What's your favorite coffee?

[NHBull]

2 hours ago, Way2slow said:

Authentic, Blue Mountain and Kona are hard to get and expensive.  Simply because there is a very small region they can be grown in, so only so much can be grown each year.

The lions share of what you buy  is not and authentic coffee.

There are other high grown coffees that can be roasted to actually have a smoother, richer flavor, but not the "name" so they are not as well known.

 

A lot of the green bean suppliers don't buy a lot of kona simply because most home roasters won't pay $15 - $20 a pound for the grade Kona that's available to them, when they can sell a better bean at almost half that price.

Your best beans never make to commercial roasters or suppliers.  The mega rich and five star hotels will buy them at auction, paying $30+ per pound  for them.  When you figure you loose 15% in roasting and shipping, that's some expensive coffee.

 

My BM was being sent from Jamaica, that said there is lower quality BM sold on the island ?

[Teal]

Folgers at home daily, gas station coffee often and Black Rifle coffee whenever ever I buy some.  

[Skunkmaster-k]

The best part of waking up is Folgers in my cup. 

[TOXIC]

Daily vs special treat.  Daily, Tim Horton’s.  Not cheap but also not as expensive as some of the premium brands.  Used to only be able to get it when we went north to Michigan, now Wegmans and Amazon carry it. Just have to pay attention to pricing.  I’ve had real Kona many times but one of the best cups I ever had was from a Tim Horton’s franchise store on our way to the lake in Michigan one year.  I’ve been chasing that cup ever since.  I make it good at home but I’ve never been able to duplicate what that cup tasted like.?? 

[volzfan59]

I take my coffee black, just a mix of coffee and water. My favorite is Black Rifle dark roast. They call it something other than dark roast, but I can't remember. It's a little too much for my wife so I usually drink Folger's Black Silk.

[Boomstick]

6 minutes ago, volzfan59 said:

I take my coffee black, just a mix of coffee and water. My favorite is Black Rifle dark roast. They call it something other than dark roast, but I can't remember. It's a little too much for my wife so I usually drink Folger's Black Silk.

I've been thinking of buying one of them off Amazon, curious about that one.

[desmobob]

As I mentioned previously, I found that changing things up seem to make each new batch taste better.  I've been buying Yuban from Amazon occasionally.  It's a brand I remember hearing of, but had never seen anywhere.  It's a regular part of my rotation now.

[PourMyOwn]

The parallels between this and a thread about line are pretty comical.  Is Folgers the Big Game of coffee?

[volzfan59]

3 hours ago, Boomstick said:

I've been thinking of buying one of them off Amazon, curious about that one.

I picked my Black Rifle up at a BPS store. It's really good stuff to me, but I'm an Army vet and retired Law Enforcement so I like my coffee with hair on it's chest!

[DaubsNU1]

18 hours ago, desmobob said:

You're a lucky man in some ways...  coffee is the only thing I think I'm addicted to.  (Only in the morning; I'm not an all-day drinker.)  But I HAVE to have a couple of cups or a big insulated mug full (black) in the morning.  I'm glad it doesn't have any bad health effects because I don't know if I could quit.

 

I've gone from regular old supermarket coffee to fancy mail-order beans and blends to espresso and back to store-bought stuff.  I've found that I enjoy it most if I merely change brands or types each time I need a new can.

 

Wife think's I'm crazy for not drinking coffee.  I usually wake up naturally around 4:30-5 AM daily. L O L !

 

She had to stop eating dairy and wheat (gluten) about four years ago. I stopped eating gluten about that time...pretty easy to do...lots of meat, veggies, cheese, fruits, etc. And there are lots of gluten free things out there. Felt better. 

 

Never was a bit sweet's guy...so slowing down in that area was pretty easy. 

 

Cut way back on dairy about four months ago...feel even better. 

 

I can still slam down the meat-n-potatoes with the best of them!

 

 

 

[Bankbeater]

Folgers at work, and whatever kind Quiktrip has.

[fishwizzard]

The main thing I care about with coffee is freshness and since I’m lucky enough to have a couple good roasters in my area I’ll generally just grab a bag wherever  I end up driving by when it’s time to re-supply.  
 

I drink a pretty obscene amount of coffee over the course of a workday and generally start with just a splash of cream and then slowly add more with every cup until by the end of the day it’s maybe 20% cream.

[Log Catcher]

@DaubsNU1 has drank one more cup of coffee than I have. Never tried it or wanted to try it. 

[J._Bricker]

Peet’s- The original craft coffee…

[LrgmouthShad]

Folgers for me

5 hours ago, PourMyOwn said:

The parallels between this and a thread about line are pretty comical.  Is Folgers the Big Game of coffee?

Yes, yes it is

[huZZah]

The Folgers 1850 is very good. I especially like the black gold. Tastes more on a level to Major Dickason to me. 

[J._Bricker]

On 8/11/2021 at 7:04 PM, Mike L said:

Kona Coffee

Its hard to get around here, have to buy it on line which I hate to do. 
But darn, that stuff is smooth!

Have you checked the ABC Store online @Mike L? Almost like getting it from the source ?

[Boomstick]

13 hours ago, J._Bricker said:

Peet’s- The original craft coffee…

Some of the Peet's dark roasts are among my favorite.

[Smells like fish]

Pack of standard and a pack of dark roast

[Biglittle8]

On 8/12/2021 at 12:28 PM, TOXIC said:

Daily vs special treat.  Daily, Tim Horton’s.  Not cheap but also not as expensive as some of the premium brands.  Used to only be able to get it when we went north to Michigan, now Wegmans and Amazon carry it. Just have to pay attention to pricing.  I’ve had real Kona many times but one of the best cups I ever had was from a Tim Horton’s franchise store on our way to the lake in Michigan one year.  I’ve been chasing that cup ever since.  I make it good at home but I’ve never been able to duplicate what that cup tasted like.?? 

I miss Tim's ? don't have them where I'm at.

On 8/12/2021 at 6:19 AM, VolFan said:

I concur with the above. We drink Counter Culture that’s roasted in Raleigh. They list the roast date on the bag. We also keep Cometeer pods in the freezer for those extra days. They’ll ruin you.

In Raleigh today, fishing with my Grandson... Have to inquire.

[VolFan]

@Biglittle8 Do it! It’s great stuff!

[rtwvumtneer6]

On 8/11/2021 at 9:45 PM, Boomstick said:

Death Wish does not and it also does not fade away around 2-3pm

I've never seen any cup of coffee that will get me to 2pm, unless I drank it at lunch!

 

Also have some Death Wish at the house.  Can't tell that it's any "stronger" than any other coffee.

 

Tried the Black Rifle Beyond Black.  Good cup of coffee but didn't blow my socks off.

[Way2slow]

I drink coffee from many origins.  Some I can't stand, Sumatran being one of those at the top of my list.  I like my coffee in a what many call a medium roast.   A small lesson in roasting.

Coffee goes though several metabolic stages during roasting. At some point, around 380F it goes through what is referred to as it's first crack and it's a very light brown color.  It's really not very drinkable until after this point or it tastes more like straw/dirt.  Just at the end of the first crack is were the roast is stopped for the buyers to do their sample taste testing because this is where is will have it more pronounced origin flavors, but can be very acid and somewhat bitter, and almost no body. Close to what some refer to as a City Roast. Some like it at this point, most prefer it roasted longer.

As it's roasted longer, it starts to develop body (roast flavor). 

At approximately 440F, it goes through what is called the second crack.  Just before or maybe a few snaps into the second crack is where I prefer my coffee.  The beans still have a lot of the origin flavors, has good body, and natural sweetness.  This is the point most of your Kona's and Blue Mountains are roasted to, most prefer to stop their roast just before the second crack.

As you go past the second crack, is when the coffee starts loosing origin and develops body, roast flavor.  Italian roast and Espresso roast is about the first you get into from that point.  Once you get past that, you are getting into your French roast, where you basically have nothing but a small chunk of charcoal, very heavy on the body/roast flavor but nothing left of the origin. 

I think this is because with some beans, they taste so bad at the lighter roast, nobody would want to drink them.  Robusta beans fit this.  They are still an Arabica bean, just not a very good tasting one.  They are a very large, very cheap bean most commercial coffee companies blend with their regular beans to spike the caffeine (they are very high in caffeine but taste like cardboard by themselves.  A lot of espresso blends use a small amount of them also to enhance the crema (the brown foam layer on top).

Another little known fact, about 5 days after roasting, beans develop their most flavor, but 14-21 days after roasting, beans start going stale when exposed to the air.  Vacuum sealing and those bags with valves help promote longevity, but once they are opened try stale even quicker.  Pre ground stales VERY! quickly,    Unless you can freeze them to about -200 degrees, freezing don't really help much.  Yes, you will see all kinds of suggestions about freezing them but the research has shown, the average home freezer doesn't do much.  

I usually roast once a week.  That roast gets put up and I drink the roast from the week before.

One other note. commercial roaster don't buy the quality beans your small specialty roaster get.  The better beans are from smaller farms, sold at auction in small lots an taste tested before bidding.  These beans sell for a much higher price than the large commercial companies even sell their coffee for after processing.  

 

[roadwarrior]

Trader Joe's Dark

 

 

                                                                

                                                              

[TnRiver46]

On 8/14/2021 at 4:33 PM, roadwarrior said:

Trader Joe's Dark

 

 

                                                                

                                                              

Had my first cup of that brand today but it was the red bag. Tasted like coffee to me! 

On 8/14/2021 at 1:59 PM, Way2slow said:

I drink coffee from many origins.  Some I can't stand, Sumatran being one of those at the top of my list.  I like my coffee in a what many call a medium roast.   A small lesson in roasting.

Coffee goes though several metabolic stages during roasting. At some point, around 380F it goes through what is referred to as it's first crack and it's a very light brown color.  It's really not very drinkable until after this point or it tastes more like straw/dirt.  Just at the end of the first crack is were the roast is stopped for the buyers to do their sample taste testing because this is where is will have it more pronounced origin flavors, but can be very acid and somewhat bitter, and almost no body. Close to what some refer to as a City Roast. Some like it at this point, most prefer it roasted longer.

As it's roasted longer, it starts to develop body (roast flavor). 

At approximately 440F, it goes through what is called the second crack.  Just before or maybe a few snaps into the second crack is where I prefer my coffee.  The beans still have a lot of the origin flavors, has good body, and natural sweetness.  This is the point most of your Kona's and Blue Mountains are roasted to, most prefer to stop their roast just before the second crack.

As you go past the second crack, is when the coffee starts loosing origin and develops body, roast flavor.  Italian roast and Espresso roast is about the first you get into from that point.  Once you get past that, you are getting into your French roast, where you basically have nothing but a small chunk of charcoal, very heavy on the body/roast flavor but nothing left of the origin. 

I think this is because with some beans, they taste so bad at the lighter roast, nobody would want to drink them.  Robusta beans fit this.  They are still an Arabica bean, just not a very good tasting one.  They are a very large, very cheap bean most commercial coffee companies blend with their regular beans to spike the caffeine (they are very high in caffeine but taste like cardboard by themselves.  A lot of espresso blends use a small amount of them also to enhance the crema (the brown foam layer on top).

Another little known fact, about 5 days after roasting, beans develop their most flavor, but 14-21 days after roasting, beans start going stale when exposed to the air.  Vacuum sealing and those bags with valves help promote longevity, but once they are opened try stale even quicker.  Pre ground stales VERY! quickly,    Unless you can freeze them to about -200 degrees, freezing don't really help much.  Yes, you will see all kinds of suggestions about freezing them but the research has shown, the average home freezer doesn't do much.  

I usually roast once a week.  That roast gets put up and I drink the roast from the week before.

One other note. commercial roaster don't buy the quality beans your small specialty roaster get.  The better beans are from smaller farms, sold at auction in small lots an taste tested before bidding.  These beans sell for a much higher price than the large commercial companies even sell their coffee for after processing.  

 

The second job I ever had was working for a guy that started a gourmet coffee company out of his garage, reading that brought back some memories (of sweating in a garage among other things). He’s now a pretty big outfit with a coffee house downtown