Best Whole Bean Coffee?

We buy SBUX whole bead French Roast at Costco. Grind at home and prepare single servings in our 2.0 Kuerig set at 8 oz. / strong. Add a hefty squirt of Land o Lakes whipped cream.

Haven't found anything better and have looked long and hard.
 
Major Tom said:
I wrote out a whole reply and was about to post it, when I realized the subject of the thread was "Best Whole Bean Coffee". Being the contemptible individual that I am, I have settled on a cheap brand that comes pre-ground, so I will not be posting my reply in this thread.

Feel free to add me to your "ignore" lists :D
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I will look away for a moment, but not ignore!

We always went for the Costco brand, Kirkland, and that was pre-ground. For an everyday coffee, it was the best. It's no longer convenient to go there, so we went for a grinder and try different beans and mixes.

What cheap brand?
 
pb4uski said:
I saw this piece from Chris Kimball today on The Rachel Ray Show that was a new one to me. He says that hot brewing coffee extracts too many of the more bitter compounds in coffee. He was advocating a cold brew approach where you steep coffee in water overnight to create a liquid concentrate that will store in the fridge for up to a week. You then dilute the concentrate 3:1 with water.

I may give it a try but not with the gadget. I'll just steep it in a container and then filter and then mix 1 part concentrate: 3 parts hot water.

4 Kitchen Gadgets That Will Save Your Life This Holiday Season

How To Make Coffee Concentrate to Serve Hot Coffee to a Crowd — Cooking Lessons from The Kitchn | The Kitchn....
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I mixed up a batch this cold brew concentrate last night, let it steep overnight and filtered it to concentrate and made a cup of hot coffee this morning (1 part concentrate to 3 parts hot water. It's good, but quite different from what I am used to... the jury is out.

But for those who are more extreme about LBYM than I am, it allegedly uses 30% less coffee than conventional how brewing.
 
I do think grinding whole beans before brewing makes a big difference. However, although the consensus is that expensive burr grinders are far superior to the cheaper blade ones, I can detect no difference in the result.
 
pb4uski said:
I mixed up a batch this cold brew concentrate last night, let it steep overnight and filtered it to concentrate and made a cup of hot coffee this morning (1 part concentrate to 3 parts hot water. It's good, but quite different from what I am used to... the jury is out.

But for those who are more extreme about LBYM than I am, it allegedly uses 30% less coffee than conventional how brewing.
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This is how they always made coffee in Peru, at least where I worked. Definitely an acquired taste.
 
The cold brew is less acidic, I believe, but I only make it in the summer when I drink iced coffee. MFK Fisher recommended it.

My twelve year old Capresso burr grinder cost $79 and I use it daily. I gave my parents one for Christmas last year and spent a whopping $89 on it.

Has anyone used Dean's Beans or another on-line source?
 
I do Starbuck's French Roast. But I do remember the days when I could get 8-OClock (don't remember the blend) and I agree. It is amazingly good.
 
Having consumed instant coffee, vending machine coffee, warmed-over coffee, etc., just about anything is palatable...

But I get whole bean coffee from Costco.
 
pb4uski said:
I mixed up a batch this cold brew concentrate last night, let it steep overnight and filtered it to concentrate and made a cup of hot coffee this morning (1 part concentrate to 3 parts hot water. It's good, but quite different from what I am used to... the jury is out....
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I had a few cups this morning. Jury is still out, but it is growing on me. Seems smoother and less bitter.
 
pb4uski said:
I had a few cups this morning. Jury is still out, but it is growing on me. Seems smoother and less bitter.
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I've done cold brew before, from what I recall it was 'smoother'. But maybe too smooth? I should try again.

I also thought it used more coffee, not less? Will need to check some recent recipes. DD (nurse) is on night shifts now (7PM-7AM 3x a wekk) , so maybe having some cold brew available for her to heat up when she wakes up late afternoon would be good. I always empty the pot, no matter how large, by then.

-ERD50
 
I'm not a fan of the flavored coffees and have been know to claim that there is a special place in Heck for people who make them. But, I do admit that I enjoy a cup of the New Mexico Piñon coffee. For some reason the roasted pine nuts augment the flavors of the coffee instead of masking it. As they say "Great coffee is a matter of oPiñon".

https://nmpinoncoffee.com/product-category/new-mexico-pinon-coffee/
 
We tried many kinds of pre-roasted whole beans and usually liked them when we first opened the bag, then noticed that the flavor degraded over time. After learning about home roasting from a friend, we now roast about 3 different kinds of coffee every week, so we always have fresh beans. We grind them just before brewing.
For my birthday I got a Lido2 grinder which has greatly improved the flavor profile of the grind.
I know this is not what you are looking for but it's our experience.
 
This is question that is similar to "what kind of car should I buy?" Coffee tastes are one of the most subjective things in the consumer world to have ever existed. My personal favorite is plain old Chock Full O' Nuts. We do have a local roaster here that I will frequent when he has a certain bean that is in. But even then, there are variations from batch to batch so it's never the same.
 
Focus said:
I do think grinding whole beans before brewing makes a big difference. However, although the consensus is that expensive burr grinders are far superior to the cheaper blade ones, I can detect no difference in the result.
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I agree the cheaper blade grinders can do a decent job, the problem with the blade grinder I had was that I could only grind a small quantity of beans at one time. Also with most burr grinders you can control how fine/course you want the coffee grounds, with the blade there's only one grind.
 
With burr grinder I can get very different grinds, especially coarser for French press, and medium for filter drip.
 
W2R said:
But even more surprising was the fact that I preferred Dunkin Donuts pre-ground coffee to any of the home ground, whole bean coffees.

[...]

I don't suggest that you buy the brands I like - - instead, I suggest that you do your own coffee taste challenge like I did. You may be as surprised as I was! :)
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Peet's French Roast (we'd buy beans & grind them) used to be our absolute favorite, but it went downhill over the last few years after it was acquired by ... I forget who, but Peet's is not what it used to be. Their French Roast is often over roasted & bitter.

We hunted around for a Peet's replacement, and to our surprise, we found we really enjoy Dunkin' Donuts pre-ground Dark Roast. So you're not alone, W2R!
 
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I mounted a manual coffee grinder in our kitchen after considering and rejecting the purchase of a $300 electric grinder.

This article changed my mind:
http://www.home-barista.com/grinders/spong-coffee-mills-grinder-for-23rd-century-t16165.html

I found a knock off Spong on eBay, a "Mimosa," manufactured in Brazil probably 30 years ago, for $50. Spong manufactured many different sized models, and the No. 3 seems to hit the sweet spot in terms of size and amount of time spent turning the crank. My Spong knock off has a thumb screw on the back to widen or narrow the space between the burr and inside surface, so the fineness of the grind is adjustable. We have used this for a few years now, and it works great!
 
DW and I are particularly fond of Peet's "Major Dickason Blend" whole bean which we can get at the local Von's.


But, we do wait for it to go on sale - then it's like a treat. VG, imho.
 
BBQ-Nut said:
DW and I are particularly fond of Peet's "Major Dickason Blend" whole bean which we can get at the local Von's.


But, we do wait for it to go on sale - then it's like a treat. VG, imho.
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That was our house brew several years ago, it was very good.
 
zinger1457 said:
You can get quality electric burr grinders for under $100, I have an $80 burr grinder (Capresso) that's still working great after 10 years. And cleanup is a breeze even though the article would make you think otherwise.
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Based on brand and price, sounds like the same burr grinder we have. Friends of ours bought a $300 Baratza grinder and a $350 Technivorm Moccamaster coffeemaker. I assume they make better coffee than our setup, but I couldn't spend that much. Especially since we don't normally spring for expensive beans.
 
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I have a daily espresso, and i am partial to gloria jeans roast.

Made at home, burr grind, americano style.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum
 
Now I feel like a rank amateur for not having a burr grinder. :)

Still I like the simplicity of using ground coffee from a well sealed container. Oh well, I also by wine under $10 a bottle.
 
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