Artibeus's Cuppa Joe Review: Best Coffee for Home Brewing!
I will honestly admit that I can be a bit of an extreme enthusiast about a great many things in life. Often to the point that my wife (who is remarkably even keel) will ask me while laughing, “How can you seriously get that excited about ______?” I really never know how to answer her other than just to double down on my giddiness and obsess about said hobby/item to the point of ridiculousness.
Now, more specifically, what would be a good example of the above "blank”? My friend, look no further than COFFEE.
Thus, given my passion for the delicious coffee bean, I will be spotlighting some of my favorite brews I have encountered. Today’s post category is:
Best Coffee for Home Brewing!
Ladies and gentelmen, I give you... Mayorga Coffee!
I cannot speak more highly about this delicious brew. Founded on a pay-it-back idea to the people of Latin America, the coffee company was created by Kerry and Martin Mayorga. 100% Organic, Farmer Friendly and Non-GMO, it has all the buzzwords to make you feel like you’re saving the world as you sip your cup and read Angelmaker.
As the coffee does come in 23 different blends (and 2 more heathen decaf versions - but who’s counting such travesties?), you have plenty of options to pick from that are all truly delicious. That being said, I personally recommend the Cafe Cubano Dark Roast blend. I am a dark roast lover, and this blend in particular is so wonderfully strong without being bitter in the least. The bag defines it as “bold, smooth and sweet”. Spot on.
Bonus Tip: If you happen to be one of those damn giant-shopping-cart-pushing Costco members like myself, you can get a giant bag of fresh ground or whole beans right inside. In fact, if you go on certain Saturdays, they’ll have a stand set up where they bag the heavenly-smelling beans right in front of you.
So while I support you keeping it simple with Folgers, you may want to give the delicious Mayorga a try the next time you see it on the shelves. Or feel free to order directly from their website here: https://mayorgaorganics.com/collections/coffee
I promise both your taste buds and those Latin American farmers will thank you!
Keep on Steem’n!
All images are my own
Hey @artibeus, I'm a 6-a-dayer myself - average quality Central-American coffee in plunger or Italian-style percolator. This quite does me. However, I've got a friend who maintains that:
I've seen videos that say much the same, starting off with 'so you think you've been drinking good coffee do you?'.
Just wondered if these things are considerations for you :D
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Oooh love diving into the intricacies of coffee brewing! Thanks for hitting me up on this @barge! I would love to always have coffee beans that were roasted within 7 days (the smell alone is worth it), though this is probably where I slack the most.
As far as taking my time brewing it, that I do. We always use the french press and grind our beans in this well rated ginder we got off of Amazon. I should really do a post on the whole process. I think your friend is right on the money, though our coffee making is closer to 5 mins of brewing with probably 10 mins total prep. I actually find the whole process wonderfully therapeutic.
Thanks again for touching base - may the coffee lovers inherit the earth! Ha!
Hey @artibeus, wow, so you are at that level of coffee-connoisseurship! I'd be interested to read a post on the whole process with pix of the heavy equipment :D ... have to admit I was a bit unsure (I mean, I accepted it in theory, but 7 mins to wait and twice the price of regular) when the same friend (who is on steemit btw, and to whom I have given this link :) took me along to a cafe to try (we live in different parts of Scotland and I haven't visited him for a whle to have seen his setup). But again, a cafe isn't an ideal setup, I'd have to have it at home to really be able to dig the top-top coffee vibe! And, if I remember from the video, it's not just about taste either, all the coffee goodness is gone within a few short days, and, apparently, what most of the world drinks is brown piss - I can actually accept that in a world of low satisfaction thresholds and short attention spans. And I am in a position where I enjoy the brown piss that I consume 6x daily...... a metaphor for life I guess, we think we've found the sweet spot, but there are an infinity of them spiralling away in increasing intensity - kinda nice to look forward to!
And you grind your own, yes that is something I could start doing, rather than buying pre-ground stuff! I wonder if you've tried your hand at roasting!
Oh ya, decaff lol, I used to but no longer bother, though I don't have as strong a view as you on that heathen travesty :D
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Oh ho - coffee chat on Steemit. Nice!
I think there are two factors at play for good home-brewed coffee.
The first is the age of the beans after roasting. I buy recently-roasted beans thanks to a great little café that lets me buy 1kg bags from them. I can tell the difference as the beans age before I've consumed them all. I do keep them in an airtight container, but they still oxidise.
The second is pressure. This is where I struggle. I use an AeroPress and it's getting old now, so if I push down hard I get coffee coming down the side of the mug. I used to have one of the Italian stove top ones, but I don't know what happened to it. Lost in a house move probably.
Buying beans off a supermarket shelf is a waste of time though. You might as well just buy pre-ground in that case, because of the age thing, and save yourself the hassle of grinding. Now a Wholefoods or something like that, sure. Just check the roasting date.
But if I can't indulge in coffee snobbery, sometimes brown piss does the job!
Hey great you came along @camuel :D ...cool, thanks for removing any hassle in organising and thinking about grinding for myself when it's 6 and half a doz with the brown piss lol. I'll check Wholefoods and the roasting date. Don't wanna put you on the spot, but heard of Mayorga?
What's the age limit for the beans then - once they've been ground? I kilo of coffee would last me approx 2 weeks I think!
Not heard of Mayorga. I get mine either at Gordon St Coffee in Glasgow or at the local caf here, where they bring them in from Green Coffee Roasters in Glasgow.
There's no age limit as such, but as you said, after 7 days you'll notice and it's a steady decline after that. A kilo lasts me around two weeks too, but it's much more cost effective than buying smaller bags. The local caf here also sells them cheaper than Gordon St. I pay £20 a bag here. I think Gordon St is at least £25.
My bestie in Luxembourg sends us an Italian hamper every year, including Italian beans roasted goodness knows when, so I'm going through them just now. I'm looking forward to finishing them so I can go back to the freshly roasted!
Holy beans from the arabica plant!! You guys got me salivating, @barge and @camuel!
Love all of this coffee banter! @Camuel you undoubtedly sound like you know your stuff, and @barge there's no denying that sometimes you just gotta go for the brown piss. Lol!
I really do need to concentrate on getting the most fresh beans I can find. One of my close friends also just tried roasting his own for the first time and he said the taste was mind-blowing! Aaaannd I'm drooling again.
You guys have inspred me to do a post on my coffee routine so look for that soon. Thanks so much for the support and I'll be following you both! Stay awesome, fellow coffee drinkers!
Awesome @artibeus! I'm not really a font of all knowledge - just a guy that likes coffee. Marco Arment used to talk a lot about coffee on his podcast with Dan Benjamin. That's how I found the Baratza grinder, through his show. Home roasting is a step beyond how geeky I'd like to get!
I look forward to your coffee posts in future!
As a coffee lover myself, I like dark roast too. Will certainly check out Mayorga and see if it is up my alley. Thanks for sharing
Absolutely @karinzdailygrind! Hope you find it and enjoy it my fellow dark roaster!!
My wife loves coffee. I will keep an eye out for Mayorga so that I can suprise her with something new to enjoy.
Thanks for sharing!
Outstanding idea @sumatranate! She'll be pleased and thus you'll be Champion of the Day, I assure you!
I LOVE this coffee!!! Mayorga is so delicious and you can't beat the organic, farmer friendly beans. Sad to say, but hard to find such a good combo from coffee brands nowadays. And I always love the home french press!!!