squirrelyburt

I didn't see any coffee threads in here, I was wondering if anyone had any preferred coffees and do you prefer grinding your own or does it really make that much of a difference?

I really liked a type from Costa Rica a while back, very nutty and rich flavor. I've had the fresh ground I can't really tell. Am I missing something?

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tres

I don't make coffee at home. My favorite Coffee is from 7-11. Starbucks is overpriced, and really strong. Dunking Dounuts coffee is really good, but they can never seem to prep it properly..

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hambone

you can actually buy the dunkin donuts kind and make it yourself. It is surprisingly good too.

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tres

yeah... i'm way too rushed and lazy in the morning to make coffee

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superiorrain

I love drinking coffee, but don't like drinking coffee in coffee shops so guess i'll make do with coffee at home.

Funny actually that i'm currently working on a project at uni of consumers behaviour towards coffee. Now really starting to hate the whole coffee thing, but then again have learned that people find coffee a very social drink.

Anyway enough of all that; the best coffee is freshly ground beans, instent tast like shit.

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hambone

instant is insanely horrible. My mom has a book that tells how you can make your own cheap cappuccino mix though and it uses instant in it...only good use I have found for it.

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maleficent

I've made that for stocking stuffers for Christmas, and I'm told it's not horrible, but... it smells pretty good, but I just can't bring myself to drink instant coffee.

I'm not a fan of Dunkin' Donuts coffee, it's just a little too watery for me. I like my coffee super strong. (the kind where you could possibly stand a spoon up in it)

I have two different coffee makers that I use, and each has a different purpose, my every day coffee maker, grinds the beans every day, and makes me a pot of strong coffee, that's on a timer. The other coffee pot I have is a French Press, that's more for late day coffee, when I'm not in the mood to fuss with the coffee maker.

Fresh ground beans only, ground really fine, and never freeze the whole beans. Just buy smaller quantities so they stay fresh.

I really don't have a preference as to which beans I really like, I do like Costa Rican, and the Jamacian Blue, Sumatra is probably one of my favorites because of it's robustness. (And lately, it's Fair Trade coffee only)

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maleficent

Coffee makers now come with these wonderful timer things on it.. .there's nothing like waking up to a fresh pot of coffee

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tres

What I have to do is buy one of those machines that make just one cup... then I'll be set1

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hambone

If you only like really strong coffee, you probably wouldn't like the mixes anyway. That is the only thing I really didn't like, they were too watery.

But yeah, they do smell good.

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jhkayakr

I drink it black, so fresh ground is best. If the beans are kept in the fridge and the grind is removed right after brewing, the coffee is excellent. I dont like fancy flavored brews.

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cyrnel

Mal, here's another vote for the "stand a fork up in it" brew.

Two years ago I started building a roaster, then my neighbor bought one and started roasting custom blends. So much for motivation. I went between buying their customs at $10/lb and Starbucks House Blend from Costco for $9.50/2lbs. My neighbor moved a few weeks ago so I see a rut deveoping.

May begin the roaster project again. The difference made by freshly roasted is larger than by freshly ground. Depending on beans, the effect can be as different as drip vs. press.

Tres, timer or no, just load up the machine the night before. Wake up, turn the knob, blink and count drips. Rinsing is easier without a night passing, and so is grinding and loading when you're awake. Not optimal but this is my "for effect" vs. "for flavor" approach.

ckp

I am also a fan of Costa Rican coffee. An online site called the The Coffee Fool sells good Costa Rican Tarrazu, which is a good mellow and earthy coffee and incidentally the only coffee my SO enjoys. I also really dig the Bold coffee from Krispy Kreme, though I have little use for their doughnuts...

I tend to buy whole bean and grind it a few times a week. I just know better than to think I will actually grind coffee (and make that much noise) every morning.

If you like your coffee strong, you might try a french press. You need to have a coarse grind for those, since they use a metal mesh as their filter; and you will definitely have some 'sludge' in the bottom. But about 1 1/2 tbsp coarse ground coffee per cup of hot water, steeped for about 15 minutes, and you've got a good cuppa joe. (Yeah, I like it strong) The only real gripe I have with presses is that I'm too lazy to really clean them properly every day -- therefore, it's drip coffee for me.

Presses, since they don't have a heating element, don't tend to make coffee as bitter as it will get when it's cooked on the drip pot's hot plate. I'd rather have fresh, bad coffee than stale, burnt, good coffee any day.

StanT

I'm a junkie, my wife is worse. I won't even talk to her in the morning unless I have a latte in my hand. We have an espresso machine at home and grind our own beans which are a dark roasted Sumatra from a local shop. I've cut down on my addictions, this is the only one left.

snowy

It's funny...I live in a college town so there are tons of coffee shops around. There's this one company, Allann Bros. Coffee, that seems to have the market cornered around these parts as far as selling coffee for home use and coffee shops goes...and I hate their coffee. It's overroasted--it always tastes burnt.

I love coffee...if I have to get up before 9am you better have some waiting for me when I get up.

My favorite coffee is from my local brewpub...where I used to work. The company roasts their own and it's wonderful. Dark but not too dark. I don't like coffee that's overly strong. My second favorite, which I buy for use at home, is Starbucks Cafe Verona. Fairly mild, pleasant coffee I can drink black.

My only problem is that I occasionally suffer from stress-related acid reflux, and coffee does not help my situation. C'est la vie.

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Blackthorn

I like my coffee like I like my women...very hot and very strong! (Maybe that's why I share a certain affinity for another coffee lover "maleficent" in this thread who shall remain nameless). The Maisonette blend by Milstone is classified as a medium roast but on a fine grind and with an extra scoop in the filter bowl it's a definite coffee loving experience. Other than that I have to say what the unamed coffee lover said is spot on.

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RoboBlaster

This is a damn fine cup of coffee.

la petite moi

For you strong coffee drinkers, I suggest a big cup of Gold Coast Starbucks coffee.

avernus

I have a stove top espresso machine and is generally considered the easiest and cheapest way of getting decent espresso (http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...icial%26sa%3DG). You need to use a fine ground and pack it in a little. I have an big nine cupper at home which is enough to keep me going all day. Its the second strongest coffee I can make at home. There is a nice Italian cafe round the corner with heat palpitatingly strong coffee!!

The other type of coffee I make regularly is Turkish coffee using a special pot (http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/T...ishCoffee.html). You need a *super* fine ground, finer than espresso. Add coffee, sugar, and cold water. Bring the whole lot to the boil and it will froth up, remove from the heat and let it subside and then bring to the boil again. Froth it up three times and drink. Make sure you don't drink the dregs! This coffee is wonderful, so strong and tasty!

MH73

Half Caf, Half Decaf Dunkin Donuts Brand is all I'll drink...

If I had to hear a coffee grinder first thing in the morning, I think I'd get an instant migrane...

mlrd

I love coffee. I'm not addicted to caffeine and I don't need to drink coffee. I drink coffee just for the taste (yeah, yeah, I know, I read Playboy just for the articles too).

Espresso and cappuccino is all I drink these days - no instant or drip for me thanks. Freshly ground is the only way to go, haven't gotten into roasting yet.

High quality burr grinders are really quite quiet. The burrs spin at very low rpm so they don't generate static to the grounds or burn the coffee. Plus the grounds are all the same size which is critical for good espresso.

Cheaper high-rpm blade grinders certainly sound like jet engines while chopping the beans to dust. I couldn't take that noise in the morning either.

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maleficent

If you do any kind of cooking at all, and do any kind of spice grinding, make sure that you have two different grinders, one for coffee, one for spices. A friend was over recently and made a pot of coffee with (as always) fresh ground beans. The coffee just tasted... off. Then I realized after making a fresh pot of coffee that the wrong grinder was used.

The coffee grinder is for coffee only and a paint brush is great for keeping is cleaned out.

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Rodney

I never drank coffee until five years ago when I went to Costa Rica with friends. Breakfast there is a flat loaf of fresh bread, preserves, sliced papaya, and a cup of coffee. Costa Rican coffee is the smoothest I've ever had; I drank it every day. At a cafe up in the mountains, in the heart of coffee growing country, I had a cup of coffee that was completely acid free -- all coffee taste, no aftertaste. Of course the locals keep the best for themselves, and I think they roast coffee differently in CR than here, but since then I have been a coffee drinker.

We have local coffee roasters that do a fine job, and some of them use Costa Rican beans. I like it smooth, my wife likes more bite, so what we do buy Costa Rican beans and French Roast beans of some variety and mix them 50-50 in the grinder. Very, very nice -- smooth like I like it, but with just a little burn.

I still don't drink much coffee out in cafes or restaurants, because very few make respectable coffee.

Val_1

The only difference is freshness. And different people have different levels of acceptability for freshness. And some people doctor up their coffee quite a bit, so that hides any loss of flavor.

The whole beans keep fresh longer. I use to always grind my own beans, but nowadays I just buy it in smaller batches (I laugh at those 55 gallon drums of Folgers that they sell). Once the vacumm sealed bag is opened it's stored in an air tight container. It keeps well enough for me. Espresso I still grind right before each use.

The WORST thing you can do to coffee is keep it on the warmer all day. Uck! Almost can't drink coffee in a resturant because of that.

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hambone

Agreed. That tastes so bad.

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Charlatan

I love coffee...

At home I prepare it in one of two ways...

Stove top espresso maker


French press



I like my coffee nice and strong... There is a local coffee place just outside my office called The Roastery... they have some damn good coffee..

I will drink coffee from Tim Hortons on occasion (think Dunkin Donuts only Canadian and therefore better ) but only when I am on a road trip.

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cyrnel

I've taken to using a glass vacuum bottle for what I don't drink. As soon as the coffee brews I fill the thermos. No burner, no oxygen, still hot and tastes great 8hrs later.

splck

when you drink your coffee black with no sugar it's gotta be good. I wonder how some people can drink the slop that is sold as coffee at gas stations and diners...bleh.
Dark roast organic coffee ...yum

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RoboBlaster

Ok, so no one caught my Twin Peaks reference. But I have to agree about the French Press method. There is no better way!

vanblah

I just started roasting my own coffee using the iRoast. If you like fresh coffee you should look into roasting your own. Look at www.sweetmaria.com

lordpoopshank

I tried the Giradeli (spelling?) chocolate brand coffee...that stuff is most excellent

maleficent

that's a cool site, a friend of mine had absconded with an old hot air corn popper that i had collecting dust -- i thought they were making it up when they said they were using it to roast coffee beans.. Cool stuff.

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pattycakes

i am sure you guys heard of the cola that was mixed with coffee a few years back, well i liked it and i was yound so i tried to make my own with instant coffee and coke.


didnt turn out good at all

....i still have nightmares..j\k lol

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RallyEX

I'm nothing close to a coffee lover, drank it only occasionally for the last 8 or 10 years... But when I need caffeine or am craving coffee, my favorites are the Cafe Moccha from Starbucks or Tim Hortons.

Any cappucino will do also.

What's sad is I can taste the difference in Mountain Dew that was bottled in different bottling plants easier than I can taste differences in coffee...

squirrelyburt

Thanks for the feedback!! Someone posted how bad instant coffee was, I'd have to agree and shudder to think that when I was in college and service, a teaspoon followed by a glass of water had to do...blech!!!

In the past month, I've had Sumatran and Guatamalan coffees. I think I found a new vice and Folgers can kiss my butt!! If i'm not going to smoke or get falling down drunk anymore, i'm going to make this vice worthwhile!!

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Redlemon

It was Pepsi Kona. Two great tastes that sucked together. I think it was being test-marketed in Philadelphia, which is where I tried it. Never saw it again, thank goodness.

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Janey

I will drink coffee out of any machine, no matter how bad. any store, even instant. this I believe is conditioning from my university days. I will drink it black or with milk, but not with sugar (leaves an aftertaste).

But when I make my own coffee, I use the darkest roast I can find, and brew it strong. Boutique coffee that I like is Second Cup's Paradiso Dark, or Starbuck's French Roast.

SiN

mmm...
<-- coffee drinker

I'm nowhere near snobbery about it, but I would be if I could afford it (ie expensive whole beans, a burr grinder, and a nice coffeemaker).

for now, it's some cheaper brands when they're on sale, preground.
Light roasts preferred.

1-2 pots a day. lightened and sweetened.
I wish i could develop a liking for plain black, but i just can't.

probably childhood conditioning, I remember drinking coffee with milk and sugar as a child at my grandparents house.

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BigBen

In the army, they call that "Ranger Coffee". In every IMP (Individual Meal Pack) or in the states - MRE, you get 2 small packets of instant coffee, 2 packs each of sugar and whitener.

You keep the instant coffee in the pouch next to your canteen. Dump said packet in mouth, swig water from canteen (which also tastes 'off') and you will wake up in about 3 minutes. Repeat as necessary.

When you crash from that instant coffee binge, you will think that someone drugged you. It seriously fucks you up. Only to be used when you need to be awake right now, and damn the consequences.

Totally rots your guts too. Horrible, horrible shit.
I love my coffee fresh ground, in a press or drip, I dont care. I am trying to wean my fellow workers off the "tinfoil bag" of pre-measured coffee that the coffee service provides. Those bags are full of the floor-sweepings from the Folgers factory.

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maleficent

my last job, my coffee loving colleauges and I actually spent a few hours and about a case of coffee figuring out the right amount of coffee from those bags to make it palatable.. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 full bag, plus 3/4s of another bag makes it not takes like dishwater swill.

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