Favorite Coffee

[Clove]

A new coffee roaster opened up in my city and I spent a couple hours talking to the Master Roaster. Fun place and good coffee. It made me wonder what people were drinking out there.

For the past couple years my favorites have generally been:

Tanzania Songea AA
Kenya AA
Costa Rica Tarrazu
Guatamala Huehuetenango

I like Full City to Vienna roasts.

[ViridianAsp]

Folgers.

[Clove]

Folgers.

That goes great with Pabst Blue Ribbon.

[Satira]

I like tea.

[ViridianAsp]

That goes great with Pabst Blue Ribbon.


I wouldn't know, I don't drink.

[Clove]

I like tea.

Me too. And hot cocoa. And vodka....

[Satira]

This thread should be a name-your-favorite-beverages thread instead.

[Keller]

I don't think enough people on this board are interested in gourmet coffee roasters.

I bet you could find a good forum dedicated to that sort of stuff though. I know I requently post on a foodie forum (chowhound) because talking about good food would be lost on most of you, just like you talking about good coffee is lost on me.

[Clove]

I would have been, if I'd asked.

[Clove]

I don't think enough people on this board are interested in gourmet coffee roasters.

I bet you could find a good forum dedicated to that sort of stuff though. I know I requently post on a foodie forum (chowhound) because talking about good food would be lost on most of you, just like you talking about good coffee is lost on me.

Oh come on Keller. There has to be a few coffee drinkers (and Red Bull and Jolt). 3 a.m. is a great time to hunt.

Given the rise in popularity of Starbucks and other franchise coffee houses I'd say quality (if not gourmet) coffee is at least as popular as micro-brewed beer.

I have no idea why you would assume there wouldn't be folks interested in good food because they're on this board? Didn't you like my chili recipe?

[Keller]

I didn't see your chilli recipe, but I would like to draw a distinction between people who drink coffee (including me) and people who drink good coffee.

There are a few people who appreciate good food on this board, but to engage in fruitful conversations (I usually go to chowhound a week or so before I travel to research the cities restaurants and ask for recommendations) I choose a specialized forum.

With that said, I hope people here do know more about coffee, but I just didn't want the initial responses you received here to make you think we're just a bunch of assholes.

[Sean]

This has a pulp fiction exchange written all over it.

[Satira]

Say, bitch be cool!

[Bobmuhthol]

<<There has to be a few coffee drinkers (and Red Bull and Jolt).>>

When I need super mega ultra caffeine I mix two or more of the following: instant coffee, soda, 100mg caffeine tablets, and 100mg caffeine per 1 oz raspberry syrup.

As far as the kind of coffee, it doesn't really matter to me, but I always have Maxwell House.

Edit: The mocha iced coffee at Burger King is better than any other 'fast-food' coffee chain.

[Jorddyn]

I like the caffeinated coffee-ish milkshakes they sell at Starbucks/Panera/Caribou Cafe.

[Latrinsorm]

I used to like tea before I remembered that urine isn't good for drinking, disirregardless of sterility.

[thefarmer]

Jamican Blue Mountain.

The actual, certified, limited-export, $40-$100/lb, stuff, French-pressed, drunk black.

[Gnomad]

I've been on an Ethiopian Harrar kick lately.

[Ignot]

I've been drinking a bad-ass Sangria mix that my GF has been making the past couple of days. I think she made it with Sangria mix from Williams-Sonoma and mixed in white wine and peaches. It sat in the fridge for days before she would let me have some b/c it has to sit but it has been freakin awesome!

I haven't had to much Sangria before this.

[Flurbins]

I used to go to this place where they had something called "seville orange" It was the best coffee I ever had. They also had something called highlander creme that was my go-to when they were out of orange.

[Clove]

I've been on an Ethiopian Harrar kick lately.

Had a cup of Harrar just this weekend. Good stuff.

We have Starbucks and Panera Bread... between the two I like Panera Bread.

[Clove]

I didn't see your chilli recipe, but I would like to draw a distinction between people who drink coffee (including me) and people who drink good coffee.

There are a few people who appreciate good food on this board, but to engage in fruitful conversations (I usually go to chowhound a week or so before I travel to research the cities restaurants and ask for recommendations) I choose a specialized forum.

With that said, I hope people here do know more about coffee, but I just didn't want the initial responses you received here to make you think we're just a bunch of assholes.

Well I was genuinely interested in what coffee drinkers are drinking; good, bad and ugly. I wasn't trying to start up a geeked-out coffee dialogue; frankly I was feeling a little sheepish about how much coffee-lore I've accumulated after my two hour conversation with the owner of the new coffee house down the street. I wouldn't want to subject the general public to that level of coffee-nerdiness anymore than I would subject them to a discussion of fixed-asset systems (fascinates my coworkers but causes most everyone else to consider slow suicides).

Ironically, I drink less than 3 cups a day and some days none at all. Half of what I roast I give to guests or bring in for my coworkers to share. I guess over the past decade what started as a fondness for a popular beverage has turned into a general pursuit and hobby for me.

As for good coffee, sure there's a coffee culture of growers, importers, roasters, brokers and cuppers with their definitions of what's good and what isn't- just like wine connoisseurs- but in the end it really gets down to personal taste (although Folgers and Maxwell House push the definition envelope of "fit for human consumption").

Oh, and I have many recipes (I enjoy cooking almost as much as coffee) and I do most of my family's meals. Sorry you missed the chili. Want a good chicken biryani recipe instead?

[Anebriated]

I generally buy the Starbucks beans then grind them and throw that into a french press. Love good strong coffee.

[Anebriated]

If you like coffee and arent using a french press you are killing yourself. Its a night and day difference.

[TheEschaton]

Dunkin Donuts is about the extent of my coffee drinking experience, despite drinking the stuff by the gallon.

-TheE-

[Numbers]

My office recently bought one of those coffee pod things.

I'm not a coffee snob by any means. In fact, I think it's vile, and only drink it because of the caffeine, but good god are those pods atrocious.

It's like coffee mixed with sour fat man ass crack sweat.

[Tsa`ah]

Paying exorbitant amounts of cash for "rare" and "certified" coffee has always seemed a tad too excessive to me. Don't get me wrong, I'll by a Kona espresso from the Kopi when they have it, but I don't drink enough coffee in a day to justify dropping a c-note on a pound of anything ... simply because it's going to lose whatever before I hit the bottom on the bag.

Pretty much any run of the mill fresh roasted coffee works fine for me in a press or as an espresso ... I'm only going out of my way for a DD mocha blast however ... I don't give a shit if it's day old cold coffee with cream and ice cream.

[Clove]

Paying exorbitant amounts of cash for "rare" and "certified" coffee has always seemed a tad too excessive to me. Don't get me wrong, I'll by a Kona espresso from the Kopi when they have it, but I don't drink enough coffee in a day to justify dropping a c-note on a pound of anything ... simply because it's going to lose whatever before I hit the bottom on the bag....

Cost is part of what got me hooked on roasting coffee myself. Like you I don't drink very much coffee. On average I drink a couple cups a day, never more than four but some days none at all. Ironic, but true. My wife doesn't drink coffee at all and that put me in the predicament that any expensive coffee I bought ended up becoming pretty stale by the time I could drink it all.

About ten years ago I was doing books for a local hotel and we hired summer cleaning staff from Jamaica every year. I got friendly with some of them and asked if they would bring coffee from Jamaica. They did- but it wasn't roasted. I wasn't going to throw it out, so I began researching. A few months (and some horrible learning experiences) later I had learned to roast coffee.

From there I quickly discovered that there's a significant mark-up on roasted beans and green beans keep for about 10-11 months, so you can buy them in quantity without worrying about spoiling them. For example I bought Ethopian Yirgacheffe unroasted from the new coffee shop for $3.75 a lb. He sells it roasted for $6.99 a lb. One lb. of coffee can take me two or three weeks to drink, but since I only roast a couple french press' worth at a time it's never more than three or four days old. Win win.

As for the difference in flavor; It's analogous to fresh baked bread versus bread bought in a store. They're both bread but the fresh bread tastes "fresh". It's difficult to define the difference but it is unmistakable and easy to get addicted to quickly.

Yeah. I geeked out.

[Nieninque]

Coffee...ugh!

[Clove]

Coffee...ugh!

I know! It's worse than beer!

[Jazuela]

Sumatra mandeling at Willoughby's, roasted the same morning it's brewed. With a little sugar and half-and-half. Second place is the same coffee, from the same roaster, but taken home in roasted beans, then fresh-ground and brewed in my kitchen. If I'm in the mood for a twist on the recipe, I'll add a pinch of fresh-ground cinnamon bark (those bean grinders can powder up cinnamon bark very well!)

[Nieninque]

I know! It's worse than beer!

Blasphemer!

[Stanley Burrell]

I like Starbuck's caramel apple cider, but Dunkin Donuts is so > than Starbucks, that I must enlarge the > sign. In size 5. And Garamond.



>


Word.

[Clove]

Blasphemer!

:club: You started :tumble:

[Clove]

Sumatra mandeling at Willoughby's, roasted the same morning it's brewed. With a little sugar and half-and-half. Second place is the same coffee, from the same roaster, but taken home in roasted beans, then fresh-ground and brewed in my kitchen. If I'm in the mood for a twist on the recipe, I'll add a pinch of fresh-ground cinnamon bark (those bean grinders can powder up cinnamon bark very well!)

I heart cinnamon in coffee. Usually I brew my coffee in a 4 cup french press and pour it into my thermos to take to work. When I'm in the mood I toss a couple sticks of cinnamon in the thermos with a little pinch of cardamom. With half-and-half and sugar it's like dessert; but watch that last cup STRONG cinnamon flavor!

[Jazuela]

I really miss using a melior. I have one, but hubby gets up at 5:00 AM and doesn't have time or energy to futz around with boiling water and setting up the press. So we use an auto-drip coffeemaker. Otherwise, he'd have to use an auto-drop to make only 1 cup of coffee, and I'm not about to clean that fucker AND a melior just so I can have a proper cup.

That said, I think my next coffee-making purchase will be an old fashioned percolator. The only better smell in the morning than coffee steam from a percolator, is of fresh-crisped bacon. I have an espresso/cap maker for winter evenings, which I absolutely adore - especially since the frother makes amazing hot cocoa and mulled cider.

[thefarmer]

Paying exorbitant amounts of cash for "rare" and "certified" coffee has always seemed a tad too excessive to me. Don't get me wrong, I'll by a Kona espresso from the Kopi when they have it, but I don't drink enough coffee in a day to justify dropping a c-note on a pound of anything ... simply because it's going to lose whatever before I hit the bottom on the bag.

Pretty much any run of the mill fresh roasted coffee works fine for me in a press or as an espresso ... I'm only going out of my way for a DD mocha blast however ... I don't give a shit if it's day old cold coffee with cream and ice cream.


Blue Mtn is a particularly special case of rarity and certification. It stems from the fact that only a small percentage is actually on the market for export. The majority of the crop goes to Asia, as they are the majority owners in almost all the farms that grow it locally.

If you're the kind of person to spend $3-$5 once or twice a day on a fancy espresso based drink from your neighborhood barista, I don't see much difference in spending the same amount on a cup of coffee every day.

Some people like filet mignon and others like a hamburger.

[Clove]

Some people like filet mignon and others like a hamburger.

Still others like their filet mignon chopped into hamburger.

[Clove]

Commodities are strange things. The record for the highest wholesale price paid for a coffee was recently broke at something around 150USD a lb. My uncle who collects pu'erh teas can show you teas that go for 4, 5 and even 10 times that a lb.!!!

Not for me though. My average cup of coffee costs about 85 cents, albeit I don't ever roast Jamaica Blue Mountain. There are coffees as good but much lower priced because they are more available and have a less famous brand name- I'm up for those. I'd encourage anyone who loves JBM to try Hacienda La Minita Tarrazu from Costa Rica. For unroasted beans I pay a little under 6 dollars a lb. but you can buy it online (roasted) for about 18 a lb (at least 1/2 price of JBM) here http://www.terroircoffee.com/store/more_info.php?gid=183

[DeV]

Coffee...ugh!Agreed.

It does absolutely nothing for me.

[Aaysia]

Agreed.

It does absolutely nothing for me.

I like coffee but I kill it with lots of milk.

[DeV]

I like coffee but I kill it with lots of milk.Milk is good for a growing body. I approve. :smug:

[Celephais]

http://www.spleenville.com/journal/archives/coffee.jpg

[thefarmer]

Fun fact.

The average price of a POT of brewed coffee at Waffle House is about 7 cents.

The price of a CUP of coffee at the local Waffle House is $1.15

[Umpyr]

either maxwell house or folgers columbian. drink it black, nothing in it besides water and coffee bean residue

[ElanthianSiren]

I like tea.

me too. Time to roll up a Nalfein.

:P

[Valthissa]

I posted once before (in a thread about the strangest food one had ever eaten, I think) about my experience with kopi luwak - it was easily the finest cup of coffee I ever drank.

One or two cups of Costa Rican on daily basis.

Kona for special occasions.

French press is best, I think the ritual helps me get organized in the morning as much as the caffeine.

C/Valth

[thefarmer]

I'm surprised no one's brought up the whole Starbucks conspiracy angle...

Starbucks roasts all the beans they brew much longer than other companies, thereby creating a much more powerful (And burnt) flavor expression, and (supposedly) a higher caffine concentration (Which I doubt).

People who habitually drink Starbucks products and try other brands' espresso based drinks (Latte, mocha, etc) are immediately suspicious of the quality of their non-Starbucks based drinks. Many claim that the drink is 'weak' and possibly 'made incorrectly', despite the assurances of the drink maker.

I've had this happen to me numerous times. I've had people tell me that only Starbucks makes the best drinks, when I worked for Starbucks. I've also tried to explain to a customer that it's the burnt flavor of Starbucks beans that you're missing, not the amount of espresso/caffine, when I worked for other companies.

I've heard many people working in the coffee industry that it's a shame that Starbucks has acclimated so many people to badly roasted beans so much so that they don't realize what they're missing and come to expect the Starbucks taste as a standard.

Personally, I think it's sad, but at the same time respect the fact that Starbucks was smart enough to capitilize on their 'unique'(Bad) flavor for a virtual lock on market share. When you think of French fries, McD's immediately pops to mind doesn't it? Same principle to me.

[Jazuela]

I don't like Starbuck's at all for that reason. Over-roasted at too-high temperatures. If I want something mellow and more like a coffee-flavored hot milk drink with sugar I get Dunkin Donuts. If I want -real- coffee I get Willoughby's. Starbucks is bitter and acidic, not like coffee is supposed to be at all.

[GS-Phoenix]

Starbucks gets bad reviews but I find their coffee consistent at the very least. Their bolds are decent. My favorite coffee is roasted daily in my area. I also like Nordstrom’s coffee bar.

Around here the espresso has a beautiful crema but you need to ask to get the lemon zest. :(