Dear Hipsters, sometimes you get it so very wrong it hurts and ...

[Gattonero]

I believe this framework can be used for anything related to hipsters (i.e. ironic facial hair, man buns, brewing beer, personal space, uptalking).

and talking to their mobile phone while keeping it horizontal flat in front of the face?

[deano]

That's the province of suburban moms driving Chevy suburbans in the states.

[Too Tall]

That's the province of suburban moms driving Chevy suburbans in the states.

With Katy Perry blaring at level 11

[CXinNH]

while i agree there is a point of too light, the point of too dark comes much faster and is much worse. Lots of people seem to love the taste of burn, not coffee. thats weird.

Dark roasts are a waste of coffee, or a solution for bad coffee

So true.
If you don't like coffee - go dark. At least you will make sure to get rid of all the nuances. Wasted beans. Go starnucks.

[vertical_doug]

So true.
If you don't like coffee - go dark. At least you will make sure to get rid of all the nuances. Wasted beans. Go starnucks.

Sounds like a man who enjoys his Kopi Luwak with just a hint of civet poop and nuance of wild cherries but bold snark.

[Mark Kelly]

Light roast has too much caffeine (I am told)

Common Furphy, unsupported by the science.

The actual caffeine level per gram of coffee increases with roast level, for the simple reason that caffeine is not very volatile* but other components are, so the quantum of caffeine in a bean stays more or less the same through the roast while the mass of the bean declines.

The bean also expands during roasting (the cracks) so the caffeine per unit volume stays more or less constant.

The percentage of available caffeine actually extracted varies with brewing method: contrary to popular opinion caffeine is actually fairly soluble in water** so extraction is dependent on the degree to which the coffee grounds are wet.

Lighter roasts are often more difficult to wet (due to higher density) so on average a coffee made by standard methods using a darker roast will have slightly more caffeine than the same method using a lighter roast. This also explains why so many hipster coffees are insipid.

* Vapour pressure is 120 micropascal at 20 oC, I bet you've never seen micropascals used before.
** Log kOW is -0.07 If it weren't soluble, the "Swiss Water" method of decaffeination wouldn't work.

[Too Tall]

Mark Kelly, I always want you in my corner.

[Britishbane]

Mark Kelly, I always want you in my corner.

Seriously

[ericpmoss]

The most un-hipster ways to make coffee. I think the Hanoi egg coffee is the best -- it's basically espresso zabaglione.

[Too Tall]

Made my Day Eric.

[Gattonero]

... I think the Hanoi egg coffee is the best -- it's basically espresso zabaglione....

I knew my grandpa to have that stuff every morning before going to the allotment out of town.
He's crack two eggs in a large mug with a heap spoon of sugar, then he'd go in the garden checking how the flowers, the herbs and everything was growing, then he'd look at the sky and the wind for how the day would be. During this time he'll be whisking the eggs all the time, so that when he went back to the kitchen and the coffee was ready, the whole thing was a big froth filling the whole mug.
Adding a big dose of espresso (simple Bialetti moka, no fancy stuff there!) made for the ultimate energizing breakfast. He lived up to the age of 94 without ever been seriously ill or been to the hospital ever. Must have been good stuff.
Oh, the eggs came from the small barn that was on the terrace.

[colker]

First off, I'm a coffee achiever. I spent 27 years doing deployments in the Navy and have run the gamut of coffee. In the work and home environment, I equate a good cup of coffee to an ice cold Coca-Cola you have on a long summer ride. It fixes everything. I could have the worst day ever on deployment but a good cup would make it all ok, even that one time when I had a bone sticking out. Coffee should be rich, something to savor, and not try to do too much. A good coffee stands alone, it doesn't need anything, coffee flavored coffee.

When I was stationed in Sardinia, I went to the local grocery to buy coffee for my French press. They didn't sell coffee, the manager directed me to a café that sold coffee. I wasn't to make my own, I was to plop down a euro at Guido's for a cup. I got it. But it was still really inconvenient. A friend in Tacoma roasted his own and sent me several vacuum bags of his own dark roast. It was wonderful coffee, rich and smooth.

I think all the hipsters who want to change our coffee habits should be rounded up and sent to Italy where they'll be forced to order a decaf at the end of a dinner. They can face the shame when the waiter arrives with a cup of hot water and tosses a packet of Sanka on the table in disgust.

My 84 yr old mother agrees w/ you. She is been having a tough time health wise but lightens up when it´s tme for her coffee cup. You guys are right; as long as we can have a nice cup of coffee there is hope.

[Gattonero]

...
When I was stationed in Sardinia, I went to the local grocery to buy coffee for my French press. They didn't sell coffee, the manager directed me to a café that sold coffee. ...

Were you at Decimomannu? Most of the NATO training places in Sardinia are -obviously- located in areas where nothing much is going on. Even though, I'm surprised you couldn't get some Lavazza at the local store? Old-school bars, especially in small towns, would sell you ground coffee if you're in real need, when I was a kid had happened a few times to be sent on a sunday afternoon and coming back with a paper roll and an ice-lolly. The latter used to have a great taste, perhaps due to the intense smell of coffee packed inside the brown paper.

[bigbill]

Were you at Decimomannu? Most of the NATO training places in Sardinia are -obviously- located in areas where nothing much is going on. Even though, I'm surprised you couldn't get some Lavazza at the local store? Old-school bars, especially in small towns, would sell you ground coffee if you're in real need, when I was a kid had happened a few times to be sent on a sunday afternoon and coming back with a paper roll and an ice-lolly. The latter used to have a great taste, perhaps due to the intense smell of coffee packed inside the brown paper.

I was in LaMaddelena so I shopped in Palau. It was a tourist area with a small grocery, the base exchange had Folgers. Amazon wouldn't ship coffee overseas. My USAF friend really hooked me up. I was the repair officer and we modified a water heater so it would dispense a mixture of steam and water, possibly the best French press coffee ever.