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Coffee - do you and how do you consume it?

Spkrdctr

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If you must go with instant like I do now as a retiree, good Old Maxwell House is very consistent jar to jar. It is far better than Starbucks, but not anywhere near the range of fantastic coffee. I have NEVER been able to drink Starbucks "burnt beans" coffee. A fad that has stuck around way too long. I sure could go for a cup of Hawaiian Kona.......I miss it.
 

Count Arthur

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Soniclife

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I always loved a good cup of coffee. Unfortunately I am no longer able to consume caffeine. (It triggers my tachycardia which is not fun.) I have been unable to find a satisfying decaf coffee.

My favorite coffees were Kauai grown, Hawaiian Kona, and Jamaican Blue Mountain. Can anyone recommend a good decaf? Is there such a thing?

Martin
I've not found a decaf I can truly like, and I've really looked, there are better ones, but they all ultimately have that decaf taste.

There is another option that might work, naturally lower caffeine coffees, they are hard to find, often expensive*, but taste really good. The only roaster who regularly has them is the barn.

* Caffeine is a natural pesticide, so growing lower caffeine beans is harder.
 

Gregss

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Hello,

Slightly different coffee subject. Have a button up on my workspace wall that says:

INSTANT HUMAN, JUST ADD COFFEE

Too true.
 

dfuller

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When you have been drinking the coffee from the Gods that you mention, there really is nowhere else to go. That is my favorite list too.
What's interesting is that true Kona and JBM are the same varietal - Coffea arabica v. Typica. There are others that grow that varietal, but it's rare because it's very disease prone and fairly low yield compared to other good cup quality varietals e.g. Caturra, Catuai, SL28, SL34. Even Bourbon is more common.

Also, both are very commonly faked because they trade on brand name. Kona coffee is like Champagne - it has to come from the Kona area of the island of Hawai'i - and it's commonly faked (or blended with other coffee) and marked as pure Kona. Same with JBM.
 

ryanosaur

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Sulfur in the water is apparently a good thing for brewing coffee. Also a little ol'fashioned NaCl... I would always add a pinch to my pourovers...

or gawd-forbid if I ever got a quick-cup from starfcuks it would be a couple pinches of salt, a grip of turbinado or raw sugar, AND enough heavy cream to make it look like milk again. :p
 

Audiomn

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Breville Barista Express with Illy Brazilian monoarabica “Brazilly” as a double ristretto shot (short pull) prepared as a flat white with frothed whole milk and turbinado sugar. So good!
 

pseudoid

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Scrappy

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You might want to do some research on distilled water and coffee. However if you really like your current coffee with distilled water then I suggest you skip the research.
Hmm will do. Tap water here is dodgy, or was at least around fertilizing season... Brand-new machine was prob it.
 

Scrappy

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You might want to do some research on distilled water and coffee. However if you really like your current coffee with distilled water then I suggest you skip the research.
So after watching guys operate the press to forge 2’ diameter crankshafts when my brothers and I accompanied Mom to work, I had interest in becoming a metallurgist. Then I took chemistry, which I nearly failed.... ha!

I like hard water, gramps had a pre-softener tap on the sink, that was good. Too much sh!t here I’d say.

Edit: forgotten preface, just read about water for brewing coffee. Yeaah that makes sense. I like strong coffee, and it brewed just fine, but then pesky ions.
 

pseudoid

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...just read about water for brewing coffee...
No link = Not true!;)
I knew distilled water was a great idea when steam irons were a thing but are you saying my three stage (aquasana) water filter is NFG for pulling shots?
 

ryanosaur

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Distilled water is stripped completely of everything that makes it vital. RO water may not be far behind, but I do not know of one single coffee shop worth their salt that does not filter their water to some extent, up to and including Reverse Osmosis.
 

ryanosaur

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There is a major element of water chemistry in brewing beer, too. Many distinct styles of beer are due largely to the local water chemistry where they come from. Water from London is different from Burton On Trent and the common styles are very different from each other (India Pale Ales or Bitters and Porters). Czech Pils is another great example of a beer style that is almost defined more by it's local water chemistry, same as some of the German regions that brew darker beers.
Any home brewer who has gone beyond the most basic brews and attempts to brew by style soon discovers the chemistry lab aspect of adding minerals back into a clean water (usually RO for the home brewer) in order to more closely mimic the water responsible for the style they want to brew. Alkaline vs Acid and differing levels of minerals and salts have a major impact on how a mash extracts the sugars and colors of the malts, or how a boil extracts and expresses certain hoppy characteristics.

I can't think of a better example of this that Burton Salts which give Calcium, Magnesium, Bicabonate and Sulfate to the brew water:
Or there is this page detailing different water profiles for many different styles:

Happy Brewing! :p
 

pseudoid

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I do not know of one single coffee shop worth their salt
NaCl? No 10q!
If the brew has too much bitterness for the palette; some recommend a pinch of salt to cut off some of it.
We found out that even a pinch of salt does OTHER weird things to the overall taste of the brew!
Acidity is a whole other discussion!
 

ryanosaur

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NaCl? No 10q!
If the brew has too much bitterness for the palette; some recommend a pinch of salt to cut off some of it.
We found out that even a pinch of salt does OTHER weird things to the overall taste of the brew!
Acidity is a whole other discussion!
Salt is known to block the ability to taste bitter. (Think caramel (like real cooked sugar) and dark chocolate… both are bitter by nature and love a little addition of salt.)
Salt and acid have an affinity and have a complex relationship.

Salt and tannins are a bad combination. (Think spinach… they amplify each other’s worst characteristics.)

A tiny pinch of salt in coffee is pretty awesome. I don’t like salty coffee. I have crossed that line a few times. But when you bridge that gap of salt, bitter, acid and sweet something magical happens.
:)
 

Soniclife

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There is rather a lot wrong with that page, but with espresso as well as problems from hard water, extremely soft water is corrosive in machines, and you need some alkalinity. RPavlis water is a simple espresso water recipe. There are many more, you can start down the rabbit hole at the following link.
 
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