Captain Cheesestick

Can anyone recommend some really tasty ground coffee? I've tried a bunch and quite a lot of them are sour and nasty. And considering people round here think that Dunkin Donuts makes nice coffee leads me to seek outside advice.

And nothing stupidly expensive, or something that has been crapped through an animal first please.

bevinva

I like Sumatra coffee. In a pinch Folgers Gourmet will work. Also like whatever coffee it is TJMaxx has every now and again, whole bean though, it has a Tiger on the bag. Start grinding beans it will make a difference.

rpjs

I really like the Green Mountain coffee that they serve on Amtrak, but I've had not such good results making it at home, so I'm not sure what it is Amtrak do that makes it so good.

Probably the best coffee I've ever tasted is Espresso Vivace from Seattle which you can get by mail order. They only sell beans though so you'd need a grinder, and I've only ever used it in a stove-top espresso maker (Bialetti or alike), dunno whether it'd bet any good in a drip machine. It's not cheap: $6.50 for a half pound + shipping, but it's amazing coffee.

MrEmjoy

Depends what kind of machine or equipment you're using?? Different grinds work better in different machines and so do different kinds of bean.

If you really need good coffee then a cheap grinder and a bit of method can get you there.

I use a french press, chucked my Cuisinart drip machine in the bin, overrated piece of junk. The french press makes the best cup of regular coffee if you have a few minutes to spend making it. Not always easy when you NEED A COFFEE and there's a two year old demanding you be singing and dancing at 0600 hours.

For the french press I use more African beans than anything else as they taste better in the french press. Anything described as 'fruity' is good for a french press.

Lavazza do a good ground coffee of various grinds for different coffee makers but as soon as you open a packet/can of ground coffee its going bad! Much better to have beans on hand.

Also if I had to get a new machine it would be a Bunn, based on reviews.

Lastly, at the moment I've been drinking a lot of Ruta Maya coffee. It's great when you nail the making processes. Costco sell it at a reasonable price.

tonrob

Not a huge coffee fan as as such, but I can manage one of these with my breakfast.

robin1234

I recommend Zabars in New York City. You mention price as an important consideration. (1) All their standard coffee varieties are $9.98 per pound, which is a reasonable price. (2) They offer free ground shipping for a minimum of four pounds. That works for me, living just 400 miles from NYC the ground shipping only takes 3 days.

I buy the beans (although they will grind it for you, it wouldn't be fresh for very long.) Some of their varieties are very nice indeed; the Kenya AA and the "Jamaican Blue Mountain Blend" are outstanding. They also have an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.

I agree with your characterisation of a lot of coffee as "sour & nasty." In general the coffee you can buy in the US is piss-poor, not sure why, but Zabars have got it just right and offer an outstanding product at a good price.

another bloody yank

http://www.chockfullonuts.com/#

Leslie

Tom Thumb / Safeway - "O" Organics is decent for a grocery store coffee.

robin1234

Interesting, apparently they've reopened their coffee shop in NYC! When I first visited New York City in 1973, my wife (GF at that time..!) took me to two memorable lunch places; the Automat and the Chock full o'Nuts coffee shop. As it turns out, both finally closed down very soon after..

We also visited the observation deck at the WTC, presumably relatively newly-opened at that time.

AdobePinon

before noon, after noon... no grinder required.

Jan Alaska

Think this one will suit you quite well .....

http://www.ravensbrew.com/goat.html

Englishman43

http://www.peets.com/Default.asp?rdir=1&

Trixie_b

Ermmm make sure the valve doesn't stick. Ours exploded on the stove on Easter sunday when we hosted a memorial service for friends who lost a loved one. Thankfully, my husband had just walked out of the kitchen and of the 20 people in our house, not one of them was in there when it happened.

Makes a hell of a mess - still finding coffee grounds in some strange places... inside cupboards, on and in the light fixture in the seam of the fridge door......

Captain Cheesestick

Hmmm. I'd wandered away from Chock Full O Nuts to New England coffee. Then I made a catastrophic error - I won a nearly $1000 gift card for BJ's and bought 4 frikking huge cans of their house gourmet coffee simply because they were out of everything that wasn't run-of-the-mill Folgers. I'm half way through can 2. It's sour, tastes like it has a wet stick in it, and might actually be making my stomach hurt on occasion.

Price is not a huge thing - especially as if the coffee is good I drink less of it. I'm between a pot and a pot and a half now. But then I'll go two/three days without a sip because I'll not be able to stomach drinking this piss-flavored stick-syrup again. When I splurge on something I'll have a cup or two.

And anytime I am anywhere near Vermont I stop at a service station for a free cup of Green Mountain. Yes I'm that cheap. I actually just bought a big cup at a farmers market for 99c even though I had a pot on at home.

And for the peen-arse who suggested McDonalds gourmet via PM - very droll. No-one can do decent take-out coffee especially McDeath and Dunkin Donuts. Tim Hortons is alright at a push I suppose.

Are beans and French Presses really that good? Honestly - because if they are that much better I'll go for it. But not if this is some "oh it's simply just not real coffee unless it's Fair Trade and hand picked by virgin monkeys" stuff.

Leslie

I think the quality (flavor) of the bean is more important than the method. I have a friend who lives and dies by the French press and when he makes coffee it is very nice but he buys yummy beans. If the bean is crap it will taste crap in a press. If the bean is good it will be good in a normal drip coffee maker - it just may be better in a press.