The fine grind: Whole Coffee Beans

[AntLockyer]

I have Esmeralda Especial, it's not Mario Carnaval but it's still awesome and it aint $75

Seriously I'll send a small bag it wont cost much and it will make me feel good :)

[shorelocal]

Starbucks ....
















I kid, I kid :P

[maunahaole]

Coffee article in the local ahi wrap.

http://http://www.staradvertiser.com...lass_brew.html

[42t]

I'm in Portland. Stumptown is the Rapha of coffee. OK, maybe not quite, but there's better out there, especially if you value substance over style. Check out Strictly Organic from Bend. Way better, and in no way pretentious.

[Shinomaster]

I'm over buying my beans at posh, uber-hip coffee boutiques, so now I just get them at Trader Joes along with my cheap Australian parmesan and six dollar bottles of Chianti. They have some pretty decent fair trade beans at reasonable prices. I like their fair trade breakfast blend.

[Chance Legstrong]

Local KC coffee company. Their bean baron- Danny Oneil is FANATICAL about his coffee. I dig it!

The Roasterie : Air-Roasted Coffee : Live Life on the Rim!

to boot- they just announced sponsoring an all women's cycling team for beginners here in KC and Kelly Benjamin is their mentor. pretty cool.

[lavi]

Sister's Coffee Co. out of Sisters, OR near Bend makes for a good cup.
I buy Stumptown from the grocery store because they are local and pretty cheap ($10/bag). I don't go for that fancy expensive crap they are pushing though.

[kedbro]

Seconding Sweet Maria's for green beans. They're awesome and have tons of great info on the site.

Being a Portland boy, I drink Stumptown and Cellar Door pretty much exclusively (not that I don't like others, but they both roast good stuff and it's available .25 miles away). Stumptown has a really wide selection of Direct Trade coffees (I'm not a fan of the Fair Trade thing) and Cellar Door is definitely doing what they can to build relationships with the farmers, considering their small size.

On the subject of a 75 dollar bag of coffee, I don't see what's so outrageous. Sure, I'd never buy it, but 75 dollars for 12 oz of creme de la creme coffee beans yields considerably more product (about 24 8oz cups) than 75 dollars of creme de la creme wine, or even craft beer. I'm not a wine guy (though beer is a mild obsession) and so I can't fathom paying 75 dollars for a bottle of beer myself, but I'm not gonna discount it. For certain people, that's worth it. And there are definitely people out there who appreciate coffee just as much as any wine or beer lover. That's my two cents, at least.

[Greg Costello]

Hula Daddy - Honolua, Big Island sells a couple of grades of green Kona beans as well as roasted. Very nice, and they ship stateside. I plan on picking some up in person next week (yippee - a week of diving!).

[boundgear]

Hitting Gorilla and Grumpy tomorrow in nyc.

But the best right now is ritual.
I recently had a cup of a limited edition #165 reserve. Second best cup of spresso I've ever had.

[ashwa64]

i'm drinking a cup of "monsooned" malabar (south) indian coffee at the moment. it funny how pervasive nescafe (complete shit) is in northern india when they produce such nice coffee in the south.

[Mabouya]

Stumptown is the Rapha of coffee.

Now _that_ is a low, low blow...

[Too Tall]

I have Esmeralda Especial, it's not Mario Carnaval but it's still awesome and it aint $75

Seriously I'll send a small bag it wont cost much and it will make me feel good :)

You are a prince. Done. PM Sent.

[Too Tall]

Link for Eddie B

Small World Coffee

[SpeedyChix]

Drakes Coffee
Shameless plug for our CX sponsor shop who is also a fine coffee roaster
He's got some smooth tastes going.

[vpierce]

Local KC coffee company. Their bean baron- Danny Oneil is FANATICAL about his coffee. I dig it!

The Roasterie : Air-Roasted Coffee : Live Life on the Rim!

to boot- they just announced sponsoring an all women's cycling team for beginners here in KC and Kelly Benjamin is their mentor. pretty cool.

Got a couple small bags of this stuff at a 'cross race down there last fall. Good stuff!

[t-hoe]

Hitting Gorilla and Grumpy tomorrow in nyc.

But the best right now is ritual.
I recently had a cup of a limited edition #165 reserve. Second best cup of spresso I've ever had.

I'm soooo spoiled. Blue Bottle is roasted near-by....use to be only 4 blocks til they moved last year. I like Ritual alot too, but in the mornings I'm drinking lots' of milk and nothing tops Blue's Hayes Valley.
The Cafes/Kiosks are a bit much, and James is kinda the soup-nazi of the coffee world, but hey "It ain't braggin if you can back it up..."

I also have Sweet Maria's in my backyard, but I doubt I can out-blend the masters...

[oldguy00]

William/Tom, what home roaster are you guys using??

[Too Tall]

OK, you NYC caffeine yunkies are stellar. Chappeau. Next time I'm in the city this deserves exta attention.

Has anyone experience with cold brewing / concentrate? 1 lbs ground coffee + 2 1/2 quarts water yah? Strain, store and dispense = the drill as I understand it. Worth a try. I'm not going to use pricey grounds for an experiment afterall this is important stuff!

[AntLockyer]

I had a quick look through my notes. My favourite coffee of the year so far was Finca Los Planes, it's a bourbon that was a cup of excellence winner in 2009. Worst was the first batch of Fiaz Moosakutty's Malabar. It was far to almond like for me although subsequent roasts have been fine.

This is the last coffee geek post from me :)