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The case for bad coffee (2015)

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Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I say whisk(e)y of any type lean towards the right, wine is left, steak can be a unifier, but chicken might get you called "soy".

"soy" (or, sometimes, "soi" when used as a prefix) turning into a derogatory name for a liberal among a certain right-wing subculture has a really interesting (to me, at least) history to it.

Your list is interesting too -- I'd have claimed steak as a moderately right-wing food. Though it sorta depends. Filets, NY Strips, and Rib-eyes are pretty neutral, but T-Bone and Porterhouse steaks are more right-leaning.

Certainly, anything "intentionally vegan" is a left-wing food.

Chicken seems to be consumed by most everyone (as are eggs).

Anything with tofu or other soy product (except soy sauce) is probably left-wing unless it is a dish from a region which has historically used it (especially if the tofu is a substitute for meat) -- so, for example, Agedashi Tofu is politically neutral, as is something like Mapo Tofu, but an Americanized sweet and sour tofu would be a little bit left, and any kind of "tofu steaks" or anything where the soy is a meat replacement is farther-left.

Avocado is very slightly left. But, if you spread it on a toast with eggs, radishes, and microgreens making an Avocado Toast, it's now far-left.

There's all kinds of really interesting nuance out there on the subject of partisan foods.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I say whisk(e)y of any type lean towards the right, wine is left, steak can be a unifier, but chicken might get you called "soy".

Hey now, Jura (makes whisky) advertises on the Crooked Media Podcasts, so we can't accuse them of being right wing.

Generally I think of whisk(e)y as having like all brown liquors, if anything, a bit of an elitist vibe but not really a left-right association.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#364

I'm an advocate for the middle ground. I get store brand whole bean coffee (1) , and grind it and use a Mr. Coffee. Then put sugar and milk in because black coffee is nasty. I see no value to obsessing over perfect coffee. I have friends who do and love to talk endlessly about it. Holy crap how boring. Nor am I going to drink Maxwell house unless I have no other reasonable option. 1: typically light or medium roast..…

I enjoy a good Americano but I just buy the same beans that I’ve found to make a good cup for years and I can make a delicious and easy cup faster than a drip in the morning. It doesn’t have to be obnoxious or difficult. I also do enjoy diner coffee as long as it’s somewhat fresh and not been sitting on the hot plate for hours

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#365
What's great about this country is America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you can know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good.

Andy Warhol

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd legitimately rather drink Starbucks than Stumptown for all of the reasons mentioned above. Starbucks is 'meh' but at least it doesn't have that sour, floral taste.

I actually agree. I’ve tried to like Stumptown so many times, but the flavor is too sour for me. Sisters Coffee Company is my favorite Oregon brand so far.

Thanks for the tip. I'll check them out next time I see them at PCC or wherever.

Meanwhile, I think my two favorite Washington roasters are https://www.mukilteocoffee.com and https://fidalgocoffee.com

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sweetmarias.com check out their nostalgia popper. roast your own, it's always fresh. green coffee is ridiculously cheap. if you don't want to work for it, some subscriptions from your favorite local roaster can be a good deal, especially if you get large bags (2lbs or 5lbs), divide into batches and freeze. find a good blend from a good roaster. Southern Weather from Onyx Coffee Labs is one of my favorite "daily drive…

Southern Weather is also $20/lb

~~not if you buy larger bags, which is what I suggested.~~ edit, they must have raised their prices since i last checked. i thought southern weather was around 15/lb bulk.

onyx is also one of the most cost transparent roasters out there.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are right wing political coffee roasteries?

Surprisingly, yes. "Mainstream" ones like Black Rifle Coffee (which is trying to lose its political image and focus on being coffee for our military, now that it is big wants to be able to keep growing by "selling across the aisle") But also a whole range of farther-right ones -- Liberty Coffee is one, Stocking Mill Coffee made a bit of a name for itself by commenting over the Kyle Rittenhouse controversy, Thrasher C…

Huh.

Coffee shops definitely have a vaguely liberal vibe to them.

Otherwise, though -- it is kinda funny that there's apparently a left-leaning association for coffee that they feel the need to push back on. Like coffee is kind of a ubiquitous thing that people consume to help them concentrate at their bland corporate jobs.

And the story behind sourcing it is... something that left leaning people are often not super psyched about. I guess that leads to the whole fair trade coffee thing, which... maybe that could be though of as left-leaning?

But whatever, the giant union-busting corporation Starbucks is sometimes assumes to be left-leaning, so what can you do, right?

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#369

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.

The darkest Italian roast has nothing at all to do with what goes as dark roast - and especially not Italian roast - in the US. The absolute darkest roast I ever saw in Italy was with just a hint of oil showing on the bean, and I only saw that once. They drink a medium roast most of the time, although there are light roasts readily available. I have seen documentaries with Italian roasters from Illy and on down to smaller boutique roasters, who come to the US and just rip into the roasters for their crappy burnt coffee. These are their customers / business partners, but they just have to be honest to them about what they are serving. Turkish coffee likewise is not a dark roast, but a medium roast - just brewed quite strong. I can't speak to the others.

I am a grumpy old man and chase hipsters off my lawn, but this point ain't from them.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#370

commodity coffee is bad - for the farmers and workers (low, inconsistent pay) - for the environment (mono-cropping) - for the roaster (inconsistent quality and needs to be over-roasted to equalize) - in the cup (tastes over-roasted) sorry. just because we have all gotten used to commodity coffee pricing "for your daily fix" doesn't mean it's good or acceptable. it's inextricable from it's history in colonialism.

You're implying the farmers and workers would be better off if those low-paying jobs didn't exist, which is obviously not the case, as the fact that they took those jobs indicates it was better than the next best job available to them.

This same fallacy applies to criticisms of FoxConn factory jobs in China or construction jobs by imported labor in Dubai.

To you, the jobs are terrible, but to the people who get them, they are a significant improvement over the status quo. Eliminating those low pay jobs, by mandating higher paying jobs, would not lead to a one-to-one substitution of those "bad" jobs for what you consider to be good jobs. It would replace a huge number of low paying jobs for a small number of high paying jobs, leading to many going without.

Fundamentally you're making a fallacy of misattributing the cause of the poor conditions those workers experience to the people offering them their job, when in reality the cause is their low skill level, combined with the low capital concentration levels in their country, making their labor worth little.

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