Please help before I strangle my local barristas....

[EricN]

Please help before I strangle my local barristas....

Im sure my local barristas are truely nice people but not one of them seems to know anything about drip coffee other than whats printed in their own companies brochure. Im looking for the best cup of coffee and I know thats something rather unique to each individuals tastes. Please bear with me as I have an idea that might help you understand my definitions..

Please close your eyes and imagine youve been driving all night with your grandparents on an old two lane country road. Its 5am and through the rain you see the lights on in an old local diner. You pullover and go inside needing to stretch and get a bit to eat. As you walk through the door the smell of fresh coffee starts to caffinate you. The waitress brings you a cup without needing to be asked and you take a sip. Its hot and smooth, and doesnt need to be adulterated with cream or sugar. Your grandfather, whose drink of choice for the last 60 some years has been black coffee states this is probably the best coffee hes ever had.

Ok, if you understood any of that...

1. What kind of coffee are you drinking?

2. What would you look for in order to order than in your local coffee house?

3. What would you look for to make that coffee at home?

Everytime it seems I go to starbucks or \"insert your local coffee house name\" I come away with a large cup of hot black liquid dirt. This is not what I want. I want a sensuous experience with my coffee, one that uses all my senses... Any thoughts?

Thanks

EricN

 

[captainbrew]

Nice picture you painted. I'm guessing you've been to the "bucks" as your frustration with their baristas is world wide. Thats why they closed for that 1 day to retrain them. I'm guessing you want a mellow, low acidic cup of joe that dosent have an after taste of red wine. You can never go wrong with brewing at home, just buy small amounts because once ground coffee will go stale in about 3-4 days. I would go for 2 scoops for each cup of water you put in. As for coffee my taste would be a indonesian java or even a guatemalan or nicaraguan region. At a coffee shop ask the barista for a low acidic med roast coffee and see if the coffee sits on a burner or a thermos pot. If it sits on a burner they probably brewed it 5 hrs before you came in and it never left the burner. so its kinda of crap shoot. good luck

 

[EricN]

Hey thank you Capt.

Hey thank you Captain.

I experimented a bit today. I stopped at a couple of different places for coffee and I discovered youre right. Medium roast is the way to go for me. I asked my local Starbucks guy for something low in acidity and he looked at me like I was sniffing glue. Perhaps I should stop going there. Either way medium roast is the right path now to find the right bean.

Interesting little tidbit I noticed today on my rounds. Most coffees served seemed to be of a darker roast. Do darker roasts sell better in other places too?

Thanks again,
EricN

 

[Comet]

Many many years ago I worked at a local donut shop making donuts. We didn't open until 5 A.M. so around 2:30, 3:00 I would go out front and rip open a pack of Paramount coffee throw it in the Bunn and have that cup of coffee you described. Most of the resturants served Paramount coffee and many still do. I am not sure of the blend they used but you can buy Paramount coffee on line. They are located in Lansing Michigan and they roast and package their coffee on site.

 

[ElPugDiablo]

If your local bastas, I mean baristas don't know anything about drip coffee, maybe you should switch to a shop with knowledgeable staff.

 

[rgunson]

filter coffee

get yourself a Swissgold filter for a few bucks - perhaps $15

get yourself a grinder - any old one will do for filter coffee (unlike espresso)

if you want a coffee with rich chocolate notes & sweet, try Brazilian yellow bourbon

if you want a cleaner taste with more acidity, then try a Costa Rican Tarrazu

we are in the UK, but you have a raft of great roasters in the US that should be able to sort you out



Reiss
Londinium Espresso

 

[cindy]

local baristas!
this may come accross as very disturbing but here in south africa one of the bigger franchises in coffee (and they dont even specialise in coffee) is wimpy...a mainly take out and breakfast orientated establishment.
in the last 3 or so years (might even be longer) they started a massive movement with their coffee, putting huge 2 and 3 group machines in their outlets and adding realy strange names to their coffee menu (e.g. CREAM-O-CINO) and grabbing realy (excuse the outburst) illitarate people to work on the machines.
i am yet to come accross an outlet with a cleaned steaming wand.
also, they never leave their portafillers in the machines to keep them warm, they always plop them down next to the machine and they dont clean out the portafillers after using it.
they dont seem to understand why there is a cup warmer ontop of the machine coz they keep a few cups on there and then use cold ones they pulled out of another cupboard. also, i have never seen any of them ever using a thermometer to steam the milk.
other than that....its all good.
these are the type of people who are baristas...or at least, they operate the espresso machines...and they have never heard of what a barista is.
i believe fully automatic machines were designed for those who are not interested in learning how to make proper coffee.
once again....thank you to the few speciality coffee outlets around south africa who still manage to stay open with idiots like the breakfast outlets who seem to be rulling the market.

 

[ArabBeaker]

[quote:a72a9867c4=\"EricN\"]
1. What kind of coffee are you drinking?

2. What would you look for in order to order than in your local coffee house?

3. What would you look for to make that coffee at home?

Everytime it seems I go to starbucks or \\\"insert your local coffee house name\\\" I come away with a large cup of hot black liquid dirt. This is not what I want. I want a sensuous experience with my coffee, one that uses all my senses... Any thoughts?

Thanks

EricN[/quote:a72a9867c4]
1) Espresso, flat white/capuccino from home roasted Colombian and Kenyan beans. Roasted 3 days ago. I have had an espresso machine for 13 years but only recently discovered ( what I consider) all the variables which combine to make truly great espresso.

2) I know of only one coffee house in my city that can consistantly provide espresso to the highest standard. And its not a chain owned conglomerate. The best tell-tale sign is to see how full the cafe is over most of the day. The next would be to eyeball the shot as it emerges from the pour spout, which is a little hard to do unless you ASK! and very, very cheeky, and the third is to ... taste :!:

3) First, I would get educated. What I mean is that there are so many variables that can potentially be done poorly when making coffee at home. I know because I did it for two years as a cafe owner who knew very little about coffee, and so I attracted for the most part, customers who also knew very little.
I also made coffee at home which was only average for many years.
Once I sampled more bad coffee and then some great coffee I became educated as to what the difference tasted like.

That was the first step for me.

The next was to become further educated on just what all the stages were to producing fine coffee at home. This education IMO was critical.
Once discovered, I set about to make the best coffee I could for myself and my friends and family.

The important factors for me are, home roasted fresh coffee between 3 and 6 days old, evenly ground, a capable machine that is well cleaned and maintained, knowing how it should pour and adjusting the grind and tamp to achieve this. Fiddling with the milk texturing until I became pretty darn good
And a whole lot more which is all too boring for now.