Our local Walmart sold Sam's Club Sumatran which was my regular blend til a few months ago when they raised the price $2 per bag and I discovered Folgers Noir line which scratches that itch at a cheaper price. Did really like the Sumatran though.
Which Are Your Favorite Coffee Blends
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I prefer dark roast coffee myself. Certainly Starbucks French Roast which I grind and make in a stainless steel French press using the Hoffman method (brewing at a finer grind for longer time). Peet's Major Dickinson, using the same method. If I'm on a budget... I'll try Walmart's Great Value French Roast..super cheap but good. That blend I'll make in a percolator to extract more flavor. I find the percolator livens up weaker roasts and you get a ridiculously hot cup every time. Anybody have any recommendations on good Sumatra coffee? Love the stuff, but it's been hit or miss when it comes to brands. So far my favorite has been Big Y bulk Sumatra. I drink my coffee black, btw.
I get the Don Pablo from Costco, Dark Roast. I grind it fine and run it through my espresso machine with heavy cream. Macchiato I guess?
Just cracked open the bag I bought I month ago on your recommendation. This stuff is great. Will most definitely buy this again. A nice semi sweet dark chocolate flavor to compliment the smokiness of the roast. Really enjoying this. Thanks again.
This is a long thread, and I don't have time to re-read all that's been said, but I'll add this. For high end artisanal coffee we like Muddy Dog in Morrisville, N.C., and Larry's Beans in Raleigh, both available online, just Google. For commercial coffee, we've been happy with Chuck Full of Nuts, the Original, but also the Dark New York and the Cuban blends in tins. There is also Counter Culture blenders in this area, maybe Durham, that is also online. We've had less of that, but it has a good reputation.
Every once and a while, I'll home-mix a Mokha-Java blend using two types of beans. The Mokha part of the blend is usually a dry processed Ethiopian, Yemen or some other big/fruity African bean. The Java part is an Indonesian bean of some sort, like a Java or a mellower Sumatra bean. My favorite mix is 25% Yemen and 75% Java Estate.
I drink Counter Culture's Apollo almost exclusively. For the most part, I use my AeroPress but will occasionally do a pour-over.Fortunately for serious coffee drinkers, there are a number of excellent roasters located in North Anerica who source the best beans, roast them in small quantities, and ship them speedily to customers who insist on having a premium cup of coffee.
Here are a few rules to follow if you want excellence in coffee:
Keep in mind the "Rule of 15"
Coffee should be roasted within 15 months of harvest
Coffee should be consumed within 15 days of roasting.
Coffee should be consumed within 15 minutes of grinding. (Some say 15 seconds)
Don't buy at the supermarket.
Purchase your coffee from a small batch roaster. Some, but by no means an exhaustive list: George Howell, Intelligentsia, Detour (for Canadians), Counter Culture. There are literally hundreds--and that's really good news, because it means that coffees are being truly sourced by expert buyers, brought home and roasted and delivered to the customer with the appropriate alacrity and concern for quality. Check out www.coffeereview.com for a list of what's hot right now. If you want to sample coffees in small quantities, try www.craftcoffee.com. Every month they send out a package containing three samples if some top grade coffees--enough to make 12-15 cups or so, along with a description of the coffee's source, and ordering information if you fall in love with the coffee.
Remember that coffee is a highly volatile, agricultural product, so the coffee that you fall in love with today won't be available in three months – in fact, possibly until the season rolls around another year.
Buy whole beans only!
Corollary to this rule: you will notice that the top roasters do not sell flavored coffees. If you wish to drink a flavored coffee, add the flavoring after you have brewed the cup.
Grind your beans fresh for each cup, grinding only as much as you will drink right now. Don't let brewed coffee sit for hours.
Invest in a good quality burr grinder. (Baratza is a good one, though by no means the only one out there.). I can't over emphasize the importance of having the right kind of grinder, because nothing will spoil a cup of coffee faster than unevenly ground beans.
Use filtered water.
Under no circumstances should you make coffee in a percolator.
Don't buy one of the readily available commercial coffee brewers, such as a Mr. Coffee, etc. They cannot brew a good cup of coffee, and there are certain physical reasons for this. If you do wish to have a brewing machine, buy a Technivorm, although it's somewhat pricey, and somewhat less expensive, the Bonavita.
A French press is inexpensive and will produce a great cup of coffee. So will the Chemex, the Melita, and the Hario V – 60. The Aeropress is also quite good.
Heat your water to 200-205F.
Measure your coffee carefully, I prefer weighing it out by the gram, because coffees have different densities and using a tablespoon is rather imprecise.
Brew your coffee according to your method of choice, sit back and enjoy a truly great cup of coffee.
While all this may seem somewhat complex and complicated, it really isn't and is certainly worth the trouble you go to.
I used to drink very dark roast, almost exclusively, but recently I’ve gone to the other end of the spectrum. It seems to me that the coffee itself is more nuanced with a lighter roast. Like you’re tasting “more bean and less roast,” if that makes sense. There’s more natural sweetness left in it as well. Could be in my head, I am not a coffee connoisseur, I just know what I like. We usually just buy Community because it’s abundant here, not bad, and fairly cheap here in Louisiana. I’d love to try other light to medium roasts, but it seems all of the roasters I look at online are doing really dark roasts. I’m always out of step with current fashions it seems.
I think that's right. And I've gone in the opposite direction, mas o menos. Since I got a good espresso machine, I've gone to dark roasts only, and balanced ones at that. I drink mostly cappuccinos.
Abolut 2004, 2005 I went on a serious coffee quest and started roasting my own beans in a hot air popper. I did this for about a year, but as local coffee shop's Sumatra was so much better than mine, I gave up. I had drank Folgers before then, and after roasting myself failed, I started drinking Cafe Bustelo, which I drink to this day. I confess that the myriad rules for good coffee and the expense are both more than I can bear.
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