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But poison, I'm a gourmand and not a gourmet!
Coffee review: Best Coffee Ever
- Thread starter poison
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In opposition to my vehicle filters, I like a "low flow" coffee filter for more brew time, and a consequently deeper pot.
..I'm not sure if I should say it, but I like Starbucks Coffee with their Gold Coast Blend being my favorite.
..I'm not sure if I should say it, but I like Starbucks Coffee with their Gold Coast Blend being my favorite.
chock full o' nuts is good coffee if you can find it, especially the dark roast.
mmmmmmmmmmm, kona.
nothing wrong with starbucks; they brought variety to people and places where it didn't exist before. sometimes you have to have a company like them introduce a product where the "little guy" just can't get it done. that said, the revolt against starbucks is just as good because it gives the "little guy" an opening.
mmmmmmmmmmm, kona.
nothing wrong with starbucks; they brought variety to people and places where it didn't exist before. sometimes you have to have a company like them introduce a product where the "little guy" just can't get it done. that said, the revolt against starbucks is just as good because it gives the "little guy" an opening.
Chock full o' nuts? It is in every store here, but my friend, you haven't had really good coffee if you think that is good.
Even Starbucks is better. I agree about Starbucks 100%. For sure they helped open the general publics eyes and taste to better coffee than had been widely available before, and ignited a search for better coffee among many.
The little guys owe them a thanks for that.
Nate
Even Starbucks is better. I agree about Starbucks 100%. For sure they helped open the general publics eyes and taste to better coffee than had been widely available before, and ignited a search for better coffee among many.
The little guys owe them a thanks for that.
Nate
well, i've had really good coffee, but that was when i was on the road with access to a couple of little shops. one store sold fish in the back and coffee in the front, and i'd buy a different bag o' beans every week i was there.
up here in the thumb of michigan i'm kind of at a loss... **** , i can't even get chock full o' nuts (easily) in this area.
but now that i know about coffee emergency!
up here in the thumb of michigan i'm kind of at a loss... **** , i can't even get chock full o' nuts (easily) in this area.
but now that i know about coffee emergency!
I thought I was a fanatic!!! I have about 4 different kinds of bean righ now. I grind my own. But, I just haven't been able to get down the secret to making quality espresso. Anybody give any pointers???? I like Starbucks, but I just can't get the flavor duplicated. I know they use Arabica, and most of the pre-canned grocery store stuff is Robusto. I get my stuff at the Central Market. They have just about every type of bean. Right now I'm in love with the Sumatra. I have the Ethiopian Harrar; the French double roast; Hawaiian Kuai.
I have a metal filter. I like the taste better, and I don't use tap water.
I have a metal filter. I like the taste better, and I don't use tap water.
Back to the original question.
Best coffee for me:
Jamaica Blue $40.00/pound.
Coffee I can afford:
Kenya AA $8.00/pound
Coffee on a budget:
Folgers Its very predictable.
Best brew method:
Coffee press. The water never exceed boiling.
I get my coffee from orleanscoffee.com. Better yet go for a visit on Rue Orleans in the French Quarter.
You can buy 25 or 30 coffee types by country or region. They really are different.
Or if you must something flavored.
Best coffee for me:
Jamaica Blue $40.00/pound.
Coffee I can afford:
Kenya AA $8.00/pound
Coffee on a budget:
Folgers Its very predictable.
Best brew method:
Coffee press. The water never exceed boiling.
I get my coffee from orleanscoffee.com. Better yet go for a visit on Rue Orleans in the French Quarter.
You can buy 25 or 30 coffee types by country or region. They really are different.
Or if you must something flavored.
Poison,
What do you use to grind beans and make espresso?
What do you use to grind beans and make espresso?
Well, making espresso is an art which I will not pretend to have mastered, but I can help.
First you need a good machine, but given whatever machine you have, you can always improve the espresso from it several ways.
It is not as simple as Arabica and Robusta. Many great espresso blends add some high quality robusta to the blend for the excellent creama, or foam, it adds to the top of a shot. There is plenty of bad arabica out there. And it could be good arabica, but poorly roasted, stale, and old.
Get the best beans you can buy, they are relatively cheap (you might think that $17 for a lb of code brown delivered to your house is expensive; well, compared to a lb of stale low quality Starbucks beans for $12 or the fact that 1 lb of coffee is about 32 double shots of espresso which go for $1.75 at starbucks...You get my point). I HIGHLY recommend you try some of the coffee I mentioned earlier in this thread: not all coffees make good espresso. Code Brown does.
Second is grind: to pull a good shot of espresso the grind is very important. Your grocery store grinder is not up to the task, not even close. Neither is your whirly blade nut grinder that many use. You need a burr grinder. Krups and capresso make the cheapest burr grinders for $50 that will be OK. Starbucks has a good grinder for about $100.
You need a fine, consistent grind. How fine is dependent on the machine, and something you need to experiment with by starting on the espresso setting (many times there is a little picture showing that setting).
You should put about 14 grams into the portafilter basket, but that is dependent on the portafilter and your tamp and grind. The tamp is very necessary. A good tamp is 30 lbs of pressure. You can put the portafilter on a scale when you tamp to get the idea. Too much tamp and your espresso will not flow out; too little and the coffee will pour out too fast.
A perfect shot should take about 25 seconds for a 1 OZ shot (.75-1.25 depending on taste preference). The espresso will be black as it starts to pour out of the portafilter, and if the coffee is fresh, it should OOZE out. If you run it too long, it will 'blonde' or start to turn yellowish. That is bad: overextraction is bitter nastiness.
Play with the grind and tamp. Again, too much tamp or too fine coffee will not let water through the coffee; not enough tamp or too course a grind will let the water pour through too fast, and the coffee will not extract.
Go to www.coffeegeek.com for way more info!
Also, what grinder and machine are you using?
Nate
Grinder is a Solis Maestro:
Machine is a Rancilio Silvia:
The best grinder for under $250-300, the best espresso machine for under $700.
Go to www.wholelattelove.com . I bought my machine there. The best company for that stuff, and stand behind their product.
You are all missing out, no mention has been made of Kopi Luwak coffee. The most expensive in the world and only 500lbs per year available. Supposed to be the best tasting too.
If you dont know about this, you are not a coffee freak.
Dan
If you dont know about this, you are not a coffee freak.
Dan
Oh, c'mon, ground monkey-poop has nothing on a good Kenyan...
I'd try it, for sure, but just like Jamaica Blue mountain nor Kona are that great (yes, I've had genuine from both places), neither is this, I bet.
People believe it is better because, well, someone told them it was, because they paid a butt-load for it so they must justify, or because They happened to be sipping a cup of Kona on the beach at sunrise after a morning swim and, by god it was the best experience they ever had...
Nate
I'd try it, for sure, but just like Jamaica Blue mountain nor Kona are that great (yes, I've had genuine from both places), neither is this, I bet.
People believe it is better because, well, someone told them it was, because they paid a butt-load for it so they must justify, or because They happened to be sipping a cup of Kona on the beach at sunrise after a morning swim and, by god it was the best experience they ever had...
Nate
Nate,quote:
Originally posted by poison:
Oh, c'mon, ground monkey-poop has nothing on a good Kenyan...
I'd try it, for sure, but just like Jamaica Blue mountain nor Kona are that great (yes, I've had genuine from both places), neither is this, I bet.
People believe it is better because, well, someone told them it was, because they paid a butt-load for it so they must justify, or because They happened to be sipping a cup of Kona on the beach at sunrise after a morning swim and, by god it was the best experience they ever had...
Nate
Not a monkey, the animal is a palm civet, a dark brown tree-dwelling cat-like creature found throughout Southeast Asia. The scientific name is paradoxurus hermaphroditus.
According to the Manila Coffee House, the palm civet just happens to like to ingest the ripest and reddest coffee beans, which also happen to be the ones best for brewing. The cat eats the outer covering of the beans in the same way that is accomplished by de-pulping machines. Something happens to the beans in the journey through the cat's intestines that gives it a flavor that is celebrated by coffee drinkers.
But hey somebody is drinking it thinking palm civet intestine leavings taste like heaven....
CRAPPUCCINO ANYONE?
Dan
[ September 29, 2004, 02:04 AM: Message edited by: Dan4510 ]
Best coffee I ever tasted was some kind of Japanese instant stuff. It was better than anything I've had from Starbucks, Seattle's Best, or anywhere else.
http://www.thecoffeecritic.com/fusion3/html/kopi.shtml
Currently not available. Gee, I wonder why?
OK, he says "it was one of the best cups hes ever tasted"? For $175 lb, it better well be the best f***ing thing he ever tasted.
Hmmm, you think it had anything to do with the fact that a roaster brought him down to his shop, showed him how it was roasted in a vintage 1930's Jabez Burns sample roaster, and cupped it for him?
For $20 lb, I'll find you a coffee that will be "among the best you've ever tasted". Tell you what, we can split the difference in price between my $20 coffee and the $175 Kopi Luwak, and go buy ourselves some GC, huh? You'll thank me.
I would definately try it, but I promise you I am not going to pay $8 for a cup of it.
Nate
Nate,
I got my Expobar Pulser and Mazzer Mini on Friday from WLL. I screwed areound on Friday night and Saturday morning putting some grocery stroe bought and ground stuff through the Pulser. Not too good. On Saturday, I bought some espresso blend from a local roaster. Into the Mini and off to the Pulser. The second shot was the best of my life! On the 1st shot, I overloaded the basket. All pulls since have been great. My current routine is 2 double shots straight in the morning, another double made into an Americano for the road, and a double shot straight in the evening.
I'm looking forward to trying Code Brown, Black Cat and Malabar Gold. Others you recommend?
Jack
Come here so I can knock you over the head with my Maestro and take your stuff!!!
**** nice choices there, excellent!
Getting the grind and tamp right is very hard and takes practice. For the tamp, get a bathroom scale and when you tamp the portafilter, have it on the scale so you can see what 30lb of force looks like. That is the general vicinity you need, depending on the grind.
A good shot should take about 25 seconds for .75-1.25 oz, depending. A .75 would be short, a ristretto. 1-1.25 is normal.
As for coffee, I'd say Code Brown is the best out there right now, but I really want to try www.terroircoffee.com. It is supposed to be very good.
Vivace is well respected, as are Hines and Stumptown (Hairbender Blend).
www.espressovivace.com
Hines website is not up yet
www.stumptown.com
Keep it up! If you try the Code Brown, please write a review here!
Nate
[ October 04, 2004, 09:26 PM: Message edited by: rugerman1 ]
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