Coffee: It's a quest for the best

[keeperofthegood]

Do you blend your coffee grounds or are you 'brand loyal'?

I blend them 99% of the time. I've found that I just do not like most of the new coffee's of the past decade. Too roasted, too dark, too bitter, too dark a bean to begin with. Overall, more like burnt molasses than coffee.

Currently I mix 2 parts random espress ground to 3 parts whatever's at the dollar store and it makes for a nice pot.

However, I am always open to suggestions on what is palatable.

Rather dislikes:
Foldgers for me is icky period
Shoppers Drug Mart house brand smells so bad I threw it out after one pot
That organic stuff in the black bag, so bad I didn't even bother to learn its name :|

Rather likes (mixed in a tub):
Nabob for the most part
dollar store
most espressos (there was one I didn't but I didn't make a note of the name at the time and I should have)
Maxwell House is ok
IKEA house brand is also surprisingly good

[shoretyus]

Brand loyal. We were addicted to Nabob Full city dark but it got too hard to get and costly. We now use PC dark roast.

Now coffee makers is another thread...

[Starbuck]

I love the Nabob coffees as well, good coffee for the money. Tradition has been my recent fav. I do however, like Kicking Horse, although my husband who drinks his black, thinks it tastes burnt. Maybe I should try blending.

[keeperofthegood]

I think some of the causes for my perceptions are:

20+ years ago the bean most commonly used was the "Robusta" and today the most common bean is the "Arabica". There are differences, and application differences. Robusta was and is a good bean in a drip maker. Arabica is darker, and tends to that burnt flavour. It is early too @_@ there are more than just this. It should all be either on the Wiki or on Youtube, there have been some good documentary shows on this.

The other is that someone found a way to chemically treat coffee beans to make them drinkable. There was a grading system, and there was a grade of bean that was used for packing material as it wasn't drinkable, but now it is with chemical processing. I wonder at all the dozens of new makes, and the huge expansion of product lines if a lot of that came about because now there was a far larger quantity of bean available. I may simply be sensitive to that flavour, maybe I can on some level taste it? I don't know :(

Yes, Nabob has been a family fav for my entire life. I can make a pot of "just" Nabob. Van Hough is another that is ok on it's own. But I more often just dump into my bucket 3 or 4 pounds of random makes, give it a stir, and go. Its done in 2 weeks, and I do again

[mrmatt1972]

Originally Posted by shoretyus

Brand loyal. We were addicted to Nabob Full city dark but it got too hard to get and costly. We now use PC dark roast.

Now coffee makers is another thread...

We like the PC dark too, but we buy whatever is on sale. Once upon a time I was a coffee hound and preferred organic/fair trade fresh roasted beans that I could grind myself at home. Now I have kids...

I still have and use a restaurant style Bunn machine in my kitchen though.

[Jimmypaz]

PC "West Coast Dark", fresh ground, french press. I can't even drink coffee when out now, unless it's espresso.

[mhammer]

I get whatever is on sale when I run out, and occasionally pick up the ritzy stuff if my nostrils are open to suggestion. I like my coffee, and there is nothing like a cup that is brewed perectly, but it is, after all, just coffee, and I'm the only one at home who drinks it. What feels like "the perfect cup" varies from day to day. I should also note that I'm a double-sweetener/double-creme kinda guy. I like my coffee thick. So many of the subtle differences between coffee brands and types simply disappear under the haze of what I stick into the cup.

At work, the place downstairs from us has a dozen different brew choices. I tend to stick to Sumatra, but it depends on the day. Of course "management" goes to Second Cup, while the recently graduated kids who think they know everything go to Starbucks or Bridgehead. For me, a good cup of coffee should cost a buck. More than that, and you're paying for ambiance. I need ambiance like I need cologne or satellite radio.

[Rugburn]

I'm a coffee snob. I usually go for darker roasts (French roasts). Ethiopian, Sumatran, Vietnamese, Hawaiian, and San Augustin from Costa Rica and Colombia. Two years ago I recieved a pound and a half of Jamaican Blue Mountain beans for Christmas! The "Holy Grail" for us coffee freaks. All brewed in my trusty French Press (Bodum) coffee maker. Life is good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica...ountain_Coffee

Shawn

[Rugburn]

Originally Posted by mhammer

I should also note that I'm a double-sweetener/double-creme kinda guy. I like my coffee thick. So many of the subtle differences between coffee brands and types simply disappear under the haze of what I stick into the cup.

One of those guys, eh? I've always been a little suspicious of you guys who like your coffee to taste just like your donuts

[Starbuck]

So, how does everyone feel about Micky D's coffee? personally I do not like it, it's too weak.