What coffee are you drinking just now?

[danny la rouge]

At the in-laws for Christmas.

The Step-Father-in-Law said "have you tried these? they're horrible. That Clooney advertises them on TV. Only these are from Lidl."

He had coffee machine pods, and was tipping a couple in a mug then adding hot water.

 

[gentlegreen]

and milk ?

 

[steeplejack]

Sumatra Mandheling from the Algerian Coffee Stores on Old Compton Street in Soho. It's £22 / kilo.

Really rich and deep flavour. I love th Algerian Coffee stores, I have yet to find a better coffee shop anywhere in the UK.

 

[danny la rouge]

and milk ?

No, he has black coffee.

I turned him on to stove top espresso a couple of years ago. But he's, what's the word again, oh yeah. Mental.

 

[gentlegreen]

One day I'll have to get myself to one of the better coffee places.
Every time I've bought Espresso shots I've been disappointed. I've yet to be offered the output from the machine that I doubt Clooney actually ever drinks coffee from.
My Aeropress method makes coffee that I dilute about 50/50

 

[gentlegreen]

Yesterday I had my beloved El Bosque reference coffee with my third day bread - toasted and the PNB was a bit stale too - that always makes a difference.

Today, with a fresh loaf hot from the machine and a new jar of crunchy PNB, based on the surprising effect of the Nicaraguan seeming to add body to the Brazilian, and with a view to saving money and having to store even more coffee, I tried blending the two less than satisfactory coffees - the rather punchy Nicaraguan and the natural Guatemalan.

It was quite drinkable. The Nicaraguan's beefy high notes somewhat modulated the edge-of-bitterness of the Guatemalan.
It's made me think that a three-way blend with the Brazilian would be worth a try.

To obtain that Brazilian, I either have to order it by post, or cycle several miles and climb a couple of hundred feet ... the latter would be good for me though and could take me home via Waitrose for a few things I can't get this side of town.

 

[moon]

Mocha Sidamo whilst chilling to some ambient music..

 

[gentlegreen]

Interesting - Rombouts ?

Most of the google hits are French ...

 

[moon]

No waitrose, it really is the best coffee imo has a slightly sweet aroma and hint of sweetness in flavour

 

[Voley]

Got some vanilla-flavoured stuff for Xmas that I was a bit about before I tried it. It's almost a totally different drink to coffee (properly sweet for a start) but really lovely nonetheless. New York City All Nighters French Vanilla Blend. I'll have to ask my Mum where she got it as I can't find any online. She's not been to New York recently afaik. I think I can go all Hasbean on you and legitimately describe it as 'like hot ice cream in a cup' or something equally wanky. Only on this occasion though. Just this once, like.

 

[Voley]

But he's, what's the word again, oh yeah. Mental.

Is that your professional opinion?

 

[gentlegreen]

vanilla-flavoured

I can sort of imagine how that might work - but when one's taste buds are in Xmas mode ...

I was thinking only yesterday that instead of using expensive coffee, I might blend in a little cocoa powder to have the same effect .

 

[danny la rouge]

Is that your professional opinion?

Yes. It's a diagnosis.

 

[Voley]

I can sort of imagine how that might work - but when one's taste buds are in Xmas mode ...

Yeah, I was similarly sceptical at first. It's absolutely delicious though. But it's almost a different drink to coffee altogether iykwim.

 

[gentlegreen]

This morning I decided to use up the last 6 grammes of my expensive Brazilian, to I mixed it in a roughly 3 way split with my less good Guatemalan and the bonkers Nicaraguan (large beans by the way - possibly as big as Maragogype).
And it was very moreish - it basically put just enough zing into the Brazilian without turning it into cocoa - so I'll put in an order.
A new loaf of bread probably skews it a bit, but the coffee was gone before I'd finished the second slice.

So that's my experimenting done for the forseeable future because I'll have so much coffee - and perhaps I've now lost my prejudice about blends - though I'll probably usually buy the El Bosque Bourbon beans whenever I can get them - just as I've drunk exactly the same tea blend from the same supplier for 20 years.

 

[tufty79]

Carte noire ground roast - mainly because i thought it was 250g of instant coffee when i ordered it
Could be worse, but not great.

 

[gentlegreen]

Surely a bit more life in it than carte noire instant.?
I confess I drank that for a while.

How are you making it ?

 

[tufty79]

Stove top pot. Stropping over the lack of of it being instant really tbf

I've got one of those drip-over-cup things that i've not used for ages, so picking up some filter papers to use it. could probably do with less arse-kicking coffee most of the time, and save the 'proper' stuff for a bit of an indulgence

 

[gentlegreen]

I can only drink arse-kicking coffee when I'm home. If I drink any coffee at all at work, even if I don't axe-murder someone, I'm buzzing all day and can't sleep.

I have a hefty slug at breakfast when I'm home.

By all accounts an espresso shot uses 7 grams of beans whereas I use 28 grams in my Aeropress .

 

[gentlegreen]

This thread made me google and I realise that I've been storing my Aeropress even more wrongly than I had thought.
Being a slob, I only pop out the previous plug when I come to make the next coffee - which is 24 hours when I'm home or up to 6 days when I'm working.
So the rubber seal is permanently under compression and hence losing its sealing abilities earlier than necessary.
What you're supposed to do is push the plunger all the way to the end to where the diameter of the tube increases.
It's getting a bit loose now, so I think I'd better start doing that.
Bloody annoying - given I use it so much less than most coffee drinkers.

===============

I really ought to have been growing oyster mushrooms on the waste plugs too.
One of my scientist colleagues showed me a Petri dish with a culture he'd grown from a mushroom.
I think I may have switched him onto the idea of getting fresh coffee grounds from the on-site cafe.

 

[tufty79]

Sainsburys taste the difference colombian ground coffee - ticking my boxes

 

[pogofish]

Bought 500g of Columbian beans earlier - realised I'm still adapted to short coffees at Austrian "thermonuclear" strength, so I'm going through my lovely Monsooned Malabar at a disgusting rate but loving every rich, smooth, tasty cup!

 

[Voley]

The novelty's worn off with my vanilla coffee now. Nice for a change but I'm looking forward to getting back to some normal stuff now.

 

[friedaweed]

 

[gentlegreen]

My Brazilian beans arrived the other day so I have my magic blend of Brazilian and Nicaraguan.
Because it's so apparently forgiving and rich, I brewed it for longer and then carefully put the topping-up water through the compressed puck to see if I could get more flavour from it.
It was borderline bitter.
But I think tomorrow I will experiment with brewing it in two separate halves because I wonder whether such a small volume of water can extract all the good stuff from so much coffee in 30 seconds - even with constant stirring into a froth.

But that's it for the foreseeable future - since I'm back to two brews a week and I have a lot of coffee - rather too much coffee - but I'll take advantage of the cold season and store the bulk of it with as little air as possible.

But for anyone wanting a solid, reliable brew without any bitterness - go for the Guatemala El Bosque washed red bourbon from Hasbean.
They knew what they were doing when they started buying the whole harvest.

 

[Voley]

But for anyone wanting a solid, reliable brew without any bitterness - go for the Guatemala El Bosque washed red bourbon from Hasbean.

Yeah, I really liked that one as well.

 

[not-bono-ever]

this un of late- recent start up sourcing stuff from the Campensinos in Cuba

But- this is sad- I prefer the taste of Cubana, the state produced low quality stuff still

 

[pogofish]

The novelty's worn off with my vanilla coffee now. Nice for a change but I'm looking forward to getting back to some normal stuff now.

I find that with flavoured coffees - one now and then is a nice change but more than that it it gets uninteresting quickly.

Mind you, "Gingerbread" syrup does go disgustingly well with whisky or brandy in a coffee.

Currently drinking Mysore and Thai Peaberry - a nice breakfast combination. Got a second burr grinder in a sale, so I can have two types of coffee on easy rotation.

 

[pogofish]

Where do you get it from? - That stuff vanished off the shelves here a good while ago.

 

[pogofish]

Interesting - Rombouts ?

Most of the google hits are French ...

Pretty common here about fifteen years ago when they had several blends on sale, plus gimmicky "1-cup filters" and the like but the brand seems to have receeded, despite some of the blends being excellent. I think I still see one blend of theirs on the shelves in Sainsbury.