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This is strange: I like hearing about coffee and learning about people’s tastes with it ... but I’ve NEVER tried it. Not a single sip. Have no idea what it tastes like

What? How is that even possible?
Do you have no innate curiosity? I can’t imagine being around something as common and everyday as coffee and not being at least curious enough to try it?

Honestly, it's not all that good, in my mind. For example, I don't make decaf just because I like the flavor like many do. I have full strength it in the morning as a wake me up and rarely in the afternoon/evening if a craving hits or I need a pick me up. (Plus, and I don't believe those who say there's no difference in taste, decaf just ins't as good as regular. And, per my comment above, that's not saying very much.)

It is good. It’s just an acquired taste. I grew up in a house of coffee drinkers. They just drank Folgers and such. I never cared much for it. Though I always loved the smell of it.
When I got older I tried better beans and started liking coffee a little more. 23 years ago I became a nurse. Coffee became my lifeblood. Now I love it. Decaf, half caf, full strength... love it all.

Again, this is what I find so interesting abut taste...the differences between people!

I am definitely a non-coffee drinker. The last time I had a cup of coffee was probably 25 years ago, when I had been out the night before on a heavy night drinking. A friend told me I should have a cup of coffee, as it would help. I did (and I greatly disliked the taste of it back then) ... and wound up with a hangover with a horrible aftertaste from the coffee.

I have friends who love the stuff, and I'll brew a pot if one of them comes over, but personally. I just can't stand the stuff.

It is an acquired taste and growing up in a household where the kitchen was the room of choice to congregate, the constant smell of coffee called to you.

Now I can't stand the taste of beer. Disgusting stuff. Every time I've tried it, it remains disgusting. In retrospect, I'm glad it was coffee my taste buds agreed with. I do think I've become immune to caffeine though, I can drink coffee morning or night with no affect on my sleeping schedule.

I've tried to kick soda. Coffee has been a great way to eliminate it for me.

Right now I'm being a dirty millennial and drinking this:

Black as night with nothing added. Would love to pick up some KCups of the blend I had close to Machu Picchu.

I may look into a french press in the future, but KCups save time.

Good coffee. Awful, wasteful packaging.

(A side note: I’ve hiked the Na Pali Coast Trail. Sleep on the beach for four nights. Amazing.)

I’m not overly curious to try it (I’ve actually never had alcohol either) .. I can see trying coffee one day though

So you've never had a taste of coffee or alcohol? Out of curiosity, how old are you? I guess buring a blunt is totally out of the question, lol.

I mostly use a Keurig these days. Brews a quality cup and no waste like brewing up a full pot.

If I have beans to grind, which I do from time to time, I like to use a French Press.

As for beans, there is a local roaster I use. As for the Keurig, I like McDonalds French Roast or Dunking Donuts, but I will switch it up. I am not too picky as long as it is a premium brand and not 8 O'Clock Coffee or something like that.

As for how I like it, I like it black. Is there any other way?

As for cup, anything that doesn't leak.

haha yeah that’s not something I’ve tried either ... I’m 33

When you go out to breakfast, what do you order to drink?

Wait, have you tried food yet?

Dawgs4Life is a bot!

So...

The percolator arrived yesterday. Here's a review of it I found on youtube.




My impression, after 3 pots. It's a no frills coffee maker. You can't program it to start at a set time, you don't have heat settings and it won't turn off automagically for you.

What it will do is make a nice, smooth tasting cup of coffee, pour elegantly and clean up easily. It has a coffee basket as shown in the vid, but I also use a flat, round filter made for percolators. I don't want grounds to find their way into my cup.

The spout on this percolator is so much nicer to pour the coffee from than the carafe on my drip coffee maker. I also love the sound of it percolating. Being able to see the coffee in the clear knob at the top as it percolates is a plus, or maybe I'm just a bit bored. I'm a guy, we're easily amused by visual movement and it will always capture my attention.

Will I keep using this one or go back to the drip? That decision falls under the, "happy wife - happy life" category. She will get her first opportunity today to try it and give me her opinion. If she doesn't like it, I may just move this one into my office and she can use the drip.

Actually, maybe not. Some of those pods with the filter bottoms (not the plastic bottoms) can be recycled, as they don't have the metal ring in them like the plastic cups do. When we had the Keurig, I used to make a point of buying those types of pods from Costco, as we could recycle them.
However, nothing beats a reusable K-cup. That's the only way you're going to dial in your cup of coffee with a Keurig. I found that I was getting grounds in the bottom of my cup, which I didn't like. I'm sure I was about to figure that out when we decided to switch to a small Mr. Coffee, since her and I grabbed our cups in the morning at the same time.

We have a Ninja drip. It's nice, but we cracked the carafe and it was a pain to source a replacement. I like to try different 'fancy' beans. I'm not a fan of Starbucks, but do reluctantly go there quite a bit. You can get a (poor) cup of coffee and yummy breakfast sandwich for $5, and the phone app makes everything much more convenient. There's a Starbucks that's perfectly located for my commute to work, so between that and the app that lets you order ahead, it's too convenient not to utilize it every once in a while. Also, the little guy loves the cake pops, and it's hilarious hearing him start going 'cake... pop!' in the back seat.

Also, I'll grab a bag of ground coffee from Starbucks when we're in a bind at home, and usually get whatever limited release they have at the time. I'll admit, I've never gotten a bad bag from them.

Hey Tulsa , thats the one I have had my eye on. Keep me updated on how you like it,... Thanks

What did she think of the coffee?

She’s satisfied with it. She can’t distinguish a lot of difference in the taste from one machine to the other, it’s subtlety better to her. The nostalgia I enjoy, she didn’t experience as much growing up so there’s no real value in the type of maker. I make all the coffee at home, so she’s deferring to me what maker I choose to use.

We recently got a Hamilton Beach, has the traditional dripper carafe, and a single cup option/K-Cup brewer.

It came with a cup and filter to use your own grounds, think we payed $89 at bed bath and beyond.

We don't use the single often, but it is nice for times when we have late night plans, that little extra kick of caffeine helps the wife. or when we have family events, my uncle likes to drink a cup after dinner.

I forgot about something until this morning. I've been to Amsterdam quite a bit for work. One of my top 2 favorite cafes (I'd say coffee shop, but that means something else there ) in the world is in Amsterdam (Scandinavian Embassy in De Pijp). I was there on a trip back in probably 2012 talking to the owners (one was a top 10 barista in the world in some competition) and he asked where I was from. I mentioned Portland, and he perked up...he said that Stumptown had a popup in Amsterdam and he loved it.

I learned quite a bit about coffee from them (coffee, not espresso drinks). Temperature, grind, weigh coffee instead of measure it, etc... my coffee game improved significantly due to that place.

love me some coffee esp with cannabis lol

It's fun to learn cool stuff. It's part of the reason I started this thread.

I got a ninja coffee maker that does single cups without the K cups and I can buy any coffee I like. Love our Coffee maker

If you ever get over to AMS, they have workshops and tastings

Dude... drop some knowledge!!

I have seen those.

You still have to deal with coffee grounds. I just like to insert and toss away.

Its been a while, so it'll be flawed.

+ if you like really good coffee, buy a good burr grinder. If you only plan do to drip, then it doesn't need to have many settings for grind size. If you want to do espresso, pour overs, drip, cold brew, chemex, etc... then you'll want grind sizes.

+ coffee grounds should be room temp when brewing

+ brew coffee 195-205 degrees (I had to look that up, couldn't remember exact range) if you are not using a machine (cold brew should be cold tap water)

+ the size of the coffee grounds should be determined based on how you brew it (espresso is very fine, cold brew very course, drip is in the middle). for my drip machine I use about 11:00 if it were a clock (so a little less than medium). Adjust to your taste.

+ Water to coffee ratio matters. I don't recall these, but when I cold brew my ratios are based on the roast. dark roast I use 3 oz of beans for 32 oz water. medium roast 3.25 oz beans for 32 oz water, and light roast 3.5 oz beans per 32 oz water (generically about 10 to 1). For my drip coffee I use 33 grams for 20 oz water, so that's about 17 to 1, I'll go down to 30 grams for a darker roast sometimes (depends on the coffee).

+ How long you brew matters. I don't recall these either, but I use 14-16 hours for cold brew and my hot coffee is drip, so however long that takes

edit: if you find your coffee too bitter, increase the grind size or reduce the brew time (or get better coffee )

Turns out I already have much of this nailed, though I only do drip and french press, I have a conical burr grinder that does indeed make a word of difference.

I dug a little and thought this was pretty interesting

https://www.homegrounds.co/coffee-grind-chart/

I'll probably only do a few more weeks of cold brew - I like it cold during the warm months. It makes one heck of a good coffee if you like it cold. I've found that if after I grind it, I put it through a hand strainer to get rid of the powdery grind to ensure it is all course - it is not bitter at all and has almost a sweetness to it. And all it takes is an ultra-fine mesh bag and a 32 oz mason jar.

That's kinda groovy. I've never tried cold brewing, but I also never really drink it "cold" unless I'm finishing the previous day's pot. Yes, I will drink the old coffee while waiting for the fresh stuff to brew, and that stuff I tend to drink at room temperature as reheating it seems to impart bitterness.

This literally just told me how to change/correct my grind size. Apparently, I'm too coarse and under-extracted because my coffee is acidic and salty. Holy crap. I never would have thought of this!

I can't drink it at the correct temperature, too many years of IT Operations and Support - and rarely having food/drink at the right temps I throw a cube in my hot coffee to make it not 200 degrees...and if I order a latte, I always ask for tepid. How sad is that?

It's not sad. Whether I use the Kuerig, the drip brewer, or, away from home.........whatever coffee I get, I put at least 3 typical cubes of ice in it. I don't drink coffee steaming. I can't. I don't like it cold, though.

My grandma used to drink it at an almost boiling level.

Your grandma sounds like an awesome lady.

This thread keeps me awake reading it.

She was, trust me, she was. But man, she liked her coffee HOT. (temp wise, just so no one gets the wrong idea)

Some Like It Hot. (With regards to Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemon)

My coffee is so very different this morning. Much better

Of course, now I recognize that I may need a darker roast.