Charles Kuralt’s “On the Road”, a major feature of the CBS Evening News in the 1960’s, in his book by the same title said?
“In the USA, the further west I travel, the weaker the coffee becomes!”
Charles Kuralt, really appreciated a properly brewed cup of coffee, and so do I.*
being in the San Francisco area I can not agree with the weak as you go west part. San Francisco bay area has the best coffee I have ever had from the chains like Peets to the small coffee shop. But as you go west until you hit northern California it does seem to have some truth.
So, tell me how to brew a great, not good, pot of coffee!
I would appreciate it!
Having grown up in North and South Dakota, not that far removed from Minnesota, I quess I also know what makes a good cup of coffee. Now that I reside in Western Washington, I still know what a good cup of coffee is. I find that as I go East the coffee gets weaker. I hate being able to see the bottom of the cup when freshly brewed black coffee is poured into the cup. What makes a good cup of coffee, in my opinion, is JeffW’s coffee roasted to the second crack in his homemade popcorn popper/coffee roaster, ground fine the next day, and put under pressure in a good espresso maker. The result is a sippable concoction that is smooth as silk and rich as can be.
REE
I second that REE
For the home brew breakfast blend before work “good pot o’ coffee”, regardless of brand, one tablespoon per cup, not mug, but 8 oz, and use COLD water for brewing. It makes a difference! Now i can’t disagree with a fine brew of premium/gourmet…that a whole different subject.
Starbucks!
Sorry, Steve, but that’s one thing that I refuse to drink. I’ve gone without coffee when Starbuck’s was my only choice. VEE, on the other hand, loves the stuff.
REE
There is one big glaring problem with fivebucks; Howard Shultz.
My friends swear by 3 peckered billygoat (http://www.ravensbrew.com/goat.html)
Others foolish with their money go for predigested ($600/lb) beans : http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/fooddrink/a/kopi_luak.htm
For me: Starbucks COFFEE isn’t right. (Starbucks gets LOTS of my money for their Vanilla bean frappes however)
For best coffee on the west coast: Tullys or Seattles Best provide consistently superior brews.
But the all time winner is still from the east coast: Dunkin Donuts. (The cops got a bad rap about the donuts, it was the coffee they were after)
To me DD is like drinkin Mississippi river water unfiltered.YUk Give me pressed coffee any day.
Oh, it was the donuts…
give DD a strong second here…nothing fancy, just good. I love me some fine coffee, but just like any bean junkie I’ll take a cup of grandma’s house brew anyday.
OK, here is one that will surprise you. Traveling through Montana I discovered a small locally owned brew and coffee house in Bozeman. Rockford City coffee has some of the smoothest coffee beans we have tasted. Not even in the same stratosphere as, what was that coffee chain mentioned, Starbucks. As far as making the cup of joe, if you haven’t had one have someone make you a cup from a "press. It’s basically a spin off the really old method of pouring boiling water over ground beans. Letting it sit for a few minutes and then using the “press screen” push the grounds through the whole mess and ending up with one hell of a great cup. Hey, time to have a cup… Idaho Joe
I’m sold…next time im in the great state of ada, I’ll let you hook me up with some press coffee.
Starbucks Sumatra coffee. The darkest and strongest coffee they have yet is low in acid.
I always have to chuckle when people say no to Starbucks, sorry REE, but they have so many flavors and blends from all over the world that there has to be one you would like. After all, if they didn’t make a great cup of coffee they would not still be around with coffee shops all over the world. I always take my own coffee pot and my bag of Starbucks Sumatra with me when I travel. It is one of those things that you don’t leave home without. :).
Larry —sagefisher—
Starbuck Sumatra is some good coffee, but so is the Folger’s Goumet Dark Roast, and Community Dark Roast. There’s a lot of good coffee out there if you put enough coffee in the maker so you can taste it. if I understand the instructions on Starbuck correctly you use about twice as much coffee as everyone else. I’m like REE, don’t want my coffee to look like tea. I start off drinking Standard Coffee’s “Crescent Club” which had chickory in it when I was around 4 or 5 with plenty of milk (fresh from the barn) and sugar. I remember staying with my grandparents who live just down the dirt road from our house Pap and I would get up while it was still dark out, he would put on a pot of coffee and then go to the barn to feed, milk and whatever needed to be done. When he returned we would sit and drink coffee until my grandmother got up and made breakfast. When I think of it I have many good memories that included a cup of coffee and family or friends.
Fresh beans from a small villige in Guadamala (that our church missions)fresh roasted the day before, finely ground, put into a great esspresso machine and forced though at 190 degrees with 6oz of steam.
Also, a nice Puapa New Gienie(sorry about the spelling) Kenya AAA or Jamiacan Blue Mountain fresh ground and brewed the same way
This is my coffee. Roasted here in Woodland. Great flavor, low acid (which is the reason I don’t drink much straight coffee): www.puroast.com
One overlooked factor in making good tasting coffee is the quality of the water. One of the best tasting coffees I’ve ever had was in Ireland. It was consistent everywhere I went and the coffee beans were always imported
Your right. Cold bottled water and also another important factor is the temp. of the water in brewing. it should be 190 degrees which is the optimal temp. for extracting the oils from the beans.