where to buy good coffee beans

[tropo]

Well, call me a skeptic... I read through your coffee pdf and I reckon most of the differences you notice are in your head.

I feel your fanaticism is getting in the way of reality.

It would be interesting to do a taste test.,.. for example.. you say that coffee beans ground with a blade makes a cup which "tastes like shit" (your words). I'd brew one batch made from your special grinder and one done with a blade and see if you can taste the difference.... of course we'd have to do multiple tests to ensure the result isn't down to chance.....

Also do some taste tests with straight-out-of-the-bag coffee beans compared to beans left in a jar for 10 days, 20 days etc

I reckon you'd be hard pressed to tell the differences.

I've stopped buying whole beans because to me they don't taste any better than vacuum packed ground coffee and it's not worth the extra effort.

You never fail to amaze me as to how little you know about the importance of a top notch coffee grinder and fresh coffee beans. The espresso machine comes in third place.

Premium coffee outlets fine tune their grinder to find a setting that will produce the best coffee grind. You can't get an exact, consistent, even grind with a blade. The grind is most important as when the coffee machine forces water into the portafilter (which is filled with fresh coffee grinds) the pour into your cup ensures the maximum extraction from the beans.

An perfect, even grind results in the hot water being forced through the whole of the grind, not just the path of least resistance, as would be the case with an uneven grind.

A good barista knows exactly when to stop the pour, so that your cup is getting a rich, full flavoured coffee extraction before the pour turns to mainly a water flow.

There is no flavour in water, even for your faulty taste buds.

You wrote:

Also do some taste tests with straight-out-of-the-bag coffee beans compared to beans left in a jar for 10 days, 20 days etc

I reckon you'd be hard pressed to tell the differences.

When you have a top notch grinder, set to a perfect setting, you can easily pick the difference between fresh and stale beans. Fresh, ground coffee beans offer maximum resistance to the water flow from the espresso machine. Maximum resistance results in a longer flow with a richer extraction, as opposed to stale beans that have, or are quickly losing their flavour as they become dry and offering little to no resistance to the water flow.

All of the above relates mainly to espresso coffee machines, as found in Benjamit. It does not apply to a french press, a drip filter or the like. If those are your home choice for making coffee, they will be good enough with stale, no-name, supermarket bought coffee beans. Instant coffee is only a short step behind.

You reckon you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. Before you taste any fresh bean coffee from a coffee outlet, you can tell whether or not it will be full flavoured just by looking at it. The richness and evenness of the colour will suggest to you that this will be a good coffee. The taste test will confirm.

If you can't pick any difference in various coffees, why not just drink instant coffee for the taste alone. Why bother buying vacuum packed ground coffee if your taste buds can't pick the difference? A jar of Nescafe will suffice. Whilst you might enjoy drinking coffee your way, others expect more. There is no point in ridiculing others just because their taste buds for quality coffee are more fine tuned than yours.

Yikes, that post got you fired up.

Have another cup of coffee.

Edited September 25, 2013 by tropo

[kicking]

unless for whatever reason you are brewing the whole bean, who cares what it smells like? you have to grind them first. that post makes no sense whatsoever.

wait, 45,000+ posts? now we see why.

Edited September 25, 2013 by kicking

[kicking]

Another decent coffee is at a place called Espresso 99 on Theppraya past the Thepprasit intersection heading south. He uses a custom blend from BonCafe and somehow makes it work. Some baristas think a little robusta creates a better crema (important for an espresso).

Also, Benjamit will do a single origin brew if requested.

The best coffee in all of Thailand is probably Ristr8to in Chiang Mai, if anyone is headed there, highly recommended. In Bangkok, Roast isn't bad. That's just off Thonglor.

[Jingthing]

unless for whatever reason you are brewing the whole bean, who cares what it smells like? you have to grind them first. that post makes no sense whatsoever.

wait, 45,000+ posts? now we see why.

Don't be silly. The issue, obviously, is that as consumers smart coffee shoppers strongly prefer their beans to be FRESHLY roasted as opposed to OLD and STALE. If you buy a bag of beans and there is no smell, they have not been freshly roasted. That is not good. You can still use them but it's still not good.

I also think serious coffee drinkers only buy whole beans and grind what they need on the spot. Better flavor. Natch.

From the best coffee source in the world, PEETS:

Roasted coffee is a perishable food, just like produce or artisan bread. A few days after roasting, when the aroma springs from the bag and the intriguing tapestry of flavors is sharp, is when it's at its peak.

...

Aroma — It should be intensely fragrant, enveloping you when it escapes the bag.

http://www.peets.com/coffee/coffee-inside-the-cup/coffee-inside-the-cup-coffee-freshness.html

Edited September 25, 2013 by Jingthing

[Ticketmaster]

, I simply demur, with the observation that some people's palates are better developed than others.

That's merely a belief to fit your theory. Someone doesn't agree, so it must be because you're more developed... in true food snob tradition.

I enjoy my coffee just as much as you do, but I can have that experience by picking up some vacuum sealed ground (arabica) coffee at the local supermarket. You'll have to agree my palate makes life a lot easier.

You lucky dog, you! Your allusion that loving the better things in life can be a burden to bear is absolutely correct. It's metaphorically similar to the idea of the blissful idiot who trots through life in a carefree state while the more intelligent among us carry the burdens. If happiness is the goal, simplicity certainly has something to say for itself.

[Ticketmaster]

unless for whatever reason you are brewing the whole bean, who cares what it smells like? you have to grind them first. that post makes no sense whatsoever.

wait, 45,000+ posts? now we see why.

Don't be silly. The issue, obviously, is that as consumers smart coffee shoppers strongly prefer their beans to be FRESHLY roasted as opposed to OLD and STALE. If you buy a bag of beans and there is no smell, they have not been freshly roasted. That is not good. You can still use them but it's still not good.

I also think serious coffee drinkers only buy whole beans and grind what they need on the spot. Better flavor. Natch.

From the best coffee source in the world, PEETS:

Roasted coffee is a perishable food, just like produce or artisan bread. A few days after roasting, when the aroma springs from the bag and the intriguing tapestry of flavors is sharp, is when it's at its peak.

...

Aroma — It should be intensely fragrant, enveloping you when it escapes the bag.

http://www.peets.com/coffee/coffee-inside-the-cup/coffee-inside-the-cup-coffee-freshness.html

This is exactly my experience when I open a sack of Landoy whole beans. The aroma is incredible, and as Peet suggests, it's a crucial part of the coffee experience - as beans, during grinding and as issues forth from the freshly brews cup of joe. I get up before my wife every morning and make coffee. I usually wake her up with a cup at 6 am. The first thing she does is take a long deep inhalation of the rich aroma. I guess if somebody is only after the buzz a wine with no bouquet. Truth is, it is through the aromas that a wide variety of delicious foods and drinks are tasted. Take out the aroma and what is left is bland and unappealing.

[tropo]

, I simply demur, with the observation that some people's palates are better developed than others.

That's merely a belief to fit your theory. Someone doesn't agree, so it must be because you're more developed... in true food snob tradition.

I enjoy my coffee just as much as you do, but I can have that experience by picking up some vacuum sealed ground (arabica) coffee at the local supermarket. You'll have to agree my palate makes life a lot easier.

You lucky dog, you! Your allusion that loving the better things in life can be a burden to bear is absolutely correct. It's metaphorically similar to the idea of the blissful idiot who trots through life in a carefree state while the more intelligent among us carry the burdens. If happiness is the goal, simplicity certainly has something to say for itself.

It's a lot luckier than being an anal, coffee nut who has to travel far and wide to find something that suits his refined, advanced, superior palate. To say that you cannot find a good bean in Pattaya shows that you're a bit too fussy and it could be all in your head. I'd call that an unhealthy obsession.

I'd be quite happy to make this interesting and let you put some money where your mouth is, to prove that you're as amazing as you're suggesting you are. I'm still skeptical despite your continual pontificating (and that of your friend Mr Super Mouse).

Here's my proposal:

We take 2 batches of your favourite beans. One which has just arrived from your mail order supplier and one batch which has been opened and kept in an air tight jar for 10 days.

We will drip 2 jugs of coffee, one from each batch of beans. You will taste test 10 measures of this coffee, 5 from each batch of beans and not knowing which is which, accurately determine which are from the fresh beans and which are from the 10 day old beans.

Then after this, we will take a batch of fresh beans and grind them 2 ways - with my cheap blender attachment and with your state-of-the-art grinder.

We will make 5 measures of coffee from each grind and you will decide by taste which is from which grinder.

You will need to get all 20 correct, obviously, because if blade ground coffee tastes like shit (as you put it), it will be extremely easy for you - and determining 10 day old stale beans would a cinch. The probability of getting all 20 correct by chance is less than 1 in a million. If you do, I give you 5000 baht and take a bow to your superior palate. If you get any wrong, you give me 5000 baht.

[Rimmer]

Bickering posts removed

[Ticketmaster]

Bickering posts removed

Thanks! Much appreciated, jing, jing!

[tropo]

Bickering posts removed

Thanks! Much appreciated, jing, jing!

[brummiebob]

You don't need to taste to see the difference between blade and burr grinder, at the fineness needed for espresso machines, blade grinder will produce dust too fine for the filter that will be in your cup, and you will see sediments at the bottom of your cup.

If I want to eat coffee grounds with my coffee, I'd brew it Turkish style