COFFEE: Who Drinks The REAL Stuff? Gourmet Beans too?

[spyderg]

Yup, lots of coffee up here, Alcohol too. You’re right, when it’s -40 degrees Celsius and into the -50’s with windchill effect, you need it!
I usually drink dark roast coffee, and dark beer.

[MacLaren]

Lol, try as I might, I GOTTA HAVE COFFEE MATE :D

[VashHash]

This is my usual poison. Local stuff. Southern folk may recognize it

Brewed an afternoon pot.

[JD Spydo]

This is my usual poison. Local stuff. Southern folk may recognize it
Brewed an afternoon pot.

Hey VASH we've got that Community Coffee here in KC. My closest grocery store to me sells 3 different varieties of that coffee. It's not bad really at all but for some reason they won't get the beans. All they have is the ground. But I've had it on a couple of occasions and it's not the worst by a long shot. Now it's not what you would get at Gloria Jean's>> but they are a gourmet coffee store.
There is another brand of coffee from down in the south part of the USA that also has a red label and I can't think of the name of it right off the top of my head. But it's also decent coffee too. It's been about 5 years since I had that other southern coffee

We have a chain of local coffee shops here in the KC area known as "SCOOTER's">> and they are a lot better than Starbucks. We used to have a Seattle's Best stand here in the town I'm living in but they left town for some reason.

[JD Spydo]

Lol, try as I might, I GOTTA HAVE COFFEE MATE :D

Look MacLaren you've got to get your head straight>> it's not a habit Sir!!! it's an obligation :D And you should take your obligations seriously :D

[MacLaren]

Lol, try as I might, I GOTTA HAVE COFFEE MATE :D

Look MacLaren you've got to get your head straight>> it's not a habit Sir!!! it's an obligation :D And you should take your obligations seriously :D

Amen! :D

[TkoK83Spy]

How about some good ole vending machine coffee...that's what I'm choking down, literally...choking down, for that little pick me up for the last 2 hours of work today.

[JD Spydo]

How about some good ole vending machine coffee...that's what I'm choking down, literally...choking down, for that little pick me up for the last 2 hours of work today.

Believe it or not I was visiting someone at a local hospital not long ago and it was late in the evening. I was tired and caved in and bought a cup out of a vending machine and I was actually pleasantly surprised. It used to be punishment to drink coffee out of those vending machines but they've gotten better believe it or not. This stuff I got a couple of weeks back was just as good as Folgers, MAxwell House or any mediocre grocery store brand. Far better than what they used to be.

Now some of the vending machines have improved for sure. Now "INSTANT" or freezed dried are where I draw the line. I've yet to try any instant or freeze dried coffee that I've found to be drinkable. If there are any out there that have improved then by all means let me know what brands they are. But to me Instant coffee or tea are pure punishment from my experiences.

[Naperville]

I also vape my nicotine (quit smoking cigs 2 years ago) and use a bit of sugar and reeses creamer (gotta love peanut butter and chocolate!). I can drink good black coffee, but prefer having a strong coffee, with some flavoring. Still get the coffee bite, but with some goodness with it. Sumatra is our coffee of choice.

I also make my own vape juice. Can make sure my nicotine content is correct, make whatever flavor I want, etc. And it's really pretty cheap that way. Nothing better than my caffeine and nicotine in the morning!

I started vaping 9/15/2015 and soon after started making my own eliquids when they started to talk about banning flavors. I have 2 gallons of Nude Nicotine 100mg/ml with argon gas, split and separated in two freezers. Vape at 12mg/ml.

My fav eliquids are probably: Pink Lemonade from Element E-Liquids; RY4 Pistachio from Charlie Noble; Castle Long from Five Pawns.

I do drink black coffee, and black espresso, but I drink everything, sometimes espresso with whip cream on top. I even like ice cream flavored with coffee and espresso.

[VashHash]

Now some of the vending machines have improved for sure. Now "INSTANT" or freezed dried are where I draw the line. I've yet to try any instant or freeze dried coffee that I've found to be drinkable. If there are any out there that have improved then by all means let me know what brands they are. But to me Instant coffee or tea are pure punishment from my experiences.

Nescafe is usually pretty good. Of course taste is very subjective. I've been eating chocolate covered coffee beans lately.

Unfortunately caffeine doesn't do much for me. I can drink a pot of coffee and sleep after. I actually drink it because I like the way it taste. Been drinking coffee since I was like 8. Used to drink it with my grandparents. Ol percolated coffee. But I loved it and I'm glad to have those memories.

[knivesandbooks]

I tend to get my coffee from local roasters. Once I was really into coffee as a little hobby and it is hard to go back to the cheap stuff. I prefer single orgin and Ethiopian. I also like some Kenyans.

[bearrowland]

Right here! Dark roast thru a French press, and ground beans too! I prefer French roast, but any dark roast will do.

[Nate]

I'm in pretty deep. Currently use a Cuisinart Grind & Brew with a burr grinder and use whole beans exclusively. I buy from local shops that do their own roasting when I can, but don't have a place nearby that's real convenient so we end up getting beans from the supermarket fairly often. Starbuck's stuff is ok, but I like Peet's better. I like that they put a "roasted on" date on the bag so I know what I'm getting.

I've also dabbled in home roasting using air popper method with good results, but haven't ordered fresh beans in a while because it's fairly time consuming when each batch is so small. Nothing beats the aroma though of grinding and brewing those ultra fresh beans.

One of my buddies is going full-bore and just built his own drum roaster. Looking forward to a batch from him once he has it down.

Oh, and I drink my coffe black or with cream only, depending on the quality of the cup.

[JD Spydo]

Right now the only STARBUCKS I like is the beans of "Veranda Blonde" which is touted as one of their medium blends. But it's one of the very few STARBUCK coffees I like at all. A really nice lady friend gave me a 3 pound bag for Christmas this past year and I really enjoyed it. Most Starbuck's coffee tastes like it's burnt to me. Like I said earlier we have a coffee shop chain here where I live called "SCOOTERS" and their stuff is really great.

We have so many stores here locally and even the wholesale houses like Costco even sell good coffee beans. I'll never go back to ground unless I'm in a really bad or desperate situation. For me to drink regular grocery store coffee i.e. the major brands is almost punishment. We have a grocery store chain here locally known as Hy Vee and they sell a lot of excellent coffee beans.

It's still blowing my mind how the popularity of great coffee has surged so much in the past 20 years. IT hasn't been that long ago when people considered Folgers to be at the top of the heap.

[bearrowland]

You're right. A walk down the coffee aisle of almost any grocery store shows how much things have changed in the past 20 years or so.

[JD Spydo]

You're right. A walk down the coffee aisle of almost any grocery store shows how much things have changed in the past 20 years or so.

It has indeed changed>> some of it is nothing more that hyped up marketing. But there is also a better informed consumer that is demanding the good stuff. When Dunkin Donuts first came to my home town in the early 1970s I think that's when I got my very first high quality cup of coffee. Me and two of my buddies would go there at late hours of the night ( it was a 24 hour place) and we would drink that great coffee for two to three hours.

Then our local "A & P" store had three types of bean coffee>> that's when I got my very first bean grinder and started buying "A & P's" great coffee beans. They had 3 selections>> they had "Bokar" in a black bag. They had "Red Circle" in a yellow bag ( which was my favorite) and they had the one that is still around today in a red bag called ( 8'O-Clock" coffee) And it wasn't long after that when many of the other grocery chains started carrying coffee beans>> I never looked back and to this day I very rarely buy any coffee that is already ground. There is nothing like fresh ground coffee.

[bearrowland]

Absolutely!!

[JD Spydo]

I don't even know if "A & P" grocery chain is still in business? Few people know that "A & P" is an acronym for "The Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company" so you can surmise that their main thrust started in the caffeine business :rolleyes: >> so naturally they would also gravitate toward the "coffee business" as well.
A & P grocers left the Kansas City area a long time ago and I really miss them because their bean coffee was truly some of the best and at a reasonable price too. The price of coffee is so disproportionate now that there should be a price fixing investigation done on the coffee market overall. I do believe that market is even more corrupt than the diamond market is. And if the raw truth were known the poor 3rd World people that grow the beans probably don't benefit from it much at all>> if any

[silvershade255]

Kind of curious, what methods of brewing does everyone prefer? I use a little glass pour over one mostly but I really want to try a siphon. Mostly because it looks neat.

[bearrowland]

A&P went out of business in the Northeast in the early 80s, but I've seen it in Maryland and further south. Interestingly, 8 o'clock coffee survived and thrives on the grocery aisle.
I've wanted to try the pour thru. I've had it at different Starbucks, where they don't seem to keep dark roast on brew anymore. I really like the taste of the pour thru.