Coffee Drinkers!!!! What's your fix???

[Alaskan Rover]

Give up the java goods!

What's your favorite bean? Your favorite roaster? Your favorite local coffeehouse??
If Starbucks (Baahhhh!!), what's yer favorite Starbucks brew/flav?

What brand of home-brew beans/ground coffee have you found in the stores or online that is the best?

Electric grinder vs. old-fashioned manual grinder??

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I like european-style coffeehouses with a cool, laid-back feel to them. Couches, chessboards, books, guitars in the corner, golden lab on the floor, cat in the window, hippies on the couch, etc. That pretty much precludes most Starbucks.

Although for a chain, Starbucks is pretty swank and they DO have some good coffee and barristas that know how to make a cuppa, and I'll go there in a pinch. My standard 'bucks brew is "Pike Place" or every now and then a double espresso...I don't do their fancy lattes or cappucino shit.

As for home:

I prefer an old antique wooden box-style manual grinder, as it grinds the beans much slower. The electric ones can actually re-burn the beans, they grind so fast.

I used to be a big french press fan, but now I've found something way better, as it also presses a cool little espresso...without all the fuss of a espresso maker.

It's called the "AeroPress" by Aerobie, Inc. and it's the niftiest little coffee press out there. And it's totally NOT a french press, so no dealing with messy clean-up or grounds in your joe.

It looks similar to a french press but it works by air-pressure instead of a screen plunger. The plunger on an Aero Press is actually more like a great big rubber syringe that forces the brew through an extremely fine paper filter by hand. I guess it is similar to those single serve automatic machines that ppl rave about...but the AeroPress is a manual press and much simpler. You control the pressure.

Check it:





I noticed right away that as long as you follow its directions, it makes WAY better coffee than a french press. It will also make a cool espresso if you use fine-ground espresso ground.

Don't bother with that 'Cafe Bustemento Espresso' though...found in the 'spanish section' of most stores....that stuff tastes like it's been filtered through rat dung and cat urine.

I prefer Caribou roasters.

and Montana Coffee Roasters....their Huckleberry Coffee Beans are the cat's meow.

Let's hear some coffee talk.

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[concretejungle]

blah, blah, fucking blah

Less fucking words. Jesus Fucking Christ. Nespresso since I'm a lazy.

[Jer]

I like the one that comes out of the pot with the jittery lightening bolts at the gas station.

AK - I'll bet you like beer that tastes like elderberries too, right?

[DasBlunt]

Aero press, you just nailed my Christmas gift for my wife. Rock on!

[Socialist]

I'm using an electric grinder w/ 454 horse power kicking horse coffee. It all goes into a black and decker 5 cup coffee pot.

Tastes best when I first open the bean bag - when all the beans have that glossy coffee oil all over them. I'd like to try roasting my own coffee beans once, but I'm passively looking for the green beans not putting any effort into it.

[EarlyWood]

someone put a cup of boiling water in front of me yesterday and a jar of Folgers..
me: "how do you do this?"

..but.. sprite's got a machine that requires a single serving pod to be filled manually with ground coffee, boiling water gets forced thru, lots of foam and shit. Something of a pain in the ass to do a single serving every time but it tastes good...is this too technical?

[Alaskan Rover]

I like the one that comes out of the pot with the jittery lightening bolts at the gas station.

Is that the stuff that they leave on the burner for like half a day so that it comes out somehere between 10-W40 and liquid heroine?

AK - I'll bet you like beer that tastes like elderberries too, right?

Now a very light taste of elderberry, that might make a mighty fine hefeweisen, though!




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[Alaskan Rover]

I'm using an electric grinder w/ 454 horse power kicking horse coffee. It all goes into a black and decker 5 cup coffee pot.

Tastes best when I first open the bean bag - when all the beans have that glossy coffee oil all over them. I'd like to try roasting my own coffee beans once, but I'm passively looking for the green beans not putting any effort into it.

Keep the beans in the fridge after you open them....makes a big difference. Make sure you re-seal the bag really well, though so you the beans don't absorb the fridge odors.

[Dhelihiker]

Equator has probably the best beans. Its all about the freshness of the roast and the grind. Burr grinders if you care. If your beans are roasted 2 weeks ago youre losing flavor, if you grind more than 5 minutes before brewing you missing the point altogether. I like a good slow pour over with 40-50 g. of coffee for 12 oz. French press isnt bad but a little gritty.

Drip coffee makers do a fine job, it must be clean tho which is tough to maintain IMO.

I can get geekyer if need be. I really hate shitty coffee and equally adore good coffee.

[That was Pontus]

GSI coffee grinder ($20 burr grinder = score!), Bodum french press, currently running low on Oso Negro though, will have to pick up more.

[iceman]

Dunkies iced with milk no sugar.

[wanker]

I like to use a Machinetta. Keeps me from drinking a liter from a french press and I stay jitter free.

[RootSkier]

French press in the early morning, some manky brew from the business building late morning, quad espresso in the afternoon, shit dripper in the law review office the rest of the night. Plus random Red Bull.

FML.

[Meadow Skipper]

Locally roasted Sulawesi beans, ground just before brewing. Usually in a Capresso drip maker, sometimes french pressed, or small Melitta filter in the field.

[straight outta sultan]

Aero Press all the way. Makes great coffee, pretty cheap, pretty easy clean-up. After two years daily use it might need to be replaced, but I still like it because it makes 1-2 cups easily, and that is all I need, instead of a whole pot of coffee.

[BraddA]

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I'll have to try the Aero Press. As for my beans, these guys rule 'round here:

http://kaladi.com/

[mbizzles]

The free stuff at work.

[Viva]

Just discovered a kool new coffee joint in Mariposa: Pony Espresso. The roast their beans. Good shit.

My local joint in Encinitas was Java Hut, a kool, laid back place for true locals.

In PDX it was Risttreto, a few blocks from where I lived in NE. Great fucking coffee (Stumptown coffee was for loosening rusted lug nuts off old abandoned pickup trucks).

In South Tahoe, I am singularly pleased to say that Hot Gossip is alive and well in its new location on Hwy 50. I loved that place (back in its original location) and have been a loyal customer since the 80s.

Alas! Miracles, in Cardiff is long gone. Lousy coffee, but no place that I ever patronized had as much soul as that run-down shack.

[Tye 1on]

Bought the aeropress, not impressed. Sticking w drip, may bring out French press. All were using fresh ground French roast, mostly starfucks.

First mug for me is a 20 oz'er. Aero only filled a third. Maybe I could of done two batches at half the grounds. Should experiment more, but first impression sucked.

[BCMtnHound]

Most mornings begin with a 6-shot stovetop Bialetti, fresh ground espresso or maybe a dark roast (oso>kickinghorse>whatever's on the grocery shelf). Weekends that rise rough might entail getting out the french press for the sake of volume. Gave up the office brew when they downgraded to folgers - just can't stomach that crap.
Have a single shot GSI for solo camping/touring, but when the whole pack goes out, one of the hounds is carrying the Bialetti.

[DasBlunt]

Bialetti's is the tool of choice down in the islands. Awesome flavor and strong.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

I buy Pete's Italian Roast to brew up each morning. Grind the beans, put 'em in the Mr. Coffee then feed the dog and go take a shower. If I'm working, coffee goes in travel mug and is enjoyed in the car. If I'm not working, I sit at the computer for awhile.

Millstone is decent too, as is Tully's and several others. Not a fan of Starbucks, I'll only go there if I'm jonesing for a fix and there's nothing else around.

In the afternoons I'll often go to Uptown Espresso and get a double tall mocha. There's this tall, skinny, super cute barista there, and the coffee's pretty damn good too.

[lionelhutz]

I like Trader Joes french roast or espresso roast served out of my saeco giro talea super-automatico.
That's a FINE fucking dopio right there.

[beaterdit]

I've got an Aero press, it's good for work where the coffee is shit and it's nice to have a fresh cup every time. I agree the volume is a little lacking but I just make it strong. Don't usually use it home.

I've got a three shot (?) Bialetti which is my go-to cup at home, I take the whole thing Americano style with some milk and a little sugar. Yeah I'm a wuss. Also got a six shot (?) for when there are two.

The french press is usually just a camping measure these days, still like it though. If it's handy and I'm just sittin around I'll brew it up at home to just drink all morning. The stainless thermous model is the only way to go.

Gringer is electric rotary, looking at a Burr grinder.

Beans are fresh French roast from Salt Lake Roasters, good stuff. I've been told not to keep it in the fridge because you get condensation moisture from temp changes, and it's hard to keep the fridge odors out. I keep my beans on the counter in an air tight jar and it keeps them nice and moist and oily. What won't fit in there from my pound I seal up in it's bag then double freezer bags and put it in the freezer till needed. Seems to keep my shit pretty fresh but then a pound only last me eight or nine days on average.

Because I'm weird, sometimes I'll sprinkle a LITTLE bit of cinamon and/or crushed red pepper in the grinder with my beans. Got that idea from a mexican dude I used to work with, pretty tasty but not for everyone.

Can't abide by shit coffee and if I haven't had any, steer clear.

One day I'll splurge on a real espresso maker.

[MattK.]

I use a Hario hand grinder with a ceramic burr and an aeropress. I grind my beans at the time I make each cup of coffee. I am currently drinking organic mexican coffee grown the Chiapas region of Mexico purchased from a local coffee roaster. Buying fresh roasted beans makes a huge difference in taste.

I have been using an Aeropress for about two years now and am very happy with its performance. I use a little more coffee than is recommended when brewing with the Aeropress and make the equivalent of a triple shot of concentrated coffee. Then I then either dilute it with hot water or milk to taste.