Any Coffee Snobs Aboard?

[Prunepicker]

most of you have had farmer brothers coffee at places like Jimmys
egg, local gas stations, casinos, etc. But thats not usually their
good stuff.

I hope not. Jimmy's Egg has very bad coffee.

[kmgeissel]

I'm from Seattle. Does that count? We were stymied when we moved here because we both hate Starbucks and the chain grocery stores don't carry their own brand coffees. We were lucky in that our Seattle Safeways carried their own organic beans. We were very pleasantly surprises to find that Cains French Roast worked very well for us in the mornings (I save the good stuff for when I'm awake enough to appreciate it). I sent a couple of pounds back to Seattle and the family agreed that it was quite respectible. It's a shame that Cains stopped making the French Roast. On a related note, my folks made fun of me for years, grinding my own beans and doing the Melita thing. Then, they had some friends come by with their coffee making set up and fell in love with non-Folgers coffee. My folks actually apologized for poo-pooing my coffee techniques.

[Prunepicker]

I'm from Seattle. Does that count? We were stymied when we moved
here because we both hate Starbucks and the chain grocery stores
don't carry their own brand coffees.

Does this mean you live in Seattle?

[kmgeissel]

Does this mean you live in Seattle?

Nope, moved to OKC in 2004 and absolutely love it.

[Prunepicker]

Nope, moved to OKC in 2004 and absolutely love it.

You should try Coffee Dan's. He has great coffee beans. Even
green if you roast your own.

1530 W. Main Street.

[Prunepicker]

Bought some Churchill coffee at Homeland because it was an emergency.
It's okay. Colombian medium roast.

[demoman]

Being from Portland and the Addiction began in Seattle. I did have an issue with finding GOOD coffee at reasonable prices and good Sugar Free syrup (NO SAUCE) for mocha. Java Daves had the same sauce I used to spend for 11.00 back on the west coast for 23.00 and a pound of coffee was 3 times what I used to pay per pound.

For me it's a toss up between price and quality. I'll pay for something that tastes excellent but NOT PAYING inflated prices just because someone will pay that price.

We have imported our Sauce so far and haven't found a good place to get our beans yet for the daily fix. Resorted to using beans from Crest and such.

Our espresso machine is now 5 years old and cost me 3K at the time I bought it but it's saved me 10.00 a day since I bought it. VERY good deal. Love my morning mocha.

[foodiefan]

OK. . . it's probably heresy because it's not local, but since some of you are talking Crest and Homeland. . . .I order all my coffee from Duncan Coffee in Houston. I think it's really great stuff. . .beans are roasted the day before they mail it out to you and they look fresh (oily) when they arrive. Plus, prices are great. . .9 -12$/16 oz for most. . .and it arrives at your door via Fed Ex. Their Customer Service is fantastic. . .my last order they send "full leaded" instead of decaf (first mistake in over 6 years ordering from them). . .they re-sent my order the next day, told me to keep the first/incorrect order and share it with friends. You can actually talk to a real person if you call them about your order! They have been around (Houston) since 1918. Full range of everything, including tea. Just do a search for "duncan coffee Houston". . .

[RealJimbo]

PP, sorry to drop the thread. Maragogype is sometimes called "Elephant Bean". It's a really large variety from Mexico and is hard to find. Mellow, fruity undertones, etc. Gevalia sometimes runs a limited special on it.

[Prunepicker]

PP, sorry to drop the thread. Maragogype is sometimes called
"Elephant Bean". It's a really large variety from Mexico and is hard to
find. Mellow, fruity undertones, etc. Gevalia sometimes runs a limited
special on it.

Sounds very good and will look into it. I've not known Gevalia to
have fresh beans.

[Prunepicker]

The last time I was at Coffee Dan's the prices were $8.50 per pound on
the average. There were some that were more. I'm telling you his
Peruvian Organic is out of this world at @ $9.50 lb. Donut coffee and
Millstone is a waste of funds at these prices.

[Urban Pioneer]

I mentioned it on the Coffee Slingers thread, but they just moved an industrial roaster into our building and are doing test batches now. Elemental also does their own roasting/grinding.

It smells great in here!

[corwin1968]

It took me years to acquire a taste for coffee but now I love the stuff!

My real introduction to decent coffee was when I got a Keurig. The only problem with the Keurig is cost and a K-cup makes too little coffee for one setting.

I then bought a cheap drip machine and got a burr grinder. After a while I bought a French Press but found I like the coffee from the drip machine just as much and it's a lot easier.

I haven't tried any really expensive coffees but my favorite so far is Green Mountain's Breakfast Blend. Our daily coffee is 8 O'Clock Coffees 100% Columbian. Pretty good, cheap and easy to find whole beans!

[Prunepicker]

I then bought a cheap drip machine and got a burr grinder. After a
while I bought a French Press but found I like the coffee from the drip
machine just as much and it's a lot easier.

That's interesting. What are the measurements for your drip? I like
the French Press very much and also the Melita one cup method. I'm
saving for a vacuum brewer.

[corwin1968]

That's interesting. What are the measurements for your drip? I like
the French Press very much and also the Melita one cup method. I'm
saving for a vacuum brewer.

My drip machine has "cup" measurements and I fill it to "4". Coincidentally, the lowest setting on my grinder is "4 cups" so that is what I use.

I may have to break out the French Press today and give it another shot. I used it exclusively for a while after getting it but then switched back to the drip machine.

It may also be that I haven't been exposed to enough high level coffee to have an appropriate range of references.

[Prunepicker]

My drip machine has "cup" measurements and I fill it to "4".
Coincidentally, the lowest setting on my grinder is "4 cups" so that is
what I use.

Do you know how many tablespoons or ounces of coffee is ground?
I'd like to make a good cup of coffee with a drip.

I may have to break out the French Press today and give it another
shot. I used it exclusively for a while after getting it but then
switched back to the drip machine.

After the water boils let it sit for a moment and allow it to stop
rolling and making noise. Carefully poor in a circular motion and
set the timer for 4 minutes. With a wooden spoon, slosh the grounds
back and forth. Don't stir.

Pour some of the hot water into your cups to warm them

After about 2 minutes break the crust the grounds have made and
gently slosh again.

When the time goes off gently press the plunger. If it stops back it
up carefully. Pour out the water and fill with coffee!

[SSEiYah]

I'm a fan of Cafe Bella's on 89th and S Penn, they roast their coffee daily and will sell you either beans or ground. I dont drink a lot of coffee anymore but that was my source for a while.

[redrunner]

Does anyone know of any specialty shops in OKC that sell Lavazza ground coffee? One of my best cups of coffee from a French press I've had in a long time.

[Prunepicker]

I'm a fan of Cafe Bella's on 89th and S Penn, they roast their coffee
daily and will sell you either beans or ground. I dont drink a lot of
coffee anymore but that was my source for a while.

If you don't already know this, Cafe Bella is named after the owner's
grand daughter, Bella. She was in a Vacation Bible School class I
helped with a few years ago.

[borchard]

You should try Coffee Dan's. He has great coffee beans. Even
green if you roast your own.

1530 W. Main Street.

I didn't know that was what it was called. I call it West End Roastery. They are the only place I've found that I can purchase green beans

[borchard]

Does anyone know of any specialty shops in OKC that sell Lavazza ground coffee? One of my best cups of coffee from a French press I've had in a long time.

The only place I've seen Lavazza is Williams Sonoma in Penn Square Mall, I think. I've seen their pods at Bed Bath and Beyond

[sooner88]

I tried the Nitrane coffee from Coffee Slingers this past weekend. Nitorgen-infused cold brew coffee that pours like a stout. It's not something that I will get all the time, but it's definitely worth trying if you haven't already.

[borchard]

It took me years to acquire a taste for coffee but now I love the stuff!

My real introduction to decent coffee was when I got a Keurig. The only problem with the Keurig is cost and a K-cup makes too little coffee for one setting.

I then bought a cheap drip machine and got a burr grinder. After a while I bought a French Press but found I like the coffee from the drip machine just as much and it's a lot easier.

I haven't tried any really expensive coffees but my favorite so far is Green Mountain's Breakfast Blend. Our daily coffee is 8 O'Clock Coffees 100% Columbian. Pretty good, cheap and easy to find whole beans!

I never liked coffee, but I wanted to. I bought a Keurig but I wasn't impressed with the coffee I got out of it. Then I saw the Starbucks Versimo system and how it had milk pods. So I decided I HAVE TO HAVE IT! I liked it better, but I started noticing that all you could get for Verismo was the most basic of Starbucks coffees. They made 25 different varieties for Keurig, but only 3-4 for THEIR OWN SYSTEM! Plus, I remembered, Oh yeah, I don't like Starbucks that much.
Then....I found Nespresso. I held off for a long time, but when I finally bought my first OriginalLine machine I was completely hooked. IMHO, it is the best coffee I have ever made for myself at home. My wife has NEVER liked coffee, but even she likes one of the espresso shots I make her out of the Nespresso. I like it so much that I hunted down one of the Vertuoline machines on eBay and bought it as well, so I could make a full cup.

[borchard]

I also found a cheap, little percolator at a Thrift Store and started using it every now and then. It makes wonderful coffee!

[borchard]

PP, sorry to drop the thread. Maragogype is sometimes called "Elephant Bean". It's a really large variety from Mexico and is hard to find. Mellow, fruity undertones, etc. Gevalia sometimes runs a limited special on it.

Sorry I just saw this, but Nespresso recently had a limited run of Maragogype pods. But it was so expensive I couldn't pull the trigger.