Looking to try out some new coffee, any suggestions?
Yeah, I LIKE slumming with the devil when I slug back some java! I feel mean and dirty. I know I am just one step from being a mass murderer when I am going for the bean. Living life on the edge, oh yeah, that's me.
If you are trying coffee for the first time, Dunkin Donuts, ice coffee, with cream and sugar. For the first year, it was the only way I could pallet coffee. Now I am OK with any cup.
I am looking for information on the specific brand and roast. I currently buy supermarket beans, dark roasts. I don't care for starbucks, as i think it has a burnt flavor that I don't like.
Supermarkets which carry gourmet brands often have little bags of different flavors and beans . They are pretty cheap and a good way of trying different flavors. If you have the dispensers that allow you to bag your own, just buy a small amount and see what you like.
I will drink any coffee except starbucks. I can't even stand the smell of that.
I'm not picky about the bean, but I love making coffee with a french press, especially sprinkling in some cinnamon with the grinds.
Regardless of how it's made, I like it with the powdered creamer (I can deal with the fake liquid creamer, real cream is good, too. Milk is a last resort), and no sugar.
I never believed that the method mattered as much as the bean until I tried it myself. A burr grinder set to course and a French press produces a completey different taste from the same beans blade ground run through a drip coffee maker. It tastes smoother, lighter. It even smells slightly different. So from me you get a second vote for French press.
As far as the bean goes I like a medium roast with a nutty flavor. Which is another great thing about a French press you can put ground nuts in the grind to enhance the nutty flavor.
Eight O Clock original whole bean medium roast is a great flavor for its price. Not as good as Newman's Own but at roughly half the cost it's a good daily staple.
On the "can't drink this sh!t" list I put Foldiers, Maxwell House, Starbucks and anything in Freeze Dried crystals. No instant coffee I've ever had is good.
Oooh! I never considered adding ground nuts to the grinds in the french press! I do agree, though, the smell and taste of french press coffee is completely different.
Instant coffee is disgusting, but I always keep a bottle in the pantry. Sprinkle some in your hands after working with garlic, mush around and rinse, and the garlic smell will be gone!
I have a small, hand-cranked grinder. During the winter months, I like to include some whole cloves with the beans as I grind, then I add some cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and a dash of nutmeg after I put the grounds into the french press. Spiced coffee is a great treat every once in awhile.
I like that one too. Black. It would be a sin to disguise the flavor.
As for those freeze dried coffees. I wouldn't even think of it. yuck. I do keep some in the pantry to bake with. A tsp. in a chocolate cake bumps it up a notch.
Jamaican Blue Mountain. It has an aroma that is just intoxicating. I rarely drank coffee till I went on vacation in Jamaica and this was served at the resort. It's so damn good!
However, I understand that the real stuff cost about $60-$80/lb. There are blends that have a small amt of JBM in them but they're not even close.
I had to work in Jakarta for a while, and their Starbucks shops carry Sulawesi. It was so good I bought a stash and brought it home. Sadly, Starbucks USA does not stock it, and supposedly they can't lay their hands on that much Sulawesi to carry it nationally. Some smaller providers carry it. I tried www.coffeeam.com, who have tons of great coffees; their Sulawesi is always out of stock. But I finally found it with Father Michael's Roastery, from a Greek orthodox priest in Goldendale, Washington (www.fathermichaels.com). Also try Father Michael's Eastern Queen blend.
Father Michaels and CoffeeAM both have Ethiopia Sidamo. That used to be one of Starbuck's favorite beans, but they quit buying them because Starbuck's supposedly had some sort of falling out with the growers there. Coffee originated in Ethiopia, and they still have pretty much the best.
I've been drinking 8 O'clock coffee for years- The whole beans, not the pre-ground shit. I love the French Vanilla and the Hazelnut flavour, but the French Roast is good as well. It's afforadable as well.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2012 11:41AM by Itzpapalotl.
But sometimes they're a little unevenly roasted-- it's best to mix the bag well before putting it in your (burr) grinder. Otherwise, every pot is slightly different.
Thanks for the suggestions. For those with coffee habits you might want to try cold brewed coffee. You put 1/3 cup of coarse ground beans to 1 and half cups of room temp water and let sit overnight. then strain in a mesh strainer, then i use a plastic "permanent" type filter to get out the rest of the sediment. I found if I try and run it through a regular coffee filter that it gets clogged up.
you get a concentrate, I add 1/2 milk to it, some drink it straight, some add water to it. You can add hot water to make it into hot coffee.