First cup while feeding the dogs and before going to work: blade ground for now (although a decent burr grinder is due to arrive soon) French Press from a variety of local Chicago area roasters of my wife’s choosing. Leave some in a thermos for my wife who can’t make coffee until she’s had her coffee. She prefers the Chemex method herself, which I detest.
After that our office has a Keurig and I do tend to keep sipping most of the day. A functional enough coffee for work.
All coffee drunk like I drink my Scotch, my bourbon, and my Mezcal - straight up undiluted. I like the stuff, why water it down?
It is good, not cheap mind you (about £5.50 for 250 grams hereabouts) but having experimented with all sorts of grinds and roasts I find that I can use less Illy in my machine and get a better coffee, with proper crema, that I end up enjoying more.
And yes, those cans are handy. I have to confess that one of my little pleasures in life is cracking the metal seal on an Illy coffee can and breathing in that intense aroma as it hisses out…wonderful!
Do you gottahaveitfirstthingordie? Can you take it or leave it? How much do you consume daily?
No, but usually the first thing when I get to work. 1-2 cups daily.
Your favorite brands, methods, additives, special ways-and-wherefores?
I like it extra light and extra sweet - a little coffee with my cream, in other words. So I don’t really care about brands and styles, and definitely don’t care about the quality of the bean or whether I grind it or not. I don’t even own a coffeemaker. Why? It all tastes the same after I add creamer, no matter where I buy it. I only don’t like Starbucks because it’s too bitter. And I have no problem with instant, though it doesn’t seem to wake me up at much. But I drink instant at home on the weekends happily.
Would you rather have tea?
Nope. I feel like I should like tea, but almost all tea tastes like boiled water to me. I do drink tea and only tea when I am sick, but as soon as I am better, it’s back to the coffee.
Random comments, anecdotes, reminiscences welcome.
I am not too thrilled with the office Keurig. Oh, it makes wonderful coffee, but it broke down, and I am trying to clean it in hopes it will work. But we only ever used bottled water. Go figure.
My friends tell me I make awesome coffee. I reply with a Tarantino quote,
Italics mine.
I use Gevalia whole beans, ground in a burr grinder, and brewed in a Bodum French press. Add sugar to the grounds before pouring in hot water and then just a bit of half-n-half and/or Irish cream in the bottom of the mug before pouring in the already sweetened coffee. If I’m feeling especially gourmet, I may add a pinch of cinnamon or vanilla before mashing down the press. I may also warm the half-n-half in the microwave and furiously whisk it to a froth before pouring the coffee over. I consider the order of operations to be mission-critical. I never, ever, add sugar after the coffee is brewed because then I have to stir it and it just doesn’t dissolve right and… bleargh.
If I run out of Gevalia, I will substitute Paul Newman’s French Roast. Ain’t bad.
Coffee snob from WA state here. Not snobby enough that I roast my own beans. Yet. Lately, I’ve been drinking Sumatra Mandheling (an Arabica variety) medium roasted from a local roaster. I pick up enough beans for a week. I use a French Press because it gives me maximum control over the brewing process. Because I use a French Press I also use a conical burr mill grinder because uniformity of the grind is especially important in the French press. You don’t want dust as that will make its way through the press resulting a sludgy mess.
“In Seattle you haven’t had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it’s running.”
(Jeff Bezos)
The best coffee I’ve ever had was some that my Colombian co-worker brought back from a trip back home. She said it was unroasted, but I think it was really just a very, very light roast.
Nowadays, for unflavored coffee, I order 100% Molokai from the Maui Coffee Company (and lot’s of their chocolate macadamia nut blend).
Actually my concern with our soon to have burr grinder is that I do want just a little of that “dust” … not enough to make it a sludgy mess, but just enough that I have the little mouth feel that I miss with the “clean” Chemex coffee.
I have a Cuisinart burr grinder that allows me to change the coarseness of the grind. I find that, regardless of the setting, there’s a tiny bit of dust that seems to accumulate near the top of the little container (that catches the grinds). This results in that pleasant sludge at the bottom of the cup.
At times, I am forced to buy pre-ground coffee (in what I’d consider a coffee emergency). For example, I’ve used Cafe Bustelo espresso grind before (I said it was an emergency!). This is too much dust and plugs up the press filter and makes it very difficult to mash down. And leaves too much sludge in the cup.
I get bored easily so I tend to buy a lot of different coffees. I really like to go to the local ethnic foods stores and buy a variety of types, especially the dark-roast, local blends. Good stuff.
I don’t drink coffee at all when I get up for the first job (paper route, 3:30 a.m.). But when I come home a few hours later, I get the Keurig ready for when I get up for the second job (usually 8ish). I have a little Keurig reusable basket thingy so I can use my own coffee instead of buying the little pods. I drink a big cup on the way to work, then another one or two or so when I get home (usually by 1 p.m.; I work weird hours).
Sometimes I drink it black, sometimes with half & half. Usually try to do without sugar, as it makes me want to brush my teeth even worse if I do sugary coffee.
I miss my French press. After my son saw it and got all excited I gave it to him for Christmas…so this year I’ll get myself one!
You made me think of Lion coffee, which we loved when we lived in Honolulu. Mmmmm.
And there was a little place up in the Manoa Valley called Coffee Manoa, in a small shopping center called, I think, Manoa Market, that was a favorite hangout and from where I bought a lot of my coffee at the time. Sadly, on our last visit there six years ago, we saw it had been turned into some sort of bakery.
I have a cup of espresso and a chocolate brioche every morning for my breakfast. The coffee’s a local make (Zanetti, I think). I actually couldn’t stand the taste of black coffee before I moved to Italy, but they appear to have a tea shortage here, so there’s nothing else to drink.
I bought a Keurig last year which I loved. Then it was murdered when a tree fell on our house. I replaced it (thanks to State Farm), with an identical one that has been nothing but trouble since the first week. But I’m still using it because I love the convenience and variety of the Kcups.
However, there aren’t any good chocolate flavored Kcups. I missed Godiva coffee, so I bought a bag a couple of weeks ago and a Manual drip cone. Once I got the hang of pouring the water just right, it’s the best coffee I’ve had, since the french press I used a couple of years ago. Plus, there’s nothing to clean up and it uses regular grounds.
I buy green beans and roast them myself, so my coffee is always fresh. I grind in a Capresso burr grinder and I brew in either a French Press or my Technivorm.
Standard for me is Starbucks, a decaf iced venti americano. I know, I know–but it’s consistent (when they don’t fuck up and short me one or more shots) and ubiquitous. I’ve had better coffee elsewhere–MUCH better coffee*–but I can almost always find a Starbucks. (There is, however, a remarkably long stretch of Fifth Avenue in NYC that is Starbucks-free, as I discovered walking to work one Saturday morning…) Used to get it fully-leaded, but I was having anxiety problems so I switched to decaf. I now allow myself the occasional half-caff if I’m drowsy.
At home, I’m often too lazy to bother, but I’ve experimented with lots of methods. Was a fan of the Chemex for a good long while, though I had problems with the filter clogging. French press is always too sludgy for me, so you can now :dubious: at me when I mention that I’ve also got an ibrik and have occasionally made Turkish coffee. Never as good as what I got at the first little restaurant I had it at, but…
Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos books have a coffee-based beverage called klava, which is described as tasting as good as coffee smells. He gives a sort of half-recipe for it in one book–never thinking, as I recall, that anyone would actually try to make it. Essentially, it’s french press coffee, filtered with eggshells, with some manner of wood-chips and vanilla bean involved. I’ve never done it, but some have, apparently with decent results.
Shout out to TAZAin Cincinnati, which brews perhaps the finest damn latte I’ve ever tasted…
ETA: Forgot to ask: what is this “upside-down method” y’all keep talking about with regards to the Aeropress? I can’t see how that would do anything but make a mess. Is there a video or something demonstrating it?
Here’s a video that shows one upside-down method. No mess, as you can see. And he just flips it… I always put the coffee mug, upside down as well, on it, then flip the whole deal over. Never had a spilled drop.
[QUOTE=RealityChuck]
My views are simple: Coffee tastes like shit. I wouldn’t put it in my mouth.
[/QUOTE]
I’ve never understood why people do this. You saw a thread all about coffee, and you obviously hate coffee. What would make you open up the thread and post? I mean, I know it’s a free board and it’s within your right and all, but… why? Did you think people would be going, “Gee, I wonder what RealityChuck’s opinion on coffee is? This thread just doesn’t seem complete without his opinion!”. Looking at random at the front page of CS right now, there’s a thread about salmon. I hate salmon, as I hate most fish. But the idea of going into that thread just to tell people I thought salmon was awful wouldn’t even cross my mind.
I opt for espresso, which I make at home using fresh locally roasted beans, my Baratza burr grinder, and my Rancilio Silvia espresso maker (with PID temperature controller.)
I make a damned good espresso, with an occasional “God Shot” about every 4th or 5th one.
