Smiling JOe

For all you daily coffee drinkers who brew your own at home, what is your favorite brand and roast of coffee? What do you like about it? With coffee prices being so high, do you forgo your favorite and buy another brand to because it is cheaper?

My favorite is Starbucks whole bean, and I like the darker roasts, like Espresso, Caffe Verona, and Africa Kitamu, and will buy the even darker roasts, like Sumatra and French on occasion to mix it up a bit. Being a fan of Newman's Own philosophy and products, I decided to leave the Starbucks box to venture out, last week. I grabbed a bag of Newman's Own Organic French Roast whole bean coffee. It's okay, but it doesn't have that nice acidic bight of the similar roast that Starbucks has. It is giving me my fix for caffeine, but I probably won't buy it again.

This wasn't the first time I ventured away from my favorite brand. The last time I ventured off the norm, I ended up making soap out of the unused coffee, because my morning cup is just too special to not enjoy. Just curious to read which brand and roast you enjoy the most.

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Indigo Jill

Love love LOVE Starbucks as well. We don't buy it, though, for home unless it's on sale - I refuse to pay the $9+ dollars Publix charges - so I just go to Starbucks for my fix.

At home, we brew Paul Newman's Special Blend. It's made by Green Mountain Roasters - a certified "green" company. It's really a wonderful product.

Ocean Lover

I love my morning coffee but I'm not a fancy coffee drinker. I use flavored creamers and that covers up the taste anyway. I prefer a smooth, mild blend. I usually buy
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chrisv

I've been grinding, brewing and drinking Eight O' Clock Columbian for several years now, it's as much as I can justify spending on coffee on a regular basis now. For everyday brew it's pretty good. I used to spend much more before the kids, and felt much like Jimmy from Pulp Fiction...

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Truffle Anne

Nuthin' but Community Dark Roast.

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John R

amavida jillicious blend. local, fair trade, excellent coffee.

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Smiling JOe

You are confusing me. You won't pay $9 for a bag of beens which will brew around 30-45 mugs of coffee, but you will pay retail price $3-5 +tip for a single cup at a Starbuck's store? Am I reading that correctly?

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HYDROSTAN

Please always try to buy fair trade coffee. Growers would be screwed without the fair trade program.

Indigo Jill

Cute, SJ ... No, you aren't reading it correctly as I'm not a daily Starbucks junkie (thankfully).

Unfortunately, my physiological tolerance for java has decreased as I've aged so my jaunts to Starbucks for my beloved Americanos are very few and far between now. BUT, when I do go, my beverage only costs me $2. plus change.

InletBchDweller

ohhhhhhhh, yes!! mine also!!!!

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Missplaced

I really wanted to like Newman's Own too SJ, because I admire how Paul Newman has used his celebrity to promote his charitable foundation.

Ironically, the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters plant is just about 7 miles from my home in Vermont, but I didn't try Newman's until my visit here. I found it stale and disappointing. I think you're right, bad coffee is better used for soap or mulch.

At home we replaced GMCR with http://tinyurl.com/32xhj6 years ago. It's still local, organic, fair trade, and fresh.

Here I've been using Seattle's Best organic breakfast blend.

jdarg

Whole Foods Pleasant Morning Buzz. Thankfully, I will be back in Whole Foods territory very soon to re-load the cupboard.

When I run out? Any of the Starbucks bolds, or Community dark.

Goddessgal

For my once daily cup, I like Douw Egberts/Senseo dark roast. For coffee press, anything my friends have been kind enough to bring back from Costa Rica - yum!

beachmouse

I don't drink coffee often, but when I do, the 100% Kona you can get from Bad (Donkey) on 98 in Miramar Beach is sublime. I've also had excellent cups of the day from Emerald Coast Coffee (Bluewater Bay & Destin) and Maas Coffee (FWB)

Don't much care for Starbucks unless I can douse it in syrups. I supertaste bitter, so their coffee seems far too bitter to me.

Jennifer Steele Saunders

Higher Ground - found at For The Health of It http://www.highergroundroasters.com/

Eight O'Clock Columbia Roast is our Winn-Dixie back-up.

Arkiehawg

Arkiehawg Brand!

We go to Fresh Market and create our own blend from their barrels. A little bit of tis, a little bit of tat....

bluemtnrunner

I was spoiled by my Senseo and then found fair trade pods at Whole Foods to go in it. I recently found a reusable pod that actually works so I can put any kind of coffee in it. A nice medium roast.
I remember when I was younger and poor I called my sister crying, "I can only afford 'snif snif' MAXWELL HOUSE." She overnighted some of the goodstuff to me. Ah, it's memories like that which make me so thankful for all I have today.

Goddessgal

Cool - I will look for some free trade pods, then, bluemtnrunner. I didn't know they existed.

30abob

For the last few months I've been drinking PJ's Anniversary Blend. It's a medium roast but is a full-bodied blend. It does pretty good in my Bialetti stove top espresso maker. Before I started drinking the PJ's blend I was buying the Kona blend from Fresh Market, it cost a little less than the PJ's but I'd rather support a coffee shop. I drink Americano's almost exclusively because the "mouth-feel" of regular drip coffee just doesn't do it for me, I find that it's too watery. I owned a coffee shop for three years before moving here so I'm more or less a coffee bigot (I always assume the worst about coffee that's waiting around on me - I would much rather wait on good coffee). I have an old ulcer and acid reflux so I try to stay away from beans/blends with high acidity for everyday drinking. The process of drawing a shot of espresso vs. brewing regular drip cuts down on the acidity a good bit because there's less extraction time.

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olive

I'm an Eight-O-Clock girl. Cheap and delicious!

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cp

I wish I drank coffee, it smells so good when I walk by it in the store.

30A Skunkape

La Minita whole bean from Kitchenique in Sandestin. Community Bourbon Santos is also a winner, but I have never seen it around here. I am proud to say I lived in a city where Starbucks actually went out of business when they opened next to two old local coffee houses...get that burnt junk off Magazine Street!!!

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NotDeadYet

I used to buy Higher Ground at For the Health of It, or when I went to Pensacola I would stock up on organic Costa Rican from the food co-op. In the interest of penny pinching, I am now buying Supreme by Bustelo from Publix. It's a Latino espresso style finely ground coffee, $3.89 a package. I just stumbled on it one day. In my opinion it's as good as Starbucks. I make it one cup at a time in a little Melitta cone that sits on top of a mug. With organic half and half and real sugar.

drsvelte

I've tried many coffees in many brew machines with less than satisfactory results. Last fall, I bought a Cuisinart Cup-o-Matic and tried a bunch of different pods but none was really very good. I finally decided to try illy fine grind espresso in my Breville. Wow!! Hello!! This turned out like (or better) than a Starbucks latte or cappucino. illy is not cheap at all at $15.00/lb., but it is the best coffee I have made at home. You can find it at Fresh Market.

singinchicken

Carribou Coffee is great if you can find it. I like it better than S'bucks, but it's not as convenient. Dunkin Donuts beans are great, too...

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aleonard

Ditto

Scooter

Community Light Medium roast. I'm drinking it right now. Yummy!!!!!!

Tootsie

I love my coffee. and I've finally switched from auto drip to french press to prepare a wonderful tasting coffee just like they prepare it at Amavida. I'm trying out their different coffees at the moment, and they are better than any I've ever had.

Illy fine grind espresso (found at our watercolor publix) - is also a must for my afternoon capuccino or latte'. so so so much better than Starbucks. Modica makes a great capuccino too. Amavida makes the most authentic cap, plus others like cuban coffe, etc.

SJ - I did not like newman's coffee at all.

seaside2

CDM, Community, Starbuks Christmas Blend @ Christmas.

Gotta have the dark roast really strong stuff.

Gettin' old takes a lot of wakin' up!!!

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seacrestkristi

You can say that again!!! I like strong coffee too. Maybe it's from livin' in the red stick for a while. Chicory is a good thing.

peapod1980

We drink coffee from Costco; they offer fair trade, sometimes organic coffee from different countries. The selection varies, so we'll try whatever they're featuring that month, but we both prefer African coffee. If there's nothing that sounds good, we'll buy the Kirkland Morning Blend. I, like some of my favorite folks, use Eight O'Clock Colombian as my fallback/emergency coffee. We had some Caribou Obsidian from Costco that was pretty good stuff. (I like this topic almost as much as beer!)

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kathydwells

Folgers Black Silk for me.....it is very YUMMY!!!!!

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30A Skunkape

I thought Miller Lite was your preferred brew

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kathydwells

Miller Light is my afternoon brew....Coffee is my morning brew.

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Margarita

I just bought a Senseo machine and I love it. I am drinking the Columbian blend right now. When I fix a pot of coffee I like Starbucks Caffe Verona.

seacrestgirl

Community New Orleans Blend saved my marriage! Hubby and I could NEVER agree on coffee (which was an issue, since neither of us is very pleasant without our morning fix). My grandfather introduced us to this blend and we have been happily married every morning since!!!

30A Skunkape

Try this-Fill your mug 1/4 to 1/3 full of whole milk and microwave 30 seconds; top it off with the New Orleans blend. Very authentic cafe au lait

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Margarita

will definitely be trying this

MissCritter

In Gulf Shores Wal-Mart today, noticed their Sam's brand now has fair trade coffee in a few varieties, including organic decaf. Haven't tried it yet.

Also, anyone see the movie "The Bucket List?" Features coffee debate pitting world's most expensive coffee, Kopi Luwak, against Chock Full o' Nuts. Funny scene near end of movie when origins of Kopi Luwak are revealed.

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seacrestgirl

Mmmmmm!

Smiling JOe

peapod et al, you mention fallback/emergency coffee. I am curious to know what that means. Is that a coffee which you keep in the cupboard for the time you screw up and run out of the usual brew (which probably also means that it is old and not so good because you use it only one or two times before buying more.)? Or, is it what you buy when the store runs out of your normal brand?

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peapod1980

The latter, only it's because our Costco is 30 minutes from our house, and our local grocery store is 5 minutes.

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JUL

I love Cafe Caribe...comes in a yellow can! www.coffeeholding.com So cheap and so good!
Of course, Starbucks! Espresso Roast Bold when at home and caffe latte at the I think I will switch back.

DD

I always keep extra coffee in the freezer. Seems to work at keeping it fresh...

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JUL

some of my words went missing????

I have been drinking tea lately but I think I will switch back.

Also,Cafe Bustelo is good.

rapunzel

Oh, I miss Community Coffee Bourbon Santos so much! In New Orleans, they sell it from the bins at Wal Mart. It is almost as good as La Minita, but half the price. Illy is our backup.

Seriously, though...the La Minita from Kitchenique is not to be missed. Please miss it, though...because they sometimes sell out and that sort of ruins my week.

I'm glad to hear others think Starbucks is bitter. I can't drink it without way more cream than I like to have.

Has anyone tried PJ's? Is their coffee New Orleans-esque? I really miss CC's and Rue de la Course.

Smiling JOe

I tried PJ's coffee, today. It was the flavor of the day, which was the Anniversary Blend. A medium roast with nice acidity and a solid chocolatey roast (not actual chocolate). Very good. I give that roast two thumbs up. The owners seem very nice. If I could drink it without having to leave my house to get the morning cup, I'd do it.

Not sure what you mean about it being NOLA-esque. I'm guessing you are referring to chicory, and I didn't notice it in that particular roast.

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peapod1980

Well, you probably added the actual chocolate yourself, as I recall.

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ktschris

Which Costco do you shop at? I go to the one on South Lindbergh.

Smiling JOe

You know me too well, but the chocolate tones refer to the roasting.

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