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The case for bad coffee (2015)

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Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#41

Post by criddell »

Thanks for posting this. I really enjoyed reading it.

I can totally relate to the what the author is saying. I went through a mini-version of the same journey.

For a while I was buying expensive beans, grinding them on a Baratza Vario (a mid-level grinder) to make espresso in my E-61 based heat exchanger machine. I made some excellent coffee with that setup and more than a few sink-shots.

I gave it up though because I found that the better I got at making coffee, the less I enjoyed it in general. I couldn’t enjoy a mug of diner coffee. I couldn’t drink the stuff they give you on an airplane or at a donut shop. I couldn’t deal with k-cups that work provided so I brought in a kettle and aeropress.

I’m better these days. Like the writer, I’m now able to enjoy just about any coffee I can get my hands on (although IHOP coffee still seems impossibly watery).

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#42

Post by rjh29 »

CptFribble wrote: post #4

Like most things, coffee is subject to diminishing returns. I have also owned nearly every device invented to make coffee - as I'm sure many others here have - and I've settled on a simple over-the-mug pour-over cone, but mainly because there's no moving parts or tubes to worry about cleaning. I don't even know what "correct" pour-over technique is, so I'm basically making bog-standard single-serving drip coffee with…

I like your point about signalling. It's also true that the vast majority of people are not fussy about coffee and can drink anything. If you stay on the internet long enough it's easy to feel like you're the weird one for not investing in an expensive grinder or coffee machine or caring about the type of beans you use, while those people are actually the very small majority, they just broadcast it loudly.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#43

Post by criddell »

hanklazard wrote: post #34

This was a really beautiful post. As for coffee, like many other parts of life (movies, food, and music especially), I find that I like it very good or very bad—as long as it’s not down the middle, I can find a time/place to enjoy it. I have a fairly expensive Rocket Espresso machine, I’ve learned some latte art. I have every coffee making contraption out there. And I enjoy all of it, at times. When I’m in a hurry I’…

What are you ordering at Starbucks? I’ve found, if they aren’t too busy, you can ask the barista about the beans they currently have and order a pour over or French press that’s pretty good.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#44

Post by rjh29 »

michaelchisari wrote: post #21
WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can take my espresso machine from my cold dead hands. Then again I don’t understand why Americans pay so much for their coffee. Here 1kg of fairly good single origin coffee is 22€ and the quality is miles ahead of instant. You don’t have to become an insufferable snob to enjoy better coffee.

Those little stove-top espresso makers that Italians use make the best espresso. Apparently they're called Moka Pots, never knew that.

I love the Moka Pot. I have an aeropress but there is something delightful about just leaving the Moka Pot on the stove and hearing it bubble and deliver fresh coffee. They look cool, it's less effort, and there are fewer variables to worry about.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#45

Post by intrasight »

michaelchisari wrote: post #21
WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can take my espresso machine from my cold dead hands. Then again I don’t understand why Americans pay so much for their coffee. Here 1kg of fairly good single origin coffee is 22€ and the quality is miles ahead of instant. You don’t have to become an insufferable snob to enjoy better coffee.

Those little stove-top espresso makers that Italians use make the best espresso. Apparently they're called Moka Pots, never knew that.

I visited Italy - and became a fan. Came back and bought a moka pot. Has been my only coffee making gadget (well, grinder too) now for 5 years. It makes me two cups in the morning. I add 1/3 part Chobani oat milk. Such a wonderful simple pleasure. The routine of grinding the beans and filling the water then coffee then screwing it together and then waiting for the gurgling sound that means its done - all part of that pleasure. Is good like slow sex.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#46

Post by lisper »

Good grief. If you enjoy it then by definition it is not bad, it is good, even if it didn't cost you an arm and a leg and you got it at the grocery store or the diner. The coffee snobs can just go fuck themselves.

I had two life experiences that beat the culinary snobbery out of me. Many years ago I was a tea-totaller but I decided I wanted to develop a taste for wine (because social pressure) so I started a wine tasting group. It consisted of six couples. We met once a month and rotated hosting duties. About a year in, someone did a blind tasting of cabernets which included a $3 bottle of Barefoot Cab at the low end and a $50 bottle of Silver Oak at the top. (These prices will give you some idea how long ago this was.) Every single one of us rated the Barefoot first or second, and the Silver Oak dead last.

Fast forward a few years and I was looking for a gift to give me parents for their 50th wedding anniversary. They are really in to coffee so I decided to buy them an espresso machine. You can spend a truly ridiculous amount of money on one of those do I decided to do some taste testing to try to find the point of diminishing returns. We ha a $1500 machine at our office and so I decided to use that as a baseline. I enlisted the help of some local coffee snobs for guidance and they instructed me where to get the "proper" beans, which I dutifully sought out. After several hours and many, many attempts, no one was able to produce a cup that any of us considered even remotely drinkable. I ended up getting my parents a Keurig.

On the other hand, whenever I'm in Italy, the coffee there is consistently superior to anything I get anywhere else in the world. I have no idea how they do it, but the Italians obviously know something that the rest of us don't.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#47

Post by aarghh »

I really wish this idea of "bad" vs "good" when it comes to taste and flavor profiles would die. Each different coffee brewing process has an end-product that is different. If you like it, and can taste the difference, knock yourself out investing in consistent grinders and espresso machines that are able to maintain the same brew temperature through a pour. Don't - go for your Maxwell or instant coffee or whatever.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#48

Post by rjh29 »

xioxox wrote: post #25

I certainly like instant coffee and prefer it over many other types I have tried. It took a few tries to find a good one, however. Perhaps it's because I mostly like coffee quite milky, which might cover over any quality issues. Developing a taste for good coffee (or wine, etc) doesn't seem attractive to me. You end up needing more and more equipment. You need expensive high quality beans. It's typically messy, time…

I'm not a snob, but instant coffee is fairly rough when drunk black, it's best with milk as you say. Personally I have a moka pot / aeropress and a cheap manual grinder. The total cost is about $50 and it takes up no space at all. I don't have the desire to invest more effort than that, but for the people who do it's obviously a good value proposition for them.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#49

Post by alphabet9000 »

the worst coffee ive ever had in my entire life was from a starbucks drive thru. before i took a sip, the cup just smelled like a very specific mixture of xylene and sewage. i was extremely curious if it tasted as bad as it smelled and it did. 1 sip and poured it out the window; it was so eerily close to tasting like paint thinner that it made me wonder if thats what it actually was.

it's kind of interesting how BAD coffee can be. out of curiosity i googled to see if there has ever been a contest to see who can make the worst coffee and it turns out that's a thing. https://sprudge.com/the-horrible-true-story-of-the-worlds-wo...

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