drinking Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, one of my favorites. when it comes to coffee, i only buy whole bean and grind (burr) each time before brewing. bottled water only and the preferred method for brewing is a press. my brewed coffee has body and when pressed right, a ring of foam on the inside of the mug. the bottom will have a small amount of sludge due to the small particles passing through the screen.
what are some of your favorite beans / regions?
Elephant Dung Coffee, the World's Most Expensive:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/photos-elephant-dung-coffee-the-world-s-most-expensive-323746.html
I had a french press for years and used it almost daily until I broke it about a year ago. Went on Amazon and picked up one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Aerobie-AeroPress-Coffee-Espresso-Maker/dp/B0047BIWSK Makes a great cup of coffee in a fraction of the time that other methods take. I buy whole beans and prefer darker roasts and low-medium acidity, but I couldn't name a favorite bean. Sometimes I'll get something and it's really good, then later I'll buy it again and it's crap. A former employer bought me a bag of Kona when she was in Hawaii and it was some of the best coffee I've ever had. No Kona I've had since then comes close. Not too long ago I bought some Nicaraguan medium roast at a big national chain store and it was great. Bought it again shortly thereafter and it sucked. All about the freshness, I guess.
I've ordered from www.justcoffee.coop several times and they have some quality stuff. Lots of variety. I got a bag of that Ethiopian coffee from there one time and it was an odd one. A little too far outside of my taste.
I used to go to Lost Dutchman Coffee in Phoenix when I lived down there almost 4 times a week. Their Brazilian brand was insanely good (I think it was called Superstition blend or something). I've mainly been drinking Lavazza Blue Espresso which you can get from World Market for $7.99 and make it at home, they sell Hawaiian Isles Kona up there as well but it's $20.99 for 24oz. I've been to a local place called Method Coffee a few times, pretty good. Haven't visited too many coffee houses up here in Prescott since I moved back.
Quote from: Peterson on December 17, 2012, 09:13:57 PM
Something about it is so goddamn good with a cigarette.
Agreed. No finer combination exists. I love coffee, sometimes I think more than beer, but I'm no connoisseur. I enjoy anything from luke warm dinner coffee to lovingly made, french press, homemade cups. I appreciate people who know something about good coffee, but I just love it by general principle. It's delicious and effective. The best coffee I ever had was in a coffee shop in Kyoto. Like many things the Japanese like, they are totally obsessive perfectionists about it. They brewed the coffee in something like this http://www.doobybrain.com/2008/01/23/the-20000-cup-of-coffee/ (http://www.doobybrain.com/2008/01/23/the-20000-cup-of-coffee/) and it was just incredible.
But on the down (brown) side, I have irritable bowel syndrome, so pretty much every cup of coffee makes me feel like I'm going to shit my pants. :( But I still drink it anyway...
I drink very little else but coffee, all day long. Unfortunately, I have to make do with instant most of the time (sorry!) but am a fan of stronger varieties when the opportunity allows to brew up in the cafetiere. I'm not choosy when it comes to instant coffee because...well, there's little point. Normally go for whatever is best price and/or best value. When my wife and I move house we will hopefully have a larger kitchen that can facilitate a better coffee-making setup.
At home I've ended up drinking usually Taylor's Hot Lava Java brewed in a French press.
Reviews:
http://www.coffeejudge.co.uk/taylors-hot-lava-java-coffee (http://www.coffeejudge.co.uk/taylors-hot-lava-java-coffee)
Very nice, extremely roasted.
All the coffee lunatics I know in Finland grind their beans themselves, and usually order them from http://www.hasbean.co.uk (http://www.hasbean.co.uk) .. Seems like a nice company indeed with a respectable selection. I like it that they tell where the beans are coming from, by whom they've been growed and cultivated, etc. Good to support these low scale family businesses that have actual knowledge, determination and tradition in their craft. As with everything...
Hot Lava Java is great - a friend once likened it to drinking a cigar.
i drink coffee everyday too and this what i buy Van Houtte Mexico Fair Trade Organic - Medium Roast
Thought I'd share this amusing aside. my friend and I love Twin Peaks and coffee. When he was working at this engineering firm in NYC he had access to big ass printers. So he printed out this picture and it's in his kitchen over the coffee machine. Makes me smile every time I get a cup of coffee at his place.
(http://www.thecitrusreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/dale-cooper1.jpg)
"This, excuse me, a DAMN fine cup of coffee!"
place just half a block away from where i live has been roasting their own since the 70's...just picked up a pound of organic mexican from them yesterday (cost like 15 bucks)...i had been on a major sumatra/new guinea kick for the last year. i can't function without coffee, strong and black. take it with milk if it's shitty coffee.
used to grind my own but my grinder broke and i currently don't have the money to replace it, i use a stove top percolator (that's gotta be replaced soon too)
I like my coffee in the traditional finnish way. Strong, sitting still in the coffee maker for hours, burned to hell, colour changed to black as night, taste resembles death in liquid form. Best ever with a cigarette.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7099/7123403979_7b3d6a0b78_n.jpg)
Tattoo from last year - reads "Death Before Decaf."
My preferred preparation method is the Hario V60:
(http://www.buzzkillerespresso.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/HarioV60-pourover.jpg)
I do a pour-over using single-origin, seasonal, direct-trade beans run through a burr grinder. I have an old friend who owns a high-end cafe nearby - he's extremely finicky and detail-oriented, and I've been lucky to piggyback on his knowledge and contacts, and get access to some exceptional coffee.
Quote from: KMusselman on February 11, 2013, 09:18:57 PM
QuoteI do a pour-over using single-origin
I never brewed this way, but I am interested. What is the time of the pour?
I don't time it. I heat the water until just under boiling and refill as needed while I'm running around feeding the dogs and getting dressed for work. Trying to exercise any real control over the morning chaos in my house is destined to end only in disappointment. Getting good beans and grinding them just prior to brewing is probably 80% good enough, which is still far and away the best homebrewed cup I've ever had (including those made with French press). If I want real precise timed, weighed and temp-calibrated preparation I just drive downtown and let my pal's OCD do the work for me.
Nice thread.
I don't have my favourite, but I found my least favourite. It's some obscure brand - Lord Wayne. Coffee. Kilo goes for some 3-4 euros in here. I found the bag with this coffee, 5 lipsticks and pink shirt while returning back home from suburbs. It's like you would be drinking mud mixed with washing powder. Never thought coffee could be that disgusting
Quote from: Levas on February 11, 2013, 09:52:39 PM
Nice thread.
I don't have my favourite, but I found my least favourite. It's some obscure brand - Lord Wayne. Coffee. Kilo goes for some 3-4 euros in here. I found the bag with this coffee, 5 lipsticks and pink shirt while returning back home from suburbs. It's like you would be drinking mud mixed with washing powder. Never thought coffee could be that disgusting
But how does the shirt fit?
a little too small for me so I gave it to a friend. Don't know if it will be used or not. As for lipsticks - didn't use them either
Anyone into Maccha/Matcha at all? A lot of what is sold fraudulently under that name is just powdered sencha, which is properly called konacha, but the real deal is extremely powerful and naturally sweet. It's quite expensive as well. I've had Gyokuro a few times as well, which is the same kind of tea used to make matcha, but not powdered, which means your not actually ingesting much of the tea leaves, and I thought it was a little bit weaker, but still good stuff. I can't stomach cheap green tea, especially on an empty stomach, in which case it makes me puke on account of the acidity, but shade grown tea has none of the acidity and way more theanine and caffeine.
I currently have some bagged green tea from Costco that is supposed to be regular sencha with a bit of matcha added in, but on the ingredient list, in brackets beside matcha, it says powdered sencha so I guess it's fake, but it is a lot sweeter and I can stomach it. Fairly powerful as well.
I used to drink upwards of twenty cups of coffee a day, but for some reason which is at least consciously unbeknownst to me, I suddenly stopped cold perky a few years ago. I started drinking a lot of cola and stuff, so I guess that's why it didn't effect me so much, but the amount of caffeine I was ingesting via cola came nowhere near the amount I got from coffee for over ten years, everyday. I started up a few times since then, but always stopped after a month or two. It's probably good for my heart or something to not drink THAT much coffee, but I do miss it and am currently mulling over whether to start again. I like nearly any kind of coffee, but my favourite is this stuff from Portugal, can't recall the name right now, brewed in a moka pot. If a moka pot is not available, just a regular cone style filter is probably my second favourite method of preparation. I like to pour the near boiling water over the coffee until it fills the cone right to the top, then let it drain out completely, then slowly and carefully pour more water over the side of the filter, washing away all the coffee, and more importantly the oils, that have been deposited there.
One time, an ex-girlfriend brought me back a bag of Americano beans from Chiapas that were so lightly roasted, they almost looked like peanuts or something. It was caffeine heaven.
20 cups of coffee a day?! I'd think you'd die from dehydration via diarrhea .
speaking of under roasted beans, i used to go to this coffee shop as a kid that offered an espresso shot where the beans were un-roasted...really bizarre, i can't even remember what it tasted like but it was loaded with caffeine...
20 cups is a do able thing, but i do not drink that much currently (waking up at 5 AM, i'm like an old person i don't wanna be up past 8). but when i was younger with certain friends/roommates or living at home with my mom it was easy, anytime i'm around other fiends or restaurants that are open all night...
I used to work at a coffee shop for about 4-5 months. in that time i grew to appreciate espresso (by the shot mostly, though I make a hell of a latte) and cold-brewed espresso (used for incredible iced coffee).
Our owner was not very sophisticated - we had a drive-thru and stuff so we couldn't afford to brew coffee-by-the-cup or cater to a coffee snob crowd as our main business was mostly housewives and business commuters. Although we were independent we were pretty much a fancier (yet still cheaper) Starbucks. Lots of crowd-pleasing dark french and italian roasts and gross latte syrup flavors and such...
At home I use a french press and locally-roasted beans (usually a stronger lighter roast). I want to upgrade to that Hario V-60 that someone posted earlier - just gave one to a friend as a birthday gift today actually. Seems like it would make a smoother cup of coffee than the sludge and bitterness of french press.
Since leaving the coffee shop, i started working at a whole food co-op / cafe. I handle the drinks there but that mainly consists of organic juicing and smoothies. I would LOVE for them to buy me an espresso machine and start doing things right again but i don't think they're going to sink the money into that for almost a year... our coffee now is good (same roaster i buy for my home) but is just auto-drip that sits in large thermos dispensers. Our iced coffee is just refrigerated brewed coffee and some of it gets frozen into icecubes. mostly it just tastes old.
Quote from: ConcreteMascara on February 12, 2013, 12:47:13 AM
20 cups of coffee a day?! I'd think you'd die from dehydration via diarrhea .
It's definitely doable, but that is a nasty side effect,. I guess I should mention that I'm talking normal, eight ounce cups of coffee.
I find it interesting that Eight O'Clock Coffee always wins at these blind taste testing competitions. I picked up a small can once at a convenience store because it was late at night, but didn't think it was anything special. I guess it's like Smirnoff wining blind taste test spirit competitions.
There's a Canadian company called Kicking Horse that has a range of pretty good coffees. http://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/home
I don't swear by one coffee. When I run out of beans, I always replenish them with a new kind. I do the coffee shopping at work so I get to pick up premium bags of coffee on the company's tab. The only criteria (besides no Folgers, Yuban or any other diarrhea) is whole bean. Otherwise, I'm open to whatever because drinking the same cup of black coffee for weeks gets old.
At home, I just tried Mexican Piñon coffee from Trader Joes and, holy shit, it's some of the best I've had. It's pre-ground because I rarely drink coffee at home, thus no grinder, and not sure if it's available in whole bean, but I'd look into it.
Also, a quick morning shot of espresso or two has saved my life innumerable times.
Coffee/espresso is a twice- sometimes thrice-daily staple for me.
I rarely drink anything of the caliber mentioned in this thread. It is usually Cafe Bustello made in my french press.
my two favorite beverages too
Quote from: Peterson on December 17, 2012, 09:13:57 PM
I am a bad coffee addict and drink it almost every day, same with tea. Probably a dental death wish, but it's just so good in the morning or after work. I prefer Hawaiian Kona beans or Sumatran for more expensive brands. For cheap crap I go for "Chock Full O' Nuts New York," not amazing but it passes my test. Something about it is so goddamn good with a cigarette. For tea I like oversteeped Irish breakfast or Earl Grey.
I know all about the dental death wish. Drink coffee everyday (morning and night), after I've had enough coffee, I switch to tea. I prefer the breakfast varieties as well and over steeped. Also a fan of lapsang souchong because of the smokey aroma. If that is not enough on the teeth, I drink a few glasses of cherry juice at night to help sleep. Pretty much every night I have dreams of teeth rotting or exposed nerves in teeth etc.
Preferred method at home is French Press, I grind the beans right before brewing. No preferred beans, I try not to stay on the same kind for too long. Most recently it was Hawaiian Kauwai and Brazillian Santos. Picking up Mocha Java and some African varietal today.
I enjoy my daily dose of Lavazza Caffé Espresso made in a stovetop espresso maker. In addition i use instant coffee like Maxwell House when
there is no time or when i need a softer fix. I know that to some instant coffee is like a deadly sin but it is convidient and i like the taste of
this brand (and use it for years).
Since i live in East Frisia, i am exposed to a heavy (the heaviest) black tea culture and got used to it. So, a good black tea is fine as well.
A cup of home made cold brew everyday. Not cut with water or any sugar or cream. Just straight black cold brew coffee. I hate what they try and pass off as cold brew at where I work now. They brew it most of the time for only 6 hours tops, cut it with a ratio of 1/3 cold brew 2/3 water and on top of that add ice. Comes out like watery crap that barely taste like coffee.
I once was looking at it after I ground the beans, and thought about what I could try and make it different. I saw some PBR in the fridge and figured 'fuck thats close enough to water'. So I cold brewed using PBR in place of water. I'll say this, it didn't taste as bad as you would think. However with that being said I wouldn't say it tasted good either or would recommend it. Still better than that watered down shit they pass for cold brew in the cafe. I have been experimenting in cold brewing with red wine in place of water. It has not had the best results. I think it has to do with how the alcohol breaks down the bean that the wine and beer cold brew tasted fairly similar. It may have also been an issue with alcohol to bean ratio. I don't know, I am still working that out.
I remember Death Wish Coffee being quite good. As for tea, I dig Irish breakfast, Earl Grey, and lapsang souchong.
Ah, I don't really know what I would consider my favorite coffee. I have been drinking several cups of black decaf coffee a day for many years. I usually just get whatever brand is higher on the shelf, so I get some self assurance that it will be of higher quality. I drink my coffee black, sometimes I add pumpkin and spice seasoning I get from the store if I don't necessarily have the taste for just plain coffee (that can happen if you drink so much coffee your taste buds grow used to the flavor and you don't taste it as much). This last week I got a pound of Sumatra coffee, which seems a little bland sometimes, but the funny thing about coffee is that some mornings you wake up and you drink it and it tastes astounding. That's what happened this morning, other mornings I would drink it and it would taste rather bland, but this morning I had several cups of it and it was fantastic. I only drink decaf because the caffeine seems to fuck with my brain.
I don't really like coffee. I can drink it if someone makes.
Tea all the way. I don't even own coffee machine.
I think I'm going to go cold turkey from coffee for a week and see how I feel. I only drink decaf coffee so I can drink it all day, but still having a cup makes my head feel weird. I went through a half a pound of decaf brazilian beans yesterday, it really is an amazing roast that I get from my local cafe. Two days ago I went out over the iced sidewalks at night just so I could have some when I woke up in the morning. So, going off coffee is not for issues over the taste, it's just because of health concerns. Black coffee is and will remain the best drink.
My tea collection
...and cd because this is music forum
(http://i.imgur.com/oOnJAGo.jpg?2)
Favourite coffee- Java Lava supermarket cheap and strong.
Vietnamese beans, again cheap and strong with added nice vanilla tones.
Ethical Bean - Lush with my french press the taste is just amazing favorite coffee for me right now thumb up
Well, I was fucked over. I bought artisan decaf coffee from my grocery store, but it was roasted on December 10th. The subtle flavors are shot, it tastes stale, it gives me an unpleasant feeling in my head which is hard to describe; I'm not sure if it's because of the chemicals of stale coffee or that it's just so unpleasant to sip. Either way, I'm pretty sour about this. I don't think the woman at the checkout line put a receipt in my bag either. This is a terrible way to start my day...
Is there mild coffee? All coffee I have drink taste same.
Yea coffee can be bright/light bodied/mild, tends to have more tea like qualities. Fruity notes and more acidity, African, and most South American coffees tend to be more like this. Where as coffee from Indonesia tend to be dark/full bodied/low acidity and have a more earthy taste. These are just simple examples, but there are plenty of in betweens as well.
As pretensions as it may sound I recommend the pour over method with freshly ground beans from a clean coffee grinder if your going to really pick up on nuances between each variety (and individual coffee roaster). This and time, coffee is not unlike other food/alcohol even noise music, you have to develop a palate just like you develop an ear.
Regarding decafe, I always assumed the chemical process to remove the caffeine would alter the flavor and therefore I never partook. I stopped drinking and never understood why some move to a non alcoholic beer, but that's just personal preference
Quote from: KMusselman on April 01, 2017, 06:33:18 AM
anyone try Black Insomnia yet?
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/31/health/worlds-strongest-coffee/
not yet seen.
my standard supermarket buy is high voltage by tailors of Harrogate, theta again, uses the Robusta bean for the kick, and is the strongest in their range with a spicy chocolaty thingtastewise that I enjoy
Am I the only one who finds that Nescafe doesn't taste like coffee?
Quote from: Peterson on May 12, 2017, 06:40:30 PM
Quote from: Deadpriest on May 12, 2017, 06:12:09 PM
Am I the only one who finds that Nescafe doesn't taste like coffee?
Certainly not. Awful stuff. I think there's a Simpsons where Marge apologizes profusely to some guests about having Nescafe instead of coffee...
It has fluffy granules!!
taylors of harrogate 'lightning strike', one up from lava java.
usual dark flevours of chocolate, spices etc with just that little bit more caffeine kick from robusta beans.
coffee gets me going in the morning.
not appreciating the flavour at this time as much as the 'get up and go' factor
robusta beans deliver this
their taste is fine.
Quote from: KMusselman on June 09, 2017, 08:39:17 PM
real Englishmen drink tea...
possibly so.
i am welsh.
you yanks seem to need various guides to be drunk, stoned, or even have a drink at breakfast.
Douwe Egberts granules smell a little like an ashtray, tastes ok though, thankfully.