I'll have to do a bit more testing on my own, Willoughby's could have been feeding us all a marketing line of their own, I guess. As for the origins war, I guess I came down a bit hard on Kona and JBM, they aren't awful coffees. I just feel like you do, there is no way they are four times as good as a $7/lb coffee.
Hehe, like your sig. Here's another one: Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac? He lay awake at night wondering if there's a dog.
I don't understand what people have against Nancy Pelosi. Most of the world would consider her a centrist. What exactly has she done that you don't like?
Some hard drugs stay in the hair for much longer. Ever wonder why so many security guards and bouncers keep their hair shaved? It's not just to keep people from yanking on it during a brawl...
It's not an issue, it's an interesting technical news story. A helicopter flying overhead jamming cell phones? Neat! I could give a fuck that it's for that douchebag, Bush. It's a dumb move, dumber since they've said what they're doing, and it won't protect the man from anything. But it's still a helicopter flying overhead jamming cell phones, which is still an interesting story for nerds of any political stripe.
It's just a CYA move by his security team. Cellphones have been used to trigger bombs? We'll jam cellphones, then. Nobody wants to be the guy who gets the president blown up because they didn't cover something obvious. That's kind of a career ending move.
Ah, another point I forgot to mention: the burr grinder. I've got one too, and so should any serious coffee drinker, for two reasons. A burr grinder grinds consistently, each particle of coffee is the same size as the next. A blade grinder turns some coffee into dust by the time the rest is the right size, meaning an inconsistent and more bitter brew. But the main reason is that the coffee is only in contact with the burr for a very short while, and won't heat up significantly. A blade grinder heats the coffee up while pulverizing it, meaning some of the flavor is lost.
Get a good burr grinder though. The first one I got was crap, it heated up the coffee and made inconsistently sized grounds just like a blade. That was a $40 model, expect to pay $60 for a good one.
You know, you touch on an important point: it is the particular plantation that really makes the bean. I've had coffee ostensibly from the same area, both fresh roasted and brewed right. One cup tastes blah, the next tastes like brown liquid heaven. It depends on the plantation. Willoughby's, were my GF worked, had tasters that would go to the coffee shows and would only buy the best from each region. Honestly, I've only had as good a cup as Willoughby's produced on a very few occasions, and I'm pretty sure it was because of their purchasers.
God damn it! So I did. It used to be there, then I changed my sig, but changed it back when nobody knew who I was anymore. I must have forgotten that part.
You are correct, green beans bought from a retailer that specializes in them will be cheaper. I meant that you can usually convince a roaster who doesn't normally sell green to do so if asked, for the reasons given. And yeah, it is hard to get an even roast on the stovetop. I've seen home hot air roasters for around $100. Will a hot air popcorn popper get hot enough?
I lived in Hawaii for two years. I drank pure Kona often, hoping that I was just missing something, that the next cup would be great. It never was. Kona is a coffee with no outstanding flavor notes, medium body, and medium acidity. But fresh cofee, even boring Kona, is going to be good.
The only reason Kona is special is that it is the only coffee grown in the US.
BZZT. Sorry, thanks for playing. Castro is only home to gay men with close cropped hair wearing chinos and wife-beaters. You will find lesbians in nearby Noe Valley, but generally only lipstick lesbians and mommy dykes. If you want vegan socialist womyn, you should look in the Mission, the TL, or across the bay in Berzerkely.
The outgassing means loss of volatile flavor elements. Willoughby's, where the aformentioned college girlfriend worked, claimed that the "coffee gets better in two days" myth was started by greedy roasters who wanted to sell out of date coffee. After two to three days, yes, coffee doesn't change much in flavor for two to three weeks. But I have had fresh roasted coffee, and I can tell you first hand that the whole "coffee tastes better after two days" thing is a complete myth.
Jamaican Blue Mountain ranks right up there with Kona as the most overrated coffee on the market today. It has a weak body, insipid flavor, and a medium acidity that does not stand out in any way. It is equivalent to any private reserve Columbian.
Roast is important, not the method, but how dark. To taste the varietal flavors best, a full city roast is recommended. Any lighter and it will have more hay-like or grassy notes than varietal flavors, any darker and the bittersweet taste of the roast will dominate the varietal flavors.
As I said below, the absolute, in fact, the only thing is the amount of time between roasting, grinding, and brewing. I guarantee, 90% of coffee drinkers out there have never really tasted coffee. Once you have tried coffee straight from the roaster, you will know what I mean.
You can roast your own beans at home if you can find green beans. Most coffee roasters will be more than happy to sell you green beans, as coffee loses 10-25% of its weight during roasting, so they can make more money selling you unroasted beans at roasted bean prices.
You need a cast iron skillet and a hot stove. Just heat the skillet up as hot as you can get it and throw in enough beans for one pot. Stir until they are a couple of shades lighter than you normally want your coffee, then throw them into a metal bowl to cool. They will continue to darken as they cool. You will find the resulting cup of coffee tastes far more intense than any you have had previously.
Okay, I had a girlfriend in college who worked at New Haven, Connecticut's snootiest coffee roaster. She and they gave me a fairly complete education in coffee. Here's the scoop.
Coffee beans lose 90% of their varietal aromatics within 3 days of roasting if unground, and within four hours if ground. Coffee quality is at least as much a function of the care taken in combing over the beans for clinkers as it is in the quality of the beans. A single clinker, that is, an immature bean, can ruin an entire pot of coffee, imparting a bitter, burnt flavor. They will look lighter in color, may be smaller, and will be lighter in weight than other beens, and you can remove them yourself. Obviously, if you are buying a blend with lighter and darker beans, they will be harder to find than a single varietal.
Method of brewing is important, with the major factors being the temperature of the water and the length of time the water is in contact with the grounds. Water temperature should be between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, and ideally should not stay in contact with grounds for more than six minutes. After that amount of time, the grounds start to release more bitter compounds.
As for the taste of beans, you will find there are three distinct coffee producing regions. Central and South American beans have low acidity, medium to high body (that is, the feel of the coffee in you mouth. If it feels thick, that is high body. If it feels watery, that is low body.) and tends towards spicy flavor notes. Eastern African coffees tend to have high acidity, low body, and winy flavor notes. Southeastern Asian coffees tend to have medium to low acidity, medium body, and earthy or nutty flavor ntoes. Of course, I am talking about Arabica beans from these regions, not Robusta, which all tend to taste like hay.
I know what you mean. Who would have thought my entry of "No crackers," "No uptight straight squares," and "Only lesbian vegan socialist womyn of abundant girth need apply" would cause such a controversy?
State normally takes advantage of the Customer Service Support. Corporations usually have support as a last resort for the State it is normally in the middle.
What? I've worked for big corps, and the state. When I worked for corps, we would often have an on site rep. Never had that working for the state.
Sorry AC troll, but you are wrong as usual. I refuted the original poster's point about chaotic systems and predicting climate versus weather. Nothing special there, the exact same thing has been pointed out millions of times, but people like the original poster, who is in no way a climate scientist, insist on dredging up that dead horse and beating it, over and over and over again.
In science, we should question everything. If a theory has much evidence in support of it (NOT if it's merely "popular," though usually theories with a lot of evidence are in fact popular) then it requires at least as much evidence against to refute it. Such evidence is sadly lacking from the anti-anthropocentric warming crowd.
Another point, the causes are irrelevant as long as we have and implement workable solutions. THAT is the thing that your side is REALLY against. Honestly, if it were proven that man was NOT the cause of global warming, and that the effects would be catastrophic, and that a solution was feasible, but the cost would be great and primarily born by the owning class, the fucking owning class asshats would still be against it, wouldn't they? Be honest. The debate is not REALLY about the cause so much as it is about the cost of the solution and who will bear that cost.
Nah, I'd much rather not believe in global warming. I'm way beyond thinking of myself as any kind of person. Good or bad, that's someone else's assessment. To me, I'm just me, and conventional labels like good and bad are laughably quaint. I don't think Kyoto was perfect by any means, but it wasn't a disaster.
Much as I hate to admit it, the last point is pretty much true, though. And yes, it sounds patronizing, but even though only one of the points is true, it still sounds relevant.
You just don't want to believe in global warming because you want to think of yourself as a good, responsible person, but you don't want to change your lifestyle. You were already convinced of your point before you started to read the article, and as soon as you found one point that you could attempt to refute, you stopped reading.
The fact is that they are saying that the Earth's weather, as opposed to climate, is a chaotic system. It's like boiling water, which is a chaotic system. When it comes to predicting where a bubble will form or burst, it's impossible. But predicting that adding more heat will make bubbles form more quickly is simple.
Slashdot Mirror
Oh GODS. I had completely blocked tubgirl out of my mind, you bastard!
I'll have to do a bit more testing on my own, Willoughby's could have been feeding us all a marketing line of their own, I guess. As for the origins war, I guess I came down a bit hard on Kona and JBM, they aren't awful coffees. I just feel like you do, there is no way they are four times as good as a $7/lb coffee.
Hehe, like your sig. Here's another one: Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac? He lay awake at night wondering if there's a dog.
Damn it! You beat me to it...
There's been a sexism troll making the rounds lately.
To stop those trolls 1-2-3
Here's a fresh new way that's trouble free
It's got Paul Anka's guarantee...
(Guarantee void in Tennessee)
Just don't look!
Just don't look!
I don't understand what people have against Nancy Pelosi. Most of the world would consider her a centrist. What exactly has she done that you don't like?
I thought that in case of emergency, Bush would be notified by his pet goat? Or did I read that story incorrectly?
Some hard drugs stay in the hair for much longer. Ever wonder why so many security guards and bouncers keep their hair shaved? It's not just to keep people from yanking on it during a brawl...
It's not an issue, it's an interesting technical news story. A helicopter flying overhead jamming cell phones? Neat! I could give a fuck that it's for that douchebag, Bush. It's a dumb move, dumber since they've said what they're doing, and it won't protect the man from anything. But it's still a helicopter flying overhead jamming cell phones, which is still an interesting story for nerds of any political stripe.
It's just a CYA move by his security team. Cellphones have been used to trigger bombs? We'll jam cellphones, then. Nobody wants to be the guy who gets the president blown up because they didn't cover something obvious. That's kind of a career ending move.
Ah, another point I forgot to mention: the burr grinder. I've got one too, and so should any serious coffee drinker, for two reasons. A burr grinder grinds consistently, each particle of coffee is the same size as the next. A blade grinder turns some coffee into dust by the time the rest is the right size, meaning an inconsistent and more bitter brew. But the main reason is that the coffee is only in contact with the burr for a very short while, and won't heat up significantly. A blade grinder heats the coffee up while pulverizing it, meaning some of the flavor is lost.
Get a good burr grinder though. The first one I got was crap, it heated up the coffee and made inconsistently sized grounds just like a blade. That was a $40 model, expect to pay $60 for a good one.
Not if you're only roasting a little at a time, in a pan. It will still smell up the kitchen a bit, so you might want to open a window.
I lived in Hawaii for two years and drank 100% Kona all the time. Bleah, boring. There's no accounting for taste, is there?
You know, you touch on an important point: it is the particular plantation that really makes the bean. I've had coffee ostensibly from the same area, both fresh roasted and brewed right. One cup tastes blah, the next tastes like brown liquid heaven. It depends on the plantation. Willoughby's, were my GF worked, had tasters that would go to the coffee shows and would only buy the best from each region. Honestly, I've only had as good a cup as Willoughby's produced on a very few occasions, and I'm pretty sure it was because of their purchasers.
God damn it! So I did. It used to be there, then I changed my sig, but changed it back when nobody knew who I was anymore. I must have forgotten that part.
You are correct, green beans bought from a retailer that specializes in them will be cheaper. I meant that you can usually convince a roaster who doesn't normally sell green to do so if asked, for the reasons given. And yeah, it is hard to get an even roast on the stovetop. I've seen home hot air roasters for around $100. Will a hot air popcorn popper get hot enough?
I lived in Hawaii for two years. I drank pure Kona often, hoping that I was just missing something, that the next cup would be great. It never was. Kona is a coffee with no outstanding flavor notes, medium body, and medium acidity. But fresh cofee, even boring Kona, is going to be good.
The only reason Kona is special is that it is the only coffee grown in the US.
BZZT. Sorry, thanks for playing. Castro is only home to gay men with close cropped hair wearing chinos and wife-beaters. You will find lesbians in nearby Noe Valley, but generally only lipstick lesbians and mommy dykes. If you want vegan socialist womyn, you should look in the Mission, the TL, or across the bay in Berzerkely.
The outgassing means loss of volatile flavor elements. Willoughby's, where the aformentioned college girlfriend worked, claimed that the "coffee gets better in two days" myth was started by greedy roasters who wanted to sell out of date coffee. After two to three days, yes, coffee doesn't change much in flavor for two to three weeks. But I have had fresh roasted coffee, and I can tell you first hand that the whole "coffee tastes better after two days" thing is a complete myth.
Jamaican Blue Mountain ranks right up there with Kona as the most overrated coffee on the market today. It has a weak body, insipid flavor, and a medium acidity that does not stand out in any way. It is equivalent to any private reserve Columbian.
Roast is important, not the method, but how dark. To taste the varietal flavors best, a full city roast is recommended. Any lighter and it will have more hay-like or grassy notes than varietal flavors, any darker and the bittersweet taste of the roast will dominate the varietal flavors.
As I said below, the absolute, in fact, the only thing is the amount of time between roasting, grinding, and brewing. I guarantee, 90% of coffee drinkers out there have never really tasted coffee. Once you have tried coffee straight from the roaster, you will know what I mean.
You can roast your own beans at home if you can find green beans. Most coffee roasters will be more than happy to sell you green beans, as coffee loses 10-25% of its weight during roasting, so they can make more money selling you unroasted beans at roasted bean prices.
You need a cast iron skillet and a hot stove. Just heat the skillet up as hot as you can get it and throw in enough beans for one pot. Stir until they are a couple of shades lighter than you normally want your coffee, then throw them into a metal bowl to cool. They will continue to darken as they cool. You will find the resulting cup of coffee tastes far more intense than any you have had previously.
Okay, I had a girlfriend in college who worked at New Haven, Connecticut's snootiest coffee roaster. She and they gave me a fairly complete education in coffee. Here's the scoop.
Coffee beans lose 90% of their varietal aromatics within 3 days of roasting if unground, and within four hours if ground. Coffee quality is at least as much a function of the care taken in combing over the beans for clinkers as it is in the quality of the beans. A single clinker, that is, an immature bean, can ruin an entire pot of coffee, imparting a bitter, burnt flavor. They will look lighter in color, may be smaller, and will be lighter in weight than other beens, and you can remove them yourself. Obviously, if you are buying a blend with lighter and darker beans, they will be harder to find than a single varietal.
Method of brewing is important, with the major factors being the temperature of the water and the length of time the water is in contact with the grounds. Water temperature should be between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, and ideally should not stay in contact with grounds for more than six minutes. After that amount of time, the grounds start to release more bitter compounds.
As for the taste of beans, you will find there are three distinct coffee producing regions. Central and South American beans have low acidity, medium to high body (that is, the feel of the coffee in you mouth. If it feels thick, that is high body. If it feels watery, that is low body.) and tends towards spicy flavor notes. Eastern African coffees tend to have high acidity, low body, and winy flavor notes. Southeastern Asian coffees tend to have medium to low acidity, medium body, and earthy or nutty flavor ntoes. Of course, I am talking about Arabica beans from these regions, not Robusta, which all tend to taste like hay.
I know what you mean. Who would have thought my entry of "No crackers," "No uptight straight squares," and "Only lesbian vegan socialist womyn of abundant girth need apply" would cause such a controversy?
State normally takes advantage of the Customer Service Support. Corporations usually have support as a last resort for the State it is normally in the middle.
What? I've worked for big corps, and the state. When I worked for corps, we would often have an on site rep. Never had that working for the state.
Sorry AC troll, but you are wrong as usual. I refuted the original poster's point about chaotic systems and predicting climate versus weather. Nothing special there, the exact same thing has been pointed out millions of times, but people like the original poster, who is in no way a climate scientist, insist on dredging up that dead horse and beating it, over and over and over again.
In science, we should question everything. If a theory has much evidence in support of it (NOT if it's merely "popular," though usually theories with a lot of evidence are in fact popular) then it requires at least as much evidence against to refute it. Such evidence is sadly lacking from the anti-anthropocentric warming crowd.
Another point, the causes are irrelevant as long as we have and implement workable solutions. THAT is the thing that your side is REALLY against. Honestly, if it were proven that man was NOT the cause of global warming, and that the effects would be catastrophic, and that a solution was feasible, but the cost would be great and primarily born by the owning class, the fucking owning class asshats would still be against it, wouldn't they? Be honest. The debate is not REALLY about the cause so much as it is about the cost of the solution and who will bear that cost.
Nah, I'd much rather not believe in global warming. I'm way beyond thinking of myself as any kind of person. Good or bad, that's someone else's assessment. To me, I'm just me, and conventional labels like good and bad are laughably quaint. I don't think Kyoto was perfect by any means, but it wasn't a disaster.
Much as I hate to admit it, the last point is pretty much true, though. And yes, it sounds patronizing, but even though only one of the points is true, it still sounds relevant.
You just don't want to believe in global warming because you want to think of yourself as a good, responsible person, but you don't want to change your lifestyle. You were already convinced of your point before you started to read the article, and as soon as you found one point that you could attempt to refute, you stopped reading.
The fact is that they are saying that the Earth's weather, as opposed to climate, is a chaotic system. It's like boiling water, which is a chaotic system. When it comes to predicting where a bubble will form or burst, it's impossible. But predicting that adding more heat will make bubbles form more quickly is simple.
Or are you just full of hot air?