Coffee Help Please

[catfishm2]

To me, lighting up a cigar, a cup of coffee, and watching the sun come up is the ideal start to the day. This is my time and it just doesn't get any better. But here lies the problem; in all my years I don't think I've really had a good cup of coffee. I'm ashamed to admit it but our coffee comes off the grocery store shelf in a can. I've read your posts about the different types you drink and grinding your own beans and such and I'm ready to take my coffee drinking up a notch. But ignorance and lack of knowledge has held me back. Besides types of coffee, are there any suggestions on types of grinders, type of grind; you know just basic stuff for a beginner. I will say that we use an automated drip maker if that helps. Thanks for any help you might give.

[SeanGAR]

You can get a lot of information on Starbucks web site.

I prefer East African coffees, but that is a personal thing, I've had them all (well, except that kopi luwak).

The key to good coffee is freshly roasted coffee that was freshly ground used with clean water in a clean coffeemaker. I buy from a local shop that has a roaster and roasts their own coffee, so it is always very fresh. You can buy drip grind coffee and store it in the freezer in a tupperware and it will keep quality for weeks. You can grind your own beans, I use a cheap rotory blade grinder, and I store beans in the freezer.

If you buy "good" coffee in most grocery stores they will largely suck too. The key is age, if the beans were roasted 2 - 3 months ago, they will not have the same flavor as fresh. I would go find a coffee shop that roasts their own beans, but a pound of Kenyan AA drip ground, take it home and store in the freezer.

have fun

[floydp]

Hey fellow Virginians, I like that too catfish and at dusk too.In the last consumer reports mag they liked 8 o'clock bean and Dunkin Donuts coffee. I guess the 1 lb bag. I love coffee mornings and evenings,always have with meals at restaurants. We usually use creamer (hazelnut) so all it has to be for us is strong. I drink it black when out.

No expert here I'm pretty vanilla really,just like things to be consistent. and the creamer takes care of that. good luck catfish. as long as it isn't

[MocoBird]

Nothing better then a fresh cup of coffee. Fresh roasted beans are really the key. As far as grinders, any of the popular brands will do just fine. He!! I was working at a fire station and watched them grind up about a pound of beans at once in a regular blender. Stay away from the grocery store stuff. Here's a link for Killer Beans. http://www.killerbeans.com/ I buy alot of beans off this site. VERY fresh roasted and the customer service is some of the best on the net. The guy who runs it, Jerry, is one super guy. Check it out! Trying different coffee's is as much fun as trying different cigars. I'm typing this while drinking a cup of Kona from some beans that a friend gave me last night. He just brought them back from a recent trip to Hawaii. Excellent cup of coffee if I do say so myself.

[Bman]

Catfish...there is alot of info on this site dealing with coffee...doing a search will be a big help....from here I learned about roasting your own coffee...Sweet Maria's has a great little home roaster for around 150 usd....I picked one up last christmas along with a sampler of green beans...you don't know what a good cup of coffee is till you have fresh roasted...I speak from my own experience...also Mr. Jerry at Killer Beans has supper products also...a web search will bring up both of these sites....Good Luck....Bman

[shelvingunit]

I have to agree with Bman and MB - Mr Jerry at Killer Beans is the way to go. My previous coffee of choice was watever my wife picked up at the store, but after getting bombed with some killer beans last week my eyes are open. Get some killer beans and a grinder and enjoy.

[SeanGAR]

Oh, I just noticed you're in Richmond. You're in luck. Mill Mountain absolutely kicks ass for quality coffee at excellent prices.

http://www.millmountaincoffee.com/richmond.html

You can buy absolutely any coffee there and get freshly roasted stuff. I would buy a half pound of a couple of different coffees, maybe a Sumatra and a Kenyan AA or Tanzanean. If you get them to grind it, and store in the freezer in a Tupper, it will last a month or so and retain quality.

[El Rey del Mundo]

I drank one (or was it two?) cup of coffee this year. No wait a minute it was last year, this year I havent drank any coffee... Let me continue the story... Last year I drank one (or was it two?) cup of coffee. I was at a funeral. The only other option was tea, so I decided to have the coffee. I tell you something about funerals... you always get good cake. Typical that I hadnt eaten anything (food) so I couldnt stuff myself with that yummy yummy cake. Anyway... and this is the sad part of the story, they told me there was soda/lemonade that I could have drunk instead of the coffe... Typical...

[soulskater]

For realy good coffe you really need to roast your own beans! Sweet Marias and a few other places offer the Fresh Roast coffee roaster wich is inexpensive and a great roaster for beginners. The I-Roast is a little more but i've heard nothing but good things about it.

If you are going to start roasting your own, I would suggest you start with Central American coffee before moving to the East African. It is quite easy to start raosting at home. I taught my 11 y.o. neice how to roast. Consider a french press and a high quality burr grinder. Start off small. I little investment will really pay off with high quality coffee.

[kansashat]

I'm not quite as into coffee as some of the other folks, but do grind my beans.
I like the following types of coffee.

1. Kona
2. Anything from Seattle (they really know their coffee up there).
3. Jamaican Blue Mountain
4. Sumatra
5. Kuaii
6. Columbian

[catfishm2]

Thanks to everyone for passing on the info and recommendations. I'm going out this week and purchase a couple of different blends. I think I'll hold off just a little while on roasting my own till I get my feet wet. Should be alot of fun pairing up different coffees with different cigars. Thanks again to everyone for helping me to get started!

[txmatt]

I am soon going to start roasting my own coffee. I am equipping up currently. I was hoping to get started before Christmas but that just isn't going to happen. To get the best coffee beans you need to roast your own or buy from a supplier that roasts fresh daily. Coffee tastes best when consumed within a week after roasting.

An often overlooked item for the best tasting coffee is the grinder. If you are roasting your own beans you also need to grind the coffee. The blade style grinders get inconsistant results and heat up the grinds. You will have big chunks and little powder from your ground beans. You can agitate while grinding which helps, or you can grind longer and sacrifice more beans to the afforementioned powder and heat the grinds which can add bitter flavor. The solution is to get a burr mill grinder which smashes the beans instead of cutting them. You will get a much more consisitant grind out of burr ground coffee which will greatly improve the taste. Burr mill grinders range from around $50 to well over $200. I have a $50 Cuisinart one that can be found at Bed Bath and Beyond. They always have 15% off coupons floating around so you can get one for $35 tax.

Finally, your coffee maker. First thing first is that in a drip coffee maker you want a model that gets the water around 200 degrees. MR coffee, Braun, and many mainstream post only hit around 180, so they don't get the most flavor out of the grounds. A lot of coffee fanatics swear by Technivorm machines, but they are $100+. I have been using a Cuisinart Brew central I got refurbed from Amazon for $50 and it gets the water to around 190.

Two makers that a lot of people have reviewed favorably on coffee forums for their low price, hot water temperature, and flavor are both available quite inexpensively right now:
Presto Scandinavian at WalMart.com on clearance for $27 (just ordered one as a gift)
Melitta/Salton Clarity at Chefscatalog.com for $20, shipping is free right now (ordered one for myself even though I don't need any more coffee makers)
The above 2 makers produce very close to the quality of the Technivorm makers at 1/4 to 1/5 their price.
You then really need to taste to decide whether you like the paper filter or SwissGold filter flavor better. I have been using the Swissgold filter myself. Although washing out the filter is a pain at times, I do prefer the flavor.

-Matt-

[DonJefe]

Home roasting is definitely the way to go! When I find free time(not often enough) I grab a cigar, some green beans and my roaster and head out to the deck. You do not want to roast indoors unless you have a very good exhaust fan! Not only does it make outstanding coffee, but it is a diversion for me from the craziness of life.

[mosesbotbol]

For Good Coffee:

Burr Grinder
French Press
Water, just off boil

Good beans. I like Peets by far. Whole Foods has pretty good store stuff (roasted daily), Illy if you like lighter roasted coffee, and then there's always Starbucks. Don't bother roasting at home; the pros can do it better and it's under a week old from roasting, I see know benefit towards home roasting.

Don't be skimpy on the beans, and don't let it steep too long in the press. Just make and serve.

I collect coffee pots, but ususally make espressos out of my Ranchilio.

[whodat1]

For a good intro into single origin coffee, western Costa Rican is hard to beat. Especially the beans from the La Minita estate. The key to good coffee is to grind right before you brew and as others have said, fresh roasted is the way to go.

Green coffee can keep up to two years, roasted coffee is good for a max of two weeks and ground coffee starts to lose flavour after two hours.

Even though I home roast, I think the two biggest improvements to my coffee came with using a quality burr grinder and a presspot.