Which Are Your Favorite Coffee Blends
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In the past few years I've come to enjoy the ritual of making good coffee. Mostly drinking Counter Culture coffee since I can get their beans locally within days of being roasted. Pourovers at home and French press at work. I grew up on instant coffee and recently tried some again and it wasn't too good. But I'm open to the idea. What brands make good instant coffee?
In the early to mid-nineties, I was shot into the heart of the industry (on the east coast). I helped build espresso bars, train baristas, and sell coffee for two of the industry's premier roasters. I worked with one west coast and one east coast roaster.
I learned a lot about "good" coffee.
One thing I learned is that most people are pretty ignorant about coffee. I learned that most coffee shops sell crap and pass it off as "good" coffee and their loyal clientele supports them no matter what. I'm not talking about Dunkin's here... I'm talking about the little coffee shops with cool names, funky furniture, a hip staff and small roasting machines displayed in their windows. Roasting coffee correctly is very difficult. Most non-industrial equipment can't do it right. Most of these smaller roasters over-roast the heck out of the beans and ruin them before they are even ground. Then they tell you it's just strong coffee. There are exceptions of course.
As Ashdigger pointed out, you can have the best beans and greatest roast in the world... but you can kill in during the preparation.
There are so many factors that go into making coffee or espresso that "perfection" is a rare thing.
WIth that said, it's still possible to enjoy coffee.
I love coffee. I have had what some would consider incredibly good coffee. I have almost every apparatus you can imagine to make/prepare coffee.
I love a Kenya AA with a medium/Vienna roast done right. Some Ethiopian Varietals and Latin American Varietals are terrific. When I can, I get some beans from Gimmee Coffee which is based in Brooklyn I believe. It's great stuff.
I am also highly satisfied with a nice robusta grocery store blend. All the better in a percolator which kills the character of any coffee and makes the most homogenous, blandly flavored coffee. There's not a lot of complexity in Maxwell House anyway.
The only coffee I tend to turn down is Keurig-type coffees and that industrial coffee that comes as a liquid that you dilute and drink. They don't taste like coffee to me.
I learned a lot about "good" coffee.
One thing I learned is that most people are pretty ignorant about coffee. I learned that most coffee shops sell crap and pass it off as "good" coffee and their loyal clientele supports them no matter what. I'm not talking about Dunkin's here... I'm talking about the little coffee shops with cool names, funky furniture, a hip staff and small roasting machines displayed in their windows. Roasting coffee correctly is very difficult. Most non-industrial equipment can't do it right. Most of these smaller roasters over-roast the heck out of the beans and ruin them before they are even ground. Then they tell you it's just strong coffee. There are exceptions of course.
As Ashdigger pointed out, you can have the best beans and greatest roast in the world... but you can kill in during the preparation.
There are so many factors that go into making coffee or espresso that "perfection" is a rare thing.
WIth that said, it's still possible to enjoy coffee.
I love coffee. I have had what some would consider incredibly good coffee. I have almost every apparatus you can imagine to make/prepare coffee.
I love a Kenya AA with a medium/Vienna roast done right. Some Ethiopian Varietals and Latin American Varietals are terrific. When I can, I get some beans from Gimmee Coffee which is based in Brooklyn I believe. It's great stuff.
I am also highly satisfied with a nice robusta grocery store blend. All the better in a percolator which kills the character of any coffee and makes the most homogenous, blandly flavored coffee. There's not a lot of complexity in Maxwell House anyway.
The only coffee I tend to turn down is Keurig-type coffees and that industrial coffee that comes as a liquid that you dilute and drink. They don't taste like coffee to me.
Amen on that last sentence! A cruise ship I sailed on a couple of years ago had that system- loaded tons of frozen crap that they then heated and piped through the whole ship. It was horrible. So they almost force you to buy espresso drinks at dinky little kiosks where they grind pounds of coffee all at once and dole it out over hours. They don't even tamp the puck enough, so that the shot spurts out immediately. Weak, under extracted using mediocre and tired beans.
Olympia Coffee Roasting Company, Banko Blend from Ethiopia, I like African coffees more than South American, more fruit taste. Starbucks is a burnt load of crap, most coffee shops sell over roasted beans because people think they're getting something good because it taste strong.
Grind it every morning, poured over in a Hario woodneck
Grind it every morning, poured over in a Hario woodneck
I don't get the Keurig craze either-- bad tasting coffee in my opinion. Sumatran for me, ground every morning and made in a press.
Oh, yeah... I've had the "cat shit coffee" (Kopi Luwak) when we sailed into Jakarta a few years ago. Expensive, but it was incredibly smooth coffee with little bitterness.
If I could afford it I would drink nothing but while bean Sumatra but would also search out other blends from other regions and their accompanying roasts. As it is I drink Cafe Bustelo,, which I adore, $2.88 /10 oz brick from Wal-Mart. I tried my hand with roasting but used a hot air popper, which resulted in a dozen roasts to roast a pound, at least a couple hours of time. I did this for about 6 mos. and gave up the first time I drank a cup of Sumatra from a professional.
I really like the Rules of 15, with businesses such as Starbucks flout daily.
I really like the Rules of 15, with businesses such as Starbucks flout daily.
I am simple. Good, strong, black coffee. Colombian is fine.
I lived and worked in Colombia off and on for a couple of years. They say they like their coffee like they like their women, "short, dark and sweet". I will take the coffee without sugar though.
I lived and worked in Colombia off and on for a couple of years. They say they like their coffee like they like their women, "short, dark and sweet". I will take the coffee without sugar though.
Probably not available to our American friends, but I've been on Cubita lately. It's from Cuba and incredibly nice. It's nice and smooth and strong without punching you in the face.
Eduscho or Julius Meinl are also excellent coffees.
I've been meaning to try some Turkish brands and invest in a different setup, but one vice is enough for now!
Eduscho or Julius Meinl are also excellent coffees.
I've been meaning to try some Turkish brands and invest in a different setup, but one vice is enough for now!
Blue Bottle for medium roast specialties, great for drip and pour over; Peet's for dark roasts, perfect for cappuccino.
My all-time favorite was Caribou Coffee's Fireside blend. Sadly it disappeared from their roaster roster sometime ago, apparently banished to the same purgatory as Starbucks' original (and delicious) Yukon blend.
I have embraced my Anglo heritage, and drink tea instead, but for coffee, I prefer a Vienna roast.
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