Coffee

[Mangyrat]

I bought a cheap grinder that was on closeout after Christmas and I've noticed a world of difference when I grind the beans just before brewing. It's also easier to keep whole beans much longer than ground cofee, at least that's what I've found. We have a great local cofee shop that has about 20 different varieties of beans and roasts so I've got minor Coffee AD right now. Next step is to upgrade to a much better grinder.

That cheap coffee grinder has started you down the road to finding the perfect cup of coffee.

Ask your local coffee shop what days they roast and then pick up your coffee within a day or 2.

I use the 2/2/2 rule.
Green coffee beans are good for 2 years.
Roasted coffee beans are good for 2 weeks.
Ground coffee is good for 2 days.

If you ever get in to roasting your own coffee beans let them sit in a air tight container for 12 to 24 hrs before grinding.

Always keep your coffee in a air tight container.

[mrtr33]

I really could not tell much difference in the taste of coffee using different grinders so I'm back to using a cheap blade grinder.

Not sure about taste, but I've heard you get a more consistent grind with a conical over a blade. I would think this would allow you to have all of your beans ground the same way, possibly getting the most out of your beans. Our cheap-o blade grinder never quite does the job right. I can grind the hell out of it and have some very fine granules and rougher granules, but if I'm making French Press I don't want to grind it that much and end up with whole beans. It's such a hassle to pour it back into the grinder....

Ground coffee is good for 2 days.

Always keep your coffee in a air tight container.

Ground coffee can be used longer, if you don't intend to drink it - we use grinds for baking sometimes, like in cakes, etc.
Sometimes ground coffee is a necessary evil, like when you want chicory. I've only been able to find chicory coffee pre-ground. I suppose I could simply add my own chicory to my freshly ground coffee, though.

Gregg, where do you keep your air-tight container coffee? We've been keeping ours in the freezer, but especially with the darker roasts, the beans then stick together. It's not like we need to - we go through almost 2 cans a week.

[TachyCoventry]

I think that I'm the odd man out in this discussion but I'll add my $0.02 for what it's worth. I recently bought a new coffee maker and went for convenience rather than quality (although the quality is still very good).

I got a Keurig coffee maker that uses the k-cups. I know that everyone will say that you don't get the same flavor from this method but I love the fact that every morning I get up and hit a button and 1 minute later I have a great cup of coffee.

I thought that I would be restricted to what I could brew but when I bought it they included a "make your own k-cup" set up that allows me to add whatever ground beans I want. I haven't used this yet as I found some coffees that I really enjoy. I don't know if you can get these un-ground and not in k-cups but I've included them below.

Caribou Coffee Company - Mahogany
Coffee People - Kona Blend

[Roger]

I had an interesting coffee experience recently. I had a friend offer me some coffee that was not brewed in any kind of coffee maker. It is a cold coffee infusion type method where you put a considerable amount of coffee grounds into a container, add cold water, cover and let sit for 24 hours (not in the fridge). After that it gets filtered and put in a container in the fridge. When you want to use some, just boil some water. Add a portion of the very strong coffee into a cup. Add the boiling water to it and you have an awesome cup of coffee! I must admit I was very surprised at the richness of the coffee, and strangely enough not acidic at all. It seems that the process is a bit lengthy, but I thought I tasted so good, that I could warrant the bother of doing it. Have any of you tried this yourself? What did you think of your experience? Roger.

[Mangyrat]

Gregg, where do you keep your air-tight container coffee? We've been keeping ours in the freezer, but especially with the darker roasts, the beans then stick together. It's not like we need to - we go through almost 2 cans a week.

I just keep it in the kitchen cabinet, coffee don't last long at my house.

[ggiese]

Gregg, where do you keep your air-tight container coffee? We've been keeping ours in the freezer, but especially with the darker roasts, the beans then stick together. It's not like we need to - we go through almost 2 cans a week.

Never, never, NEVER freeze your beans!!! That's just like freezing cigars to store 'em!!!

Freezing dries 'em out! ...and keep them beans away from air and light. I keep my beans in a air tight ceramic jar.

Also - good rule of thumb. Don't ever keep coffee for any more than you'd keep a fresh loaf of bread around. The beans go stale too...

[CoventryCat86]

Never, never, NEVER freeze your beans!!! That's just like freezing cigars to store 'em!!!

Freezing dries 'em out! ...and keep them beans away from air and light. I keep my beans in a air tight ceramic jar.

Also - good rule of thumb. Don't ever keep coffee for any more than you'd keep a fresh loaf of bread around. The beans go stale too...

What are you talking about? You have to AGE your beans, just like you do with your cigars.

George, where's ole Scotty when we need him? He was a supposed coffee expert, I even followed him over to a couple of coffee forums. He must still be gallivanting all over the internet looking for okienoodling sites.

[Shadykaricta]

So I ran into an issue a while back. At one point I exclusively enjoyed a cigar with Alcohol. This had the negative side effect of increasing the frequency of my alcohol consumption. I decided it probably isn't the best road to go down. While traveling for business I substituted a cop of coffee for my beverage with my smoke and enjoyed it very much. I have never been a coffee drinker but am getting into it now. I don't drink it in the morning or at work (If I do have a hot beverage at work it is usually tea). I've learned a lot from this thread thanks guys.

[mrtr33]

There's been a significant changes in our coffee consumption over the last few weeks. For one, coffee is no longer kept in the freezer, it's kept in the cupboard. Secondly, our blade grinder died this morning, which prompted us to immediately leave and purchase a burr grinder. I'm extraordinarily excited.

[Paddy]

[QUOTE=mrtr33;167265]There's been a significant changes in our coffee consumption over the last few weeks. For one, coffee is no longer kept in the freezer, it's kept in the cupboard. Secondly, our blade grinder died this morning, which prompted us to immediately leave and purchase a burr grinder. I'm [COLOR="rgb(0, 0, 0)"]extraordinarily excited.[/[/COLOR]QUOTE]

Does not take much, Mark