Date:         Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:28:55 -0400
Reply-To:     Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Subject:      Re: [NVC] Coffee brewing and cleanup
In-Reply-To:  <4506E06E.4050509@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Hi Mike,

I make coffee in a French press.  The cleaning solution is simple, albeit
inelegant.

Leave the press full of grounds in the sink.  Continue on your way down the
road.  Next public bathroom you get to, fill the press with water and pour
water and grounds into the toilet, flush them away.  Then you can just wash
out the press.  Explain to anyone else in the bathroom, if they look at you
like you are really weird.

If I were camping in some remote place (i.e. not in a campground with
toilets or outhouses) I'd fill it with plenty of water and dump it under a
bush.  Coffee grounds actually are good compost, hopefully one morning's
worth won't hurt the plant.  Not in the desert, though, I think, no bushes
to hide and absorb it!  If you're stealth camping in a city, it's easy to
find a public bathroom.  If you need to, rinse and dump twice, although
sometimes once is enough that you can then wipe the rest out with a paper
towel and throw it away in the trash.

You could also dump it out without water (with some assistance from a spoon
and then paper towel) into a good plastic bag, and put that in the trash.

Now that I'm back in a house, it's nice to be able to dump grounds into the
sink and run the water - though it will be better once I get my garbage
disposal working again.  But boy do I waste water, now that I have lots of
it and handy gray water disposal!



Joy



****************************************************************
Joy Hecht
now living in a real house in northern Virginia
and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon
now living in the driveway and resting after two and a half years
lugging Joy and her stuff around...

For musings about life and the vanadventures:
http://www.joyhecht.net

****************************************************************


:::-----Original Message-----
:::From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
:::Of Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
:::Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 12:30 PM
:::To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
:::Subject: [NVC] Coffee brewing and cleanup
:::
:::My silly post yesterday about finding a coffee bean in Mellow Yellow's
:::sink drain line started a mini-thread about coffee preparation
:::techniques. I know that many people like the taste of coffee when brewed
:::in a French press, as do I, but I use the drip method because I find it
:::easier to clean up: simply pull the No. 2 paper cone out of the drip
:::cone and toss it, and the grounds, into the waste basket.
:::
:::I've never found an easy way to clean a French press. Usually the coffee
:::grounds are packed into the bottom, so I partway flood the press with
:::fresh water, shake it until most of the grounds are in suspension . . .
:::then stand there, not knowing where to dump it. It's too thick to dump
:::into the sink, and it's too messy to dump outside. The rinse process
:::usually needs repeating, as I never get rid of all the grounds the first
:::time around. Maybe someone who has this sorted out could post their
:::method?
:::
:::--
:::
:::Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
:::71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
:::84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
:::74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
:::KG6RCR