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Coffee(s)

you should be able to find a few "local" coffee houses. go to your closest one, and talk with someone behind the counter about coffee, many will pour you samples to try. (This seems to have caught on, I always ask about the coffee's that I drink in the ma and pa places and 9/10 times, they initiate it. they pour you little shots and talk about each one) it's fun, and when you find a couple that you like, get a few quarter pounds to take home. don't be afraid of going away from the "shiny, almost black roasted" type beans en vogue these days. you might really like some medium roasted varieties. have fun
 
I did buy a pound of Tanzanian Peaberry the other day because the local coffee roaster was out of any of the Ethiopian types of coffee. I have to say that it is quite delicious.
 
J

Just Mike

Coffee, ya gotta love it. I was a Hills Brothers drinker for years and loved it until I took over a high end coffee business. I learned a lot about coffee in the process:

There are an infinite # of good coffee blends out there. Try several! Buy a two week supply of each that you try as it actually takes a couple weeks trying a blend before you will actually taste the "real flavor" of the blend. You have to "retrain" your tongue, as odd as that sounds. Different parts of your tongue pickup different aspects of the flavor and your tongue is currently trained to taste your current coffee with the parts of the tongue that pickup it's unique pieces of it's flavor. Your initial interpretation of a new blend will change but you have to give it a chance.

While water temperature and brewer characteristics are variables in the coffee equation, The blend and grind will probably have the greatest effect on what you actually taste.

Good luck and....bottoms up!


Mike
 
A lot of people don't have either the available funds or need for a high-end coffee maker. For my money, a simple french press 1) makes the most flavorable coffee, 2) is cheap as chips, and 3) doesn't take up counter space. The lack of a paper filter means you are getting all the flavor.

I will second the french press. I switched to a french press a few years ago and haven't looked back. Don't be surprised if the coffee seems to have fine particles and sediment in the coffee. Believe it or not it adds a lot of body to the coffee.

I like ethiopian coffee (light to med. roast) Normally it's well priced and isn't too strong normally and is quite nutty. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is the current "best" ethiopian.

If you can, find a coffee shop that roasts their own coffee and don't buy more then you'll drink in a couple weeks (at most). I've also notice that most "fair trade" coffee is quite good, although sometimes is costs a bit more. Here in Canada, Ten Thousand Villages had a light roast blend that was quite good.
 

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Stjynnkii membörd dummpsjterd
A lot of people don't have either the available funds or need for a high-end coffee maker. For my money, a simple french press 1) makes the most flavorable coffee, 2) is cheap as chips, and 3) doesn't take up counter space. The lack of a paper filter means you are getting all the flavor. I like my Gaggia espresso maker, but for great coffee, I go the press every time. I just got a pound of Peet's Major Dickason's Blend and brewed some in a press, and I can't imagine it getting any better than this. I view the fancy-schmancy coffee makers as the Gillette Fusion of the coffee world and the press as the DE razor. Simpler is better, IMHO.

I've used a French press for over twenty years, and an Aeropress for the past two months. I've produced more good cups in '07 than in the last twenty years combined. The Aeropress extracts much more flavor (I've tried them side by side) without bitterness or sludge.

I'm not turning back at this point.
 
If you live in NYC, find an Italian groceria or deli and look for Testarossa coffee. Yeah, like the Ferrari. First drank it in Rome. It is outstanding. For an Italian coffee, it is very smooth. A friend who is a coffee freak has found someplace in NY that he buys from by the case and sells a few of his closest friends a bag or two. :thumbup1:
 
If you live in NYC, find an Italian groceria or deli and look for Testarossa coffee. Yeah, like the Ferrari. First drank it in Rome. It is outstanding. For an Italian coffee, it is very smooth. A friend who is a coffee freak has found someplace in NY that he buys from by the case and sells a few of his closest friends a bag or two. :thumbup1:

Last January while I was a student in Munich, Germany my friends and I would frequent the Cafe Testarossa quite often before retiring to the "malted barley cafes" :biggrin: . It was between Sendlinger Tor and Marienplatz somewhere, but I can't remember the street name. At any rate, yes, the coffee was excellent. While all my Mexican and other non-German European friends were shelling out 4 or 5 Euros for Cafe Machiatos, I was quite happy with my 1.50 euro "kaffee."
 
A french press is a must for a nice full flavored coffee.

However has anyone mentioned coffee maker brands? After going through several myself, I found simple is better. I perfer Bunn. Many restaurants use them (D&D). They keep the water heated in the maker, which allows you to get closer to that 205 degree mark. You get a pot of coffee or water for tea in minutes. As an everyday coffee maker, Bunn is great.
 
However has anyone mentioned coffee maker brands? After going through several myself, I found simple is better. I perfer Bunn. Many restaurants use them (D&D). They keep the water heated in the maker, which allows you to get closer to that 205 degree mark. You get a pot of coffee or water for tea in minutes. As an everyday coffee maker, Bunn is great.

I guess I find it quitte excessive to keep a pot of heated water around all day for a cup of coffee in the morning and a cup of coffee in the evening...
 
I guess I find it quitte excessive to keep a pot of heated water around all day for a cup of coffee in the morning and a cup of coffee in the evening...

Good point, but after trying several regular coffee makers, none of them seemed to be able to heat the water up to the right temp before spraying the grinds. After reading various reviews on coffee makers I gave it a try, and I love it.
To me, that pot of coffee it delivers, is well worth it.
 
I guess I find it quitte excessive to keep a pot of heated water around all day for a cup of coffee in the morning and a cup of coffee in the evening...

The commercial Bunn coffee makers are designed so that they are plumbed into the water supply of the restaurant. There's a chamber inside the machine that preheats the water and keeps it hot in between pots. Most of them have a spigot attached so that hot water can be drawn off for a cup of tea when I customer orders that.

I have seen those machines fail in such a way that the brew cycle doesn't shut off when it's supposed to. The only solution then is to keep putting an empty pot under the filter basket while someone else tries to either unplug the thing or shut off the water supply to it.
 
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