coffee anyone?

[mpcec]

NYC peeps, do yourself a favor and pick up a bag of Honduras Las Peñitas II from Gimme. (Or have them make a clever for you.)

[Sugar Mountain]

I've been enjoying quite a bit of central American coffee lately and fancied something different. Picked up a bag of Ethiopian Shakiso from Has Bean and it's friggin' awesome. Big flavour that at points has me thinking of dark Belgian beer. Loving it. Highly recommended for anyone in the UK looking for a good brew.

[kiya]

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/10/how-to-brew-coffee-in-a-woodneck-dripper-nel-pot.html

First time i'm hearing about this method, seems like a massive amount of work to upkeep the "sock".

[mpcec]

It's definitely more than I'm interested in doing at home, next time you're in NYC though you can get a woodneck at RBC if you wanna try it.

[JLizzy]

NYC peeps, do yourself a favor and pick up a bag of Honduras Las Peñitas II from Gimme. (Or have them make a clever for you.)

Good call. Gimme's Panama Hartmann Honey is a personal favorite, also.

[mr.invincible]

got my french press.

couple of stuff that i want to ask:

1. how do you guys like your coffee? i dont like drinking it black that much so im drowning this bitch with cream.dont know if its blasphemy, but probably because I don't have good coffee?

2. which brings to my second question. as of now, i dont have a grinder so i cant grind up beans just yet, but what is a good cheap coffee?

i bought one from whole foods and one from dunkin donuts. cant really tell the difference.

3. any good local coffee in LA to pick up some stuff other than intelligenistia or whatever

Edited November 16, 2011 by mr.invincible

[ajchen]

got my french press.

couple of stuff that i want to ask:

1. how do you guys like your coffee? i dont like drinking it black that much so im drowning this bitch with cream.dont know if its blasphemy, but probably because I don't have good coffee?

2. which brings to my second question. as of now, i dont have a grinder so i cant grind up beans just yet, but what is a good cheap coffee?

i bought one from whole foods and one from dunkin donuts. cant really tell the difference.

3. any good local coffee in LA to pick up some stuff other than intelligenistia or whatever

You should drink coffee in whatever way's most enjoyable to you. Good coffee that's freshly roasted and brewed should taste great black, so it's understandable that you need to drown what you're drinking in cream if it's tasting stale or bitter.

Honestly, investing in a grinder is going to really change your coffee experience. Coffee goes stale 15 minutes after you grind the bean, so if it's sitting in a bag for days/weeks/months it's not going to taste so great. But you should see if this is even a worthwhile expenditure for you first.

My recommendation is to go to some local spots like Intelligentsia or Commissary and try some of their coffees - opt for the ones that are freshly prepared to order (just ask for a pourover). Taste the coffee black for a few sips and see if you can taste the difference between that and what you make at home. Then try it with a little sugar, and then if you want add a little cream. See what you like and what works for you. If there is no palatable difference between those coffees and what you make at home, then stick with your current setup. If you notice a difference then consider investing in a decent grinder and go out of your way to buy higher quality whole beans.

[Tiro]

machine question:

francisfrancis X1 (with the updated brass internals, not an old one) or ascaso dream?

[canadafaf]

Been a while since I've had a nice cup of coffee.

Been drinking nothing but Tim Hortons French Vanilla coffee during the cold season. I've wanted to try some of their festive coffees but I don't know whether it's worth the hype.

[Bogie]

There is NOTHING wrong with putting creme in a cup of good coffee. It adds body and helps make flavors more accesible, me thinks.

[ajchen]

There is NOTHING wrong with putting creme in a cup of good coffee. It adds body and helps make flavors more accesible, me thinks.

Cream definitely changes the taste of the coffee, and sometimes it provides some pleasant enhancements. I like adding some to central/south american coffees, as they are usually earthy and chocolatey and a touch of cream brings those notes out more prominently. Drowning coffee in cream, though, masks any interesting characteristics that a particular coffee might have. If it's bad or stale coffee, cream can be a godsend. But it's kind of sad to put a ton of it into a nicely prepared specialty coffee.

That being said, I'm no coffee nazi. Drink it however you enjoy it, just be open to trying coffee black. You might find that you like it better that way.

[Bogie]

indeed, just enough to make it nice and golden brown. the other benefit is that it cools it down faster too, because I can't drink hot coffee at all.

[therelativity]

[concealed]

I visited Barismo when I was in Boston over thanksgiving. Very cool little place, the pourover I had was excellent. I also visited CloverFoodLab in Harvard Square, Counter Culture beans were good.

[shwanger]

I visited Barismo when I was in Boston over thanksgiving. Very cool little place, the pourover I had was excellent. I also visited CloverFoodLab in Harvard Square, Counter Culture beans were good.

i vouch for both places for anyone in boston. Barismo is pretty serious about their coffee (e.g., fully washed coffee) -- definitely a worthwhile place to check out. Clover food trucks has the cheapest pourovers I've yet to find (only $2) and they consistently use quality beans (e.g., counter culture), but they're not a coffee shop. thinking cup in downtown is the only coffee shop that exclusively uses stumptown. render coffee is a new place in south end that only has pourover offerings (no drip) using counter culture, and they really know their shit. haven't had atomic in a while but their beans were quality from my memory.

[akuma no uta]

http://drinks.seriou...er-nel-pot.html

First time i'm hearing about this method, seems like a massive amount of work to upkeep the "sock".

this seems like something i would do for like a week.

[JackCrank]

Dudes, fuck, allow me to shill harder for baratza. These dudes shipped me a bunch of spare parts, fucking free, 2 night shipping and were pleasant to talk to on the phone. Turns out the parts didn't quite do the right fix so I called them back today about fixing it up again. I mentioned that I was interested in upgrading from a virtuoso to a vario. The dude on the other end asked me to hold a few minutes and he'd call me back.

Called back 3 mins later and said he'd hook me up with a refurbed vario at a killer price if i shipped back my old busted virtuoso and covered shipping one way. That, right thar, is some uncommonly cool shit.

Baratza, yer alright.

[concealed]

someone give me some info on good coffee in ~midtown manhattan, going to be staying there for a few days end of the month

[mpcec]

come on bro

[akuma no uta]

ohmahgawdineedthis

http://www.scanomat.com/coffee-brewers/top

[redX]

lol the advertising is so stupid. "why have a bulky machine..." well now you have an entire part of your kitchen taking away storage space

[jbanger]

i have a rancilio silvia, partnered with a breville smart grinder

throw in some single origin organic free trade beans

couldn't be happier

[pepper davies]

I just ordered a Hario Buono, but I wish I ordered the Takahiro.

[wayoutwest]

^^ why's that?

[mpcec]

really? the takahiro is way more expensive. i also prefer the amount of water the buono can hold, the more water in the kettle the higher the heat retention.

e: guess the buono doesn't hold that much more but still.

Edited December 6, 2011 by mpcec

[RBales]

re: sock pot, you'd be surprised how much you use one. i usually french press, but for a single cup you can't beat the sock. it's great for an afternoon-cup, since it's a much "clearer" brew, but that could just be personal preference. i much prefer it to a v60, but for a reason i can't really articulate. aesthetics, probably.

i've been using a hario 3-cup for about a year or so and in my experience the amount of upkeep required for the sock is vastly overblown by most sources. once you're done, dump the grounds, rinse the sock in hot water, and store in the fridge in a glass of water. takes about eight seconds. i bought my sister (a coffee luddite) one for her birthday in the spring and she's a convert. it is much less forgiving of sub-par or aging beans, though.

[ajchen]

re: sock pot, you'd be surprised how much you use one. i usually french press, but for a single cup you can't beat the sock. it's great for an afternoon-cup, since it's a much "clearer" brew, but that could just be personal preference. i much prefer it to a v60, but for a reason i can't really articulate. aesthetics, probably.

i've been using a hario 3-cup for about a year or so and in my experience the amount of upkeep required for the sock is vastly overblown by most sources. once you're done, dump the grounds, rinse the sock in hot water, and store in the fridge in a glass of water. takes about eight seconds. i bought my sister (a coffee luddite) one for her birthday in the spring and she's a convert. it is much less forgiving of sub-par or aging beans, though.

it's not just the upkeep, i think it's the fact that it seems a bit gross and unsanitary (hence the dirty sock nickname) as opposed to just throwing a paper filter out. i know some people prefer the sock because they don't want the paper taste, but my palate isn't so well trained that i can notice it. i like the cleanup convenience of a paper filter more.

[pepper davies]

I just hate the plastic handle on the Buono, but the Takahiro looks pretty commonplace if you look at it real quick, I guess. I don't know. I can't afford 120 bucks on a kettle when I need a new grinder anyway.

[pokpok]

been using a bodum 3cup press every morning for the past month. Just kopped a hario mini mill burr grinder off amazon and in need to kop some beans. What are you guys having currently? Looking to pick up some beans from intelligentsia, stumptown and counter culture

[TN_]

been using a bodum 3cup press every morning for the past month. Just kopped a hario mini mill burr grinder off amazon and in need to kop some beans. What are you guys having currently? Looking to pick up some beans from intelligentsia, stumptown and counter culture

i don't think you can really go wrong with anything from those roasters, just check the bag and make sure the beans were recently roasted 1week old or less is what i go by. freshness makes a noticeable difference