Coffee Addicts Thread

[piradical]

the best I have had is distributed by Counterculture coffee in NC. in the DC area it is available at Murky Coffee in Arlington and Sparkys on 14th st. in DC. My favorite is the salvadorean ( not he one @ $65 for 12 oz.).

[adios]

One of my indulgences is coffee. I spend the dough for Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kona for my home use. I also have a really nice esspresso machine which I actually bought at Starbucks when I realized it was a relatively good deal.

[cbloom]

The most important thing for coffee: bean storage! Do NOT PUT BEANS IN THE FREEZER. This is horrible for them. Why? There are 4 things that are bad for coffee: light, moisture, air, and time. Constantly taking coffee in and out of the freezer lets moisture build up inside the coffee.

If you use them frozen they never get moist. Taking anything in & out of the freezer is bad for it. I don't believe that you can freeze bread & salmon but coffee beans are too delicate. Anyway, just use them quickly, I don't recommend storing them at all (I never do). If you don't use them fast enough, buy less.

edit : anyway the original point was, don't just leave it in the bag you bought it in (after opening) and have it sit in your cupboard for a month, it will taste like ass.

[cbloom]

BTW is anyone here an expert/advocate of using a french press? I've heard you can make great coffee with a french press, but I've never been successful with it. I've read some tips online but they haven't really helped. If I grind the beans course it comes out watery. If I grind them fine, I get tons of nasty sludge.

[Peter McDermott]

If my house was burning down, the first thing I'd run for is my Mazzer Mini.

[AZK]

Which grinder are you using for french press...I think it's normal to have a little bit of "silt" at the bottom of the cup for french press, I don't use french press a lot but it's nice when I do...

[Colt McCoy]

I love the cold-brewed coffee the Toddy makes and Boca Java makes some awesome coffees.

[LetItBe]

Anyway, just use them quickly, I don't recommend storing them at all (I never do). If you don't use them fast enough, buy less.

Compeltely agree. I didn't mean storage in the long term sense...I meant storage for the week or two you will have the beans.

As for your french press problem, I use my french press a lot. Like someone else asked, what kind of grinder do you use? You have to get a burr grinder if you want to use a press. The beans have to be ground as coarse as possible- otherwise they go through the screen. Are you having a problem with proportions of water/grounds? You also shoudn't use boiling water- it should be hot, not boiling.

[turnipmonster]

I have drank a lot of coffee on a daily basis since middle school. I am wondering if I have an unrefined taste in coffee, because I like very dark, very bitter, straight black coffee. examples of brands of coffee I like are cafe bustelo, cafe dumond, and modelo. I rarely go to starbucks but like their black coffee just fine.

most coffee I have had in diners, delis and dunkin donuts tastes like water to me, and I don't like it at all.

I make espresso a lot also and use cafe bustelo, for some reason the illy espresso pods taste horrible to me and I would rather drink dirt. since bustelo is cheap as hell and illy seems quite fancy, it seems to me like I might just like the cheap stuff.

any coffee experts have any insight or recommendations to offer regarding my taste?

edit: note that I always use a french press when making coffee.

[AZK]

I like very dark, black straight coffee as well...but most times I don't feel that it tastes bitter, strong drip gets bitter, you like that?

The cafe dumond brand is amazing, I first had it in NO, that chicory taste is fantastic.

for whatever reason, I too think the illy espresso roast is GROSS.

[cbloom]

As for your french press problem, I use my french press a lot. Like someone else asked, what kind of grinder do you use? ...

I have the cheap Starbucks branded burr grinder. Maybe it's time to upgrade; there's some crazy coffee-snob web sites that really recommend $200-500 grinders. Thanks for the tips, I'll try to go coarse & just use more grounds and do some experiments.

[turnipmonster]

I don't really think it tastes bitter, but I have often heard starbucks coffee is bitter, that espresso roast coffees (very dark roasts) are bitter, so I always figured it must be bitter and I must like that.

glad you agree about illy, other problem is tons of restaurants use them. I love an after dinner espresso but usually ask if it's an illy pod or the real deal.

[turnipmonster]

fwiw, my inlaws give me a case of cafe dumond every year and I use it anytime I make french press coffee. the grind is really perfect for press, imo. I've tried other kinds of chicory/coffee and been underwhelmed.

[The DaveR]

I don't really think it tastes bitter, but I have often heard starbucks coffee is bitter, that espresso roast coffees (very dark roasts) are bitter, so I always figured it must be bitter and I must like that.

Bitter is fine. The problem with Starbucks is that it tastes burned and doesn't really have any other flavor.

[turnipmonster]

I don't really think it tastes burned ever. lots of roach coach/deli coffee tastes burned to me though. part of me thinking I must have weird tastes is a lot of coffee that is pretty universally hailed as good/decent (i.e. dunkin donuts) just tastes like hot water to me.