My Own Damn Coffee Thread....

[Joe Guy]

Moved from B Bill's thread in Laffs...

Speaking of coffee, I was at Safeway buying some coffee the other day and I looked at a display of Peet's coffee. They have Big Bang, Major Dickinson's Blend, French Roast, Sumatra, Reserve Blend and much more.

The above aren't "flavored" coffees like mocha and all that other shit. They're just coffee.

Does anyone believe that the average person can tell the difference between all of those? Or if there is any difference?

And now they've suddenly come up with things like Death Wish Coffee, which costs about $15.00 for about eleven ounces. There's a whole bunch of grossly overpriced new coffees with names like that now. I guess they're trying to appeal to young impressionable idiots that think a cool name means it's worth paying 5 times what it's worth for the same freakin' generic coffee bean they use at the waiting room at Ducky's Car Wash.

Do you really believe that when you go to Juan Valdez's coffee farm in Columbia, he gives you a tour and says, "Well... over there we have our Death Wish beans drying in the sun. There's Peet's Major Dickenson's blend beans growing over there and if you look this way, you'll see Starbuck's Espresso Beans. And of course, we grow our mocha over on the side of that hill....."

If you're a dues paying member, Juan will show you the blocked off area where they grow and process coca leaves.

Edited to stop displaying the post as a quote.

[Burning Petard]

Don't know about Peet's, but I definitely can tell the difference between Starbucks Sumatra, Yukon, Verona.(all described as dark roasts) Starbucks 'blond' coffee seems tasteless to me after it has sat in the cup for a few minutes, but it is ok fresh and hot. Dunkin Donuts coffee to me is just warm brown water.

snailgate

[rubato]

My dad, who usually buys Cafe Bustelo or Folgers, claims that it all tastes the same to HIM. But if I leave a pound of "Heart of Darkness" or similar he uses it up first. So there you go.

yrs,
rubato

[dales]

Try a cup of this:

All About Kopi Luwak – The Most Expensive Coffee In The World!

Kopi luwak is the world’s most expensive coffee.

The main factor of it’s high price is the uncommon method of producing such a coffee. It has been produced from the coffee beans which have been digested by a certain Indonesian cat-like animal called then palm civet or also civet cat.

This is the reason kopi luwak is also called cat poop coffee or civet cat coffee. The feces of this cat will be collected, finished and sold as kopi luwak.

On this website you will find all relevant information about the production process, the cat, certified kopi luwak producers, the kopi luwak coffee itself and it’s unique properties and taste.[tastes like siht]

 The short supply, in comparison with the high demand, the different taste and the uncommon production methods define the value of kopi luwak – the most expensive coffee in the world.

[Long Run]

But if I leave a pound of "Heart of Darkness" or similar he uses it up first.

He'd probably leave the "Lord Jim" for Marlow, except in the worst of emergencies.

[Guinevere]

Hmmm, I love good strong coffee and can definitely taste the differences in beans and blends. I use, almost exclusively, Illy beans, Italian medium roast, fresh ground daily in a burr grinder and turned into morning elixir via my stovetop espresso pot. Mixed with some warmed unsweetened coconut or almond milk, and a drizzle of maple syrup, it's delicious.

And decaffeinated. But you could never tell if I didn't confess.

[RayThom]

At Starbucks my usual is a "medium" Pike's Place -- which I can somewhat savor. (Wawa has tastier java blends but they have no seating area ambience.) When an expensive "world specialty blend" coffee goes on sale at SB's the baristas will always give me a cup to get my opinion on it. Every type tastes different from the last, and usually somewhere between horrible to nasty. Honestly, I don't know how Starbucks stays in business but sales figures rarely tumble.

Anyway, whereas many brand name coffees on the grocery store shelves may be very similar in taste, the coffees sold as specialty flavors are definitely different.

[Big RR]

As someone who enjoys his coffee and savors it, I do think there are very big differences between brands. I can especially tell the difference between different roasts (and roasters--some, like Starbuck's, seems to burn the more heavily roasted coffees, at least to my taste; others get more of a caramelized taste) and there are differences I can notice between different blends of beans; I have a blend from a local roaster that I like best, and I tend to drink it at home (although in the office I drink whatever is available--bad coffee is referable to no coffee), so I do think it is possible that many/most people can tell the difference between the blends listed above. I also think the names were coined to attract people, as all brands are.

As for where/how the coffee is grown, there are different varieties of coffee that each impart a distinctive flavor to it, which is why the blends have different flavors and characters. The roasting process is also important.

[Burning Petard]

As for the names of blends, I think Starbuck has the ultimate with "Yukon Blend" I see that bag and imagine Juan Valdez and his team of huskies coming down the snow covered trail along the famous river. Stupid name.

Many years ago there was on Newark, DE main street a coffee shop that did individual pour overs with Melita filters and you could choose from many different kinds of beans, individually ground. The Jamaica Blue was the most expensive, but the Hawaiian was close. I did not think they were worth the premium price. It was interesting to try a couple of different ones back-to-back.

In high school, I worked in an area of Kansas City that included a big square block of a building that was Folgers. When they were roasting, the entire neighborhood smelled terrible. I think that turned me off coffee until I was in Germany in the 60's and discovered what the Europeans did with it. Wonderful.

At home I take a dark roast blend from a local roaster (Bucks County) and grind 35 grams of beans in a hand operated burr grinder for my morning pot, made in a cheap drip machine. I buy the beans about half pound at a time to get them fresh. When I want good stuff, I have a 2 cup french press. I think the french press is very cost effective and my grinder is cheap. But I am lazy. The hand grinder keeps me from drinking about 2 liters per day, which was 'normal' for me when I was working and my employer provided unlimited Starbucks ground beans in a big drip maker at no cost to me, beyond the walk down the hall to get it.

snailgate

[Big RR]

I understand that; I never particularly liked Jamaican Blue Mountain when I tried it, and while I did like Hawaiian Kona coffee (especially French roast Kona), I never thought it was worth the premium charged for it.

I grind my own coffee as well, and while I mostly use a low priced drip pot, I will use my French press on occasion. But again, at work I drink the coffee from pods (it's just easier to clean up after), so I do drink a lot of it.

[Joe Guy]

Hmmm, I love good strong coffee and can definitely taste the differences in beans and blends. I use, almost exclusively, Illy beans, Italian medium roast, fresh ground daily in a burr grinder and turned into morning elixir via my stovetop espresso pot. Mixed with some warmed unsweetened coconut or almond milk, and a drizzle of maple syrup, it's delicious....

I would expect that people who add milk and sugar (or maple syrup) wouldn't be as particular about the beans, as long as they're fresh ground and it wouldn't be as important as it would to someone who drinks straight coffee. Does Starbucks ask what kind of beans you want when you order a frappe mocha? I wouldn't know. I've only ordered a regular cup of coffee there. They usually aren't prepared for something so simple.

I always read the label on a bag of coffee and I haven't seen one yet that doesn't say "100% Arabica Beans", although I'm sure there are some that aren't. I've heard of "Robusta" beans but it's not something I've tried. That's why I wonder how many different flavors of straight coffee are possible. It seems to me that the amount of coffee grounds used in preparation and the quality of water would make the biggest difference in the flavor produced.

[Big RR]

There are many grades and cultivars of Arabica coffee, and just saying 100% Arabica does not denote quality. From what I understand, some Italian and Spanish espresso manufacturers incorporate robusta beans in their blends, but generally robusta beans in coffee are rare here in the US (although fairly very cheap Arabica beans are used in major blends like Savarin).

Likewise fillers are sometimes used in coffees--I sometimes like to add chicory (maybe a tablespoon to a pot, mixed in with the ground coffee before brewing) to give it a bit of a different taste, many coffee sales shops offer chicory by the pound. Worth a try if you've never had it.

[Burning Petard]

Coffee is an agricultural product. How many different flavors of wine (or beer) is there?

snailgate

[Joe Guy]

Coffee is an agricultural product. How many different flavors of wine (or beer) is there?

Unlike wine and beer, coffee is brewed at home from mostly one variety of bean. If there was only one or two types of wine grapes or beer nuts*, yours would be a fair comparison.

*joke

[Big RR]

But that's the point, there are many varieties of beans even within the Arabica classification which have distinct characteristics and flavors; blending the different beans leads to taste variation much as blending varietals of grapes does for wine or different hops and malts does for beer. Add to this the differences in the way coffee is grown (the terrain, soil, types of fertilizers added, etc.), harvested, roasted, how the beans are ground, and the brewing method and you will get a lot of variation among different coffees. Try a number of different coffees and I think you'll see how they can and do differ.

[Joe Guy]

Well.... I guess I proved one thing today. I don't know shit about coffee.

I should have realized that after dales' post.

[Burning Petard]

And some people always drink Bud from a bottle, and never try anything else. My parents always drank Maxwell House, regular grind, made on the stove in percolator.

snailgate

[Joe Guy]

My parents drank percolated Folgers Coffee. Coffee wasn't the hyper-hyped drink it is now until the 1980s after Starbucks came along. At least that's how I remember it. Starbucks turned coffee into an expensive drink.

A real coffee drinker drinks it straight and never adds anything to it. They drink it neat like their Jack Daniels. A man's drink, coffee is.

Starbucks and all the other coffee houses sell mostly coffee flavored drinks. That's what women drink....

uh oh... Is that Guinevere coming....?

[Bicycle Bill]

I hear ya, Joe.  My parents drank coffee and there was only one way to drink it — hot and black.  None of this wimpy 'one cream/two sugars' crap for our clan. 

Morning would find mother filling up the 30-cup West Bend percolator with whatever brand had been on sale (in the 3-pound cans, of course) that week at the store — although at the time they did lean toward something called "Chase and Sanborn".  That pot would be on all day and afternoon, would probably have to be replenished after dinner (especially after I turned 16 and was considered old enough to start drinking, and would remain on until they turned off the TV and went to bed.  If they hadn't killed off the second pot whatever remained in the coffeemaker was left to sit overnight until next morning when it would be reheated (my dad was born in 1916 and mother was born in 1926; they both lived through the Great Depression, so waste not, want not, y'know?).  You talk about strong coffee, that stuff the next morning was stout enough to pour itself, and it wasn't until I tried a cuppa genuine espresso that I found anything to compare with my parents' "house blend".

That's why I have to laugh when the suckers people carry on so about all these yuppified excuses for coffee served by the likes of Starbucks and the rest.  I mean, a vente double caramel machiatto decaf, super skinny, with extra foam and cinnamon sprinkled on the top?  You've gotta be shittin' me!  It may have started out as coffee, but somewhere along the line it most definitely lost its way.

-"BB"-

[Guinevere]

No, that's not what I drink, and if you knew anything about coffee you'd know that. I despise sweet coffee. And flavored coffee. And weak coffee. I drink espressso, every day.

A café au lait for breakfast or a cappuccino or latte in the afternoon or evening isn't yuppified, sweet, flavored, or fancy. It's classic coffee the way the Europeans have been drinking it for over a century and how my German grandparents and my father always made their coffee. It's what I grew up with.

But whatever, who the hell cares. The judgment about how someone drinks coffee is ridiculous and childish. Drink what you like and who gives a crap what anyone thinks. I'm certainly not changing my preferences.