Coffee...

[ummagumma]

I had an interesting revelation not long ago

I was in Colombia for work; had been there before, multiple times, and always look forward to the food and coffee ( the meat & produce is SO much better than what we get in North America )

this time I was there for 3 weeks....the food, people, culture, and coffee are simply amazing

anyway, after one particular meal in a restaraunt in Santa Fe, we were sipping coffee....and it was AMAZING coffee, even for Colombia


in fact, it was so amazing, I barged into the kitchen & forced the guys to show me what they used to make it...


you know what it was?

  one of those oldschool metal campfire percolater things...I couldn't believe it

  meanwhile, here I am buying into all this expensive/aficionado/euro/espresso coffee making paraphenalia, and the BEST cup of coffee I have ever had in my life....was made in one of these things!!



so now I am on the hunt for one 


I still remember my father using one, when I was a kid: every morning he'd get up around 5am & start perking coffee...I could hear it in my room, the weird bubbling noises and the strong coffee smell

[Randy_R]

try a 2nd hand shop... Everyone has gotten rid of them so they can have what the movie stars have.


.

Unfiltered coffee is higher in cholesteral though..

[tuffythepug]

Sometimes simple is better.      But this reminds me of the current craze among those with more $$$ than brains.
"Civet Coffee".     In Central America there is a rodent called a Civet.  They feast on coffee cherries (beans).  As the beans go through their digestive tract the outer hull is dissolved by the digestive enzymes.   Then they poop out the bean that was inside the coffee cherry.   People then harvest the bean-laden Civet poop off the jungle floor and bag it up to sell to coffee roasters who promote it as the best tasting coffee in the world.   They claim that the digestive enzymes take away all the harsh, acidic qualities that are present in the normal coffee beans.    
I'm not making this stuff up.   Some of you have probably heard this and can back me up.     I don't care how good it tastes, I'm not going to buy or brew Civet Poop Coffee.   A man has to draw the line somewhere.

T

[bearsville0]

I'd try it. Bet it's expensive though.

[tuffythepug]

I'd try it. Bet it's expensive though.

Quick google search showed one vendor selling it in 200 gram bags for $59.99..     over 100 per pound

[JOYCEfromNS]

I really don't understand this coffee craze that seems to be sweeping North America. Here in Canada, Tim HORTONS reins supreme. There is pretty much 24/7 cars lined up in the Drive-thru for their "fix". A MacDonalds Restaraunt accross the street last month was giving their coffee away for a month. That didn't alter the line ups at Tim Hortons any. Almost to the point I am suspecting they must be putting something in it to make it so addictive.

People who really don't have the extra $ and could easily make coffee at home for pennies are in these lines. I don't recall adults in the 60's 70's and 80's needing a cup of coffee like they do today

[GA-ME]

I'm hopelessly addicted to coffee. For instance, today I started drinking my joe at about 5:45 am and finished up my last sip at 5:15 pm. I made three 32 ounce coffee presses of an Ethiopian brew. Yup, hopelessly addicted and don't care to alter the behavior at all. All the caffeine probably is one of the reasons I have such an issue with keeping tempo appropriate when I make music!

[AgeOfEmpires]

if you have any interest in coffee then go to vimeo and watch a few of the Intelligentsia coffee videos.  Not your everyday $bux.

[MrZamboni]

Sometimes simple is better.      But this reminds me of the current craze among those with more $$$ than brains.
"Civet Coffee".     In Central America there is a rodent called a Civet.  They feast on coffee cherries (beans).  As the beans go through their digestive tract the outer hull is dissolved by the digestive enzymes.   Then they poop out the bean that was inside the coffee cherry.   People then harvest the bean-laden Civet poop off the jungle floor and bag it up to sell to coffee roasters who promote it as the best tasting coffee in the world.   They claim that the digestive enzymes take away all the harsh, acidic qualities that are present in the normal coffee beans.    
I'm not making this stuff up.   Some of you have probably heard this and can back me up.     I don't care how good it tastes, I'm not going to buy or brew Civet Poop Coffee.   A man has to draw the line somewhere.

T

This is the coffee from the movie "Bucket List" with jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman. Here's what a wholesaler has to say about it:

Kopi Luwak, originating in the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Sumatra and Java, is the worlds rarest and most expensive coffee. These islands are famous for their coffee beans, but in the case of Kopi Luwak, it is not the bean itself that makes this coffee so scarce and therefore so valuable. However, it is the manner in which the coffee beans are processed that makes Kopi Luwak so costly.

The palm civet cat (Paradoxurus Hermaphroditus) is a small mammal native to Indonesia, the Philippines and other areas in Southeast Asia. The palm civet diet consists of insects, rodents and fruits such as coffee berries. While the fruit of the outer coffee berry is digested by the civet cat, the indigestible inner bean is excreted. Kopi Luwak - literally "coffee palm civet" in Indonesian - is made from the beans that have been excreted by the civet cat.

Kopi Luwak Coffee is considered by many coffee connoisseurs to be the best tasting coffee in the world. For centuries, known to the most sophisticated of pallets, Kopi Luwak Coffee, also known as civet coffee, is now available to you via Exotic Sabores.

Most Expensive Coffee in the World
Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world as well.  Due to the rarity of this exotic coffee, the price is very expensive.  If you can find a vendor or coffee shop that sells it in the United States, Canada, Europe or Australia you could be paying up to $600 per pound and up to $50 per cup.

Wonder how it goes with donuts? 

[ffinke]

Folgers makes a good cup of coffee if you use 1/3 of what they recommend. It's amazing how many people will eat Beluga Caviar and say 'It's GOOD!' Yecccch!

f

[Danny]

                                                                    I like it

[bluesman67]

Its all in the bean. AA Arabica is the best, lower acidity. Also organically grown makes a difference. The roasting process too. Infrared roasted is the smoothest, but only about 5% of coffee sold is infrared roasted. Blended coffee is the poorest in quality. Horton's is okay, not great but much better than Starbucks.

My name is bluesman67, and I'm a coffeeoholic.

[lyric_girl]

Yes Joyce, Tim Horton's is very popular here in the great white north. Personally, I think it bites and much prefer Starbucks 

[cke]

Sometimes simple is better.      But this reminds me of the current craze among those with more $$$ than brains.
"Civet Coffee".     In Central America there is a rodent called a Civet.  They feast on coffee cherries (beans).  As the beans go through their digestive tract the outer hull is dissolved by the digestive enzymes.   Then they poop out the bean that was inside the coffee cherry.   People then harvest the bean-laden Civet poop off the jungle floor and bag it up to sell to coffee roasters who promote it as the best tasting coffee in the world.   They claim that the digestive enzymes take away all the harsh, acidic qualities that are present in the normal coffee beans.    
I'm not making this stuff up.   Some of you have probably heard this and can back me up.     I don't care how good it tastes, I'm not going to buy or brew Civet Poop Coffee.   A man has to draw the line somewhere.

T

Wow! hmmm ... beer comes from diabetic horses and the best coffee from rat poop...

Gives me new respect for the animal kingdom

[Caleb]

  one of those oldschool metal campfire percolater things...I couldn't believe it

I use one of these exclusively and have for years.  I got mine for Christmas about 8 years ago and have used nothing but it since.  I think it came from a camping store like Cabella's or Bass Pro Shops.  But you can also buy them at Walmart, though they'll probably have a plastic handle and perk window. I say go to a camping store (or online) and get one with a wooden handle and a real glass perk window. 

I think this is the best coffee available and I'll never go back to a traditional drip maker.  I grind my coffee a little fine so some will go through the basket and get in the mix.  It makes a cloudy, sometimes gritty cup, and at the end you'll get a nice mouthful of grounds.  I chew them up and eat them.  Great stuff.  I also like the take a handful of beans when I'm grinding and put them between my cheek and gum like snuff. 

Coffee is a good thing. 

[unclrob]

I got mine as a gift from my wife,its a farbarware made.She got it at walmart.Randy I use a filter in mine as I have my beans ground very fine.Most camping stores should sell one.

[tuffythepug]

I got mine as a gift from my wife,its a farbarware made.She got it at walmart.Randy I use a filter in mine as I have my beans ground very fine.Most camping stores should sell one.

yes, if a campfire-style coffee maker is what you're after your best bet is a store that sells camping gear.    Better yet, an army-navy surplus store.   That's where I got my campfire coffee pot many years ago.   

[cc407]

I guess those palm civet cats are hard to catch - all wired up on coffee skins and such...
best coffee I ever had came from Costa Rica. My bro-in-law bought it in a market when he was on mission there. Came in a plain brown bag. Just the local brew. Great stuff.

[old folky]

My in-laws have had one of those "camp" coffee pots for years at their camp.  We (they) just go down to the lake and grab a bucket of water (hopefully without duck droppings but you never know) and it makes a great cup of coffee.  I don't know if it's the age of the thing or not, but it does have the wooden handle.  Maybe it's brazilian rosewood or something.   
I recently bought some "dunkin donuts" coffee for my drip coffe maker at home and I like that pretty well though expensive.

[GA-ME]

I really don't understand this coffee craze that seems to be sweeping North America. Here in Canada, Tim HORTONS reins supreme.

Unless the coffee blend is different for Tim Horton in the USA, I just can't understand how the chain has become so popular. I tried the swill when I was up North in the Maine area a couple of years ago and it was only marginally better than the Duncan Donuts chain swill that is sold on the East Coast in the US. I was expecting something really special when I went in and ordered after all the praise heaped upon the brew by the Canuck Forum members. That was a big, big let down. The donuts were better than Duncan Donuts fare but not nearly as tasty as Crispy Creme fare.