great tasting coffee (does this exist)?
 

In 1992 (over 20 years ago), I had super tasting coffee in Copenhagen (hotel breakfast, railway station, etc.)--I went back 3 years later, and the "greatness" was gone.:td:
With rare exceptions (over the past 20 years), have I ever gotten "great" coffee. At home I use bottled water, and have tried many recommended brands (some based on the coffee Consumer Reports rated highly--in their tests several months ago)--just mediocre tasting coffee.
[PS: IMHO, Starbucks is overrated (the dark roasts of the Pacific NW are not all that good).]

Don't come down my way then...the coffee here is bloody awful.

The YVR Costco coffee we bought on our last holiday was sublime in comparison.

Are you buying ground coffee or beans?

Both. The bean coffee is generally better than the ground--but not "super".

It might not have been the coffee. It may have been your expectations.

Roast your own coffee beans.

Best coffee I have had recently - Lighthouse Roasters (out of Seattle) http://www.lighthouseroasters.com/. Also, Kauai Coffe has some really good blends ( http://www.kauaicoffee.com/ ). I agree with a previous poster that maybe your expectations are just too high?

The relaxing coffee break is my favorite. I enjoy the coffee to the last drop without any interruption. A cop of coffee with relaxing short break works wonder for me.

Or the method of making it.

A good machine can make a big difference to the taste.

Where are you located?

Do you prefer espresso drinks, or pour-over/drip?

I'd highly recommend doing a bit of research, based on whatever your preferences are. The coffeegeek.com forums are an outstanding place to begin. But be careful ... like FT, one can easily fall down the rabbit hole.

I'm sure that great tasting coffee exists, but it's a rather subjective proposition, IMHO. Something I think tastes great may not meet you expecations or vice versa.

Some people swear by Kopi Luwak, but I'm fine with Starbuck's Sumatra Dark Roast at home. Then again, I use local honey and half and half to flavor my coffee, which I'm sure a coffee purist would find to be repulsive.

Then, outside of the roast applied to the bean and its freshness, there is the vessel it's brewed in, the temperature of the water while it's being made, and of course the quality of the water itself. So many variables; so many different possible outcomes; so many individual tastes to suit to say without hesitation that a great tasting coffee exists according to your standards.

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I drink "unadulterated" coffee (nothing added); whatever I had in Copenhagen, they got it "right" from my perspective. One thing I have found is that the coffee slot hostesses bring to you while gambling is in general better than the coffee one gets in some of the (so called:)) gourmet restaurants in the casinos.

People get wrapped up in which beans to use and what roast (which is certainly of great importance, don't get me wrong), but just as important is the extraction method, and that it is done properly.

Again, I'm not sure where you are located, but look for a coffee shop that has knowledgeable baristas, and places that use various extraction methods so you can try the options. In particular, a great shop should offer Eva Solo, Chemex, Clover, and various other methodologies, to go along with a variety of beans and roasts.

I'd be shocked if you couldn't find something that suits you perfectly.

Hey guys. I read a lot more of the forum than I post but this thread caught my eye.

Have always been a huge coffee guy (My wife calls me a snob... :rolleyes: ) and now I roast my own. Not always but it's a "hobby" I enjoy. 0

@op - Some general rules/characteristics I follow, and by all means, mean nothing. Different for everyone.

1) When buying coffee you have to realize that large corporations roast months ahead of time. Look at a timestamp of Starbucks or DD in store and you'll notice it is from months ago. My personal opinion: Coffee goes "bad" after two weeks max after being roasted. I always brew it within a week of roasting. If I don't roast my own I order from a true fresh roaster and get it withing a day or two of roasting-use it within the next 5-6.

2) After buying the beans, keep them stored in a air tight container. Never grind beans the night before, etc. After grinding beans the grounds "go bad" after about 30 seconds. Wait to grind until your water is properly heated and ready to go (Below).

3) If you can, purchase a manual grinder. The heat generated from a mechanical roaster will alter the taste of the beans before even making the coffee. While a mechanical grinder is nice and convenient, the "old fashioned" way is the way to go.

4) When grinding, different grounds for different drinks. For example, an espresso requires an extremely fine grind while a french press requires a very coarse grind.

5) Water temp varies for different recipes but i generally keep it around 182-188. Anything higher or lower doesn't produce the correct result.

6) I personally use a french press or chemex most of the time but if you do purchase or have a coffee maker, do some research on water temp settings. Most coffee makers don't heat enough or burn the coffee.

Just some thoughts. Again, different for everyone but what I have come up with after years. Haha. Enjoy.

CoffeeAM dot com, they roast it and put your name on it, little cheaper than Costco, and much better,,,,been a customer for a few years,,,,really great...

Buy 5 pounds JA Blue Mt Blend $55.00, many more to choose from fresh roasted...

Good site, +

Best in the past.

Blue Mountain at a coffee shop in Philadelpia's Chinatown. It was a Japanese coffee shop tha made each cup fresh. $8/cup in 1996.

I consider Kona to be very good.

Some points I have learned regarding one of my favorite beverages - Coffee
 

I drink a lot of Kona when I'm at my pad in Oahu. I don't really find it to be any better than some of the other varieties of coffee, but I do think it is very good.

Coffee is definitely a "taster's opinion" brew. I've got friends that would rather fight than switch from their sacred Dunkin Donuts coffee. Others insist Peets coffee is the best. Others love Starbucks, and on the list goes for thousands of brands and hundreds of varieties.

A few things (SEVEN ACTUALLY) that I have found are important to at least try and get the best brew you can at home or on the road are listed below. This comes from over 25 years of chemistry in the Barista area of my kitchens, from watching people around the world enjoy the brew, and sampling different combinations.

1. I always start with COLD filtered water out of the fridge. No tap water at room temperature, and for heavens sake NO HOT WATER unless you are doing a coffee press... then boiling hot.

2. I store my beans in the freezer to preserve freshness. This is not as important as it is with ground coffee. Ground coffee starts to deteriorate via oxidation the moment it's ground and that's why vacuum sealing is used to preserve freshness. You should store ground coffee in a sealed container in the freezer to preserve freshness as long as possible. Beans have a more stable shelf life, so I prefer them. I only grind with a burr grinder, not with a blade grinder. I like my beans ground and not chopped to death.

3. I prefer perking when I have the time. Drip when I don't. I'm not a fan of French press. I did this exclusively for years when I lived in Paris and I think it's akin to boiling coffee. Just not my preference. What is? Old fashioned Perking IMO yields the finest coffee in the home, but you have to master the perking process and know when to stop so you don't bitter the coffee through over-perking. Or you may under perk and you've got coffee flavored water. I do a regular percolator. You can do electric percolators that time the perking process for you and shut off the perking process automatically, or you can do stove-top percolators that don't. If I do drip I NEVER do drip coffee into a glass or metal pot that sits on a burner. This tarnishes coffee unless you plan to drink it fast. I use a drip maker that drips into a thermal carafe like a Cuisinart. This gives you about an hour of hot coffee that does not continue to cook, but merely stays hot in the carafe waiting to be enjoyed.

4. Experiment with creamer, milk, skim milk, 2%, and maybe even evaporated milk. You never know what is going to tingle your taste buds when it comes to coffee. Black? With milk? With sugar? Cream and Sugar? After years of testing, the best for me is cold skim milk (about a quarter cup) poured in the cup FIRST, then immediately followed by steaming freshly perked coffee. to MY taste, this tends to mellow the brew just a tad and take any harshness away.

5. I can't choose an all time favorite. When you really master the perking or brewing process, it's more fun to move around between varieties and brands. One month it may be Kona. The next it could be Peets, the next could be Jamaican Blue Mountain, and the next... who knows. Variety keeps my coffee taste evolving. And you never know, you just may find a bean that you think is the bomb. One that takes you by surprise and you say "Wow. this is the greatest tasting coffee I have ever had".

6. When I'm out and about, I do multiple coffee shops that are different in each city. I prefer smaller chains or mom and pop places. Many are ONE SHOP WONDERS. Many of these tiny chains or mom and pop roasters do have online ordering and you can, if you find a fave while traveling, order some for yourself online. I remember once in the Dominican Republic I fell in love with a coffee served at a resort called "Cafe Lindo" and ordered it for about a year. You never know where your next discovery will come from.

7. I have different coffee varieties for different times of the day. I tend to be more Italian in scope with regard to coffee. I do MILK in my coffee anytime before 11:00 AM. After 11:00 I'd never do coffee with milk. It's too filling. I'll do a tiny bit of creme. For lunch I'll generally only do Espresso or Cappuccino For dinner I'd do something mild to relax after meal. I can use coffee to wake up, relax or just enjoy. Give me a ham sandwich, a cup of great coffee and a copy of "Le Monde" and I can spend two hours on the Champs Elysee enjoying life. ;)

Strange. I've heard muuuch more bad than good about storing beans in the freezer, other than the "You can store them there, but once you take them out, leave them out" rule.

This. IMO, NEVER store in freezer or fridge.

Also, really a terrible idea to buy ground. Just remember the "Rule of 15s":

- Green Coffee should be roasted wirhin 15 months of harvest
- Roasted Coffee should be ground within 15 days of roasting
- Ground Coffee should be extracted within 15 minutes of grinding

That's what I've heard, as they can absorb smells from food in the fridge or freezer.

http://www.ehow.com/about_4577252_sh...s-freezer.html

I only take them out to measure my bean quantity for that brew, then back they go.
It's a fact that ground coffee oxidizes very quickly. There is proof that refrigeration and freezing the grounds after removing the vacuum seal helps tremendously with preserving freshness.
Beans, not so much, but freezing does help. Just not so much as with ground coffee.
The choice is yours. I'd never go without chilling my coffee beans.

I also find that a few European ground coffee varieties are supreme... IMO.

Jacobs Koenig is one of my all time faves. Rich and flavorful without being bitter. Always a top choice for me if I buy ground coffee.

But if you were reasonably concerned about quality, you wouldn't be buying ground coffee to begin with, would you?

Have you tried the pre-mix packets of Vietnamese coffee? Sweet and strong.

It might have been Merrild's, Douwe Egberts local brand in Denmark, and Iceland. I particularly like Merrild's Extra Strong.

As far as Jamaican Blue goes, I would say the quality varies by estate. I haven't had too many different varieties, but of the ones I've had I've liked the Flamstead Estate the best.

I lurk on FT, but joined just for this thread. I frequent coffee forums more often.

First, there's still great coffee in Scandinavia. Tim Wendelboe and Koppi are two that come to mind.

Second, your problem with getting good coffee is that you don't know what makes coffee good. Once you figure that out, you can lose the worries.

Here is a list of roasters that sell the best coffee you can get:

East:
Terroir / George Howell
Barismo
New Harvest
Ceremony
Stumptown
Intelligentsia
Blue Bottle
Craft Coffee (subscription service)
Dallis Bros.

Central:
PT's
Intelligentsia

West:
Coava
Stumptown
Intelligentsia
Gimme! Coffee
Ritual
Wrecking Ball
Sightglass
Blue Bottle
Tonx (subscription service)

And then on the other end of course is brewing:

www.Brewmethods.com

Spoken like a true amateur :) Seriously though, once you get into something culinary you'll realize the subjectivity that is perceived by a novice, may not be by someone more experienced. Prices for unique coffees are much much higher than the rest. Kopi, Jamaica, Kona, are all expensive due to low supply. They are mostly junk coffee. The last Kona I had tasted like wet cardboard, which is desirable by many people, but you won't find any industry or coffee geek people begging for it.

Exceptional tasting coffee is an elusive gift. I've only managed to find 2 places on earth that come close:

Cafe Volio coffee - I first had it in Costa Rica. Tremendous, ridiculously pleasant. Nothing has come close.
Latte Express: This is a small non-descript Vietnamese sandwich shop I walked into while visiting downtown San Francisco (48 5th St). The coffee was alarmingly good.

Yes, you might.

I can't find certain brands in bean form. I love Jabobs Koenig. Only available in Ground.

Great coffee doesn't come from a brand per se. It comes from people committed to quality. The best roasters travel to source and work with farmers and buy microlots. When you purchase the coffee you get the name of the farmer and the lot.

When this level of detail is given on the growing end, most times the roaster would not like to waste their money and therefore present their coffee at peak quality. This is done by selling whole bean roasted fresh. Having someone work their tail off for a season in the heat only to grind the coffee and let it go stale is fairly goofy.

As far as the fridge goes, consensus in the coffee geekery community is that you can freeze whole bean in double barrier containers in the freezer, but once it's out it's out. Don't put it back in. Keeping ground coffee cold won't do anything. It's already done.

I like Jacobs Krönung, it's perhaps my favorite tassimo selection. Notably smooth with no bitterness whatsoever. FWIW, I've seen it sold in bean form.

Lately for me, cafe cubanos are where it's at.

Clover Brewing Machines
 

Find a Starbucks with a Clover Brewing System. They offer some great international coffees and brew the cup at the time you order it. The taste is dramatically better than standard Starbucks blends.

http://www.starbucks.com/coffee/learn/clover

Better yet, as I pointed out a page or so ago, find a local cafe that has a Clover (along with other great extraction equipment) and knowledgeable, passionate baristas.

When I first began learning about coffee, I too went for the Clover at Sbx. It was better tasting than their other drip.

How do I see it now? Worthless and absurd.

You can brew higher quality coffee at home using a pour over or aeropress. The Clover still has the weakness of relying on a poorly trained sbx employee to calibrate the grinder. I seriously doubt they are back there calculating TDS and Extraction % with a refractometer.

So a Clover is really no different than putting pond water into a luxury car. The problem is the input, and the price of the machine. Most high end shops in the U.S. (the best ones) do not even bother with Clovers, and would most likely laugh at the idea of buying a Starbucks owned machine that costs $12k.

You'll notice most shops use Hario cones, Aeropresses, Chemexes, etc. Not a big refrigerator sized mammoth that does the same thing! Plus, there's something called a Gold Cup Brewer...

I went back and had a Clover brewed Kenya (I usually love them) and it was the worst I had had in two years. It was stale (old) and roasted way too dark for a Kenya.

Point is, if you think a Clover at Sbx is the peak of coffee you have a whole world of awesomeness awaiting you.

I am now really glad I don't work in a gourmet coffee shop.

Lol, why's that? Us coffee "snobs" far too demanding? ;)

I brought some Kopi Luwak back from Indonesia on my last vacation. Gotta, say, pretty good cup o' Joe.

Chris

Last New Year's I spent several nights here - http://www.coffeeestateinn.com/ - and every morning enjoyed fresh-roasted coffee from the coffee the inn cultivated in its garden. It was amazing.

In NYC, my favorite is Blue Bottle but Stumptown and joe are also good.

I think the key is definitely in the extraction. Fresh properly ground beans in my French press is my favorite way to go.