Coffee’s hidden beauty is what Adler had long sought after in his homemade coffee lab. He applied an empirical approach to his experimentations while making use of mail- order green coffee beans, store- bought roasters and other rigged- up bean- cooki…

Mark Prince (the Mark above..head CoffeeGeek) just rocks. Listen to the podcast if you don’t already….great source of information!

Jason

don’t quit. Evolve and brew your own.

But there’s a caveat to all this.

I get to try really, really good coffee, almost every day. I’m very blessed by this. And because I get to try some of the world’s best coffees every day, I get to enjoy them “naked” as in black, no additives, brewed with sometimes excruciating care and attention – drip, vacpot, mokapot, aeropress, presspot, cold drip, espresso, you name it.

BUT… the caveat – I fully appreciate how coffee morphs and changes with additives – maybe some of the more purer-additives out there – really good quality cream, and interesting sugars (I try everything from 100% fructose to belgian pearl sugars and everything in between).

I’ve had some simply amazing coffees straight up that, once some cream is added, take on a whole new persona and taste profile. Ditto on adding sugar. And every morning, I enjoy my nice 5oz americano with a bit of sugar and cream – it’s my morning ritual.

When introducing quality coffees to guests, my typical method is press pot brewed, and I place the following in front of them: a 6oz (or 8oz) cup of brew with enough headroom for additives, a little creamer, some cubed or other interesting sugar, spoons, and an espresso cup with more coffee in it. I say this (pointing at the big cup) is for however you enjoy coffee. This (pointing at the 2oz in an espresso cup) is to try the coffee straight.

More often than not, people will keep the big cup black after trying the small espresso cup. Not out of snobbery or any worry about “disappointing” me their host – but because they’ve just discovered how culinary and good coffee can be, and they want to continue on that road.

No matter what coffee I drink I use cream and sugar. The old stomach just can’t take black coffee anymore. I’m not ashamed of it…its the way I have to drink coffee and the way I like it.

The guy at work is a zealot. Ignore him and drink your coffee the way you enjoy it.

As for Jason’s comment, should we only comment when we agree with the poster?

But… I put sugar & cream in my coffee. I just like it better that way! I was telling this to coworker recently (a SERIOUS coffee geek) and when I mentioned I don’t drink it black, well I might as well have been toting it in a Scooby Doo thermos on my way to kindergarten recess. Man did he turn up his nose at me. (Admittedly the dude’s not very cool to begin with…) So for those of you really into the stuff, please try not to be the Comic Book dude to those of us early in our coffee journeys. :)

Heres a hint: if you’re annoyed by the author’s writing style, level (or not) of elitism, digs at culture and government, then don’t read the articles.

I admit to the mediocrity. It’s a shame, I know. However you did hit the nail on the head why i will walk away from a good place–comic book guy syndrome. My experience has constantly been one of snobbery when it comes to looking for good coffee. Whether a friend praising Kona above all, or my brother (a barrista) looking down his nose at my moka.

So the main draw for me: a place to sit, and fun barristas. Sad, but true, I’ve managed to find both at bux and peet’s.

Anyone know good places in Beantown?

The one method of preparation I’ve also wanted to explore further but can’t find any information on–even in the day and age of the internet–is Dutch cold process coffee. I was at a coffee house in Japan where they had these fantastic machines making cold process drip coffee. Big reservoir of water on top that dripped (at a rate of a deciliter/10 hours) into a cylinder packed with coffee. The extract would drip out below and get served in tiny quantities with a large dose of cold milk. Wonderful stuff. And amusing to watch too, since the drip from the reservoir would be caught by a little gold spoon on a fulcum that, being weighted down by the drop of water, would swing down and gently deposit it on the top of the packed coffee. Beautiful tower of glass and gold, but never seen one anywhere else…

The toddy cold process coffee makers do a passable job at extraction. But, obviously miss out on some of the fun element. I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t tried cold process coffee to give it a whirl–no bitterness at all, and it tastes the way coffee smells. The extracts are quite powerful, however, so put a little in a tumbler and fill it up the rest of the way with milk.

You brought us to the peak with that article. Now tell us, oh wise one, how we do it right?