I brewed a few pots of Intelligentsia's Summer Solstice Blend for a brunch party at my house yesterday. The quality of the coffee was commented upon by nearly every coffee drinker in the house, especially the elderly drinkers. A few of the octogenarians pulled me aside and said "that's some of the best coffee I've ever had". It was very good. Highly recommended.

Best
Michael

ooh, I've never tried Intelligentsia's Summer Solstice Blend-- I definitely will get some next time I stumble across a local cafe with an Intelligentsia sign in the window. I manage a coffee shop that serves Metropolis and am pretty pleased with it. I especially like the General Schweiks (black) and the Italian Roast (with a dab of steamed milk). The best coffee ever is from Espresso Vivace in Seattle (my home and native land, aka barista heaven). If any friends or family happen to be flying through Chicago they will unquestioningly become my Vivace mule and I will meet them at O'Hare to trade an Italian Beef sandwich for a couple pounds of the best beans in the world (specifically the Dolce). They also ship, but a steady stream of visitors means I've never needed to order from the company.

http://www.espressovivace.com/intro.html

vallough wrote:ooh, I've never tried Intelligentsia's Summer Solstice Blend-- I definitely will get some next time I stumble across a local cafe with an Intelligentsia sign in the window. I manage a coffee shop that serves Metropolis and am pretty pleased with it. I especially like the General Schweiks (black) and the Italian Roast (with a dab of steamed milk). The best coffee ever is from Espresso Vivace in Seattle (my home and native land, aka barista heaven). If any friends or family happen to be flying through Chicago they will unquestioningly become my Vivace mule and I will meet them at O'Hare to trade an Italian Beef sandwich for a couple pounds of the best beans in the world (specifically the Dolce). They also ship, but a steady stream of visitors means I've never needed to order from the company.

http://www.espressovivace.com/intro.html

Val, what coffee shop do you manage? I'm a fan of Metropolis (and Intelligentsia).

Dunkin Donuts Original Blend
Eight O'Clock Coffee Original
Intelligentsia Black Cat Classic Espresso
Metropolis La Cordillera Blend

I am using a Kyocera Manual Grinder + Aeropress.

I switched to whole bean coffee and now I can't go back to pre-ground coffee.

I have been a long time supporter of Casteel Coffee in Evanston, but as an exclusively decaffeinated drinker for the past eight years, I have experienced palate fatigue with the five varieties offered by Casteel (Ethiopian, Guatemalan, Colombian, Sumatran and Mexican). Honestly, I never liked their Mexican.

I have started sourcing decafs from CoffeeAM in Canton GA, and have tried their Organic Peruvian, Kenya AA, and Costa Rican, and I like them all.

They have one of the better decaf catalogs on the web, and I think I will continue buying my way through their list. All are SWP, for you other folks who have been denied "real" coffee by your doctors.

i picked up today some

ethiopian likempti , hints of blueberries & dark choclate.
also some that buzzd roasted yesterday
smells great

went back to a old fav.
chase & san.

Eight O'clock Columbian IMHO the best available on store shelves.

shorty wrote:Dunkin Donuts Original Blend
Eight O'Clock Coffee Original

I concur on the Dunkin Donuts, I will drive past every Starbucks to get to the next DD.

i was in lafayette,in. today
stopped at
K.DEES coffee
1016 main st lafayette,in.
765-423-7400
had some tanzania peaberry
outstanding stuff
& they have all kinds great shop
also have pasteries
killerbeans.com

Eight O Clock Bean Columbian or the Costco Columbian

When I'm at our place in Glen Arbor, MI, I like the Columbian Especial or the Foothills Blend from Leelanau Coffee Roasters. They've been doing progressively more interesting things in recent years and now have a nice selection of Organics/Exotics/FairTrade coffees, etc. A nice stop if you are in the area. They also offer a pretty good mail order service, which is handy at the holidays or when I'm missing Glen Lake

Leelanau Coffee Roasters
6443 Western Ave
Glen Arbor, MI 49636
(231) 334-3365
http://www.coffeeguys.com

just brew a pot of GUATEMALA ANTIGUA
very nice

this is another one i picked up at K.DEES coffee
in lafayette,in.

We just returned from Vancouver and, while I have not yet had an opportunity to write up our meals, I did want to take a moment to note the coffee we were served in one establishment. We had breakfast one day at the Medina Cafe, a place serving primarily North African foods for breakfast; it has a sister Belgian restaurant next door that we simply never had a chance to get to because we were there for so short a time.

But I digress. We were served some of the best coffee I can recall having in quite some time. I contacted the restaurant and was told that it was an organic espresso from a company in Vancouver called 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters. Their list isn't particularly long but they offer a very nice selection and I quickly ordered several pounds, including the organic espresso. I'd highly recommend a look-see to anyone who's interested. I'll report back on my home brewing experiences once the coffee shows up.

Medina Cafe
556 Beatty Street
Vancouver, BC V6B2L3, Canada
(604) 879-3114

(For those interested, the name of the next-door Belgian restaurant is Chambar.)

I'm partial to Coffee and Tea Exchange's "Vienna" roast. I like Dave's Blend from them as well, though I can't recall the particulars of it. I also like their "Blue Mountain Style" for a kind of platonic ideal of good diner coffee---med. body, warm, soft. Nothing too exotic but the comfort food of coffee.
I love Metropolis, but I'm not there enough to remember which ones. Ditto Asaro which I've only made it to once or twice but really liked.
I tend not to make a lot of very dark stuff at home, but I have liked one from Caribou, which I believe is called Onyx.

picked up some sunrise blend from roastin ronnies coffee.
ethiopia &brazil combo
very tasty

Trader Joes for me has the best bang for your buck. We like the East meets West blend, French Blend or the straight up Colombian is nice with a touch of sweet.

I really like Trader Joes Fair Trade Organic Sumatra. I grind it espresso and make it in my Aeropress...just love it.

Diet Coke!

Lately, it's been Metropolis Coffee Company's La Cordillera.

I started doing that Japanese "pour over" thing, and it's tasty! I do think it tastes better.

My problem is that my beans are no longer available I really like Trader Joe's "Half Caf" coffee blend. So, if anyone has any pointers to what might I could put in to simulate or replicate the blend that would be great
(it says Decaf Colombian, roasted very dark and Mandheling Sumatra roasted light)

looking for some peaberry near midway ? any ideas

Yesterday, while out in Ottawa, IL for Morel Fest, Queijo caught the scent of coffee being freshly roasted. We followed our noses to LaSalle Street Coffee Roasting Co., where we whiled away the better part of an hour visiting with the owner, Andrew Terry, who is very passionate about coffee and was pleased to share his love of java with two gals who randomly stumbled in.




I am by no means a coffee expert, so Queijo will be writing up something detailed on her blog, http://www.cakeandcommerce.com, at some point. However, I think it's safe to say both of us were very impressed with what Andrew (and his wife, whom we did not meet) is doing in a tiny storefront in the back of a mall. After a lengthy consultation we each picked up a really fantastic Rwandan Bourbon Rukira Station and Queijo grabbed a Papua New Guinea Onaka Co-op as well. A lot of thought and love goes into this coffee, and it shows. I'm sipping on the Rwandan now, and it's one of the best cups of coffee I've had in a long time. They regularly update their Facebook page with what they are roasting/doing.

Just a terrific little operation run by a very knowledgeable and talented young couple. Although the drive is a bit much for me, I'm sure I'll be mail ordering this coffee on a regular basis. For those who live in the area or just happen to be out there, they sell from both the storefront and from the Ottawa Farmer's Market, as well as online.

La Salle Street Coffee Roasting Co.
807 La Salle St.
Ottawa, IL 61350
(815) 434-3735
http://www.lasallestreetcoffee.com/

I've tried dozens of beans/roasts, but I've been pretty consistently happy for a while running now with Whole Foods' Pleasant Morning Buzz. It's a reasonably dark roast, but gets the job done via my Chemex.

picked up a pound of whole bean HIGHLANDER GROGG.
great flavor,picked this one up in port clinton,oh.
coffee express

I travel abroad frequently and tend to bring home a lot of coffee. My favorite is Cafe Rebo from Haiti. I have a bag of Fujita from Japan that's one of the best I've ever had (I assume that it came from Jamaica but the only thing I can read on the bag is the name Fujita). And from Mexico, there's Blason (with bags from Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Chiapas). The Oaxaca blend is the best of the three - and I had someone ask me for the bag to frame the artwork.

c_howitt_fealz wrote:I travel abroad frequently and tend to bring home a lot of coffee. My favorite is Cafe Rebo from Haiti. I have a bag of Fujita from Japan that's one of the best I've ever had (I assume that it came from Jamaica but the only thing I can read on the bag is the name Fujita). And from Mexico, there's Blason (with bags from Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Chiapas). The Oaxaca blend is the best of the three - and I had someone ask me for the bag to frame the artwork.

those sound great

I used to have Bean in the morning!

Kirkland World Blend from Costco in 2.5 lb. resealable bag, about $15.

drak french roast
whole bean,smells great

having TANZANIA PEABERRY this morn.
was in lafayette,in. on sat. so stopped at my buddy jerry's


k . dees coffee
1016 main st
765-423-7400
website
KILLERBEANS.COM