What Kind Of Coffee Do You Make?

Someone was asking about community, company based in Louisiana;

Community Coffee Company is steeped in tradition as rich as our coffee. As the largest family-owned retail coffee brand in the U.S., our company’s roots grew from a small country store in Baton Rouge where more than 80 years ago, founder Henry Norman 'Cap' Saurage brewed his popular coffee.

The coffee became so popular that he named it Community in honor of his loyal friends and customers. Cap eventually turned his attention away from the grocery store and devoted all of his time and energy to making great coffee.

Today, Community Coffee Company is so much a part of people’s lives and spans so many generations that it has been dubbed the State Coffee of Louisiana. We invite you to enjoy this family tradition and experience a little bit of Louisiana in every cup.

I do not drink much coffee, but when I do I order a Blackeye at any coffee establishment, which is one shot of expresso filled to the top with the darkest roast coffee they have.
 
Yeah, the best coffee I ever had was the stuff I roasted myself. I used a popcorn popper that has since crapped out. Could only do 4 oz per batch, so I had to roast a few times a week, but it was a hell of a lot of fun while it lasted. I have friends that pay $$ for roasted coffee beans, and they said mine was the best they've ever had.

brntorng, tell me more about this roaster you are building.
 
that makes sense that simply sipping peaberry vs. regular beans are comparing apples to oranges unless they're from the same crop. good link, thanks.

re: Starbuck's, that's what I always say about them. there is no way their quality can keep up with their overabundance of stores.

I prefer dark roast in that I need/like my coffee as strong as possible. Is that a myth that darker roasts (french roasts are darker roasts, correct?) are stronger or does coffee strength depend on the bean?
 
Thanks for all the suggestions.
I settled on this:

folgers.jpg


I'll let you know how it is.
 
FWIW, Consumer Reports reviewed mass-market coffee about 2 years ago and here's some of their results (Columbian Arabica only)

1. Caribou Whole Bean
2. Eight O'Clock Whole Bean - I used to buy this and it's outstanding
3. Dunkin Donuts Ground
...
5. Folgers 100% Columbian Bean
...
11. Kirkland 100% Columbian Ground (rated as a best buy along with the top 3)
12. Starbucks Colombia Narino Supremo Mild Bean
...
last place - Starbucks Ground Columbian. what a shock.
 
I like Starbucks. Their Kenya is my top choice, followed by Sumatra. We use a French press and a burr grinder. I usually get a real big latte when I buy my beans (unless I'm buying late in the day).

Their philosophy is to roast the beans a little longer and darker. This is done for a rational reason as their literature explains. I suspect that some of the Starbucks hatred here has a West Mall-type origin.

I don't give a dam that Consumer Reports rates McDonalds coffee to be good. It reminds me of the coffee produced in every Army Mess Hall (maybe a hundred) I ever ate in. This is not a compliment. Taste is highly subjective, but some things are just stupid.

All that notwithstanding, I think I will try roasting some beans. Brntorng's vehemence on this is pretty persuasive and that Sweet Maria's web science is pretty thorough.
 
It sounds like the Consumer Reports test was done for coffee brewed in the actual stores vs in your home.

FWIW, there was an episode recently of Americas Test Kitchen where they had their taste test for beans bought in a grocery store.

Starbucks was at the top with Green Mountain. Surprisingly (since the show is based out of Boston) Dunkin Donuts came in last.

They also tested how many bad beans were in a bag and Starbucks had the fewest. I cant remember the technical term for the "bad bean." brntorng?
 
aww man, I was hoping no one would notice. I shirked the tilapia meal because we ended up getting an invite from some friends we hadnt seen in a while.

I'll put it on the menu for this upcoming week.
 
Torbush.

The best cup of coffee I can recall was at a hotel restaurant in Meaux, not too far Northeast of Paris, in 1972. We'd just had dinner and they served coffee from a press. If I could duplicate that cup, I would never drink any other. As much as I like Starbucks, I do not like their French Roast.

It is truly a long way from Maxwell House and Folgers (Why does Folgers grow their beans in the mountains?--because the Green Giant peas in the Valley.) to the detail of this post. This is THE COFFEE THREAD. My quest for the holy cup may be coming to a conclusion--I will roast beans.

Anyone wanting to read a similarly focused set of novels (COFFEE) should try Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey/Maturin series. Also centered on cheese toast- any bread, any cheese.
 
Based on this thread, I bought:

* Community Coffee, medium roast
* Stewart's Private Blend
* 8 o'clock coffee

I have yet to do the 8 o'clock b/c it is whole beans and I haven't really wanted to mess with using my grinder (more like cleaning the grinder).

But Community and Stewarts' are excellent. I like Community slightly better. We had been drinking HEB Taste Of XXX blends and Melibita (sp?). Community is damn good stuff. I saw they have a "Hotel" blend too, wouldn't mind trying that.

And I found all 3 of these at HEB.
 
I've found that making my own filters has really improved the taste of my brew.

I keep a stable of red wasps working around the clock. Fresh wasp paper is far-and-away the shizzle, when it comes to filtering coffee.

The secret is to keep their wood source soaked in LSD so the hexagonal pattern is really big. Just seperate them with surgical stainless steel scissors. If you get the solution right, the finished cells conform exactly to the coffee maker hopper.

You just have to get to it before they get ready lay eggs in it. Wasp spunk will add a flavor not unlike asparagus to your brew---highly undesirable to most people who really enjoy good coffee.
 
I try to buy "shade grown" or "bird friendly" labeled coffees, because they aren't grown in coffee plantations that strip virgin jungle bird habitat, where they plant coffee bushes that deplete the soil in a few years, then move on to the next stripped virgin jungle area. Coffee used to be grown solely with coffee bushes in mostly shaded areas, where the bushes live 30 years, not 3 or 4 years like these coffee farms now.
Migrating birds from the U.S. go to these areas in central and south America in the winter, and face increasingly smaller habitat for their winter homes.
I need to get a French press, hear that is really the way to make good coffee. Any reasonable ones out there?
 
My friend that I go birdwatching with bought one at REI made for camping, and he and his wife like the coffee so much they use it all the time. I thought my ground beans, fresh drip coffee was good until I tried his French press, and had to admit it was better.
My wife might love one for Christmas, don't you think?
 
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