What's the best type of coffee?

[Ohio Dem]

Kona? Sumatra? Mocha Java? Moka Harrar? Tanzania Peaberry? Jamaican Blue Mountain? Folgers?

What's your favorite?

[dolo amber]

1. The kind that is

readily available to be put into my headhole the instant I wake :D

[Itascapark]

2. Strong and Black

(like my soul) :evilgrin:

Kona works for me...

[DuctapeFatwa]

3. Cafe du Monde

the original, with chicory. fill the basket up.

Reslulting beverage should be thick enough to slice and the color of ink.

Add a few tablespoons of sugar and very hot cream. Not the blue stuff. cream.

Scientific studies show that heavy cream contains special enzymes that dissolve bad cholesterol.

[Ohio Dem]

5. I've never heard anything good about chicory before.

Interesting. I'll try it sometime. But without the sugar, thank you very much, though I do agree about the cream.

[Midwest_Doc]

24. The Secret Ingredient!

I too love Cafe du Monde. Rumor has it that, at the restaurant, a small amount of chocolate is added to the chicory-coffee mixture.

[nuxvomica]

4. Kona is the best but it makes you crazy

I drink nothing but Folger's instant now. But if I want a treat, I'll get some Kona and put it in a French press.

[Dookus]

6. Crappuccino!

http://www.sallys-place.com/beverages/coffee/kopi_luwak.htm

[Ohio Dem]

9. Well, THAT was interesting!

Coffee goes right through me, too.

[Maple]

7. Canada operates on

Tim Horton's coffee...and a donut of course.

Or two or.....

[Darth_Kitten]

25. I prefer Salisbury House coffee.....

weird, huh? :evilgrin:

[I AM SPARTACUS]

8. at least 16-18 best...one of 'em, New Orleans coffee with chicory...

[Ohio Dem]

10. There's the chicory again.

I've never tasted it, but I will.

[I AM SPARTACUS]

12. link...

http://shop.cafedumonde.com/coffee.html

[Ohio Dem]

15. Thanks. I'll keep that in mind next time I order coffee.

Just ordered a couple of pounds tonight, though. I'm bookmarking that site. Some time later, I'll think, "What the hell is this link?" when going through my bookmarks, click on it, and probably order.

[zizzer]

36. This is funny...chickory

was added to coffee as a way to stretch it when coffee supplies were low and also used by poor folks who couldn't afford "Real" coffee.

I like it a lot. It should leave a nice orange crema around the rim of a freshly poured cup.

Zizzer, who knows way too much about coffee

[msanger]

11. Fair Trade

It is the only coffee a DUer should drink. you can get it at Starbucks by the bag -- and the farmers actually get a decent wage for the beans they sell.

otherwise - you are supporting slave labour -- not to put too fine a point on it.

[Ohio Dem]

13. I read an article about that in Mother Jones, but I confess

I don't know much about it.

[DuctapeFatwa]

14. Starbucks gives your money to expand illegal settlements

If you want to support that, why use Starbucks as a middleman? Just send your money to Rabbi Yusuf or Sharon directly.

Edit to note that you can get Fair Trade Coffee from other places, for those who support international laws.

[LWolf]

16. I would add

fair trade organic, shade-grown coffee.

A few of the sources out there:

http://www.peacecoffee.com/organic.htm

http://www.gmcr.com/coffees/scripts/fair_trade_organic.asp

http://www.cafecanopy.com/

http://www.heinebroscoffee.com/wframeopn.htm

[libertad]

31. too bad Starbucks coffee tastes so bad!

I'd rather not drink coffee than drink Starbucks coffee.

[sugarcookie]

17. Gevalia

I got the introductory drip coffemaker with insulated carafe and 1 lb. of coffee for $10.00. The coffemaker was actually very nice and the coffee was delicious. Your not obligated to keep buying the coffee, but I liked it so I order every once in awhile. I love Folger's new French Vanilla and Hazelnut. Maxwell House 1892 is very good too.

[Ohio Dem]

18. I'm not a big sonuvabitch for flavored coffee.

But the 1892 sounds interesting.

[sugarcookie]

21. Comes in old fashioned style can

http://web.kraftfoods.com/maxwellhouse/1892.html

lol..just noticed I spelled coffeemaker wrong in my previous post.

edit to add text

[Redleg]

45. I used to love Gevalia but their espresso roast is not that good anymore.

It is not roasted dark enough so the espresso has a weak flavor. I contacted them several times about this but to no avail

[WindRavenX]

19. They're all good!

Damn, now I crave a nice cup o' joe....
No such thing as bad coffee in my book...

[proud patriot]

20. Kona ... Definately

Yum !

[leftofthedial]

22. free coffee of course

[SiobhanClancy]

23. Kona rules

that's my opinion,and I'm sticking to it:)

[ACK]

26. Kenyan AA and Jamaican Blue Mountain (if you can get it)

A good Kenyan AA has a slightly acidic taste which is a nice change but Blue Mountain baby is the bomb. Yeah, I am a coffee snob but I still drink the drek at work with very little complaint.

[zizzer]

37. Blue Mountain WAS the best until...

they over produced on the mountain and ruined it. Before that it was hard to get the real stuff as the majority was bought before hartvest and shipped to Japan.

Very little Blue Mountain coffee has ever been in the US and what people have bought over the years is either a complete rip off or a blens containing less than 10% actual Blue Mountain coffee.

Zizzer

[AlabamaYankee]

27. Depends on the time of day and my mood

Porto Rico Coffee Company's French-Italian Espresso Roast is the standard shot-to-the-head wake up brew, but Ethiopean Yirgacheffe or Harrar is nice for a change of pace. They also sell bird

Porto Rico Coffee is a family owned operation in the Village. They have a huge selection of coffees and teas, MUCH cheaper than Gevalia or Starbucks, and shipped freshly roasted. They also sell bird friendly organic coffees. (http://www.portorico.com/)

[Loonman]

28. espresso roast

Kona and Jamaican Blue mountain are too damn expensive.

[FlaGranny]

29. I like KAVA.

It's an instant. But it's getting darn hard to get and expensive when you can find it. It is low-acid which cuts the bitter taste, and is smooth and still tastes like good coffee. I'm getting ready to place an on-line order for it.

[libertad]

30. Dunkin Donuts coffee is the best.

After Dunkin Donuts coffee, I like Community Coffee with chicory.

[Blue_Chill]

32. Whatever the hell is in my mug at 5AM

they all tastes like wonderful to me.

[Tikki]

33. 100% Columbian

*

[opihimoimoi]

34. KONA . J BLUE MOUNTAIN. YEMEN

Of the 3 Kona is my fave

Very over priced but what can I say, demand exceeds supply

[GOPisEvil]

35. I got some Kona from my uncle, who visited ...

...I need to brew that stuff up! :donut:

[JCMach1]

38. Aroma Coffee of Santa Fe

All the varietals are excellent. Even better, they use FAIR TRADE practices.

http://www.aromacoffee.com/

[zizzer]

39. Ummmm...Coffee (best Homer S. impersonation)

There are three basic components to good coffee, the bean, the roast and the preperation. Between those three things a lot can go wrong.

There are two basic sorts of beans in the world, Arabica and Robusto. Good coffee is Arabica, most of the robusto in the world is consumed in it's country of origin. Several factors go into the bean itself, the altitude at which it is grown, the quality of soil and of course the seed stock. I prefer high grown coffee, that being grown above five thousand feet.

A few notes about "shade grown coffee". Coffee, in it's natural state is a shade loving plant and fields traditionaly have been very eco friendly as you HAVE to plant shade trees throughout a field. This whole notion of "shade grown" is simply a way to market coffee for more money. There are more and more "sun grown" vareities and they are evil!

One last note about the beans, there are two types of bean, the traditional, which grows two beans to a cherry and the "pea berry" which grows more like a pit in stone fruit(peach, nectorine, etc). Coffee BTW bears fruit year round and the fruit matures at diufferent rates so a plant year round will have ripe fruit and flowers propducing new fruit all of the time.

On to the roast.

The basics go something like this. THe beans are picked and the meat of the fruit is removed. The beans are then washed and dried in the sun. They are then placed into a rotating drum that rests over a very high heat and the beans are cooked. This was initialy done to prevent the seeds from germionating anywhere other than the Arabic penninsula, where coffee comes from...hense Arabica). The problem that people talk about with Starbucks coffee is realy from the raost. There are some basic roasts, light, medium, dark and espresso. I'm not gonna get into an argument about specifics with these but that's the basics. French raost falls somewhere between dark and espresso. Starbucks uses a VERY dark roast and some would say even burns the coffee. I am one of those. I prefer a nice medium roast. You get the nice coffee flavour without the charcoal taste you smetimes get at starbucks and with some espresso.

Preperation...

French press, turkish, espresso, drip, perk are just a few ways to make coffee. All of them have there pro's and cons. For just a cup of coffee perk is the best, it takes some pratice and a bit more time than other methods but is simply fantastic! Turkish coffee takes MORe time MORE practice and some tools. Typicaly, it is boiled three times and sugar and other ingredients are added durring the boiling process. It served in small glasses with a dolop of the crema added to the top. It is typicaly sweetened with sugar or honey and VERY strong. French press is nice that it is elegent and easy, simply put the pot toigether, add coffeepour hot (never boiling) water over the top, put the lid/plunger and and let steap. When done, push the plunger to get the grounds out of what you drink and enjoy.

Espresso is partly about the roast and partly about the preperation. The beans are roasted VERY dark and then ground to powder. To make the drink itself steam is forced through the grounds and the heat extracts those wonderfull oils. Espresso is traditionaly served with cardoman and or a piece of lemon zest. To make all of those facny drinks you add either heated or frothed milk in differing amounts.

Drip coffee is a failrly American way to do things, it is cheap, it is easy and produces a mediocer cup of coffee. THis is what I primarily drink so don't go getting all indignant with me.

Any other questions you may have can be posted here and if I have time I will answer some of them.

Zizzer, I have actualy toyed with the idea of doing a public access TV shopw about coffee and preperation and tradition...

[TrogL]

40. Wierd. UFie has the same thread

Do I detect a certain amount of cross-pollination?

Anyway, it needs to be in the pot overnight, preferably one that has plenty of scale and possibly some mold. Then dump in half a jar of moo powder and most of a bag of sugar and you've got breakfast.

[bif]

41. Peet's from S.F.

All their coffees are great. Roasted fresh every day. Much better than Starbucks. Check out their website: http://www.peets.com/

[sangha]

42. I like plain ole'

Columbian the best

[qb]

43. Folgers Colombian

Not the perfect cup, but it's cheap and I don't have to grind it.

[Redleg]

44. Espresso- make that a double!

An Italian friend introduced me to the dark, rich pleasures of espresso in 1989 and I have loved a good demitasse of it ever since! The hard part was finding a good espresso maker so I could make it at home. I am now fairly happy with my Krups pump machine. It can be a bit temperamental but works pretty well. My Italian friend made his espresso in a stove-top pot. I have never been able to match that taste in my stove-top maker. Must be an ancient Italian secret!