08-10-2020, 10:02 AM
Alright, DISCUSSION TIME:
Do you prefer your coffee hot or iced?
For me, I prefer it hot because it's what I grew up on. Iced coffee, at least from my experiences, just tastes more bitter than the hot coffee I make at home.
Another thing to consider is whether you drink it black or add milk or cream/sugar/coffee creamer to it. Something I've noticed is usually the people who drink iced coffee are drinking it in a ratio of 80-20, in favor of the creamer, but this isn't always true.
For me, I drink somewhere along the lines of a 60-40 ratio, as I just put creamer or milk in it to cool it down enough so it doesn't scald the roof of my mouth and my tongue.
And one more thing: what's your go to brand if you do drink coffee?
For me, anything Gevalia puts out is really good, especially for the price. They're a Scandinavian brand, in fact, they're the largest coffee roastery in their area. Anything you get from them in terms of ground/whole bean coffee will most likely please you. They have roasts ranging from Mild to Bold, and I've had quite a bit of their selection. From my experience of what I've tasted so far, their best Dark roast is the Costa Rica blend. Their best Medium is a very close choice between the Columbian or Guatemala blends, but I'd give it to the Guatemala because the grounds are coarse, meaning you can brew it via a French press or a drip brewer. Their dark roasts are very strong but don't sacrifice richness for flavor. The French Roast they have will definitely wake you up, that's for sure. In case you're not aware, the darker the roast (longer it's been cooked), the less caffeine it has, BUT in exchange for that you have more coffee flavor. The two bold roast options that I've had from them, Majestic and Dark Gold, practically taste the same to me but they're both good options if you want a low amount of caffeine without going decaf.
Obviously, the big name brands like Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' Donuts put out good coffee. However, there is one big name coffee brand that in my opinion, is complete and utter trash. Starbucks has possibly the worst coffee blends I have had the misfortune of tasting. For me, the aftertaste of the coffee is what kills it. Their Pike roast is the only tolerable one, anything else leaves the most bitter aftertaste imaginable. In my opinion, you should ONLY go to Starbucks for specialty drinks, not basic coffee.
Another Coffee Brand that I recently tried out is Caribou. They're pricey, about $10 for a 12 oz bag, but that is because they ship it out in small batches, which means they only ship about 500 bags across the country at a time. They're a coffee shop based in Minnesota, and their medium roast I've got is good. It's a little bit of a bolder taste in comparison to the other coffees that I've talked about in terms of their medium roasts, but it's super good. In my opinion, I'd buy the whole bean coffee and grind it; it's a little messier but it's worth it.
The best budget coffee is Folgers. Folgers can get you a good roast and a lot of it for cheap. You can get 30.5 oz of it for $7 if you shop at the right place, and the coffee tastes good.
The best all around coffee I've had in terms of balancing PRICE AND AMOUNT YOU'RE GETTING is Gevalia by far. You can get a 12 oz bag for $7, and that lasts you a long time too, even if you drink a lot. Just for reference to prove that, I would brew coffee from one of these bags twice every single day, and it lasted me 3 months. I was making coffee for 8 people to drink at one time so I wasn't always just brewing for myself. Also, no matter which way you go in terms of a blend, the coffee is always super rich and never leaves a bitter aftertaste in your mouth (If you make it right).
In terms of the way to have a best cup of coffee, what I can say is that grinding fresh beans is better than buying pre-ground beans of coffee; however, for the average person, I don't think it's worth the time or effort to try and get a grinder and grind the beans every time you want coffee. In terms of what's better between a French press, drip, or other types of brewers, I can't really tell a difference between them due to lack of experience of trying it (I've only had French pressed coffee once and my friend didn't do a perfect job but it was super good.). I use a Drip brewer primarily. No matter which way you make it, if it's done right you're going to have a great cup of coffee. You have to make it right though if you even want a remotely good cup of coffee. The hardest part is to balance between how much coffee you should put in relation to how much water you use. For me, if you're making 6-8 cups of coffee, 6 T (tablespoons) of coffee is perfect. If you're making 10-12, I'd add 2 or 4 T of coffee to it. I use a 2 T cup to scoop my coffee and put it into the filter in case you're curious.
Alright, that's about all I can think of about coffee. If you can't tell, I'm kind of an addict.
Do you prefer your coffee hot or iced?
For me, I prefer it hot because it's what I grew up on. Iced coffee, at least from my experiences, just tastes more bitter than the hot coffee I make at home.
Another thing to consider is whether you drink it black or add milk or cream/sugar/coffee creamer to it. Something I've noticed is usually the people who drink iced coffee are drinking it in a ratio of 80-20, in favor of the creamer, but this isn't always true.
For me, I drink somewhere along the lines of a 60-40 ratio, as I just put creamer or milk in it to cool it down enough so it doesn't scald the roof of my mouth and my tongue.
And one more thing: what's your go to brand if you do drink coffee?
For me, anything Gevalia puts out is really good, especially for the price. They're a Scandinavian brand, in fact, they're the largest coffee roastery in their area. Anything you get from them in terms of ground/whole bean coffee will most likely please you. They have roasts ranging from Mild to Bold, and I've had quite a bit of their selection. From my experience of what I've tasted so far, their best Dark roast is the Costa Rica blend. Their best Medium is a very close choice between the Columbian or Guatemala blends, but I'd give it to the Guatemala because the grounds are coarse, meaning you can brew it via a French press or a drip brewer. Their dark roasts are very strong but don't sacrifice richness for flavor. The French Roast they have will definitely wake you up, that's for sure. In case you're not aware, the darker the roast (longer it's been cooked), the less caffeine it has, BUT in exchange for that you have more coffee flavor. The two bold roast options that I've had from them, Majestic and Dark Gold, practically taste the same to me but they're both good options if you want a low amount of caffeine without going decaf.
Obviously, the big name brands like Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' Donuts put out good coffee. However, there is one big name coffee brand that in my opinion, is complete and utter trash. Starbucks has possibly the worst coffee blends I have had the misfortune of tasting. For me, the aftertaste of the coffee is what kills it. Their Pike roast is the only tolerable one, anything else leaves the most bitter aftertaste imaginable. In my opinion, you should ONLY go to Starbucks for specialty drinks, not basic coffee.
Another Coffee Brand that I recently tried out is Caribou. They're pricey, about $10 for a 12 oz bag, but that is because they ship it out in small batches, which means they only ship about 500 bags across the country at a time. They're a coffee shop based in Minnesota, and their medium roast I've got is good. It's a little bit of a bolder taste in comparison to the other coffees that I've talked about in terms of their medium roasts, but it's super good. In my opinion, I'd buy the whole bean coffee and grind it; it's a little messier but it's worth it.
The best budget coffee is Folgers. Folgers can get you a good roast and a lot of it for cheap. You can get 30.5 oz of it for $7 if you shop at the right place, and the coffee tastes good.
The best all around coffee I've had in terms of balancing PRICE AND AMOUNT YOU'RE GETTING is Gevalia by far. You can get a 12 oz bag for $7, and that lasts you a long time too, even if you drink a lot. Just for reference to prove that, I would brew coffee from one of these bags twice every single day, and it lasted me 3 months. I was making coffee for 8 people to drink at one time so I wasn't always just brewing for myself. Also, no matter which way you go in terms of a blend, the coffee is always super rich and never leaves a bitter aftertaste in your mouth (If you make it right).
In terms of the way to have a best cup of coffee, what I can say is that grinding fresh beans is better than buying pre-ground beans of coffee; however, for the average person, I don't think it's worth the time or effort to try and get a grinder and grind the beans every time you want coffee. In terms of what's better between a French press, drip, or other types of brewers, I can't really tell a difference between them due to lack of experience of trying it (I've only had French pressed coffee once and my friend didn't do a perfect job but it was super good.). I use a Drip brewer primarily. No matter which way you make it, if it's done right you're going to have a great cup of coffee. You have to make it right though if you even want a remotely good cup of coffee. The hardest part is to balance between how much coffee you should put in relation to how much water you use. For me, if you're making 6-8 cups of coffee, 6 T (tablespoons) of coffee is perfect. If you're making 10-12, I'd add 2 or 4 T of coffee to it. I use a 2 T cup to scoop my coffee and put it into the filter in case you're curious.
Alright, that's about all I can think of about coffee. If you can't tell, I'm kind of an addict.
