blue mountain blend coffee and recently noticed the taste is absolutely horrible. It is so bad, my first reaction is to spit it out and pour out the cup. It tastes like battery acid! I can't determine the problem. I even bought coffee from another location to rule that out. This all started a few days ago. I had a fresh batch of coffee and one day it made a terrific cup and the next day, battery acid. No lie! I have tried to clean the french press and parts over and over again (are any of these parts dish wacher safe?), I have tried to use various pots to boil the water, etc. It still tastes hideous. Maybe the under the sink water system needs a filter change? This is odd because our water seems to taste fine, and that includes any tea or iced tea that we have made since. What could this be? This is puzzling and caused me to throw away a lb. of what was most certainly good coffee. I have given up at home and am buying out again. It's a real shame because I thought I was really dialing in my coffee at home.
I may pick up a bottle of filtered water today to see if that is the culpret. I may even try our old drip coffee maker.

Thanks for any advice or thoughts.

-Rich

 

[topher]

that sux that you had to throw out coffee...was it just that one lb or does all the coffee taste like crap? I noticed you said you boil your water for your press...do not use boiling water...boil it and let it sit...if you use boiling water it will sour your coffee. you might check into changing your filter also. As to can you put your press in the dishwasher...I would put the class part in but the rest of it can. Oh well good luck.

 

[LiftOff]

Topher's right, the water should not be boiling, you want it in the
195-205 F range for french press. Also if you grind to fine you will overextract which makes the coffee very bitter. You want a nice even grind, just slightly larger than drip.

It does not sound like your water...you also did not say how old that bag of jamaican was either.

Try some fresh (local) coffee & see if that helps.

Good luck!

 

[richedie]

Thanks guys, the coffee was fresh and I tried others wiht no luck. It all came about one day early this week or over the weekend.....I foget.

So, I can put the glass container in the dishwasher and the parts?

Which filter gets replaced? I thought I'd have to buy a new french press!

Also, I should boil and let it sit for a few minutes?

Thanks!

 

[topher]

sorry typo I would not put the glass in the washer...replace the filter on your water not the press...I have had the same press since 90 and I have only replaced the filter once.

 

[richedie]

Okay, I tried again this morning with good bottled water hoping for a change. No change at all......the taste doesn't even resemble coffee; absolutely disgusting - I guess I'll be buying a cup on the way to work.

This is driving me insane. I have tried Jamaican blend from two different shops and still the same result, different water, different pots to heat the water, cleaned the french press and all parts. No change. It makes no sense how I had a great cup of coffee one day and terrible the next. I am going to try our drip maker and see if there is a change.

Could it be that all Jamaican coffe coming into this area is bad!? But, why did I get a few great cups out of this batch?

The coffee smells great in the container, then I test the water, still all good. It all goes south as soon as the water mixes with the coffee! I pur the water into the glass french press container and the smell is horribel, like a bad high school chemistry experiment.

Thanks for the help.

 

[richedie]

Sorry about the above spelling errors - I was in a rush. Basically you can smell this rotten odor as soon as the water makes contact with the coffee in the french press.

 

[topher]

Go to where you are buying your jamaican and tell them the problem you are having...then ask them to brew you a cup and see if it is the coffee....if they have a problem with that, they suck!

 

[richedie]

The thing is....I got the coffe from two places with the same result.

 

[LiftOff]

And those two places got it from the same place....

If it's not the water, it's gotta be the coffee.

 

[richedie]

But, it is weird that the coffee was fine the first few cups.

 

[JavaQueen]

If it is coffee from 2 different places, then it probably isn't the coffee. Can you take some to a friends house and have them brew up a pot to see if it might be something with your press?
Also - maybe you could try getting the melitta pour over filter for single cups, just to try it that way and eliminate the french press all together as a test.

 

[richedie]

Hi all, I made the Jamaican coffee in our drip maker today and had the same results....terrible. I even had my wife taste it and she thought it was horrible also. I have tried different bottled water as well. I am going to try a different roast from a different shop and test that. This is too weird!

 

[topher]

what are you storing your coffee in? My ex-wife took some kona I roasted and put it in a tupaware container. She smelled the container and thought it was clean...only thing is she had stored onions in it before....you couldn't smell it but the coffee pulled it from the plastic. just a thought.

 

[Alun_evans]

Wasn't there an episode on the "X-Files" about this?? Toper is right- there could be something other than the actual prep process tainting the beans...the container, maybe an odour in the central heating system? Mysterious indeed.