What do you call a cow who's just given birth? De-calf-inated!

[thoreau]

"Honey, this coffee tastes like dirt."
"That's not surprising, dear, it was just ground this morning."

---

This morning (as has become the habit) I chatted with Drew (the twin, bootedintexas) while out on morning walkies with Miss Kate on the way to the bagel store. One trait we don't share is a taste for coffee. Drew doesn't even like the smell of it. Which brought us to the topic this his boyfriend, DTP, drinks Folgers Crystals. (car screeching to a halt inserted here) Now - I'm try not to be a judgmental person. But since my military days I have had a long standing dislike of instant coffee.

(shimmering dream sequence affects inserted here)
One of my roommates in the service was from New Orleans and would drink this instant swill with the added aromatic, chicory. Chicory comes from the dandelion family - and it is the roots that are ground up and added to coffee. Napoleon had a plan to make Europe self-sufficient; the best substitute the French could find for coffee (because it is not widely grown in Europe, if at all) was chicory. After Napoleon's demise, most French people went back to drinking coffee, but some never lost their taste for chicory. It was the French settlers that brought chicory to the southern United States. Which brings me back to Sam - my cajun roommate in the service. This was before the Starbucks explosion in the states - when coffee was just coffee. (and before I'd discovered fresh brewed Kona) Sam would get up and mix a cup using just the hot water from the tap and drink and drink and drink.
(end dream sequence)

anyhoo - - so after my chat with his drew-ness this morning about coffee I got to thinking.

2009 has been a 'new' coffee adventure. (i know that sounds silly but...) I gave up lattes. I wonder why it took so many years to realize I was paying $4-5 for a cup of steamed milk with a shot glass of espresso in it. Now I spend $2 at the coffee shop for a big cup of drip coffee. That has led me to comparisons of different blends at different shops; and a real appreciation for the three or four times a year I splurge on a bag of REAL Kona.

first the blends I like...

PEETS COFFEE ANNIVERSARY BLEND: Peets describes this blend as "A rare find from Burundi adds bold fruitiness and a smooth, caramel texture to this bright symphony of new-crop coffees." I have to agree that so far - this is my fave. It truly is caramelly - and is a very sweet blend. A little half and half - and I don't even add Splenda or sugar to this blend. Until researching for this post I didn't realize this was a coffee from India. I'll have to look into this some more.

STARBUCKS PIKE PLACE BLEND: SB describes this blend as "This is waking up every day and knowing exactly what awaits you: a warm, satisfying embrace. A hearty hello in a bold, roasty-tasting first sip. A kiss on the cheek in its sweet, smooth finish." Wow - Starbucks has been smoking some serious crack - how is that a way to describe coffee. I'm laughing outloud at that outrageous description. It says nothing... LOL! Now this coffee is really intense and strong. You have to really LIKE the flavor of bold coffee to enjoy this blend. It usually requires a fair amount of cream and sugar to be "muffin-ready" - but the mix of cream and the strong flavor really appeals to me. but its hardly "a kiss on the cheek."

and finally in the blends that are muffin-approved - - I'll talk about BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE COMPANY. (site here)

I can't think of anything that defines San Francisco-ness more for me that the audacity and superiority complex of Blue Bottle Coffee. Now - granted - it's fucking awesome brew - but wow - the language they use and the prices they charge. It's pretty snooty. They define themselves as an 'Artisan Roaster.' take the "what we do" paragraph from their website, "At Blue Bottle Coffee, Artisan Microroasting simply means that we take a hands-on approach to every step possible to discover and preserve the true nature of excellent coffee -- no matter how inconvenient or time-consuming. We take Freshness and small-batch roasting to an extreme not considered practical anywhere else in the coffee business. We use only the best certified organic coffees, occasionally using beautiful coffees that are farmed traditionally without pesticides. After roasting, coffee beans exhale CO2 for several hours. Instead of keeping our beans in bins, we mix the blends and bag them within 4 hours of roasting to harness the CO2 to keep oxygen (and, hence, oxidation) out of the bags. We never preblend our coffees thus assuring the ideal roast profile for each bean used in a blend. All varietals are roasted individually, then mixed into our blends."

(Starbucks should hire a writer like Blue Bottle's to describe their coffees, huh?)

What does that mean? - their cheapest blend is $18 a pound. (whereas a bag of Peets Anniversary Blend Ground is $14 - and Starbucks Pike Place is $15)

If you can get past the economics and the "our coffee is going to change your life" spin... there are a couple of their coffees that are out of this world. Their Nayarita coffee is a coffee I'll usually go buy a bag of to take to friends when I travel. Again - it's trademark is that it's a fruity coffee. a coffee that doesn't need sugar (necessarily). Of the coffees in this post - this is the only one that is not a "blend" but all beans of one type.

I haven't found one of their blends that I particularly care for. But I'm still discovering. But - being a grrrl on a budget - I get a bag of Blue Bottle every month or two to experiment with for morning coffee at the Muffin Penthouse.



well - thats whats on my mind this morning. Coffee. (loud sippage sound inserted here)

Hope ya'll have a great day!

Comments

[bootglove.livejournal.com]

There are quite a few independant coffee houses on the north side of Chicago where you can get a good cup of brewed coffee for a reasonable price, in fact, my latest venture with the Coffee Bears group was Ventrella's Caffe on N. Damen where you can purchase the "All day coffee" for $4.00 for as much as you can drink & they add flavoring to it if you wish! They also have some Italian goodies & soups & Gelato to go with your coffee selection. Free Wi-Fi of course ;-)

[musicbearmn.livejournal.com]

I will be coming down to Chicago at the end of the month for a worship clinic. Where is Ventrella's located -- I will be staying in Andersonville. Would love to try it.

[bootglove.livejournal.com]

Ventrella's Caffe is about 9 blocks or so from the edge of Andersonville area! :-)


4947 N Damen Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 506-7225

[holy13nation.livejournal.com]

The chicory stuff used to be sold here as Camp Coffee. Thank you for the explanation for it as I never understood its' association with the real stuff. That said there is instant coffee I prefer over Starbucks which is like a milkshake to me. I'll drink it but I don't understand why it is so popular. There is a small chain over here called Coffee@. Excellent. Although some of the staff confuse a laid back atmosphere for crap service and kid's attitude. As it is pricey I have often cut my losses and dropped out of a queue.
Paul gets me a french roast from his work made by the Drury Tea and Coffee Company that still, to me, beats all else hands down.
I come from Harrogate in Yorkshire and there is a coFfee company out of there that used to do 'Java Lava' which had your eyeballs out on stalks. I think they withdrew it.

[blt4success66.livejournal.com]

Bob,

I love the smell of coffe, hate the taste unless it's mixed in with lots of fru-fru flavorings and lots of bad things for you.

*EG*

Major Dickason

[cruisebear.livejournal.com]

My favorite coffee is Peet's (been drinking it since 1982 when I was living in Menlo Park). I am fond now of Major Dickason blend, and in fact, I'm drinking it right now. First sip uuuuuummmm good. I have always ground my own coffee each morning with a grinder and also have an expresso machine for special occassions but I prefer a good cup of Peet's Major Dickason.

[wescobear.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile, back East...

I've been drinking a delicious rich but not bitter French roast from La Colombe in Philadelphia for a while, their Corsica blend. But at $13/lb I wondered if I could find something almost as nice for a few bucks less.

So far I've tried a ghastly French roast from Trader Joe's (it tasted like chemicals - thank goodness for their liberal return policy), Dunkin Donuts regular roast (nice enough) and Costco Columbian Supremo (meh, but such a good value.)

[cogitoergozoom.livejournal.com]

"Sam would get up and mix a cup using just the hot water from the tap and drink and drink and drink.(end dream sequence)"

UGH! - begin nightmare sequence! I'm not much of a coffee connoisseur, but hot water from the tap??

[musicbearmn.livejournal.com]

I love Pike Place Blend...it has become my favorite coffee to drink, although I only paid $9.95 for a bag last week. I drink it straight up black (the only "straight" thing I do!). Of course, I've decided that the first time I went to the original Starbucks at Pike Place in 1985/86, that a chip was implanted to have me like it forever...LOL.

I bookmarked the coffee site. I may try one of them for curiosity's sake. I've tried a couple of Trader Joe's blend...not so much.

[sunbeam-bears.livejournal.com]

I tend to be a coffee snob, but not in the way one may think. My daily coffee is Chock Full Of Nuts, brewed at home, in a Mr. Coffee. It's good coffee. For better coffee I vacuum brew it, in either our vintage Pyrex stovetop, or vintage Sunbeam Coffeemaster. For best coffee I make a batch of Toddy, cold brew. For good strong, hot coffee I will sometimes pull out our Pyrex Flameware percolator. To show off, I pull out our Sunbeam Maxwelton Braes Coffee Maker from the mid 1930's. It uses a "plunge basket", and has matching sugar, creamer, table stove, and tray.

[bootedintexas.livejournal.com]

cawfee. ewwww. shiver. blech.