I need coffee

95% · Post by **95%** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:26 am

Some new commercial on-demand coffee machines now exist which actually do a good job. My Toyota dealer has one provided by Starbucks. At the press of two buttons, it grinds enough beans for one cup, brews the coffee for about two minutes, and dispenses it into a paper cup. The coffee is fresh, hot, and tasty.

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:34 am

Porter

Now you know where you can grab a free cup!!! .....sort of equivelent to george from Seinfeld knowing where all the good public bathrooms are

clive

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:22 pm

Yikes! Cannot believe the bodum grinder arrived already. I paid $16 including shipping via amazon.

Also, anyone here from NYC interested in the coffee and tea festival feb 20-21 at madison square gardens. Included with my order was free entry ($40, value) and a bunch of other free stuff. I'll mail the coupon to anyone that wants it

clive

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:34 pm

wrong price....$14.75 total. Thanks again to all

clive

95% · Post by **95%** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:54 pm

That's quite a deal, Clive. Here are a couple of tips for using a blade grinder. Grind in short bursts, not one continuous action. This prevents you from "burning" the beans. Shake the grinder once or twice between bursts to help even out the grind.

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:57 pm

Thanks Porter. It will have to wait until next week as I still have a bag of ground to get through. I never thought it would get here so fast

clive

Racso_MS · Post by **Racso_MS** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 6:54 pm

Squire wrote:Field rations, Vietnam, 1970.

I always mixed the C-Rat Coffee, Cocoa Mix, Creamer, and Sugar together. Talk about a buzz in the morning. Oh yeah, remember the Kool Aide (sp ?). Always liked the John Wayne Cookie and the Fruit Cocktail. And if you could tolerate how hard and dry it was, the cracker and cheese (in the tube) was mighty filling....

Ah the memories...

KAV · Post by **KAV** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 7:09 pm

I hope your Toyota dealer's coffee maker doesn't get stuck.

GregPQ · Post by **GregPQ** » Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:00 am

95% wrote:Here's a question for you, gents. What's the worst coffee in the world? ...Next would be coffee at a McDonald's at 10 in the evening. Chances are it has been sitting there, cooking, for several hours. But in the morning, McDonald's coffee is fine.

I can't believe I'm defending McDonalds, but in New England they serve Newman's Own organic, provided by Green Mountain Roasters of VT. It is their only coffee. And it is excellent.

Regarding grinders, I have been very happy with my Capresso Infinity for several years now. I can grind for moka stovetop near-espresso or for coarse French press. I found blade grinders to be such a mess to clean.

I order my coffee beans from a local roaster (he's in RI, I'm in MA) recommended by a fellow SMFer. A Peets staffer once told me that all their coffee is roasted in California. My guy is here
Greg

Steve-o · Post by **Steve-o** » Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:38 am

fallingwickets wrote:I forgot about vending machine coffee too.....now that stuff is b-a-d bad with a capital b and d!

That little light that goes on next to the word "Brewing" -- one of the Great American Lies.

I'm to the point I'd rather go without coffee than drink the bad stuff.

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:11 pm

After a few tries with the bodum I'm going back to having starbucks chop up the beans for me. One, I make way to much mess doing it myself and secondly/most importantly the coffee tastes worse then vending machine fare.

clive

95% · Post by **95%** » Sun Feb 14, 2010 1:44 pm

Clive, suit yourself, but if you were a true coffee snob you'd never make more than you can drink within 30 minutes or so. Brewed coffee, like the ground roasted seeds from which it is made, gives its flavor up to the air as it sits.

Needashave · Post by **Needashave** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:32 am

Good coffee = 1) Grind whole beans yourself. 2) Roast green beans yourself.

Hodari D. · Post by **Hodari D.** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:07 am

i always use my french press for the ultimate texture and taste. i picked up another pound of casi cielo from starbucks this morning. i was going to get the verona, just to try something different but they told me that there will be no more casi cielo until next February (the horror!), so i went with the casi cielo instead and will try the verona next time.

something in me hates buying coffee from starbucks but it's just really really good and readily accessable. if i had a roaster near by, i'd go there, but starbucks is right around the corner and has great coffee beans.

next time (assuming the cielo is really gone) i'll try the verona, which they said is very similar to the casi cielo.

Gene · Post by **Gene** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:10 am

Hodari D. wrote:next time (assuming the cielo is really gone) i'll try the verona, which they said is very similar to the casi cielo.

I think Verona is what I buy from time to time at the grocery store. Whole bean, and grind it there for my french press. I'll have to verify that, but I really enjoy it.

Hodari D. · Post by **Hodari D.** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:12 am

fallingwickets wrote:After a few tries with the bodum I'm going back to having starbucks chop up the beans for me. One, I make way to much mess doing it myself and secondly/most importantly the coffee tastes worse then vending machine fare.

clive

clive,

don't give up yet! one day, you will brew the best tasting coffee that you've ever had and then you will never want to go back. like wetshaving, there is a bit of a learning curve involved with getting the right grind for your taste, right water temperature for brewing and the correct steeping time. keep it up and, like wetshaving, you will be rewarded!

Scott

TRBeck · Post by **TRBeck** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:13 am

Home roasting is only worth it if it's worth it to you. I am as much a wannabe snob as anyone here. I brew my own beer, make spaghetti sauce from home-grown tomatoes, etc. I've considered taking up home-roasting, and may at some point. But I'm satisfied with what I buy from our local roaster. I do insist on grinding my own beans. And of course the truly fanatical perpetually find ways to up the ante for street cred. I was growing my own hops a couple of years back and talking to a homebrewing friend about the prospect of malting my own barley, and he reminded me of something Carl Sagan once said:

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

I decided against malting my own barley, and at some point, even those who do malt their own have decided not to plant a crop in their yards. Everybody draws the line somewhere. If you're happy with your coffee, then it's good enough.

Regards,

MrSmooth · Post by **MrSmooth** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:19 am

TBoner wrote:..... I was growing my own hops a couple of years back and talking to a homebrewing friend about the prospect of malting my own barley, and he reminded me of something Carl Sagan once said:

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

...

Have you seen this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc

95% · Post by **95%** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 9:52 am

TBoner wrote:...I've considered taking up home-roasting, and may at some point. But I'm satisfied with what I buy from our local roaster. I do insist on grinding my own beans. And of course the truly fanatical perpetually find ways to up the ante for street cred. I was growing my own hops a couple of years back and talking to a homebrewing friend about the prospect of malting my own barley, and he reminded me of something Carl Sagan once said:

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

...Everybody draws the line somewhere. If you're happy with your coffee, then it's good enough.

Regards,

Exactly. Indeed, why start in the middle of the process by roasting the beans at home? To be truly authentic, one would need to obtain the very highest quality seeds, plant an orchard in a greenhouse with precisely the right soil, temperature, and humidity, pick the fruit at the point of perfect ripeness, remove the pulp, dry the seeds - and only then consider roasting them.

DEF · Post by **DEF** » Wed Mar 03, 2010 3:03 pm

The direction of this thread dovetails with my coffee activities of the past 24 hours. There's a Tulsa retailer called Topeca Coffee, and they follow a "seed to cup" philosophy. The family owns coffee farms in El Salvador, but about 10 years ago, collapsing margins led them to bypass the commercial distribution system and market their brew directly through their coffee shop here in Tulsa. They grow in El Salvador, and roast both in El Salvador and here in Tulsa. Their "single source" model is to coffee what single-malt is to scotch (I guess).

I got a bag of their Ayutepeque variety last night, and it's good -- though different. It's relatively bright, smooth, and fairly nutty. To my novice palate, there's even some slight buttery cereal quality to it that contributes to the flavor. It's not a heavy roast, but a more gentle take on upscale coffee. http://www.topecacoffee.com/

Also, for no-nonsense grocery store coffee, I like some of the Folgers blends, especially the "Black Silk."