[cmeisenzahl]

The Quest for the Perfect Cup of Coffee
The Quest for the Perfect Cup of Coffee by Joel Gehman

[JohnM15141]

They got it all wrong. The perfect cup of coffee is not just how its made or how how it tastes, or even what it does for ya, its when you have it!

For me, its when I wake up early after a really good nights sleep, its still dark outside, no one else is up, the place is peaceful, I make a cup a coffee, and sit down to quietly read the newspaper, no rush, I have time before work, I'm feeling fine, now thats the perfect cup of coffee!

Plus, that link is just a tricky way to get you into some nutty anti-everything website with an agenda....boo!

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by JohnM15141 

For me, its when I wake up early after a really good nights sleep, its still dark outside, no one else is up, the place is peaceful, I make a cup a coffee, and sit down to quietly read the newspaper, no rush, I have time before work, I'm feeling fine, now thats the perfect cup of coffee!

Agreed! Coffee tastes best for me early in the morning when I have nothing to do but quietly read the news on the 'net with a cup or two of coffee. Coffee houses and gourmet brands have never done anything for me.

[Peter]

McDonalds has seriously good coffee (really)

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by Peter 

McDonalds has seriously good coffee (really)

Consumer Reports rated them highly in one of this year's issues.

[Lateralus]

Originally Posted by Peter 

McDonalds has seriously good coffee (really)

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

Consumer Reports rated them highly in one of this year's issues.

And that's one of the reasons why Starbucks stock is getting hit so hard lately.

Starbucks already had a slew of problems cropping up on them, and now the world's undisputed King of Breakfast is taking coffee very seriously.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Lateralus

the world's undisputed King of Breakfast

Kellogg’s are making coffee, now?

[ghporter]

Unfortunately, the Consumer Reports taste-test was among nondiscriminatory coffee drinkers. I've had quite a bit of McD's coffee, and it's ok. JUST ok. I'd take a number of other places' coffee over them in a heartbeat. One fast food place whose coffee I would recommend everyone AGAINST is Wataburger; theirs is horrible, as it's brewed weak from a blend that seems to combine "wimpy" with "acrid." YUCK!

If CR had done a taste test of "plain brewed coffee" among "typical premium coffee drinkers", they may have come up with a significantly different result. I won't say that I can tell you that this cup came from Seatle's Best, this one from Java City, and this other from Starbucks (I actually can do that with Coke, Pepsi and RC), but I can tell the difference between SB and Starbucks and posers like Java City. I can also usually tell the difference between SB and Starbucks because Starbucks tends to brew everything overly strong, while Seatle's Best seems to be just kinda strong.

[shinji]

I don't like Starbucks for regular coffee...I find it caustic. I've gotten espresso there though and liked it.

It's all about Dunkin Donuts or McDonalds.

[design219]

I used to be addicted to coffee, started in college. But now I prefer tea with a little bit of sugar.

[zro]

Folger's 100% Columbian.

I like it.

[Railroader]

On Topic: The "quest for the perfect cup of coffee" was akin to someone doing something as cheap as possible with the least amount of effort, and not really the best way. He had very little control on the roasting, and cooling. Dedicated roasters are not expensive, and a cheap electric grinder will do as good of a job as a hand crank model. Plus it will be easier to clean.

For under $100 you can get this setup that comes with a green bean sampler.



Buy a cheap grinder at Target (our your own favorite retailer) and you are golden.

EDIT: You can actually roast beans with a cheap pan over a burner on the stove too, but you need to be constantly moving it for 10-15 minutes.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Unfortunately, the Consumer Reports taste-test was among nondiscriminatory coffee drinkers. I've had quite a bit of McD's coffee, and it's ok. JUST ok.

I don't think discriminating coffee drinkers would have preferred Starbucks any more.

[design219]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Unfortunately, the Consumer Reports taste-test was among nondiscriminatory coffee drinkers.

Sounds a bit snobbish.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by design219 

Sounds a bit snobbish.

Coffee peon.

[design219]

What a great word!

I like to think of it as "pee on."

[RAILhead]

Starbucks and McDonalds do not serve coffee. The serve colored water. Order a bag of Sumatra Mandheling, grind the beans, and use 12oz of water for 4 fairly level tablespoons of coffee. THAT'S what coffee tastes like.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by RAILhead 

Starbucks and McDonalds do not serve coffee. The serve colored water.

Really? It tastes more like burnt mud.

[lpkmckenna]

Lettierri tends to have the best coffee in Toronto, but they're sparse. I prefer Tim Hortons over Starbucks. I haven't had McDonald's coffee in a long time, so you've all piqued my curiosity.

I don't like Second Cup or Coffee Time.

[greenamp]

Until you buy yourself some good beans roasted no longer than 10 days ago, grind them in a burr grinder (stay away from blade grinders. They produce a very inconsistent grind and the heat from friction they create burns your beans and makes them lose flavor) , and brew them in a french press with water no hotter than 200ish degrees f and no cooler than 190 degrees f, you haven't yet tasted real coffee.

[JohnM15141]

Originally Posted by greenamp 

Until you buy yourself some good beans roasted no longer than 10 days ago, grind them in a burr grinder (stay away from blade grinders. They produce a very inconsistent grind and the heat from friction they create burns your beans and makes them lose flavor) , and brew them in a french press with water no hotter than 200ish degrees f and no cooler than 190 degrees f, you haven't yet tasted real coffee.

...and don't for got they have to be harvested by naked virgins on a full moon, while singing Beatles songs, the ones written by John Lennon, then ground by little girls with pure thoughts, and baked in a kosher oven by a cook who is blindfolded and can't taint them with his surely glances, packed in cotten bags untouched by human hands (on tuesdays only) then rosted in a swiss coffee brewer, otherwise they won't taste right...or you could go to McDonalds and order a cup, it's pretty good!

[Cold Warrior]

Nice.

[design219]

What is the coffee they harvest from the poop of a certain cat that eats the beans? I'm not kidding, it's one of the most expensive coffees in the world. I heard about it a few years ago. Apparently the cats digestive system influences the flavor.

[bstone]

After years and years, I just started to drink a little bit of coffee. I was driving on I-90 trying to stay awake so I stopped at Starbucks and got a "mild" regular coffee. Even with milk and two sugars it still tasted terrible. What gives?

[RAILhead]

Originally Posted by design219 

What is the coffee they harvest from the poop of a certain cat that eats the beans? I'm not kidding, it's one of the most expensive coffees in the world. I heard about it a few years ago. Apparently the cats digestive system influences the flavor.

You're thinking of Kopi Luwak. The "Luwak" eats the beans then turds them out.

[mdc]

Originally Posted by lpkmckenna 

Lettierri tends to have the best coffee in Toronto, but they're sparse. I prefer Tim Hortons over Starbucks. I haven't had McDonald's coffee in a long time, so you've all piqued my curiosity.

I don't like Second Cup or Coffee Time.

When I was in Canada at the end of last year I had Tim Hortons' coffee and it was really good.

I'm not a coffee connoisseur or anything, but McDonalds' coffee isn't bad. It's better than the awful stuff from Dunkin Donuts and Burger King. I've started drinking the McDonalds Vanilla Ice Coffee. It doesn't taste very coffee like, but the vanilla has a very nice taste.

[mdc]

Originally Posted by RAILhead 

You're thinking of Kopi Luwak. The "Luwak" eats the beans then turds them out.

Animalcoffee.com

[RAILhead]

[olePigeon]

Carolines Coffee Roasters

Best coffee. Freshly roasted throughout the day, you can smell it in town.

[Dakarʒ]

Originally Posted by RAILhead 

That hair deserves to be in a museum.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by design219 

Sounds a bit snobbish.

It's only snobbish if you think that everyone is born with an innate sense of the possibilities of every possible food or drink's flavors. When you're little you like really sweet foods and not much else, in part because you haven't had a chance to taste a lot of other things. When you go from "middle-of-the-road" coffee, like generic, medium roast coffee served in a decent restaurant, to drinking something that is not all cautious and "don't want to disturb the customers" like a real French roast, you're not becoming elitist, you're discovering that there are other flavors out there, and maybe you prefer more flavor and aroma than what you've been having.

Given a choice between bland coffee and coffee with more flavor, I will certainly take the more flavorful coffee. Guaranteed. Try a good solid dark roast coffee made properly. Try cafe au lait the way they make it (or used to) at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans. Try a Danish coffee, brewed by a Dane that likes coffee. Try Colombian coffee in Central America. NONE of that tastes like generic, medium roast coffee, nor like what McDonald's sells. I'm not suggesting snobbery; quite the opposite! I'm suggesting that EVERYONE demand BETTER coffee. Who needs bland coffee when it's so easy to brew GOOD coffee?

[JMan09]

I work at a Books A Million and we have a Joe Muggs cafe in our store, and I like their regular coffee more than the Starbucks regular coffee. But I like the Starbucks espresso more than Joe Muggs espresso. I did have McDonalds coffee recently and it was pretty good. And Joe Muggs cafes are normally located in a Books A Million stores anyones looking for one.

[RAILhead]

The Roasterie - Home

End of line.

[Kenneth]

Anyone tried Lighthouse coffee?