Coffee newbie - some questions

[BobaFett]

Hi everybody!

Well, actually I'm not a heavy coffee drinker, but recently I had some cups over the holidays. I also read something about Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee quite recently and did a Google search on it. It seems to be quite expensive, but also quite exclusive. Well, anyway, after reading a bit about coffee on the Internet I began toying with the idea of buying some special, expensive coffee, just trying it for fun.

Coincidentally I talked to an online friend today who happens to work at Starbucks. He told me that I needed a new coffee maker if I wanted to brew expensive coffe - a French press instead of an automatic drip-brew machine. Otherwise it would be like drinking good wine from a paper cup.

Is this really necessary?
And how expensive is a French press approximately?

I also thought about buying some coffee online, but he told me that you don't buy coffee over the Internet, only directly at a store. What about this?

Finally, one last question: Is it okay to drink coffee with milk or sugar? Or would this be like ruining the aroma in the eyes of experts?

I hope I'll get some answers to these questions here.

 

[CCafe]

Drink your coffee how YOU want it. You can buy coffee using the Internet, just make sure they are sending you fresh roasted and not something that has been sitting around for 6 months. Talk to Topher about Internet roasting.

As for your equipment, it should be fine. For your friend at Starbucks, he sounds rather bias. Don't get me wrong there is nothing bad about a French press. I just wish people wouldn't talk about them as the Holy Grail of coffee makers. They make good coffee but I have always found it a little off.
.

 

[BobaFett]

Drink your coffee how YOU want it.

That sounds good. I usually use a little milk for it. :-D

You can buy coffee using the Internet, just make sure they are sending you fresh roasted and not something that has been sitting around for 6 months. Talk to Topher about Internet roasting.

Yeah, that's important of course... I wouldn't want to buy 6 month old stuff.

As for your equipment, it should be fine. For your friend at Starbucks, he sounds rather bias. Don't get me wrong there is nothing bad about a French press. I just wish people wouldn't talk about them as the Holy Grail of coffee makers. They make good coffee but I have always found it a little off.

I see... well, I have to think it over a bit. At least I looked a bit around and found out that I could get a small French press (Bodum Brazil 0,35 liters) for 10 to 15 EUR on eBay.

I also took a look at our current coffee maker and did an Internet search for it. It could be this one, a Krups F 310 1E: http://www.systemcom99.net/ecarusShop/v ... 850116.jpg

 

[BobaFett]

I now discovered that we already have a French press. It was in the basement and had not been much used so far. *g*

It's not a Bodum, but I can't imagine that there's that much of a difference. I'll try it out in a couple of days.

I also read on the net that one should use a burr grinder. We already have an electronic grinder (still unused *g*), but it's a blade grinder. I actually don't intend to spend much money on equipment, but maybe I'll consider getting a cheap new grinder. I found out that there's a wheel burr grinder that I could get for around 30 EUR from a German coffee chain. It's probably not the best, but from what I've read it's supposed to be okay. But I'm not sure if I'll buy it... at least we already have a grinder at the moment, so we're capable of grinding beans.

 

[topher]

why not buy coffee from an internet company? If they roast their own it is going to be more fresh than a chain that does not roast onsite...I roast every day that we ship out...the coffee I roast is gone by the end of the day...that is the nice thing about small roasters..you can do small batches and not have carry over. Here is a test....ask your friend when the coffee in his or her store was roasted...they probably can not break it down to the day..they can just give you a use by date. Most internet roasterys have a roast on date..that way you know its fresh!! As to french press...I love them because of the rich bold flavor...also they are inexpensive. I drink drip coffee all week at work and then I use a press on the weekend. Oh well good luck!! One more thing price does not make the coffee any better...just more rare. I have been drinking some Costas that kick ass..and it is a whole lot cheaper than JBM!!

 

[BobaFett]

That sounds quite good, topher.

I looked a bit around at your website, but unfortunately you don't ship internationally, so your website wouldn't be that interesting for me anyway, as I'm from Germany.

 

[BobaFett]

Another note: My father bought some Costa Rican Tarrazú coffee today. It's grown close to the still active Irazú volcano and 100% highland arabica-quality, according to the packaging. We'll experiment a bit with this in the new year.