For those that hate the expense of paying for shipping when they order their beans, www.gocoffeego.com provides 10-12 decent micro-roasters. If you buy three or more bags of coffee, you get express shipping for free. I've tried more than half of the roasters out already.
Not nearly as smuggy as you guys but I bought a higher end Cuisinart grind & brew, enjoying a nice italian roast and while not lanekiffinsmuggy, still
This new coffee is unbelievable. The beans are perfectly round and not misshapen like Starbucks or other beans... almost like they are handpicked for perfection. After grinding them, I realized I didn't have spring water so I went out to get some. Half my house smelled like coffee grounds. It tastes amazing. I will have to keep trying to get it just right but it's no joke. I think I may be a semi-snob now. I saw some 50 year old lady holding a bag up one of those grinders at the store when I was buying my water. I chuckled. Is that wrong?
i had that machine for a year and liked it for ease of use. but then i got issues with the grinder getting clogged. so i ditched it. otherwise i found it a very good brewer (not as much temp issues as most other ones)
don't leave your grinded beans out for more than an hour. you want to brew within 10 minutes of grinding. on those beans notice how they are not shiny like Starbucks -- but flat brown. that's because it's not over roasted to where the second crack draws out all those oils (which is what makes those beans so shiny). If you run through the bag you'll see that Andrew Phillips, the kean roaster gets those beans absolutely uniform.
the grinder got clogged once, if you don't wipe out the leftover grounds inside it they build up moisture and clog up on the next grind, opposite of smuggy
So nice to have someone else on this board with some decent taste (and also the same level of hate for Starbucks). I may be the only other person here who has a clue what "second crack" is. As someone who often roasts at home, it is nice to see.
What kind of roaster do you have? Where do you get your green beans? I'm thinking of getting a Behmor 1600.
Another benefit to buying from a roaster is simply the freshness of the beans. If you buy a lb. of coffee at Starbucks - it'll say something like "best if used by (3 months from now)." Typically, you don't want to use beans that are 14 days or older. Buying beans that were roasted the day before you bought them makes a huge difference in the quality of the coffee. I've never used Starbucks beans - but I've heard it's difficult to get crema from them when pulling a shot.
I have a homemade rig. I use a breadmaker and a heat gun. Actually works really well, once you firgure out what the fuck you are doing. I get most of my beans from Sweet Maria's, although the price of greens has shot through the roof lately. I looked at the Behmor, but it was easy enough to get into roasting with the $40 setup I have...then I found out it works as well as the $500 Behmor and the $1,000 Hottop. Just less convenient/consistent.
In its simplest definition - it's the tanish/light brown foam on top of the espresso shot. It's an indicator that you're making espresso correctly. There's a huge number of factors that go into making good espresso - temperature, the grind of the bean, tamping, etc. But if you do not have fresh beans, it's very difficult/impossible to get crema on top of your shot.
Cool. I've been on Sweet Maria's site a lot. The 1600 is only $299. I just don't know if I want to go down the path of home roasting because I've heard once you start, you never want to go back.
I had some of Caribou Coffee Obsidian whilst visiting Minnesota for my best friend's wedding. Like it a lot more than Starbucks beans. Any recommendations for dark coffee? Not outrageous, but a nice dark blend? My dad's birthday is coming up and he is a fan.
the_baumer -- if you're ever in OC hit me up on the PM. I will take you to see a client of mine. He's a Q-grader and green coffee importer (sells to Kean, Klatch among others). We just picked up a new Diedrich IR roaster - it's fucking awesome. This afternoon we roasted 5 pounds of panama geisha today. we'll wait until sunday to cup it and then have a snobby jizz fest over it.
Recently gotten into coffee and am similar to Blake, have a pretty nice Cuisinart grind and brew. What are some good recommendations on beans? Been sticking to Italian roast for the most part but want to venture out.
go earlier into the thread. there are tons of bean sourcing suggestions. start looking into single origin beans and not blends. and go for medium roasts where you can actually determine the flavor profile. then if you want to try blends, go for some of the more specialized blends. the stuff you get at grocery stores are over roasted blends with some decent beans mixed with exchange grade robusta beans from brazil or columbia. pick a good brand (again, earlier in this thread) and buy a 1/2 to 1 pound from various regions (depending on season). I always say to start with an Ethiopian.
http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/ http://www.metropoliscoffee.com/ Whole Foods carries Intelligentsia and Metropolis (at least in Chicago - where they are based)
i'm almost over intelligentsia -- they are getting inconsistent. my feeling is just buy from guys like equator that you know there's one guy that is the roaster and its not sub'd out to a contractor.
That sort of thing tends to happen as companies grow. I know several people from there have left to start up their own shops - Metropolis being one. I had a friend that used to work in the warehouse here in Chicago early on and he had some good stories about the place. Used to steal whip-its from the place, would barter coffee for free beer from the Goose Island when they delivered to their brew-pub, and Charlie Trotter is a real asshole.
Intelligentsia is turning into Starbucks, way too big. They also just bought out, and will now certianly fuck up, Ecco coffee which was a great operation.
Just kind of getting into coffee. A couple guys at work and I have been ordering from Magnum Exotics out of Michigan. Really, really good: http://www.magnumexoticscoffee.com/ http://www.javaboulevard.com/
Speaking of coffee snobbery, I'll introduce this bargain: I don't know how much Jamaican Blue Mountain beans costs in yalls areas, but it's very expensive down here. I think the last time I was at my good store in town Blue Mountain coffee was something like $25 per pound. However, my dad picked up a 2 pound bag of it at Costco for $12. Crazy good deal. Also, it's always fun to exploit cheap labor and globalization.
Costco actually just started carrying Magnum Exotics(the links I posted) and their Jamaica Blue Mountain is pretty good. Their Kona is also very good, but the Hawaii Hazelnut is top notch.
Wow this is a surprise. Wife brought home a french press just now. I tried it right away and that's a fucking great cup of coffee.
my little sister really likes coffee so i was thinking about getting her some different flavors for christmas. i don't drink coffee so i dont know what some good coffee brands or whatever are. what does tmb enjoy that might be a little out of the ordinary? links are not only recommended but encouraged and no pics of sister will be forthcoming, im not dumptime, so dont bother asking
i have a kuerig machine at the office so we drink a bunch of diff types therefore this thread is of interest to me. we drink caribou's morning blend. have had emril's bold blend which i doubt she would like. Do ya'll have any fair trade coffee shops(or whatever they call em now)..if so just go in there and ask some coffee snob behind the counter what to get her.