my much better half is a coffee drinker. as for me, not so much so. i will, however, drink coffee on occasion.

for the most part, i make her coffee in the morning with our Hamilton Beach BrewStation. i have recently started buying specialty coffees that are significantly more expensive - twice the price, half the size. still, the cost per cup/cost per day is not very significant.

to me, this is a lot like wine in that i don't really notice a big difference unless there is a significant disparity. i would actually say that coffee is far less distinguishable. she seems to notice a difference which is good enough reason for me to continue buying premium coffee - 100% kona, panama esmeralda, etc.

realizing that what i am spending on coffee now is not truly consequential, i looked at other specialty coffees. after reading an FT thread on Hawaii, i found a link for coffeereview.com. from there i saw high ratings for both Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and PT's Coffee Roasting among others. one of the featured Green Mountain coffees (KHC) was $7.69 for 10oz whereas one of the featured PT's coffees (Pan. Es.) was $37.99 for 12oz.

1. money aside, is there a noticeable difference in these coffees?
2. can anyone recommend these or other specialty coffees that are definitely worth the price?
3. is the coffee in any way compromised by brewing it in the HB machine, and if so is there a better machine that takes up a comparable amount of space?

TIA

1. There could be, depending on the style of roast and the origin(s) of the beans. Preferences in this regard are a highly personal thing, so I can't advocate one against the other...but one thing I would advocate for is to find beans that have been as freshly roasted as possible. Can most of the mail-order coffees claim that for the prices they charge? Frankly I rely on local roasters whose offerings I find at my neighborhood Whole Foods, where
depending on the brand roaster-to-market distance is short and turnover is brisk, and I choose my varietal coffee based on those brands. (Okay, lately I go for a dark-roasted Sumatra from Jim's Organic Coffee, a local Massachusetts roaster.) Some purists roast their own, but I am too busy/lazy/old/autopilot-in-the-AM/etc. to do that...but I do buy whole bean and grind fresh with every pot. And don't ignore the quality of your local tap water...if it tastes off, filter it for your coffee.

2. Same as supra, with the observation that the less hands and distance from roaster to table in getting your coffee, the better (and greener). Not sure that the mail-order coffee enterprises would pass that test.

3. I use a French press. It requires a kettle on the stove or an electric kettle. (I've been known to bring a portable version along with already-ground beans on the road with me, using the in-room coffee maker to heat the water.) At home you grind your own beans, a burr grinder is best, set on coarse for the French press. You also have to deal with waiting 10 minutes for the infusion to complete, and with cleaning out the grounds afterwards. It is perhaps a more visceral way of doing the morning brew, but the result is infinitely more satisfying.

1. You would have to look at on what kind of roast and such. And if you really want a fresh tasting cup of coffee, whole bean. Normally I go as far as freezing whole bean coffee (which I was told wasn't neccesary). As for me, in terms of pricing, normally I will just purchase Starbucks packaged coffee. In terms of specialty coffee, can't help you as much there.

2. I had a cup of Volcanica coffee from a friend and was quite surprised.

3. I use drip most of the time but french press for entertaining guests.

One of the cardinal sins of coffee stores is the overroasting of very precious beans.Never waste money buying kona,blue mountain,brazillian estate,etc at a Starbucks or a Peets.They kill the unique charecter intrinsic to these very special coffees.
I have been buying from Inteligentsia Coffee in Chicago.They roast the day of shipment usually and are very picky about the beans they buy and respect the beans by NOT roasting every type to a full city roast or darker.

I am sure Dallas must have such a coffee store-but it might entail a bit of a search.

The specialty coffee world is, like the wine world, full of much baloney. However, there is a very real difference, if, you hit it. Only way to tell is to try the various offerings and see which one grabs you.

I do suggest a new machine. I bought a Presto Scandinavian Design Coffee Maker a year or so ago and it is both fabulous and cheap. I read many reviews of various makers before I bought it and I think it is a superior machine. Evidently the big difference is that the water is heated twice, once right at the spraying head so it is exactly right when it hits the coffee. Be sure to buy a gold plated filter element. Machine is $40 or less around Xmas or on sale, filter around $20.

Also, a good grinder makes a big difference. Freshly ground coffee is better coffee. The coffee lovers usually suggest a burr grinder, but I have a blade which is good enough for the moment.

Bottoms up!

Stick with the wine analogy.

There are people who love two buck chuck and think it's one of the best wines out there, it's even won some awards.

There are also many people who wouldn't go near the stuff unless it was to clean paintbrushes.

Coffee is exactly the same, it all depends on what you like.

Lots of good comments here. Clearly, coffee is generally far better if it has been roasted recently. Ideally, that means you'll roast it yourself if you're so inclined. If that's more work than you are bargaining for, find a local place that roasts their beans regularly, or a mail order place that will assure you they'll send out the beans right after they've been roasted.

As stated earlier, Intelligentsia is truly obsessive about sending their coffee out freshly roasted. I have never had stale or over-roasted beans from them. The other option might be to order directly from a coffee farm that grows the stuff you like. I was recently in Kona and visited Greenwell Farms. They grow wonderful coffee, and like Intelligentsia, always send it out right after roasting. Warning: If you order a pound of Greenwell Farms Private Reserve, your wife might not let you buy anything else....

It's much like wine. The local climate and soil play a lot into the flavors of the coffee. The roasts also make a big difference. You can taste the difference in a nice cup of fresh ground coffee. Also, a bit of variety is always nice. In terms of brewing, I have no idea of what that Hamilton Beach is or does. I use a FrancisFrancis X5 and generally drink Americano (ie expresso with water to make what is roughly the same strength as a drip) and I get a taste close to the same as my local coffee shop. Of course, they are fresh grinding each shot and I'm not. They grind it for me.

There's no need to go crazy with paying for coffee. You can get excellent beans for decent prices.

I always buy my beans from the Algerian Coffee Store in London's Old Compton Street in Soho.
Specifically the Mocha Parfait beans which are one of the store's house blends.
I grind them every morning and use a stainless steel cafetiere.I think the key is to let the water stand for a while after boiling so as not to scorch the coffee.
I leave the cafetiere to stand on the warming plate of my AGA and fill a large coffee mug I bought in New Orleans 20 years ago with hot water to warm up the cup.
I've discovered that the optimum time to let it brew is usually about the time it takes me to have some rapid jiggery-pokery with the missus while she's taking a shower.Although if she's not in the mood about the time it takes me to wet shave.
When ready I empty out the water,put the milk in first then the coffee and sweeten with some Australian honey.
It probably all sounds a bit too finnicky for some people but two cups later and the usual morning hangover is already on the mend.
Especially if there's been jiggery-pokery.Fellers will understand.

We buy Contra Cafe. They ship the beans to us, we grind them here, every morning. We like them, and they pay more than fair trade prices.

I want freshly dark "French" roasted arabica whole beans with substantial aroma purchaed in small quantities for rapid consumption (and stored in a vacuum container left open for minimal periods). I don't think it really matters that much, but living in a hot climate, I do refrigerate the coffee container.

The bottom line is like the presence of UStroops in the UK during WWII...

"Over paid, over sexed and over here!"

In the case of coffee, we're suckers for over-priced, overdescribed and over sold products .

Having drunk a minimum of 6-8 cups a day since the late 50s (and even more while a Navy watchstander), the brew is necessary for me, but when it's pompously inflated to anything more than a flavorful stimulant, we've passed reality and entered the realm of BS....

You know, I used to think so. Having grown up on Maxwell House out of the stovetop percolator (coming from BNA, could there have been anything else? ) I really didn't think about my morning habit until a few years ago. But once I started sampling coffee beans from different places, roasted by different folk, some near some far...once I switched up from drip to French press...once I started grinding the beans fresh, I realized that there is so much more to coffee than just "doin' the brew".

I've had 2 humongous cups of Joe to get me from comatose to functional every morning of my adult life (and truth be told, well before that). And once I started getting particular about how I did it, I was only self-medicating myself...now I can look forward to those 2 gorgeous cups at the dawn of the next day with pleasure because I have thought about them beforehand and changed my MO accordingly. Those 2 cups are now things of beauty, and well treasured.

As a preemptive strike against subsequent comments I'll offer this background: Way back in the day around the beginning of the 20th century, if one wanted to brew coffee at home in the US, one would buy a sack of green coffee beans from the local general store and roast them as needed in the oven, then grind them up and perc the heck out of 'em. In BNA a local merchant by the name of Will Cheek realized that there would be a market for already roasted beans, and began to offer such in his store. The idea caught on (and the Cheek family became very rich). To further boost local sales Mr. Cheek approached the preeminent hotel in BNA at the time---the original Maxwell House, located in downtown BNA at the corner of 4th and Church until the early 1960s when it burned down. The Maxwell House took on Mr. Cheek's grind as its daily brew.

Then (during the McKinley administration) Vice President Teddy Roosevelt stayed at the Maxwell House in BNA soon after, and he exclaimed after sampling the coffee, "Bully, bully! it's good to the last drop!" Hence the slogan of Maxwell House, "Good to the Last Drop".

General Foods bought the Maxwell House brand in the late 1920's (well before the Great Depression) which allowed the original heirs to build a fabulous Georgian mansion to the west of BNA called "Cheekwood"...which is now the Tennessee State Botanical Gardens and Fine Arts Center, made even more lovely in the latter days by Frist money

I love coffee, but I am by no means a coffee expert. I can definitely taste the difference between the same roast of differnce brands. I tend to use a drip machine with French Roast in the morning and if I decide to have a coffee after dinner, I use a French Press.
Since I go through a lot of coffee I can't spend exorbitent amounts on coffee, I usually buy Seattle's Best, however with my sister being an international flight attendant I have her pick me up Lavazza from Italy when she's there, I find it better than Illy as do most Italians.
In Sweden I go for a brand that is cheap, but I find very good called Arvid Norquist.

Years ago Consumer Reports did a review of coffees and plain old 8 O'Clock was rated a best buy. I've been buying it ever since. The only change has been switching from regular to hazelnut-flavored. I keep my eyes open for when it's on sale for $2.50 to $3 a pound.