The case for bad coffee (2015) • Hacker News Board

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#61

Post by pimeys » Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 10:21 PM UTC

intrasight wrote: post #45

michaelchisari wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

It is even better if you pre-heat the water before pouring it to the pot. Then heating the water just enough it comes up from the pipe. Keep the temps low and don't let it boil on the top. It helps if you keep the lid open.

Such a great tool...

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#62

Post by jrockway » Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 10:21 PM UTC

apcragg wrote: post #24

racl101 wrote: post #13

I've never felt the need to pay extra for whole-bean, locally, ethically roasted, gourmet coffee. Even when I started making way more money I've stuck with the can of ground coffee. The reason is cause most days I just down the cup really quickly, black. Or with a little cream. I don't savor it. To me, coffee is a utility. Not a lifestyle. I just need a couple of cups to stay awake and do my job. But after that I don…

It sounds like you'd be better served by caffeine pills then. No need to bother with a delivery mechanism you don't enjoy when there are easier solutions out there!

I used to be a caffeine pill person. Would get up at 4:30, have a caffeine pill and a glass of water, ride my bike for a couple hours, go to work. In that case, I wanted caffeine first and liquid later (throughout my ride) so I wouldn't have to make a "rest stop".

I kept up the caffeine pill habit after I stopped doing those rides (social life after work made going to bed at 8:30 a little untenable), but ran out and switched back to coffee. Coffee really gives you some extras that mere caffeine doesn't, I just feel a little "warmer" after a good cup of coffee. Also, all those papers you read about coffee being good for you are coffee, not necessarily caffeine. So if you want those benefits, I recommend the actual thing.

I have some friends who drink energy drinks just for the caffeine ("I hate the taste") and to that demographic I recommend caffeine pills wholeheartedly. If you don't like the taste of caffeinated beverages, don't drink them.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#63

Post by ethbr0 » Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 10:23 PM UTC

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’…

Well put. Starbucks has become the LongHorn of coffee: once super-local quality, now a thin gruel of mediocrity with fancy branding.

And in the process they've wiped out most independent coffee shops.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#64

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 10:24 PM UTC

lisper wrote: post #46

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 tas…

[deleted]

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#65

Post by thatguy0900 » Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 10:24 PM UTC

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…

You can get a lot more mileage out of stuff you put into coffee than the coffee, flavored creamers and the like. I like Vietnamese style coffee with condensed milk myself, also a type of pour over coffee

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#66

Post by jrockway » Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 10:24 PM UTC

I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but I've never had a cup of coffee I didn't like. There have been some pretty terrible tasting ones. I drank them anyway. All in all, pretty good beverage.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#67

Post by floppydiskette » Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 10:25 PM UTC

I’ve been saying this forever. I’ve tried the coffee at all the cafes in my hipster neighborhood, and I still prefer gas station coffee. There’s something really acidic about fancy coffee that I just can’t enjoy.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#68

Post by tomjakubowski » Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 10:26 PM UTC

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’…

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.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#69

Post by LegitShady » Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 10:27 PM UTC

smackeyacky wrote: post #58

LegitShady wrote: post #10

People talk about 'bad coffee' but many times they don't say what constitutes bad coffee. We all have different preferences. There are some very expensive fancy coffees that I dislike because I taste them as overly sour or acidic. Meanwhile I can drink very expensive blue mountain or a very cheap nabob full city dark in an aeropress and enjoy both. I used to occasionally get starbucks on the way to work but the line…

Coffee culture took much longer to take hold in the US (or at least it seems that way). On my travels in the US over the last 30 years the coffee went from a horrifying, watery, burnt, disgusting dish water that came out of a drip pot to acceptable espresso like the rest of the world enjoys. Instant coffee is much closer to that peculiar American burnt drip coffee horror which is what Americans seemed to used to expe…

I don't think anything you've said is related to what I've said. You dislike 'burnt' tasting coffee, but there are plenty of instant coffees that don't taste like that. I've never had a coffee at starbucks that tasted watery in any way, nor are the customers getting regular coffee there the same customers getting fancy drinks.

I think you seem to have an obsession with imaginary american stuff rather than a discussion of what preferences you have. What about a good coffee do you think makes it good? What makes it taste bad? What do you mean by burned - do you dislike dark roasts? How do you feel about sour notes, or acidic notes, or fruity notes, etc etc.

That's the real question, not whether its american or not. I have a tough time drinking african coffees because most are too sour tasting for me. Meanwhile I poured a friend a very expensive cup of jamaican blue mountain and they said it tasted 'too plain' for them.

It's all about preferences, not snobbery about american this or american that. I don't like espresso, and never have. I don't care at all what the rest of the world enjoys, nor can I summarize 'this espresso tastes like what the rest of the world enjoys' because there are many many coffees and all of them are different enough that not everyone enjoys them all, and even if the whole world enjoyed something else that doesn't define what I enjoy nor will it ever do that.

Re: The case for bad coffee (2015)

#70

Post by xboxnolifes » Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 10:32 PM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #66

I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but I've never had a cup of coffee I didn't like. There have been some pretty terrible tasting ones. I drank them anyway. All in all, pretty good beverage.

> ...I've never had a cup of coffee I didn't like. There have been some pretty terrible tasting ones.

I don't understand. How are these not directly conflicting statements?