Thursday, March 18, 2010
Coffee Filter Coffee Stop an Eye-Opener
Posted by Nicki Wood on Thu, Mar 18, 2010 at 6:47 AM
In a coffee emergency last week a quick stop was necessary to halt rapid decaffeination.
At the bottom of the list is office coffee. Industrial sludge made from the lowest grade beans, hacked with dull blades into a rough, utilitarian, workmanlike grind that brews up weak and tepid and with the overtones of the hard water residue. Even in an emergency, it's not coffee that you'd want to resort to.
So on a day with time running short, a quick stop somewhere on the way to work was the only solution. Gas station coffee: there were two choices. Bengal Trader and Daily's. Invoking Carrington's "no left turn" policy, Daily's won out.
As emergency coffees go it could have been worse. It wasn't burned like the coffee at work, and didn't have the dirtlike overtones of cheap coffee. A success but not enough so for an encore. In an emergent situation what is the best alternative for coffee? Is it possibly a non-coffee option?
Comments (10)
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In the process of ragging on Starbux, and others in your rant, you neglected to mention whether your "first choice" coffee is pre-ground or bean. What brand do you have at home? Drews or Bernsteins?
If Starbux is so bad does that mean they are the Wal Mart of coffee? No wait. Their stuff is expensive. Like high end Burgundies and Cabs. The wine of coffee, where pretentious people sip shit because it raises their social status?
Lastly: "In an emergent situation what is the best alternative for coffee?"
Yazoo Hop Project #27. Coffee is for the morning, beer after that.
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It used to be the elitists praised Starbucks. Now the elitists scorn it. Throughout it all though, they've made a pretty decent cup of coffee (if a bit expensive).
I agree with Nicki that Starbucks coffee tastes burnt and unpleasant. But the espresso drinks are consistently good, wherever you find them, from San Francisco to D.C. to the Brentwood Target.
And so I sometimes indulge in a latte out of convenience. But I'd rather have any of the local latte options.
(I admit I also keep cans of Starbucks Double Shot espresso and cream in my office drawer for the direst emergencies.)
Our office has a Keurig machine, and while I would rather pop over to Dunn Bros for their cold pressed iced coffee, I can't afford that every day. So, I have developed a systed. I used 1 light roast then 1 dark roast Keurig pod, and I do them both on the 4 oz setting. I then mix in one and a half Equal packets, and put it in the fridge. When I come in the next morning, I pour it over ice, followed by half and half.
Works pretty good. Until someone pours it down the drain before I get there. Like today. After working 13 hours straight with no break, and fixing that coffee last night at 10:20; I was HIGHLY pissed to discover it missing at 9am today.
Another excellent local coffeehouse that bears mentioning is Ugly Mugs in East Nashville. The spacious, sunny hangout space is wonderful, and they serve Drew's Brews. And I liked it long before Gwyneth Paltrow mentioned it on her blog, GOOP.
Terrence, i respect your honesty. I also like MCD's coffee. I dont really find that a lot of the expensive coffees are really that good.
I LOVE the cheap Community coffee that is widely served in NOLA. Its not the chickery kind -just regular coffee but its fresh and smooth. I stayed at a bed and breakfast in tennessee and I could tell by the smell that they served Community coffee. SOOOOO good.
