Coffee. Java. Joe.

[KeeFus]

My first all night coffee binges started in 1990 while working nuke security in upstate NY as an MP. Our coffee came in a white can with black letters, "COFFEE GROUNDS". That shit killed my tatse buds and now as long as it has caffeine it'll work.

Recently when I go into the local Starbucks right before they close and the Pike is out I get an Americano. I will probably try an espresso from there in the near future. After 2230 i hit the Sheetz as their coffee is ok.

At home I do the Keurig thing....its just easier since Im generally the only person drinking coffee in the mornings.

[pablo]

Every time I drink Starbucks I flash back to this scene from the Simpsons



Whoever figured out how to burn poor quality beans so that they taste like carbon and ash, and convince people that they are drinking a premium product, is a freaking genius.

Is Tully's in Seattle still any good? Had their coffee on a trip to Seattle many years ago and it wasn't bad.

[scott]

I live on coffee, so mostly I make it myself; buying 8 or 10 cups a day is expensive. Fortunately it's easy: French press, ceramic burr grinder, coarse grind, and beans that have been roasted somewhat recently. And try to fill the kettle fresh when you make a new pot.

Good espresso is magical, but too much work for me to try at home. I'll happily pay to have someone else fiddle with it.

[BaiHu]

My father always says, "If you're going to do something, do it right or don't do it at all."

So he made me a coffee snob. Mainly because most coffee sucks and is either used to stun the person awake with really shitty bitterness and ash or just give them a sugar high with a caramel-mocha-hi-octane-whipped-latte-of-dubious-quality-but-tons-of-sugar-$$$.

One needs 5 things:

1) good coffee. Over roasted reduces caffeine and reduces flavor. Espresso is another animal I won't post on. I like medium roasted Costa Rican or Columbian beans generally.

2) good grind. Know what you're grinding for: drip? Press? Espresso? I use a burr grinder. I use a Baratza Maestro Plus on a semi-coarse grind for drip.

3) quality water source. Water from your tap is no good unless it's real good well water. Hard water, etc will ruin your coffee. I've made identical cups with different water and it's night and day as far as flavor and drinkability.

4) proper temperature. 195-205*. This is why I use a Technivorm Moccamaster and HK, because they are consistent and well made instruments. I use a gold filter that's lasted years.

5) Vacuvin/storage. Once you open a bag of brand new beans, they start to die. No, the fridge or freezer is no good, beans absorb odor. Sick that air out!

Of course YMMV as taste buds are not all the same.

ETA: A good cup of coffee should be enjoyable without milk/sugar. If you need that stuff, then you probably don't like coffee and that's OK. Try tea. Yerba Mate is my choice, but another thread of anyone drinks it.

[OnionsAndDragons]

I also like the Lavaza coffee. It is pretty darned good, and you can often find manufacturers coupons for it, like buy1:get1.

Otherwise, I like to order bulk whole bean. I mostly buy from a company called MaiThai Coffee. They sell roasted and unroasted. One of my next goals this year is to try and roast some myself.

French press is my favorite method of preparation, and I also recommend an electric kettle. They are also great for hard boiling eggs, if that is a thing you like.

I don't sweeten mine, unless serving it cold; then it gets just a little honey or a stevia leaf bruised with the ice. Black or a splash of full fat cream. I can also go for it blended with a pat of butter in my single serving blender, especially for the first cup of the day.

BaiHu is super-right-on about the water. The difference between a cup brewed from tap vs out of my Berkey is night and day.


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[pablo]

Otherwise, I like to order bulk whole bean. I mostly buy from a company called MaiThai Coffee. They sell roasted and unroasted. One of my next goals this year is to try and roast some myself.

http://www.homeroaster.com/heatgun.html

A dog bowl and a heat gun can produce some surprisingly great results (some which can not be reproduced), it's a good place to start. Your neighbors might think that roasting coffee smells pretty horrible and it's best to do it when they not home. Popcorn poppers work too but I found that the motors would burn up after 20lbs of beans.

[Kyle Reese]

Gevalia is excellent coffee.

[RevolverRob]

It's apparent to me that my coffee-hipsterism is weaksauce to this group.

I go with medium to dark roast beans, usually from Guatemala or Mexico (because heritage, yo!). I always select single origin, fair trade, organic beans. I don't have a hand grinder (a sin I know), so I grind it at the store on coarse. Their grinder is pretty consistent and I usually go through about a pound every two weeks. You can notice the flavor decline towards the end of the 2-weeks, but it's not terrible. For me, it is all about the French Press. If it's not French Press or high quality and fresh drip, I don't drink it hot (iced is another story). I use filtered tap water, a stainless steel kettle to bring it up to ~200 degrees, and then I pour it gently, a dash (~1 ounce) of COLD water will settle the grounds out just a bit. I cap the press and plunge it ever so slightly to compress the air out of the grounds. Let it steep for 4-6 minutes depending on desired strength, plunge it, and then let it sit for another 2 minutes.

I've seriously considered upping my game though. I've been thinking about getting a better water filtration system (a Berkey with carbon and fluoride filters), and a grinder...I just found this gem - http://www.oehandgrinders.com/PHAROS_c_22.html - That thing gives me the engineering/aesthetic/hipster joneses' in a bad bad way. I never thought I could fall in lust with a coffee grinder but it's just so...awesome. Like a handmade 1911, a Swiss watch, or a Porsche there is just something about it that tickles my fancy.

I also drink espresso, but I let someone else handle that. I head over to the student run coffee shop on campus, where they grind the beans fresh before every shot. They make a high quality espresso there. My supervisor also has a Nespresso machine in the lab (https://www.nespresso.com/us/en/orde...0-VQ2-g-VQ16-c) - he supports our caffeine addictions by always keeping us stocked on Nespresso cartridges. It isn't the best by any stretch of the imagination, but it's consistent in its good quality overall.

-Rob

[OnionsAndDragons]

Get the Berkey, Rob. You will enjoy your coffee more AND you'll drink more water.

I resisted it for longer than I should have. I was one of those guys that fussed over it and had to have some sort of flavor to the water, usually just a splash of lemon or lime, but drinking water always felt like a chore. After I got the Berkey, water had a whole new place in my heart.


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[JHC]

Awesome, thanks for the info on the french presses. Anything is better than the water bottle instant I made in Afghanistan while doing route interdiction... We used to get loads of Starbucks instant sent to us but had no way to heat water bottles besides the heaters in our vehicles and the exhaust of the LAV's.... Wasn't perfect but 5 minutes in front of the heater and two things of instant coffee usually made a warm drink that reminded us slightly of home. Guessing the french press will be way moooo better

But . . . but, instant has more caffeine ounce for ounce I understand. So I keep Starbucks instant packets at work for when I miss the home French press production. Better IMO than the office crap.