Coffee Addicts Thread

[ClassicBob]

I haven't had any caffeine for almost a month now. First few days were really rough, but I'm good now. Not sure if I'll go back or not.

[Badger]

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Back when I lived in Australia I had a blade grinder, and tried lots of different types of beans. Over here in Italy, however, nobody does that, which perhaps is a bit surprising considering how seriously they take their coffee.

The method for brewing coffee here, which wasn't mentioned in your link, is the moka. I'm drinking a cup right now, it is good.



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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Interesting, I had no idea I have been drinking something other than espresso. I picked one of these up a couple years ago after trying it at my Italian friend's home.

[offTopic]

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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.

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I did end up ordering a pound each of Kona Private Reserve Vienna Roast and French Roast. I'm not a connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, but both are very smooth and have excellent flavor. I usually have my morning cup with a little vanilla soy milk, but both of these are easily drinkable black. Came to about $73 w/ shipping.

I also visited the Kauai Coffee Company while on vacation and brought back some Koloa Estate and Kauai Mundo Novo which were both tasty (and waaay cheaper).

[keikiwai]

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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.)

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the problem with putting coffee into the freezer is when you take it out

when you take coffee out from the freezer, it is cold and the room is warm, and soon there is condensation on it... this change the flavor for the worse supposedly....... obviously, ideal solution is to freeze, and then warm up slowly enough to not condense.... which is just silly.... practical solution obviously is to go through your coffee quicker

[spider]

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when you take coffee out from the freezer, it is cold and the room is warm, and soon there is condensation on it...

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I think this effect is more theoretical than anything. You only remove the coffee from the fridge for a few seconds -- just as much time as you need to scoop out the coffee. I never noticed any condensation but I imagine it would only be a small amount on the top level of coffee. But if you kept it in the freezer and then left it on the counter for 5 minutes I could see condensation being an issue.

And as I mentioned earlier, the fridge-kept coffee definitely seemed to maintain that fresh ground coffee smell better, which must be a good sign that the coffee is being preserved well.

[bdk3clash]

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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.

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Do you buy this stuff already ground? Do you find the grind too fine for a French press? I generally use a coarser grind for a French press.

[limon]

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Any love for Peet's? Or is it just the Starbucks of the West Coast?

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You know Starbucks has gotten big (as if you didn't already) when this type of statement is made. Starbucks is pretty solidly the Starbucks of the West Coast.

For chains I really like, in some vague order of preferences:
Espresso Roma (not sure all are called this, Zeno knows what I'm talking about as there is one in Eugene by the U of O on 13th. The cups say that they have locations along the West Coast mostly in California).
Coffee People

Also here in Pittsburgh, Kiva Han and Crazy Mocha are good. Caribou Coffee is ok. I'm not sure to what extent these exist outside the 'burgh, though I think Crazy Mocha is just a Pittsburgh chain and they said Caribou is based out of Minnesota so maybe it's just a midwest thing.

After all of the above, I do actually like Starbucks just fine. The nice thing about Starbucks is that, at least to me, it seems to be the same everywhere and you don't have a lot of variance. It's a solid bet when you are traveling. I really wish Coffee People had taken off instead of Starbucks though. I was pretty down when they closed the one on 13th during my freshman year of undergrad. It's one thing I like about going home and to the Portland airport in general.

Personally I prefer to use whatever the Italian contraption is that you put on the stove, pictured in an early reply. Obviously when I prefer regular coffee drip is good. At home though I tend to prefer either tea or the stronger stuff, although supposedly a cup of coffee has more caffeine than espresso.

I really like Christmas blends. When I go to the in-laws I buy a few bags of some sort of Kona coffee that is a Xmas blend. I also think the Trader Joes Winter Blend is decent. TJs in general have pretty good stuff for the price.

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being from eugene i have fond memories of the original coffee people "good coffee, no backtalk". my parents painted the sign.

i generally drink peets in l.a. the restuarant "grace" has great coffee.

[turnipmonster]

I get a case of preground cafe dumond every year, it's easily my favorite french press coffee. haven't had problems with the grind.

[Kwantum]

For those that like to sweeten their coffee, I recently switched to using a few drops of honey in mine. Very subtle and tasty and I'm pretty sure it's a bit healthier than dumping white sugar or artificial sweeteners in your cup.

[jackflashdrive]

A local coffee joint near my house is going to start roasting their own beans, and the barrista today told me that 'the coffee will never be more than 10 days old' from when it was roasted.

I have a vague recollection that coffee is actually supposed to sit awhile after being roasted for some reason. Does anyone know if this is correct, and if so the reason for waiting and how long?