The best way I've heard it described is that Charbucks is not a coffee company, they're a real estate company.

Might try home roasting at some point. That sounds kinda' cool.

I alternate between Starbucks espresso roast and Peets MDB. The hardest part is getting the right grind for our espresso machine. We have 5 Starbucks within 2 miles of our house and their interpretation of espresso grind #3 are all different. Luckily the local Sprouts market has a grinder that is pretty consistent and they sell Peets. The only Peets outlet I ever saw and experienced was the one in the SF airport international terminal. Loaded up before flying to Narita. :) Truly horrible stuff comes from 'It's a grind' and 'The Coffee bean'. Caribou is good (strong) coffee but I again like Peets their stores are nowhere to be found in North County San Diego. I do hit them everytime I'm in Falls Church VA.

Can't wait for morning and that first cup of espresso...

Which Hot Top the cheapo or the expensive one...

home roasting is definitely the way to go!. Even more than the provenance of the coffee i find the date it was roasted and ground makes a big difference. similar to old cars, i am a fascinated by old espresso machines - this is an early 70's cimbali eleva lever operated machine that i've been trying to put back together for the past few years:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1207468957.jpg

Home roasting, imho, is the way to go. Even if all you're doing is drip coffee -- not espresso -- you'll get noticeably better results with simple home roasting. Worse, if you're spending real money on coffee (like you do whole bean from Charbucks, for example), you can save a lot of money roasting your own. Like I said, I usually get the $5/lb beans, because they're quite good, and I can't justify Kona or JBM.

My first roaster, actually, was a going away gift from a friend -- a little 8 oz "Fresh Roast 8," iirc. It was great for doing tiny amounts of coffee, but wasn't up the kind of volume that I was going through. The heat gun thing, while cheesy and way more involved than the spiffy digitally controlled roasters that I lust after, is remarkably adequate.

What makes good beans "good?" A lot of that is a matter of personal taste. I like rich chocolate overtones with at little acidity as I can get. Some people like the "green" flavor that you get from roasting real light with some beans. Other people like the tang of the acidity in the beans. Of course, all of this assumes that the beans are freshly roasted -- if the beans aren't fresh, they just taste flat.

All that being said, I'm going to go make some espresso. :)

Dan

A good "burr grinder" is essential too. I'm with you...good green beans ($5/lb), home roasted and freshly ground is hard to beat. OK, you guys have motivated me...I've been drinking "swill" the past few months, and have to get back to roasting :)

Good god, evren, where did you find that old lever machine? My dad would give his left eye tooth for that!

When I bought mine they had an "Analog" and a "Digital" model. I bought the Digital one for ~$600. The analog model was $100 bucks less. Times have changed I guess..... Now they want over 7 bills for the base model.

I did a lot of research when I was shopping and at the time the HotTop was the largest "home" roasters and had really good reviews. I can now agree that it is a very well built unit and the company is still around if you need any replacement parts.
http://www.hottopusa.com/

I went the "cheap" route with one of the sweetmaria's Heathware I-roasts ($180), one went bad after maybe 75 roasts, and the replacement didn't even last that long. I just tossed it..."live & learn" :(.

Agreed. A uniform and consistent grind is one of the most important steps, instead of the dust and chunks results from worthless blade "grinders". A Mazzer is nice for the bling, but there are perfectly capable burr grinders for much less.

http://www.wholelattelove.com/Baratza/maestro.cfm

I don't bother with home roasting, but instead order from Intelligentisia. Beans are almost always roasted that same day, and at my door the next day.

http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/store/coffee







Tim

Just want you coffee hounds to know that tools purchased at the Albany, Oregon Sears store are aiding in the restoration of this machine. Oh...also PB Blaster purchased here. :D

Tip: if you are at Starbucks and hate the coffee which many do, try the Americano--espresso shots and hot water. Strong and smooth with not burnt bite like the coffee. Much more drinkable. I've found this to be generally true at most coffeehouses if I don't like their coffee--the Americano is the way to go.

For roasting, I have a homebuilt rig-an ebay "convection oven" look at the newegg for an idea of what I mean-its a glass casserole lid with a fan and heating element build in. I used it on a stir crazy popcorn popper base (not my idea, google stir crazy coffee roaster) but it was too unreliable, so I bought a $40 Grainger gear drive motor that turns 20 rpm and drilled a shallow stainless pan to mount it to. This rig will roast up to 2-3lbs of coffee (rarely do more than one) perfectly.

Greg, could you explain or provide some links...I googled "newegg" and went to a computer site :). I've got a buddy that also roasts, and we've been kicking ideas around...I'm intrigued and will check out the "stir crazy" stuff, so if it's all there, nevermind and THANKS!

I find all the Starbucks hating rather tiresome. Their espresso is not good in my opinion, but its non undrinkable either. Hating Starbucks seems to be quite the fashion statement these days. A sure way to set yourself apart from the latte drinking hordes at the airport.

Its like taking the time to go on and on about how bad '2 buck chuck' wine is from Trader Joes, or complaining that food at fast food restaurant is not good. Duh!

Geezus PWD, talk about wanting to hear yourself speak? If I remember correctly someone always was telling me the same thing about my posts on another site. That person even put me on their Ignore List and let everyone within shouting distance know about it over and over again.

Thanks Yabby...

Keith-http://biobug.org/coffee/turbo-crazy/ pictures one. There are dozens of these on ebay. The only downside to the stir crazy is that the motor shaft is plastic and melts if you leave a batch in (ie you forget or get distracted). I wasted about 3 before I finally built something robust.

Thanks Greg, I'll check it out!

Eight o-clock price check
 

TerryH I just got a 32 oz. bag of beans for $9.52 at wal-mart.