Competition: Win a Philips Café Gourmet Coffee Brewer

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Philips - for that serious gourmet shit. Coffee cups by Kaffikaze. http://kaffikaze.no/

We go the opportunity to test this new coffee brewer from Philips with a so-called Boil & Brew system. The purchase value is NOK 999,-. You can win the Café Gourmet-machine by liking our Facebook page and sharing a picture on your Instagram profile of your special coffee moment. Use the hashtag #twofoodieseating to enter the competition.

We choose the winner by the end of next week and Philips will ship the coffee machine directly to any destination in Norway. The winner, as well as the two runner ups, also get a Keep-Cup each for take-away on those busy mornings when you can't finish your cup at home.

Time to figure out how this thing works

Anyone that has ever operated a coffee brewer will immediately understand how the new Philips machine works. Water goes in the top container, ground coffee and filter goes in the middle container. Power on, water boils, drip, drip, drip and the coffee is done. We normally brew our coffee by hand, using a V60 or Kalita, but we have to admit a coffee brewer is practical when you have big parties of 10-15 people.

Even though this is a machine that does the job for you, there are still some important things to remember when brewing coffee.

Rule number 1: Use good quality coffee

High quality coffee is the most important ingredient to achieve a good brew. We recommend coffee from micro brewers like Supreme Roastworks, Tim Wendelboe or Solberg Hansen. If you don't live in Oslo with acceess to such places, check out kaffebox.no or kaffeposen.no. Good quality water would be the next point, but luckily we have awesome water straight from the tap here in Norway.

Rule number 2: Buy whole beans and grind yourself

Invest in a grinder. It won't cost you more than 500-600 kroner for a decent grinder. It really makes all the difference. Coffee needs to be fresh in order to taste good. Whole beans can last 3-4 weeks in an airtight container. Once grounded, though, the coffee quickly loses it's flavor and characteristics. Filter coffee calls for a medium coarse grind, usually the middle setting on the grinder.

Rule number 3: Brewing temperature

What is the correct temperature? There is no definite answer to this one. However, there seems to be somewhat of an agreement that it should be between 92 and 96 degrees. Certainly not boiling. Philips states that their new coffee brewer "heats the water to 93 degrees", which sounds about perfect. Then they add "or higher". This leaves us somewhat confused. When we tested the machine we noticed that the water is brought to a boil, then the machine seems to let it cool down slightly before it's further transported down the pipe to the filter container with coffee. Thus, we are not sure of which exact temperature the water had at contact with the coffee. A suggestions for improvement in the next model is to incorporate an adjustable thermometer settings for us coffee geeks.

Should have wetted the filter. Trial round failed.

Rule number 4: Wet the filter

Do as I say, not as I do! It was a late evening so I forgot to wet the filter in the trial round, and just noticed when I uploaded the pictures now. Why on earth wet the filter? Because it is made of paper, and paper has a taste. Paper does not taste good. By wetting the paper and rinsing in thoroughly, you remove some of that bad taste. Yes, it is getting down to geeky levels now. Just do it.

Rule number 5: Keep it clean

Clean coffee equipment ensures no foul taste of old coffee remnants. Philips new machine allow you to remove the filter container and of course the coffee pot in the bottom, and these parts are machine washable. That's good! If you could also remove the water container on the top, that would be ideal. This would give another benefit as well; water could be filled straight from the tap. We used our Kalita kettle to fill water. Just make sure you use something clean, and never use the coffee pot to fill water unless it has recently been washed.

Final rule is unofficial, but important nontheless. Drink your coffee from awesome coffee cups! Like the ones we have from Kaffikaze. Or the Keep-Cups you can win in our competition!