I just brought the last of the cookies out of the oven. All I have left to do, food wise, for Cambria is the cake and cutting the fudge I made earlier tonight.

I bought an electric teakettle a while back for a work tea party. It became my donation to the kitchen at large. Perhaps you could do the same. Those things boil water quickly, faster than a stove, so you don't feel weird hanging around the kitchen waiting for it to boil. You'd be a hero to all the resident tea drinkers, too.

I think the water from the machine is hot enough. I've used it for tea before and it's been fine. I was just underestimating the amount of grounds and steeping time.

But does it work if you watch it?

The best tea is made at 180°F which is where most of the water dispensers are set. Water at 200-212°F (boiling) allows the bitter oils to be extracted from the leaves. This is why I like sun tea the best, but because it takes 4-6 hours and a warm sunny day I don't make it all that much.

I'm not sure, but I would think the same would be true with coffee. I just bought a french press to use at work (the coffee they make here is vile, not sure what they do wrong). The nice thing is making it strong, using and emmersion blender in some whole milk, add some chocolate syrup, and wala! Mocha Latte!

You also should not brew coffee at boiling - so be careful about temperature. It plays a big factor is taste/quality of coffee.

What Peet's says

coffeeresearch.com's advice

Peet's also offers coffee-to-water ratios that are helpful. They tend to have more coffee to water than most people like, so I suggest brewing it to their methods and adding hot water to it after the brew.

I really want an electric tea kettle. My tea pot is old and does not whistle. It stopped whistling a couple of years ago, but just recently started something new. When I flip the spout, the piece that should make it whistle, completely falls out of the spout and into my cup. Since I make tea everyday, you'd think I could remember this is coming. I guess I really should just buy the electric kettle.

Speaking of Peet's, I headed to your old digs to add a 2nd coffee flavor to my work pantry.

File this under "No Sh*t Sherlock", but the visual difference between the Peet's press grind vs. the press grind from the supermarket grinder (which I used simply because I was there and wanted some coffee to start testing the press with) is amazing. I'm in no way surprised by this fact, even without the Peet's to compare to I could see how irregular the market's grinder left the grounds. But wow does Peet's do a good job.

And it paid dividends. First cup with the Peet's (Sumatra) is freaking divine.

Oh, and I'm not joking when I say "pantry". Wait until I start adding teas as well...
Attachment 1077

I got mine at Target.

They have their ratios on the bags, if I recall.

Don't forget to keep the grinds away from the light! More true for the teas!

[/coffee&tea nazi]

I'm jealous - I continue to put up with the mud at work. It may be time for a change...