Let's talk coffee...

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Dude

Dude

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Who here is a coffee freak? I'm just now getting into it--but I don't know ANYTHING about anything coffee related. I got a Bodum coffee press for x-mas and I've yet to use it for other than a test batch, which I really enjoyed. I can't wait to try it with fresh coffee that I grind myself. I'd be interested in learning about coffee forums or info that you guys can pass along. I'd really like to study up on what makes a good variety bean and all that. I'm clueless.

If you know of a "coffee of the month" club that you could recommend, I'll prolly try it out.
 
Man, I'm all about the coffee. Like you, I just got a grinder and a Bodum press.

There's a guy who sells Killer Beans on a couple of the cigar forums I read. People seem to love them. He sells a sampler. I just recieved two pounds of hs beans (Nicaraguan and Kolassi), but haven't ground any yet. Maybe tomorrow morning.
 
The French Press makes great tasting coffee. I like mine strong...not sure if you can even make a weak coffee with the press. I like how I can easily make just one cup at a time, which is usually the case. Also, needs no disposable filters :), and finally, instead of being too hot to drink, after letting it steep for the four minutes or so, it's the perfect drinking temp.

I buy the roasted whole beans after grinding them at the grocery store, but I'm interested in roasting my own and then grinding them. I still need the equipment, though. I just want to see if it improves the flavor like I hear it does. I mean, the fresher the beans and roast, the better the coffee, right? Besides, I figured, if I do all the work to make homebrew, why not go for the best coffee as well?

I don't really consider myself a coffee conneisseur, I just like quality coffee that isn't auto drip. I also use turbinado sugar instead of refined. That's about the extent...so far.

One thing I don't know much about is the type of beans. I buy the darker roasts from the grocery store (i.e. french, italian, espresso). :mug:
 
Coffee is my best friend. I am in love with it. Without it I am nothing.

I drink it all day at work - make it with a plunger thingy. If there is some left from the day before I have that first! Nice and strong :rockin:

There is a brazian in the office where I work and he is just as mad as me.
 
I used to stop at Wawa every morning for their chocolate macadamia. Now that I have an ulcer, I haven't had coffee in about 3 weeks.
 
todd_k said:
I used to stop at Wawa every morning for their chocolate macadamia. Now that I have an ulcer, I haven't had coffee in about 3 weeks.
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Man, an ulcer? Did I miss that? Sorry to hear it. And the unfortunate loss of coffee to boot. I've cut way back on mine. 2 cups in the am and that's it, then water at work. But man I do love more than a few cups on the weekend.

Sorry again about the stomach. :(

Ize
 
todd_k said:
I used to stop at Wawa every morning for their chocolate macadamia. Now that I have an ulcer, I haven't had coffee in about 3 weeks.
Click to expand...

Life just sucks for Todd_K lately, doesn't it?

That's too bad...
 
I dont mind coffee i only drink it right after i get up and just use the normal grinds nothing fancy little milk and 1 tsp sugar.

I would never buy from starbucks or any of these $9.00 drinks. :confused:
 
I gave coffee up for the most part when I started having "issues" when I was in the Navy from drinking 5 POTS a day. Now I may have a cup every now and again but I get my cafene fix from diet Coke.
 
First things first, get yourself a grinder! Coffee beans lose their flavor so fast after they are groud, you always want to buy whole beans, and get yourself and grinder. Now i have gone through alot of grinders and what you want is one that will grind it like super thin- i use Krups. I have their espresso/coffee/capacino machine- its killer.


My husband is the biggest coffee/espresso freak. He was in the Marines, and when he was out on ship he and his buddies would drink at least 6 shots a day and as many as 15 (one guy had 8 shots in a sitting- he was freaking out) of espresso. They love the stuff.....


Needless to say, we have a killer espresso/cappacino machine here. Midnight oil (organic coffee) is killer. I'll tell you i had about a shot and i was up all night long. It's great- for mornings!
um, i'm trying to be on a health kick- you want to buy organic coffee as much as you can because there'a about 1000 chemicals on non organic coffee, plus dont forget to buy natural coffee filters.

Costa Rica coffee is good as well, my family travels there often, and i have heard that Kona coffee is good, though i have visited Hawaii, and i never tried the stiff when i was there.

'Classic Kona' whole bean coffee offers a very smooth espresso shot- not too strong just smooth. My husband loves that too.
 
olllllo said:
First. Don't kill yourself.

It takes 177.27 shots of espresso to kill me.

http://www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine/


ETA: Agree with above about the grinder, but make sure it is a burr grinder. You'll extract more oils without heating up the beans.
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Something tells me if I'd be dead way before I finished off those 480+ cans of Coke Zero or the 128 cans of Red Bull.
 
Oh, I forgot, the type of grind differs depending on how you are brewing the coffee. For example, if you are using auto drip, a fine grind, and if you are using the french press, a coarse grind...

Ah, coffee. Stout sounds good right aobut now:cross:
 
You know what, I was just thinking of starting a coffee EAC thread. Because I am.
I don't drink instant, only fresh ground.
I have a $1500 built in coffee machine with grinder and steamer, 3 cafetieres, 5 stove top espresso pots.
If I had the time space and money I would roast my own beans. I have a filtered coffee machine in the van along with a cafetiere.
I'm a Beer, food and coffee Snob and EAC.
Saying that I have started drinking African bush tea to try and keep my coffee consumption to less than 5 a week rather than 5 to 10 a day.
I also like to eat the odd whole coffee bean and always taste this way when buying new coffee. I love chocolate covered coffee beans. I also like coffee in some of my food. It goes well in chilli with chocolate.
CC1SS.jpg
 
RichBrewer said:
I've never been a coffee drinker but I wanted to ask if anyone has gotten into roasting coffee beans.
William's Brewing sells equipment and the un-roasted beans. I've looked at their coffe section of their catalog and always wondered if many folks roast their own.
Click to expand...

I have a friend who has a roaster--he roasts some very excellent coffee.
 
As far as a coffee of the month thingy, I'd say the better route, if possible, is to find a local place that roasts its own beans, and try several different coffees there. I used to mail order (living in Ames, Iowa and now Manhattan, KS), but I buy exclusively from a local place now. The beans have often been roasted within the last couple days when I buy them.
 
We have a great coffee maker at home that grinds the beans in the basket, then brews on top of them. No need to transfer. It also has a timer on it.

I rarely drink coffee at home, but at work I mass consume the stuff. I like doing the "poor man's mocha" by mixing a cup of coffee with a packet of hot chocolate. We also get free Lipton's tea at work. It's far from my favorite, but it works. I'm really into tea.

I can drink up to three pots of coffee per day, but I'm now at anywhere from 2-7 large (20 oz) cups.
 
SWMBO has a Capresso Super Automatic. Sounds kind of like Cheese's - it grinds, tamps, brews, and then dumps the puck in a basket when it's done. The only thing you have to do is keep it filled with beans and water, and occasionally run a cleaning cycle.

I don't drink much coffee because caffeine just gets to me anymore - any caffeine after lunch and I'm up all night. That being said, I can't stand Starbucks. They roast their beans until they're burnt. We buy our beans from a good local shop that does their own roasting.
 
I've never been a coffee drinker but I wanted to ask if anyone has gotten into roasting coffee beans.
William's Brewing sells equipment and the un-roasted beans. I've looked at their coffe section of their catalog and always wondered if many folks roast their own.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/COFFE...IPMENT_C91.cfm
Click to expand...

I've looked at that machine. I think it would be pretty cool to roast your own coffee. More Beer also has a coffee roasting sight. www.morecoffee.com I admit, I am a coffee addict. If I don't get some caffiene in me first thing in the morning, I'll get the worst headache.
 
I admit it, I'm a coffee addict and snob. BOSTON and I both roast our own beans...I'm not sure what he roasts with, but I use hot-air popcorn poppers I buy from thrift shops. $1.50 is the most I've paid. Takes about 5 minutes a batch and green beans are half the price of premium roasted (~$5/lb). For those of you who are interested in roasting your own check out www.sweetmarias.com. He's a good vendor of green beans and has a library of information.

At home I have an Isomac Millenium espresso machine and an Innova grinder which, together, or basically in orfy's kit's range. In the long run it saves me money over buying espressos out.

For a pot of coffee I love my Bodum vacuum pot which I stole for $20 from Amazon on a Friday hot deal:
11000.jpg
 
Awesome info Mr. Baron.

So if I didn't want to roast beans at this point in time, can you recommend a good place to get smart on the varieties and/or purchase them? Do you advise locally like some of the other people recommended?
 
Baron von BeeGee said:
For a pot of coffee I love my Bodum vacuum pot which I stole for $20 from Amazon on a Friday hot deal:
11000.jpg
Click to expand...

I had one of those for about 3 months until my Mom visited and broke it.
It was my weekend brewer. (sigh)
 
Coffee...Blech! :p

Can't stand the stuff. I don't like the bitterness. Don't ask me why. I like a bitter beer, even ones with coffee notes to it, but coffee itself, yuck. Every once in a while I try some, and every time the answer is the same.
 
[I admit it, I'm a coffee addict and snob./QUOTE]

I have to admit I'm pretty much a coffee snob myself. It's pretty easy to be here in seattle where there's a coffee stand or coffee house every half block. I still refuse to go to Starbucks. Too many great little independent coffee roasters. Still, would like to try roasting my own. I'm going to have to try the Air popcorn maker. I think we have on that we never use. We can buy raw beans locally at many of the specialty roasters I eluded to earlier.
Click to expand...
 
I have to admit that I too am becomming a coffee snob. I work nights now and make about 5-8 pots of coffee at work. We end up going thru a lot of Peete's and Starbucks making that much everynight. I am looking into buying some bulk beans and grinding them fresh at work. Morebeer has acoffee section and sells some bulkk roasted beans, going to give it a try. I would love to one day roast my own. I am going to check out the sites you reecommended.
 
Dude said:
Awesome info Mr. Baron.

So if I didn't want to roast beans at this point in time, can you recommend a good place to get smart on the varieties and/or purchase them? Do you advise locally like some of the other people recommended?
Click to expand...
I definitely recommend a local roaster who sells beans that have been roasted within the week. If they act offended that you asked then try somewhere else. Freshness makes a big difference. I usually drink mine within a week, but if you're buying a pound and drinking it within a few weeks that's okay. Don't store it in the fridge where it will pick up flavors, just keep it cool and dry.

In terms of varieties I'm a Central American kind of guy. Those beans are usually "brighter", more acidic, and lightly roasted (which actually gives the best varietal flavor, less charcoaly).

Africans are also nice, especially Ethiopian which is often fruity (like blueberry fruity).

Indonesians, Timor, Java are all usually roasted a bit darker and move more towards deep body on the scale, more away from brightness and acidity.

South Americans tend to be pretty well balanced and are quite nice, as well.
 
Hey Dude- if you are looking to order some coffee I highly recomend Caribou Coffee out of Saint Paul, MN. They have awesome coffee and they roast all of there own been on site and are very strick with quality and consistancy... kinda like brewing! I also have a brother there that runs one of the three Roasters and I have been to the roasting place and it is spotless! anyways I as well have a press and it is only as good as the coffee that goes in it... I would try a kenya AA, or the Mocha Java

Also like brewing they have pure beans.... no added oil or flavorings!

and a coffee club

http://www.cariboucoffee.com

Thats my Plug.. I stand by there coffee!
 
One of my absolute favorite coffees would have to be Turkish coffee. It is especially good if you get the kind that is spiced with cardamom. The coffee itself is actually not from Turkey, it's usually Columbian; but the Turkish indicates an extremely fine grind, even finer than an espresso. The preparation of this coffee is different too in that the ground coffee is added directly to the water, along with sugar and boiled in a pot called an ibrik. Essentially you add all your ingredients to the ibrik and bring to a boil till the coffee starts to froth up. Remove it from the heat. Let the froth settle and then bring to a frothy boil again. All total, it's best to bring it to a froth three or four times. If you really want a caffeine boost, nothing can top this stuff.

20487turkish.jpg
 

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