Coffee

[damufunman]

No idea if you can get your hands on this or not in your area, but Kalamazoo Coffee company has THE best coffee on the planet.

Or if you want a really high amount of caffeine, Death Wish. Which is also super tasty.

I just grabbed a bag last week to try something new. You in MI? We have a few Michiganders here, but as far as I know I'm the only one in SE MI.

I'm from, and currently reside in Kalamazoo. Nice to see a fellow Michigander. Are you liking the coffee? Highly recommend Backpackers Blend.

We got a couple GRer's and at least one other up north.
It seems I don't have a particularly refined pallet (?) and can't rally tell the difference between different blends, other than darkness of roast. Might also be all the milk I put in my coffee But the coffee is great!

[Root]

No idea if you can get your hands on this or not in your area, but Kalamazoo Coffee company has THE best coffee on the planet.

Or if you want a really high amount of caffeine, Death Wish. Which is also super tasty.

I just grabbed a bag last week to try something new. You in MI? We have a few Michiganders here, but as far as I know I'm the only one in SE MI.

I'm from, and currently reside in Kalamazoo. Nice to see a fellow Michigander. Are you liking the coffee? Highly recommend Backpackers Blend.

My coworkers are highly addicted to Backpackers Blend.

[BeEfNBrOc]

No idea if you can get your hands on this or not in your area, but Kalamazoo Coffee company has THE best coffee on the planet.

Or if you want a really high amount of caffeine, Death Wish. Which is also super tasty.

I just grabbed a bag last week to try something new. You in MI? We have a few Michiganders here, but as far as I know I'm the only one in SE MI.

I'm from, and currently reside in Kalamazoo. Nice to see a fellow Michigander. Are you liking the coffee? Highly recommend Backpackers Blend.

We got a couple GRer's and at least one other up north.
It seems I don't have a particularly refined pallet (?) and can't rally tell the difference between different blends, other than darkness of roast. Might also be all the milk I put in my coffee But the coffee is great!

The differences are subtle. Lighter roast is a little smoother, darker is a stronger flavor. Pro tip: lighter roast is a higher caffeine content because the beans aren't roasted as long.

No worries, if I don't put milk, then I'll throw a scoop of whey or casein for flavor.

[BeEfNBrOc]

No idea if you can get your hands on this or not in your area, but Kalamazoo Coffee company has THE best coffee on the planet.

Or if you want a really high amount of caffeine, Death Wish. Which is also super tasty.

I just grabbed a bag last week to try something new. You in MI? We have a few Michiganders here, but as far as I know I'm the only one in SE MI.

I'm from, and currently reside in Kalamazoo. Nice to see a fellow Michigander. Are you liking the coffee? Highly recommend Backpackers Blend.

My coworkers are highly addicted to Backpackers Blend.

They have great taste! If it gets out of hand we can always create a support group.

[Allentown]

No idea if you can get your hands on this or not in your area, but Kalamazoo Coffee company has THE best coffee on the planet.

Or if you want a really high amount of caffeine, Death Wish. Which is also super tasty.

I'll be honest, I've tried about 4-5 different bags, and I wasn't a fan. It's only when it's been on sale, so it might have been old, but it turned me off enough that I just don't buy it any more.

We got a couple GRer's and at least one other up north.

More than one up north, IIRC. And I think the other SE-ish person hasn't logged or even IG in... a really long time.

The differences are subtle. Lighter roast is a little smoother, darker is a stronger flavor. Pro tip: lighter roast is a higher caffeine content because the beans aren't roasted as long.

It kind of depends, actually, but the best way to get stronger coffee and more caffeine is to do what my family does: and an extra scoop or two "for the pot." The saying in my family (and I'm sure elsewhere) is "I want my spoon to stand up" meaning it's so thick the spoon in your mug (which you don't actually put in, because nothing goes in coffee...) stands on it's own. Which no one actually makes that way? I don't know, they were farmers then truck drivers, so who knows what it means or where it came from.

My coworkers are highly addicted to Backpackers Blend.

I prefer pretty much anything from Higher Grounds, honestly. And Mundos/ Black Market(BLK/MRKT?) if you are feeling $$$.

[Root]

Mundos/ Black Market(BLK/MRKT?) if you are feeling $$$.

I've haven't bought their beans, but I've purchased cups of coffee at both places and found them to be unpleasantly bitter.

[Allentown]

I've haven't bought their beans, but I've purchased cups of coffee at both places and found them to be unpleasantly bitter.

Huh. The in-laws sometimes have Mundos beans, and I've typically found whatever one they get to be pretty floral out of a French press. I think I've only had the drip coffee from there once, normally I get cappuccinos because I can make drip/pour over at home, but I don't recall it being anything but similar in quality to their other drinks, which is pretty good. Never had any beans/coffee from Black Market, only a cappuccino again, but I assumed based on what I had and their reputation.
As far as in-house drip coffee, locally Mad Cap has hands-down the best coffee I have ever had, but I couldn't replicate it at home and their beans are too expensive.

[BeEfNBrOc]

No idea if you can get your hands on this or not in your area, but Kalamazoo Coffee company has THE best coffee on the planet.

Or if you want a really high amount of caffeine, Death Wish. Which is also super tasty.

I'll be honest, I've tried about 4-5 different bags, and I wasn't a fan. It's only when it's been on sale, so it might have been old, but it turned me off enough that I just don't buy it any more.

We got a couple GRer's and at least one other up north.

More than one up north, IIRC. And I think the other SE-ish person hasn't logged or even IG in... a really long time.

The differences are subtle. Lighter roast is a little smoother, darker is a stronger flavor. Pro tip: lighter roast is a higher caffeine content because the beans aren't roasted as long.

It kind of depends, actually, but the best way to get stronger coffee and more caffeine is to do what my family does: and an extra scoop or two "for the pot." The saying in my family (and I'm sure elsewhere) is "I want my spoon to stand up" meaning it's so thick the spoon in your mug (which you don't actually put in, because nothing goes in coffee...) stands on it's own. Which no one actually makes that way? I don't know, they were farmers then truck drivers, so who knows what it means or where it came from.

My coworkers are highly addicted to Backpackers Blend.

I prefer pretty much anything from Higher Grounds, honestly. And Mundos/ Black Market(BLK/MRKT?) if you are feeling $$$.

To each their own. I admittedly drink coffee only occasionally, so take my opinions on the subject with a grain of salt.

Haha. Sounds like motor oil. I don't think I can handle that.

Higher Grounds, eh? I'll give it a try if I see it. Is that in most stores, or an online ordering type deal?

[Allentown]

Higher Grounds, eh? I'll give it a try if I see it. Is that in most stores, or an online ordering type deal?

I get it in some stores around here, but that was more specific to Root.
If you like the Kalamazoo beans, have at it! I'm all for going local as much as possible. My personal favorite is Grand Rapids Coffee Roasters, they are priced pretty close/below many other regional roasters, but I pick it up still a little warm from the roaster. Ferris is another one that's not bad, too, but it's hard to suggest spending more money for something when you already have one you like that, at least here, has a great price.

On a somewhat related note, my grinder has been putting out wildly inconsistent volumes of grounds. Seems to have started when I got into the garbage cheap coffee from Costco? Once it is gone I'll try a slightly less garbage cheap bean from Costco, and if it's still doing it I might have to go to the hand grinder or something. Dropping coin on a new grinder, sadly, isn't really in the cards right now, and since my wife decided to give up coffee the volume is low enough that doing it by hand isn't a monumental task. Might even just do it at work.

[BassPlayer]

Wow! Fellow coffee roasters in this thread! I have been roasting coffee for a couple of years. I get my beans primarily from Sweet Maria's, but have a few orders from Happy Mug from time to time. I started out roasting with a cast iron pan and a whisk on the stove top. I moved to a 1970's air popcorn popper for awhile, but the quantity I could roast at one time was just so limited. Past several months I have been using a stove top pop corn popper that has been working ok.

We mostly french press our coffee with ratios of about 60-70 grams of ground coffee per liter of water. I got an aeropress last month and have been fairly happy with it. In general it has doubled the amount of coffee we are consuming.

What do you all use for grinders?

[murphyreedus]

What do you all use for grinders?

And what's a reasonably priced (<$100) grinder for a coffee drinker who doesn't have the patience for anything but his electric percolator and the occasional cold brew in a french press?

[Manveer]

Wow! Fellow coffee roasters in this thread! I have been roasting coffee for a couple of years. I get my beans primarily from Sweet Maria's, but have a few orders from Happy Mug from time to time. I started out roasting with a cast iron pan and a whisk on the stove top. I moved to a 1970's air popcorn popper for awhile, but the quantity I could roast at one time was just so limited. Past several months I have been using a stove top pop corn popper that has been working ok.

We mostly french press our coffee with ratios of about 60-70 grams of ground coffee per liter of water. I got an aeropress last month and have been fairly happy with it. In general it has doubled the amount of coffee we are consuming.

What do you all use for grinders?

What do you all use for grinders?

And what's a reasonably priced (<$100) grinder for a coffee drinker who doesn't have the patience for anything but his electric percolator and the occasional cold brew in a french press?

This has been a nice, relatively low cost, quiet, small footprint conical burr grinder for pourovers and French press:



It's not good enough for espresso, but fine for everything else.

[murphyreedus]

This has been a nice, relatively low cost, quiet, small footprint conical burr grinder for pourovers and French press:



It's not good enough for espresso, but fine for everything else.

Thanks, I was looking at that one, but as is typical to Amazon it seemed to be fairly split between very good and very bad reviews. The black is considerably more affordable than the silver.

The only grinder I've ever used is a cheap little electric coffee/spice grinder thing I got from Target or somewhere back in college. It is good at making very coarse and very fine grounds all at once.


I was also looking at:

[Stenson]

This has been a nice, relatively low cost, quiet, small footprint conical burr grinder for pourovers and French press:



It's not good enough for espresso, but fine for everything else.

Thanks, I was looking at that one, but as is typical to Amazon it seemed to be fairly split between very good and very bad reviews. The black is considerably more affordable than the silver.

The only grinder I've ever used is a cheap little electric coffee/spice grinder thing I got from Target or somewhere back in college. It is good at making very coarse and very fine grounds all at once.


I was also looking at:

I have that Oxo. I'm a fan, although I don't really have anything to compare it to.

[iamsmu]

This has been a nice, relatively low cost, quiet, small footprint conical burr grinder for pourovers and French press:



It's not good enough for espresso, but fine for everything else.

Thanks, I was looking at that one, but as is typical to Amazon it seemed to be fairly split between very good and very bad reviews. The black is considerably more affordable than the silver.

I've had the black one for two years. I really like it. But I don't have anything to compare it to.

[Idlehands]

Wow! Fellow coffee roasters in this thread! I have been roasting coffee for a couple of years. I get my beans primarily from Sweet Maria's, but have a few orders from Happy Mug from time to time. I started out roasting with a cast iron pan and a whisk on the stove top. I moved to a 1970's air popcorn popper for awhile, but the quantity I could roast at one time was just so limited. Past several months I have been using a stove top pop corn popper that has been working ok.

We mostly french press our coffee with ratios of about 60-70 grams of ground coffee per liter of water. I got an aeropress last month and have been fairly happy with it. In general it has doubled the amount of coffee we are consuming.

What do you all use for grinders?

What do you all use for grinders?

And what's a reasonably priced (<$100) grinder for a coffee drinker who doesn't have the patience for anything but his electric percolator and the occasional cold brew in a french press?

This has been a nice, relatively low cost, quiet, small footprint conical burr grinder for pourovers and French press:



It's not good enough for espresso, but fine for everything else.

perhaps it is good for espresso!
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sc ... esso-shot

[hsilman]

It's $139 but it's really nice, and I'm really happy I got it. Very good upgrade from my $30 no name grinder. And a quick twist can let me adjust from espresso to french press, with lots of fine adjustments in between.

I also upgraded from my popcorn maker to a SR800 and it's fantastic. I probably just spend too much on this shit lol

My wife and I drink coffee every day though, so I figured just from roasting and grinding our own we're saving money since we both hate cheap coffees anyway. $6/# for green beans instead of $13 for 8oz of roasted from Brooklyn Roasters is quite the difference.

[Manveer]

Wow! Fellow coffee roasters in this thread! I have been roasting coffee for a couple of years. I get my beans primarily from Sweet Maria's, but have a few orders from Happy Mug from time to time. I started out roasting with a cast iron pan and a whisk on the stove top. I moved to a 1970's air popcorn popper for awhile, but the quantity I could roast at one time was just so limited. Past several months I have been using a stove top pop corn popper that has been working ok.

We mostly french press our coffee with ratios of about 60-70 grams of ground coffee per liter of water. I got an aeropress last month and have been fairly happy with it. In general it has doubled the amount of coffee we are consuming.

What do you all use for grinders?

What do you all use for grinders?

And what's a reasonably priced (<$100) grinder for a coffee drinker who doesn't have the patience for anything but his electric percolator and the occasional cold brew in a french press?

This has been a nice, relatively low cost, quiet, small footprint conical burr grinder for pourovers and French press:



It's not good enough for espresso, but fine for everything else.

perhaps it is good for espresso!
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sc ... esso-shot

"slightly coarser" ... the finest grind the Capresso can manage is significantly coarser than what I typically grind for espresso.

I don't get how the shorter extraction time is supposed to yield a shot that tastes good? I've pulled shots from coarser grinds and they tasted quite sour. Is the idea to use water at a lower pressure?

[Idlehands]

Think it's also less grinds? Man now I want an espesso

[plaguewielder]

How does the coffee from these espresso machines compares to the one you get from cafes? Probably similar?
And how come no one in US brews what we'd call 'normal' turkish coffee, the one you actually boil water, add the roast and boil some more.

-Coffee expert level beginner.