Coffee: we drink it or we get angry.

It's always an adventure on the rare occasion that I find myself having to buy coffee from a grocery store. The HEB grocery stores that are common in central Texas and beyond have started carrying Counter Culture blends and sometimes you can find it not TOO old on the shelves.

 

Most Trader Joe's coffees are Chock Full O' Nuts level, IE worse than Folgers and Maxwell House and Yunan.

What's wrong with Carbon? Carbon isn't bad; Guinness and other dry stouts aren't bad; rauchbier isn't bad. I don't mind carbon; Carbon and the flavors of the roast are real flavors despite coffee hipsters wanting to eat coffee beans. It's just that Trader Joe's and Starbuck's roasts are f'ing terrible, not that Italian and French dark roasts are actually bad coffee.

A lot of the hate is like craft brew fans hating on pale lagers (and more staid European styles) that craft brewers couldn't hope to do as well as there is nothing to hide their lack of expertise, quality control, and fastidiousness. "Craft" lagers outside of a few lager specialist brewers, IPL specialist Jack's Abbey not among them, fail pretty miserably and most of their pale lagers are actually worse than High Life, PBR, and Schlitz (the current 1960s recipe is actually a great beer).

 

i like cold brew... and espresso and pour over. get over yourselves we're all plebes to somebody.

 

I'm too old to be a hipster these days and no, my dislike of it is nothing like what you said. I've had coffees of all roast levels from dozens of highly-skilled and unskilled roasters including myself. I know what I like and chewing on charcoal that overpowers the inherent flavor of a quality bean is not what I like but it doesn't really bother me if other people like it.

 

I am not bothered by you liking these things.

 

Oh cool

EDIT: LOL dammit you had me at moist...

 

Moist.

 

There's a line between sweet, rich roasted acidic goodness and tasting like a skid mark on asphalt (Chock Full of Nuts NY Roast) or a trashcan fire kindled using old newspaper by crackheads (Trader Joes Italian Roast).

 

shit, so the monolith grinder i ordered in like october finally arrived this weekend! by far the best grinder i've ever used. it excels at single dosing for low volume / home settings and is exceedingly consistent. extractions are way better than on my previous monstrosity (compak) but uses the same burr set.

 

Nice setup, dude! VERY moist.

 

Dang, that is a slick setup! I am still struggling to make an acceptable v60 cup, but I love going out for a nice espresso. I can't imagine how tough it is to pull a shot at home.

 

I sold my espresso setup and I don't really regret it but I can appreciate a good rig. We have several great coffee shops locally now where I can scratch my espresso itch.

 

Part of my early morning routine before listening to music is brewing coffee, I usually do this before dawn breaks since I try to drink it as early as possible way before 8am. I like to brew coffee with an Espro (I like how it doesn't have as much grit as the traditional French press) when I don't feel lazy to clean everything afterwards, or an Aeropress when freshly roasted beans are not available, or the Kalita Wave which tends to be the default choice since clean up is a breeze (I just have to throw away the filter and do some rinsing). I really enjoy being able to adjust things like grind size, temp., ratio, etc to get it to suit my taste. I usually prefer Central American (Guatemalan, Costa Rican) beans in the morning due to its bold taste & I like the nutty taste notes, and Ethiopian (Yirgacheffe, Harrar) in the afternoon since it has a floral note that almost seems like drinking afternoon tea, and with the recent development in the 3rd wave movement where I live, freshly roasted beans have bean easier, and cheaper to get so I'm really enjoying trying out all these different beans from different places. Been planning to learn doing espressos and all its nuances for the longest time, but all my time now seems to be concentrated on the audio related stuff. Lol

Wow! Yo definitely know your stuff @brencho! I love La Marzocco's stuff...

 

yeah i hear you. coffee really scratches my itch to experiment with the influence of different parameters, knobs, levers, and moistness on taste. i usually keep espresso at home and pourover at my office. though if i had extra funds it might be nice to have a cremina at work... small, sexy and with a lever.

which reminds me, i'm kinda on the look out for a good grinder for work, primarily with a v60 or equivalent type setup. don't care if it's hand grind or not.

 

If you don't mind manually grinding it, Porlex really makes really good portable grinders. I have the mini which I bring together with the Aeropress when traveling, and the regular sized ones for office use. Produces good consistency, in my experience. I've been using them for the last 2 years.

Mine only came with Japanese manual, so it was difficult grinding my desired size. Until I came across an article in that provided the settings:

Turning the dial inside and listening for the clicks:
Extra Fine (Turkish) = 1 – 2 clicks Fine (Espresso, Moka Pot) = 3 – 4 clicks Medium-Fine (Aeropress) = 5 – 6 clicks Medium (Filter) = 7 – 8 clicks Medium-Coarse (Percolator) = 9 -10 clicks Coarse (French Press) = 11 – 12 clicks

https://www.porlexgrinders.com/

 

If you like spending money and you want the ultimate in hand-grinding look into the OE Lido grinders. Really fantastic pieces of machinery.
Great for espresso but when it comes to coarser grinds they wipe the floor with other hand grinders.

 

yeah so i have a porlex now, and i'll probably keep it if i'm feeling extra-moist during camping trips. but yeah it would be cool to have a more consistent grinder. @DigMe have you used the Lido? i only like spending money when what you get makes you happy that you did! was considering some baratza but those cocaroaches are a bit noisy for the office, so hand grinding might be a better bet.

 

I upgraded from a Porlex to a Lido. The difference is night and day... puts a smile on my face every time I use it.

 

Yes. I have the Lido E-T. I use it for traveling but without a doubt it has a more consistent grind than my Baratza Vario which is modified with Ditting stainless burrs. The only reason I use the Vario is convenience and speed. It was totally worth it in my opinion. It will probably become my daily grinder when we move overseas next year.