Coffee Addicts Thread

[Rick Nebiolo]

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The most important thing for coffee: bean storage! Do NOT PUT BEANS IN THE FREEZER. This is horrible for them. Why? There are 4 things that are bad for coffee: light, moisture, air, and time. Constantly taking coffee in and out of the freezer lets moisture build up inside the coffee. Not good. What I would recommend is buying an air-tight container, pouring the beans in there, and storing them in a cool, dry place. This will ensure that the beans are fresh and they will be fresher for longer.

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I've been using the freezer but I wrap the re-sealed whole bean coffee bag in about five extra plastic freezer bags sucking the air out each time. While I'm resealing the coffee beans I'm using a $10 electric grinder in about six or seven widely spaced five second bursts to grind the coffee (to avoid overheating the coffee). My coffee maker is your basic $25 Mister Coffee drip type.

Am I taking too many short cuts?

~ Rick

PS First time in this thread (linked today by Zeno from The Lounge).

[ElSapo]

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the best I have had is distributed by Counterculture coffee in NC. in the DC area it is available at Murky Coffee in Arlington and Sparkys on 14th st. in DC. My favorite is the salvadorean ( not he one @ $65 for 12 oz.).

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Having recently moved to North Carolina, I recently reviewed six espresso beans available around here. Counter Culture was my absolute least favorite, being handily beaten by Harris Teeter.

That's not to say it isn't a good bean - just that I didn't like it. People talk a lot about right and wrong when it comes to coffee prep, but in the end it's all personal preferance.

There are two local places here that have a good bean, but my favorite was actually Larry's Beans espresso roast, which was really rich but also crisp and not at all bitter.

CC had a kind of metallic-soap aftertaste I couldn't get over.

If you have any interest in the bean review it's at www.TranscendentalSandwich.com, but it's mostly useful if you're in the Carrboro-area.

[AZK]

Update. 10 lbs later and I love the graffeo stuff. It's a bit expensive but worth it to me. My dad likes the half-half and light roast, I prefer the dark roast. If you are in SF it should be easy to buy a little and try if not, looks like you have to order a lb. and try it out. I think it's pretty good.

[mikeczyz]

i used to drink the premium coffee but then I ran out of money. i used to get my coffee from this crazy dude who spent a full year traveling around the world tasting coffee before he opened up his shop. his beans were spectacular.

i am now out of monies so I usually roll with trader joe's. it's surprisingly good...much better than charbucks and half the price.

[jackflashdrive]

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I am bumping this thread to ask a question: I caught a segment on Food Network last night about Mountain Thunder Coffee in Hawaii. They're supposedly 100% Kona Coffee, organically grown, yadda yadda. Their online store rates are pretty reasonable (as far as Kona Coffee goes) and while I'll probably try some anyway, I wanted to ask you guys if anyone had any experience, positive or negative, with this company?

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No experience with the company but I will probably order because I love Kona but don't love paying so much for a bag at your run of the mill coffee joint. I'll post a report here if I do order.

[pokah5]

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Dunkin Donuts is hands down the best coffee ever.

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i concur... every morning a large w/ cream and sugar for me. then to the crap work gives me...

[keikiwai]

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I use Illy Moka blend, which is the most expensive coffee here but it is simply sensational. Lavazza is very good also.

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lol, you have the same coffee maker as my grandma.... they do work very well

i drink illy espressos and cappuccinos - [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] illy, i get the pods in the mail every month

no frills espresso machine - nothing special, but i'm happy with it:

[Chicago Twister]

My first experience with coffe was when I was about 9 years old. My mom made some cheap Foldger's or something in her old percolator pot, and gave me a cup (with a little cream) with a couple stale chocolate chip cookies. The taste of crunchy chocolate chip cookies dunked in coffee is still one of my favorite memories.

Ever since then I've been feeding my coffee addiction. I've spent crazy money on coffee & gear. $1500 for an espresso maker, $45/lb for Jamacian Blue Mountian beans, ordered Kona Peaberry directly from a plantation in Hawaii, etc. I now use my french press all the time.

My favorite coffee of all time so far is Sumatra from Intellegentsia. Other vendors I like are Stumptown & Peet's.

And here's a suprising twist. Cafe DuMonde Coffee & Chickory in the french press is suprisingly good. Better than 90% of whole bean coffees, and cheaper too. I can get cans of it at Whole Foods in Chicago, and it's my day to day coffee.

[Xibalba]

The most horrible days of the month are when I run out of coffee for my daily expressos and I don't have time to go to the coffee shop 'till the weekend.
No sugar, no milk, nothing expressos = valhalla without dying.

[spider]

Re the freezer debate: I've tried keeping ground coffee in an airtight container both in the fridge and on the counter. My experience is that ground coffee in the fridge retains that wonderful coffee smell much better. But the final brewed coffee tastes the same either way.

(Yeah, the much better answer is to grind it fresh each day but I'm just too lazy.)