Any Coffee Connoisseurs Here?

Mangoandy

This is definitely in the category of general (off topic). Many of you have specific tobacco blends, cuts, aromas, and flavors. Many of you also share the same love for Scotch, whiskey, bourbons, beers and wines. I searched the forum and didn't see anything specific for coffee, so bear with me if this is a repeat. 

I love coffee and have specific beans and roasts that I lean toward. Anyone else?

NicoleSTGLaneLtd

One of my favorite things to do is trying out coffee from local roasters. The first thing I do whenever I travel is scout out the nearest shop to where I'm staying. I recently moved and my new neighborhood is going to keep me well caffeinated.

To brew at home though, I've really been enjoying Counter Culture #46 lately.

Mangoandy

@nicolestglaneltd - agreed! Scoping out local coffee and local tobacco shops are a fave when traveling. My wife and I host a podcast and my first responsibility was to find a coffee sponsor. Caroline's Coffee from Grass Valley, CA have been supplying us with a pound/week of medium roast coffee. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Guatemalan Huehuetenango and Ethiopian Yergachaffee.

CretinDan

I have a friend who roasts his own blends. Called Torcedor Coffee, named obviously after the cigar rollers. The blends go amazingly well with a smoke, be it the pipe or the cigar.

JosiahWN

I love coffee. Always have. My brother's and I grew up drinking it with my Dad. Now my younger brother actually started his own coffee roasting business and is about to open a shop. They seriously make some of the best coffee out there. www.wesleyandrews.cc is the website if anyone is interested in checking it out. I'm happy to say that all of us involved with the shop are avid pipe smokers. We'll often meet to try some coffee and almost always pair it with a pipe. There's no better combo in my opinion.

Mangoandy

@JosiahWN - great stuff. My mother-in-law always laughs that all 8 of my kids drink their coffee black. I guess that is because they all started with coffee in their sippy cups. I will check out your brother's website.

@CretinDan - Good coffee and a good pipe. Love it.

JosiahWN

@mangoandy - That's great! And I'm glad your kids like back coffee. It's the only way to go in my opinion. Especially with tobacco. I call it my Black n Bacc(Black coffee and toBacco)

PappyJoe

After drinking military coffee aboard a ship (it was rumored they cleaned the big pots with rags soaked in diesel fuel) I can tolerate any coffee except light roasted which is like drinking warm water. On top of that, I live in the New Orleans area and go used to drinking coffee down in the French Market while eating beignets. 

That also means I don't go silly for custom roasted coffee beans. Give me a pot of Community, Folgers, Maxwell House or Eight O'Clock Blend (preferably the whole bean kind that I grind myself) and I'm happy.

Pilot1119

Try Christopher Bean coffee. They have a website where they describe their coffees and you can order online.

Karowskir

Try death wish coffee they have some very good blends

Pipezilla

I only have 1 cup a day on the way to work and it's usually a medium roast. 8 o'clock, I think is what she buys. I bought some dark roast to try, now I'm in love with it. It complements my morning bowl of English tobacco. Any one have a dark roast they drink and like?

Mangoandy

@karowskir - that looks like some strong coffee! @pipezilla check out the website for Deathwish coffee (I'm no help. I like the extra caffeine I get from the light and medium roast coffees).

IndyJG

Love my coffee. Hardly a day goes by that I don't drink some. Usually buy it whole bean from a local roaster. I tend toward medium and dark roasts though I do like some light roasts/flavored coffee occasionally. Ethiopian coffee is my favorite (Aramo, Harrar, and Yirgacheffe).

thebadgerpiper

I brew myself iced coffee all the time. I have a large pitcher where I make my batches. I use a local coffee company, and use their Highlander Grog as my blend. Good stuff!

PhilosoPiper

I too am an avid coffee enthusiast. Luckily for me Houston is the birthplace of the Toddy cold brew method, which is great because it tends to be warm here at best and a sauna at worst. There are some great roasters here as well currently my favorite beans are coming from Boomtown Coffee if you are looking for some great fresh beans I'd check them out on their website. 

Woodsman

I'm with Pappy Joe, in my case Military Police night shift the coffee was spiked by the cooks with added Instant Coffee Powder to keep us awake. It was awful but it worked. Regular coffee like Dunkin Donuts or Maxwell House is fine.

mhajec

I sometimes drink coffee from a place here called The Wandering Goat. It's a hippy run coffee joint that roasts their own. Some of it is a bit spendy (coming in at like 15 dollars a pound), I generally stay away from those, though I have to admit that I've tried sone of them just for GP. I'll buy anything whole bean from just about anywhere, usually. I hand grind with a ceramic burr grunder, medium coarse grind, pour over or french press brewing method, water at a steady 203°F, black no additives. I know it sounds a bit snobbish, but I have dabbled with other methods and temps and grinds (only due mostly to having a lot of extra time and boredom) and through trial and error and research it works for me. 

Anyone ever try that coffee that's not really bean but the scat from some exotic cats in like the Andes Mountain range, that's foraged by monkeys or some thing like that?

Mjhalbach

@PhilosoPiper- I picked up a Toddy brewer a couple years ago and love it, I haven't hot brewed coffee since.  

Mangoandy

@mhajec - that's my kind of coffee drinker. I figured in a forum where people care so much about tobacco cut, flavor and pipe design there would be a few that have specifics with their coffee too! I'm an AeroPress guy. 

The most exotic I've tried: Jamaican Blue Mountain (it cost an arm and a leg) and I didn't notice a discernable difference, so back to medium roast Guatemalans and Ethiopians. 

Note: As long as it's not dark roast like that cheap Seattle swill they serve on every corner, I'm always happy to enjoy a cup of whatever you make! (throw in a pipe and some good conversation and I'm sold). Cheers! Thanks for the discussion on this thread!

PappyJoe

What I can't understand are all the flavored coffees that are on the market. Things like Apple Pecan Pie Coffee (I saw it yesterday), Vanilla Bean Custard, Pumpkin Pie Spice, etc. 

I'm pretty sure it's not old pipe smokers or coffee purist who are drinking that weak-a... swill. 

For awhile, I was buying whole beans and grinding them fresh each morning in a burr grinder. I have tried Jamaican Blue Mountain, Kona, Ethiopian and several other "gourmet" beans. I still find my favorite to be 100% Colombian medium roasted. 

I lived in Seattle from 1972 - 1978 and remember the original Starbucks on Western Ave. and the location at the Pikes Place Market. My fading memory tells me that the coffee they served back then was a lot better than the mass market crap they sell across the country these days. But that probably has something to do with it being fresher roasted and ground back then.

Now Starbucks taste like they added diesel fuel and battery acid as an extender to stretch the burnt to crap beans farther.

Woodsman

I had Starbucks as an account, every time I'd be in the store working on the system and they'd offer me coffee, I'd ask for tea. Even their tea is awful. 

motie2

Sumatran dark roast or, if I'm in the mood, Cafe Bustelo.

Corey562

Jumping Goat makes some nice blends, I pick up several different ones every time I go to Helen. 

PappyJoe

I would boycott Starbucks but I would have to start drinking it first.

Corey562

Never been a starbucks fan. 

Bphasty

If by connoisseur you mean drink a lot of it - then yes. My wife & I drink dark roast coffee & dark beers (Stouts & Porters).

Bphasty

@ NicoleSTGLaneLtd - Kansas City has a couple home roasters I like - https://www.theroasterie.com/ is worth a shot

NicoleSTGLaneLtd

@bphasty If I make it to the Kansas City Pipe Show next year I will absolutely check them out!

motie2

If you want to try something in a medium roast with a really distinctive flavor, try Timothy's Columbian La Vereda

glohman

nope. chock full o nuts

ghostsofpompeii

I wouldn't consider myself a coffee connoisseur but I do consume vast quantities of the stuff. Before retiring my partner and I would go through two pots of coffee in an eight hour shift. And since retiring things haven't changed that much either other than switching from a Mr. Coffee to the individual cup Keurig coffee maker. And I've gone through three Keurig coffee makers in about four years. I tend to buy what-ever coffee is on sale - and prefer the medium to dark roasts, whereas my wife likes the flavored coffees. Considering my preference for sweet aromatic tobacco blends one might assume my taste in coffee might be the same, but I want my coffee to taste like coffee. And other than milk or cream I don't even use sugar. Now as for tea ... that's an altogether different matter ... bring on the honey.