Coffee Review

Reviews for car audio, or general products.
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gkitching
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Coffee Review

Post by gkitching »

As requested in a lounge discussion, I am reviewing various coffee house beens and blends. And of coarse a shameless attempt to get people to send me more :P

First 'The Machine'.

Often overlooked but an essential part of the end result. Ultimately a press is the best way to make coffee. But not always practicle and can be messy. So for the purposes of the review I will be using a drip coffee maker. The best type are the 'fast brew' kind. BUNN makes some of the best most reliable ones. The one pictured is an all-in-one from Cuisinart with built-in grinder and themal carafe. NO hot plate to cook the coffee after it's been brewed. Nothings worse then a cup of coffee that's been sitting on a hot plate cooking for 2-3hrs :-x If you don't have a thermal carafe then a good pump style thermos works great too. It can keep your coffee tasting fresh all day.


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Dump the beans in the top
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load a filter and press start
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Greg Kitching
gkitching
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Post by gkitching »

Next up 'The Beans'

Appearence can tell allot about the coffee as far as freshness and bean quality. The freshest beans will have an oily coating from the roasting proccess. This coating will evaporate and dry up over time. Just because you buy from a 'coffee house' doesn't always mean the beans haven't been sitting in storage for a long time. And contrary to popular belief, freezing coffee is a no no! Unless of coarse it's a tin can of Foldgers that sucks anyway then freezing it can't make it any worse. (sorry that's the coffee snob coming out in me)

As a reference, I will use Starbucks beans since they are everywhere and anyone can scarf some up locally. Now I'm talking the whole bean brewed at home. Not what you would get in a cup already brewed from them. Something about thier brewers makes everything 'darker' or 'stronger' then you would find making it at home. (I believe this to be a ploy to get non-coffee drinkers to add more crap to thier drinks to kill the taste! mocha frothy latty blahhhhh)

My favorite is the 'Itailian Roast' and 'Gold Coast' a close second. These are labled as 'extra bold'. Other beans in this classification aren't to my liking though. Like the 'French Roast' just doesn't do it for me and I'm sure Fowler can elaborate on all things French sucking. hehe. Also good is the 'Columbian' blend. It is labled mild but to me has the right flavor just not as consentrated like the above blends. A good after diner, lounging around blend.


PICS FORTH COMING (if neccessary)


My personal favorite is from a coffee house here in PA, St. Thomas Roasters. The 'Linglestown Blend' is the absolute best! Named after the town where the coffe house is located. It is a secret 'blend' that the store owner is not willing to divulge its contents. He acts almost insulted when I've asked. To me, it is the ultimate in a full bodied coffee without going into the bitterness realm or the sweet, floral side. Just good robust flavor.

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I also get his 'Sumatra' beans for an occasional change. Stonger and higher octane.

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Next up is a contribution from Oregon curtousy of BFowler. Stumptown Coffee Roasters. First I have to say I love the info cards included with the bags. Giving full description of the beans' origins including altitude of the growing fields! As well as a good description of the flavor you can expect. I saw on thier web site they have tours to the different countries thier beans are grown. And a 'cupping room'! Awesume!

'Holler Mountain Blend'. An organic. What I would consider a Medium body with good flavor. The desciption card is pretty spot-on. I personally liked it better when adding more than the typical amount of beans just to give it a little more umph. Very Good!

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'Rwanda Musasa'. An African organic bean that reminds me alot of the 'Ethiopian' blend from Starbucks. A bit sweet for my liking but still a good medium body coffee. I would suspect that the Holler Mountain Blend uses some of these beans in that blend. Had some similarities.

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Next my most anticipated offering curtousy of andy600rr. Aussy beans! Never had coffee from Australia so I was excited to hear someone was willing to send me some. Coffee Basics is the company name. Grown and roasted in Castlemaine, Central Victoria, Australia. I was surprised. The beans looked small but packed good flavor. Very nice.

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Dark Roast Blend. It wasn't apparent wether these were grown in Aus. Just labled "roasted in Castlemaine". These reminded me of a typical dark roast maybe not as dark but an ok flavor. I will elaborate once I've downed a few more cups.

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Here's a side by side comparison. The freshness is evident from left to right, the Linglestown Blend was roasted just 3 days before this pic. The Stumptown came across the US so they are naturally gonna be alittle less fresh and then the Aussy beans came from futher yet.

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I would like to thank Brian for turning me on to Stumptown and tell Erin that I'll be sending some of my fav's your way! And thanks to Andy from Australia for hooking me up with my first ever Aussy beans! You have some of my fav's coming too. Anyone else? hehe

phew! you asked for a review......
Greg Kitching
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Post by Bfowler »

nice review!

after i packed them, i realized i should have packed em in a zip lock at least. im sure the paper bags they came in didnt help as much either. gald you liked them i will keep my eyes open for some of their other blends
my ex-girlfriend said "its car audio or me"
i've had tougher choices at a soda machine...
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Post by andy600rr »

Good stuff Greg. I was just wondering yesterday if the beans arrived yet or not. Glad to hear that you are enjoying them.

Whew.... with all this coffee tasting you must not have been able to sleep for days :D

I look forward to recieving a mercy package from the USA. :wink:

Cheers
Andrew
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GlasSman
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Post by GlasSman »

Nice little project.

I'm a coffee nut so this one will keep me retuning more often.

My current favorite is ....don't laugh...Price Shopper beans.

They roast right in the store using very nice roasting machines and the freshly bagged beans sell QUICK!

I'd like to see how they compare to the beans you've reviewed.
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Post by GlasSman »

Actually I'm willing to participate in this review if you guys are willing to send me some beans.

I have a conical burr grinder and I use a Press to make my coffee.

I'm on most of the audio forums under this name and several references on DIYMA.

Just a thought guys since buying beans through the internet can get a bit expensive so I haven't had a chance to sample many.

Coffee Junkie over on DIYMA raves about the INTELLY beans.

I'm STILL waiting for my sample pack. :?

Let me know guys.
gkitching
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Post by gkitching »

Opps sorry I missed this. I'd be glad to swap beens! I've since run out of all the other goodies I've recieved. Looking forward to trying something new.

The reason I came by this post was to share a bit of good news about coffee. Seems the more research thats done on coffee the more bennificial it turns out to be. Here is a quick article I found.



By Dr. Mark Liponis, Parade



Are you confused about whether what you’re putting in your body is making you healthier or killing you? Here’s the latest science on what’s up and what’s down on the food charts.



Coffee (+)



No need to feel guilty anymore about that double-shot Americano that gets you going in the morning. In fact, coffee is looking more and more like a health drink. Among its remarkable benefits, new research shows, coffee may reduce the risk of diabetes, heart attack, gallstones, Parkinson’s disease, kidney stones, and cirrhosis. One caveat is that black coffee may lead to thinner bones, especially in women, but the simple solution is to add milk to your coffee.
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Post by Bfowler »

YES! i should be gallstone free my entire life!
my ex-girlfriend said "its car audio or me"
i've had tougher choices at a soda machine...
GlasSman
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Re:

Post by GlasSman »

gkitching wrote:Opps sorry I missed this. I'd be glad to swap beens! I've since run out of all the other goodies I've recieved. Looking forward to trying something new.

The reason I came by this post was to share a bit of good news about coffee. Seems the more research thats done on coffee the more bennificial it turns out to be. Here is a quick article I found.



By Dr. Mark Liponis, Parade



Are you confused about whether what you’re putting in your body is making you healthier or killing you? Here’s the latest science on what’s up and what’s down on the food charts.



Coffee (+)



No need to feel guilty anymore about that double-shot Americano that gets you going in the morning. In fact, coffee is looking more and more like a health drink. Among its remarkable benefits, new research shows, coffee may reduce the risk of diabetes, heart attack, gallstones, Parkinson’s disease, kidney stones, and cirrhosis. One caveat is that black coffee may lead to thinner bones, especially in women, but the simple solution is to add milk to your coffee.

Hmmm....I've been drinking my coffee black for the last year and a half. I save money on cream and I cut a few clories out of my 2 cups a day.

No worries....just take a calcium pill and drink a full glass of milk milk once in a while.
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ttocs
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Re: Coffee Review

Post by ttocs »

wow dug that post up outta the grave....
what else can I say I am a grumpy asshole most of the time.
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Bfowler
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Re: Coffee Review

Post by Bfowler »

this was a cool thread! i miss greg, and his ridiculous installs.

sweet nostalgia.
my ex-girlfriend said "its car audio or me"
i've had tougher choices at a soda machine...
Txsaxkat
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Re: Coffee Review

Post by Txsaxkat »

I have been roasting my own beans purchased from Burman Coffee and they sell some great beans My favorite is the haitian blue mountain which is jamacian blue mountain plants grown in haiti its a fraction of the cost of JBM at 9 to 10 bucks a pound and is really special. I drink sumatra mandheiling the most. Just tried the dominican beans they are outstanding as well. Built my own roaster its the stir crazy turbo coffee roaster thats on the net it works pretty good. Also want to add that the blue mountain is like a weekend coffe for me I brew it in a coffee press to get the most out of it.


Jimmie
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