The Coffee Thread

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu May 01, 2008 8:53 am

Since (at least among my family, friends, and coworkers) coffee of some form tends to be a pretty much ubiquitous addiction, I thought i might be nice to have a single thread where we can share favorite brews, coffees, and information.

I've have an off-and-on love affair with coffee since I've been grown, and for years I didn't really care much about the coffee itself as long as it was strong, it was hot, and nothing was floating in it.

I bought a cappuccino machine years ago--one of the old "steam" types that I don't think they even sell now--but at the time didn't have a grinder or the information that would let me make good use of it, so after some experimentation, it wound up living in a box at the bottom of a closet until recently.

My wife calls me a "coffee snob" (but she loves my coffee

)--a couple of years ago a good friend made us some coffee with a French press and I was just taken by it...best dang cup of coffee I think I've ever had. Very strong, not bitter at all, a round, smooth flavor almost like hot chocolate...good stuff. He explained to me a bit at the time about beans and roasts and grinds, and I got curious and have read up on it a bit since.

Coffee beans come in two basic varieties, arabica and robusta.

Arabica is the more expensive of the two, is considered to have a better flavor, and has less caffeine. Arabica is relatively hard to grow and beans grown in different places have their own special identity; a "real" coffee snob (if what I've read is true) can tell you from smelling and tasting the coffee where it was grown. (I can't do that, but I can certainly tell the difference between arabica and robusta.)

Robusta is cheaper, has more caffeine, grows anywhere, and is usually described as having a "grassy" taste. Most of the coffee you get in grocery stores is either pure robusta or a blend unless it says something like "100% arabica" on the package.

There is good robusta--robusta in particular tends to be preferred for expresso because of its higher caffeine and because it has more crema, which is the reddish froth that form on top of a shot of expresso when you draw it. Robusta blended for expresso isn't cheap, though, and you most likely won't find it in your grocery.

I guess that's my contribution for now...I'll try to post more later as work allows.

Everybody feel free to jump in and contribute, as long as it's about coffee the subject is wide open...

--James

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Thu May 01, 2008 8:55 am

Coffee smells wonderful, tastes terrible and goes through me like a dose of salts. It's easier if I just throw it down the toilet and cut out the middle man. Tea, beer or malt for me, please, in any order.

chrisoff · Post by **chrisoff** » Thu May 01, 2008 8:59 am

Love coffee, can't be bothered making it. Instant granules at home, or buy the occasional overpriced cappuccino and latte from the costa on campus if I want something half decent.

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Thu May 01, 2008 9:09 am

H.E.B. Hill Country from Texas. Don't know why but usually only after 24oz. of tea in the morning. We got hooked on it birding the Rio Grande Valley.

djm · Post by **djm** » Thu May 01, 2008 9:18 am

If you wanted a single thread, you would have checked to see how many all-coffee threads there have already been and resurrected one of those, instead.

djm

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Thu May 01, 2008 9:27 am

I love coffee almost as much as I love tea.

The woman who runs the stable we keep our horse at owns a local coffee shop that roasts it's own beans...this is by far the best coffee in the city (City Market Coffee Shop if you're ever in Kansas City - the Market itself has been running since the 1860s or so and is a fun place to visit). We get weekly deliveries of her coffee.

For anyone who thinks instant granules in any way approximates real coffee (this is like thinking US Liptons is actually tea), you're sadly mistaken. Really good coffee should be ground no more than a day or two before using and the grounds do not dissolve when stirred with a spoon.

While coffees from different areas can and do have different tastes, the roasting is as big a part of that taste as anything. It's hard to find properly roasted coffee.

My biggest gripe is that Seattle style espresso dominates the US. I prefer Italian style. Seattle style espresso is much more bitter. I love a plain Machiatto (espresso and a very small amount of steamed milk - not one of those bizarrely sweet Starbuck's concoctions) if made with Italian espress, but need it con doppa (with sweetened whip cream) if it's made with Seattle espresso.

Eric

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu May 01, 2008 9:30 am

djm wrote:If you wanted a single thread, you would have checked to see how many all-coffee threads there have already been and resurrected one of those, instead.

djm

That's why I wanted a single thread.

There's a lot of coffee wisdom on this board...if you have a couple of hours to kill to search for the particular bit you're looking for.

--James

Ro3b · Post by **Ro3b** » Thu May 01, 2008 9:31 am

djm wrote:If you wanted a single thread, you would have checked to see how many all-coffee threads there have already been and resurrected one of those, instead.

Any one of those would have been "A Coffee Thread." But this is "The Coffee Thread." Not the same thing at all.

A nice dark smokey roast for me please, fresh ground and brewed in my stainless steel thermal coffee press. The very smell of the stuff has made me happy since childhood.

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Thu May 01, 2008 9:38 am

I buy what is on sale at in the bulk bins usually at the local co-op. Medium grind, stored in the refrigerator. a scoop per glass goes into the filter
add filtered water to the maker and hit the on button.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Thu May 01, 2008 9:57 am

I like coffee. I have an $8.00 coffee maker that works just fine. I drink about a pot a day. I like it real strong.

Thanks

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:30 pm

Sanctuary shade-grown, fair trade coffee from Central/South America.
Buy at Whole Foods.
Whole bean.
Grind it just before making it. I know many swear by presses (and I'm sure they're great,) but I still use a basic drip with washable filter. (Otherwise I'd have to put it in a big thermos to keep it warm, since I need to go back to the pot over the course of a couple morning hours.)

This is way better than Starbucks. Completely yum, in fact.

One of the things that makes life good.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:39 pm

emm, that sounds absolutely wonderful!

Nothing wrong with drip makers, French press I think is a little better but a drip maker is still absolutely wonderful compared to a percolator.

There is actually a pretty reasonably priced coffee in the groceries here called "8:00 O'Clock Coffee," which is an arabica bean. I like both their Columbian (which is a medium dark roast), and their French roast, which is a very dark and oily bean...but still doesn't have the "burnt" taste that Starbucks has.

The French roast is great for making espresso-based drinks...I like to made Cappucinos and flat whites. Good stuff.

The Columbian is what I use in my French press, and it's just plain good. Rich, robust, just a hint of sweetness, and just a hint of cinnamon.

Of course, for the espresso, you grind the beans till they are the consistency of baby powder; for the press, you do a very coarse grind.

Just reading this is making me want another cup!!!

--James

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:45 pm

By the way, more expensive doesn't always equal better.

Out of curiosity, I bought a small quantity of "French roast" beans from a pretty expensive shop. Exclusivity was in the air--the kind of high-end "grocery" where men wear suits and women have their hair done before they shop for the ingredients for their evening's repast...doubtless to be prepared by their house servants when they get home.

Anyway, the stuff was not so expensive I couldn't afford a bit of it, but it was high enough you couldn't buy it every week.

It was awful!

It was more charcoal than coffee bean...the beans had been roasted until they had actually started to blister and char.

Even Starbucks is better. Blech!!!

--James

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:54 pm

Mrs. D. buys all sorts of fancy coffee in all sorts of packaging and wrapping.

There's Free Trade, Free Range, Free the slaves and Free the poor exploited victims of economic warfare.

It all tastes very dodgy to me, and that includes two spoonfuls of good old Demerara sugar.

Gimme two good spoonfuls of granules. Maxwell House preferred.

The Emperors new clothes spring to mind.

Am I starting to sound like Gonzo?

Slan,
D.

CHasR · Post by **CHasR** » Thu May 01, 2008 1:10 pm

Mrs ChasR is addicted to those powdered coffees with fancy@** 'international' names, (even tho they're made in Ohio) that taste like, well, powder to me. They have never failed to make me sick.

Myself, however, prefers average supermarket packaged whole beans that you can grind up all by yourself in the store. Into Mr coffee they go every morning. These days I like mine macchiato, since Ive develoled an aversion to milk recently.

Yeah, Ive had the superstrong Italian style, turkish style, starbucks, you name it. But the good ol dependable dosage of caffeine I get from the store just hits the bullseye every time.

Having said all this, I enjoy tea every bit as much as coffee; but in the morning, tea just dosent have the right 'jolt'.

BTW: better on-the-road cups than starbucks can be found at www.wawa.com ...pity they're not nationwide (yet)

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