My preference is a medium roast delivered via a french press. If I can score a good Ethiopian bean I go with it. Alas, my frawnch press has bitten the dust and I haven't made the rounds to the local roasters like I used to. Since I limit my trips, I've been going with, what I have found to be some exceptional, inexpensive brands: Seattle's Best and Café Bustelo. The latter I discovered when I lived in a predominantly latino neighborhood in Chicago.
If you have some that you like I'm open to suggestions. I feel like I'm getting stagnant with my pandemic choices.
Question: have you ever tried Civet coffee? It's brewed from beans that were ingested and summarilly crapped out by the little cat/lemur-like creatures. I haven't but I'm curious if it lives up to the hype or if it was a strictly novelty item.
French press guy, eh? I did that for a few years and I've since transitioned to an Aeropress for single serving coffee or my Bonavita coffee maker for larger brews. The big issue I had with French press is having to transfer it to a new container to keep it hot and subsequently the cleanup of several things now. Plus, I'm sure you experienced this, but even a little variation in the timing with a press, and you're getting a completely different flavor. So there I was, sitting my scale and my timer and... well, OK, so I still use a timer and scale. I guess not that much has changed other than easier cleanup.
I was a skeptic first getting the Aeropress, but now I can't live without it. Once you tune in your grind and ratios, you're going to get a fantastic, bitter free cup of coffee. Loved it so much, bought one for work and for home.
If anyone wants an automatic coffee machine recommendation, I absolutely recommend the Bonavita brands. They get hot enough, which is the most important part. If you want to do better, I think you need to buy one of those $200 Technivorm handmade machines from the Netherlands. I bought the smaller 5 cup Bonavita version and I find it the perfect amount to drink through the morning or for two guests after dinner. Very consistent cup of coffee and it has a built-in bloom mode if you want that sort of thing.
For a grinder, I hated all the electric grinders I bought so I end up hand grinding everything in a Hario Skerton. The things we do for
love addiction.
Now, for the actual coffee!
My national brand recommendation is Caribou Coffee Daybreak. This is a super clean, crisp cup of morning coffee. Of all the big brands you can find in Target or the groceries stores, I think this one holds up with any of them. Give it a go and let me know what you guys think. Bonus points because Caribou is a local Minnesota outfit.
I was looking for something on Amazon that would ship decent priced whole bean coffee and came across Wink out of Houston. And actually, they aren't bad! I'd say it's basically the same quality as more grocery store brands, but it's got a better value price, assuming you can drink it quick enough before the huge bag goes stale. I tried the light, medium, and dark roasts and recommend all 3, but liked the light the best.
The absolute best coffee is going to be at your local roaster. But barring that, I'd say give Caribou or Wink a crack for some good and economical options.
I am a dark roast guy, absolutely love French roast as my go-to. I went through a pretty big Kenyan coffee bean phase probably like 10 or so years ago. As for new stuff I really like the Arabian Mocha Sanani from Peets.
My dad was the same way. Everything was very rich, bold flavors. I find people that enjoy their steak more well done prefer those dark roasts. Does that simplistic comparison hold true for you?
LOL Dunkin Donuts was my gateway coffee to all the fancy stuff.
Absolutely. Aoubt 15 years ago during my first real job, when the stress of everything to do was piling up, Dunkin was my warm hug each morning. Still is some days.
