Good Coffee Is Now Bad
meltedcheeseonwhitefish.substack.com
Good Coffee Is Now Bad
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Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad
#2Meh. Complaining that coffee snobbery has got more accessible is like complaining that good cameras have got more accessible. Yes, there are some people whose expenditure outpaces their talent. But a lot of the original coffee snobs weren't people of great judgement either. And complaining about those kind of middlebrow coffee snobs in the same article where you talk about how you'd pick Dunkin over Starbucks is the height of hypocrisy. This guy comes off far worse than the people he's criticising.
Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad
#3Everything that starts with snobs and crosses over to the mainstream (with "quality" pricing) will eventually revert to lowest common denominator crap quality (while retaining quality branding) because the marks can't tell the difference. Why not cut costs and increase margin if most of your customers don't notice?
Apple is one of the few companies in a position to do this who doesn't consistently do it, because quality obsession (far far beyond that of their median customer) is in their DNA. For most orgs it is a no-brainer.
Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad
#4coffee, when done well, is much better at home
i use a french press and the "hoffmann method".
grounds go in the press, pour in boiling water. wait a couple minutes and stir gently. scoop off the foam. steep for a total of 5-7 minutes. press and pour.
i cant imagine paying $5 for a cup of subpar coffee.
Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad
#5In visiting NYC, I decided to stop by one of my old coffee haunts, Gorilla in Brooklyn. An AMERICANO was $7.50 before tip. And it was that burnt tasting roast ala Starbucks that I don't believe is good at all. The proprietor/barista also asked me MULTIPLE times to review them on Google Maps. I'm not sure the argument holds as much sway in other places (I live in a coffee mecca normally, and I think it's far less like this) but in NYC it's convincing.
Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad
#6coffee, when done well, is much better at home i use a french press and the "hoffmann method". grounds go in the press, pour in boiling water. wait a couple minutes and stir gently. scoop off the foam. steep for a total of 5-7 minutes. press and pour. i cant imagine paying $5 for a cup of subpar coffee.
This is true -- and I'm sure you mean Hoffmann -- but "better at home" is easier to accomplish if you prefer brewed or filter coffee.
If you want an espresso-based drink, cost or kitchen space can make it much easier to just cultivate a relationship with a good shop (ideally, one that doesn't even OWN blenders).
Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad
#7coffee, when done well, is much better at home i use a french press and the "hoffmann method". grounds go in the press, pour in boiling water. wait a couple minutes and stir gently. scoop off the foam. steep for a total of 5-7 minutes. press and pour. i cant imagine paying $5 for a cup of subpar coffee.
two things:
(1) depending on how good you are, you'll be better than X% of the coffee shops out there. but the converse applies too: somewhere out there, i'd bet, there is a coffee shop making coffee as good or even better than your own.
(2) a least half the pleasure in going to a coffee shop is going to the coffee shop. it's nice to get out and experience some of the community around you!
Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad
#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 complain about that?
Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad
#9coffee, when done well, is much better at home i use a french press and the "hoffmann method". grounds go in the press, pour in boiling water. wait a couple minutes and stir gently. scoop off the foam. steep for a total of 5-7 minutes. press and pour. i cant imagine paying $5 for a cup of subpar coffee.
This is true -- and I'm sure you mean Hoffmann -- but "better at home" is easier to accomplish if you prefer brewed or filter coffee. If you want an espresso-based drink, cost or kitchen space can make it much easier to just cultivate a relationship with a good shop (ideally, one that doesn't even OWN blenders).
[deleted]
Re: Good Coffee Is Now Bad
#10coffee, when done well, is much better at home i use a french press and the "hoffmann method". grounds go in the press, pour in boiling water. wait a couple minutes and stir gently. scoop off the foam. steep for a total of 5-7 minutes. press and pour. i cant imagine paying $5 for a cup of subpar coffee.
I use the "I’m really lazy" method:
Boil water, just before boiling, grind beans. Pour in beans, add water. Wait 4 minutes. Press down.
I tried the hoffman method, it tasted the same to me, was a lot more work and the only advantage was fewer grounds in the cup, but I don’t mind those (barely any).
But yeah, I always drink coffee at home and if I’m somewhere else, I hope they have a french press as it is by far my preferred taste.