Coffee

At work pic.
Thank you Chris!!
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Nice, glad it made it! It's an odd ball brand that I found on the net. It's pretty enjoyable though!
 
Nice, glad it made it! It's an odd ball brand that I found on the net. It's pretty enjoyable though!
From Canada eh....
I've had the brand just not this blend.
I'll keep you updated.
Thanks Again!
 
Excellent coffee with a late breakfast.
Prepared with an Aeropress (that's why the mug is half full), tasting notes are pretty spot on with what's printed on the bag.
Anything dark with chocolate notes is right in my wheelhouse.:)

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Really interesting question that I'm posting to the coffee experts. Is single origin, overrated?
https://www.salon.com/2010/08/25/american_espresso/

The reason that I ask, is that there has always been an interest in trying to locally source the best foods and procurers of food in one's area. For me I always go for local apples, cherries and tomatoes in season for example. Although upstate NY probably has the best cherries I've ever had anywhere.

I haven't really been paying much attention to coffee in the last year as I was in the middle of selling our house/staging our house for sale, getting a bigger mortgage, changing jobs and size of companies. A year later, all of the best regional coffee spots are now in NYC. Admittedly the best coffee roasters in NYC aren't local. And it's a mix at least according to my tongue. For instance Stumptown is in NYC and its fantastic, Blue Bottle is here too but I think its overrated. I'm headed over to Cafe Grumpy today to meet with my old boss and people online have been verbally s***ing on the place, lmao.

And for me i've always preferred the blends at my favorite coffee houses like Gregory's which is now still my reigning favorite NYC coffee house. And yet, I still continue to try single origin coffees. The article had one proponent of blends a head Barista of Illy's which is a supermarket coffee that I really enjoy and that I always see at major hotels wherever I travel. Anyhow what are your thoughts? I'm going to try the espresso at Grumpy's again but may revert back to sending the fellas some Gregory's!
 
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Ok not gonna lie. Nitro cold brew from Cafe Grumpy. No added sweetener, it was delicious.
 
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Ok not gonna lie. Nitro cold brew from Cafe Grumpy. No added sweetener, it was delicious.
Looks tasty!
I had some sort of cold brew stout last night...don't ask.:rolleyes:
There "may" have been some whiskey involved. Rough day.
But I do remember the stout being the highlight, I'll have to revisit the joint to get the details straight.
 
That Nitro looks good. I still haven't had a chance to try any yet.

As far as single origin, it's hard to say they're overrated. I think it's more a case of blends being underrated. It takes skill to come up with a good blend just like it takes skill to get the best out of a single origin.
 
That Nitro looks good. I still haven't had a chance to try any yet.

As far as single origin, it's hard to say they're overrated. I think it's more a case of blends being underrated. It takes skill to come up with a good blend just like it takes skill to get the best out of a single origin.

So true about blends being underated. It must take some palate to start mixing and matching beans to get it right!

Looks tasty!
I had some sort of cold brew stout last night...don't ask.:rolleyes:
There "may" have been some whiskey involved. Rough day.
But I do remember the stout being the highlight, I'll have to revisit the joint to get the details straight.

Ah a good stout or brown ale is always tasty although I don't drink very often. Ever since I became type 2 diabetic alcohol does bad things to me.
 
So true about blends being underated. It must take some palate to start mixing and matching beans to get it right!



Ah a good stout or brown ale is always tasty although I don't drink very often. Ever since I became type 2 diabetic alcohol does bad things to me.
I like coffee beers, definitely a great marketing strategy when it comes to selling me alcoholic beverages.:D
 
It’s funny. You can take 2 very delicious stand alone beans and they blend together to be a horrible combination.
 
Really interesting question that I'm posting to the coffee experts. Is single origin, overrated?
https://www.salon.com/2010/08/25/american_espresso/

The reason that I ask, is that there has always been an interest in trying to locally source the best foods and procurers of food in one's area. For me I always go for local apples, cherries and tomatoes in season for example. Although upstate NY probably has the best cherries I've ever had anywhere.

I haven't really been paying much attention to coffee in the last year as I was in the middle of selling our house/staging our house for sale, getting a bigger mortgage, changing jobs and size of companies. A year later, all of the best regional coffee spots are now in NYC. Admittedly the best coffee roasters in NYC aren't local. And it's a mix at least according to my tongue. For instance Stumptown is in NYC and its fantastic, Blue Bottle is here too but I think its overrated. I'm headed over to Cafe Grumpy today to meet with my old boss and people online have been verbally s***ing on the place, lmao.

And for me i've always preferred the blends at my favorite coffee houses like Gregory's which is now still my reigning favorite NYC coffee house. And yet, I still continue to try single origin coffees. The article had one proponent of blends a head Barista of Illy's which is a supermarket coffee that I really enjoy and that I always see at major hotels wherever I travel. Anyhow what are your thoughts? I'm going to try the espresso at Grumpy's again but may revert back to sending the fellas some Gregory's!

As espresso, for the most part, I would say that yes, single origin coffee is overrated. Irrelevant, no, but overrated, yes. In my experience, there have certainly been exceptions however. Espresso accentuates a coffee's dominant flavor profiles, and depending on your tastes, that can be a wonderful or horrible experience. I've had both; for example, an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe dry-processed blueberry bomb that I simply LOVED :D, and an Anise-forward PNG that I just absolutely hated. :thumbsdown: My taste played 100% into that. Someone else might have the exact opposite preference.

Blends help to balance things out, and also help to keep a consistent flavor profile from batch to batch, season to season. It works for certain big coffee companies in more nuanced drip coffees, and has even more effect in an espresso blend. A blend can be a more well-rounded coffee versus the individual coffees that make it up, but blends can also serve to hide sins as well, like cheaper/inferior ingredient coffees (i.e. Robusta). :poop: As already mentioned, blends can also take excellent individual coffees and make something that just meh or ok. :( A good blend is like a work of art, it takes practice, expertise, sometimes a bit of luck too, and ultimately the "beauty" is in the eye of the beholder. ;)

With that said, as a general rule I personally prefer blends for espresso, and single origin coffee for most other brew methods. But that preference is largely based on the best of the best coffee since I home roast and have a pretty damn high standard (yes, snobbery). :rolleyes:

The article, though a bit outdated, made some good points, but I disagree with a lot of it too. I do think that some shops have strayed too far from what espresso actually should be, and MANY of the baristas, even in the good shops, need more training. :eek: Some of the things I see are just unacceptable, and they should (and probably do) know better. o_O I usually like a good ristretto, but some shots I've personally experienced were far too concentrated to be what I'd consider good. Too sour and bitter, just harsh. They may be decent (or even quite good) as a macchiato where the milk mellows it out a fair bit, but not as straight espresso. And a 2oz pull in 10 seconds is way WAY too fast! o_O Yes, I was counting dude, and you're going to redo that shot or give me my money back! :mad: (recent poor experience...)

I had to chuckle a bit at the Italian espresso "expert" from Illy. :rolleyes: I know I'm not alone in thinking that Illy pretty much sucks :poop:, and if that's what is considered quality coffee in Italy, I seriously question the dude's credentials and ability to judge the US speciality coffee market. :confused: I think this is a case where the student has become the master, as like many, I believe that Italian espresso has nothing on the quality US stuff. Some shops may have gone outside the box, but at its core, I don't think Italy (or anywhere in Europe for that matter) can hold a candle to the coffee in the US anymore. We are spoiled here right now in my opinion, and the Italians need to get over themselves and open their eyes.


I've had the bourbon one, thanks to wifey seeing it at the store and grabbing a (not quite) pint, and it was decent. I'll try the others as I can.
 
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Well said. The thing I like about single origin is getting to see the differences between various growing regions. I just roasted some of the Guatemala beans that @Y'shua sent me and they are really floral. The "Roaster's Delight" blend I have is a mix of Colombia, Peru, and Sumatra. It is a more balanced flavor, but still good in it's own way. It all just depends on a person's preference.

Try different stuff to figure out what you like and don't base your opinions on what is trendy at the moment. Who knows, 10 years from now blends may be all the rage.o_O

a (not quite) pint
I had to chuckle at this. You see it with coffee also sometimes selling in 10oz or 12oz packages. I guess it's really just becoming a thing in the food industry overall. Instead of increasing the price, they just decrease the quantity.
 
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