Still more in The Quest For Coffee... A Product Review

[Bogie]

So, there I was, wandering through my second-favorite Goodwill... It's in a fairly affluent area, which means that people pitch better stuff, but the folks are still pretty young - most under 50... My favorite Goodwill is also in an affluent area, but the folks are older... Which means that when Junior and Buffy show up to move Mumsy down to Florida, they pitch older stuff... Which is sometimes better stuff...
 
For instance, I _love_ it when the guy who is doing the pricing assumes that "McIntosh" is some sort of off-brand stereo component.
 
So, anyway, there I am, sorta discouraged because I failed to score anything worth messing with, when I look up to the top shelf, I see a cardboard box, all taped up. It's a Keurig K-Cup coffeemaker... You fill it with water, stuff in one of those little pods, and push a button, and a few seconds later, you have coffee... At least that's the plan.

Anywho, the thing was marked $6.99. What the heck, let's try it... Turns out the thing looks like either a customer return or a demo or a "got unwrapped in the store" item. All the stuff's there, paperwork, baggies, etc... Price at the home store was $149.95. Worse happens, I can ebay it...
 
So... Bought it. Then went to the home store, and picked up some coffee pods. Cost about 1.5x the cost of the machine for about 25 cups worth... Hooo boy, better be some good coffee...
 
I dunno their definition of coffee, but it ain't mine. Ain't even Starbucks, and I can whip that little coffee boy like a rented ugly stepchild. Maybe if I could stuff two of the pods in the thing...
 
Sigh... Back to the Krups and the grinder, and the Gaggia for the occasional shot'o'elixir of life...
 

[Gewehr98]

Trisha says I can probably find one of these used for about four hundred clams.



I'll stay with my Krups Bravo 871 - it has a force-fed boiler driven by an electric pump, and a detachable water reservoir.  Makes de-scaling somewhat easier than the older boiler/reservoir versions.  Since the temps up here have averaged around 10-20 degrees in the last few weeks, I really like the double shot of espresso in my car mug every morning. 

I know what you mean about Goodwill.  My dad started the whole thing, much to my mom's chagrine.  Now I make at least one trip per week to Goodwill, usually with something to drop off, but I often return with something I found.  There are three Goodwill stores in the greater Madison area, and they all smell bad.  That's okay, I never buy clothing or upholstered furniture there, but I do grab electronics, tools, and DVD/CD selections. 

[Bogie]

Heh... The one in the "older folks" area gets a LOT of vinyl...

[mtnbkr]

Bogie, they sell a tool that lets you make your own coffee pods.  Maybe try one of those stuffed with the bean of your choice...

I wish my Goodwill stores had cool stuff, but we're NOT an affluent area, so ours are stuffed with crap. 

Chris

[Harold Tuttle]

I'm hunting a krups coffina 223 for my deLorean

[MillCreek]

I use a Capresso MT500 for my drip, a number of french presses and a Pasquini Livia 90 as my espresso machine.  For me, the key to real coffee success was starting to roast my own green coffee beans.  Once you start down that road, however, you find it very difficult to ever go back, and ordering coffee or espresso out is usually a disappointment.

[roo_ster]

For most my coffe, it is a Wal-Mart bought Sunbeam that cost $10 new & Costco brand ground coffee.

When I want good coffee, I break out beans, Braun grinder, and my French press.  Add water that has settled after the boil for a minute, wait 5 min, & PRESS.

[charby]

Bogie

Go to a asian grocery market and pick up on of their coffee makers.

they look like this one http://www.ineedcoffee.com/04/vietnamese/

or get a stove top expresso pot http://www.ineedcoffee.com/03/mokaexpress/?page=2

I have had the stove top for years, bought a three shot pot on clearance at Target for less than $10. I use it mostly camping. After drinking many a cup of Vietnamese coffee at a local restaurant I finally bought the filter thing but I haven't tried it out, I think it was $4 for it. It is still sitting in the back seat of my car. Maybe I'll try it this weekend.

-C

[K Frame]

If there is one thing that I have learned about coffee, it's that more bells and more whistles far too frequently results in a lackluster cup of coffee.

Even Mr. Coffee-type machines don't really produce a good cup of coffe, only adequate.

Two processes generally produce the best coffee...

French Press, and Vacuum.

[K Frame]

I wish my Goodwill stores had cool stuff, but we're NOT an affluent area, so ours are stuffed with crap. 

A lot of which he's sent there! 

[Balog]

I've never tried a french press, are the results really that much different than the standard drip-type machine?

Also, has anyone ever tried tohse Russian machines,what're they called, samovars I think?

[K Frame]

Samovars aren't for making coffee or tea.

They're for heating water to make coffee or tea.

That's all they are, water heaters.

[Hutch]

As a very infrequent contributor here, and having only recently come over to the Dark Side, I'd like to make a coupla observations.

Before I fell in with bad company, I was a "one cup of Folgers in the morning" kind of coffee drinker.  I started conversing with some coffee experts, and tried a little experimenting...  What can I say.  For Christmas a coupla years ago, I got an electric mill, a bag of Kona beans, and a bag of Jamaica Blue Mountain beans.  I now grind a locally distributed whole bean Colombian to talc-like consistency and brew it w/ filtered water in a Krups my wife gave me.

Coffee-pod coffee is pretty good, but I've broken 3 pod makers, and have no plans to ever get another.  If I need a cup in a hurry (late for work, whatever), I can stand using one of the Folgers coffee-single  teabag-looking thingie. 

I was given a French press, but I'm still not getting the right brew, even with a 4-minute timer at hand.  I dont think my Cuisinart mill can produce the coarse grind I need, because I wind up with more mud in the cup than I want to swaller.  Another problem with my French press is that it doesn't lend itself to my drinking style, which is, time permitting, about 36 - 40 ounces of coffee, consumed in a leisurely pace, served in a huge (~12-14 oz) ceramic mug w/ Splenda.

My current staples are Eight-O'Clock Colombian and Starbuck's Cafe Serena Organic.  Don't really care for African coffee or dark roasts.  Anybody got any other suggestions to try?  Can anyone recommend a mill that will produce a good, consistent coarse grind for French press?

[MillCreek]

www.coffeegeek.com is pretty much Coffee Central.  What model is your Cuisinart coffee grinder?  Is is a blade grinder or a burr grinder? 

[Bogie]

I like the Hawaiian blend that Sam's has had lately...
 
As for a grinder. If you've got one of the blade whirrin' chopper dealies, lose it. There are more expensive ways to go, but for about $30-50, you can get a burr grinder that is adjustable in consistent coarseness. The one I use right now is made by Cuisinart.
 

[mfree]

It's chock-full-o-nuts for me, in whatever maker I have handy. Just give me a few days to figure out how much to put in for the right strength.

Funny though, the best cup of coffee I ever had was folgers out of a cheap aluminum percolator boiled over coals. That... shouldn't have happened. REALLY shouldn't have, but hey, there it was.

Around here, there was the Smokey Mountain Coffee Company. Still is, but they're under new ownership and both bags of beans I got weren't up to the old standard. There's having dark roast, and then there's scorching the hell out of the beans. If I wanted a cup of charcoal I'd have gone to Starbucks...

[charby]

I buy a brand of beans called Millstone, a Iowa chain grovery store called HyVee carries that brand. I'm not sure if it is a store brand or a national brand. It is sold in bulk so you just out an empty bag under the bin and fill up as much or as little as one wants. I usually pick up a 1/4-1/2 pound because I really don't drink that much coffee at home (wife doesn't drink coffee at all) and I hate stale beans.

I have a Mr Coffee bur grinder that was given to me as a wedding gift, it grinds beans coarse enough for french press. I usually grind my beans fairly coarse for my coffee maker.

-C

[K Frame]

Millstone is a national brand. It's decent.

I was at a Borders Books the other day with the Mtnbkr family.

They are serving "Seattle's Best" coffee in their coffee bar.

If that's the best Seattle has to offer, move away. It was horrific.

[Bogie]

I second Seattle's Worst.
 
And there is also a new classification of human-type.
 
Too Dumb for Starbucks
 
(Ooooh... I have a job in bookstore! I can pay for another piercing!)
 

[mtnbkr]

I'm not terribly picky about coffee and I wouldn't finish that cup.  Foul tasting stuff.

Chris

[K Frame]

Supposedly Starbucks owns Seattle's Best now.

[charby]

Anyone like Coffee and Chicory? I had a coworker that always had some in his office and liked to share the coffee with me. He bought it from some mail order place in LA. I liked once in a while as something different.

-C

[Fly320s]

Green Mountain is the popular brand up here; I like it well enough.

I'm simple.  I grind about 1/4 pound of beans at the local grocery store then use my small (single serving) french press at home.  I'm the only coffee drinker here so it works out well for me.

jfruser,

What does allowing the water to settle after boiling accomplish?

[mtnbkr]

Supposedly Starbucks owns Seattle's Best now.

That stuff was worse than anything I've had from Starbucks.  I can at least tolerate SB coffee.  I'd toss that stuff or ask for my money back, it was that bad.

Chris

[mtnbkr]

Anyone like Coffee and Chicory? I had a coworker that always had some in his office and liked to share the coffee with me. He bought it from some mail order place in LA. I liked once in a while as something different.
-C

The one time I had it, I thought it was good.

Chris