Hoping to have a PSA for coffee lovers

[Darrell KSR]

Expecting my first delivery from Craft Coffee subscription tomorrow or Friday. Very reasonably priced, can cancel anytime, have good specials of $6.99 and $7.99 bags, if you buy 4 there's free shipping too.

I don't have a burr grinder, but I do have a very highly rated blade one that has worked very well in grinding fresh roasted beans. Got spoiled with the Cincinnati Coffee Emporium Really Good Coffee company and started looking to replace it and found this Craft Coffees in a Wired article.

If anyone is interested, I'll let ya know what I think of it. More expensive than getting my usual Maxwell House big tub, but beats the heck out of buying coffee from a coffee shop.

[dan_bgblue]

Expecting my first delivery from Craft Coffee subscription tomorrow or Friday. Very reasonably priced, can cancel anytime, have good specials of $6.99 and $7.99 bags, if you buy 4 there's free shipping too.

I don't have a burr grinder, but I do have a very highly rated blade one that has worked very well in grinding fresh roasted beans. Got spoiled with the Cincinnati Coffee Emporium Really Good Coffee company and started looking to replace it and found this Craft Coffees in a Wired article.

If anyone is interested, I'll let ya know what I think of it. More expensive than getting my usual Maxwell House big tub, but beats the heck out of buying coffee from a coffee shop.

Look forward to your ratings. Judy is the coffee drinker in our house and she loves some Starbucks beans that she grinds at home. She uses a Kenmore 12 cup programmable grinder brewer combo. It uses a conical burr grinder which grinds the beans, feeds them to the brewer. If we can reducer the bean cost I would be pleased

[Darrell KSR]

She's doing it right. I could not justify dipping my toe into the waters and going ahead and getting a burr grinder, although it's kind of like buying crappy golf clubs and equipment and then being disappointed when you take up the sport and you don't play very well. Or in-line skates or bicycling, or something like that. I actually think that I did okay, though even though it's not the best.

I will certainly let you know about the coffee beans. I have linked it below for reference, but again, I have not yet received my shipment and haven't tried any of the bags of coffee.

https://www.craftcoffee.com/buy-coffee-wholesale-prices

From $6.99 a bag, no membership fees, no shipping costs. It really is a good deal for small-batch, fresh roasted. They ship free Priority Mail within 72 hours of roasting. My guess is this isn't going to be the top of the line stuff that she may drink, but I bet it's better than I drink regularly!

(They have higher price coffee, too--but they have 11 small-batch blends where you can choose 4 or more bags and get that pricing).

The Wirecutter article:

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/b...e-coronavirus/

[Catonahottinroof]

Once you find a really good coffee to grind and have it home, there isnt’t much better than that, is there? lol

[VirginiaCat]

Expecting my first delivery from Craft Coffee subscription tomorrow or Friday. Very reasonably priced, can cancel anytime, have good specials of $6.99 and $7.99 bags, if you buy 4 there's free shipping too.

I don't have a burr grinder, but I do have a very highly rated blade one that has worked very well in grinding fresh roasted beans. Got spoiled with the Cincinnati Coffee Emporium Really Good Coffee company and started looking to replace it and found this Craft Coffees in a Wired article.

If anyone is interested, I'll let ya know what I think of it. More expensive than getting my usual Maxwell House big tub, but beats the heck out of buying coffee from a coffee shop.

WE load up on Christmas Blend the week after New Years each year. Generally 50% off...

[Doc]

Maxwell house isn't coffee. Its ground dirt that has been burnt

[Doc]

Look forward to your ratings. Judy is the coffee drinker in our house and she loves some Starbucks beans that she grinds at home. She uses a Kenmore 12 cup programmable grinder brewer combo. It uses a conical burr grinder which grinds the beans, feeds them to the brewer. If we can reducer the bean cost I would be pleased

I am no Starbucks fan. They have fooled the world. Get cheap beans and roast the hell out of them. I actually prefer Dunkin as far chains go. Locally we have a coffee shop that does nothing but import beans from everywhere. Have a nice rotating selection

[dan_bgblue]

I am no Starbucks fan. They have fooled the world. Get cheap beans and roast the hell out of them. I actually prefer Dunkin as far chains go. Locally we have a coffee shop that does nothing but import beans from everywhere. Have a nice rotating selection

Yeah I have told her for years that Starbucks is well put together hype that serves lots of high priced fluff at the drive up windows. BG has a couple of bean roasting locations and when I was drinking a pot a day that is where I went for my roast at home fix.

[Darrell KSR]

Maxwell house isn't coffee. Its ground dirt that has been burnt

I didn't know any better. In some ways, I wish I still didn't. Once you know, you know.

[Darrell KSR]

I have three different selections arriving today. Again, these are cheap--not $15 a bag, but $7.

My selections are:

Throwback Blend: From Latin America, smooth and mellow with inviting tones of milk chocolate and caramel.

A Day in the Life Blend: A lighter blend than Throwback, another from Latin America, smooth and balanced with mellow flavors of nuts and caramel.

Streetlight Blend: Darker blend than Throwback, from Latin America and Sumatra, smooth and full-bodied with warm notes of cocoa and toasted nuts.

All 3 are rated between "Like It" and "Love It" on the company's own Customer Ratings scale. Streetlight (5,657), Throwback (6,165) having more ratings than A Day in the Life (1,472), but all look about the same. Won't be the greatest coffee you've ever tasted, but good, every day kind of thing.

I sure hope I am not disappointed.

I plan on getting Into the Black sometime, too--bold and smooth with deep caramel flavors and a smoky finish--it is their flagship blend from Latin America, Africa and Indonesia.

[Catfan73]

Starbucks’ Sumatra is my favorite but as long as it’s dark roast I’m usually good. I can’t drink the Maxwell Houses and Folgers type anymore even though that’s what we always had at home. Must have been the cheapest.

Grind your own beans Darrell. It’s the only way to be sure you’re not drinking roasted insect parts lol.

[dan_bgblue]

Streetlight sounds like my cup o joe.

I used to drink John Conti Gourmet Blend and did so for 19 years.

[Darrell KSR]

Arrived today (should've been yesterday, but my USPS did not make a delivery yesterday--per my Informed Delivery, they just took the day off).

I have two bags of Throwback Blend, one bag of Streetlight, and one bag of "Shoulders of Giants" rather than the "A Day in the Life" blend I ordered. I don't remember; I looked at several different companies and it may be that if they are out of one they will substitute another one. I am fine with that. Shoulders of Giants is their flagship blend of coffee from Latin America, Africa and Indonesia and sounds quite intriguing to me. I did not order it, because it was $9.99 with therefore bad coffee subscription ($15.99 without) and I purchased only the $6.99 bags. So it looks like they threw in a more expensive bag for me. According to their website, the coffee in that blend changes seasonally to ensure you're always getting a bright, vibrant brew. Typical origins for the American component include Guatemalan, Honduras, Peru and Colombia. The African component is almost always a very high-end Ethiopian bean.

I did not know if I would like this subscription were not, so I have it set for every 70 days to deliver four bags of coffee. I don't think it will last anywhere near that time, so if I like these I will need to change my subscription.

One thing I did not mention is that you have the ability to plug in the normal coffee you drink, and they will match it up with a blend that is similar. So if you normally drink Starbucks, you can plug that in and it will automatically show you what blend they have that is the closest to the Starbucks blend. You don't have to select it, but it is a nice feature.

[Doc]

Makes a great Valentines day gift. Shawn shoukd like it more than the vaccum I got her last year

[VirginiaCat]

Guys, I know this would not be considered "Craft" Coffee.

but if you get a chance to try Caribou Mahogany...lovely deep dark roast with lots of nut and fruit on the tounge.

[VirginiaCat]

BTW, I have a Jura E8 that we love. It truly extracts the oils from the beans it grounds right before espressing... So far it has been a good buy for good coffee. Wife not as impressed with its milk warming and frothing abilities but we rarely use that anyway.

[Darrell KSR]

Maxwell house isn't coffee. Its ground dirt that has been burnt

I've been drinking my supply of the Coffee Emporium of Cincinnati, and then 7AM coffee while I waited on the delivery from the Craft Coffee company, and last week I had a bag of the "Throwback Blend" from Latin America. Although I'm not a connoisseur (I had to look up the spelling of that word), two of the three choices I had from the Coffee Emporium were "better" than the "Throwback Blend," but the "Throwback Blend" was better than the 7 AM coffee beans I had (which was good--all of these are some variations of "good."

And today, after about six weeks of nothing but different blends of coffee beans, I tried a new can of Maxwell House. I felt like this would be a good test.

It is clearly the bottom of the bunch, and it's not close. It's drinkable (to me), but it has a bitter taste. Funny you use the word burnt, because there is some element that tastes like that as well. I know this is a dumb way of describing coffee, but the other coffees to me taste more "rounded" or balanced, definitely smoother without any bitterness.

Now, the Throwback Blend probably won't compete with your top of the line whatever you drink, but it's a very good, drinkable, smooth blend that I really enjoyed.

Later this week I will start with another Craft Coffee blend. So far, 1-for-1 on the "cheap" delivered coffee subscription, hoping to go 2-for-2. (Worst case scenario I'm going to go 2-for-4, because I got two bags of the Throwback Blend.) As a reminder, the Throwback Blend description from the company:

"Throwback Blend...Our Flagship Blend of Coffees from Latin America. Smooth and mellow with inviting tones of milk chocolate and caramel. Small batch roasted, delivered fresh."

(FWIW, I was worried about all the "flavored" coffees, but although you may detect a "hint" of something like the description, it isn't "flavored" at all. I realize I am new to the coffee game, so all of you may fully understand this, but it was news to me. If it's overwhelming, or detracts from the normal "coffee" taste or smell, I'm not going to like it. I haven't had a problem with any of them yet.)

[Darrell KSR]

Maxwell House--drinking again today--just bad. Hey, I can drink it, but clearly just has that bitter, burned kind of taste that none of the others do.

Wife found a 40 oz bag of Starbucks Dark Roast beans at Costco for a great price, so she picked that up for me to try as well. Tried that yesterday, and it was good. Clearly a difference between it and Maxwell House. Did not find it as good as Streetlight or Throwback, but that's just a matter of preference, and maybe a little of expectation. I could drink it fine every day and be happy.

So since 2021 began, these are the ones I've tried:

Fiona's Blend and Winter Solstice from Coffee Emporium in Cincinnati, with Fiona's Blend a little ahead of Winter Solstice, but both very good. Mild flavors are to my liking for coffee--coffee can be as strong as Atlas, but if it's flavored much, it loses favor with me.

Bourbon Barrel aged coffee falls in that category of just too flavored for my liking. Vanilla, caramel, charred oak just sort of overwhelmed "coffee" to me. Others may disagree. Also from the Coffee Emporium, and the only one I didn't care for. Ground all the beans, and gave to my son.

Throwback Blend, by Craft Coffee - very good, not "exceptionally great, oh my gosh." Same for Streetlight Blend, which is their most popular dark roast coffee (Latin America and Sumatra blend). Both smooth, different flavors (not artificially flavored, just the difference between one blend and another).

Starbucks Dark Roast - As I said, I could drink it every day and be happy. Nothing special, but worlds better than what I've consumed for years from the automatic drip coffeemaker.

Maxwell House ground coffee just isn't in the same category. I'm not a coffee snob by any means, it's just easy to taste a huge difference...which is interesting, because I drank it (or a similar competitor) for years.

I'm still

Just for kicks, I compared the subscription for Coffee Emporium. You can get a 1-pound bag subscription for $15.95 a month. Now, that's slightly more than the 12-oz bags I'm getting at Craft, but I'm also paying $6.99. AND....they charge $8.00 for shipping.

So for $23.95, you get a single 1-pound bag of coffee....or....
for
$27.96, you get four (4) 12-oz. bags of coffee (3x the amount of coffee) with a Craft Coffee subscription.

Full disclosure -- you only get the $6.99 price if you buy the bulk subscription (four bags) from a selection of about 12 different blends. If you buy it by the bag, it's $12.99.

If anyone is interested in subscribing, let me know and I'll PM you a code for 15% off your first order. If you use the code, it also gives me a free bag of coffee off one of my future orders. For goodness sake, don't order it because of this, but if you want to give it a whirl, it'll save $4 or $5 off the first order. (And it's very easy to cancel the subscription....what I did was schedule my deliveries every 70 days. That gave me plenty of time to try everything and see if I wanted to continue. I will likely change my ship date, but for now, I'm keeping it there.

[blueboss]

I’m not a coffee drinker, never have been. This thread has peaked my interest as I had no idea of the deep dark world of coffee.

My wife drinks coffee but I’ve never really paid much attention to what she’s drinking. All I know about it is she has a Keurig machine that she likes, I guess because of the single serving convenience.

If I were to get her a gift of coffee, I guess I’d need to get her a bean grinder and then what,so she can still enjoy the convenience of single serving?


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[kingcat]

Folgers Classic Roast can't be beat for the money. I have drank more coffee than anything else since I was a teen, and started as a a first grader every morning prior to school. Sorry, but imo, andI have tried every Starbucks offering, it is all junk to a lifelong coffee drinker.
Coffee is not a dessert.. it's a necessity. If one must, my advice is do a Mocha or caramel Frappe at McDonalds and you'll beat any other similar offering.

(Note: in a drip machine, for instance a twelve cup maker, only make ten cups, and never sacrifice the flavor for that two cups of dark water and whatever refused to let go in the first place--and remember when saving your ground coffee...if you cant smell the dry coffee, you cant taste it. Same goes for beans to an extent)

Classic blend is a smooth breakfast blend and outclasses MH or anything like that by a mile. But it is very critical to get the mix right according to your maker. Too much and you introduce a little bitterness. Likewise, not enough = no flavor. And most importantly for those who know not to sweeten coffee (yuk!), for "Coffee Black"..do not wash your cup every day. Let it dry somewhat, lay a paper towel over it hide it away and use that cup the next morning. If you do like it, alternate cups and keep it a two day maximum. (Unless you can emotionally handle more!) That first cup will be the best cup you drink 'cause that sticky stuff is the best the grounds had to offer.

Then tell me you don't notice the difference..and for the sake of all that is good and decent do not sweeten or light'en coffee.

For a sweet treat, buy a good chocolate bar and try it with black coffee. A Reese cup works well too for a change. And no. you can't melt it in your coffee...the coffee is still the best part.

Am i qualified to say???..I have drank one to two pots a day for over forty years (one 10 cup pot the last several), and started my day with at least a cup or two since 1962.

..and look at me!

[Doc]

Expecting my first delivery from Craft Coffee subscription tomorrow or Friday. Very reasonably priced, can cancel anytime, have good specials of $6.99 and $7.99 bags, if you buy 4 there's free shipping too.

I don't have a burr grinder, but I do have a very highly rated blade one that has worked very well in grinding fresh roasted beans. Got spoiled with the Cincinnati Coffee Emporium Really Good Coffee company and started looking to replace it and found this Craft Coffees in a Wired article.

If anyone is interested, I'll let ya know what I think of it. More expensive than getting my usual Maxwell House big tub, but beats the heck out of buying coffee from a coffee shop.

Wife got her first shipment last week. Valentines day gift.....was duly impressed. Owe you a beer

[blueboss]

I’m not a coffee drinker, never have been. This thread has peaked my interest as I had no idea of the deep dark world of coffee.

My wife drinks coffee but I’ve never really paid much attention to what she’s drinking. All I know about it is she has a Keurig machine that she likes, I guess because of the single serving convenience.

If I were to get her a gift of coffee, I guess I’d need to get her a bean grinder and then what,so she can still enjoy the convenience of single serving?


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[Catonahottinroof]

That can be a myriad of possibilities. Get a burr grinder. It can grind for drip, espresso, French press etc.

Bump


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[Catfan73]

She can still use the Kuerig if she wants after grinding her own beans Boss. You can get a little reusable K-cup size basket with a flip top.

29F2766E-9E90-46B1-AE03-CA2581F6220B.jpg

[Darrell KSR]

Wife got her first shipment last week. Valentines day gift.....was duly impressed. Owe you a beer

Fantastic. I've been pleased too.

[Darrell KSR]

FWIW, I tried a trick somebody told me about last week this morning. To take the bitterness out of regular ground coffee, add a pinch of salt to the grounds.

I currently have two bags of coffee beans from Craft Coffee and a Starbucks bag, but also a recently opened can of Maxwell House. It was the perfect time to try this trick. My daughter, who drank some Maxwell House I made some time ago and said she was "traumatized" by how bad it was, only drinks her Keurig-thing coffee, and the coffee beans I grind. Anyway, she's off house-sitting this week, so I'm the only one drinking coffee.

I opened up the can. Measured out six cups worth (3 mugs). Tossed in a pinch of salt. Poured in the water, and let the dripping begin.

First sip? I traumatized myself. It's so bad. It *might* have taken a little of the burned taste (I agree with Doc's description--it's not really "bitter" as much as "burned") out, but not much.

I will happily continue my subscription.

[Doc]

FWIW, I tried a trick somebody told me about last week this morning. To take the bitterness out of regular ground coffee, add a pinch of salt to the grounds.

I currently have two bags of coffee beans from Craft Coffee and a Starbucks bag, but also a recently opened can of Maxwell House. It was the perfect time to try this trick. My daughter, who drank some Maxwell House I made some time ago and said she was "traumatized" by how bad it was, only drinks her Keurig-thing coffee, and the coffee beans I grind. Anyway, she's off house-sitting this week, so I'm the only one drinking coffee.

I opened up the can. Measured out six cups worth (3 mugs). Tossed in a pinch of salt. Poured in the water, and let the dripping begin.

First sip? I traumatized myself. It's so bad. It *might* have taken a little of the burned taste (I agree with Doc's description--it's not really "bitter" as much as "burned") out, but not much.

I will happily continue my subscription.

A couple drops of vanilla extract works better...much better

[Darrell KSR]

A couple drops of vanilla extract works better...much better

I will try that next time, thanks. I suspect there will always be some Maxwell House type coffee around my house anyway for emergencies and to fill in gaps, so it's good to make the best of it.

I'm going to make a 500-mile roundtrip next Tuesday where I'll be arriving home around 2 a.m. When I do that, I make a pot of the "bad coffee" and throw it in the thermos. I often don't drink any of it, but if I'm tired at midnight or so, I'll drink some coffee. That kind of coffee is perfect for my road trips.

[dan_bgblue]

I used to do the late night road trip thing, with a quart of coffee. I had to take along a pack of Rolaids to keep the coffee from burning a hole in my stomach.

[Darrell KSR]

I used to do the late night road trip thing, with a quart of coffee. I had to take along a pack of Rolaids to keep the coffee from burning a hole in my stomach.

I used to drink more of it than I do, but I almost always travel with a thermos like a security blanket.

Last Saturday, I drove back at 8:30-midnight, but I had a thermos I had prepared that morning with me, still unopened, just in case. I might need it next Tuesday, though.