POLL: favorite coffee?

Cappuccino - all sorts

[ 09-22-2001: Message edited by: MacPino ]

Peet's Coffee.

Hands down.

Jacobs Kr�nung

The coffee in my area (western New England, pretty much sucks) to get a descent cup of coffee I have to go to Dunkin Donuts other wise I have to get it at "corporate" Starbucks. Which defeats the purpose of "going out to get a cup of coffee" The coffee places around my area are just not as good as the coffee shops in the west coast ie, Seattle, any where in Oregon, Cape Cod.
Javanet Cafe is pretty good, Northampton ma And they have imacs available with internet connection. But that is 45 minutes away, and parking is a hassle.
I am still looking for a descent place to get a cup of coffee

I get up around 5 am and brew some Chock Full O' Nuts

Then once the Caffienne and sugar kick in I work out for about 45 minutes.

After work I also have some coffee, then I work out from about 6 pm to 8 pm.

Mike

I'm from the Seattle-area and love to drink coffee. When I go out, I usually goto the local StarBucks store and order a cup of Caff� Mocha. This is my favorite. My second choice will be the Seattle Best, IF there is no StarBucks store around.

At home, I tried a couple of different brand; from Safeway to MillStone. Those regular store-brand coffee (e.g Safeway) doesn't taste good at all. I do prefer those French Roast, Espresso, and Irish Creme.

Kenneth

i only drink Luwak coffee. JK

I am currently experimenting with a number of coffees packaged by Percol (they have Columbian, Nicaraguan, Guatemalan, and interesting Peruvian/Mexican blends).

What I like in particular is the fact that these are "FairTrade coffees". The coffee trade is certainly not one of the most progressive forms of world trade and so I encourage anyone to give a fairtrade coffee a try.

Check these links out: www.fairtrade.com or www.fairtrade.org.uk

Hot Java Lava is pretty handy for getting you started in the morning. on the other hand, if you prefer something with a side effect similar to PCP, may i suggest you try Rocket Fuel. that stuff is in a league of it's own. sheesh...

anyway, a few cans of Red Bull and a bottle of Stolichnaya is far better!

There are a few bean people who make a "Fog Lifter" not sure exactly what the blend is, but it's what I like. Smooth, flavorful, makes great espresso, can kick in the teeth, though. Yum.

Al Van Houtte Irish Cream, very strong. Unlike most English Canadian I like my coffee strong; here it is one scoop for every 15 cups of coffee.

And my favorite chain is Second Cup, with a lot of whipped cream!!

The Breakfast Blend from Starbuck's is fantastic. I don't care what anyone says, but Starbucks kicks some butt. One of my favorites is Cafe de Monde from New Orleans. It's a mix of strong coffee and chicory... mmmmmmmm....

Lavazza, from my local grocery, and rats, I'm out. Outta milk, too...::grumble::

I load up on Starbuck's Christmas Blend every December. When that runs out sometime in February I bounce between 5 or 6 other Starbuck's blends. Kenya AA is a fav, and also Guatamala Antigua.

I brew a pot in the morning, then pour what ever is left over ice when I get home from work.

ICED.
iced cappuchino, iced coffee, iced latte.
ICED RULES.
(starbucks does it pretty well, too)

Thanks for those links! I think I'll check their coffee out!
....oops, I can't buy coffee in bulk (152lbs sack) I don't drink that much.. I would have to find a vender that sells it. I'll check bread & circus they should have it

Yes, I had to dodge the 152lb sacks too! I love coffee but I'm not quite that addicted yet, although I have friends who lobby companies to produce espresso in IV bags

I'm enjoying the Guatemalan quite a bit now, a subtle but beautifully smooth flavour. No lost teeth though. I save that for the espresso that Percol also produces in a Fairtrade bag. Unfortunately I think the Percol stuff is only sold in the UK. Let me know what zippy stuff you turn up in the US.

I can't stand the taste of coffee. I can't even eat mocha ice cream. I just can't get past that bitter coffee taste.

But my girlfriend is a big coffee drinker. She likes Dunn Bros., a local Twin Cities chain; and Starbucks -- as much as it pains her to go the corporate route, she admits that their coffee is among the best.

.

Right, scaught, I'm in. Coffee- second only to cheese in my world.
I used to manage a cafe called Ocean Coffee Roasters in RI. Bad job for me. All the free coffee I wanted. One can see where that leads.
So, I got the chance to sample pretty much everything.
I'll admit it, I love Starbucks. Love it.
I always go for darker roasted coffees. One of those screw ups that came down the genetic pike to me was the complete inability to taste bitterness. I've got no clue what that sensation is. This, of course, makes really dark roasts palatable for me.
I always drink black coffee.
Favorites are Starbucks Yukon, French Roasts and Vienna. Little tidbit: Darker the roast, less caffine. Caffine is incredibly volatile- it gets burned out in longer roasts. So, a french or espresso roast has about i/3rd the caffine as a standard American or cinnamon roast.
Absolute favorite coffee is the Anniversary Blend (there is an aged something in there that gives this lightly smokey smoothness). After that, I start for the Arabian Mocha Java and Arabian Sanani.
Over the last year or so, I've been experimenting with Chai- I mix a standard Japanese Green tea with a very black tea- throw in some cardamom, cinnimon, nutmeg, clove, ginger. Sometimes I'll latte it, always with honey.
I've also been screwing around with mideastern styles of coffeemaking. Little brass pot, dark rasted coffee ground to the consistency of baby powder. Add honey and cardomom and boil the beejebus out of it. You dont even bother to filter it. Now, from everything I know about coffee, you NEVER boil it (unless you're perking, which I also like). Coffee should never go above 140 degrees. But this requires boiling. It takes a decent amount of time to do, but the end result is delicious. I use a dark roast because it also seems to me that that concentration of coffee and caffine will kill ya.

I take coffee when hiking, too. Hell, I am going primitive, not uncivilized. A little tip from an Outward Bound instructor I had- VERY course grind on the coffee, dump it into about 3/4 the amount of water you need, heat until the water shimmers (should be about 140, anyway). Then you dump cold water in and it makes all of the grinds sink to the bottom. You take the coffee off the top! One of the greates pleasures of my life is good hot coffee on a fall morning looking out over some magnificent White Mountain vista, say from the Last Chance Spring site on the side of Mt Baldface.
Oooo, I SO want to be at my desk right now. I've just got myself ALL worked up.
I gotta go get me a chai.
Ooo. Right. I found this prepackaged Swedish kaffe at my local Heaven for Swedes who Like Pastry (and really, does anyone know one that doesn't), The Crown Bakery in Worcester, MA. It is called Zoegas (http://www.zoegas.se/) and it is incredible. Remember those Swedes prefer stronger coffee, so the flavor, while very smooth, is pretty kicking. Try it if you can find it. You Minnesotans shouldn't have any problems locating it.

[ 09-24-2001: Message edited by: maxelson ]

I also love the chicory/coffe combo, but I am having a hard time finding a good one. The commercial ones are OK in a pinch, but ultimately unsatisfying. In addition to the one mentioned up top, any other suggestions? Can I just get chicory, roast it and add it to my grind? Howdya do that?

Yes.

Anyone with a Peet's within 20 miles owes it to him/herself to try them.

I used to frequent the (many) Starbucks in the bay area, but I will now go out of my way to find a Peet's.

There's also CoffeeAM.com. They have a good organic selection.


Amen.

Now, I hear an awful lot of Starbucks bashing. Am I missing something? The coffee is excellent, nothing wrong with the service and there are lots of stores (which, as far as I am concerned, just makes things convenient for me). Why do people dislike them so? Is it just the big corporate thing? Ahh, these guys started out with A store 30 years back. They've built it. Seriously, what is the issue with Starbucks?

Here's my problem with Starbucks:

They are this huge growing corporation that is homogenizing all of America (and soon the World) by selling an addictive substance and replacing local culture with corporate culture and charging ridiculous prices for a cup of Joe.

Why does there have to be a Starbucks on every corner, why can't there be some independant local coffee houses around? Right?

But on the other hand I do like their coffee, because I prefer mine strong, and I do like to hang out and read or work or whatever. So I don't really hate them. Just wish there could be more independent coffee places around.

Starbucks is trying to get into the Australian market but as most Aussies drink Italian coffee (or at least in the cities) Starbucks hasn't got a hope.

IMHO the best coffee in the world comes from Lavazza - I suppose USA-based people will need to find a specialty dellie that does loads of euro food. And style of coffee - I prefer caffe latte or machiatto.

.

Yeah... my main complaint with Starbucks is in its agressive/predatory business strategy and in concentrating on the sale of an image. They're okay places to hang out if you must, and and in many cases may be the best option available, but when given a choice, I will prefer to go to local/smaller shops.

And honestly, I'm not a huge fan of their coffee. The Light Note is okay, as is the Breakfast Blend. I have often encountered hit-or-miss quality in the brewing, particularly at certain locations. At any rate, they all pale in comparison to Peet's. (Incidentally, Peet's just went public a few months ago. It will be interesting to see how or if they change...)

A couple of interesting links:
http://www.tao.ca/water/naomi/starbucks.html http://www.salon.com/business/featu...suit/index.html http://www.seattleweekly.com/featur...da-berger.shtml

I'm not a coffee drinker yet. I guess I'm too young to like it.

I do like Starbucks Hot Chocolate though...

Off-topic segment:

She go to the Dunn Bros on the corner of Grand and Snelling, perchance? My wife occasionally hangs out there with a friend of hers.

On-topic segment:

Like CaseCom, I'm not much of a coffee drinker. However, my dad swears by Gevalia in all their varieties. Coffee by subscription -- the true addict's dream.

G Barnett