@Tim Burr, I read that McDonalds is - or is going to be - opening up coffee shops under the McCafe label, specializing in gourmet type coffees, perhaps to compete with Starbucks. Interestingly, Dunkin' Donuts is going to scale down its donuts and rebrand its franchises as simply Dunkin', de-emphasizing donuts and emphasizing its coffees.
I read that about Dunkin. I kinda like some of their coffee. I read somewhere recently and maybe long ago also that coffee made from fresh ground coffee beans tastes best. So I got the bright idea to contact my friend , MrGoogle, and ask him where on God's green earth is the closest coffee grinder to Norman, Oklahoma. I'm sitting in the south center of the countryside and thinking there's got to be a Coffee Grinder either on one side or the other of Norma. Now I know of two grinders, both south of here. One is Community Coffee. but they sell tons of coffee and have to have tons already ground up so they can ship in a hurry to one of their customers. There is a roster in Austin. Austin Coffee company. Pretty good joe but a little rick for my blood. So I asked Google. Behold and Lo. Google notified me there wads Roster right here in Norman. I looked that sucker up online and zipped of an email to him. He promptly answered aback theres days later telling me all about his coffee and that he didn't sell retail but two good store here in Norman handled his product and he c serviced them both weekly or sooner if need be. This morning with this information in hand, I started up my little VW and scooted right on down to the Earth store, a combination medicine store or herbal hangout and Coffee shop.. Now the local roster based upon what I had told him about my taste in coffees recommended two. At the Earth store I found one of them. twelve ounces of something called 'Fireplace.' The other store, a small grocer store catering to exotic tastes, I found the other recommended coffee, something called Brazil. Both coffee purchased today were roasted October 5th, this year. A s I speak, or more accurately, as I write this, I am skipping on the Brazil. Now I don't know about the Beans, probably from Brazil but the coffee is better, maybe it's the freshness., but it's a better drink. That's probably the key to good tasting coffee, freshness of the bean grind. Some time this weekend I'm going to try My Fire[lace or whatever it is. I have another thought on this but I'll get to it later. Till then, a good cup to you.
Whole roasted beans will stay fresh much longer than ground beans, and it doesn't cost much money at all to buy a coffee grinder, either a manual one like I use (and prefer) or an electric, which I also have. Most grocery stores will carry whole roasted beans as well as ground beans, but I prefer to order it online from companies that ship it fresher than I can find in my local stores, which actually quit carrying whole beans a few months ago anyhow.
You are right, absolutely. I have and use a grinder. Mine is a blade grinder I have used for many years. I thought when it quit I'd get a good burr grinder but it seems I'm going t wear out before my grinder does.. Also there are two roasters in Norman. I haven't tried but one but plan to get with the other at an early date. And I keep thinking I hate to pay a hundred dollars for a grinder at my age yet here I am drinking specialty coffee at fifteen bucks a pound. Someone remarked 'you can't take it with you.' And I recall a neighbor who said periodically, if she left any money for her kids or if she had any money left over when she died, she'd made a big mistake. As alternative to coffee beans, when I'd run low on them (beans) I sometimes use a Folgers breakfast Blend, a light blend, medium acidity. It comes in a small container ( I've been trying out Folgers different blends). There is another Blend, another light blend, Folgers makes which I noticed for the first time in the store this week, called a country blend. I haven't examined it closely but it appears to be much like the breakfast blend. I dislike a dark coffee and I'll probably try this Country blend and would have except it was only stocked in a very large container. Which reminds me ( maybe I should have been a preacher, I find alternatives everywhere, such as), we are all made up of good and evil, of both expensive and common tastes. I mean, just a thought. This is going nowhere so I'll put a lid on it.
'This Friday the thirteenth I went out with my son and granddaughter to Goodwill where my son had seen a computer case and had not bought it. He found it again and paid 3.99. It looked new, unused. Then we all went to Target. We all shopped until I was about to drop. Both my son and the kid bought several items plus a few groceries. My son showed me a computer case like the one he had just bought. Targets price was $24.99. Ok so no bad spirits there. We picked up Hamburgers on the way home along with some tater tots and french fries. After a short nap I made a pot of coffee and have sipped and played my harmonicas all evening long. I've played the minor keys, the major keys, my chromatic needs an overhaul, I suspect the valves have slipped off some of the keys, but the tremolo sounded pretty good. I gave them all a workout tonight. Some of them don't get played that often. They were jamming good and sounding real mean tonight. The spirits if they were about may have peeked in the windows wondering what was really in these coffee cups. A good weekend to everyone
@Bill Boggs .. love you avatar... this is just how I picture you I was having another stressful day yesterday,I did a big no no.... went to the bbq place and got a chopped beef sammich and french fries. Mercy it was tasty. Dinner was oatmeal, as I was still pretty full. Up way too early again, but drinking me coffee as usual .
Good Morning @Gloria Mitchell. I haven't had my coffee yet. I expect we all over indulge now and then. I've been, well I started to say dieting, but the way i do it, I'm really just watching what I eat and trying to back off a little bit. Yesterday's hamburger was the first I've had in a good while and it was quite tasty.I guess I'm needing a cup of joe. Going to go put one on.
Hey @Gloria Mitchell , you and I would do great dining together. BBQ chopped beef sandwiches are my favorite as well. You would think that as large as Houston is, that we would have BBQ places on every other corner, but not so. Yes there are the big commercial restaurants, but I tend to like the little hole-in-the wall places. You know, where you can show up in shorts and tee shirts.
Have tried one of my local coffee roaster, Mariposa's Brazil coffee. It was roasted October 5th this year so when I bought it it was quite fresh in coffee roast years. It had a better flavor. I wish i could describe it better. You know how when you taste some things they have a pleasant after taste. This fresh roasted coffee had when it touched you taste buds both a pleasant fore taste and an after taste. My wife is never impressed with any of my coffees because after a fall several years ago she lost both smell and tastes as we think of it. She said of this coffee, "Now this is a coffee I could drink a second cup." I'll tell you what it does for me, it makes me wonder about all the coffees in the grocery store, if we could get a fresh fresh roasted bean or a fresh roast and grind, if they all wouldn't taste a whole lot better. I won't buy anymore of this Brazil coffee because it is too expensive for what you get, both in quantity and quality. I do have another light roasted coffee of this roaster to taste then I will be prepared to make a better judgement. But like I said maybe somewhere before, this is all an experiment and all in fun and certainly not a recommendation for anything. Just me having fun and writing about it.
Now you both, @Bill Boggs @Ken Anderson , have my attention. I presently use a Kreurig coffee maker, and I buy the Caza Trail dark roast Italian K-cups, at 100 K-cups for $35. I tend to make myself two cups each morning. It has been a long time since I’ve really enjoyed my morning brew, and I would like to learn a bit about the subject. Michael was a Folgers man himself, but I’m not so set, in fact I quit using his dripalator, (his term), after he died. It wasn’t economical anymore. So I’ve stumbled through several different brands, and finally gave up looking after my last venture into the world of coffee. Got any recommendations gentlemen?
You are so fortunate to have one of those k-cup Keurigs, @Ina I. Wonder ! ! Robin had one and she loved hers, too; but then it quit and she couldn[t fix it. She bought all of her coffee from Amazon, and they have a wonderful selection of k-cup varieties there. She brought her old Keurig over to see if maybe Bobby can fix it; but it appears that some serious part was what went out. Since Bobby only drinks plain coffee, and I love the different flavors, sometimes I use one of those little filters that fits over the coffee mug, and you pour the hot water over it to make your coffee. It works fine, just takes a while to make coffee that way. When Evelyn and I were at the thrift store last week, I found a small coffee maker that does about what they call “4 cups” which in reality fills my coffee mug and a little left over to warm it back up. I can also use it for making tea later in the evening when I want to have hot tea; so it was a good investment, plus it was Senior’s Day, so it was even on sale.
We still use our K-cups often, although we're currently using a Mr. Coffee machine that takes K-cups. The Keurig machines cost too much and weren't lasting very long. I like my Ninja coffee maker and use that when I am working in my office downstairs, but I use the K-cups when I'm upstairs. I don't just have a cup of coffee to wake up in the morning. I drink coffee all day, from morning until just before going to bed, so I like my coffee to taste good. I also like to have different coffees often. My two older cats get bored with their canned food. They don't want to eat the same stuff day after day, to a point where I try not to give them the same food twice in one week. I think I'm like that with coffee. I can find the best coffee that I have ever tasted in my life, but I get tired of it after awhile. Variety is a nice thing about the K-cups but when I compare any of the K-cup coffees with the coffee that I can make from freshly ground beans on my Ninja, the K-cups don't hold up well. I buy different whole bean coffees from Amazon and from a couple of companies who were our suppliers when we ran an Internet cafe years ago, Coffee Fool and Longbottom.
@Yvonne Smith , so far my Kreurig coffee maker is doing pretty good, and I’ve had it almost three years now. I bought one for Patricia’s birthday two years ago as well, and so far so good. Now I was sort of leary because my water well has tons of minerals in it, so I run white vinegar,(Why do they call it white? It’s clear.), through the machine about every three months. Michael’s Mr Coffee had to be replaced almost yearly because of mineral buildup, even though I cleaned it regularly as well. I too buy my coffee from Amazon, and I’ve tried many different kinds, maybe I need to buy the whole beans and grind them myself. But I am wary of buying a pound of coffee, and then not liking it. I could end up with enough to start my own coffee shop. I do have three of the plastic filters that are used just like the K-cups. I like to fix my dark teas that way. @Ken Anderson , you sound like my Michael, he generally went through two or more pots of coffee a day as well, and his sleep patterns were never upset. He could sleep at the drop of the hat, and that was his favorite hobby. (Sleeping, not dropping hats) I find that I like a deep dark roast coffee, do you have any suggestions with that in mind?