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The case for bad coffee (2015)

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Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#291

Post by alfiedotwtf »

staticautomatic wrote: post #125
ryanSrich wrote: post #105

I’ve gone through several coffee phases, some bordering on extreme — extremely sensitive weighing, timing, $2,000 grinders, $10k espresso machine, etc. My happy medium is just doing basic pour overs, but with really good locally roasted coffee. To me, this is the cheapest and best approach. In fact, even if pour overs require too much work (weighing, timing), then just do drip. But do it with quality coffee. Quality…

This isn’t directed at you/OP, but the anti dark roast thing seems to me to be a distinctively American coffee snob hipster thing. Many places in the world have wonderful dark roast coffee. Honestly, are these people just wandering around Austria, Italy, Vietnam, Cuba, or Turkey complaining about bad the coffee is? Give me a break.

In the Philippines, there's a motto in cafes - "Bitter is Better". Yuk... Dark roasts (which makes it bitter) bring out everything bad about coffee IMHO. I'm with the parent comment here - medium to light roasts is where the actual flavour comes from.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#292

Post by galangalalgol »

technothrasher wrote: post #260
grapeskin wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like my steaks borderline completely raw, but I’ll admit it’s because I’ve been around steak snobs and a voice in the back of my mind won’t allow it any other way. But I’ll also admit that heavily browned beef has a distinctive flavor and quality very different from barely cooked steak. Imagine a sandwich with slightly crispy, well cooked beef and all its drippings. Now imagine one with a slice of meat that’s rare…

> I like my steaks borderline completely raw, but I’ll admit it’s because I’ve been around steak snobs I usually like my steaks straight up raw, but most steak snobs I know insist on medium-rare as the "perfect" temperature. Truthfully, I won't usually complain about anything from tartare to medium, and you're right, the different amount of doneness has a drastic effect on flavors and sometimes you just want one flav…

If it has lots of connective tissue like a ribeye, I want medium rare, preferably gotten that way over a long time at low heat then seared, if it doesn't, like a filet, I want it cold and raw.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#293

Post by Tao3300 »

skadamou wrote: post #197
staticautomatic wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn’t directed at you/OP, but the anti dark roast thing seems to me to be a distinctively American coffee snob hipster thing. Many places in the world have wonderful dark roast coffee. Honestly, are these people just wandering around Austria, Italy, Vietnam, Cuba, or Turkey complaining about bad the coffee is? Give me a break.

TBH I've always found European coffee to be somewhat lacking - even from European importers in the states. Sure there is decent espresso in Europe but I've always found I enjoy coffee from local roasters in my area of the US more. IDK if this is because Europe style coffee is all dark roast but that has been my experience.

While my European travels are neither recent nor exhaustive, only in Germany could I get a decent cup of drip coffee. Everywhere else the "cup of coffee" was a really bad Americano.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#294

Post by twangist »

hanklazard wrote: post #264
tomjakubowski wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Big coffee guy, not really a fan of sbucks, but their "via" blonde roast is the best instant coffee I've had, ideal for camping coffee. Unfortunately the stuff I've had from smaller roasters (eg Verve) isn't that great.

That’s true, their instant packs are probably my fav Sbucks product. So damn convenient/portable.

I third this opinion. Their instant packs are their best coffees.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#295

Post by kortilla »

astrange wrote: post #281
acchow wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a distinctively American coffee snob hipster thing Didn't it start in Northern Europe and flourish in Australia?

Australians I’ve met all seem to think they invented something they call “coffee culture” (or at least that Melbourne did). I don’t know why they think this because it seems to be exactly the same as Seattle in the 2000s.

Perhaps because it’s older? Coffee culture took off post WW2 in Australia with an influx in Italians but it didn’t start to catch on in the US until the 90s.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#296

Post by giraffe_lady »

jmpeax wrote: post #289

"Maxwell" is mentioned 5 times. Are we sharing well-written advertisements masquerading as organic marketing on hacker news now? Are we becoming reddit?

Was it ever not like this? We usually prefer the stealth marketing to be software products and startups but it's never been strictly that. I can't remember a time when HN was better (or worse!) than reddit on this front and I've been around both since they were young.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#297

Post by robocat »

codefreeordie wrote: post #275
staticautomatic wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn’t directed at you/OP, but the anti dark roast thing seems to me to be a distinctively American coffee snob hipster thing. Many places in the world have wonderful dark roast coffee. Honestly, are these people just wandering around Austria, Italy, Vietnam, Cuba, or Turkey complaining about bad the coffee is? Give me a break.

It's actually kind of funny, because I've noticed that there is one little coffee subculture in America that is big on dark roasts -- you'll find a pretty decent variety of dark roasts at the right-wing-political coffee roasteries. I'm not sure how we turned coffee roast level into a partisan political issue, but somehow we did.

Wow - as a New Zealander that almost sounds reasonable. Any other food splits: White-wine versus red-wine? Chicken versus steak? Ice cubes or warm water in Scotch whiskey? Types of distilled alcohol? Etcetera?

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#298

Post by camtarn »

qbasic_forever wrote: post #191
ninkendo wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I hear what you and others are saying in the responses. I’m sure there’s coffees out there that, if I tried them, I’d admit were different, and likely better, than what I’m having now. But I’d be worse off overall in that world, because then I’d go from enjoying cheap coffee, to hating cheap coffee and only enjoying “good” (read: expensive and/or time consuming) coffee. Folks would say “try this coffee, you’l…

I still like cheap coffee--my go-to morning brew is pre-ground Folgers because it's so cheap and I drink a lot in the morning. It's just like beer IMHO, just because you've tried and like certain types or brands doesn't ruin everything else. It just increases my appreciation for when I do find or want something a little more special.

Yep, same here. My favourite coffee shop does a great pour-over and an even better oat milk flat white. But it's far away, and most of the time I either drink supermarket dark roast filter coffee out of the machine at the office, or super cheap coffee from McDonald's or Gregg's. I can taste the difference, but I still enjoy both ends of the spectrum.

Amusingly, the only coffee I have ever actively disliked was a cold brew from aforementioned coffee shop. I think I'm just not cut out for drinking cold brew - it just tasted weak and acidic, even compared to a light roasted pour-over.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#299

Post by cgrealy »

jcpst wrote: post #284

Meh- I don’t think this is a case for bad coffee. It’s just like my old beer-brewing college professor saying one of the best beers of his life was a budweiser… as the cruise ship he was on was departing. This is about experience, which is the stuff of life. When I was vacationing in a tropical paradise, and the best coffee on the island was still in the 2nd wave, I didn’t pretend it was amazing, but I also didn’t ha…

I remember reading one of Anythony Bourdains books and he talked about how much experience matters to food. I don't have the exact quote but it was something like:

I've eaten in 5 start restaurants, had meals by the best chefs, but when you're seating on a tropical beach at sunset with a girl on your arm, a beer in your hand and you're pretty sure you're gonna get laid tonight.... that chicken wing tastes fucking amazing.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#300

Post by a-user-you-like »

bee_rider wrote: post #286
codefreeordie wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually kind of funny, because I've noticed that there is one little coffee subculture in America that is big on dark roasts -- you'll find a pretty decent variety of dark roasts at the right-wing-political coffee roasteries. I'm not sure how we turned coffee roast level into a partisan political issue, but somehow we did.

There are right wing political coffee roasteries?

For ex: https://gab.com/RangerCandyCoffeeCompany
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