[Food] A Coffee Thread

DarkAudit

DarkAudit

For years I've made do with a Hamilton Beach Scoop single cup coffee maker and a can of Maxwell House. I finally got bored of that and tired of the constant cleaning whenever I wanted more than one cup. After the fiasco with the Mr. Coffee (#2 on the Amazon top seller list doesn't mean it's good, or even decent), I dug a little further. Conventional wisdom on r/Coffee suggested a Baratza Encore grinder and a Bonavita TS1900 coffee maker was the way to go. A certification from the SCAA for the maker certainly helped.

Okay, fine. The hardware is out of the way. Now what? Like I said, I was raised on Maxwell House. Even when I was using whole bean coffee, it was Gevalia or maybe Starbucks. Grocery store coffee that had a expiry date instead of a roasted on date. I have no idea what my preferred bean is.

As a result, when I bought the grinder and took the offer of a free pound of coffee, I had to flip a coin. It came up Traditional Colombia. At Coffee Tree Roasters in Pittsburgh, I just confessed my coffee sins and asked the girl at the counter to pick me a winner. She picked the Costa Rican that is one of their top sellers. Both make a righteous cup of coffee.

But again, now what? I liked them both, but really have no idea what my preferences are other than I can't go back to supermarket coffee.

So there you have it. Discuss.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum, I'll drink pretty much any coffee as long as it wakes me up. I'll usually dump a diabetus-worthy level of sugar in it too.
 
Wahad

Wahad

DarkAudit said:
But again, now what? I liked them both, but really have no idea what my preferences are other than I can't go back to supermarket coffee.
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Only way to find out is to keep trying new stuff.

I'm not much of a coffee drinker. Used to be, but then I wanted to slow down my caffeine intake, so I stopped. I still go for supermarket coffee for cups I brew at home, though, purely for money reasons. Don't really get coffee when I'm out, unless it's really really early, or I'm at a restaurant. But I always take it black. No sugar, no milk.
 
phil

phil

I can't do black coffee. I use the "international delights" creamer since it's non dairy and pre-sweet. The only coffee that I tend to really prefer is the Kenya blend from sbux. That's what I'm going to be making soon once I get out of bed. If I'm out though I go to Racetrack and get their coffee.
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

The Marshalls/Homegoods near us usually has an impressive selection of coffees, and the prices are low enough to experiment with new flavors/brands. The only downside is that they don't always have the same brands, but more often than not they eventually get them back in. Or you can hang onto the bag and find it online.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
Celt Z said:
The Marshalls/Homegoods near us usually has an impressive selection of coffees, and the prices are low enough to experiment with new flavors/brands. The only downside is that they don't always have the same brands, but more often than not they eventually get them back in. Or you can hang onto the bag and find it online.
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Yeah, this is the place I go for experimenting, too. They usually get fringe stuff in, and I've found some winners.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

As far as supermarket coffee goes, Folgers is probably the best(-tasting).
As far as other stuff goes, you'll probably want to try things like Kenyan (AA) or Hawaiian (Kona) for a good intro to "high-end" coffee.
As far as roasting goes, if you drink it straight, black, and for the caffeine, you'll want to keep it to some kind of Medium roast at most in order to preserve the flavor and caffeine content. If you're willing to mix, I recommend stirring 2-3 heaping tablespoons of a step or two higher-roast beans into a 1lb bag of light-to-medium roast coffee in order to bring some of that caramelized roast-y body to a bag of beans that have not actually crossed over yet into bitterness. You can play with the proportions to suit your taste, of course.
I view coffee beans like I do hazelnuts or walnuts...there's a really fine line between "roasted enough" and "too much" and it's easy to cross, so when I drink coffee (which admittedly is not often, though I am usually surrounded by coffee drinkers) I either get stuff that isn't burnt or else I have to drown it in milk and sugar.

--Patrick
 
Shakey

Shakey

I like the Costco brand Sumatra. I like darker coffees, and this seems to be in the sweet spot for me. I'm pretty sure it's actually rebranded Starbucks, but it's 1/2 the price at least.
 
TNM

TNM

I'm all about the Dunkin Donuts shop and McDonald's has some damn good coffee when it is fresh. When I brew my own I use Seattle's Best - no cream or sugar just straight. Even living several years in Seattle I could never get used to Starbucks coffee.
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

Gruebeard said:
I like tea and coffee. Individually, I mean. I've never actually mixed them together.

Hmmm. . .
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There's a number of bakeries and such in Queens that serve coffee tea. It's delicious, especially chilled.

Mr. Z has tried to make it at home with limited success.

EDIT: It's not heart-stopper you'd think it would be. I don't feel extra-caffinated when I get it.

....dammit, now I'm craving coffee tea. Thanks, Oba...er, you guys!
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

I don't spend big bucks on coffee. I am snobbish about drinking Folgers/Maxwell though.

I use a stainless steel french press and get whole beans ground at my local Costco (like @Shakey).
I've tried local roasters, and while they are good, I can't distinguish between their boutique stuff and Costco's beans.

I can tell the difference b/t drip and french press. I haven't tried any other method at home.

The BEST coffee I've ever had was in the ferry building in San Francisco. Oh, I dream of that coffee.

I have had only black coffee for the last 15 yrs, but recently I threw some whole milk into my coffee to cool it down so I could chug it quickly, and found that I really liked it. I think it adds a bit of body or something to the brew. Delightful!
 
papachronos

papachronos

My wife worked for Starbucks for a couple years, so I developed a taste for some of their medium-roast coffees (Ethiopia and Kenya). But recently I've started ordering green coffee from Sweet Maria's and roasting it at home with a Whirley-Pop. It's better than Starbucks and about half the price, but you have to put some effort into it and be willing to experiment to get the roast right.
 
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