Category Archives: Good coffee

Good coffee

I really do blog about coffee

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I do realize the contradiction of naming a site awful coffee and having only positive things to say about the coffee I talk about. This site isn’t a place to dish on coffee I think is crap, there’s plenty of hate out there for things that don’t necessarily deserve it. Everyone’s got an opinion about something and the internet is a sounding board for that opinion, unfortunately most of the time it’s a negative one, and poorly written at that.

I’ve added a couple of things to the sidebar to make it easier to track my coffee findings, along with what I’m drinking right now. I do try to find new coffee when I can and always give it a fair shake when I do. My primary brewing method is a Chemex which I highly recommend. I brew using filtered water via a Brita filter. My grinder is a KitchenAid A-9 which has done me well but I am looking to upgrade in the near future as it simply won’t do a good fine espresso grind and it’s messy as hell.

I’ve educated myself about coffee a bit as well. I’ve done a couple tastings, both by Intelligentsia coffee and they gave me a few good things to look out for when buying coffee that have proved right every time. In the end, I just love drinking coffee and I drink a lot of it, black as midnight on a moonless night. And yes, I’m a sucker for donuts and pie.

Good coffee, Life

This week in Brent

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Going back for the second week of my new gig tomorrow. I like the place, the people are friendly, the workspace is nice and it’s close to home. It’s odd how important that last part is to me, but not that weird since I miss my family when I’m gone.

Getting a few shipments this week. Some lovely coffee from 49th parallel. I wonder how many people are now in love with their coffee since the olympics? It’ll also be interesting to compare it to the recent Intelli roasts that I’ve been drinking.

Also some more Ruby and Rails references making their way as well. Haven’t done much tinkering with the Rails 3 beta, probably best to polish my Rails 2 skills first. So many projects lined up!

Have a good week!

Good coffee

Coffee discoveries

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Considering the rising cost of coffee and my current state of unemployment, I’ve been investigating cheaper coffee avenues lately. I’m a die hard Intelligentsia fan and still order it from time to time. However, since I’m at home all the time now, I’m drinking a lot more coffee and can burn through a couple pounds a week-that adds up quick.

Before I got hooked on Intelligentsia, I was a huge fan of Peet’s. Living near a store (North ave. in Lincoln park) made it easy to buy beans and it was close to the Whole Foods I shopped at. Even though that parking lot will go down in history as the most ridiculously aggressive lot I’ve ever been in, I braved it to spend some time at Peet’s and do some shopping for dinner. Now, in order to get Peet’s I have to make a trip to Dominick’s, something I’m not fond of doing. I’ve hated shopping at Dominick’s, Jewel and the like for years now cause they’re overpriced on quite a few things for no specific reason, namely produce and coffee. Those stores also make grocery shopping an unpleasant experience in general with poor store layouts and rather unpleasant employees-something that’s strangely not unique to the city.

There’s a sneaky little thing that coffee companies have done recently to attempt to hide the rising price of coffee. Where one pound used to be the standard size pack for beans, it’s now 12oz. This sucks for me especially because I’m looking at about $12.50 for a 12oz. pack of Major Dickason’s that may or may not be a couple months old. Direct from the site is around $1.00 more but Peet’s is really mean when it comes to shipping (cheapest is $8.00), so 1lb of coffee from Peet’s via mail order is a whopping $21.95. Basically, I can’t get Peet’s cheap and I’m back up in Intelligentsia pricing-which is the coffee I’d rather drink in the first place. Oh well.

General, Good coffee

Coffee, black.

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I am a huge fan of the television series Twin Peaks. I watched it in high school when it was on and have owned it on all media which it has been released, including multiple dvd boxed sets. The series sucks me in when I watch it, I can (and have) watch the whole series over a weekend and always notice something in it that I didn’t notice before. One thing that happens when I watch the show is that I get a ridiculous craving for coffee and donuts, or coffee and cherry pie. I was fond of both things before I watched the show and maybe that’s one of the reasons that I’ve got such a fondness for the show is that I identify with it and it also makes ordinary things incredibly sexy.

Black coffee has a certain mystique to it already, but for me Twin Peaks puts a nice twist to it. The diner scenes in the show are always shot in a way that diverts from its overall dark theme and provide a place antipodal to the dark woods, which are not comforting at all, they are rather scary.

I also love how the show seems to stimulate my senses. Visually it’s beautiful, most of the music is teriffic, some of the scenes scare the hell out of me, and I can taste whatever is being eaten when someone on screen is eating something. However, the biggest problem I have when I watch the show is it makes me crave coffee and donuts, which if I’m having a marathon, gives me a huge caffeine and sugar headache when I’m done. I guess it’s an unfortunate side effect, but I’ll deal.

Good coffee

Tully's Coffee

I discovered Tully’s coffee, a west coast chain, on a trip to Seattle in 98. It seemed pretty generic but somewhat more classy than the other local chains. Even though the name struck me funny since it’s a unintentional nod to my favorite Ghostbusters quote, I didn’t do much to seek out their roasts.
Now, with the rising costs of coffee in general, and the amount that I consume on a daily basis, I’ve sought out different coffees besides my usual Intelligentsia roasts. I found quite a bit of Tully’s roasts at a local grocer for a good price.
The house blend has a good flavor, not strong or overly nutty. It goes well with meals or just on its own. I haven’t done the “hints of whatever” tasting and don’t plan on it, but I will recommend Tully’s house blend as a good all-around coffee.