EntropySink
Nothing & Everything => Open Discussion => Food and Naked Yodeling => Topic started by: ober on December 02, 2011, 09:11:57 AM
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It's bitter and just awful. We buy Starbucks coffee beans from BJs and do 6oz of water to 2 tbsp of coffee (per the instructions). We grind the coffee with a small grinder down to the size we found online. We only grind about 3-4 days worth at a time and store it in an air-tight container.
What ratios do you guys use and what coffee do you buy?
We've only really been drinking coffee for about 3 months so I really don't know shit about it.
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Starbucks is known for overroasting their coffee, I'd try another brand. You can't notice it too bad if you get a latte or something else that has flavoring mixed in, but by itself it's noticable.
I drink Starbucks preground at work because that's what my office buys and either Biggby or Leelaunau Roasting Company at home. At home I usually use 1 tbsp/2C of water (is the cup on the 12C coffee maker the same as a regular cup?). 2tbsp/6oz seems really strong.
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I don't like Starbucks because its to me it always tastes bitter. Coffee snobs will tell you that its "robust" or some shit like that, but its just plain bitter to me. (same with you beer snobs and your dark imported beers that you drink warm. blech!!! just give me a frosty coors light and I'm happy). In other words Starbucks is "Good" coffee if you like "real" coffee. Honestly, I don't. I grew up with my parents making Folgers at home and my dad buying Dunkin Donuts on the road. To me, thats what coffee should taste like.
Also, don't be afraid to add a little milk/cream/half-and-half. Again, the purest will tell you you're ruining your coffee but to me, its like drinking whiskey on the rocks (or adding a little water to a single barrel scotch) -- it takes the bite off so you can enjoy the complex flavors behind it.
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as for getting the mix right. I never could figure that out. I bought a Keurig with a filter basket (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?pq=kurig&hl=en&cp=2&gs_id=6&xhr=t&q=keurig+k+cups&tok=FbnIb8DcXCQgTALxp25mtw&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&biw=1081&bih=730&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=13849239709381476410&sa=X&ei=j9_YTsmvNujg0QHvlb37DQ&sqi=2&ved=0CLoBEPMCMAQ). I fill it 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up with pre-ground coffee and make one cup at a time. Always comes out perfect.
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>In other words Starbucks is "Good" coffee if you like "real" coffee.
Nah - it's kind of like beer snobs and Guinness. It's fancier than coors light (high life for life, bitches) and fancy enough that Coors Light people don't like it, but it's not really all that special. I'm far from a coffee snob (I drink Biggby and LRC because they're local, mostly) but that's the impression I get.
Dunkin is pretty alright
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Benny.
If you can find it, Tim Horton's is the best coffee for brew pots. Both Caf and decaf are great.
Do you use a standard coffee pot or an industrial version?
How often do you clean it? Try cleaning it 1:1 white vinegar to cool water. I run it through 2x then rinse 3x (to get the vinegar taste out).
We use a Cuisinart DCC-1200 and it made all the difference in the world!
I found, quite by accident, that the coffee maker itself makes a HUGE difference in the bitter taste of the final product. If you want, I can send you a Cuisinart DCC-1200 but you have to purchase a carafe (or two?) for it. Let me know. Call me and I can give you the details.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_9_8?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=dcc-1200+carafe&sprefix=dcc-1200
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>In other words Starbucks is "Good" coffee if you like "real" coffee.
Nah - it's kind of like beer snobs and Guinness. It's fancier than coors light (high life for life, bitches) and fancy enough that Coors Light people don't like it, but it's not really all that special. I'm far from a coffee snob (I drink Biggby and LRC because they're local, mostly) but that's the impression I get.
Dunkin is pretty alright
Oh! I friggin LOVE Guinness!
I like plenty of non-mass market beer, but can enjoy a Bud Light, keystone light or Silver Bullet. If I pick the mass market beer, I like plain old Coors (non-light).
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I think most beer snobs have a fallback cheap beer (mine are bud light or high life), I was talking about people who look down their noses at guys like micah and say "Oh, you're drinking a Coors Light. I only drink nice beer like Guinness".
edit: I love Timmy's coffee but have never bought it for home. And unfortunately they aren't everywhere yet. :(
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This is our coffee maker: http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-48465-Brewstation-Programmable/dp/B001R4LK1Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322839059&sr=8-1
In general I think it's pretty decent, but Samantha says it's leaked a little lately. Knuck, it doesn't seem all that different from your except yours goes into a carafe instead of the internal holder that ours has.
Sounds like we need to try a different coffee brand first. We're also going to store the beans differently (the beans are kept in the bag we get them in and we store the ground up beans in a better container) and look at a different grinder. Our grinder is kinda shitty.
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I tried to get into coffee after trying some excellent coffee in Hawaii last year. It went away when I kicked the caffeine habit. I've still got some beans in the freezer but not sure how good they are after a year and a half. If anyone wants them I'd be happy to send it out.
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We had Tim Horton's in a few-and-far-between locations here in Connecticut back in the 90's but they eventually were sold off to "bess eaton," a Rhode Island-based chain that also went out of bussiness. In the North East, especially New England, it is nearly impossible to compete with Dunkin Donuts. With all their money and global market-position, Starbucks has made a big dent, but Dunkin is king.
I just did some googling:
neat color map of Starbucks vs DD in the US: http://numbersrun.com/2011/05/coffee-battlefields/
for example, in a 5 mile radius of Hartford, there are apparently47 Dunkin Donut (http://www.dunkindonuts.com/content/dunkindonuts/en/stores.html?a=06123) outlets of one form or another. 18 of which have a drive through! There are 3 starbucks.
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Within a 5 mile radius of my house, I only know of 2 Starbucks (one of which is in a Target) and I can think of 3 Dunkins and 2 Timmys
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This is our coffee maker: http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-48465-Brewstation-Programmable/dp/B001R4LK1Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322839059&sr=8-1
In general I think it's pretty decent, but Samantha says it's leaked a little lately. Knuck, it doesn't seem all that different from your except yours goes into a carafe instead of the internal holder that ours has.
Sounds like we need to try a different coffee brand first. We're also going to store the beans differently (the beans are kept in the bag we get them in and we store the ground up beans in a better container) and look at a different grinder. Our grinder is kinda shitty.
Man Trust me the maker and how it controls the temp internally makes a clear difference. It is crazy.
We went through several in a short period when our old maker failed (quality issues). A neighbor gave us his Cuisinart DCC-1200 (we also had to get a carafe) and since we had all of three makers right there, I tried a comparison. Night and day. Like a different beverage. Seriously, the maker itself even between same brand models really changes the taste of the brewed coffee.
Be glad to send ya our spare!
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Within a 5 mile radius of my house, I only know of 2 Starbucks (one of which is in a Target) and I can think of 3 Dunkins and 2 Timmys
We have two within 5 miles also. Amazing huh Obes?
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Anyone use the gold coffee filter thing?
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my parents had a gold filter for years when I was a kid. I actually still have it, as I inherited that Krups pot (but don't use it). And now I have the filter baset k-cup thing which works on the same idea but isn't gold. Actually, other than when I worked at 7-Eleven in college and made coffee with a comercial machine, I've never actually used a paper filter in my life.
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Anyone use the gold coffee filter thing?
One came with mine. I used it for awhile switched over to paper and don't notice a difference
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We tried both and ended up staying with the gold one.
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Knuck, I'll give you a call later. I was in a meeting when you called before. Ours has a small leak (as reported by other reviews on Amazon) and Samantha said it was way more noticeable after trying to clean it this morning. So we might be on the hunt for a new one/replacement.
And yeah, having 2 SBs within 5 miles of you is kind of insane. That must be new.
Edit: we had a plastic filter for a while and then switched to paper. We looked at the gold filter but I think paper is just fine.
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The gold was just fine, I just didn't like cleaning it every time and paper filters cost nothing
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Ceramic drip! Really cuts acidity and brings out flavor, but is sort of time consuming. I've only ordered it at one coffee place consistantly.
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I had to laugh at the SB vs DD. I don't think I've ever even seen a DD but they have commercials all the time. Everywhere I've ever lived had a SB on just about every corner
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I'm down with WaWa brand.
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Knuck, I'll give you a call later. I was in a meeting when you called before. Ours has a small leak (as reported by other reviews on Amazon) and Samantha said it was way more noticeable after trying to clean it this morning. So we might be on the hunt for a new one/replacement.
And yeah, having 2 SBs within 5 miles of you is kind of insane. That must be new.
Edit: we had a plastic filter for a while and then switched to paper. We looked at the gold filter but I think paper is just fine.
Remember Roadsters at 30 and Stouffer Ave.? That is a SBs and as with Gov we have one in our Target at the "new" Walker Road exit.
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Ahh... that makes more sense then.
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I am heading out. Going to The Hong Kong for a big ol pile of egg rolls.
Call me at home if ya want to.
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Try using a french press, I bought one at the grocery store for $10. Comes out way better than the drip maker and it's easier to clean (basically just rinse it out).
As for brand, I buy the pre-ground Illy (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=illy+coffee&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=12868482779419910141&sa=X&ei=TN_cToa9K6fo0QGS3oWPDg&ved=0CGwQ8wIwAA). It's a little more expensive than other brands but it is really good coffee. I like my coffee black and strong, and I agree with everyone's view on Starbucks in this thread... over-roasted or sometimes flat out burned.
Also, Tim Hortons is a great choice for drip makers. It's cheap and pretty tasty (though never as tasty as the Timmy's makes it).
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I consider myself somewhat of a coffee snob. My favorite is french press. I think it has the most flavor. I'm also a big fan of manual drip. I splurged recently and bought the Hario Buono water kettle which is great for being able to control the water. I'll also recommend spending a bit more and getting a good Burr grinder.
My general steps to better coffee:
1. Filtered water (better water == better coffee)
2. Grind your own beans (only as much as you're going to use for the next pot)
3. Burr grinder (more consistency)
4. Better method (french press/drip whatever)
One thing I've learned from videos and research is most people don't use enough coffee. It's not intuitive but more coffee can actually make better coffee too. Otherwise you end up over extracting bitter flavors which makes your coffee taste bad. And my favorite trick (from Good eats), a pinch of salt. If you're dealing with crappy bitter coffee, a pinch of salt can take the edge off. Although it's very easy to over do it. My preference for dealing with bitter church coffee is adding cocoa powder. Poor man's mocha.
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Try using a french press, I bought one at the grocery store for $10. Comes out way better than the drip maker and it's easier to clean (basically just rinse it out).
As for brand, I buy the pre-ground Illy (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=illy+coffee&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=12868482779419910141&sa=X&ei=TN_cToa9K6fo0QGS3oWPDg&ved=0CGwQ8wIwAA). It's a little more expensive than other brands but it is really good coffee. I like my coffee black and strong, and I agree with everyone's view on Starbucks in this thread... over-roasted or sometimes flat out burned.
Also, Tim Hortons is a great choice for drip makers. It's cheap and pretty tasty (though never as tasty as the Timmy's makes it).
+1
Oh and I plugged in the backup I was offering...it would not power up...sorry about that. Must have been banged in the cupboard or something.
Get the press or a Cuisinart DCC-1200. That model is a rare gem.
Note the overwhelming 5 star ratings. $70 is a fair price.
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-DCC-1200-Central-Programmable-Coffeemaker/dp/B00005IBX9/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323115557&sr=8-1
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I consider myself somewhat of a coffee snob. My favorite is french press. I think it has the most flavor. I'm also a big fan of manual drip. I splurged recently and bought the Hario Buono water kettle which is great for being able to control the water. I'll also recommend spending a bit more and getting a good Burr grinder.
My general steps to better coffee:
1. Filtered water (better water == better coffee)
2. Grind your own beans (only as much as you're going to use for the next pot)
3. Burr grinder (more consistency)
4. Better method (french press/drip whatever)
One thing I've learned from videos and research is most people don't use enough coffee. It's not intuitive but more coffee can actually make better coffee too. Otherwise you end up over extracting bitter flavors which makes your coffee taste bad. And my favorite trick (from Good eats), a pinch of salt. If you're dealing with crappy bitter coffee, a pinch of salt can take the edge off. Although it's very easy to over do it. My preference for dealing with bitter church coffee is adding cocoa powder. Poor man's mocha.
Which grinder? Just curious. Since I found Horton's I have put the grinder on the back burner so to speak.
Oh and I agree with the pinch of salt. Small pinch. On crappy coffee. Like Folgers.
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Get the press or a Cuisinart DCC-1200. That model is a rare gem.
Note the overwhelming 5 star ratings. $70 is a fair price.
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-DCC-1200-Central-Programmable-Coffeemaker/dp/B00005IBX9/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323115557&sr=8-1
This is the coffee maker I have and I can't say enough good things about it.
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I brought the failed unit it to work to see what was up, and it has quite a following.
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I can't believe how much thought and money you guys put into this. I drink coffee everyday anymore and I have a $30 coffee maker that I like cuz I just push the button to get coffee like a fountain soda machine. And I order wawa coffee or buy folgers at walmart.
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Steve = White Trash
The rest = Discerning taste
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I can't believe how much thought and money you guys put into this. I drink coffee everyday anymore and I have a $30 coffee maker that I like cuz I just push the button to get coffee like a fountain soda machine. And I order wawa coffee or buy folgers at walmart.
You brew beer...you should understand this.
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Get the press or a Cuisinart DCC-1200. That model is a rare gem.
Note the overwhelming 5 star ratings. $70 is a fair price.
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-DCC-1200-Central-Programmable-Coffeemaker/dp/B00005IBX9/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323115557&sr=8-1
This is the coffee maker I have and I can't say enough good things about it.
My parents have something very similar except it has the grinder built in. It's pretty convenient, you put beans and water in and it does everything automatically.
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Get the press or a Cuisinart DCC-1200. That model is a rare gem.
Note the overwhelming 5 star ratings. $70 is a fair price.
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-DCC-1200-Central-Programmable-Coffeemaker/dp/B00005IBX9/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323115557&sr=8-1
This is the coffee maker I have and I can't say enough good things about it.
My parents have something very similar except it has the grinder built in. It's pretty convenient, you put beans and water in and it does everything automatically.
We had looked into something similar, however I change between caf and decaf often, plus on rare occasion my wife likes the flavored stuff. I didn't want the hassle of switching the beans and cleaning out what was left in between.
How do you deal with these problems? Keep a the beans the same and grind the rest separately?
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My parents always use the same beans, they don't drink decaf or any of the flavoured stuff so it's not a problem for them. I could see that being an issue if you want to use different beans though.
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I can't believe how much thought and money you guys put into this. I drink coffee everyday anymore and I have a $30 coffee maker that I like cuz I just push the button to get coffee like a fountain soda machine. And I order wawa coffee or buy folgers at walmart.
Its funny I said to Ashley that you guys brew coffee like I brew beer.
You brew beer...you should understand this.
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My coffee maker was a wedding gift, I probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise.
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So, after trying different coffee makers, different coffee, etc., we've come to the following conclusion. Our coffee doesn't necessarily suck. It is bitter from time to time so I may try the salt method to see if that does anything and we might ultimately switch to a different coffee. BUT, we've determined that our in-laws don't like our coffee because we make it differently for different purposes than them. We make it to mix into other stuff (milk, different syrups, etc). So we make it a lot stronger than they do.
For now, we're going to stick with the coffee maker we have, try the salt thing, and probably switch the general coffee brand we use.
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Try WaWa
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Try a different grind setting and more/less grounds. That might help with the bitterness too.
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steve, where are you that you can get WaWa? when I worked for them in college (about 12 years ago) they were only in 5 states... deleware, maryland, virginia, pa, and NJ. I don't recall you living in any of those places in your storied past.
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He's from NJ originally
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Yeah. Somewhere in the south part (I think) of this http://i.imgur.com/Pwnf4.jpg
edit: huh. and now I know the origin of our hockey team name. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil
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Yeah. Somewhere in the south part (I think) of this http://i.imgur.com/Pwnf4.jpg
:lol: awesome graphic. I have a lot of family in NJ, mostly from the "Working Class people and beach houses" area. My grandparents later retired (and have since passed away) in the "piney-pines everywhere" area on the border of "lot of army bases." One of my uncles and a couple of his daughters recently moved to the tri-zone area of "crumbling industry, happy white families and worse than detroit." --speaking of worse than detroit, I once accidentally went to a walmart in Camden. In the years before GPS, I got lost traveling from Philly to NJ and stopped at a walmart to buy a map. That is one scary screwed up area.
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I'm from Christie Country. The map is fairly accurate.
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steve, where are you that you can get WaWa? when I worked for them in college (about 12 years ago) they were only in 5 states... deleware, maryland, virginia, pa, and NJ. I don't recall you living in any of those places in your storied past.
Born and raised South NJ. Moved in 07. I order it online.
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This is just a test to see of Obes reads this thread...
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This is just a test to see of Obes reads this thread...
What?
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I think he is loosing his mind. When he first came here I could always follow him, and then over the years he became cloudy. Now it's just confusion with the occasional blip of sense :lol:
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So just an update for anyone that cares. We're happy with our coffee maker after all. Switching coffee brands seems to have solved the bitterness problem. We still vary the strength greatly depending on what we're making it for which accounts for other people's feelings for our coffee. Since we still have some SB coffee left, I might still try the salt trick with that because that specific brand does seem bitter still. We've used some Dunkin coffee and that seems pretty good. My wife also got some gourmet hazelnut coffee that is really good.
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Dunkin has good stuff
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I've sold out. Just bought a Keurig B60 for the gf's sort of xmas present. She loves it though; very excited to buy all sorts of kcups.
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I love coffee - been drinking the stuff since I am about 6 years old (i hated tea) - drink it black and no sugar. I buy a ton of beans and it ranges from really strong to some milder ones - only problem is because of my excessive consumption I kill coffee machines - I have gone through about 4 machines in 3 years so finally decided to pay a little extra and get a bean to cup machine with lots of programmability (eg grind thickness, strength) - so i bought this one http://www.garraways.co.uk/p414686/jura-impressa-c5-black.html (its also self cleaning). For normal everyday drinking I use a 100% arabica bean as it is of medium strength - and not too oily to grind (some of the darker espresso blends can block the grinder as they are so oily) - the current blend I am using is http://www.garraways.co.uk/p511091/1-kilo-100-arabica-coffee.html (i know not much use to you guys across the pond). Illy Coffee is also quite nice - I did see some reviews of coffee machines from the "Seattle Coffee Gear" company which looks like quite a decent us supplier of machines (i would love to visit their shop it looked very nice