81 replies to this topic

[Lippy]

For the past year or so, I'd given up on coffee beans and grinding and have been satisfied using regular Melitta in the can. The other day, I decided to buy a pound of one of my former favorites -- Dean & DeLuca's Yrgacheffe. I had the beans ground in the store. I'm sorry to report that it's not the same. This used to be a heavy-bodied, almost chocolatey brew. The three cups I've had of my most recent purchase are like generic Starbucks, relying on over-roasting the beans to get some flavor. Then I thought that the grind might be too coarse and I re-ground a little at home. No difference.* Yrgacheffe is notoriously inconsistent, but I've never had any like this. I don't know if I can blame D & D, the supplier, the roaster or the kid behind the counter who ground the beans. Probably all. I might as well go back to Melitta.

What are your favorite coffees? How do you prepare them?

* Hmm. Now that the coffee has cooled off a bit, it's tasting more like what I remembered, but still not the same.

[MyKong]

Favorites:

Blue Mountain Coffee--shade side beans from Jamaica.

Equal Exchange Organic French Roast.

Julius Meindl--the closest thing crack cocaine. Actually, I usually cannot handle it as it is for serious coffee drinkers only.

I am actually not that picky when it comes to coffee, except that I abhor flavored coffees, e.g. roasted hazelnut irishcream, pumpkin espresso.

I usually prepare it au lait. I like my coffee milky, with a tiny bit of sugar.

[Cathy]

I buy Kenya AA from Fairway, prepare it in a Melitta and drink it with milk/no sugar. But lately my morning cup has been Buendia (also from Fairway), the only decent instant I've ever tasted.

Am I banned?

[yvonne johnson]

Illy (ground, red (espresso) and blue (drip) labels).

(The owners of the house where we house-sat recently had Gevalia (many sorts) and I didn't like any of them.)

[fantasty]

When we first moved to NY we tasted just about every coffee we could get our thirsty little hands on. Fairway's Danish became our "house" coffee. I like their Kenya AA, Cafe Blend, French Roast, and Vienna Roast, too.

Occasionally we'll drink Oren's Beowulf blend.

It might be time to re-do our city-wide coffee test, given how much our other tastes have changed.

[Abbylovi]

Cathy if there's anyone who should be banned for coffee cruelty, that would be me. I take the cheapest possible coffee, Folgers, for instance. And to that I add milk, French vanilla creamer and sugar.

[Vanessa]

Cathy if there's anyone who should be banned for coffee cruelty, that would be me. I take the cheapest possible coffee, Folgers, for instance. And to that I add milk, French vanilla creamer and sugar.

Ah yes, remembrances of Abby trying to take my mouldy mini jar of Nescafe used in baking once every 5 years to make coffee

I like Illy, I very much like the coffee I have at the moment but haven't a clue what it is except that the packager is Italian. Maybe Kiku can help - it's one of those ones in fancy packaging sold by Cavallini - trouble is once you open the outer packaging and throw it away, as I do, the inner is completely anonymous. I also note that I tend to like coffees from Indonesia and that part of the world.

n.b. my coffee is always made with a stainless steel stovetop moka-type machine.

v

[edit: Illy name corrected ]

[Ron Johnson]

Cathy if there's anyone who should be banned for coffee cruelty, that would be me. I take the cheapest possible coffee, Folgers, for instance. And to that I add milk, French vanilla creamer and sugar.

Ok, that's it. How do I kick Abby off the board?

[omnivorette]

I witnessed Abby buying coffee from Agata & Valentina quite recently.

Our house blend these days is Cafe du Monde or French Market, mixed with Martinson's (we order it bulk wholesale, to get the blend that they sell to the Chinatown coffee shops), and another coffee - sometimes the Fairway house blend, sometimes Agata...

We use the Bodum Santos contraption. I think it's divine.

[Ron Johnson]

I know I am repeating myself here, but I use Illy pods for my Francis espresso maker. They are idiot-proof and make a decent espresso alone or for use in a macchiato, capp, latte etc.
If I make traditional coffee I use the locally roasted stuff from Java Brewing Company.

[Rail Paul]

Meinl

there's a Meinl coffee shop in Chicago

3601 N. Southport
Chicago, IL 60613
Phone: 1 800 50 MEINL | 773-868-1857
Fax: 773-868-1858

[Wilfrid1]

I am still waiting to be shown some coffee beans which, when freshly ground, make a a beverage superior to that obtained from ready-ground coffee. I'm serious. My grinder is all ready. Someone make a suggestion.

As it is, I like my coffee strong, and I make Bustelo in a moka pot.

[guajolote]

there's a Meinl coffee shop in Chicago

3601 N. Southport
Chicago, IL 60613
Phone: 1 800 50 MEINL | 773-868-1857
Fax: 773-868-1858

i have to get out more, that location used to be an amoco station.

i just purchased an alpenrost, which i really like but haven't mastered it yet. usually roast a combination of guatemala antigua and columbian.

[Daisy]

I don't drink coffee but would like to provide a quality cup to those who do. This thread is so full of differing opinions that it's making me nervous. I have a Melitta drip pot, as well as an electric espresso/cappucino machine that my dad gave me years ago and which I have never used although various guests have. So what's a good, basic rule of thumb for making a cup of coffee with the primitive means at my disposal? And what is a good bean/blend that will please most people? I do own a grinder.

[omnivorette]

I do not understand what the fuss is about Meinl. In Vienna, it's just normal coffee. I mean, it's perfectly fine, but I don't think it's anything worth going out of your way for. They serve it at Cafe Sabarsky. It's a nice cup of coffee.