The search for "good" coffee

[Bonefishblues]

Please don't ever buy that coffee

[Tangled Metal]

Even without worrying about the actual coffee there are lots of other variables to consider...
Water temperature
Brew time
Ratio of coffee to water
Time since the packet was opened (assuming not freshly ground)

Yes.

Quality also has a location/circumstances element.

Yes: place, time, mood, food, company, memories...

That's why controlled study and blinding is so necessary and so helpful.

Jonathan

I disagree. All that matters is that it's good when you drink it. How you find that out is personal testing. Simply drink coffee until you find the ones that you like at the various times and places you want to drink coffee. Blind tasting is not necessary. Once you've found a coffee you like it's not necessarily the best but it's good enough and after that it's your choice whether you keep on looking for better or not.

[Jdsk]

Even without worrying about the actual coffee there are lots of other variables to consider...
Water temperature
Brew time
Ratio of coffee to water
Time since the packet was opened (assuming not freshly ground)

Yes.

Quality also has a location/circumstances element.

Yes: place, time, mood, food, company, memories...

That's why controlled study and blinding is so necessary and so helpful.

I disagree. All that matters is that it's good when you drink it. How you find that out is personal testing. Simply drink coffee until you find the ones that you like at the various times and places you want to drink coffee. Blind tasting is not necessary. Once you've found a coffee you like it's not necessarily the best but it's good enough and after that it's your choice whether you keep on looking for better or not.

If you don't control for the vast list of factors you'll never know whether you liked "it" because of the coffee, the water, the brewing, the crockery or the mood you were in at the time.

So drinking the one that you liked the last time may not give you the same pleasure the next time. That would be a pity.

Jonathan

[kylecycler]

How about an Asian palm civet rather than a pig?

Shirley

And I thought I had a vivid imagination.

That's a vivverid imagination!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_pal ... Kopi_luwak

Jonathan

You know - seriously - when I was writing that post I kept thinking I'd read something somewhere about something like that, and I guess that's what it was!

Either that or I got all wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey and remembered your post before you posted it...

[kylecycler]

Please don't ever buy that coffee

If you mean from the animal rights POV, yeah, definitely not.

[pete75]

Please don't ever buy that coffee

Think my friend had some in Costa the other day. He did say this coffee tastes like sh1t.

[Jdsk]

And I thought I had a vivid imagination.

That's a vivverid imagination!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_pal ... Kopi_luwak

You know - seriously - when I was writing that post I kept thinking I'd read something somewhere about something like that, and I guess that's what it was!

Either that or I got all wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey and remembered your post before you posted it...

: - )

Jonathan

[Tangled Metal]

Yes.


Yes: place, time, mood, food, company, memories...

That's why controlled study and blinding is so necessary and so helpful.

I disagree. All that matters is that it's good when you drink it. How you find that out is personal testing. Simply drink coffee until you find the ones that you like at the various times and places you want to drink coffee. Blind tasting is not necessary. Once you've found a coffee you like it's not necessarily the best but it's good enough and after that it's your choice whether you keep on looking for better or not.

If you don't control for the vast list of factors you'll never know whether you liked "it" because of the coffee, the water, the brewing, the crockery or the mood you were in at the time.

So drinking the one that you liked the last time may not give you the same pleasure the next time. That would be a pity.

Jonathan

Doesn’t matter chances are you buy coffee and drink it until the container has run out, that is most likely enough time to be in various moods, ways of making, etc. If it's meeting your needs and quality needs then chances are you'll stick until you fancy a change when you'll search again. Blind testing is only if you need data for other reasons. The simple "do I like it test is enough despite subjectiveness.

[Jules59]

The best coffee looks like tea, smells like tea and tastes like tea. Its actually tea. Yorkshire Tea hoorah ! (although it probably comes from India or nearby there)

[sjs]

Yes.


Yes: place, time, mood, food, company, memories...

That's why controlled study and blinding is so necessary and so helpful.

I disagree. All that matters is that it's good when you drink it. How you find that out is personal testing. Simply drink coffee until you find the ones that you like at the various times and places you want to drink coffee. Blind tasting is not necessary. Once you've found a coffee you like it's not necessarily the best but it's good enough and after that it's your choice whether you keep on looking for better or not.

If you don't control for the vast list of factors you'll never know whether you liked "it" because of the coffee, the water, the brewing, the crockery or the mood you were in at the time.

So drinking the one that you liked the last time may not give you the same pleasure the next time. That would be a pity.

Jonathan

I suppose the same must apply to beer. I foresee an extensive test programme.

[PedallingSquares]

I drink a lot of coffee.probably 10-15 cups a day.Some I drink black,some with milk.I don't particularly like instant coffee.I tend to buy Taylors No5 French blend.This is my go-to daily drink.I make it using an Aero-press and have pretty much nailed it so it's exactly how I like it every cup I'm not saying it's the best coffee but it's the one I like to drink all day.I don't worry about a bag going off as I've used it long before then.
I will also pick up a bag of independent stuff,or rather not stuff commonly found,when I'm out and about.Some is good some not so.I've even tried the budget supermarket own brand stuff but would not advise going down that route unless you want much disappointment.
When I retire I'm going to get a grinder and experiment.

[Jdsk]

I disagree. All that matters is that it's good when you drink it. How you find that out is personal testing. Simply drink coffee until you find the ones that you like at the various times and places you want to drink coffee. Blind tasting is not necessary. Once you've found a coffee you like it's not necessarily the best but it's good enough and after that it's your choice whether you keep on looking for better or not.

If you don't control for the vast list of factors you'll never know whether you liked "it" because of the coffee, the water, the brewing, the crockery or the mood you were in at the time.

So drinking the one that you liked the last time may not give you the same pleasure the next time. That would be a pity.

I suppose the same must apply to beer. I foresee an extensive test programme.

Multiple samples of each in each setting make it much easier to compare the between drink variation with the widin vrink thariation...

Jonathan

[Nearholmer]

Either:

(a) the scientific approach using fully controlled variables, blind tasting etc (make sure you get yourselves a nice white lab coat before starting, and ensure that your diet, health, and habits are rigorously controlled to eliminate “in-tester variability”);or,

(b) decades of trial and error.

Based on the results of using method (b), I suggest that a percolator gives a more “rounded” flavour than a cafetière, probably because it’s all too easy to use overly-hot water in the latter, which most likely vaporises and wastes some of the oils that give the flavour.

My “go to” coffee in this country is Waitrose own brand “French style ground coffee, dark blend”, but you probably won’t like it, because everyone likes something different. There are better mainstream ones in France, but it’s a long way to go to buy a bag of coffee.

Tea? It always tastes like drinking perfume to me.

[Audax67]

The main point is, IMO, that it's a lot of pother for what is, after all, just a drink. I know blokes who have blown the price of a very decent bike on an espresso machine + grinder. To my mind that doesn't show how much value they place on the drink but how little they place on the money.

[axel_knutt]

The main point is, IMO, that it's a lot of pother for what is, after all, just a drink.

Exactly. The best coffee is the stuff you spoon out of a jar and pour boiling water on without all the faff. It's made better still by the thought that the worst cups of coffee I've ever tasted, by a very large margin, were fresh, not instant.