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Good Coffee Is Now Bad

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Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#61

Post by soylentcola »

analog31 wrote: post #45
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.

Yep! You need the right kind for it to work, but they're not particularly expensive. Granted, it's not a whole lot cheaper to buy good beans and roast them at home, but it's kinda nice to experiment and get your own personalized blend if you're interested. Guess that goes for cooking your own food, mixing your own drinks, and lots of other things too, though.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#62

Post by linuskendall »

andorsk wrote: post #34

I live in India, but grew up in the U.S, and am a coffee aficionado. I love Indian food, but it's coffee culture bugs me. In India, there is an obvious lack of care for the quality of coffee (IMO). I found a few vendors to supply me beans, but it take time to find the right ones, mostly from a region called Coorg famous for it's coffee beans. I've been there and went to look at the coffee plantations and processing (…

Blue Tokai (and the other specialty roasters - must be at least 5-10 now) is certainly an improvement in the diversity of coffee we get, though pricing is quite high.

However, there has been a good option for coffee beans (and ground if you prefer) for many, many years and that’s Devans in Delhi. Used to be mostly available at INA market but they also started online a few years ago. They are much cheaper than Blue Tokai etc and will provide reasonably freshly roasted beans and ground coffee. No chicory.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#63

Post by shp0ngle »

I guess this style of writing is not for me; I don't really understand what is the author trying to say.

At the end of the day, it's just coffee... if you like good one, fine; if you don't, go somewhere else? Why all this talk about "snobbery"? Who cares?

There are interesting things to write about coffee, its production and varieties. None of this is really mentioned here? Just some random ramblings about high class-low class.

I guess I am not at Twitter enough

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#64

Post by intsunny »

The article says:

> This is a very arbitrary assessment, but of the six (yes, six (I do live in Brooklyn, remember) places [...], I’d say that four of those places just aren’t worth the cost. The coffee just isn’t that good. The two-dollar cup I get at the bodega does the trick.

If there was ever a 'duh' moment. The customers aren't paying for good coffee, they're paying Brooklyn rent.

A not-insignificant percentage of the price customers pay in shallow Brooklyn (Park Slope, Clinton Hill, Billyburg, etc) goes directly to the rent. Not the quality, the labor, etc.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#65

Post by Finnucane »

A long time ago we had a local coffee chain called Coffee Connection, run by George Howells. One of the people responsible for changing Americans' idea of what 'good coffee' is. When Charbucks got here, they bought Howells out and destroyed the Coffee Connection. To this day I hold a grudge against them for that and won't drink their crappy coffee.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#66

Post by rhino369 »

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…

The blonde roast is a lot better, if you are ever stuck in a place without other options.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#67

Post by scombridae »

tl;dr The bean quality and brewing time for artisanal coffee is not significantly better than Dunkins -- the premium you pay is all hipster branding. I wish these mf's would get to the point faster with less ruminating about their favorite movies.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#68

Post by Terretta »

Myrmornis wrote: post #46

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 c…

Starbucks aims to taste burnt*. Espresso in Italy doesn't. Agree boutiques often have a flavor too far forward for espresso as you'd find it in Italy.

* I read why somewhere a long time ago, can't find it.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#69

Post by pydry »

blfr wrote: post #48

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, bes…

>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.

I read an article once about a starbucks moving next door to a specialty coffee shop. They freaked out initially, but counterintuitively, sales actually went up.

I think these markets may actually be more separate and complementary than we realize.

Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad

#70

Post by brk »

paulsutter wrote: post #36

Nice if the author gave more specific criticisms. I read it from top to bottom hoping to learn something, anything. But I can't honestly tell if the author has excellent taste, or is just making this up Anyone have links to what makes truly great coffee? I got a Jura machine for the office and I'm happy with the coffee (the machine seems to make a bigger difference than the beans). I'd like to understand better becau…

IMO, it is a lot like wine, there may be some tastes-bad-to-almost-everyone options, but there are not universal tastes-good-to-everyone options.

Making coffee is really basic chemistry. The beans themselves, the degree of roast, the water chemistry, the water temperature, the filter, and the brew time all affect the outcome. A combination that tastes great to you may not taste great to me. I have found it best to read a bit, and experiment.

One benefit of coffee chain stores is that you should be able to know what you are going to get when you order a "Foo", whereas independent shops will likely all make a Foo slightly differently.

If you read the history of the Clover machine and the initial concept it was pretty cool. You as the user would have a token that held data on how you liked your coffee brewed. You could go to a non-chain coffee store with a Clover machine, scan your token, and get a cup that was made with your specific preferences, allowing you to get something more consistent to your ideal cup at a greater variety of places. Then Starbucks bought out the company, and now you can get a Clover brewed coffee at select stores, and it's good, but it's not the initial vision.

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