Agreed.
It would never do to run out. Indeed, the very thought of running out (of coffee) brings me out in a cold sweat (on these hot days), and is not to be entertained.
Besides, I rather enjoy perusing coffee sites.
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Espresso Enthusiasts
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Agreed.
It would never do to run out. Indeed, the very thought of running out (of coffee) brings me out in a cold sweat (on these hot days), and is not to be entertained.
Besides, I rather enjoy perusing coffee sites.
absolutely........especially when they have something exotic
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Absolutely.
And, when succumbing to the temptation of the "exotic", you can thrill to the discovery of something new, and extraordinary, and different, an exciting new coffee from a hitherto unknown producer and unexplored country (or region), one that you will happily return to, or, equally possible, you can discover that this particular coffee is not for you.
But, it is all part of the coffee journey of exploration and discovery. You will never know unless you try it out.
My approach to life, and coffee, these days is encapsulated in your comment.
Sometimes Maxwell House gets the job done. There's a place for "bad" coffee in this world -- I just try to keep it out of my house.
www.seriouseats.com
The Case for Bad Coffee
Lately, something has changed. Lately, I've been reacting to fancy coffee the same way a child reacts to an accidental sip of red wine mistaken for grape juice. I don't know when it happened, but I've devolved into an unexpected love affair with bad coffee. It's not just instant coffee that I...
Sometimes Maxwell House gets the job done. There's a place for "bad" coffee in this world -- I just try to keep it out of my house.
The Case for Bad Coffee
Lately, something has changed. Lately, I've been reacting to fancy coffee the same way a child reacts to an accidental sip of red wine mistaken for grape juice. I don't know when it happened, but I've devolved into an unexpected love affair with bad coffee. It's not just instant coffee that I...
I didn't expect to enjoy reading this, but, I did.
Thanks for sharing it; serious eats also offers some other excellent articles.
At night, I often like to have a coffee. I don't buy decaf beans, so I mix some decaf granules (Nescafe Gold, or "Special Filtre" as it's called here) with a small amount of full-cream milk then add hot water.
Sure, it doesn't taste like the espressos or lattes I drink during the day, but it's still pleasant.
Sure, it doesn't taste like the espressos or lattes I drink during the day, but it's still pleasant.
Waiting for my delivery of coffee.
I have just finished up the very last of the coffee in the house, and the coffee I ordered last Thursday is supposed to arrive this evening.
I have just finished up the very last of the coffee in the house, and the coffee I ordered last Thursday is supposed to arrive this evening.
I've been in this situation before.......hopefully delivery arrives in time! I always tell myself that if worse comes to worst, I can always go to the coffee bar that's a few blocks away and buy an emergency supply.
Last week I received my most recent order. After the too bland Guatemala in the previous order, this time it's a bunch of coffee favorites from the last year or two; Ethiopian-Sidamo, Rwanda, and Hawaii-K'au (which I'm enjoying right now)
Thankfully, it arrived - around half an hour after the "window" of time that had been both emailed and texted to me earlier today.
The thing is, any other time I had placed an order on Thursday, the coffee had arrived on either Saturday or Sunday; and then, for it to arrive not just on Monday - but late on Monday....
Actually, I had strictly rationed myself yesterday; this was because I wanted to ensure that I had sufficient coffee to return to the human race when I arose this morning.
Thoroughly enjoyed a mug of (fresh) Kenyan coffee (part of the batch that was delivered yesterday), served with organic hot milk.
To appreciate, know and recognise what bad or good coffee/espresso is, you need to have tasted a lot of variations, bad and shi#%tty coffee included.Sometimes Maxwell House gets the job done. There's a place for "bad" coffee in this world -- I just try to keep it out of my house.
The Case for Bad Coffee
Lately, something has changed. Lately, I've been reacting to fancy coffee the same way a child reacts to an accidental sip of red wine mistaken for grape juice. I don't know when it happened, but I've devolved into an unexpected love affair with bad coffee. It's not just instant coffee that I...
Today I enjoy going in directions about beans where I usually don't go.
Not that I think that my machine would deliver a really bad espresso regardless if made from beans. I though have an option to use grinded coffee too, that I have used in rare occasions out of not common reasons. It doesn’t tasted very good at all, but an experience as well.
Coffees usually becomes bad after it have been grinded from beans, and not used pretty much immediately.
Much of the oily bean-shell are the aromatic part, in my experience. When grinded, it needs to be consumed pretty much immediately to deliver best taste.
Still enjoying my Guatemalan blend, it tasted almost heaven today 🙏🏼☕️♥️
True. Ground beans go stale far sooner than whole beans so they are harder to store. I always recommend grinding the beans as you prepare to make the coffee.
I think judging the quality of the coffee by the appearance of an oily-shell on the bean is tricky. I think it comes into play depending on the roast as the oily shell mostly is a by product of the roasting process. A dark roast (even a medium roast sometimes) that is oily is more likely to be fresher. But a light roast will almost never be oily in appearance because the oils are retained within the bean. On a fresh dark roasted bean, you can still see the oils because they have not yet evaporated. This beautiful oily appearance will not necessarily make for a better tasting coffee though -- I mean you may not like the taste of even a fresh coffee.
The article specifically calls out Maxwell House, which I assume is not unlike Folgers or any of the other mass produced ground coffees you can buy at the grocery store. I haven't purchased these coffees for my home in years but I am sure I have consumed them a lot while outside the house. So, I am not sure if I like them or not anymore. But I liked the article because I agree that drinking coffee at a breakfast or lunch with friends can certainly outweigh the ho hum experience of drinking a mediocre coffee in isolation.
Enjoyed an Ethiopian coffee (in a proper ceramic cup) in a very lovely local coffee shop, staffed by charming and helpful enthusiasts, who were courteous, chatty and competent.
As I so very nearly ran out of coffee (or, almost ran the risk of running out), in addition to the tardy delivery - this week - of last week's order of coffee - I also treated myself to another bag of Ethiopian coffee yesterday, purchased in that lovely, local coffee shop where I passed a very pleasant half hour, and enjoyed a beautifully served coffee.
So, for now at least, I am well stocked with coffee.
So, for now at least, I am well stocked with coffee.
Local coffee shops are very nice to revisit now and then, especially those that can serve an excellent maybe unconsciously forgotten coffee-drink at times.
These covid-times have changed habits, that we need to learn to take up again.
I most definitely do ♥️☕️👍🏼
Agree completely.
It is one of life's civilised pleasures - calling to mind an elegant and cultured world and way of life and living - to enjoy a long, lingering, coffee in a welcoming (and really good) local, coffee shop.
And, this is something I had always enjoyed, but (with reluctance) was obliged and required to forego during Covid.
Ok maybe this is not really worthy for this thread but I was in a pretty decent coffee shop at the Geneva railway station yesterday (not Boreal but Coffeetime) and opted for this drink:
I was mildy surprised as it's not bad. Not as good as cold brew or ice coffee made from scratch but it works, is not too sweet and made by a reputable Italian coffee roaster that makes very good beans for espresso etc. you can taste neraly everywhere in Italy. A good alternative to Red Bull and the like especially in summer.
I was mildy surprised as it's not bad. Not as good as cold brew or ice coffee made from scratch but it works, is not too sweet and made by a reputable Italian coffee roaster that makes very good beans for espresso etc. you can taste neraly everywhere in Italy. A good alternative to Red Bull and the like especially in summer.
I went over the border to Germany this morning and went to Tchibo, a German chain.
They were giving free coffees to sample their new Costa Rica (100% Arrabiata) coffee. They were making it in one of their machines which was pushing way too much water through it. Tasted horribly bitter and bland. I would have thought a coffee shop like Tchibo would at least program the machine correctly.
As an aside, their "Espresso Sizilianer Art" (80% Arrabiata 20% Robusta) makes good espressos for a shop-brand, especially when milk is added.
They were giving free coffees to sample their new Costa Rica (100% Arrabiata) coffee. They were making it in one of their machines which was pushing way too much water through it. Tasted horribly bitter and bland. I would have thought a coffee shop like Tchibo would at least program the machine correctly.
As an aside, their "Espresso Sizilianer Art" (80% Arrabiata 20% Robusta) makes good espressos for a shop-brand, especially when milk is added.
Perhaps they do not train their people properly; perhaps they do not look after (as in clean) the machine properly.
Thoroughly enjoyed an Ethiopian coffee (a post-Staurday-market mug of coffee) with organic hot milk.
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The reason I mention this is that, a decade or so ago, I knew a very talented, enthusiastic (and vastly experienced) Italian chap who worked in one of those new, hip, uber-cool coffee shops.
He was stupefied at the extraordinary sums of money investors (and others) were prepared to put into setting up such coffee shops; they wanted for nothing re equipment, (tens of thousands spent on such stuff), gorgeous crockery, and (sometimes, especially in the eary days) great coffee.
Yet, - to his amazement - they spent (or invested) next to nothing in terms of (serious, professional) staff training, for they didn't see it as relevant or necessary.
Almost invariably, they would receive terrific (initial) reviews, yet within six months, the coffee they served was unspeakably vile, and you wondered about your own palate, your unreliable memory, and the glowing reviews you had read.
The Italian explained to me that this was because - very often - the staff had not been trained to do such (deceptively simple) stuff such as clean those outrageously expensive (and utterly gorgeous) espresso machines, which meant that there was often a build up, of, for example, stale coffee, and oils, in the guts of the machine.
In Italy, he pointed out, everyone was trained properly - for, this was seen as a proper profession, and proper training meant professional standards maintained, not least in ensuring that the machines were spotless, which, in turn, could guarantee consistently high standards.
One of those days, when without a solid and enough big and strong (read very strong and bigger than usually) espresso, I wouldn’t wake up.
Long intense night, yup.
Wonderful Espresso, will be fine to even make some good yoga in a few too.
@Scepticalscribe yep, taking loving care of the utilities we use for our drops of coffee/espresso heaven needs its awareness too. Same as all organic or mechanic vehicles we use for driving our various parts of life with grace and pleasure 🙏🏼♥️☀️
Long intense night, yup.
Wonderful Espresso, will be fine to even make some good yoga in a few too.
@Scepticalscribe yep, taking loving care of the utilities we use for our drops of coffee/espresso heaven needs its awareness too. Same as all organic or mechanic vehicles we use for driving our various parts of life with grace and pleasure 🙏🏼♥️☀️