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Coffee: McDonalds, Tim Hortons, Starbucks...or?
- Thread starter PrivatePilot
- Start date
I've just finished a whole batch of beans bought direct from a coffee farm in Panama that also grows the most expensive coffee in the world (I don't buy that though as I don't like it that much, I do get 1/2 kilo bags of excellent coffee for about $10 or less). I don't drink Timmies coffee unless I need to stay awake on the 401.
I'm off to Costa Rica in a few weeks to stock up again on decent coffee. Drinking Starbucks burnt offerings means you miss out on that.
I like combining vacations with stocking up on coffee. Beats bringing back trinkets I'll never use as souvenirs.
Just to add....that "strong" coffee you get at Starbucks has less caffeine in than a less roasted version (it's made using volume not weight). The highest caffeine content is in the less roasted beans for volume. There's a chance this may be done on purpose to get you to drink more of it to have the same effect as a less roasted version.
Starbucks' coffee tastes like it was fried in a cast iron skillet on max heat.
It's much easier to get flavor consistency at the dark end of the scale. Black vs really black doesn't change the flavour dramatically. If you are roasting light, seconds matter and it becomes an art, not just a mechanized process. Sure you can try to automate it, but it will be like superauto espresso vs semi-auto. A semi-auto with a skilled operator is miles ahead. The super-auto on the other had can make the same mediocre cup every time. At the scale SB is operating at, getting a consistent light roast is very hard (although they could probably have chosen slightly lighter than currently used when creating their profiles).
They seem to be consistent at getting every coffee I've ever had there taste like they stirred it with a taser before they handed it to me. Usually Avenue + St. Germain, but I've had enough elsewhere to know the location can't be an outlier.
Panama Geisha, the worlds most expensive coffee, (which over took Kapi Lapur (sp?) ) is only about .50c a cup more that supermarket coffee , but with climate change if you like it , or want to try it, get some now. Its predicted in 10 years it may not exist.
I have a kilo of Hawiian Kona coming friday, friends coming home are throwing a bag in for me. I've paid $12 for a cup of coffee, just to try it but to be honest, the Viet weasel coffee and the Kenyan elephant poop coffee is fun but no better than any other.
I have a kilo of Hawiian Kona coming friday, friends coming home are throwing a bag in for me. I've paid $12 for a cup of coffee, just to try it but to be honest, the Viet weasel coffee and the Kenyan elephant poop coffee is fun but no better than any other.
While I may order a Red Rose or Orange Pekoe tea, it’s not beneath me to have a timmies dark roast regular. I worked a Petro Can 30 years ago and made what ever kind of coffee that was in the drawer of the station. It may have been recycled motor oil but, it helped me get through each shift. Might have even paired well with a Player’s Light or Du Maurie Light King size. Yup! I inhaled and might have partaken in other activities that would be frowned upon viewed through the lense of today. Smart? No. But, done under my own free will.
I still slum it with Timmies coffee once in a while and don’t feel guilty or make any excuses for it. But, I don’t smoke a dart with it any more. Most hot beverage orders are for tea and that is alright too.
Scotch? Sure! If someone took the time to have distilled water, I’ll add a couple of drops and give it a soft swirl. Peat? Don’ call me a snob, I just don’t dig it. Prefer single malts that are smooth and don’t break the bank.
I appreciate the finer things in life while acknowledging I can’t take the trailer park out of me either.
If this was 40 years ago, the argument would be Ford or Chevy. Labbatts or Molson. 50 or Blue. Rothman’s or Players. Levi’s or Wranglers.
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I still slum it with Timmies coffee once in a while and don’t feel guilty or make any excuses for it. But, I don’t smoke a dart with it any more. Most hot beverage orders are for tea and that is alright too.
Scotch? Sure! If someone took the time to have distilled water, I’ll add a couple of drops and give it a soft swirl. Peat? Don’ call me a snob, I just don’t dig it. Prefer single malts that are smooth and don’t break the bank.
I appreciate the finer things in life while acknowledging I can’t take the trailer park out of me either.
If this was 40 years ago, the argument would be Ford or Chevy. Labbatts or Molson. 50 or Blue. Rothman’s or Players. Levi’s or Wranglers.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Not sure it’s climate change that will do it in but economics, geisha bushes don’t produce as many beans as normal arabica bushes (they are very low yielding) plus due to farms trying to keep the bushes from cross breeding it takes a bit of effort to do that too. Other than that they are treated the same as normal arabica plants and I’ve seen them a few metres away from the normal bean bushes. That’s one of the reasons why it’s expensive, that and it’s a clever marketing ploy by producers too. Anyone into coffee should give it a go but the taste isn’t for me personally. I also prefer espresso based drinks and geisha shouldn’t be put in an espresso machine, it’s more for pour over or filter/cafetière coffee.
I think climate change ( Not a greta thurnburg fan) will affect a lot of crops. Coffee plant 'rust' , which is the generic name for the plant disease gets traction in damper areas and hotter and the mountains of central america, south asia and the hills in the caribbean will be the first to suffer.
Investing in any futures 'commodity' crop is risky business , but I like the coffee business. My family background is farming and we did a few tours with the soft fruit growers association.
Back to coffee, if anybody is in the Milton area there is a shop called "I drink coffee" , retailing the best machines and have on hand at any time up to 50 different coffees, they roast in house and can help you find a coffee that fits your palate. Or just experiment. They are the first to tell you if you dont like xxx, then there is a yyy that may work. Interesting bunch of cats and WAY too into coffee.
Investing in any futures 'commodity' crop is risky business , but I like the coffee business. My family background is farming and we did a few tours with the soft fruit growers association.
Back to coffee, if anybody is in the Milton area there is a shop called "I drink coffee" , retailing the best machines and have on hand at any time up to 50 different coffees, they roast in house and can help you find a coffee that fits your palate. Or just experiment. They are the first to tell you if you dont like xxx, then there is a yyy that may work. Interesting bunch of cats and WAY too into coffee.
I've signed for a few of them by accident
There's a gentlemen's agreement in effect re: each other's packages.
I want to buy a better espresso machine, but the price is pretty rough and they all have some issues that I don't like (many come down to heritage and/or price point design). I started sketching out designs for custom machine but life got busy. I will probably build it before I die. Current design is small to fit on the counter, 1500W max, probably 700W on-demand heater to preheat water going into boiler to ~95C, 750W element in 1L boiler for brew water, separate steam boiler (with arm/go. When armed, steam boiler gets power for preheat when brew boiler is not using it. When on go, it cuts power to brew boiler so you can have 1500W for steam). Probably small PLC for control. Haven't decided on group head. I may go E61 but that locks me into some legacy issues. I don't have a machine shop right now so making one from scratch would be difficult.
Given there are about 25 manufactures of decent machines , I appreciate your zeel to create your own, but I think you could get there for less effort.
The guys at Idrinkcoffee often have open box and demo sales and bulk buy discounts. Worth a look and yiou can get every size from smaller than a Keurig to "holy crap" it a monument machines
The guys at Idrinkcoffee often have open box and demo sales and bulk buy discounts. Worth a look and yiou can get every size from smaller than a Keurig to "holy crap" it a monument machines
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