The best coffee I have found, and many other coffee fanatics agree, is Intelligentsia. They buy the best beens, roast them fresh (without over-roasting), and ship quickly. You can order from their website. Central American coffees tend to be a good starting point.
Good Starter Coffee?
- Thread starter TimmyBoston
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- #23
Big +1 right there Bobby boy
Tim,
DJ roasts a fine bean, absolutely no doubt about that.
I take it that your question is more "What varieties should I start out with" rather than who to buy it from.
It depends a bit on your tastes in other matters. If you like a powerful, rich stout or whisky, you will likely enjoy similar notes in a coffee like a Sumatra. If you like things on the lighter side, then the recommendation of the Mexican Chiapas or similar coffee fits the bill.
If you just want to start to appreciate a really nice coffee that "tastes like coffee", if you will pardon the expression, then look towards the various Central American coffees, be they Guatemala, Columbia, etc. There are lots of very unusual coffees out there, such as the Ethiopias, Yemens, and such, but they can often be an acquired taste since they often be quite different from what your palate is expecting from "coffee".
Hope this helps.
BTW - I'd be happy to send you some samples of homeroasted coffee to try - just drop me a PM.
DJ roasts a fine bean, absolutely no doubt about that.
I take it that your question is more "What varieties should I start out with" rather than who to buy it from.
It depends a bit on your tastes in other matters. If you like a powerful, rich stout or whisky, you will likely enjoy similar notes in a coffee like a Sumatra. If you like things on the lighter side, then the recommendation of the Mexican Chiapas or similar coffee fits the bill.
If you just want to start to appreciate a really nice coffee that "tastes like coffee", if you will pardon the expression, then look towards the various Central American coffees, be they Guatemala, Columbia, etc. There are lots of very unusual coffees out there, such as the Ethiopias, Yemens, and such, but they can often be an acquired taste since they often be quite different from what your palate is expecting from "coffee".
Hope this helps.
BTW - I'd be happy to send you some samples of homeroasted coffee to try - just drop me a PM.
Good advice Scotto. My personnal favorites from DJ are his Ethiopians. I'm never out of his Yirgacheffe and Harrar.
Tim, my advice is to drink heavily. No that was Gonzo in Fear and Loathing.
My advice is to take Scotto up on his offer.
My advice is to take Scotto up on his offer.
As a coffee geek from Portland, I have a couple more questions to ask: First off, are you planning on using the ol' Mr. Coffee machine to brew drip coffee by the pot, a small percolator, a french press, or an espresso machine?
These all take different grinds, and produce different flavors and effects. Most coffee dorks prefer using a french press, as it keeps all of the oils in the coffee, and produces a very well-rounded flavor. The other side is that all of the acids are preserved as well, so it may be more lkely to cause stomach irritation. Espresso actually preserves very little of the acid, and is much thicker, but sometimes lacks a little of the subtlety of the french press, unless the barista is well-skilled. Drip coffee is somewhat in the middle, but make sure not to leave it cooking for a long time on the hot plate, because it can degrade quickly.
In the most general sense, coffee beans come in two species: Arabica and Robusta. The vast majority of coffee drinkers find the Arabica to be by far the more flavorful bean, to the extent that Robusta is actually kind of hard to find, and then generally in large cans of pre-ground, ultra cheap stuff.
Beyond that, you're basically looking for the region where the beans grow, and the darkness of the roast. Do you generally prefer more bold, or more subtle flavors? Dark roasts tend to be more bold, and lighter roasts more subtle. Generally an "Espresso Roast" is pretty dark, and will give a strong flavor. If that's not really your cup of tea
wink2: ), lighter roasts can preserve a lot of the subtle flavor notes of the coffee.
In general, I would suggest starting with a medium-boldness bean with a medium roast. You will buy more than one bag of beans in your quest for your perfect cup, so there's little point in not trying a lot of different beans!
I will echo an earlier suggestion that a nice Sumatra or Sumatra blend is a very flavorful, medium coffee that works very well in a lot of applications.
Enjoy the journey!
-Michael
These all take different grinds, and produce different flavors and effects. Most coffee dorks prefer using a french press, as it keeps all of the oils in the coffee, and produces a very well-rounded flavor. The other side is that all of the acids are preserved as well, so it may be more lkely to cause stomach irritation. Espresso actually preserves very little of the acid, and is much thicker, but sometimes lacks a little of the subtlety of the french press, unless the barista is well-skilled. Drip coffee is somewhat in the middle, but make sure not to leave it cooking for a long time on the hot plate, because it can degrade quickly.
In the most general sense, coffee beans come in two species: Arabica and Robusta. The vast majority of coffee drinkers find the Arabica to be by far the more flavorful bean, to the extent that Robusta is actually kind of hard to find, and then generally in large cans of pre-ground, ultra cheap stuff.
Beyond that, you're basically looking for the region where the beans grow, and the darkness of the roast. Do you generally prefer more bold, or more subtle flavors? Dark roasts tend to be more bold, and lighter roasts more subtle. Generally an "Espresso Roast" is pretty dark, and will give a strong flavor. If that's not really your cup of tea
wink2: ), lighter roasts can preserve a lot of the subtle flavor notes of the coffee.In general, I would suggest starting with a medium-boldness bean with a medium roast. You will buy more than one bag of beans in your quest for your perfect cup, so there's little point in not trying a lot of different beans!
I will echo an earlier suggestion that a nice Sumatra or Sumatra blend is a very flavorful, medium coffee that works very well in a lot of applications.
Enjoy the journey!
-Michael
I've always liked Peet's "Major Dickinson's Blend".
Try a Kenyan AA if you like something bright and winey
+1 on that.
Tim, when I first got 'into coffee' I was in University. I went downtown to a local tea & coffee shop (that has been around for 100+ years) and got a half pound of their house blend (well, they had two house blends, and I got the cheaper one, called 9-to-5). It was great.
Remember all those old threads asking what's the best single malt for someone who's just getting started in Scotch? The answer, of course, is The Glenlivet. What you need to do is find the coffee equivalent in your local town: someone will be roasting a good house blend with lots of flavour. Cut your teeth on that, and then start experimenting with whatever tickles your fancy ... and unlike English shaving soaps and 100 ml bottles of cologne, you can drink your way through a pound of this coffee and that one and those over there too in short order without excessive expense!
Coffee was my obsession before shaving. I still home roast from time to time, but FINALLY found a good roaster. Again, i would start out with something from a central American coffee then move towards Africa.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLL4khimqrw&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]
Tim my suggestion is to Google local coffee roasters and talk to them. If you don't have a decent burr grinder (not blade) get one. Or, and I hate saying this, have the local roaster grind it. You'll lose freshness with pre-grinding. Some local roasters will sell half pound bags too. So you can experiment. If you like tea I've found the lighter roasts to be brighter and more tea-like. And a cheap brewing method...boil water to 195-205 degrees (usually just off boil or check with a digital thermometer), a fine grind, and use a Melita drip brewer with a Swiss Gold filter or use their unbleached filters. Most brewers don't hit the right brewing temp.
John
John
I'm a big fan of starbuck's Kenya. I'm not a fan of most of their coffee, but this one is a gem IMO. A bit robust, but smoothe. I like it black, but I'm sure cream and sugar would go great in it if that's what you're into. Also Ugandan Gold. http://www.ugandangold.com/ It's a fair trade coffe. It reminds me of the Kenya, but it's cheaper and lighter. I highly recomend it.
Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee..............simply the best!
... or an aeropress, a moka pot, a Brikka, a turkish pot, a vacuum pot, a cold brew system.......... CoffeeGeeks don't only come from the left coast! We have all of the above. My favorite two are espresso (LaPavoni) and Brikka. My wife prefers her vac pot.
To me, any coffee can be good if it's well roasted and FRESH. Currently Indian Monsooned Malibar roasted dark city is IT.
Enjoy the trip Tim. Visit coffeegeek for a B&B or SB coffee equivalent.
Ken
I roasted up a half pound of some Ethiopian Ungaplotchka from sphughes (yep, I still have some! 
)
The hardest part is waiting the recommended 12 hours or so for the carbon dioxide to dissapate before brewing. So I didn't.
)The hardest part is waiting the recommended 12 hours or so for the carbon dioxide to dissapate before brewing. So I didn't.
Stumptown
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