Yes, that's the Hilton set up! Weak coffee!
 

I've made it somewhat tolerable by adding a packet of Starbuck's Via to each cup of coffee.

Coffee on cruise ships is universally bad unless you buy a premium (extra cost) cup of coffee.

Maybe Santa will buy me something nice in this department like the Aeropress.

:td::td::td:

Don't let the Lavazza and Cuisinart name fool you, the brew from this contraption is not Lavazza quality nor the quality from my brother's Cuisinart full size drip brewer.

An Aeropress is also smaller than any French press I've seen, and the cleanup is better than anything. It gets all the water out, so it's extremely easy to clean because of the puck-like grinds. For $20 and the size, I can't see how anyone would do any better.

Yep. that's exactly the Cuisinart coffee makers we've seen in several properties. Those blue and silver Lavazza coffee packs were at the Hilton Suites in Boca, but up here we get the "Villa Gold" Arabica packets which seem a bit stronger and better tasting then the Lavazza brand.

Across the street from the Hilton NF, at the Fallsview Casino Resort, they use the Kuerig coffeemakers which brew Timothy's Seattle coffee. Not bad compared to some other blends.

bj-21.

The problem is with any of these 1-2 cup drip makers is that the hot water is not in contact with the coffee long enough for proper extraction. Add to this that many do not get to a proper brew temperture right off and the small quantity of (usually poor quality)quantity of coffee portioned into that little pod.
My infusion water heater works for the first problem-but short of carrying your own coffee nothing is going to make a great cup in a hotel room.

I've found this trick works pretty well - there simply is not enough coffee in the packets to make a cup of coffee that tastes like, well, coffee. :) Add to that the fact that it's pre-ground and pretty stale...

Wow, that's hard core! :cool:

Why not flush them down the loo?


I love those little packets, but then I drink instant at home, too.


Add a packet of hot chocolate mix for a cup of Bust-... Coffee® :D

This seems to be the most popular suggestion. Does anyone travel with one, though? I've found a local store that sells them, and I'm going to pay one a visit this week to see what they actually look like and how one would pack in a generally full carry-on.

The water temperature is a concern, though. The general consensus, and I'd agree, is that the in-room coffee brewers that don't make good coffee also wouldn't make water that's hot enough. An immersion heater seems to be the solution here. That doesn't take up much room, but it requires something solid to contain the water while heating. (Yes, I tried using it with a styrofoam cup full of water once) I usually carry a heavy glass cup (least likely one I have to break) and it doesn't really take up significant room since I can stuff a pair of socks inside.

Using the cup I'm going to drink from for heating the water for brewing with, say, a filter funnel, is a problem. It usually takes two pours of water to get a cup of coffee and that won't work when the cup for the hot water and the finished coffee are the same. A French press or the Aeropress, it seems, would not have this problem so this seems to be the best solution so far.

The weak appearing and weak tasting coffee is surely evidence of this. With the 1-cup makers that I've experienced, it's barely the color of weak tea. I don't understand why anyone thinks these things actually work. Maybe everybody who tries one just assumes that the one in his or her room is broken and just gives up. I ask at the desk if they have a different model coffee maker (they sometimes actually do - apparently housekeepers are like me, and hate to throw things away). I also leave a comment on the comment card or send an e-mail to the manager.

I'm sure that's the case as well. The coffee, in addition to being weak, doesn't seem to be very hot, though I've not brought along a thermometer to check it. They may be concerned about liability should a guest spill coffee on himself and sue the hotel.

No problem here. I carry my own coffee, or buy some locally if it's more than a 2-3 day trip.

I've heard good things about Nescafe Classic which I can find in the international foods section of my local grocery store, but only in a fairly large jar for about $8. That's a lot of bad coffee to have around if I don't like it.

I wasn't aware that immersion heaters had progressed that far. I have a cheap and simple one that I think I got when I was trying the French press "travel mug" rig about 20 years ago. It takes about the length of a shower to get an 8 ounces of water to just about to start boiling. I'd prefer to not use a system that defines the order in which I must do my morning activities.

I always do, and I travel with ground beans. I use the in-room coffee maker for heating water generally. It's not great temp-wise, but I'm too lazy to travel with an electric kettle or immersion heater. Sure is better than what they offer already, though.

That's what I drink all the time, and they also have them in single serve packets sized for an 8 oz mug. There is (or was) another brand that had coffee in tea bags, but I didn't like it as much. I think it was Maxwell House.

I got one yesterday and I'm now drinking my second cup of coffee made with it. I'm not sure it's a keeper yet, but it has potential. I'm using like you do, and as I'd be likely to do in a hotel room, using my filter/drip pot for hot water. It's about 170 degrees (175 is recommended). I really think the water needs to be hotter. Next cup will be with water heated on the stove just as a control for the experiment.

One trick that was immediately obvious to me when I opened the package is that it uses more coffee than what's the conventional formula. A "standard" coffee scoop is 2 tablespoons, which is officially recommended for a 6 oz cup. I usually use two scoops (4 tbsp) for an 8 oz cup. But two scoops with the Aeropress scoop is 6 tbsp. No wonder it brews a strong cup. ;)

Upon further research, it turns out that the recommendation I heard was for Nescafe Classico, which is different from Classic. We have a few Latino markets around here, which apparently is where it can be found. Someone on line reported finding a package of 8 individual packets in a FoodMart for $1.04 but I suspect that may have been a mistake or an old price. The on-line price is about a buck less than the Starbucks Via.