Post a Picture of your Favorite Coffee Cup

[NW-Bound]

Surely, a braumeister's palate would be able to analyze the taste of this exotic coffee and to compare it to the garden variety fare.

Whenever I run across exotic food or drink, I ask myself these questions.

1) Is this something worthwhile for me to try?
2) Is it too expensive to try?
3) When I do try it, can I tell the difference with lesser stuff?
4) If I can tell the difference, is it in a good way? Sometimes I like cheap stuff better.
5) If I turn out to like it (it's real trouble now!), do I like it enough to consume it on a regular basis?

As I am frugal though I am somewhat curious and adventurous, most "stuff" fail at step 2). That's one of the reasons I can retire early.

As to the welfare of the civets, they do consume the coffee beans in natural settings. I do not know if you can force them to eat more in captivity.

 

[razztazz]

Here's a photo of what used to be my favorite coffee cup.

I don't know if the rest of the Navy or the other services had this model in their supply systems. And yes, the guys on Facebook's "Cold War Submarine Veterans" group are pretty excited to be able to buy them online!

These were universal G.I. coffee cups for decades and decades. Thanks for posting the pic. Sort of like seeing a picture of Gran'pappy's old German Lugar

 

[NW-Bound]

For years, it has been civets that are used as coffee preprocessor. Now, it's elephants.

See this: Coffee from an elephant's gut fills a $50 cup.

$50/cup? I still cannot get over the fact that the coffee beans are predigested, let alone the price. And this reminded me that I still have a 1-lb bag of Kona coffee bought at Costco in the big island in the recent trip. I was given Kona coffee just before the trip, and did not think it was that memorable. However, the gifted coffee was preground and might be old, so this time I bought a bag of unground beans. Costco moves a lot of merchandise, and their coffee bags were fresh and still smelled really good (through the bag!). Will see if it makes a difference.

PS. Many Hawaiian sell Kona coffee as either 10% blend, or 100%. Of course I bought 100%, but still yet find out what's so special about it that a blend containing only 10% of it would make that much of a difference. FWIW, 100% Kona coffee goes for $20-$30 a pound in stores there. It's a lot more affordable for me to sample, compared to civet or elephant-preprocessed coffee.

 

[W2R]

NW-Bound, I grew up in Hawaii and I don't even like Kona coffee. I have never understood the hype surrounding it.

But then, I never had any that was freshly ground so maybe my dislike stems from ignorance. Hopefully you will like yours.

As for the elephant coffee, all I can say is EWWW.

 

[Lsbcal]

NW-Bound, I grew up in Hawaii and I don't even like Kona coffee. I have never understood the hype surrounding it.

But then, I never had any that was freshly ground so maybe my dislike stems from ignorance. Hopefully you will like yours.

As for the elephant coffee, all I can say is EWWW.

One time we visited a Kona coffee processing area. They had a nice display of how the coffee beans were delt with.

Left the keys in the car (the old days, no auto door openers) and the guys there helped us jimmy the door open. What a relief! Since then I've had good feelings about Kona coffee ... haven't had a cup of it in many many moons.

 

[W2R]

Left the keys in the car (the old days, no auto door openers) and the guys there helped us jimmy the door open. What a relief! Since then I've had good feelings about Kona coffee ....

I suspect your good feelings may have resulted not from the coffee, but from experiencing the "Aloha spirit", an attitude of friendliness and kindness that is part of the culture there.. And I have good feelings towards the Aloha spirit in Hawaii, too.

 

[Lsbcal]

I suspect your good feelings may have resulted not from the coffee, but from experiencing the "Aloha spirit", an attitude of friendliness and kindness that is part of the culture there.. And I have good feelings towards the Aloha spirit in Hawaii, too.

You are right, I'm sure it was the Aloha spirit. But I take after my old Corgi who associated certain things with what got him pleasure -- usually food in his case.

 

[Purron]

I suspect your good feelings may have resulted not from the coffee, but from experiencing the "Aloha spirit", an attitude of friendliness and kindness that is part of the culture there.. And I have good feelings towards the Aloha spirit in Hawaii, too.

The "Aloha spirit"? Oddly, this picture Nords posted ages ago came to mind...

 

[Nords]

For years, it has been civets that are used as coffee preprocessor. Now, it's elephants.
And this reminded me that I still have a 1-lb bag of Kona coffee bought at Costco in the big island in the recent trip. I was given Kona coffee just before the trip, and did not think it was that memorable. However, the gifted coffee was preground and might be old, so this time I bought a bag of unground beans. Costco moves a lot of merchandise, and their coffee bags were fresh and still smelled really good (through the bag!). Will see if it makes a difference.
PS. Many Hawaiian sell Kona coffee as either 10% blend, or 100%. Of course I bought 100%, but still yet find out what's so special about it that a blend containing only 10% of it would make that much of a difference. FWIW, 100% Kona coffee goes for $20-$30 a pound in stores there. It's a lot more affordable for me to sample, compared to civet or elephant-preprocessed coffee.

The only live elephants in Hawaii are in zoos, but I'm sure someone on a Kona coffee plantation is eyeing the mongoose and wondering what their "throughput" might be.

I've drunk too many brown liquids of dubious origin labeled "coffee" to have a discerning palate, but I've read that Kona is relatively mild & smooth compared to other beans.

The "10%" ratio is the minimum content to be legally sold as Kona, and it's supposed to be prominently labeled as "Kona blend". I don't think there's a taste difference between 10% and 100% Kona, unless the 100% stuff is milder. Presumably the other 90% is Taster's Choice or Hills Bros.

I like drinking Kona purely because I can. But I also like Costco's French roast, and I'm currently working on a bag of Kauai beans. (Kauai has several good coffee plantations, but they're known as "100% Hawaii" instead of "Kona".) I'm also looking forward to the first crop of the revived coffee plantations on north Oahu, but I'm not sure whether they'll be harvested in 2013 or '14.

The "Aloha spirit"? Oddly, this picture Nords posted ages ago came to mind...

Duuuuuude. Nothing more destructive than bunnies with the munchies.

 

[Ronstar]

I don't drink coffee - only water, diet soda, and beer.