Coffee

[ewe2]

Everyone has their particular coffee fetish. I'm a fan of sensual African coffees yet still appreciate a good down-the-line espresso and even (gasp) freeze-dried instant. I should add that I grew up with Robert Timms coffee, and the New Guinea Gold was awesome.

What's your poison?

[sagit]

whats my poison? this....

http://members.ii.net/~sagit/coffee.JPG

[ewe2]

That looks like contraband son, I'll have to take it for questioning...

[still life]

Cap with one please :)

The best coffee I've had comes from the Voodoo (www.voodooespresso.com) stand on Pitt st in the city. Right now I'm getting my morning cup from the Bar Venezian on York st. Apparently they both use a blend of Arabica(?) beans, I just know it tastes good.

It's funny that different stands can make a totally different coffee from the same beans, I've been to a few that make dishwater :\

Say, what do we have to do to get a coffee forum ? :D

[Hired Goon]

Vittoria coffee is good and widely available, which I drink from the place near my work most days.

I normally drink cafe latte, although cappucino is ok too. An affogato is good for dessert, and Expresso/short black when I need a wake me up.

[babygirlz]

bastards. i'm drooling just ran out of coffee.

[ewe2]

Vittoria is a good stopgap :) I used to live around the corner from their old warehouse in Melbourne many years ago. It's a very straightforward expresso, I always preferred the straight package of gorgeous-looking beans to crush...mmm I've got to get a new coffee machine now, see what you've done!

[munganah]

It's funny that different stands can make a totally different coffee from the same beans, I've been to a few that make dishwater :\


I was lead to believe that has a lot to do with them not cleaning their equipment properly everyday which makes the coffee bitter.


Personally,I can't go past a good cappacino(gloria jeans do g00dz coffee and very nice cakes mmmmmmmm,cake and coffee)

[Holster]

I can honestly say I've never had a good coffe from Gloria Jeans

[VangaloRR]

Anybody who drinks their coffee white ala Cap, FW, Latté etc is a connoisseur of milk, NOT a connoisseur of coffee.

Also Gloria Jeans doesnt make coffee they make ass in a cup!

Good places in Perth

Rosso - St georges Tce
Just Espresso - Preston St South Perth (a little expensive but they operate under Fair Trade Agreements which makes it all good, the owner is an asshole though....)

[beowulf437]

Every "coffee" specialty place I have tried so far has crap for coffee. First off they usually burn the beans, this makes the coffee taste like charcoal. Secondly they brew the coffee at too high of a temperature, this makes the coffee taste like ass. Thirdly the best beans in the world are in this order: Columbian, Bolivian, Venezualian. It has to do with the rainfall and altitude. Lastly, two things go into a good cup of coffee, coffee and water.

Coffee beans should be roasted slowly, preferably in a drum roaster, and ground into flecks of about .5mm. It should be brewed at 85 degrees centigrade, it should be served at 75 degrees centigrade. Perculators produce a fuller flavoured coffee as compared to drip makers. For a truly rich coffee try double brewed.

[Holster]

Anybody who drinks their coffee white ala Cap, FW, Latté etc is a connoisseur of milk, NOT a connoisseur of coffee.

Also Gloria Jeans doesnt make coffee they make ass in a cup!



I agree, I like an espresso or long black, no milk, no sugar kthx

[Supreme_Cmdr]

The only worse place than gloria jeans is that starbucks place, my god I have had instant truck stop coffee that tasted better than that shite that I just paid what for.
It is surprising what a difference the person actually making the coffee makes, you can go to the same place and get 2 hugely difference coffees. I am interested in peoples recommendations for places in Sydney to get a really good coffee.

[VangaloRR]

It is surprising what a difference the person actually making the coffee makes, you can go to the same place and get 2 hugely difference coffees.

Yep, 2 most important ingredients in a coffee are the beans and the barista (barista not being an actual "ingredient" for those with a sick mind)

[stinky]

I work across the road from the Merlo factory so I drink lots of merlo coffee. I have a Saeco Magic Comfort + machine at home which does 99% of the work, grinding, pouring. all I have to do is froth the milk. I used to have a more manual system which could produce better flavoured coffee but I found myself using it infrequently due to the 15+ minutes it could take to make a good coffee. With the Saeco it takes me no longer than boiling a kettle and the coffee still tastes pretty awesome.

I like my coffee black or white, usually a flat white. I hate coffee snobs who think black is the only sort. I am a big fan of a short black poured over a scoop of ice-cream :)

I actually made some coffee ice-cream today, 4 short blacks, organic milk, cream, egg. Tastes fricken awesome :)

[samuraipizzacat]

I have a Saeco Magic Comfort + machine at home which does 99% of the work, grinding, pouring. all I have to do is froth the milk.

I've got the Saeco S-Class Incanto Classic. Friggen awesome machines they are.

As for coffee, when my grandmother went to Costa Rica a few years back she brought back some coffee and it was pretty damn nice (have no idea what brand, but it was from a small local producer - so I'll probably never see it again :( ).
Of the coffees available here though the Lavazza Qualità Oro is pretty good.

As for coffee styles, I drink almost every type - espresso, macchiato, affagato, caffe latte, cappuccino etc. I've done some training under a barista so I have an idea of how to make decent coffee ;)

[SOC]

I like Illy, and my favourite coffee place in Sydney is Cafe 2000 on Darling Street in Rozelle.

It's almost impossible to find decent coffee in London. :(

[label]

There are some cool coffee shops in nr trafalgar square

[SOC]

Please Supply Me With Names, Addresses, Phone Numbers And The Bra Sizes Of The Cute Waitresses.

[label]

Whilst, I can't provide you with the bra size of the cute waitresses, give you something to work towards -- here are some that you can check out.

camden coffee shop
maison blanc
the tea & coffee planet
angelucci

[Elf]

I like Illy, and my favourite coffee place in Sydney is Cafe 2000 on Darling Street in Rozelle.

It's almost impossible to find decent coffee in London. :(


Not just in London, but most places in England. Nescafe instant is considered posh by many :(

[sagit]

Anybody who drinks their coffee white ala Cap, FW, Latté etc is a connoisseur of milk, NOT a connoisseur of coffee.

.....
Good places in Perth

Rosso - St georges Tce
...


agree on point 1.

Where on the Tce is Rosso (roughly)?

[label]

Not just in London, but most places in England. Nescafe instant is considered posh by many :(

Noooooooooooooooooooooo! We are getting some cool coffee shops now -- progress is slow but it does happen.

For Instant, nothing beats Kenco - Colombian, for perculated Dowe & Egberts Medium Roast.

[Elf]

Noooooooooooooooooooooo! We are getting some cool coffee shops now -- progress is slow but it does happen.

For Instant, nothing beats Kenco - Colombian, for perculated Dowe & Egberts Medium Roast.

Douwe Egberts Dark roast is better :nod:

Best coffee I ever drank was in the Dominican, sweet, black and flavoured with cinnamon mmmmmmmm

[GeeWhiz]

Out of the chain coffee houses I would have to say The coffee club is the best. Gloria jeans is just too much caffine, plus they come in a paper cup...

[kleph]

just got back from colombia and holy epileptic jesus the coffee there is good. unlike peru, which makes excellent coffee as well, colombia sells it in-country while peru sends it abroad.

colombians tend to drink their coffee con leche and looked at me weird when i insisted on it tinto. but i believe that is the best way to get the taste. with a bit of sugar it is like a cup of excellent dark chocolate.

anyhow, i brought back about 5 kilos of different brands and plan to go through them with joy and abandon over the next several weeks.

[abelgold]

For the home brewers (or indeed, ones blessed with an expresso machine at work) may I suggest fucking off the massed produced freeze dried grounds and approaching a coffee bean shop for freshly ground and blended beans.

The difference is amazing.

Caffe Bianchi (the best smelling shop in the world) in Leichardt is my pick for beans.

[Solo man]

I had the worst cup of coffee from a coffee shop at the Gloria Jeans shop at Macquarie Centre (North Ryde, Sydney) and vowed that I would never ever visit one of their shops again.

[kleph]

secret coffee tip. when you make a batch in the percolator add a pinch of salt to the water and a crushed eggshell to the grinds. it absorbs the bitterness completely making the coffee smooth as possible.

[MisterBishi]

wtf kind of witchcraft is this kleph? You got troubles at home son?

[kleph]

wtf kind of witchcraft is this kleph? You got troubles at home son?

it's not science fiction! it's science fact!

actually, these are tricks i learned years and years ago but had forgotten. i remembered them recently when going through one of my cookbooks to pen a review (http://www.kleph.com/cook/2006/01/coobook-review-picayunes-creole.html) on my recipe blog.

since it is common to cut coffee with chickory in louisiana these are actually necessary measures. the chickory adds a great flavor but also a harshness that can be undesirable.

[Z-Man]

secret coffee tip. when you make a batch in the percolator add a pinch of salt to the water and a crushed eggshell to the grinds. it absorbs the bitterness completely making the coffee smooth as possible.


Though I have never tried it, I have heard abou the eggshell in the grinds before....



Starbucks is still the worst coffee I have ever had, even worse than that Nescafe crap.

[dwarfthrower]

I like mine strong, black, no sugar.

No real preference for brands although I'll jump on the starbucks hating bandwagon if there's room.

[Elf]

I had some Cuban coffee brought back for me at x-mas. I never drank a more gorgeous cup of coffee in my entire life, it's all gone now though :(

*drools at the memory of it*

[FireHart]

Guatemalan Organic Coffee

[DCenT3]

mmm my favourite coffee is the black coffee my mum makes at home. European style ofcourse. I have no clue what brand or whatever it is but its hella good. I usually get mum to make it for me, I let it cool down for a few minutes then stick some ice in it with a shot of rum and then chill it to the max. Its soooooooo good. A bit dangerous tho considering both caffeine and alcohol dehydrates you but on the other hand one is a stimulant and the other is a depressant. w00t.

[Lujan]

I am quite partial to some Gloria Jeans stores, ones that have decent Baristas. I know the manager of the Mt Druitt store, and she is worth the trip out there, because she makes a damn fine cup of coffee. The North Ryde store (Macquarie centre) is shite, I will never go to it, and I work over the rd.

If I am buying my own coffee, there is a cafe on Clarence st called Tony's, Tony imports and roasts his own beans, and they are damn tasty.

[a|A]

Im a merlo fan myself,
I'd really like to try some Kopi Lewak (http://www.thecoffeecritic.com/fusion3/html/kopi.shtml) some day though! mmm Cat poop!

[Lina]

I like Illy, and my favourite coffee place in Sydney is Cafe 2000 on Darling Street in Rozelle.

It's almost impossible to find decent coffee in London. :(

Dear god...are you serious?? That's it. The London leg of my travels is hereby cancelled.

[dozer]

Dear god...are you serious?? That's it. The London leg of my travels is hereby cancelled.

theres fantastic coffee if you know where to look, ie past starbucks

[s3raph]

Ugh Starbucks is awful, they overroast the beans I think.

[Benwah]

Don Andans in Mosman make the best coffee I've ever had.

[Lina]

theres fantastic coffee if you know where to look, ie past starbucks

hehe...goodo then. It's back on again :D

[L]

Ugh Starbucks is awful, they overroast the beans I think.

You are correct. It is a combination of too much roasting and burning the coffee when they make it.

Both Starbucks and Gloria Jeans tend to do this.

I think it is the "if we burn it a little it will cover the fact we use cheap arse beans" ploy!

[muppet]

Vittoria coffee is good and widely available, which I drink from the place near my work most days.

I normally drink cafe latte, although cappucino is ok too. An affogato is good for dessert, and Expresso/short black when I need a wake me up.

I love you will you marry me? :P

I drink Vittoria coffee at home and the cafe where I work uses Vittoria too. Milky (as in warm) Latte's with hazelnut liquer. That's why the affogato is heaven.

since it is common to cut coffee with chickory in louisiana these are actually necessary measures. the chickory adds a great flavor but also a harshness that can be undesirable

My dad cuts his coffee with cloves and it sucks asses thru a straw. Some fool told him to use cloves when they meant chickory and he's been doing it ever since.

[Lina]

I love you will you marry me? :P

I drink Vittoria coffee at home and the cafe where I work uses Vittoria too. Milky (as in warm) Latte's with hazelnut liquer. That's why the affogato is heaven.



My dad cuts his coffee with cloves and it sucks asses thru a straw. Some fool told him to use cloves when they meant chickory and he's been doing it ever since.

haha...toothache relief + caffiene. Got to love that combo :D

[Icky_Thoomp]

While espresso may be all the rage, I find that Turkish coffee is a more enjoyable experience. Smoother, thicker, so tasty..... :)

Now, to make the perfect cup of Turkish coffee -
You need
- receptacle to make coffee in. Traditionally a small aluminium pot with handle known as a "gjezve", can be a small saucepan, whatever.
- Turkish coffee. This is usually a pulverised coffee.
- water
- sugar
- hotplate or stovetop

1. Turn on the hotplate to high. Combine a teaspoon of coffee and a teaspoon of sugar for each cup that you will be making to your receptacle and stir them together to get an even mixture. Add a half-coffee cup of cold water (from the tap, not the fridge) to the sugar and coffee and mix till you get an even paste.

2. Put the pot on the hotplate and add one coffee cup of cold water to the mix for each coffee. When finished, give the coffee a last stir with the teaspoon. Now comes the waiting.

3. Allow the coffee to come to the boil. When it is nearly ready, the edges will begin to form bubbles and then begin to rise. The coffee is ready when the coffee below bubbles up through the crema on top. Don't let the coffee boil for too long - this will kill the flavour and texture.

4. Pour the coffee into the cups in one smooth motion. If your coffee is done right, there will be enough crema for all of the cups.

The custom in my culture is to have all of the cups on a tray with a pile of saucers in one corner. To serve, you need to stand in front of the guest and they take first a saucer and then a cup of coffee. It is also good manners to give a blessing when receiving coffee, such as to the health of the coffee server, a wish that the housekeeper will soon serve coffee at a child's wedding or that you may come back again for coffee in the future.

Enjoy!

[Snowball]

Anybody who drinks their coffee white ala Cap, FW, Latté etc is a connoisseur of milk, NOT a connoisseur of coffee.




You are a wanker sir.

[Snowball]

I was lead to believe that has a lot to do with them not cleaning their equipment properly everyday which makes the coffee bitter.


Personally,I can't go past a good cappacino(gloria jeans do g00dz coffee and very nice cakes mmmmmmmm,cake and coffee)

the bitter taste is generally because they pack the coffee too tight and when the hot water tries to pass through it it burns.

[nrejones]

Illy coffee is good ( when I can afford it). Otherwise I like el cheapo harris coffee......Have'nt invested in a cofee machine yet still use the plunger. and will be drinking alot of it tonight. Am sitting in lab at uni trying to finish off a presentation due 9am tomorrow. thank god for Dominos Pizza delivery.

[Icky_Thoomp]

If you can get to it, there is a growers market at Fox Studios on Wednesdays and they have a coffee stand there, Toby's Estate, who make some of the best coffee in the whole city. They also sell the Fair Trade coffee beans too.

Dunno what it is, but the barista there just gets the frothed milk.... juuuuust right! Fucking North Ryde - too far away to go for a decent coffee. :grr:

[fenderbasher]

Ahhhh.... Coffee.
I buy mine at Costco in Hillsboro; they roast it onsite in small batches, and every package is purchased within about 6 hours of roasting....
They offer Columbian Supremo, Peruvian, Sumatran, House Blend, and a decent range of decafs. I go between the Columbian and the Sumatran. $8/lb and a half.
I also grind it onsite, as they have the industrial grinder, and I take it home and immediately vacuum-seal it in cannisters and bags to protect it.

Icky_Thoomp - I grind all of my coffee 'turkish' style, so it's slightly larger than a powder, and brew it (with filtered water) at a ratio of 1 slightly rounded tablespoon/6 oz. cup. Because of this, I have to limit myself to one (24 oz.) mug of coffee per day else I'm bouncing off the walls with the shakes...

After it's poured, a splash of half-and-half (to tame it) and roughly 1 teaspoon of sugar/6 oz. cup quantity.

I successfully eschew commercial coffee houses; exceptions being when a busy night is coming up I might 'boost' with a mocha (extra shot!) or when I travel I need to suss out the best honest coffee houses - usually the small stands.

[Icky_Thoomp]

:grr: Att Sydney siders - any one else having issues with frothing milk this week? No matter what I do the last couple of days, I can't get my milk to froth properly. I'm using the same technique as always, same milk as always but no go. Very frustrating....

I'm blaming the cows. Using full cream Dairy Farmers milk. I don't bother with that wanky Crema rubbish and those light milk things can get fucked - full cream or nothing cos life's too short.

[Benwah]

Anyone ever had butter in coffee, it's pretty nice actually!

[Icky_Thoomp]

Anyone ever had butter in coffee, it's pretty nice actually!

In place of sugar? Sounds strange.... Its not one of those Starbucks flavour things is it? Cos they shit me.

[Benwah]

In place of sugar? Sounds strange.... Its not one of those Starbucks flavour things is it? Cos they shit me.

In place of Milk! nah, it's not a Starbucks thing, I think it's russian?

[nrejones]

Anyone ever had butter in coffee, it's pretty nice actually!

In Nepal they have rancid yak butter in their tea. Its is dire.

[Wombatunder]

http://www.coffeehit.com.au/
The best coffee I have ever tasted. Unfortunately all that's available near my place is pretty crappy. Gloria Jeans would be the best bought coffee available without going to another town. Having said that I've had coffee at other Gloria Jean coffee houses and they've been crap. I think we got lucky with the staff down here. I've bought beans from Gloria jeans as well as from a few other places but I haven't found anything to match the beans from Coffee Hit. Their Mocha Java is to Die for. Unfortunately I only have a cheap esspresso machine so I wonder what I'd be drinking with a better quality machine. Any opinions on how the quality of the machine affects the taste of the final result?

[Dan]

I was going to post a quick reply but just realised it was getting way too long to be considered a quick reply.

First off, i love my coffee, I have been drinking coffee for years and as such have sourced out some decent cafes in sydney where you can actually get a good coffee Most of the cafes i go to are within a maximum of 15 minutes drive from my house.

Cafe Hernandez - Kings Cross Sydney

Decor - Old and Dingy, No niceties, no toilets (dark parking lot nearby)

Operating Hours - 24/7 365 days a year

Coffee Bean - Own Beans, roasted on premises

Blends - About 20 - 30 from all over the world

Service - Terrible at times, average at others, although if your a regular expect to sit down and have your coffee in front of you before you even order it.

Clientelle - Everyone from smack heads to A-List celebs when they are in town (I've seen Baz Lurman being told to sit down and wait for someone to take his order)

This cafe really is one of the most colourful cafes in sydney in terms of people watching and coffee. Coffee is great and if you sit there for a while you will see how strange this place can really get. It isnt on the main stretch in the cross it is roughly midway between kings X and rushcutters bay. In 13 years of going to this cafe i have never had a problem or felt secure, even when a guy ran in covered in blood wielding a knife, or the night one of the workers got punced in the face etc :)

But try this cafe out if you like good coffee

Also im a tripple shot latte person, few grains of sugar and im set, for quite a while actually

[fenderbasher]

I'm a dirty whore. Yes, a dirty whore. I've been sucking down Starbucks for the last 4 days.

My wife and I just got back from a whirlwind trip across America; flew to Chicago (left Portland at 2350, arrived 0530 - approx. 2000 miles) and promptly drove 300 miles to Ohio. Being as we were exhausted from the flight and weird hours, we had to stop every 100 miles or so for a nap and coffee as fenderbasher was sleepy on the interstate. The whole trip, Starbucks was the only coffee I could find (except for the hotel - Holiday Inn Express in Tiffin, Ohio has FABULOUS coffee and it's free!) so I had to drink it.

I didn't enjoy it, though.

[stinky]

American coffee is ass in general. While I was over there I had starbucks a few times which was okay in a pinch but nothing to write home about.

The one time I tried to go to what looked like an independent coffee place ( usually better coffee than the chains ) the dude frothed the milk way too hot and it actually had a skin on it like it had been microwaved.

After that experience I stuck with starbucks and got consistently adequate coffee.

[Icky_Thoomp]

Stinky, I'm with you. From the B&R/what pissed you off thread -
Icky post (http://www.zgeek.com/forum/showpost.php?p=810528&postcount=2345)

The only place that I trusted in SF was Cup-a-Joe's on the corner of Sutter and Leavenworth. It helped that I was staying at the York Hotel, a couple of doors down! :D

[Sashasword]

I like coffee. Unfortunately, if I have more than one standard cup, I get a stomach-ache.

Bummer.

Luckily, I can enjoy the smell of it all I like - and still get to sleep after!

[ewe2]

Today i had railway coffee that was so hot it almost blistered my lip! I've yet to try a starbucks coffee, there's several in melbourne city here so I'll give it a go later.

[stinky]

I find the Starbucks here in Oz to be about par with coffee club / gloria jeans. Good enough in a bind, but even McCafe makes a better coffee.

[Solo man]

I had the worst cup of coffee ever from a coffee shop at Gloria Jeans at Macquarie Centre in Sydney. Not only was the coffee bad but the service matched it. We have many good coffee shops that will politely bring the coffee to your table in mugs but Gloria Jeans and Starbucks you have to get up when your name is called to pick it up in takeaway containers. Thank goodness there are alternatives!

[Benwah]

Yeah, whats with THAT you pay more for Starchucks and then you have to wait until someone screams your name.... BERYL!! BERYL!! YOUR COFFEE IS READY! BRUCE!!!! BRUCES COME GET IT!

[still life]

Consider yourselves lucky, it turns out that no one is allowed into the UK if they know how to make good coffee.

[ewe2]

still_life: wtf?

i've only very recently tried mccafe mocha, it seems to suit 24hr basement internet cafes.

[sun_god]

The best beans I've tried are Molinari, but it's damn expensive ($40/Kg wholesale) and hard to get.

[hijukal]

My girlfriend has previously worked at Crown Casino as a Barista (OK so not the most glamourous coffee joint) and is currently studying coffee-making a lot more in depth at school this and next semester.

I'm sure then, that it's a real pity that neither of us like coffee at all.

[still life]

still_life: wtf?

i've only very recently tried mccafe mocha, it seems to suit 24hr basement internet cafes.
I'm in London, and I haven't yet found a decent coffee place in the whole damn city :(