Sunday, November 04, 2007

Coffee

Consumer report
Coffee

Unplugged
A few months ago I watched a Discovery Channel (I think) deal on coffee, and how it's made.  What I learned was that there are two species of coffee beans, Robusta, and  Arabica.  Think of Robusta as, oh I dunno, cheap crap, while Arabica is the premium.

I will stipulate that Starbucks (Arabica) is the best coffee I've ever tasted, and I really do believe that in the near future there will be a huge scandal, on the order of tobacco, when it's learned that they're lacing the Dulce de Leche Frappuccino with heroin.  But, I digress.  I don't buy Starbucks coffee for home use,  because it's $15 a pound at BJ's ($500/Lb at Giant), whereas Maxwell House is in the $2.75/pound range. 

Friday I went to BJ's for stuff, including coffee.  This was new.  Dammit, how am I supposed to blog without a camera to take pictures?  This is getting annoying.  Wait.  Aha!  Why we win.  I scanned it.  Would you believe that this is now the only picture on the web of this company's new can?  It is.  Wait, it's possible that it's the old can, but I never noticed the "100% Arabica" legend before.  No matter, I bought it. But that's not what I wanted to tell you.

Yesterday when MoSup came down she volunteered, "It smells like Starbucks in here."  After diluting it by 50% with International Delight Belgian White Chocolate Macadamia flavoring, who the hell knows how it tastes?  But, oh, the aroma!

16 comments:

B....... said...

BJ’s - We have one just down the street and around the corner. We don’t drink gallons of coffee (but Bombay Sapphire....). We get Costa Rican beans from BJ’s and brew a cup at a time using “steaming hot water” from the InSinkErator. One-cup fresh ground is the best.

Rodger the Real King of France said...

We have instant hot. Have to try that.

Anonymous said...

Rog, you're a fount of knowledge. Better living through C&S. I'm going to buy some now.

Casca

Rodger the Real King of France said...

I just made a cup using a permanent (gold) filter I saved from an old coffee maker. A perfect cup in just 10 seconds! Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Rodger, if you have a Target department store nearby, try their house brand, in the Signature Blend. It's usually on an aisle endcap... the stuff in the silver foil bag. $6.29 for 12oz, IIRC.

Best non-boutique coffee I've ever had. Very rich, but not bitter, and no acidic "bite". With a very nice, almost chocolate aftertaste.

--Jack

Anonymous said...

Well Rodge, I agree with 99.0365% of what you post on your blog, but this must represent the other 0.0635%. I HATE, and I mean LOATHE Starbucks coffee. Someone said to me that I must hate strong coffee, but you can stand a spoon in my mother's coffee and that's more drinkable than Starbucks.

My theory is that the base Starbucks coffee is lousy as black coffee, but has probably been determined to be the best base on which to design all the girly-drinks such as mocha sucka crapachino. Most, hell all of the people I know who love Starbucks (including my wife) go there for the flavored drinks. I like my coffee black, so I go to the local mini-mart which is pretty damn good.

P.S. I've always preferred Chock Full O' Nuts.

Anonymous said...

I use Starbucks beans to grind my espresso each and every morning.

On a related note, you know which major hotel chain has the worst coffee in the world? Marriott.

Hand on a Gideon Bible -- it tastes like burnt maple leaves.

Anonymous said...

JohnO is right... if SBUX is your preferred cuppa Joe you're cheating yourself. There's no guarantee that the stuff you're drinking is any good because they over roast all of their beans in order to ensure a "consistent" taste. At which point the Robusta vs. Arabica debate becomes moot.

Visit CoffeeGeek.com and then head over to SweetMarias.com. In no time you'll abandon the drip coffee maker for a french press and by Christmas you'll be roasting your own beans. Before the new year you'll be compelled to post a thank you to this anonymous reader and I will smile (a little smugly) knowing that I've saved you from SBUX and the attendant costs and heartaches of drinking shitty coffee.

Anonymous said...

from 'TASTES OF THE WORLD'............
"Rare Gourmet Coffee - Kopi Luwak Makes Strange Journey - Coffee Beans Eaten & Passed Through Exotic Indonesian Animal(civet) Then Harvested by Hand From Forest Floor" (sells for $300.00 a pound)...........Well. If these are Arabica beans, then this must be a really great cup o' joe.I think gourmets of a fine dung aroma or people with more money than taste buds or brains will take to this like a baby to 'mother's' milk.

Timbeaux said...

If you're ever in Louisiana get your hands on pound of Community dark roast, I have to ship the stuff out to "expats" in Colorado and Florida every year for Xmas.

Anonymous said...

Heroin in Starbucks?? No... but I think worse....

I get the distinct smell of OLD CIGARETTE BUTTS from Starbucks..... and the chain will be shut down when everyone finds out its the addictive chemical NICOTINE that's being added.

Cant prove it but I wouldn't be surprised....

Anonymous said...

If you don't mind trading with uber-liberals, try the San Francisco Bay coffee from Costco (and probably other places). It's arabica coffee at a handsome price. As for brewing; I've become addicted to the (Aeropress). If there's available hot water it's quick, and produces a great cup of coffee/expresso.

Anonymous said...

"Full flavor without the bitterness"..............You make you a pot of good coffee in the morning, and enjoy it...Tell that resentful, bitter old lady she doesn't have to drag her ass out in the morning any more to make breakfast, and to just go ahead and snooze til time for Oprah.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand the SBUX haters. S-buck's plain old coffee tastes pretty darn good. I just spent a few days traveling through Kentucky, and was very happy to see a Starbucks after three days of drinking hotel brown water that was billed as "coffee." There may be better coffee than Starbucks (said coffee is rarely found), but there is a whole lot more crap coffee out there when you are traveling.

Kim du Toit said...

Two words: Dunkin' Donuts. They'll even deliver to your house. We do that: we get a box of the pre-measured vac-packs for our Bunn sent each 6 weeks or so.

Fully-loaded cost per Bunn-sized carafe: about 75c. Works out to about 15c per cup.

And as for adding that other shit to your coffee: Rodger, how would you know what you used for a base?

Rodger the Real King of France said...

When I get rich and famous maybe I can afford that fancy stuff. Fortunately, I really don't like coffee so much as I like the additives. MMMM. Sugar.

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