Thank Og, someone else who understands.
It’s not just that French Press coffee is silty. A little silt, I can deal with that. It mostly floats to the bottom anyway.
The thing that I don’t like about French Press coffee is that it doesn’t seem like it’s really combined. It’s like thin hot water with particles floating in it, as opposed to brewed coffee that’s viscous and thick. Sort of like the difference between a nicely emulsified vinegarette versus one that’s broken. It just ain’t right.
I know what you mean. Seems like in the 80s, everyone was trying to get their hands on the darkest roast possible. It was like everyone woke up to the fact that coffee has taste, and wanted the bitterest darkest thing they could get. I used to drink it dark, too.
Then I had a cup of medium roast. Oh my! There’s more to coffee than just BIG DARK TOASTY tastes!
Haven’t gone all the way to light roast yet, but your post makes me want to try one now.
I never understood people who drink French roast/Viennese roast. Not only do I not particularly enjoy the flavor of charcoal, but it covers up all the good flavors the coffee beans contain. If you drink varietal coffees, they’re almost always roasted much lighter to allow the varietal characteristics to show through.
I too have wondered if drinking French roast is just a show that you’re macho enough to stand the taste of burnt coffee.
Dunkin’ Donuts coffee is actually pretty damn good. I also like Farmer Brothers Coffee, which you’ll find in restaurants such as greasy spoon breakfast joints.
Peet’s sucks. So does Starbucks. Unless, of course, you like your coffee beans burned to a crisp.
I just wanted to thank all of you for the info. I knew next to nothing before, now I know at least a llittle about coffee. & brewing it.
Much appreciated.
IMO the problem with the French press is that it’s hard to get the coarseness of the grind right, and given the fact that no paper filter is used, this will pretty much ruin the coffee for 90% of the population.
For years, I was grinding my own coffee and using a standard automatic drip coffee brewer, but recently we bought one that has an automatic grinder and couldn’t be happier with the results. There is nothing like consistent grinding to ensure consistent results.
Coffe discussions shake the pretension from the trees. I only drink two pots a day so what do I know. My wife dragged me to a Starbucks and she bought a 6$ cup of coffee.No way she got robbed. Tasted like crap too. I have always liked fresh Dunkin Donuts coffee. But the donuts suck.
My wife bought a coffee from Mexico lately. Man was that bad. We have an espresso maker. too much trouble.
Things learned from a life of coffee drinking. White coffee cups get very dirty. Black ones never do.
There are five Dunkin Donuts within a half mile of my house. At every one of them, they know how I take my coffee, and have it ready when I get to the counter.
The donuts do suck, though.
On Route 1 South, there used to be a Krispy Kreme right next to a Dunkin Donuts. We’d stop at KK for donuts, and then at DD for coffee.
The best cup of coffee is the first one of the morning; the next best is the second. 
I am on the edge of my seat waiting for Dunkin Donuts to put their magic beans into coffee pods.
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned Kopi Luwak. Never tried it myself, but I’d sure like to. I’ve heard good things.
what defines good coffee? Bitterness? Strength of tastes? Usually I drink Starbucks and Rituals(Trinidad’s version of Starbucks) but I use sugar or one of those flavoured coffees. Everyone seems to hate Starbucks, so how can I be a better judge of the so called “real coffee”?
Alterra espresso beans, ground and brewed in my home, in my espresso maker, make the best coffee bean-derived drinks that I’ve had, outside of the espresso made at Alterra’s own coffee shops.
I’ve also had a few decent espressos at a variety of shops around the nation.
I can make better espresso than Starbucks. Usually, anyway.
Jamaican Blue Mountain was gonna be my answer. Mmmmm… ground fresh a couple of minutes beforehand? drool
Tim Horton’s is pretty damned fine coffee. I also sucked back the Jamaican Blue Mountain like it was water, while we were in Jamaica.
Is it expensive? I just got a ginormous bag of it at Costco for, I think about $11?
slaps you with a glove Krispy Kreme donuts are like little wads of crap soaked in grease. Dunkin’ Donuts are far superior. Any other opinion is clearly just wrong. 
I agree with the folk who don’t like french press coffee. Pain in the ass and poor results. Drip coffee with a conical filter is far better for regular coffee. What I have almost all the time, however, is a nice latte. (If I buy coffee drinks at a chain store, btw, I go for Seattle’s Best over Starbucks any day).
I have an espresso maker that I got at Walmart for $25. I also bought several bottles of flavored syrup (750ml each, which will last approximatlely nine thousand years given how little is used at a time) from http://www.lollicupstore.com/ for about $5-6 each. I think the flavors I have available now are…hmm… amaretto, hazelnut, vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, cinnamon, eggnog, pumpkin spice, gingerbread, english toffee, and maybe a couple of others. Anyway, steam frothing the milk is the only additional “trouble” in making a latte, IMO, (since I already grind the coffee before any kind of coffee making) and it really only takes a minute to do, so it’s worth it. A little slosh of syrup, a shot of espresso, some Splenda, and steamed frothy milk…and I’m in latte heaven.
We have local roasters and fresh is usually best. For store-bought, I like Mocha Java.
For those of you who don’t like French press coffee: you have to be smarter than the tool you are using. My coffee is neither silty nor cold nor lacking in full flavor.
It’s not only me who has to be smarter; it’s everyone who’s ever made me French Press coffee. Either nobody makes it right, or I just don’t like it.
A mitigating circumstance may be that I drink my coffee with frothed milk and sweetener, so it’s basically a coffee-flavored candybar. Drinking it black may be a whole 'nuther thang.