Lets talk about COFFEE



lagsun said:

I've been getting BB beans from their main roastery for years. They originally sold out of a small garage down the block from my office. Might be a location thing as my beans are not dark at all.
As for home roasting, check out Sweet Maria's here. Lots of info and they sell green beans too. I've read you can use a cheap air popcorn popper (which I actually have) to home roast. I've never been brave enough to try.

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Reading about it all sounds very daunting. I am not sure I want to fill my place with smoke. I thought the machines were easier to use, but it seems like unless you are getting something commercial you need to fiddle quite a bit with them.



A Y said:

Two nice short films on two NYC coffee shops:
RBC:
The filmmaker has a whole series on Abraco, but I like this one best because for some reason seeing pastries being stacked is endlessly fascinating to me.

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I like RBC but when I am down in that area, I tend to end up at Kaffe 1668. Part of that may be the vibe is more my speed, both do good coffee.



Axelman 17 said:

I like RBC but when I am down in that area, I tend to end up at Kaffe 1668. Part of that may be the vibe is more my speed, both do good coffee.

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I haven't been there, but I hear the space is awesome.



A Y said:

Nice! I'm going to start experimenting with this soon. The Sweet Maria's site
I like the Professional Barista's Handbook because it's pretty technical, but explains many things in plain English. You can get it from http://www.professionalbaristashandbook.com/.

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I own this book and would also recommend it.

I can't seem to find a cafe in Vancouver that I really love so I've been spending a lot more time practicing on my machine at home. I must say, I'm starting to feel pretty confident about my cappuccinos. Its been a lot of fun just messing around with my set up.

I figured I would give them a second chance so I bought a bag of blue bottle coffee beans today. I stand firm, this stuff is ****.

Oh well. At least no one can say you didn't try.

In case, anyone's interested, Verve's got a very limited release of some Geisha beans:

http://www.vervecoffeeroasters.com/collections/coffee/geisha

I ordered the Finca Los Lajones. Anyone want to try the Elida Green Tip?

Geisha is a transplanted varietal from Ethiopia, made famous from a particular farm in Panama. Besides freaky stuff like Kopi Luwak (the civet-poop coffee), it is the most expensive and prized bean in the world. It's also very distinctive in its taste, but of course, I have no idea how good the Verve ones are. The one time I had an Esmeralda Geisha roasted for espresso, it was pretty damned transcendent.

I made two cups of the blue bottle coffee yesterday and then bought a bag of Gimme Coffee. See experience here:

patrickBOOTH said:

Funny thing happened yesterday. I went to pick up coffee beans from a cafe location that I don't usually go to. the barista was telling me about all of the different beans and spending a lot of time with me and was very friendly. It was late so there was like nobody there. She pointed to all of these beans that were going in the garbage because they were past optimal roast date. I told her, "It is a shame they aren't more nutritous or you could give them to homeless people. If they tried eating these they would just end up still hungry with diarrhea." She looked horrified.

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In any event, the Honduras El Sauce is pretty amazing.



A Y said:

Oh well. At least no one can say you didn't try.
In case, anyone's interested, Verve's got a very limited release of some Geisha beans:
http://www.vervecoffeeroasters.com/collections/coffee/geisha
I ordered the Finca Los Lajones. Anyone want to try the Elida Green Tip?
Geisha is a transplanted varietal from Ethiopia, made famous from a particular farm in Panama. Besides freaky stuff like Kopi Luwak (the civet-poop coffee), it is the most expensive and prized bean in the world. It's also very distinctive in its taste, but of course, I have no idea how good the Verve ones are. The one time I had an Esmeralda Geisha roasted for espresso, it was pretty damned transcendent.

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A Y - I've been trying the Peet's Arabian Mocha Sanani this week and while smooth I can see what you mean about trying to get the flavors to stand out more. Right now I still prefer Blue Bottle's 17ft Ceiling or Hayes Valley for espresso. Next I think I will order from Verve since they are closer so shipping won't take so long. Any recommendation between their Street Level and The Sermon espressos?

Given your preference of non-citrusy coffees, I'm not sure either one would be great for you, but start with the Streetlevel. It tends to vary more and the Sermon is more of a house blend, but recently it's been a bit darker and more chocolatey than the Sermon. They recommend pulling at pretty high dosing (19-21 g), so I'm not sure how it will respond to a classic single dose.

Just think, if this exact same image was superimposed over a toilet bowl you would have a totally different opinion of its deliciousness.

I default to Sumatran beans, though Latin American will frequently surprise me. This is going to fly in everyone's face, but years back I would frequent (and love) the Cafe' Juan Valdez in Times Square.



patrickBOOTH said:

Just think, if this exact same image was superimposed over a toilet bowl you would have a totally different opinion of its deliciousness.

Spoiler

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I hope you weren't served that in an actual shop. That's really terrible even if it tastes good.



A Y said:

I hope you weren't served that in an actual shop. That's really terrible even if it tastes good.

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Google images, bro.



patrickBOOTH said:

Google images, bro.

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Wait, you don't take pictures of every espresso you've ever had?



A Y said:

Wait, you don't take pictures of every espresso you've ever had?

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Nope, paper towelled doors:











More fun here: http://www.styleforum.net/t/254797/whats-the-deal-with-this-guy-in-the-bathroom/0_20