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Good Coffee Is Now Bad

meltedcheeseonwhitefish.substack.com

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Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#41

Post by mc32 »

philip1209 wrote: post #21

If specialty coffee stops being "different", then it's no longer specialty - it's a commodity. I'm reading the "Best of Jimseven 2004-2015" [1] book, where then-blogger, now-Youtuber [2] James Hoffman explores his own journey starting a cafe. And, in it he talks about the original marketing challenges of positioning a specialty cafe: > What those of us in specialty coffee offer isn’t necessarily unilaterally better c…

I think that’s very fair.

Branded coffee shops strive for consistency in their offerings in order to produce revenue.

Specialty coffee shops strive for a specialized variety of offerings to drive revenue —although regrettably sometimes it’s packaged as exotic or unique and as a non sequitur that it’s therefore better and the consumer is superior to those not in the know.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#42

Post by drcongo »

neogodless wrote: post #8

> I consider myself an expert on this sigh > the part that’s more offensive than the price is that a lot of times it isn’t good So don't go there and don't buy it. > wish that I took that much interest in the coffee I make. But I don’t So you're saying you don't care enough about coffee to make it yourself, but you have a whole ton of options close to home and some you like and many you don't, and you want to complai…

Substack seems to have turned everyone into an expert on things they know nothing about. This article is terrible.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#43

Post by bitlax »

Maursault wrote: post #17

Starbucks makes delicious cappuccinos and mocha espressos probably by dumping a month's worth of recommended daily allowances of sugar in them. But they are yummie. Their house blend drip coffee of various roasts, however, is burnt. Starbuck's signature flavor for their drip coffee is burned coffee. I don't know how Starbucks thought that burning their coffee was a novel idea, and I don't know how anyone can drink it…

I don't know if this is true but I've heard the burning is deliberate in order to maintain a consistent flavor across all of their stores, much like McDonalds wants a Big Mac to taste the same no matter where you are.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#45

Post by analog31 »

talkingtab wrote: post #27

Good coffee, really good coffee is easy. You get a heat gun, you get an old fashioned flour sifter. You order some interesting green beans from sweetmarias.com. You roast the beans over the heat gun while holding the flour sifter and cranking. I do 2/3 pound batches. There are lots of fast and easy ways to brew the coffee. My current favorite is an aeropress because it takes a few minutes, but moka pots are very good…

I've never tried it, but a friend of mine says he uses a hot-air popcorn popper to roast coffee beans.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#46

Post by Myrmornis »

My usual way of drinking coffee is espresso with warm milk, so, a latte. In the USA, I believe that espresso-with-milk drinks are vastly superior at Peets or Starbucks, than they are at smaller, more "sophisticated" places. I'm not a coffee expert, but it seems to me that the big chains sell espresso that tastes more like espresso traditionally does in, say, Italy. I'm guessing that the smaller boutique / specialty coffee shops in the USA are using specialty beans (lighter, more acidic? more floral?) that they've selected for how they taste when prepared as filter coffee, or americano, i.e. when drunk black, and that these are unfortunately terrible as espresso mixed with milk.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#47

Post by neogodless »

masklinn wrote: post #29
mr_mitm wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a false dichotomy for me. If I am near my french press, I will never pay for a cup of coffee. However, if I am not near an available french press, i.e. on the road, I have no other choice than to buy a cup of coffee, unless I pass on coffee entirely. But since I can't really whip out my french press in an airport, I still occasionally pay too much for mediocre coffee.

> But since I can't really whip out my french press in an airport You can whip out an aeropress in an airport, and can probably finnagle 200mL boiling water from one of the eateries or shops (I would assume that to be the bigger challenge as you can’t exactly start a fire at the gate, not to mention carrying a gas cartridge through security).

I can't even prevent my pre-coffee self from making a mess in my own kitchen with an Aeropress... god forbid my travel-exhausted self balancing my stuff on a suitcase in an airport lounge!

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#48

Post by blfr »

Most people/customers don't really have a good taste. This is why high quality stuff, even when competitive price-wise, have a hard time in the market.

In Warsaw, one of the best cafes, I mean world class, they make their own tonic for tonic espresso, is a short stroll away from Starbucks[1]. Yet, that Starbucks does just fine.

Same with clothing. Luxury brands clothes are now more expensive than custom tailored, bespoke items. And HHVM is doing great while small tailors are going out of business. People simply can't spot quality.

[1] https://goo.gl/maps/np8KbybFpSoo4bqFA

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#49

Post by twawaaay »

> My theory on good and bad coffee, oddly, can be summed up by something they talk about in Top Gun: Maverick, about how it isn’t the plane but the pilot flying it that matters.

This is the first thing I learned on barista course (I am not a barista, I got the course as a birthday present because I care a lot about coffee).

As of now there exists no way to get a great coffee without having somebody with taste and knowledge to actually check the coffee, diagnose the problem and then fix it.

A lot of bad coffee should be understood as coffee shops without a feedback loop that would understand that the coffee is bad and how to fix it. The customers certainly are not good enough, they will just not return and you will be none the wiser about why.

I have been to many coffee shops for coffee to observe what looks like a lot of expensive, good quality equipment and then a barista that definitely don't know or don't care about what they are doing. And nobody in sight to spot and fix the problem.

It seems like the owners' idea of the business was to have upscale coffee place for coffee snobs like me but like many people missed the critical lesson of quality control, constant improvement and the importance of hiring people who care. Which for some reason is a lot of businesses where the owners' first goal is to make as much money as possible.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#50

Post by deebosong »

hattmall wrote: post #33

It's not wrong, but the same truth from 40 years ago is still relevant, you need to know where to go for a good cup of coffee. Just because a place is expensive or gourmet has no real significance. The best coffee near me is at a mediocre diner that mostly serves overnight prison guards. Next best is a gas station.

I like your style. As someone who isn't particularly invested in finding great coffee, but does appreciate a good cup if it's not out of my way, what qualities do you look for in a fantastic cup of coffee?
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