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Old 11-02-2015, 09:13 AM   #51
evileeyore
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Default Re: [GURPS Lite] TL8 Time Travelers Go to WW2

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Originally Posted by Minuteman37 View Post
Evil, in your opinion what coffee making devices should a serious coffee drinking household possess?
If by serious you mean 'drinks a lot of coffee':

For modern day? An automatic drip*†. If you're wanting fancy coffee, those single serve coffee machines are pretty swank, but too expensive for 'just a caffeine habit' (in my humble plebeian coffee taste). My neighbor has one of those Keurig machines, and I admit it makes a mighty tasty cup... but again it's a) more expensive than just buying bulk gourmet beans and grinding them fresh and b) makes only one cup at a time. The later is important to me as I take coffee with me when I go out and having to brew up a couple of quarts one cup at a time would be ... tedious.

If you like espresso, espresso machines have come a long way in being small, affordable, and easy to clean. I bought the one I own so I could make single cups at a job (didn't have a coffee pot in the break area, but we were allowed to bring in our own devices for some reason) and occasionally use it when I want a single cup of gourmet coffee (I also have a grinder for rare moments I decide I want some gourmet beans).

For the 1940's England: A single serve drip cup or a steeping ball. The drip cup will make less bitter coffee, but as I understand it, some people like bitterer coffee, so a steeping ball would then be preferred.


If by serious you mean 'coffee connoisseur':

An espresso machine and an automatic drip*†. I say both because some grinds are great when cooled, and you'll want to brew up a bigger batch and then put it in the fridge, or even just brew up a whole pot of your favorite coffee for having with a bunch of guests (brewing single cups for each person while swank is time consuming).

Your own grinder, a good one. Some freezer space to store your different bags of gourmet coffee beans.

For your filtering need, I've heard differing accounts of 'gold versus paper'. Do not use nylon as the filter eventually builds up some residue which won't just won't clean off and breeds bacteria. A metal filter leaves in certain oils which are beneficial for health, but also make it slightly more bitter. Paper filters trap those oils. You'll want pure water and as most bottled water is just tap water in a bottle with a price tag, I suggest getting your own water purifier.


* Water displacement drip coffeemakers are useful if you want to make a lot of coffee at once quickly, but use a lot more electricity. In my case it's not a requirement to 'trade up' to a 'faster' machine, but for parties I could see the value (or if I were rich and just throwing money around).

† Do not get one of the models that has the carafe sitting on a burner. Get the slightly more expensive thermos carafe model (but again not the ones that sit on a burner). Sitting on a hot burner ruins your coffee. Only filthy degenerate heathens enjoy drinking ruined coffee.


Quote:
Originally Posted by GM Joe View Post
What, no mention of vacuum coffee makers? :) That's what we use. They've been around since the 19th century and make great coffee.
I've never even seen one (aside from pictures online). Don't they have the coffee grounds sitting in the coffee as it steeps? HERESY!

I'd like to try a Moka Pot (the Brikka version) some day, but they look like their more hassle than their worth.






[NOTE]
All coffee snobbery was tongue-in-check. I'm not really passing judgement on how you filthy degenerate heathens drink your overly bitter, burned, and ruined coffee. You probably even put sugar in it! OH GOD WHY?!?!?


Also apologies for thread digression.
[/NOTE]

Last edited by evileeyore; 11-02-2015 at 09:19 AM.
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Old 11-02-2015, 09:38 AM   #52
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Default Re: [GURPS Lite] TL8 Time Travelers Go to WW2

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I've never even seen one (aside from pictures online). Don't they have the coffee grounds sitting in the coffee as it steeps? HERESY!
If I understand you right, yes. You put the water in the pot, put the top portion on, and then as you heat the pot the water ends up being forced by pressure into to the top portion, where it boils (you now have a vacuum in the bottom portion). You drop your fresh ground coffee in the top, let it boil for the desired amount of time, then you turn off the heat. As the pot cools, the water gets sucked back down into the bottom, while the coffee grounds stay in the top portion. Remove the top portion, and you have a nice pot of coffee.

I like it because it's a neat thing. Besides, it was around during WWII, so... :)
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Old 11-02-2015, 09:52 AM   #53
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Default Re: [GURPS Lite] TL8 Time Travelers Go to WW2

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I like it because it's a neat thing. Besides, it was around during WWII, so... :)
It is neat. The Moka Pot uses a similar hydraulic pressure to force the steam through the grounds, and then into an upper chamber.

I wasn't sure if it was available during WWII... I was getting some conflicting dates when I looked it up this morning, and wasn't sure if wikipedia was just being goofy.
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Old 11-02-2015, 10:16 AM   #54
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Default Re: [GURPS Lite] TL8 Time Travelers Go to WW2

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Some of that was because of bizarre and incompetent management of agents by the Germans, which this thread is not the right place to discuss, but the very paranoid attitude to strangers was significant. ...
Which is why I hit the high points. :)
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Old 11-02-2015, 10:23 AM   #55
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Default Re: [GURPS Lite] TL8 Time Travelers Go to WW2

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Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
It is neat. The Moka Pot uses a similar hydraulic pressure to force the steam through the grounds, and then into an upper chamber.

I wasn't sure if it was available during WWII... I was getting some conflicting dates when I looked it up this morning, and wasn't sure if wikipedia was just being goofy.
Wow, Moka Pot is great, too! I'd like to get one of those some day.
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Old 11-02-2015, 02:11 PM   #56
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Default Re: [GURPS Lite] TL8 Time Travelers Go to WW2

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Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
Two more things untouched by adm:

Paper filters weren't invented until 1908, and didn't reach market saturation (outside of Europe) until after WWII. These filters removed certian (beneficial) oils which change the flavor slightly.

More importantly, drip coffee makers came into being in the 1970's replaced french presses, percolators, and single cup drip setups. Percolators are the tools of evil things and result in burned, bitter coffee. French Presses often result in similarly over-expressed, bitter (but unburned so not quite as nasty) coffee.
My grandmother's kitchen never had anything but a percolator, and most of the homes in southeastern Kentucky had the same.

She'd go down to the Piggly Wiggly every week, pick her beans, get them ground right then and there (smelled wonderful) and then take them home and brew them in the percolator.

That's just what everybody did. There was no other conception of how to make coffee, unless it was Folgers Instant.

I'd imagine that all coffee, until automatic-drip pots became available, was made the same way.
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Old 11-02-2015, 03:32 PM   #57
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Default Re: [GURPS Lite] TL8 Time Travelers Go to WW2

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Which is why I hit the high points. :)
Yup, but a little more detail seemed potentially useful :)

In an interesting piece of synchronicity, BBC News has just reported that the UK's wartime identity register is being digitised and put online. They're doing this because the detailed records of the 1931 census were lost in a fire, and there was no 1941 census. The register is a useful substitute.
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Old 11-02-2015, 06:00 PM   #58
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Default Re: [GURPS Lite] TL8 Time Travelers Go to WW2

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They're doing this because the detailed records of the 1931 census were lost in a fire
How interesting and...convenient for certain parties who may or may not be time travelers, depending on who's asking.

For those contemplating a WW2 time game, I'll recommend Connie Willis as the go-to author for inspiration as far as these "how to fit in" questions.
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