Lets talk about COFFEE

[A Y]

I used the JP30 for my travel grinder. It's about the same as the Hario: not bad. Be careful when you disassemble it to clean it: the burrs will just drop out of the body and break themselves, and it's very hard to get replacement parts! I had to get mine from a Korean seller on eBay.

In other news, a colleague recently gave me a sample of Sudden Coffee's instant coffee: https://www.suddencoffee.com/

Despite the company founders' impressive credentials, it was crap: it tasted like caramelized cardboard. Also I'm very suspicious that they don't tell you what else goes into the making of their coffee, ie. what chemicals they used to process it. Starbucks's Via is a nasty concoction that I'm not sure I'd drink even if it were decent.

 

[joshuadowen]

I used the JP30 for my travel grinder. It's about the same as the Hario: not bad. Be careful when you disassemble it to clean it: the burrs will just drop out of the body and break themselves, and it's very hard to get replacement parts! I had to get mine from a Korean seller on eBay.

In other news, a colleague recently gave me a sample of Sudden Coffee's instant coffee: https://www.suddencoffee.com/

Despite the company founders' impressive credentials, it was crap: it tasted like caramelized cardboard. Also I'm very suspicious that they don't tell you what else goes into the making of their coffee, ie. what chemicals they used to process it. Starbucks's Via is a nasty concoction that I'm not sure I'd drink even if it were decent.

Sudden Coffee is such a hoax. With basically no revenue, they convinced tech investors to give them $2m at a $9m valuation.

There is and never will be a meaningful market for instant coffee in the US. The idea that there's a market for a "better" instant coffee is laughable.

 

[Principle]

I heard the owner speak on Cooking Issues and it seemed promising. Don't make ultimatums about methods that haven't been explored thoroughly! I guess what I mean to say is if this is the first company to ATTEMPT to change the state of the art, we shouldn't expect the world.

 

[joshuadowen]

I heard the owner speak on Cooking Issues and it seemed promising. Don't make ultimatums about methods that haven't been explored thoroughly! I guess what I mean to say is if this is the first company to ATTEMPT to change the state of the art, we shouldn't expect the world.

My point was a little different - even if they'd made the best instant coffee the world had ever seen, I still don't believe there would be a market for it in the US.

 

[Principle]

I don't know the stats, but I would wager that the percentage of Americans consuming instant coffee is not negligible and even more that would be willing if the price and quality was there, myself included. I acknowledge that at this stage it likely functions as a coffee product and not a coffee replacement. There are people here who enjoy Starbucks coffee milkshakes but still make high quality cups at home. These things can co exist

 

[scottcw]

One of my favorite cups on the regular is when I reach the last few grams of a roast and mix with a new batch that I roasted a day or so earlier. Most recently was the last 12 grams of Guatemala Acatenango Gesha with 8 grams of fresh Ethiopia Yukiro Cooperative.

Since the ratio of last batch to fresh batch is never the same, it's like a box of chocolates. I never know what I am going to get.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Haven't had Stumptown in a good while. Just bought a cup. Terrible.

 

[joshuadowen]

Haven't had Stumptown in a good while. Just bought a cup. Terrible.

Varies a lot. Their blends are increasingly bad. Some of the higher-end single origins are still alright.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

This was their Colombian. Not feeling it at all. ~8 years ago I really enjoyed their coffee, but it's been downhill since then.

 

[joshuadowen]

This was their Colombian. Not feeling it at all. ~8 years ago I really enjoyed their coffee, but it's been downhill since then.

Colombia is one of the few countries from which roasters have access to fresh crop year-round. As a result it makes up the basis for a LOT of blends and volume generally. I suspect they are under a lot of pressure to reduce their costs on Colombian coffees.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I know it! I was going to say it's pretty hard to screw up Colombian coffee.

 

[justridiculous]

@patrickBOOTH did you buy a cup at one of Stumptown's Portland locations? I've found that the location at the Ace Hotel in SW Portland and the one on SE Division still do a fairly good job, but I agree, the quality has gone down significantly in recent years.

In other news, here's what I'm drinking lately:

 

[patrickBOOTH]

No, NYC. If a coffee is so fickle that it has to be brewed just right at a particular location it is rather telling, imo.

 

[justridiculous]

No, NYC. If a coffee is so fickle that it has to be brewed just right at a particular location it is rather telling, imo.

Haha yeah, that's a good point.

 

[scottcw]

This might be heresy to some, but what do you use to sweeten your coffee? I can't drink coffee black. I use 5-6 grams of raw sugar or coconut sugar. I recently met with a nutritionist who wants me to cut sugars. I tried monk fruit, but it tasted like I watered down the coffee. Maple extract was also suggested.

Any other suggestions for low sugar sweeteners?