Best coffee you have ever had

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  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 10,997
    edited August 2009
    BeRad wrote: »
    Any coffee from Cuba is amazing.

    I would agree, we had fantastic coffee when we were there. I'd also have to say the coffee in Costa Rica was also amazing.

    Worst coffee Tim Horton's!!
  • everpress
    everpress Posts: 862
    edited August 2009
    I like Community Coffee when I can get my hands on it.
    Of course, I also like a chickory blend every once in awhile with a couple warm beignets with powdered sugar. Reminds me of home.

    My daily cup is just Folgers in a French press...

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  • muncybob
    muncybob Posts: 3,032
    edited August 2009
    My vote is also for Kona...and my first experience with it was on the Big island. Ordered a cup for breakfast and wanted to stay there all morning! I've tried it at home but just doesn't taste as good without an attractive island girl serving it to me!
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  • jimmydep
    jimmydep Posts: 1,305
    edited August 2009
    The cup I had this morning.....(rough night)!!!
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,163
    edited August 2009
    I also really, really liked the coffee at the resort I was at in Cancun on my honeymoon. I'm quite sure it was a Mexican roast of some sort..............some of the best coffee I've had. I did buy some Mexican coffee at Trader Joe's, but it wasn't quite the same.

    Kona is tops as well, I just choose not to spend that kind of $$$$, plus in the Midwest you never truly know if it's the "good" stuff or not.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,806
    edited August 2009
    heiney9 wrote: »
    I also really, really liked the coffee at the resort I was at in Cancun on my honeymoon. I'm quite sure it was a Mexican roast of some sort..............some of the best coffee I've had. I did buy some Mexican coffee at Trader Joe's, but it wasn't quite the same.

    Kona is tops as well, I just choose not to spend that kind of $$$$, plus in the Midwest you never truly know if it's the "good" stuff or not.

    H9

    Follow the links posted by Mike and/or I above. Those are coffee farmers in Kona. You buy directly from them and you support them directly. You get 100% real Kona coffee, no blends and they are, like I said 1/4 of what other companies charge for their blends. Also, they package the coffee immediately after roasting and processing is done and the coffee gets shipped, usually within hours after it is finished. No middle man, just straight from the farm to your door. The only way to get it better is to be at the farm itself.

    Yeah, it's a bit expensive for everyday use but they usually come in vacuum sealed bags with pretty good instructions on how to keep it fresh. Again though, I recommend the whole beans and grind them yourself. They last much longer and have a much better flavor over already good stuff.





    Also, I just remembered some coffee I had before. Part of my family on my dad's side is Austrian, from Vienna. Sometimes, someone will go over there to visit family and they bring back all kinds of goodies like chocolate, coffee and so on. Well, a cousin went over there to visit one time and he was raving about this little cafe he found (they are everywhere in Austria, honestly). He brought back about 2 pounds worth of this Sumatran coffee that was a pretty dark Viennese roast. He also brought back these chocolate chip cookies that were absolutely divine. I grabbed a cookie and started eating it and he yelled at me and told me to wait for the coffee.

    He brought the coffee over, no sugar, just heavy cream and a small bit of cinnamon. He grabs a cup and a cookie and says "Like this!" and dunks the cookie in the coffee, lets it soak up the hot coffee until the chips start to melt and then takes a big 'ole bite! My God! It was incredible and by the time you were done with the cookies, you have this lovely little dollop of melted chocolate at the bottom of the cup. He poured a teensy bit of hot coffee in and mixed it up. Man! Good stuff! Starbucks had a dark roast Sumatran coffee that was alot like that coffee but not quite. If you do it, you need dark chocolate or bakers chocolate with a low sugar content. The coffee will be slightly sweeter and not as acidic so the bitter chocolate compliments it well.
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,806
    edited August 2009
    Dang.


    Anybody wanna go to Vienna for some coffee?
    Expert Moron Extraordinaire

    You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
  • Lowell_M
    Lowell_M Posts: 1,660
    edited August 2009
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Gevalia is pretty impressive coffee. I used to belong to the club and I may start again. I use whole bean and grind my own for my Bodum French Press coffee maker. Great, fresh beans and the French Press syle equals great coffee everytime.

    I'm completely hooked on Gevalia. The Columbia roast is so good that I can't bring myself to stray from it and try one of their other varieties. Very smooth, flavorfull coffee. I've used my french press once in a while, but most of the time just brew it in the free coffee maker they send you.
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  • bklynNupe
    bklynNupe Posts: 728
    edited August 2009
    If you love good coffee
    Think Starbucks is mediocre at best
    Don’t believe in paying 6 bucks for a cup of good coffee
    Are in Park Slope, Brooklyn

    You owe it to yourself and will be rewarded for making the trip and waiting on a long line, no matter what time of day!:cool::cool::cool:


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  • Kex
    Kex Posts: 5,154
    edited August 2009
    Jstas wrote: »
    Dang.


    Anybody wanna go to Vienna for some coffee?
    Me! I'd love to. I know people there too, and they may not be as whacky as your family probably are, since you admit the "voices" talk to you! We could start a new Polk Audio Coffee Caf
    Alea jacta est!
  • skipf
    skipf Posts: 694
    edited August 2009
    +1 on the Jamaican Blue Mountain. Finest coffee in the world. Smooth as silk with an incredible flavor. Dang spendy though.
  • NotaSuv
    NotaSuv Posts: 3,849
    edited August 2009
    http://www.aikanekonacoffee.com/

    This is the site for the coffee that was just give away in the Karma....as said before best to buy direct..do alittle research and you will be quite pleased...what you buy direct is 100% Kona beans...not a blend....not a mix...the real kine 100% and that makes all the difference in the world...The State and island are very strict on the quality that must be maintained....have been up above the Kona town many times in the coffee belt....really cant say which was best but there are lots of little places to stop and taste some great coffee.....Kauai has produced some tasty coffee too...actually alot more coffee is grown there than on the Big Island....
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,380
    edited August 2009
    I get my daily caffiene fox courtesy of a bottle of Mexican Coca~Cola:D
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,806
    edited August 2009
    NotaSuv wrote: »
    ...have been up above the Kona town many times in the coffee belt....really cant say which was best but there are lots of little places to stop and taste some great coffee...

    just the smell of the air in that area alone is amazing!
    Expert Moron Extraordinaire

    You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
  • beardog03
    beardog03 Posts: 5,550
    edited August 2009
    Coffee is an art form of sorts...

    I agree Kona is one of my fav`s, as is Blue Mountain.....I prefer Peet`s coffee to star bucks, but it all in the way you make it

    You must use good water, and good grounds....grounded properly

    It really does make a difference in taste as to how you prepare it, and brew it

    I like to get differnt types of beans and mix my own
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,163
    edited August 2009
    Water temp as well as grind "consistency" is a big factor. I use a French Press and I boil water in a tea pot and then pour it over the grounds to let them steep.

    I can tell you if the water is to hot the coffee tastes bitter or if you let it steep too long it becomes bitter. I wait until the tea pot whistles and then I let it sit for 5-7 minutes off the burner before pouring over the freshly ground coffee. After that I let it steep no longer than 6 minutes or so and transfer the coffee to an insolated thermos.

    Damn good cup of coffee if done correctly. I have it down pretty well by now.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • everpress
    everpress Posts: 862
    edited August 2009
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Water temp as well as grind "consistency" is a big factor. I use a French Press and I boil water in a tea pot and then pour it over the grounds to let them steep.

    I can tell you if the water is to hot the coffee tastes bitter or if you let it steep too long it becomes bitter. I wait until the tea pot whistles and then I let it sit for 5-7 minutes off the burner before pouring over the freshly ground coffee. After that I let it steep no longer than 6 minutes or so and transfer the coffee to an insolated thermos.

    Damn good cup of coffee if done correctly. I have it down pretty well by now.

    H9

    +1
    I do regularly use a mediocre brand of coffee, but the flavor is much better with a French Press.

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  • Bigherm
    Bigherm Posts: 13
    edited September 2009
    I have an Italian stove top espresso maker that I bought overseas. I try to stock up on Illy, Cafe Kimbo or whatever is local when I travel.
  • tx_polkhead
    tx_polkhead Posts: 248
    edited September 2009
    About 12 years ago my wife and I were on vacation in WA and OR, we took a ferry ride to Vashon Island were Seattle's Best Coffee had a roasting site. Saw a couple of pros cupping coffee and making notes. All that coffee being roasted on site, stacks of raw green beans, fog in the air made for an epic cup of joe. I am making an effort to cut down to one cup a day which is tough cause my drip coffee maker makes a great half pot but a week single cup. Maybe I'll dig around and find my stove top espresso maker. Lately I've been drinking the Sam's Club Colombian Supremo, it's fair trade, 100% Arabica, tasty and darn cheap! 2 1/2 lbs cost about $12. I've looked in to DIY roasting raw beans from sweet maria's but for now that will have to wait.
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  • blueboxer
    blueboxer Posts: 621
    edited September 2009
    Blue Mountain is great coffee as is the some of the Puerto Rican brands. It is a tough call between Blue Mountain and the Gold konas.
  • NotaSuv
    NotaSuv Posts: 3,849
    edited September 2009
    2 words.....................................


    Kopi Luwak
  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited September 2009
    The coffee I brew every morning.....
    Testing
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    Testing
  • vc69
    vc69 Posts: 2,500
    edited September 2009
    Jamican Blue Mountain,, I think that the worst was some kinda pecan flavored coffee crap.

    Absolutely the finest coffee I have ever had was Blue Mountain. :)
    Damned expensive though.

    I like the Guatemala Antigua beans too. Coffee from the more arid regions is a bit too acidic for my old tummy.

    And I always grind my own.
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  • renowilliams
    renowilliams Posts: 920
    edited September 2009
    treitz3 wrote: »
    Eight O' clock coffee, French Vanilla. This is the coffee for me. No other flavors, no other brands. DD and SB's coffee makes me want to puke. All of them.

    +1 on the A&P eight o'clock coffee. My dad was a manager for A&P and worked for them for 44 years. I remember going to the store as a kid and we'd fresh grind it in the machine there. I loved their coffee. Unfortuatly, here in Canada A&P were bought out by another chain.
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,536
    edited September 2009
    Best coffee I ever had was from the Cafe on the Latina, Italy Airbase during a NATO sponsored course on cryptographic equipment repair. I was actually stationed at Izmir, Turkey; TDY. It was a simple Latte, but it was delicious. I also had the best 4 cheese pizza on the planet in downtown Latina. Never tasted a pizza since that came anywhere near close...
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