NWR: coffee, roasting and terroir

On a related note, I've been dismayed in recent visits to France to see the declining presence of filtered coffee there. Espresso more an more seems to be the norm and alas that's not my favorite style of coffee. During my recent travels in Australia and New Zealand, espresso was also the norm. That's one way to use substandard beans, I suppose, but it's a disappointing trend to me.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Larry Stein:
I spoof my coffee with unsweetened 2% evaporated milk (can't stand sugar in my coffee). Black coffee messes with my stomach.
Click to expand...
Once you add a milk product of any kind to coffee it ceases to be coffee. I'm sure Brad adds copious amounts of rs. The HORROR,THE HORROR!
 
When did the shift from filtered take place in France? I've always wondered about the "French press." For as long as I can recall, French coffee has meant espresso.
 
originally posted by Lou Kessler:
A duo, have you met?
originally posted by Larry Stein:
I spoof my coffee with unsweetened 2% evaporated milk (can't stand sugar in my coffee). Black coffee messes with my stomach.
Click to expand...
Once you add a milk product of any kind to coffee it ceases to be coffee. I'm sure Brad adds copious amounts of rs. The HORROR,THE HORROR!
Click to expand...

Oh please, Lou, get off your fuckin' high horse.
 
As a former of employee of a couple of the names being discussed here,

-Counter Culture Coffee (Asheville, NC)
The most underrated of the Intelli, Stumptown, etc. sized roaster. Get the Ethiopia Haru.

-Madcap Coffee (Grand Rapids, MI)
A new roaster on my radar. I have been told the coffees are getting better and better. Had a fantastic Costa Rica called Santa Lucia, as well as a phenomenal single origin espresso from Ethiopia (the best cup of coffee I have had in a very long time)

-Cafe Grumpy (NYC)
My neighborhood spot. Just plowed through a bag of the Las Flores from Honduras.

All three of the roasters seem to be nailing it right now.
 
I only drink espresso, I'm not sure how it's a way to use substandard beans any more than drip or iced or any other prep method.

There are some great espresso bean blends and single origins out there from Stumptown, Terroir, Intellegensia, Barismo, even Blue Bottle from time-to-time - although I find their beans sometimes overroasted for my taste, they can also be brilliant as well.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:

I'll also say that knowledge of good coffee preparation is also much more widespread. Anyone else grow up with percolators and freeze dried?
Click to expand...

I grew up with percolator coffee, too. It was a great relief when drip coffee makers became popular. I think that's when I started drinking coffee black.

We buy beans from Stumptown via mail order. It's pricey, but we've found a number of coffees we like, and the coffee arrives a few days after the date they claim it was roasted. I don't have any reason to doubt the claim; the coffee has always arrived fresh. I prefer medium roast coffee. Use the dark roast for espresso.
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Larry Stein:
I think Peet's totally overroasts their beans, even more so than Starbucks. I'm in the medium roast camp. I go to a place in downtown San Carlos, Plantation Coffee Roastery, that roasts their beans on the premises.
Click to expand...

Larry,
I don't know if Peet's overroasts more than Starbucks these days, but the roasting there has changed dramatically since the days of Mr. Peet. These days, I try to get my coffee from Intelligentsia in Chicago whenever I can.

Mark Lipton
Click to expand...

Starbucks has always been about the roast. Peet's used to be about the beans. The Peets founder taught the ropes to the Starbucks people, who founded the chain in Seattle. Then they left Starbucks and bought Peet's.
I still think Peet's is considerably better than Starbucks.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

For one thing, everyone everywhere says that robusta only accounts for 20% of the global bean harvest. That means there is no marked shift to arabica (it's already got 4/5 of the market!) except perhaps in blending.
Click to expand...

But what did the figures look like in 1965? I confess to having looked a bit online for them with no success.

Second, while I am a fan of the Fair Trade movement, and its ilk, these farms are tiny compared to the big plantations. I'd guess those nice (and pricey) beans are just a drop in the bucket. Anybody got some data?
Click to expand...

Of course, Jeff, but the same could be said about the California wine business: all those boutique operations are a drop in the bucket in comparison to the output of Gallo and its lower level brands, etc. That doesn't, however, negate the truth of the qualitative improvement that's accompanied the shift in production.

Third, I'm not sure if you are aware of Peet's legacy: his claim to fame is that he used a dark roast at a time when everyone else did only light or medium.
Click to expand...

Yahbut, those light roasts of an earlier era are a far cry from what modern roasters are now doing. Remember the "cinnamon roast" of store-bought beans? So, it's all relative to some extent. No question that the current output is darker than I like, though.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

For one thing, everyone everywhere says that robusta only accounts for 20% of the global bean harvest. That means there is no marked shift to arabica (it's already got 4/5 of the market!) except perhaps in blending.
Click to expand...

But what did the figures look like in 1965? I confess to having looked a bit online for them with no success.
Click to expand...
I only found data back to 1999.

For current state, here's some (possibly self-promoting) stats.
 
originally posted by Steve Guattery:
originally posted by Jay Miller:

I'll also say that knowledge of good coffee preparation is also much more widespread. Anyone else grow up with percolators and freeze dried?
Click to expand...

I grew up with percolator coffee, too. It was a great relief when drip coffee makers became popular. I think that's when I started drinking coffee black.

We buy beans from Stumptown via mail order. It's pricey, but we've found a number of coffees we like, and the coffee arrives a few days after the date they claim it was roasted. I don't have any reason to doubt the claim; the coffee has always arrived fresh. I prefer medium roast coffee. Use the dark roast for espresso.
Click to expand...
Fresh is vital for espresso, I doubt they're faking dates. Counter Culture roasts to order, you have to get your web order in the night before.

I grew up with percolators, but freeze dried was only for backbacking. Melitta filters have been around for a while. I don't remember when filter became popular.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
Anyone else grow up with percolators and freeze dried?
Click to expand...
My grandmothers used percolators. Freeze-dried really meant decaf (Sanka), though I recall Mom using freeze-dried regular sometimes.

I came into the filter habit in 1989.
 
originally posted by Larry Stein:
originally posted by Lou Kessler:
A duo, have you met?
originally posted by Larry Stein:
I spoof my coffee with unsweetened 2% evaporated milk (can't stand sugar in my coffee). Black coffee messes with my stomach.
Click to expand...
Once you add a milk product of any kind to coffee it ceases to be coffee. I'm sure Brad adds copious amounts of rs. The HORROR,THE HORROR!
Click to expand...

Oh please, Lou, get off your fuckin' high horse.
Click to expand...
Western saddle or English?
 
originally posted by Larry Stein:
I spoof my coffee with unsweetened 2% evaporated milk (can't stand sugar in my coffee). Black coffee messes with my stomach.
Click to expand...

Though I can't imagine putting evaporated milk in anything, save some baked concoction, I was firmly in the can't stand sugar in my coffee camp until this summer's trip to France. Sugar was the only thing that made the coffee palatable. Not a little, but a lot of sugar - it was actually quite good - think Turkish coffee.
 
Coffee is the seed of a fruit. People go about removing that seed from that fruit in different ways and these ways are widely practiced in different growing regions. Washed, semiwashed, and dry process are the big three ways of going about this. Washed coffees undergo a process in which the fruit is removed by a controlled fermentation. Semiwashed coffees are typically pulped by hand cranked machines. Dry process involves drying the fruit in the sun. If roasting profiles are analagous to oak, maybe processing method correlates to cultivated yeast?
 
originally posted by Michael Lindberg:
It's not just about the roastCoffee is the seed of a fruit. People go about removing that seed from that fruit in different ways and these ways are widely practiced in different growing regions. Washed, semiwashed, and dry process are the big three ways of going about this. Washed coffees undergo a process in which the fruit is removed by a controlled fermentation. Semiwashed coffees are typically pulped by hand cranked machines. Dry process involves drying the fruit in the sun. If roasting profiles are analagous to oak, maybe processing method correlates to cultivated yeast?
Click to expand...
Kopi luwak has got to qualify as spoof, don't you think?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top