Specialty Coffees - your thoughts
Goes into a lot of detail on the physics and chemistry of different grinders, different brew mechanisms, etc.
May 9, 2008 | 7:07 pm
#32
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 135
Personally, I like the Jose Vanilla Nut at Costco. I don't have the time to grind the beans at home, so I grind them there, transfer the coffee to mason jars and use my Tilia Food Saver to put a vacuum on them.
Probably not up to coffee connoisseur standards, but I like it and its reasonable.
Probably not up to coffee connoisseur standards, but I like it and its reasonable.
May 9, 2008 | 8:12 pm
#33
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Having been a coffee roaster and retail store owner in a previous time, you do have a local roaster that is very good White Rock Coffee http://www.wrcoffee.com/
And there are huge differences in coffees from around the world. Just a brief primer there are two main types of coffee trees, the Robusta and Arabica. While Robusta coffee beans are more robust than the Arabica plants, but produces an inferior tasting beverage with a higher caffeine content. Your store brands such as Folgers and Maxwell House are made from robusta beans. Robusta is much cheaper than Arabica beans. And the caffeine content is about 3 times as high as Arabica.
In general Arabica coffees that are grown at higher elevations tend to be lighter in body and higher acidity...best respresented by the Costa Rican coffees such as Tres Rios. Coffee acidity is typically a highly valued quality especially in Central American and some East African coffee such as Kenyan AA. On the other end of the scale would be the full bodied coffees, which have a heavier mouth feel. A Sumatra Mandheling would be a good example of a full bodied, low acidity coffee. Also the darker the roast the fuller the body will be and hense less acidity and less caffeine.
There are many wonderful coffees out there that cost far less than Kona and Blue Mountain. And by the way, a lot of the coffee that is sold as Jamaican Blue Mountain is NOT. If you are going to pop for the real deal purchase the Wallingford Estate Jamaican Blue Mountain.
Try the Costa Rican Tres Rios or Terrazu, Puerto Rico's Yauco Selecto, Guatemala Antigua, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe or Harrar, Yemen Matari Mocha or the blend Mocha Java which adds Estate Java to the Matari Mocha for a rich cup of coffee.
A good source for additional information is the Specialty Coffee Association of America http://www.scaa.org/index.asp
Hope this will be of some assistance, as you might gather I am a bit of a coffee nut
Sam
And there are huge differences in coffees from around the world. Just a brief primer there are two main types of coffee trees, the Robusta and Arabica. While Robusta coffee beans are more robust than the Arabica plants, but produces an inferior tasting beverage with a higher caffeine content. Your store brands such as Folgers and Maxwell House are made from robusta beans. Robusta is much cheaper than Arabica beans. And the caffeine content is about 3 times as high as Arabica.
In general Arabica coffees that are grown at higher elevations tend to be lighter in body and higher acidity...best respresented by the Costa Rican coffees such as Tres Rios. Coffee acidity is typically a highly valued quality especially in Central American and some East African coffee such as Kenyan AA. On the other end of the scale would be the full bodied coffees, which have a heavier mouth feel. A Sumatra Mandheling would be a good example of a full bodied, low acidity coffee. Also the darker the roast the fuller the body will be and hense less acidity and less caffeine.
There are many wonderful coffees out there that cost far less than Kona and Blue Mountain. And by the way, a lot of the coffee that is sold as Jamaican Blue Mountain is NOT. If you are going to pop for the real deal purchase the Wallingford Estate Jamaican Blue Mountain.
Try the Costa Rican Tres Rios or Terrazu, Puerto Rico's Yauco Selecto, Guatemala Antigua, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe or Harrar, Yemen Matari Mocha or the blend Mocha Java which adds Estate Java to the Matari Mocha for a rich cup of coffee.
A good source for additional information is the Specialty Coffee Association of America http://www.scaa.org/index.asp
Hope this will be of some assistance, as you might gather I am a bit of a coffee nut
Sam
May 9, 2008 | 8:12 pm
#34
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May 9, 2008 | 8:28 pm
#35
Join Date: Oct 2007
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Try non-Kona coffee from Hawai`i! It's as good as Kona, comes with a wide variety of characteristics, and is often cheaper, too. Just about all of other islands grow coffee now. I love the full-bodiedness of Moloka`i coffees and the milder Kaua`i coffees. The Ka'u region on the Big Island has made a name for themselves locally with its coffee.
May 10, 2008 | 4:47 am
#36
Join Date: Nov 2007
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To summarize some of the "facts" presented so far in this thread (trying to keep this general so that no matter what your personal preference in coffee is):
1. Choose the coffee that YOU prefer. If it's cheap, more power to ya. There is some correlation between price and quality, but price is also affected by trendiness of a particular bean (e.g., Jamaica Blue Mountain); supply (Kona produces less than Costa Rica); organic/biodynamic farming methods; and "fair trade" status (see "trendiness").
2. Each type of bean has an optimum roasting point beyond which the flavor is diminished. Make sure the bean you like is not overroasted.
3. Minimize the time from roasting to grinding the beans.
4. Minimize the time from grinding to brewing the beans.
5. Use quality water for your brew.
6. Excluding espresso, the preferred method for making coffee is with the French press. (This point may be met with more disagreement than the previous four).
1. Choose the coffee that YOU prefer. If it's cheap, more power to ya. There is some correlation between price and quality, but price is also affected by trendiness of a particular bean (e.g., Jamaica Blue Mountain); supply (Kona produces less than Costa Rica); organic/biodynamic farming methods; and "fair trade" status (see "trendiness").
2. Each type of bean has an optimum roasting point beyond which the flavor is diminished. Make sure the bean you like is not overroasted.
3. Minimize the time from roasting to grinding the beans.
4. Minimize the time from grinding to brewing the beans.
5. Use quality water for your brew.
6. Excluding espresso, the preferred method for making coffee is with the French press. (This point may be met with more disagreement than the previous four).
May 3, 2014 | 6:52 am
#38
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: BWI BOS IAD FRA DUS
Posts: 136
coffee grinder
Having been a coffee roaster and retail store owner in a previous time, you do have a local roaster that is very good White Rock Coffee http://www.wrcoffee.com/
And there are huge differences in coffees from around the world. Just a brief primer there are two main types of coffee trees, the Robusta and Arabica. While Robusta coffee beans are more robust than the Arabica plants, but produces an inferior tasting beverage with a higher caffeine content. Your store brands such as Folgers and Maxwell House are made from robusta beans. Robusta is much cheaper than Arabica beans. And the caffeine content is about 3 times as high as Arabica.
In general Arabica coffees that are grown at higher elevations tend to be lighter in body and higher acidity...best respresented by the Costa Rican coffees such as Tres Rios. Coffee acidity is typically a highly valued quality especially in Central American and some East African coffee such as Kenyan AA. On the other end of the scale would be the full bodied coffees, which have a heavier mouth feel. A Sumatra Mandheling would be a good example of a full bodied, low acidity coffee. Also the darker the roast the fuller the body will be and hense less acidity and less caffeine.
There are many wonderful coffees out there that cost far less than Kona and Blue Mountain. And by the way, a lot of the coffee that is sold as Jamaican Blue Mountain is NOT. If you are going to pop for the real deal purchase the Wallingford Estate Jamaican Blue Mountain.
Try the Costa Rican Tres Rios or Terrazu, Puerto Rico's Yauco Selecto, Guatemala Antigua, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe or Harrar, Yemen Matari Mocha or the blend Mocha Java which adds Estate Java to the Matari Mocha for a rich cup of coffee.
A good source for additional information is the Specialty Coffee Association of America http://www.scaa.org/index.asp
Hope this will be of some assistance, as you might gather I am a bit of a coffee nut
Sam
And there are huge differences in coffees from around the world. Just a brief primer there are two main types of coffee trees, the Robusta and Arabica. While Robusta coffee beans are more robust than the Arabica plants, but produces an inferior tasting beverage with a higher caffeine content. Your store brands such as Folgers and Maxwell House are made from robusta beans. Robusta is much cheaper than Arabica beans. And the caffeine content is about 3 times as high as Arabica.
In general Arabica coffees that are grown at higher elevations tend to be lighter in body and higher acidity...best respresented by the Costa Rican coffees such as Tres Rios. Coffee acidity is typically a highly valued quality especially in Central American and some East African coffee such as Kenyan AA. On the other end of the scale would be the full bodied coffees, which have a heavier mouth feel. A Sumatra Mandheling would be a good example of a full bodied, low acidity coffee. Also the darker the roast the fuller the body will be and hense less acidity and less caffeine.
There are many wonderful coffees out there that cost far less than Kona and Blue Mountain. And by the way, a lot of the coffee that is sold as Jamaican Blue Mountain is NOT. If you are going to pop for the real deal purchase the Wallingford Estate Jamaican Blue Mountain.
Try the Costa Rican Tres Rios or Terrazu, Puerto Rico's Yauco Selecto, Guatemala Antigua, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe or Harrar, Yemen Matari Mocha or the blend Mocha Java which adds Estate Java to the Matari Mocha for a rich cup of coffee.
A good source for additional information is the Specialty Coffee Association of America http://www.scaa.org/index.asp
Hope this will be of some assistance, as you might gather I am a bit of a coffee nut
Sam
May 3, 2014 | 1:11 pm
#40
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: SIN / CNX / SFO
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Combine it with a great French press, good locally-roasted beans, and you'll have an unbeatable cup of coffee.
May 4, 2014 | 12:41 am
#41
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: BWI BOS IAD FRA DUS
Posts: 136
May 4, 2014 | 12:45 am
#42
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: BWI BOS IAD FRA DUS
Posts: 136
Quote:
Originally Posted by norenewa
Any suggestions for coffee grinders? What brand and type do you recommend in the less than $259 range?
I'm a big fan of the Breville Smart Burr Grinder. I've had mine for around a year now, and am very happy: it's well-built, the easy LCD settings make it easier to use compared with a lot of the more "professional" models, and it's the best balance I found of reasonable price and good performance.
Combine it with a great French press, good locally-roasted beans, and you'll have an unbeatable cup of coffee.
Originally Posted by norenewa
Any suggestions for coffee grinders? What brand and type do you recommend in the less than $259 range?
I'm a big fan of the Breville Smart Burr Grinder. I've had mine for around a year now, and am very happy: it's well-built, the easy LCD settings make it easier to use compared with a lot of the more "professional" models, and it's the best balance I found of reasonable price and good performance.
Combine it with a great French press, good locally-roasted beans, and you'll have an unbeatable cup of coffee.
I have an excellent local roaster and grind my beans daily but I am hearing cleanup can be a chore.
May 4, 2014 | 10:52 am
#43
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: SIN / CNX / SFO
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Breville has a PDF of the manual online including cleaning instructions if you want to take a look.
May 4, 2014 | 10:02 pm
#44
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: BWI BOS IAD FRA DUS
Posts: 136
Quote:
Originally Posted by norenewa
Thanks. I have been looking at the Breville but what is the cleanup like?
Cleanup isn't too bad—I do it every time I put in new beans, and it takes about five minutes. The grinder comes with a little brush, and you just take the hopper off, twist one of the burrs apart, and brush clean from top and bottom.
Breville has a PDF of the manual online including cleaning instructions if you want to take a look.
Originally Posted by norenewa
Thanks. I have been looking at the Breville but what is the cleanup like?
Cleanup isn't too bad—I do it every time I put in new beans, and it takes about five minutes. The grinder comes with a little brush, and you just take the hopper off, twist one of the burrs apart, and brush clean from top and bottom.
Breville has a PDF of the manual online including cleaning instructions if you want to take a look.