The Best Coffee

[Bigkahuna]

Reading the Thread about Too much coffee (Besides making me want a cup) got me thinking, What is the best coffee? Dunkin Donuts, Tim Hortons, Gevalia? Let me know what you think. BTW, I hate Starbucks!

[Colin]

I'm a Tim Horton's fan personally, but find starbucks packs the most punch in the am.

[hospitaller]

Cafe Medianero for me, a home made brew.

The best coffee is whatever coffee you like the most.

One man's 'best' is another man's 'worst'

[timseh]

Caribou Coffee all the way for me. I prefer the Obsidian blend, though it makes my wife a little jumpy.

[The Guy in the Kilt at UC]

Homemade all the way. There is a little farmers market in Hilo that I went to; one that sells Kona coffee at a couple of the stands. Its really good stuff, but its never on the mainland. At least when it is, its mixed in with other stuff.

A good place to go in Cincinnati is a place Sitwell's Coffee, because you can Irish up your coffee there.

[ChubRock]

I enjoy Blue Mountain coffee from Jamaica and Pure Kona from Kauai. But in Minnesota I settle for any dark roast from Caribou.

[Old Hippie]

What is the best coffee?

When I'm on the road, whatever the waitress puts in front of me is fine. My current favourite road restaurant (Original Breakfast in Albany, OR) serves coffee blended by a local roaster. Any place that isn't a chain, if they have a fairly large clientele, usually serves good coffee. It's the first thing you're going to put in your mouth, after all.

Years on the road taught me that if you pull into a gas station and a woman is running the place, the coffee is usually fresh. If there's a man running the place, they just look every hour to see if the pot is still brown.

At home, different story. Straight Sumatra varietal, roasted 15 seconds into second crack in a medium-temperature fluidized-bed roaster then air quenched and allowed to outgas at sub-zero temps before grinding. I roast about once a week. Brewing by steep-and-strain method, with dechlorinated water precisely at 180*F. In deference to research showing adverse effects from oils in unfiltred coffee, I use a coarse unbleached filtre to remove most of them. It's my at-home morning ritual because it pleases me. Away from home, I'm usually on vacation so it's a little easier to get the day started.

:ootd:

[Jack Daw]

Whern I went to grad school at LSU, I learned to love the strongest version of Community Brand. I'm now on decaf.

[Dall_Piobaire]

There is no doubt the "real" kona, and Blue mountain are among the best there are, if, they are roasted properly!

However, I have tried many of the others: Dunkin, Caribou, Starbucks, Gevalia, etc, and come to find Peet's without a doubt is the best, my opinion! They roast it fresh when you order it, the roast date is on the bag. Interesting tidbit, it was Peet's that roasted the coffee for Sstarbucks when Starbucks first started up! The guys in CA, know what I am talking about. thier variety is huge, every region, and blends, represented. I know it has gotta drive my UPS guy nuts, cause you can smell it when you pick up the box!

Gift yourself and order up a couple pounds, you will see from whence I speak.

Oh, and I only use a French press, and grind my beans fresh,makes a huge difference!

Scott

[BoldHighlander]

On a local level I really like local roasters The Woods or Moka Joe's, where I can enjoy a good strong brew & get a tour of their roasting facilities, or join them for a taste testing session!